13 Horror Audiobooks That Rival the Movies

The Fright Stuff

Love scary movies? These listens bring the chills even closer.

I’ve always been a lover of all things spooky—as a kid, I quickly graduated from reading Goosebumps to Stephen King. Lucky for me, horror is really having a moment right now, with no shortage of terrifying, often very smart, horror out there to watch.

But this year, after bingeing all the latest films, I find myself wanting to return to my spooky literary roots. If you’re also fan of scary movies looking to expand your horizons, or just looking to extend your horror repertoire beyond the basics, here are some suggestions based on popular movies & TV shows.
—Sam, Audible Editor

The Good House

De: Tananarive Due

Narrado por: Robin Miles

Duración: 21 h y 54 m

Fecha de lanzamiento: 07-09-04

Idioma: Inglés

4 out of 5 stars 4,874 calificaciones

Listen if you liked: The Haunting of Hill House

When it comes to horror, in my opinion, it's hard to beat a great haunted house tale. Tananarive Due’s The Good House presents a fresh take on a classic horror trope. With compelling characters and a sense of impending dread, Due weaves together a mystical past with present-day evils. The author’s writing has been compared to Stephen King’s with good reason—this one is as imaginative as it is compulsively listenable, especially with the deft narration of Robin Miles.
A Head Full of Ghosts

De: Paul Tremblay

Narrado por: Joy Osmanski

Duración: 8 h y 49 m

Fecha de lanzamiento: 06-02-15

Idioma: Inglés

4 out of 5 stars 6,144 calificaciones

Listen if you liked: Hereditary

Family dysfunction, a suspected demonic possession, and biting social commentary, come together in a disturbing crescendo in Tremblay's unsettling novel, narrated by Joy Osmanski, who expertly embodies the members of the Barrett family, making the domestic drama all the more palpable.
The Bus on Thursday

A Novel

De: Shirley Barrett

Narrado por: Katherine Littrell

Duración: 5 h y 41 m

Fecha de lanzamiento: 09-18-18

Idioma: Inglés

3 out of 5 stars 72 calificaciones

Listen if you liked: The Exorcist...or Bridget Jones's Diary

Stay with me here, because that's how this book has been pitched and...it's not wrong. If you'd ordinarily pick a romantic comedy over a scary movie, but still have spooky inclinations, try this new release. Shirley Barrett's light (yet creepy), hilarious (yet surprisingly deep) novel might just be the gateway to horror you've been looking for.
The Ballad of Black Tom

De: Victor LaValle

Narrado por: Kevin R. Free

Duración: 3 h y 9 m

Fecha de lanzamiento: 02-16-16

Idioma: Inglés

4.5 out of 5 stars 1,869 calificaciones

Listen if you liked: Get Out

Jordan Peele’s directorial debut was probably my favorite horror movie of the past few years, so I hesitate to compare anything to it, but this smart short novel comes close. Many horror fans struggle to reconcile the lasting impact of H.P. Lovecraft’s work on the genre with the man himself, who was known to be a bigot, but Victor LaValle’s twist on the story The Horror at Red Hook skillfully builds on the eerie senses of the original tale while revealing the more tangible horrors of racism and hate.
The Witching Hour

De: Anne Rice

Narrado por: Kate Reading

Serie: Lives of the Mayfair Witches, Libro 1

Duración: 50 h y 1 m

Fecha de lanzamiento: 10-13-15

Idioma: Inglés

4.5 out of 5 stars 9,502 calificaciones

Listen if you liked: The VVitch

Anne Rice is perhaps best known for her classic Vampire Chronicles, but her Mayfair Witches series (which does eventually intersect with the world of Lestat, et al) is every bit as enchanting and expansive—with romance, intrigue, horror, and supernatural forces. And if it's the 50-hour run time that frightens you most here, fear not—the very capable Kate Reading will make this alluring tale fly by.
Final Girls

A Novel

De: Riley Sager

Narrado por: Erin Bennett, Hillary Huber

Duración: 12 h y 24 m

Fecha de lanzamiento: 07-11-17

Idioma: Inglés

4 out of 5 stars 8,006 calificaciones

Listen if you liked: Scream

The title of Riley Sager's clever, campy debut is an nod to the genre itself: the term final girl is used to describe a familiar trope in classic horror movies: the sole (female) survivor in a murder's rampage. Much like the film Scream, which achieved cult status in the '90s as a parody of all the good, bad, and downright nightmarish horror that came before it, Sager's slasher novel is as pulse-pounding as it is delightful in its self-awareness. And duel narration by the incredible Hillary Huber and Erin Bennet make this one an extra-cinematic listen.
Marina

