My horror audiobook listening from 2024 - part 1
Ghosts, slashers, and rockstars
Hey folks, this week we’ve got the first of two lists of horror audiobooks. There are some fantastic stories here across a variety of subgenres. I hope you’ll find something that takes your fancy. Let’s dive in!
(Like my previous lists - there are Audible affiliate links below, if you use them I get a tiny bit of money, but please feel free to seek out and support independent audiobook stores, e.g. PoC and/or queer owned businesses.)
Disappearance At Devil’s Rock
Written by Paul Tremblay
Performed by Erin Bennett
Regular readers might notice a slight trend, i.e. I’ve read/listened to every novel Paul Tremblay has written. This was one of the few remaining, and it’s another great story.
As mentioned before, Tremblay typically takes a horror subgenre or trope and puts his own spin on things. This time, it’s child disappearances in the vein of ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ (the novel by Joan Lindsay and the Peter Weir movie, UK US). In the inspiration, we have Victorian era girls going missing during a picnic due to otherworldly forces, and in Tremblay’s novel we have a young boy who goes missing in the modern day. Tremblay loves playing with ‘is it supernatural or is everything weird but reality misperceived?’ and this is no exception.
The plot builds with a suspicious and sinister young man who has befriended the boys, but it’s all layered with implications of murder, folklore, devilry, and more.
There are great characters here, with nicely observed youthful dialogue, and he once again shows his skill at slowly cranking up the sense of dread with small details. Love it. If you’ve enjoyed any of Tremblay’s other books, this will work for you too.
You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight
Written by Kalynn Bayron
Performed by Hewot Tedla
I fancied seeing what other authors were doing for the YA horror audience, and this twist on the slasher drew me in.
The beginning is brilliant: a pure slasher set-up — with a twist that it’s a slasher-experience camp. Of course, things become very real, and we get curses, cults, and more as the story proceeds.
One nice surprise was how queer it all is, with a host of sexualities happily co-existing and celebrated, alongside plenty of PoC characters too.
It’s got some great twists and turns, and a very good performance by Tedla, so if you fancy a fun and frothy horror then this would be a good choice.
Incidents Around The House
Written by Josh Malerman
Performed by Delanie Nicole Gill
Wow!
If you want a creepy supernatural horror, this is my pick of the year.
A child is visited by Other-Mummy, who keeps on asking to be let into the girl’s heart. Who or what is this invisible friend? What would happen if the child says ‘yes’?
Gill had the tough role of performing a child’s voice and viewpoint, and neatly shifts between that younger voice and the adults’ voices. She does a fantastic job.
Malerman creates vivid characters, and balances the observations of a child with neatly chosen and appropriate language that keeps adult readers engaged. It’s a hell of a trick, and it’s done brilliantly.
This novel also makes the adults try sensible options, and yet things get worse. I love it when storytellers let their characters be smart! Because they try all the right things, the escalation is nightmarish, brilliantly sinister, and feels even more inevitable.
If you love haunted house, possessions, or stories featuring children, this is an absolute must.
How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive: A Novel
Written by Craig DiLouie
Performed by Garrett Michael Brown
A dark comedy where a director wants to make a 80s slasher with a demonic camera that kills everyone it films — so long as the director cares about them. To create his masterpiece, he must preserve his favourite actress until the final scene where she too will die.
It’s a good ride, with vivid characters, and period-accurate attitudes… which put me off a bit. While some of the women are exploiting the industry’s sexism to reach their goals, the story is dripping with these compromised morals and attempts to push back. DiLouie does show up how problematic those attitudes are/were, but it adds a grimness that drained some of the fun of the setup, for me.
The story is great, and there are a lot of ‘where will this go?’ moments, where it’s never sure what the outcome will be, but those real-world horrors made this a bit of a tougher listen than I was expecting, and that’s despite a few lighter moments.
Island Witch
Written by Amanda Jayatissa
Performed by Isuri Wijesundara
Ever listened to a Sri Lankan story about early 20th century spirits and witchcraft? If not, give this a shot!
A series of killings raise tensions in a village, where the traditional spiritual beliefs are clashing with colonisers’ Christianity. Power structures of money, faith, and especially gender play out as more men are attacked and accusations are cast on a young woman and her family. Meanwhile, she just wants her lover to propose.
While I found the plot quite predictable, the setting and supernatural elements were fantastic and made this well worth the listen. I’m not very familiar with Sri Lankan beliefs and loved getting a glimpse into the stories of vengeful spirits was a treat.
Also, the narrator does a great job. If you’ve overdosed on UK/US settings, this is refreshing and invigorating.
The Lucifer Chord
Written by F. G. Cottam
Performed by David Rintoul
I wasn’t familiar with F.G. Cottam’s writing before, but a quick search revealed paranormal thrillers are their speciality. For horror purists, this might veer too much into the thriller side of things, but I enjoyed it.
I love a bit of cursed footage, and here we have the less-common spin of cursed music:
The visionary lead of a legendary rock band died decades ago, and a music journalist is hired to research and write the authoritative history of the band. In the intervening years, a literal cult status has been given to the deceased, and there’s evidence of supernatural performances from his life and hauntings afterwards. What is truth, and what is a marketing to exploit the band’s myth? Will the right use of the music return the singer from the dead?
This walks a tight line between the spooky and the thriller. There are real-world forces swirling alongside the otherworldly moments, revealing secrets and deceitful motivations, murders, and mysteries. It pretty much nails the tone throughout, and spins a great yarn.
As a sidenote though, the authorial voice is quite male-gaze-y, emphasising the sexy-but-doesn’t-quite-know-it nature of the journalist. This clangs and feels unnecessary at times, but she is still a rounded character beyond her physical description and is portrayed with her own desires. If you can overlook a few clunky moments, which I personally felt were balanced out enough (though your opinion may vary), there’s a lot to enjoy here otherwise.
Next week I’ll be back with part two of this list, and there’s at least one stone-cold classic horror audiobook recommendation on there you shouldn’t miss.
After that we’ll return to the usual mix of original micro-fiction horror stories, writing tips, and more.
Have a great week. Go be kind and spooky,
Mata
xxx
Is that Samurai Lapin on the cover of 'Incidents Around The House's? 😍