The Maze (MWEB)

A beautifully-written and deeply creepy story about a horrific laboratory, filled with genetically-altered subjects that are forced into the most elaborate maze ever created.

This story blew my mind. At first I was a little put off by the gimmick of referring to the main character only as "she." It seemed clear there was something different/wrong about her, and the nature of that oddity was suggested by the subject of the story. However, as the tale unfolded I kept trying to figure out what she was and the answer got weirder and weirder. And then, well, there was a scene that just shocked the hell out of me. I don't want to spoil it.

The story was published in Orbit 17, 1975. Orbit was a very successful, 19-volume series of science fiction anthologies edited by Damon Knight. Mind Webs was not really audio drama in the strict sense of the definition. It was a 1970's series created for WHA Radio in Wisconsin that featured Michael Hanson reading science fiction stories from some of the genre's best known authors. The readings were enhanced by music, periodic sound cues, and the occasional character voice.

Hanson's narration doesn't do the story any favors. At one point he seems to be rushing and kind of butchers a critical scene. But overall it's acceptable and the quality of the narration is actually irrelevant; it's worth hearing even with a mediocre reader.

Mind Webs
The Maze
1 September 1978
19780901(000)_MWEB_TheMaze.mp3
Stuart Dybek (author), Michael Hanson (narrator).

Stuart Dybek