Every audiobook I listened to in 2023 (my 'read more' resolution results (part 3))
Containing some brilliant horror audiobook recommendations.
My 2023 resolution was to read more books. Alongside normal books, I also listened to a lot of (mostly horror) audiobooks, including a few awesome ones you should check out for yourselves.
Before we start, if you want more reading recommendations, take a look the previous two parts of this series:
Today’s newsletter was going to be the final one on this topic, but ended up being too long, so there’s one more coming next week before we resume the usual schedule.
Let’s dive in!
The Rats - James Herbert
An absolute horror classic, read in a wonderfully plum English tone.
A strange new species of hyper-aggressive and hyper-intelligent rat emerges in London, devouring the edges of society while growing in numbers.
I’d already listened to a couple of other books by James Herbert, so had an idea what might be ahead: gore, sexuality, and some very sinister moments.
Amazingly, this was Herbert’s first novel, but there is already a very sophisticated writer at work. Strong characterisation makes his characters jump off the pages, and their horrible deaths all the more poignant.
Something I’ve noticed in Herbert’s work, which he uses very effectively, is that he gives long sections of his stories over to side characters.
In The Rats, this use of side-characters can be a little distracting—we spend extended periods with could-be-but-won’t-be heroes before witnessing their deaths. In later novels, Herbert tended to spread these side stories more carefully through the novel, giving insights into how the terrors escalate for them over time.
I think there’s an advantage to this approach: by delivering horror moments in these (what are effectively) short stories, it lowers the pressure on the main narrative to keep our attention. It also gives a portrait of a whole society in peril, making the hero’s efforts more meaningful: it effectively raises the stakes.
I love reading first-novels, particularly when I’m aware of how far the author went subsequently. It’s great to see the seeds of their voice and how they developed their style over time.
Also worth noting, Herbert has a lot of sympathy for the marginalised in society, particularly LGBTQ+ people are given chances to be living, breathing characters who struggle against the repression of society at the time. Some might argue that their untimely deaths are a sign Herbert wanted to punish them, but personally I think he wanted to show the dangers facing those society pushes into the shadows.
It’s a superb book, and an inspiring first-novel.
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires - Grady Hendrix
The performance by Bahni Turpin is absolutely superb. I think ‘narrated by’ underplays the level of acting skill some readers bring to their readings.
A woman with a dull life finds joy and companionship in a book club, but a handsome stranger joins, people in town start going missing, and an elderly relative swears she knew the man long ago… But he hasn’t aged.
I’m not sure what the equivalent of ‘page turner’ is for an audiobook—battery drainer?—but this is definitely it. Some friends had varying feelings about it, so perhaps Turpin’s performance and wonderful accents lift it, but I loved this.
The humour and relationships are brilliant, the building evidence of vampirism handled very nicely, the peril escalates with great skill, and everything ties together perfectly.
As mentioned before, it’s hard to spook me, and—while this didn’t scare me—it did at least make me writhe with one particularly icky moment towards the end.
Very, very entertaining.
My Heart Is a Chainsaw - Stephen Graham Jones
Jade is a young woman with an abusive father and distant mother, whose obsession with horror films—particularly slasher movies—permeates her view of the gentrifying town she lives in; however, when people start dying for real, her knowledge might be the only thing that saves everyone.
What a hell of a ride! I’d heard of Jones’s Only Good Indians but not read it, and rave reviews for My Heart Is A Chainsaw inspired me to check it out.
The perspective sticks entirely to Jade’s view of events, occasionally making us question how reliable she is as a narrator, but the horrific reality of the core events is compelling and we are led into seeing the truth that only she sees.
Beneath the portrait of a powerful young woman, we also see the suffering caused by her family life, the abuse, and the continuing impact of the oppression of Native American people (Jones is Blackfoot Native American, and the character Jade is half-Native American).
Jones weaves slasher tropes with a huge dose of social observation, and creates a brilliant and propulsive plot. I loved Jade’s voice in this—she’s an absolutely superb character.
This is much more serious in tone than The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, so perhaps a heavier listen (although Hendrix’s book has its deeper points to make too), but Jade’s voice sings from the pages. Well worth your time.
Don't Fear the Reaper - Stephen Graham Jones
I liked My Heart Is a Chainsaw so much that I couldn’t resist moving straight on to the sequel.
Four years after the events of My Heart Is A Chainsaw, a notorious serial killer—Dark Mill South—escapes into Jade’s hometown of Proofrock, just as she is released from prison. She’s a changed woman, now going by her given name ‘Jennifer’, and pushing back her knowledge of horror films to try to move on with her life, but the killings begin and Jade/Jennifer needs to be reminded of the slasher rules if she’s going to survive.
Unlike the previous novel, this is told from multiple perspectives, and frankly I missed the singular strength of Jade’s voice. Perhaps it works better on the page, but in the audiobook form I sometimes found it a bit hard to keep track of all the characters and their storylines. Just look at the huge list of narrators in the image above!
