Serial Box: A whole new Marvel experience featuring Thor, Black Widow and Jessica Jones in serialized audio
Serial Box is a relatively new but quickly growing audio experience, featuring stories from your favorite franchises released in a serialized format. Delivered weekly to your app or accessible from your browser, the site offers an all-new reading experience, with each episode featuring an immersive experience that puts you right into the heads of your favorite Marvel characters and more.
Each episode has two modes — reading and audio. The latter's narration is enhanced with an original score and sound effects that work to enhance the experience. The site currently has three Marvel superheroes featured — Thor, Jessica Jones and Black Widow — but those are not the only franchises that they deal with. The series also adds an all new chapter to 'Orphan Black', picking up where the show left off, as well as a collection of Arthur C Clarke's short stories. In addition, the site has a wealth of original titles in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, horror and classics.
The webpage itself is still figuring its way out on a technical level. You will find yourself having to log in each time you visit the site, and the Audio Sync mode is very much in Beta, with the narration sometimes skipping past the words, or moving forward to the next episode without fully finishing the one it's currently on. It all works a lot better on the app, although the app doesn't have the Audio Sync mode introduced yet.
However, the minds behind the site are determined to make the Serial Box experience a welcoming one. Setting up your account gets you regular emails updating you on new titles that are added, written in a charmingly friendly tone. The site has a cheery, friendly attitude about it — there is a lot of passion surrounding each project that the site offers.
If the big franchise titles aren't enough of a draw, the site's original content is very much worth exploring, and breaking up a novel into more digestible, bite-sized chapters less than 30 minutes long is a lot less pressure for those with a busy lifestyle who are unable to catch up to all the unused credits sitting in their Audible account.
Serial Box still very much feels like it's in its early stages, but it delivers where it counts — great stories and a unique approach to the storytelling experience. The site makes it easy to sample, as well, offering several free seasons of their books, as well as making the first chapter of every season free of charge. A single purchase gives you access to an entire season, which is updated weekly.
You can find the Serial Box app on the Apple Store and on Google Play or access it from your browser at www.serialbox.com.