After having read/listened to Holt House by The Eden Book Society, I immediately request Judderman, because I craved more of the gothic, suspense, classic horror that I got in Holt House.

Judderman takes place in a 1970’s gritty and obscure London, or as it’s often referred to, London Incognita.
The gang and racial attacks, bombings, the debauchery and the vices run ramped throughout the city. The Judderman is a figure that we’re never sure if it’s just the manifestation of a broken and dark city or of it’s a manifestation of the fears and divides of the society it’s set in, but he seems to be here to enforce some sort of justice against the injustices that keep on happening.

The strange mystery of the disappearance of Gary’s brother, our main character, may or may not be linked to this obscure figure. Did Gary’s brother disappear willingly? Did the Judderman take him away? Gary never found out and we're left wondering and left to decide for ourselves what may have happened.

Sadly, this story did not grab my attention as deeply as Holt House. It was good, but nowhere near the horror or scary impact I expected it to have had on me.

Nonetheless, I’m thankful that The Eden Book Society continues to publish these long-forgotten novellas and I look forward to reading more of them, as they are certainly a refreshing change from the current horror/thriller/gothic stories of our modern times.


Thank you to NetGalley and W.F. Howes Ltd for allowing me to listen to this novella in exchange for my honest review and opinion.

#Judderman #NetGalley

After really enjoying Holt House by the Eden Book Society I was keen to try another from their private archives. Set in the 1970's London is suffering from discontent at a time of bombings, blackouts, racism, football violence and housing decay.
But to young impressionable minds London is so very fascinating. The whole idea of a 'London Incognita" or a 'Layered London' really interests me and I enjoyed this obsessive vision that Brothers Danny and Garry had, seeking out the darker parts of London, the urban mythology encouraged by the paperbacks they read. When Danny suddenly goes missing Garry trawls through his journal and comes to the conclusion it could be linked to the Judderman, but he is a myth or does he lurk in the shadows?.
This book contains history, mythology, lore and imagery all crammed in to the short novella. It is quite a chilling tale and as with the first book I came away with names and notes to investigate further.
A story I enjoyed and could of happily listened to more .
My thanks go to the publishers and Netgalley for providing this arc in return for a honest review.

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher W.F. Howes Ltd in exchange for an honest review.

Unlike the first of these audiobooks (Holt House), Judderman sadly left me a bit wanting. It's a very rambly sort of story which gives the impression of it being long, even though the whole thing is only about two hours in length. It also suffers from not having distinct voices for the characters, meaning that I found it very difficult to pay attention. It doesn't seem to have much of a plot as a result. It is set in a city and there is some kind of entity and a missing brother, but I kept tuning out due to long sections which were mostly there for atmosphere. It's a shame because I did enjoy the weirdness and unique tone of the first of these audiobooks but this didn't have anything much going for it. As with the first one, this is an old recording and so the sound quality is a little muffled/quiet which matters a lot more in this book than the first due to the monotonous tone. I think I might have enjoyed this more as a physical book but as it stands, I find it difficult to recommend this one.

Many thanks to W.F Howes Ltd who provided an audiobook copy through Netgalley for my honest review.

This book is the second in the Eden Book Society series, written by D.A Northwood and with super narration by Walter Chidlow which only adds to the atsmosphere of this book.

It is a creepy short story, set in the 1970's, with the main characters being Gary and his missing brother Danny. This is a very descriptive book with many gems such as suggesting that Londons architecture has been formed in part from the blood of its citizens, though much of this structure was now in a bad state of repair. The story was set at a time of civil discontent, huge parts of society was broken and drug abuse was rife.
The Judderman is a local myth which portrays a shadowy London which is in the doldrums. Did the Judderman have something to do with Danny's disappearance - is it really a myth, or is something really lurking in the shadows?
The story is unusual and quite dark and eerie at times, though I didn't find it particularly horrific. This book is well worth a read (or listen) if you are a fan of classic creepy books, though I don't believe you need to be a horror fan to want to read it. You have to keep switched on to remain with the plot, though I thought it was well worth investing in.

This is such a fascinating and obscure book. The introduction was so interesting, I loved the background behind this publication then we get into the story itself and it's like nothing I've ever heard before. The audio has such a grainy, lived-in quality that makes it a really unsettling experience and the voice was perfect.

Overall, really weird, really enjoyable. Thank you.

After being able to listen to the first audiobook of the Eden society Holt House I looked forward to the second instalment Judderman but although there were some great, and powerful lines written within describing London as a city built from the blood of others, I failed to be gripped by the story and the author just seemed to keep repeating himself and jumping around until I really didn’t know what was going on, listening to the audiobook though the narrator was good I liked the atmospheric kids chanting, but the overall feeling was of being totally lost at where this one was heading.

What an atmospheric, dark, haunting read. This classic haunting work originally published in 1972 tells a dark story of an unseen London, one with those haunted from past wars, haunted by disillusionment, plagued by trauma's unseen, those cast aside with from poverty, mental health, drugs and alcohol. These "unseen" people have tall tales of seeing The Judderman, a kind of monster that plagues them and embodies all of the above mentioned.

