This project is complete. Audio files can be found on our Librivox catalog page at https://librivox.org/the-valley-of-fear-version-4-dramatic-reading-by-sir-arthur-conan-doyle/The Valley of Fear is the fourth novel Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about private detective Sherlock Holmes. First published serially in The Strand Magazine between September 1914 and May 1915, this novel was published as a book three months before its serialization was complete. Doyle went on to write more Sherlock Holmes stories, but The Valley of Fear was his last novel about the character. This novel is the only one of the four in which criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty appears, and one of only two stories by Doyle in which Moriarty plays a direct role; despite the prominence that later Sherlock Holmes adaptations have given to Moriarty, this antagonist plays a minor role in Doyle’s original oeuvre. In writing The Valley of Fear, Doyle used a similar structure to that of his first Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet; both novels are divided into two seven-chapter parts, the first part focusing on Sherlock Holmes’s investigation of a murder and the second part exploring the murder’s backstory. Inspiration for The Valley of Fear came from the life of real-world private detective James McParland and his investigation of the Molly Maguires, an Irish secret society. Further inspiration came from Groombridge Place, a moated manor house in England on which the novel’s Birlstone Manor is closely based. This novel has sometimes attracted controversy due to its negative depiction of trade unions. For example, the 1930s radio series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes dramatized all of Doyle’s canonical Sherlock Holmes short stories and novels except The Valley of Fear, which was excluded because its depiction of trade unions was considered too political. Consequently, a radio adaptation of this novel did not appear until 1960. Other media adaptations have included films, television episodes, and a stage play. (Summary by David Purdy)
Gender-specific casting. Jasna (Dulcamara) has graciously offered to return as our DPL. Prooflistening will be word perfect. We are not duplicating roles at this time.
Source text: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3289
COLOUR-CODED TEXT (please only read from this text!): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1kwo5B49AKaxePz2n2axmvvrFSvOC3V2h?usp=sharing
Pronunciation guide: The name "Ames" should be pronounced the same as the word "aims": https://youtu.be/6kGjlU8oR-I
Deadline: Please submit your recording within 2 months of placing your claim. If you cannot complete the recording within this time, please post in the thread to relinquish your claim or to ask the BC for an extension. If your recording is not completed by the deadline, your claim may be reassigned at the BC's discretion.
Claiming roles: Look in the Magic Window below for the list of available roles. Post a reply in this thread asking for the role you would like to record.
Please note: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. When you submit your recording, you will be placing your recording in the public domain as well.
New to recording? Please see our Newbie Guide to Recording for further instructions. A quick guide to our required technical settings can be found here. When you post your file, please tell the BC what name you would like to use in our catalog.
Prooflistening level: Word Perfect
Prospective PLs, please see the Guide for Proof-listeners.
Please don't download or listen to files belonging to projects in process unless you are the BC or PL. Our servers are not set up to handle the greater volume of traffic. Please wait until the project has been completed. Thanks!
Magic Window:
BC Admin
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This paragraph is temporary and will be replaced by the MC with the list of sections and reader (Magic Window) once this project is in the admin system.
- Project Code: hb0P8LNF
- Link to author on Wikipedia (if available): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Conan_Doyle (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
- Link to title on Wikipedia (if available): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Valley_of_Fear
- Number of sections (files) this project will have: 138
- Does the project have an introduction or preface: No
- Original publication date (if known): 1914
- If you are a new volunteer, how would you like your name (or pseudonym) credited in the catalog?
- Do you have a URL you would like associated with your name?:
Genres for the project: Crime & Mystery Fiction/Detective Fiction; Dramatic Readings; General Fiction/Published 1900 onward
Keywords that describe the book: trade unions, pinkerton, private investigators
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LibriVox recording settings: mono (1 channel), 44100 Hz sample rate, 128 kbps constant bit rate MP3. See the Tech Specs
For individual roles:
Submit one file per act. At the beginning of the first file, say:
Leave 3-5 seconds of space between your lines (room noise, not generated silence)."Character, read by your name."
For narration/stage directions:
Leave 0.5 to 1 second of silence at the beginning.
Say:
At the end of each file say:"Act # of The Valley of Fear, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org."
If you are recording the final section of the book, add:"End of Act #."
Leave 5 seconds of silence at the end."End of The Valley of Fear, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle."
Filename:
For individual roles: valleyoffear_role_#_#.mp3 where the first # is the part number and the second is the chapter number. (e.g. valleyoffear_narrator_1.mp3)
For final files: valleyoffear_#_#_doyle_128kb.mp3 where the first # is the part number and the second is the chapter number. (e.g. valleyoffear_1_doyle_128kb.mp3)
Upload to the LibriVox Uploader: https://librivox.org/login/uploader

(If you have trouble reading the image above, please contact an admin)
MC to select: toddhw
Copy and paste the file link generated by the uploader into a new post in this thread along with the file duration (mm:ss). Watch this thread for prooflistening notes.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask! Just post in this thread.