Last year’s reboot of The X-Files was more or less a creative disaster. However, creator Chris Carter was undeterred by the reviews; in an interview, he assured The New York Times that “I can tell you, almost without a doubt, we will come back.” After all, the ratings were good.
Carter has remained consistently committed to The X-Files franchise since the show premiered in 1993. Following the last X-Files release prior to last year’s reboot–the 2008 film The X-Files: I Want to Believe–he oversaw a couple of series of X-Files comic books by the writer Joe Harris which were released in 2013 and 2015. These series take place in the time period between I Want to Believe and the show’s actual tenth season of last year, and are the inspiration for a new X-Files audiobook, produced by Carter and starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as voice actors. It’s being released on July 18 via Audible; you can pre-order it now.
The audiobook, The X-Files: Cold Cases, is described by Audible as “a mind-blowing and otherworldly soundscape of liquefying aliens, hissing creatures, and humming spacecraft, listeners get to experience the duo’s investigations like never before.” The description of events seems like the same basic elevator pitch for the past few X-Files seasons and films: Mulder and Scully reunite to work together when a new crisis and apparent government conspiracy forces them to return to use their old alien-hunting skill set once again.
Audible has released an action-packed two-and-a-half-minute excerpt from the audiobook, and it sounds very ridiculous and funny. A breathless Scully is being chased by a mysterious group of chanting people in hoods, and you can hear them in the background as she calls for backup. Listen via Rolling Stone, and check out the cover art below.