Listening to the audiobook, narrated by Walter Chidlow and others, was excellently voiced. Pacing and tone were perfect in adding a haunting tone and voice changes to indicate different characters.

Anyone who loves classic dark, haunting reads should add this to their horror-classics cannon. I look forward to more reads from the Eden Book Society.

Judderman by D.A. Northwood.
Narrated by Walter Chidlow.
This is book 2 of the Eden book society series.
I did like listening to this audiobook. It was short and different. I loved the cover. Spooky. 4*.

Some people love the city life, there is something to do every hour of the day. I find it a little odd. You can open the door of your million-pound house and have to step over the passed out person on your step. One street can look like it is from a movie set, whilst only one road over it looks like the scene from a very different movie. This melting pot of people is what makes the city charming for some folk, but for me it is all a little too big, noisy and maybe even scary. Perhaps I am right to fear the likes of London as even back in the 1970s people were aware of The Judderman.

The myth of The Judderman is strong among those in London who have a keen eye on its stories; the historians or the mudlarks. The Elder brothers have always had an interest in the darker side of the city. This leads to Danny going missing. Was it the Judderman? With only Danny’s diaries to help, Gary sets out over the following months to unearth The Judderman and find his brother. As he gets closer to the dark heart of the city, Gary starts to feel the same pull that his brother did.

This audio version of The Judderman by D. A. Northwood is a love letter to 1970s horror, an era of rich imagination and nasty shocks. Early work from the likes of King, Koontz and, my personal favourite, Herbert come to mind. Northwood was an author who fell through the cracks and has since been rediscovered by fans of this florid style of horror. This edition comes from the original Eden Society recording and has two new introductions that highlight the influence that horror had on a certain subset in the 70s. In an era before juvenile literature, horror was one of the gateways into adult books. People like me soon discovered that horror proved to be a little more adult that most other genres!

They should file the Judderman audiobook under curio. It is a novella that was recorded decades ago and now re-released. The quality of the sound is not as perfect as today’s recordings and you can hear the scratches on the recording as if it was taken directly from the vinyl. This turns out to be in perfect keeping with the gritty storyline set in the broken London of the 1970s. Narrator, Walter Chidlow, also plays his part by mixing his old fashioned received pronunciation with the cockney accents of the characters.

The story itself feels more like extended poetry in places. It is essentially a series of vignettes of London life as Gary seeks his brother. There is a lot of swearing but also plenty of descriptive language used to highlight the depressed nature of the city at the time. It takes the floral language of someone like Herbert and cranks it to eleven. I enjoy the way that some horror is way over the top, but in this case, it acted like a barrier between the listener and the story. Too much time was spent on describing a piece of litter or graffiti than on the story. By the end it feels less like a story and more the art of writing horror.

There was a slight disconnect between the voice of the characters and the style of writing. These characters are course, yet their internal monologues are those of the Romantic Poets. Northwood lessens this impact by developing the Elder brothers as self-educated men who have their own fascination with horror. Even with this, the voice of the author is too close to that of the brothers. It is pages of extraneous horror with intermittent moments of earthy swearing.

Despite its strange nature and odd structure, Judderman was still an enjoyable listen as it was so different to most modern horror. The book takes a certain style from the 1970s and embodies it more than any other book I have read from the era. Narrator Chidlow adds to proceedings with his narrative style and you end up with something that feels a little on the ripe side, just enough to make this peculiar tale fun. Fans new to 70s horror should start with the behemoths of the genre, but if you are looking for a deep cut then The Judderman will be happy to stick the knife in.

My thanks to W.F. Howes Ltd. Whole Story QUEST for a review copy via NetGalley of the audiobook edition of ‘Judderman’ by D.A. Northwood. It is narrated by Walter Chidlow with a running time of 2 hours, 31 minutes at 1x.

The recording has bonus material in the form of a foreword by Charlie Higson and an introduction on the occult heritage of the Judderman by Gary Budden.

This is the second in the 'Forgotten Recordings' of the Eden Book Society, produced by W.F. Howes.

The Eden Book Society series is published by Dead Ink Books and is presented as short works of British horror fiction written as part of a subscribers only list in the early 1970s. The novellas are actually penned by leading contemporary horror and weird fiction authors under pseudonyms.

‘Your brother's with the Judder.’

London, early 1970s. A new urban myth is taking hold in the city that is plagued by violence, Republican bombings, blackouts and virulent racism. There are whispers of a malevolent figure named the Judderman. Is he a manifestation of the city’s sick psyche or something more sinister?

Danny and Gary Elder are chronicling hidden London, a shadow city they refer to as ‘London Incognita’. When Danny goes missing, Gary searches through Danny’s journals and his own memories for clues to his brother’s disappearance.

‘Judderman’ is laced with urban lore, strange images, mythology and history as well as anecdotes of the city and its varied peoples.

