10 timeless horror audiobooks that will haunt your headphones

Hi readers! The spooky season is upon us again, and what better time for some horror fiction! There are so many great horror audiobooks out there; it’s hard to pick just a few to recommend. “Write what you know” is generally pretty good advice, and my personal horror obsession is with weird fiction from past centuries. 

Below are a few of my favorites that I think remain delightfully eerie all these years later. I hope you give them a try on the Libby app, and happy listening!

1. Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley
Read by Simon Vance

I finally got around to listening to Frankenstein this year, and it’s incredible. Frankenstein is rightfully acclaimed as one of the first horror and science fiction novels, but it’s also beautifully written and deals with profound and timeless themes.

Fans of Paradise Lost (and who isn’t) will appreciate the poem’s influence on the novel and the parallels between Milton’s Satan and Shelley’s monster. This book rocks and I’d recommend it to everyone.

2. Dracula by Bram Stoker
Read by Tavia Gilbert & J. P. Guimont

We all know Dracula; it’s good stuff. I can’t recommend it as unreservedly as Frankenstein—it’s too long and really drags towards the end. That said, its straightforward, epistolary style keeps it fun and accessible to modern readers. The book’s strangeness, particularly in the early chapters dealing with Dracula’s castle, are wild and make Dracula worth checking out if you haven’t already.

3. The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers
Read by Claire Bloom, Stefan Rudnicki & Gabrielle de Cuir

Robert W. Chambers turned the "weird" in weird fiction up to eleven in The King in Yellow, a collection of short stories that dealt with madness-inducing books and cosmic horror 30 years before “The Call of Cthulhu” was published. Chambers’ short story collection has been extremely influential (for example, it’s referenced heavily in season one of True Detective), and The King in Yellow is a great read in its own right.

The first four stories are loosely connected by a fictional play also called “The King in Yellow.” Readers of the play are met with doom and madness, but, for whatever reason, a lot of people seem to keep copies lying around—you do you, I guess. All four of these stories are terrific. Oddly, the remainder of the stories don’t touch on the play and in fact aren’t horror stories at all, but they’re pretty good. Overall, I’d strongly recommend checking this collection out.

4. The Willows by Algernon Blackwood
Read by Nick Sampson

This phenomenal novel tells the story of two sailors who are forced to camp on a small overgrown island. Would you believe it’s super haunted?

The greatness of The Willows is in its subtlety and suggestion. Without resorting to any shocks or jarring sequences, the novella evokes unrelenting feelings of absolute dread. There are strong folk horror vibes in this one; I’m particularly reminded of the 2017 horror movie, The Ritual. This is a quick and terrific read that I’d recommend without hesitation.

5. The Great God Pan and Other Weird Tales by Arthur Machen
Read by Peter Wickham

This is a collection of some of the best stories by Welsh writer Arthur Machen. Like Chambers, Machen was an influential and enduring horror writer. His stories deal prominently with themes of nature, witchcraft, and the dangers of the supernatural world.

There’s a lot to enjoy in this audiobook, but the standout to me is “The White People.” In this story, an occultist shares with a curious acquaintance a treasured possession, the diary of a young witch—it’s wild. All of these stories are worth a listen; I strongly recommend this one.

6. Ghost Stories of an Antiquary by M. R. James
Read by David Timson & Stephen Critchlow

If there is a “cozy horror” entry in this list, it’s this one. M. R. James’ story collection is not the most frightening but it’s charming, creepy, and atmospheric. All the stories in the collection are solid and make for easy listening. “Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad” is perhaps the most famous, and it’s excellent. “Count Magnus” is another standout, and, if you include More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (which expanded on the original with seven more stories), “Casting the Runes” is terrific.

7. At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft
Read by William Roberts

At the Mountains of Madness has the dual advantages of being Lovecraft’s best story and being relatively unsullied by his notoriously odious personal views. It tells the story of a university research group exploring Antarctica. When their ship loses contact with several members of the party, two of the remaining members go to look for them. Horror ensues.

I’m obsessed with this story for the patience with which it builds tension and atmosphere, its emphasis on academia and art history (not kidding), and (in a rare win for the author) the idea that maybe humans and beings from beyond the stars aren’t that different after all.

8. The Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection
Read by Vincent Price & Basil Rathbone

Oh Poe. No author on this list needs less of an introduction. There are some great performances of Poe’s work out there, including this collection with Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone.

In this writer’s opinion, Poe’s tales run very hot or cold. “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Cask of Amontillado” are unreal, but he has a lot of stinkers. The linked collection includes most of the hits without getting bogged down in the misses.

9. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
Read by Stewart Wills & Kevin MacLeod

Moby-Dick is an occult horror story; hear me out. A morbidly depressed loner decides to go on a whaling voyage. He’s told that he should pick out the ship to sail in himself, because a pagan god has guaranteed he’ll find the right one. He immediately hears grim prophecies about the voyage and eldritch stories about the captain. Upon setting sail, the most normal dude on the boat throws himself overboard. Said mysterious captain turns out to be a Neo-Platonic Faust at war with God—a man who baptizes his harpoon in blood to hunt a whale that a non-trivial number of people believe immortal.

This book’s just amazing. Is it the great American horror novel?

10. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Read by Bernadette Dunne

A story about a very regular family in a very normal house—okay, not really. We Have Always Lived in the Castle is told from the perspective of Mary Katherine (Merricat) Blackwood, an unsocial 18-year-old who is devoted to her elder sister Constance. Agoraphobic Constance hasn’t left their house in several years, since around the time the rest of her family, save Merricat and their uncle, Julian, were fatally poisoned at dinner.

The locals all believe Constance is guilty of the murder, though she was acquitted of the charges. The stasis in which Merricat, Constance, and Uncle Julian live is broken when Charles, an estranged cousin, arrives to visit.

This is a terrific novel with a truly outstanding voice and great thematic depth. This is a book no horror fan should miss.

*Title availability may vary.

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