The spookiest season of the year is finally here, and now's the perfect time to cozy up with a twisted tale of monsters, ghosts, and psychopathic murderers. And while there's nothing quite like cracking open a new horror book, sometimes you want those deeply disturbing tales pumped right into your ears. To satisfy your darkest urges, we compiled the best horror audiobooks rife with supernatural terror and intrigue. Everyone’s afraid of something, so make sure you listen to these haunting narratives with the lights on.
Carrion Comfort
Stephen King himself hailed Dan Simmons' Carrion Comfort as "one of the three greatest horror novels of the 20th century." High praise, indeed. In the darkest days of WWII, Saul Laski is apprehended by Nazis and sent to the Chelmno extermination camp. There, however, he learns of an ancient and monstrous evil: a secret society of beings responsible for the world’s most violent events. The members of this hidden order are sinister figures with psychic abilities, able to enter into the minds of humans and force them to carry out acts of unspeakable aggression. Saul is determined to stop the secret society and its rising wave of violence, to save himself and the world around him.
Related: 14 Twisted Horror Books for Fans of The Haunting of Bly Manor
Pet Sematary
Enter the woods—if you dare. Stephen King's undying tale takes on new life in this chilling audiobook thanks to the masterful narrative work of Dexter's Michael C. Hall. Beyond the “pet sematary” you’ll find a forbidden burial ground. Let Hall’s narration beckon you towards the graveyard’s heinous secrets and seductive promises, unleashing a blood-chilling fate more frightening than you could ever imagine.
The Hunger
Alma Katsu invites you on a doomed journey to an American frontier in this historical horror book based on the real-life Donner Party of 1846. As the travelers make their way into the wilderness, they soon find themselves plagued by all manner of misfortune: depleted rations, growing hunger, and a mysterious death of a boy have driven the party to the brink of madness. Amidst the chaos, however, lurks a sinister force. Something hungry inhabits these mountains, and it’s been stalking the wagon train from the very beginning.
Related: 20 Female Horror Writers That Will Haunt Your Bookshelves Forevermore
Mexican Gothic
Soon to be a Hulu Original Series, Silvia Moreno-Garcia's summer horror hit Mexican Gothic makes for a deliciously spooky audiobook experience. The narrative explores the sinister past of the isolated mansion, High Place, through the eyes of the courageous debutante, Noemí Taboada. When the menacing abode begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom, she can turn only to the house’s youngest inhabitant for help. However, he seems to be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s terrifying violence and madness. What’s worse, it seems the house’s treacherous seductions are compelling Noemí to stay with them—forever.
The White People
A mounting atmosphere of dread pervades Machen’s classic tale of sinister folklore and black magic, as a mysterious green diary suggests the existence of the supernatural through cryptic allusions to evil nymphs and scarlet ceremonies. In a twisted turn of events, the owner of the diary, a young girl who had dared venture into the secret world, turns up dead near a pagan statue in the woods.
The Twisted Ones
While clearing out her dead grandmother’s house, Mouse finds a secret journal filled with...nonsense. A colony of strange beings living in the woods, hunting her family? Yeah right. But when Mouse crosses paths with the impossible terrors described within the journal, she realizes she might not survive to tell the tale.
It
Is Stephen King's monster horror novel still haunting your TBR list? Perhaps its audiobook version is just what you need to experience the terror! An eerily familiar evil too terrifying to name haunts the city of Derry, Maine and some would rather die than face its torture. Bound by a childhood promise, a group of outsiders must return home to face the monster lurking within the sewers before it murders even more children than it already has.
Related: 11 Nightmare-Inducing Authors to Check Out After You've Read Everything by Stephen King
Dark Halls
Highland Elementary was burned down for a reason. Years later, a newly built school stands on the grounds. And yet locals remain wary, afraid that the new construction will just invite more tragedy. Whatever haunted the halls of Highland still lives there, and it’s reaching out to Ryan Herb. Something—or someone—within the new school is determined to keep the evil alive, and Ryan must find a way to end its reign of terror without becoming a permanent resident of the school himself.
Whispering Corridors: A Ghost Story
According to legend, a vengeful spirit inhabits the house on Kenwood Drive. Once you venture in, you bring the Upside-Down Man out with you, and within three days, you vanish. One Halloween, college students Eric and Lydia decide to create a video document of the supernatural. The abandoned Kenwood house is the perfect filming location. But when the two begin seeing strange things, they know they’ve only got three days to untangle local myth from sinister reality.
The Shape of Night
An unspeakable tragedy leads Ava Collette to flee to an isolated seaside mansion in Maine. One night, the all-too-real apparition of Captain Jeremiah Brodie welcomes her into his world—and his arms. But Ava soon learns that every woman who lives in that house also dies there. What’s worse, she’s beginning to question her sanity as she obsessively waits for the captain’s next ghostly visit. Is he the one murdering women, or is a flesh-and-blood serial killer circling ever closer to Ava?
A Head Full of Ghosts
Reminiscent of Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, Tremblay delivers a mind-bending tale of psychological horror that explores the very nature of evil. When a young woman's unstable state turns out to be a case of demonic possession, the Barrett household devolves into a house of horrors. Tragedy ensues, plaguing the youngest Barrett sister with painfully chilling secrets comprised of the stuff of nightmares.
Related: Paul Tremblay: Where to Begin with the Stoker Award-Winning Horror Author of A Head Full of Ghosts
