An Autist Reviews: This World Out Hell (The Confessions Of Dorian Gray 1.1)

*All Reviews Are Spoiler-Free Aside From Any Spoiler Sections*

Dorian has come to visit his sickly friend, Oscar Wilde, in Paris, 1900. He is dying above his means, or so he claims, in a grungy hotel where men go to disappear, willingly or not. Oscar sees things, and the people of Paris are afraid… is this hysteria mixed with a bad fever, or is something worse in the walls of the Hotel D’Alsace.

A glorious beginning to one of Big Finish’s best series yet. Dorian narrates his trip to Paris to meet with his dying friend, not that he believes, at the time, that he will be dead any time soon. The conversation between Dorian and Oscar Wilde has to be one of the best things ever, from the hilarious banter to the serious conversation about morality and Oscar’s legacy. The mystery of the story doesn’t begin until the end of his time with Oscar, after which Oscar no longer shows up until the very end of the story where he reads a poem to the listeners, which is frankly a little sad since I’d have loved to hear more of him. There are, sadly, a few problems here and there, such as how many things are told not shown, such as mysterious voices, conversations with the people of Paris, and so on. Another problem is that Oscar just drops exposition when there’s no reason for him to really do so, not in such detail. And the story reaches its conclusion faster and easier than I’d like, but that’s a personal thing. As for the twist, it really depends, it seems like it could be a pretty basic trope, but then it grows to be a little more special, or you could call it immediately, so that’s up in the air. Really, this is just a solidly fun and horrific story that is the perfect introduction to the world of Dorian Gray.

The acting here is, as is the norm for Dorian Gray stories, top-notch. There are one or two bumps here and there, such as Dorian during his nightmarish experience near the end of the story, but that’s really the only big problem on that front, otherwise, Alexander plays Dorian perfectly. The side characters are also amazing, with Oscar being literally perfect, showing his emotional vulnerability, bitterness, and love for Dorian; the maid is also just amazing, even if she has so few lines. The one bad actor out of the side characters is literally in a single scene after the bulk of the story is over, and he has a god forsakenly bad American accent, like, even Peri Brown doesn’t bother me, but this just rubs me wrong, it’s so weird, even if the delivery is generally decent. The Manageress is pretty good, but she does have some poor moments, especially near the end of the story as she finds herself up against Dorian and being threatened with death, but she, still, is really brilliant outside of those few situations when her acting drops. Alexander does the narration for most of the series as Dorian, and I’m going to rate it separately, since his narration, while fabulous, does have a lot of minor flaws. He doesn’t quite capture the energy that should go into some of the scenes and at times his narration just doesn’t work, but, still, his narration is one of the best parts of the story. It’s because of his skill and lovely voice that I can forgive so many of the transgressions with the narration’s writing, not that there are many.

The music in this release is amazing, the problem is that it, through about the first half of the story, just doesn’t enhance the story or truly fit, but, that being said, it’s brilliant, and especially near the end when it gets grating and scary. There are no voice effects, not that I can recall at least, but there are action effects… but here’s a problem with narrated stories. They are often far less effect-oriented, meaning that you may get a description of something happening, such as unearthly wailing coming from beyond the veil, or your life flashing before your eyes, but not get anything to represent that from the effects… and that’s a problem. But when there are effects, they are brilliant, my only complaint there is the movement effects for a certain something because they just feel a little weird, but I might be misreading the situation there. The background effects are brilliant, from trains coming into the station to murmurs in the lobby of a hotel, they’re brilliant, but there are some times where they are missing. When Dorian visits the church, for instance, there could have been some background effects, but the most annoying thing is the clock. The clock has nothing to do with the story. But it seems like it would since it’s so apparent. The transition effects, despite being very subtle and often non-existent, do their job. Sometimes less is more, and the transitions show that even if they do it slightly imperfectly. Really, less is more describes the effects in this story: even if they have less than they should, they still do a lot with what they do give you.

I love this story, I would gladly listen to it again, but, that being said, I just can’t lie and say you’ll get more out of listening to it again. I can think of, like, one minor thing that you’ll notice going through the story again, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the story for what it is.

All in all, this deserves a 9 out of 10, no ifs, ands, or buts. It’s nearly perfect, but the problems that exist within it, despite all being very minor, just drag the story down a little bit too far, taking away its possible 10. But there will be a 10 somewhere in here. I guarantee it. Basically, every aspect of this story is only slightly less than perfect. It’s spooky, it’s funny, it’s cathartic, it’s interesting, it’s the quintessential Dorian Gray story. Have a listen to this here story if you want to understand what Dorian Gray is all about and if you like this story, buy it all. It’s so worth it.

Total - 9

Plot - 8
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Story - 9
Pacing - 8
Dialogue - 9
Narration - 8
Exposition - 7
Enjoyment - 9
Twists - 8
Resolution/s - 8
Ending - 8

Acting - 9
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MCs - 9
SCs - 9
BGs - 8
Narrators - 8

Effects - 9
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Music - 8
Voices - NR
Actions - 8
Background - 9
Transitions - 9

Replay - 8
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Re-Enjoyment - 10
New Details - 6

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