Still, despite the slightly overwhelming plethora of perspectives, the central story is very strong, and the lead characters pull you through the escalating risks of the killer and the biting winter, through to a satisfying end.
In the grand tradition of slasher movies, there is another (final?) sequel on the way. So long as it isn’t set in space, I’ll definitely be checking that out.
The Last House on Needless Street - Catriona Ward
A child goes missing. Years later, her sister is sure who did it. Ted lives on the last house of Needless Street with his daughter, Lauren, and his cat, Olivia, and Ted must know something about it.
Revenge, perception, and trauma entwine in this story that is filled with plenty of twists. I can’t write much more without giving things away, but, while I saw the end coming, there were plenty of turns along the way that I didn’t expect.
Complements are due to the narrator Christopher Ragland. I had the absolute pleasure of directing Christopher on a project last year and, despite having worked with him, I didn’t realise that he was performing the women’s parts until about half an hour into listening to them! He has a superb range, and it’s put to amazing use here.
This can be a very, very dark story (there’s a lot about trauma and childhood neglect here), but there is a warm message inside that makes this a very different kind of horror story from the previous books I’ve written about.
Personally, I prefer a little more fantastical horror rather than what is a sadly believable tale, but this will be satisfying for people who want something believable, twisty, and ultimately uplifting.
Thirteen Storeys - Jonathan Sims
Thirteen Storeys contains thirteen stories (you see what he did there?) of supernatural horror, each linked to a building and its owner’s terrible past. They each stand as strong ‘tales of the unexpected’-style stories, exploring different spooky tropes such as cursed paintings, liminal spaces, and creepy stains, but together they form an impressive central narrative.
Here we see a first novel where an experienced short story writer has stepped up into a novel format but kept hold of his strengths.
Some of the stories hit the spooky factor harder than others, and I suspect reader’s preferences will vary which is their favourite, but they all are well-written and enjoyable.
What really impressed me was how well it all tied together into a suitably and entertainingly grim conclusion. Where in Don’t Fear The Reaper the multiple viewpoints became a bit overwhelming, here we have slightly less viewpoints and more time to get to know each of them so, by the time we’re at the perspective-jumping conclusion, it’s easier to follow.
I’m also always a fan of a bit of social commentary—although I suspect it’s become almost impossible to write modern horror without it—and it’s handled well here. It is a little obvious (rich people are often assholes!) and so might be shooting fish in a barrel, but it’s necessary for the story.
If you enjoy short stories but also want something that has more coherence, and enjoy a range of British accents in the readers, this is a great listen.
Certain Dark Things - M. J. Pack
You’re reading this newsletter, so you probably know I’ve been writing quite a few short stories in the last year. It’s easy to find old classics (M. R. James, etc.) but I wanted to check out a modern published collection to see how others were handling the form.
Certain Dark Things is a collection of short horror stories with a range of themes, moving between real-life horrors to supernatural entities. There is a strong American vibe in the settings, and it often plays with tropes you’ll know from other horror stories: sideshow freaks, sleepovers, and more.
Perhaps it was the American settings, or the ambivalent treatment of some of the women characters, but this collection didn’t quite land for me.
In regards to the treatment of women, I think this is a deliberate reflection of society’s cruelty and patriarchal ideas of women’s roles and behaviours, but that reflection didn’t (for me) quite move on to being a critique… Or maybe I simply wasn’t in the right mood, or perhaps audiobook isn’t the right format for these?
There are some highlights in here, and I particularly liked the sleepover story, but it was quite a mixed bag. Most readers seem to love this collection, so you might feel differently. If you want a mix, it’s worth a try.
You See The Monster - Luke Smitherd
One of the things about horror is that it needs isolation; whether that’s literally a space ship or an arctic base, or metaphorically in a disbelieving police leaving you by yourselves, your protagonist needs isolation for fear to take hold.
In You See The Monster, Smitherd manages to keep his protagonists thoroughly connected to society, while still isolating them through the nature of the threat. With ancient creatures, curses, cults, and online media, this story keeps on twisting and playing ghoulish tricks on the main cast.
Again, saying too much would spoil the surprises, but it’s a big bag of fun. The scope of the threat keeps on growing through the story, in a way many authors wouldn’t attempt, and that makes it hard to guess where the story will turn next.
It’s fast-paced, written in a fun and chatty tone, with some gripping moments and fun ideas for supernatural horror, and performed well by the author (who is also the narrator of the audio book).
If you fancy something with refreshingly unpretentious writing and plenty of twists and turns, I highly recommend this for a very enjoyable listen.
The final part of this 2023 round up will come next week. I hope it’s inspired you to find a few new stories to dive into!
Don’t forget to check the previous parts:
Until next time, be kind to yourselves and others,
Mata <3
The Rats was my gateway to James Herbert's fiction. It's magnificent.