Every audiobook I listened to in 2023 (my 'read more' resolution results part 4))
Horror audiobook gems
My 2023 resolution was to read more books, but I also listened to a lot of (mostly horror) audiobooks, including a few awesome ones you should check out for yourselves.
Before we get into that, if you want more reading recommendations, take a look the previous parts of this series:
If post is probably too long for your email software, please click your link at the end to see the whole thing.
Let’s dive in!
Into the Uncanny
The superb non-fiction Uncanny podcast was a real comfort-listen during the lockdown period of the pandemic. It blends scepticism and belief, creating a constant tug of war around some of life’s big questions: how many witnesses must see ghosts before they’re accepted as real? Is there life after death? Is it all in our heads?
The format is always ‘here’s something that the witness(es) swear happened’ that becomes the core of each ‘case’, and then Robins and his team investigate possibilities that are both otherworldly and the explainable. The book continues in the same vein, except with a bit more space for philosophising, and more room to explore the stories.
For anyone who likes to have their spooky-bone tickled, it’s delightful. Robins is an excellent radio presenter, which carries into making the audiobook sound like having a cosy chat with a friend, and the cases in the different chapters are a fun mix of ghostly and alien examples.
It’s not going to change the minds of anyone who is Team Believer or Team Skeptic, but both will likely have a lot of fun along the way. Highly recommended.
Famous Last Words - Nora Hunter
This is a mix of Los Angeles serial killers, ghostly goings-on, and teen romance. It’s written in an very accessible way, clips along at a fast pace, and is easy to follow.
Willa sees a ghost-corpse floating in her pool, meanwhile a serial killer is stalking the city and killing women in the style of famous movie scenes. These are, of course, connected, by how and by whom?
The light tone of the writing sometimes contrasted oddly with the darkness of a few moments, but the plot has nice twists and turns, big and memorable characters, and overall it was a fun listen. Not especially spooky, but it’s got some strong moments of tension.
From Below - Darcy Coates
Why did the ‘unsinkable’ SS Arcadia sink decades ago? What happened in the last days aboard, and what might be stirred into life by the team who are about to explore its wreck?
If you like slow builds with lots of time for description, and have an interest in (or fear of?) diving, this could be the book for you. Coates spends a lot of time building the background of the ship in the past and the team of divers in the present, and does finally deliver some exciting moments of peril and stress.
For me, the build was a bit too slow, with some repeated elements (lots of descriptions of floating wallpaper) that my partner began to find comedic rather than spooky. However, when it gets to the crux and the supernatural elements come to life, there are some effective scares here.
British listeners might find the reader’s accent somewhat distracting. I don’t know what US region it is, but it lands strangely in my ear, which didn’t help build the tension for me. US listeners might not have the same issue, but maybe listen to a sample before diving in (pun very definitely intended).
The Spite House - Johnny Compton
Superb!
I listened to this only a couple of months after reading The Haunting of Hill House (see Part 1 for my thoughts on that) and I absolutely loved it.
A man on the run with his daughters is desperate for money. He accepts a job caretaking a haunted house: it pays well, gives a place to live, and all he has to do is record any supernatural events. Except it’s not so easy, because the previous caretakers were driven mad by the house, and the property’s history connects with America’s dark history of violence, racism, and money.
The influence of Hill House is clear—something is sick with this house, and it bleeds into the lives of everyone who stays there. This is a story about a father’s love for his daughters, about history, about modern day issues around race and capitalism, and so much more. Alongside that, it’s a good spooky ride with great characters and brilliant power dynamics.
The reader, Adam Lazarre-White, also delivers a fantastic performance. Each accent is clear, wonderfully unique, and immediately identifiable. His delivery of the teen daughter’s “Yeah, nah” is priceless!
As you can probably gather from the above, this isn’t a light frothy listen—there’re a lot of serious topics in here—but it is a brilliant piece of writing and performance. If you want something engaging, serious, and supernatural, this is a fantastic choice.
The Whistling - Rebecca Netley
Speaking of amazing readers, I was absolutely blown away by Lois Chimimba’s performance of The Whistling. ‘Performance’ is absolutely the right word here—this book is acted straight into your brain. Chimimba has won awards for her audiobook narration, and it’s easy to hear why.
