Hide and seek
The Gentleman From Hell review
Production company – Maeltopia
Rating – 
Some of you may have noticed that there was no blog post last week. If you don’t follow me on social media, then you may well have felt cast adrift. After all, I’ve been writing this blog since December 2022, and I have NEVER missed a week without a post. Unfortunately, I suffered a catastrophic hard drive crash and it has taken me over a week so far to try and recover everything, but right now, there is still no light at the end of the tunnel. In that time I didn’t want to use my laptop at all, and so I made the hard decision to not post for a week. I can’t miss two weeks though, so I have had to work around the setbacks.
The Gentleman From Hell is yet another review that I have resurrected from the depths. As such, I have no idea how I found out about this show. Despite that, I do love revisiting shows I (for whatever reason) stopped listening to, and dive back in. So here we go…
So what’s it about?
The small town of Cold Sparrow has caused quite the upset for the last few decades. Twenty four years ago, all the inhabitants vanished overnight, including the millionaire Benjamin Veers. Since that fateful night, many have tried to solve the mystery, but all have been left baffled. Until now.
A trio of famed private investigators have been tasked with laying the mystery to rest once and for all. They are backed with some serious money, and this case will push them to their limits as the town’s secrets come to light one by one.
As they dig into just what went on, they discover a series of audio cassettes recorded by Veers, that seem to point to revelations greater than any could have imagined. These tapes serve as both exposition, and as an antagonist of their own.
Is it any good?
I really really wanted to dislike this show. This may sound like me being an idiot, but it’s true. The main problem I had, was that the acting wasn’t great, it was ok. There are plenty of shonky accents (and one or two laughable ones) that would no doubt sound fine to American ears, but which really stand out to us Brits.
Having said all that, I couldn’t stop listening. This show is the definition of compelling. It’s a perfect blend of Dennis Wheatley camp and old radio horror.
The show plays out almost like an actual play of Call Of Cthulhu. I don’t mean that there are dice rolls and options, but as the story developed,it reminded me of how I would play a scenario. The aforementioned tapes also serve as “handouts” to guide the scenario. Thinking of it this way also makes the accents easier to forgive.
Final thoughts
For all its faults, The Gentleman From Hell is a well written, exciting Audiodrama. If you can get past its flaws, you will have no problem having multiple hours fly by as you sink into the storyline.
If you are a fan of shows like The Hexings, Limetown or The Lovecraft Investigations, then you’ll probably like this. Not as much obviously, but if you have that particular itch to scratch, then get stuck in.
You can get The Gentleman From Hell here:
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