Museum at Tomorrow was like that for me too; I love audio that I can come back to again, and again, and find something different and fascinating every time. Jeffrey Nils Gardner’s work here is a layered masterpiece of audio art. Dare I even say an onion? Anyway, I’ve found myself choked up while listening to this before. I didn’t know you could put so much sound together at once, and purposefully set it apart to make it conflict, and still blend together.
-Elena Fernández-Collins, Audio Dramatic #38- Farewell to 2019
To say “Unwell” is simply a horror audio drama would be giving it short shrift….Thanks to a fabulously diverse cast of characters, many of the compelling performed episodes are better classified as goofy, romantic, funny or heart warming. But there is always something uncanny lingering at the edges. The second season just began and the show already is ramping up the horror, the conspiracy, and the urgency of this sleepy town awakening to its whitewashed, violent past.
-Phoebe Lett, The New York Times: Podcasts Worth a Listen- Fiasco, Unwell, In Those Genes
The sound design work of Jeffrey Nils Gardner and Jared Paul pays off like a slot machine throughout [Brimstone Valley Mall] season one. Not only are the set pieces amazing (the arcade and carousel in the opening first two episodes alone are enough to get one’s attention), they survive impact with the enemy of all audio drama: garbage speakers….Every few scenes I encounter a sublime moment of someone skilled in their craft absolutely, shamelessly flexing on me. Those more complex scenes in Brimstone Valley Mall play out like magic tricks: cool to the average passer-by, absolutely captivating to anyone who knows their EQ from a hole in the ground.
-Gavin Gaddis, DiscoverPods: “Brimstone Valley Mall delivers demonic delights”
The dialogue editing in each episode is especially impressive, allowing such a natural back-and-forth that’s specific to each set of characters. You can tell how each person in the story regards each other not just by what they say or how they say it, but when they say it. This pacing is something often overlooked in audio fiction, but it’s harnessed so well here…
In its first three episodes, Unwell is already one of my audio fictions to watch in 2019. Its wise ear for stillness, its naturalistic dialogue and production, its compelling protagonist, and its knack for humor all cultivate in one of the most fascinating, exciting premiers of the year so far.
-Wil Williams, “First Impressions: Hartlife NFP’s “Unwell” Delivers on Midwestern Gothic”
The show sits nicely alongside other shows that have come out in recent years, like straight-up horror stories like the BBC’s The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, an adapted a story by H.P. Lovecraft, or nonfiction programs like This American Life’s S-Town, about a man named John whose story plays out like an elaborate southern gothic novel.
-Andrew Liptak, The Verge: “Unwell is a fantastic gothic horror podcast set in midwest America”
“If I were to define Unwell by one thing, it would be this quality of presentation—and not just in the writing. This is not just a podcast that tells a story. This is a full-scale radio play/audiobook production somehow made by a self-proclaimed indie team that easily outshines much larger projects. I’ve never heard a podcast given this level of polish. The voice acting was magnificent. The sound effects were nearly always on point—mimicking different locations, levels of open space, and even what type of technology was spoken through. I had the transcript open because I’ve been burned by inaudible audio before, but Unwell was blessedly sharp and clear. The only time the audio was ever garbled or hard to track seemed to be when the designers deemed it so for narrative purposes.”
-Brandon Scott, “Unwell, a skillful triumph of Audio Fiction”
“Unwell: A Midwestern Gothic Mystery won the Best Podcast 2021 award at the BBC Audio Drama Awards, and it’s easy to see why. From the jump, the exceptional sound design creates an incredible atmosphere making it easy to get wrapped up in the town’s eccentricities. During the first episode, the fourth-wall is broken persistently, as the listener hears competing voices chanting messages about the story and its characters at varying points. This, paired with exceptional foley work creating unsettling sound effects, makes Unwell: A Midwestern Gothic Mystery an enticing and fresh listen, even if you feel like you have had your fill with the “creepy little town” trope.”