De: Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Narrado por: Daniel Weyman

Duración: 7 h y 30 m

Fecha de lanzamiento: 07-22-14

Idioma: Inglés

4.5 out of 5 stars 633 calificaciones

Listen if you like: Guillermo del Toro

I can't take credit for thinking up this comparison—it's one I've seen time and time again when perusing reader and listener reviews for this book—but I wholeheartedly agree. First released in Spain, and set in Barcelona Carlos Ruiz Zafón's young adult novel is a fantastical mix of gothic horror, romance, and mystery wrapped up in an intriguing tale with breathtaking imagery and compelling characters.
The Silence

De: Tim Lebbon

Narrado por: Marisa Calin, Ralph Lister

Duración: 11 h y 31 m

Fecha de lanzamiento: 11-20-18

Idioma: Inglés

4.5 out of 5 stars 1,894 calificaciones

Listen if you liked: It Follows or A Quiet Place

Any horror movie or book that leaves you compulsively looking over your shoulder for the next week or so is a winner in my book, and Tim Lebbon's (of Alien: Out of the Shadows fame) post-apocalyptic thriller will have you doing just that. Astute listeners will note the similarities to A Quiet Place but these two stories do stand on their own—and Lebbon's novel will soon be hitting the big screen as well in an adaptation starring Kiernan Shipka and Stanley Tucci.
Sawkill Girls

De: Claire Legrand

Narrado por: Lauren Ezzo

Duración: 12 h y 58 m

Fecha de lanzamiento: 10-02-18

Idioma: Inglés

4 out of 5 stars 397 calificaciones

Listen if you liked: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

This novel is one of the more exciting spooky releases of the season. Three teenage girls band together to take down an evil force that has been causing other girls to disappear on the isolated island of Sawkill Rock for generations. If you're looking for your fix of teens-kicking-supernatural-butt this season, with a side of girl power and a welcome dose of LGBTQ+ representation, look no further.
My Best Friend's Exorcism

A Novel

De: Grady Hendrix

Narrado por: Emily Woo Zeller

Duración: 10 h y 11 m

Fecha de lanzamiento: 05-17-16

Idioma: Inglés

4.5 out of 5 stars 8,737 calificaciones

Listen if you like: Stranger Things

You knew you weren't getting out of here without a ST comparison, right? Okay, good. Because if you particularly loved the humor and nonstop '80s nostalgia of that series (and really, how could you not?), Grady Hendrix's novel has to be on your listen list. It's a horror novel with all the heart of a John Hughes movie (as confessed by the author himself), and since its release in 2016, has become an in-house favorite novel. Plus, it's narrated by another in-house favorite (Emily Woo Zeller).
Brother

De: Ania Ahlborn

Narrado por: Paul Boehmer

Duración: 9 h y 40 m

Fecha de lanzamiento: 10-13-15

Idioma: Inglés

4.5 out of 5 stars 1,502 calificaciones

Listen if you liked: Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Full disclosure: gory horror like this is not really my thing, but if anyone can do it effectively it's prolific author Ania Ahlborn. Brother is indeed not for the faint of heart, and yet it manages to put a very human spin on a classic, brutal horror trope. Paul Boehmer's performance perfectly encapsulates that mix of dread and despair.
Reverse Transmission

De: Ben O'Brien, Param Anand Singh

Narrado por: Dani Montalvo, Alan Resnick, Marc Steiner, Brooke Owens, Jacobi Howard

Duración: 2 h y 32 m

Fecha de lanzamiento: 10-24-18

Idioma: Inglés

4 out of 5 stars 924 calificaciones

Listen if you liked: Christine...with a dose of humor

John Carpenter's beloved cult classic may not be funny per se, but if you were able to get on board with the idea of a haunted car—whether it spooked you, made you laugh, or some combination of the two—Reverse Transmission may just be your new favorite. In this Audible Original, the 1958 Plymouth Fury gets a 21st-century update to a driverless car sold by a tech giant. A murderous vehicle, AI gone wild, and clever, laugh-out-loud moments. Sounds like the perfect listen to cap off the season to me.