The Whistling takes a Gothic genre trope (nanny looking after a child on a remote estate) and runs in a brilliant direction. Elspeth is caring for the surviving child of twins, but no-one will truly say what happened to the brother, and then there is the ghostly lullaby in the hallways, the creepy dolls, the stones… And the whistling!
Listening to The Whistling, time and time again there were sentences that left me thinking ‘I wish I’d written that’. Netley finds new and exciting ways to describe the wind, and that is a hell of an achievement.
Yes, perhaps the component parts of the plot are nothing incredibly new, but that doesn’t stop Netley from leading us gracefully through the story with incredible prose, crystal clear characterisation, and an entirely satisfying conclusion.
Also, the secret of the whistling is delightfully creepy.
I prefer modern settings, but if you’re going to listen to one vintage-setting ghost story, make it this one. It’s brilliant.
The Pallbearers’ Club - Paul Tremblay
If you’ve read the previous parts of this series of posts, you’ll know 2023 was when I became a Tremblay convert. This was the first story of his that I encountered, and I liked it enough to seek out more of his books.
This is written as the autobiography of Art Barbara. Art was definitely not cool, and he started a club for volunteer pallbearers. What is strange is that the only other member definitely is very cool. She also takes polaroid photos of corpses, but this was only the first of the weird things about her, and it escalates over the decades. This would be an interesting story by itself, but she’s got hold of the manuscript and she’s adding her own commentary on the events. Who is telling the truth?
Like in Tremblay’s other works, there is a constant playfulness around the idea of what is witnessed as supernatural and the possibility that it has a mundane explanation… Or does it?
This is written in first person and Art’s voice is gloriously cringe-inducing at times: he overdramatises, uses phrases that are schlocky, and generally comes across as a bit pretentious purely through the writing style. Meanwhile, the commentary from Art’s friend is dry and often very funny. Both voices are performed perfectly by the readers.
Whose version of the story is real? That’s up to you, but it’s a hell of a lot of fun along the way.
Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno-Garcia
This wins the award for most on-the-nose book title, and it delivers exactly what it promises.
Noemí heads for to a crumbling mansion, summoned by letters from her cousin. Noemí finds a family swimming in secrets, a swoonsome tall dark stranger and a quiet (but quirkily attractive) ally, ghostly goings on, spooky mould everywhere, and a dark history unfolds.
Perhaps I was expecting the ‘Mexican’ to have greater sway than the ‘Gothic’ of the title, but much of the story felt familiar from the Gothic genre: pacing, slightly archaic language, English-style mansion, and characters all meet the expectations. The character backgrounds and the geographic setting add the Mexican twist, but Gothic genre lovers are unlikely to be surprised.
With this said, once my expectations were adjusted, this is a very well written Gothic novel, but if you’re looking for something with a stronger Latin-American flavour then perhaps try V. Castro’s The Queen of Cicadas (US, UK), which I listened to in 2022.
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - Stuart Turton
This is one of those books where you can’t say too much without giving spoilers.
It’s a Christie-esque setup, with a cast of big and boldly drawn characters converging in a mansion, but secrets abound, amnesia confuses, and the evening ends in murder… Except it’s also a time loop.
… And that’s as much as I should say!
I love a good time loop story, and Turton adds a new twist on things. There is some brilliant plot work here, and I imagine planning it all was a nightmare!
Although the reader, Jot Davies, does a superb job, the story might be slightly easier to parse in text format (i.e on a page). I say that simply because this is a damn good murder mystery where there are plenty of twists and turns, which personally I find easier to track when I’ve seen them written down.
Either way, in audiobook or text format, this is a surprising and twisty murder mystery and time-loop story, and utterly unlike anything else I read in 2023. Give it a go!
And that, finally, is that! All 16 books and 16 more audiobooks that I read in 2023.
I hope you found something that intrigues you. There are some brilliant stories in there. Reading this much has improved my life!
Is there anything (horror or horror-adjacent) I should definitely not miss reading in 2024? Please let me know in the comments!
Next newsletter we’ll be returning to the usual routine of original short horror stories, critiques, and other fun things.
Until then, be kind to yourselves and others,
Mata <3