-Toni Oisin H.C., “7 Horror Fiction Podcasts to Check Out While You Wait for the Next Episode of 'Dark Woods'”
“Between the writing and the performances, Unwell’s tackling of the micro- and macrocosms of generational distress is, so far, flawless—it is agonizing, cringe-worthy, and at times, hilarious in its weirdness. Rivers and Harman enact a contentious, sometimes emotionally abusive, sometimes awkwardly loving, relationship with a long history, parallel to the house that is falling apart around them. Mt. Absalom is practically a character in and of itself, composed of voices who hide secrets and the truth even while some, like boarding house resident Abby Douglas, attempt to root it out, a common Gothic theme. With celery festivals, battles over rotting casserole, and overly-familiar locals, there’s enough odd humor to balance out the terror of the unknown, which Unwell has already laid the groundwork for in its subdued, eerie sound design….
Unwell is leading the way to a new understanding of fiction and horror in 2019’s audio landscape, with the same caliber of execution that HartLife NFP has long been known for.
-Elena Fernández-Collins, “HartLife NFP’s “Unwell” is Both a Quiet Example and Direct Subversion of Midwestern Gothic”
If all that isn’t enough, there’s an unexpected hidden joy to checking out the show: it has, by far, the most engaged and thoughtful crew I’ve ever had the pleasure of observing. From regularly answering fan questions both silly and serious, to responding thoughtfully and openly to critique (that caveat up there about queer romance might be solved before the show’s eighth and final season, and I’ll take the confirmation of the body-swapping Herbert as genderfluid to my very happy grave), to writing content warnings for their shows once they realized there was a desire for them, the folks behind Our Fair City are the benchmark for how to engage with an audience.
-Vrai Kaiser, The Mary Sue, “Our Fair City: A Refreshing, Witty Take on Dystopia”
Holy shit, every time there is a new Unwell episode, I'm convinced they WILL NOT be able to top themselves again, and yet... this week's was one of the most haunting pieces they've ever released. Jeffrey Nils Gardener's deft hand took the incredible performances of every single one of their cast members and masterfully blended them together, allowing us to go from ghost to ghost in what was seemingly one corporeal body. It was one of the best things I've ever heard, hands down, and I can't wait to dive back in for listen #2 and see what I might have missed.
-Bob Raymonda, Bobby's Snacks Vol. 6: So Much Life is Happening, All at Once
“Does any of this sound familiar? Series co-creator and director Jeffrey Gardner maneuvers his characters like chessmen through sound engineer Ryan Schile’s eerie echoing soundscapes spiked with dramatic stabs…in the end, this futuristic but decadent corporate fascist society resembles a mere perverted extension of our own, suggesting that we urgently should check our present heading for needed corrections. Enjoy intriguing speculative sci-fi…”
-Captain Radio, “Radio Drama Revival: Episode 257“
"But the true standouts of the cast were Foley artists Jeffrey Gardner and Ele Matelan. Foley is a technique generally used in film post-production today, but it was originally developed for radio dramas, in which sound effects are added after shooting to enhance the scene. Gardner and Matelan practiced Foley in real-time, mimicking footsteps, explosions, walkie-talkies and more, to alternately creepy and hilarious effects. Their contributions alone are worth the price of admission."
-Miami Huricane, "Deathscribe: Miami’ spooks audiences with audio-based twist"
“Clayton Faits’ script crackles and pops with hard-boiled dialogue….It’s a fast-paced and often-funny slice of pastiche that, while part of the ongoing serial, still works just fine as a stand-alone story. Jeffrey Gardner’s direction brings out just enough self-aware wink-and-a-nod moments to let us in on the jokes without belaboring them.
-Chicago Tribune, “Our Fair City: The Live Episode”
“…as I listened to two further episodes, I became aware of another aspect of the serial that sets it apart from its rivals — the quality of its writing. To produce a series week in week out, and keep the plot going is no mean feat; but to take as much delight in language as the writers of this series obviously do is something quite unique. Words are provided as much for their sound as their sense: the actors have great fun pronouncing polysyllabic nouns, taking cared to enunciate each syllable as if it were a tasty linguistic morsel. Credit must be paid to the entire cast…The fact that they can produce a series so uniformly well written is testament to their abilities. Long may it continue!
-Radio Drama Reviews, “Return to Our Fair City”