In terms of the narration, I suspect that like Northwood Walter Chidlow is a pseudonym. It took me a while to adjust to the London accent he initially used as Danny Elder. Chidlow draws on a range of down-to-Earth London accents for Gary and other characters, then switches to a rather posh one in a later chapter. Overall, his voice sounded rich and mature.

‘Judderman’ is a dark, chilling, and atmospheric novella that packs quite a punch. With the bonus material providing fascinating background, the audiobook edition is a treat for lovers of classic British horror, whether written in the past or pretending to be.

The second book in the series was enjoyable and short, a perfect novella to put between some of the other long, expansive novels I've been reading lately. The introductions set the scene as the 1970's as the perfect place for old fashioned horror. The days of my youth, though not quite in my neighborhood, are still set up in a perfect way. The end of the 60s and people on edge, unsure where to go next. That's the turmoil we are set in. It's creepy. The violence of the end of an empire. Blood and fear. A grittiness so associated with that particular time. I got to see what that time was like in London. It was a lovely introduction.

Instead of being truly terrifying, this was a more moody, nuanced kind of horror. In fact, there seems to be a comparison being made to the gothic horror of old Europe. It was more poetic and strange. All of these parts being brought together and you have to put them into the whole story. What happened to the brother? Was it Judderman? More subtle than I expected it to be. A nice listen.

Judderman is the next in the Holt House series, and as soon as my friend told me about it being available for request, I snatched it up quickly. I think listening to these novellas as audiobooks does the best justice to them. I personally did not enjoy Judderman as much as I did the first book in the Holt House series, however, it was still quite spooky of a read. This book was more atmospheric and dark than the first book, and as a whole, that is not my favorite. I know that these stories are all written by different authors and have different themes, so I cannot wait to see what the next one will be about!

Judderman is the second of the Eden Society Novellas and, having loved 'Holt House' grabbing the second was a forgone conclusion. However, I can't help but feel Judderman didn't even come close to reaching the same heights as Holt House.

At the base of it, it's one man's hunt for his missing brother. He believes the mysterious Judderman is to blame for his brother's disappearance and he delves deep into the depths of London in search of him. 

In actuality, it doesn't feel like there's a whole lot of story going on. It feels like the author just really wanted to get a host of ideas down about a layered London. London 'cognita' and London 'incognita'.

It felt incredibly hard to keep up with what was happening as, when a character would be walking from one person to another to further their investigation, the author would go off into a deep metaphorical monologue about London and the hurts assailing it. Some of these seemed to be repeats of earlier monologues.

In places it genuinely felt like, if the author hadn't crammed a dozen metaphors, half a dozen similes and more adjectives than most calculators can count in any one description, then he had failed. Sadly, he never failed. The entire body of work was saturated with metaphors, similes and adjectives to the point where I forgot what point was actually being driven at. The blurb itself is a small indicator of this.

When I managed to ground myself and keep up with what was going on, the ideas on offer were intriguing and I liked the concept. I just felt the execution was lacking to the point that I struggled to remember just what was actually being executed.

It didn't feel like a horror at any point, in fact it felt more like a series of monologues or memoirs than an actual story.

The above sounds a tad harsh and I wouldn't go as far as saying Judderman is bad. I just wouldn't go as far as saying it was great either. To me, it was average. This could be because it seems to be far too much of a 'literary' piece and I just don't appreciate it enough, or it could just be the author's style which does not sit well with me.

Whatever the reason, I just struggled to find myself sitting anywhere other than on the fence as far as rating this one goes.

This brief horror is based inside the gritty, urban environment of 1970's London. Those who dwell there have to compete against the violence of racist attacks, gang wars, and territorial feuds. Now, however, a new enemy is lurking, and the Judderman will face them all without prejudice for who they are or where their roots lay.

This horror remained light on the horrifying elements for me and, instead, painted an evocative and sprawling urban landscape with textured and artful prose. The creation of setting was by far my favourite aspect of this novella, but I remained a little unimpressed by the actual bones of the story.

This was an interesting insight to weird urban lore but left me unafraid for shifting shadows and things that go bump in the night, which is what I came here anticipating.

I requested this one after listening to the first of the Eden Book Society audiobooks, Holt House. This was equally short, at 2 hours and 30 minutes. I liked Holt House a lot, and this was equally fun. Judderman was much more of an atmospheric read, though that atmosphere is bleak and eerie. Judderman peeks at the darkness that everyone sees but nobody acknowledges, creating an in depth view of the things that lie in plain sight and the risks of acknowledging those things - be they metaphorical or paranormal. I liked the concept of the Judderman, I'm a sucker for monstrous spirits that lurk a little closer than you'd like, and the descriptions of the world were vivid and fascinating. I think the audiobook makes for a good way to experience this novella, as the journalistic aspects that felt so wild and on-the-edge felt even more so through the audiobook medium. I really love listening to the Eden Book Society series, and I hope they keep on coming!