TFIA Issue #2 - Slayers: A Buffyverse Story - Audio Storytelling That Gave Me Goosebumps

[ Audio-article recorded using the Rode Wireless Micro USB-C System ].

'The Future IS Audio' newsletter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/slayers-buffyverse-story-audio-storytelling-gave-me-josh-liston-nzgvc/

Slayers: A Buffyverse Story - Audio Storytelling That Gave Me Goosebumps.

In 2023, Audible released an exclusive program called Slayers: A Buffyverse Story - an original Buffy the Vampire Slayer audio-drama, co-written and narrated by members of the original Buffy cast.

Now, I need to preface what I’m about to say by letting you know that Buffy The Vampire Slayer was my absolute favourite show growing up, and I consider the Buffy episode titled “The Body” as the best episode of television ever put to air. So yeah, I’m a little biased here.

When I first hit play on the Slayers audiobook and James Marster's voice (who portrayed Spike on Buffy and also on Angel) came through my headphones, I had goosebumps running down my arms and tears forming in my eyes. When I heard Charisma Carpenter’s voice later on in the production, I couldn’t help but smile; Cordelia was getting some of the spotlight her character deserved and perhaps didn’t get in the original Buffyverse shows.

It was Theatre-of-the-Mind at its most powerful.

I still watch Buffy on a regular basis and although I still enjoy it very much (it’s comfort-viewing for me at this point). I haven’t had a deep emotional response to anything Buffy related in over 20 years like I did to the Slayers audiobook.

It was just me, my headphones, and the human voice, and it was the most intense reaction I’ve had to a piece of art in many years. The last time I remember being completely blown away by a creative work was Season 1 of Ted Lasso, albeit in a very different way, but this was even more intense. Slayers taking several much-loved characters and rendering them in the most intimate of dramatic mediums (being audio) elicited a reaction that was beyond pure nostalgia, it was pure joy.

It’s not often that I find myself thinking, “I’m so grateful that this was made”, and Slayers made me feel that way. I clearly needed an original yet familiar story, told like it was told just for me, and the audio-drama format allowed for that revelatory experience to happen.

Slayers was my favourite Audiobook of the past several years, it was beautifully written, and the performances and production are as good as it gets. Check it out, and let me know your thoughts.

....

PS. I put my initial reactions to Slayers back in 2023 on my Instagram profile @joshuacliston - but I thought I might include the audio from that video right here in this episode, so you can hear a life-long Buffy fan expressing their reaction to Slayers in-the-moment, and I’ll leave you with that today guys, speak to you again soon.