Locke & Key, Acclaimed Graphic Novel by Joe Hill, Reimagined in Audio by a Full Cast Featuring Haley Joel Osment and Tatiana Maslany

NEWARK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Audible Studios, a production arm of Audible.com, today announced the release of Locke & Key, a dramatic adaptation of the critically acclaimed graphic novel series by Joe Hill, performed by Haley Joel Osment of Entourage fame and Orphan Black's Tatiana Maslany. The audiobook, produced in association with IDW Publishing, includes special appearances by Hill, Kate Mulgrew of Orange is the New Black, comic book illustrator Gabriel Rodriguez, and over 50 professional actors. Recorded at a decrepit and purportedly haunted mansion in New England, Locke & Key's state-of-the-art sound design and a powerful original score heighten the story's supernatural twists and turns just as the artwork does in the comic book version. The audiobook is available as a free audio download from October 5^th to November 4^th at audible.com/lockeandkey.

"Listen up: so much of terror is in what you hear, not what you see," said Hill. "Those who love the genre have known it for years…it's that unseen thing out in the shadows, moving around, breathing heavily, coming closer, that creeps the beejeezus out of you. Who doesn't shudder at the first deep strokes of the JAWS theme? And when a velociraptor shrieks in rage, who doesn't feel the animal prickle in their reptile brain, triggering that instinct to run? Audible has used the Locke & Key comic book as the leaping off point for a bold experiment in fear, with listeners as their victims - I mean, excuse me, test subjects. Be careful. You might not want to listen to this one with the lights off."

"Bringing an already iconic graphic novel to life though voice and sound is an exhilarating artistic challenge," said Osment. "You can't rely on facial expressions or body language – all of the emotional impact of the performance comes from your ability as an actor to interpret the story in ways that ring true to the audience. It's both terrifying and empowering. I'm proud to be part of such an innovative and creative audio production, and I think the end result is a listening experience that really expands the boundaries of the form."

"I loved working on Locke & Key because I had never worked in the format of an audio book before and it was a big challenge as an actor to embody a character vocally," said Maslany. "Dodge was such an exciting, dark, and wonderful character with so many layers—and to get to play all of the different incarnations of her and him within one performance was really exciting and was great fun. It felt like being a kid again."

"Adapting the uniquely visual Locke & Key into a deeply engaging listening experience was an artistic challenge we couldn't resist," said Audible EVP and Publisher Beth Anderson. "With outstanding performances by an all-star cast and a truly visceral soundscape created by AudioComics that breaks new ground in audio production, this truly immersive audiobook is sure to thrill fans of the series and new listeners alike."

To celebrate the release of the fully dramatized audio production, Audible has also created an immersive virtual reality experience that will be showcased at New York Comic Con beginning October 8. The experience, which will be available at the Audible booth at the Javits Center, as well as on YouTube 360, lets fans step into the Locke & Key world and relive a famous scene from the series via a combination of the graphic novel's breathtaking artwork and the intimacy of Audible narration.

In addition to Osment, Maslany, and Mulgrew, among the acclaimed performers who have narrated works of literature for Audible are Dan Stevens, Jake Gyllenhaal, Kate Winslet and Tim Robbins.

Audible, the world's largest seller and producer of downloadable audiobooks and other spoken-word content, invented and commercialized the first digital audio player in 1997, and has since been at the forefront of the explosively growing audiobook download segment. In 2014, listeners around the world downloaded 1.2 billion hours of audio from Audible.com outlets; Audible members downloaded an average of more than 17 books over the course of the year. More than half of current Audible members are first-time audiobook buyers.

ABOUT AUDIBLE, INC.

Audible, Inc., an Amazon.com, Inc. subsidiary AMZN, is the leading provider of premium digital spoken audio information and entertainment, offering customers a new way to enhance and enrich their lives every day. Audible's mission is to establish literate listening as a core tool for anyone seeking to be more productive, better informed, or more thoughtfully entertained. Audible content includes more than 225,000 audio programs from leading audiobook publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, magazine and newspaper publishers, and business information providers. Audible is also the preeminent provider of spoken-word audio products for Apple's iTunes Store.

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