October is the perfect time to explore horror audiobooks that go beyond just the usual jump-scares. By blending with other genres like science fiction, satire, and fairy tales, these horror stories offer something for anyone looking for a perfectly scary listen.
Zura Johnson utilizes precise, intensifying pacing in her narration of the atmospheric sci-fi horror audiobook GHOST STATION. Psychologist Ophelia has dedicated her life to preventing a condition that causes space explorers to mentally deteriorate and become murderously violent. Desperate to help, she’s stunned at her new crewmates’ coldness when she arrives at her assigned planet. The crew is clearly hiding something as they spend their days investigating the mysterious remains of an abandoned colony. Johnson effortlessly shifts between male and female voices and the vivid personalities of each distinct character. As violence breaks out, Ophelia and the crew must work together to figure out the truth about the previous colonizer’s sudden departure.
Narrator Mara Wilson heightens both the scares and the humor in THE Z WORD, a satire horror audiobook, with impeccable pacing. The story follows Wendy, who is nursing a broken heart at a Pride kickoff party when she suddenly finds herself caught in a terrifying outbreak where attendees suddenly turn violent. Wendy teams up with a cast of all-queer characters—including drag queen Logan, and stoner pizza driver Sunshine and her ex-girlfriend Leah. Wilson amplifies the absurdity of the situation with unwavering seriousness and brilliant comedic timing, ensuring that listeners will laugh out loud in even the most intense scenes. Additionally, this audiobook thoughtfully explores real issues facing the queer community, such as the commodifying of Pride by corporations more interested in profits than people.
HORROR MOVIE, primarily narrated by Ari Fliakos, is a chilling audiobook about a cursed movie’s production. A group of amateur filmmakers nearly finished the eponymous art flick decades ago. Clips uploaded to the internet, along with mysterious circumstances involving the deaths of nearly everyone involved, earn the film a cult following and prompt a big budget reboot. Only the unnamed actor that played The Thin Kid, the masked victim of torturous bullying from his classmates, is still alive today to reprise his role. Fliakos underscores the actor’s cynicism, obsession, and dark feelings of connection with his fictional role using an acerbic delivery. A cast of narrators perform script reading scenes that juxtapose the story of the original film with the new one. This perfectly paced audiobook will grip listeners through every macabre twist.
A SORCERESS COMES TO CALL is a dark retelling of the fairy tale “The Goose Girl”—for listeners who like a blend of fantasy with their horror. Jennifer Pickens voices Cordelia, who lives with her mother in a house with no doors, isolated from others except her mother’s horse, Falada. Pickens gently wavers her voice, embodying Cordelia’s fear of her mother, a sorceress with the power to render her silent and unmoving. When her mother decides to lure a wealthy old man into marriage, Cordelia fears for his safety and the safety of his sister, Hester. Eliza Foss voices Hester with prim sensibility that softens to sympathy for Cordelia and frustration toward the sorceress. Both narrators sincerely commit to the women’s lack of agency by capturing their feelings of helplessness. But to defeat Cordelia’s wicked mother, they must take matters into their own hands by working together.
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