Autumn is a great time for kids and young adults to cozy up with a good spooky listen. Fall brings us indoors earlier and bridges the bright days of summer and the long dark nights of winter. While some kids’ thoughts turn to pumpkin spice, other kids will be thinking of jack-o'-lanterns, headless horsemen, and Halloween. Scary audiobooks for kids and teens range from humorous to horror, and there's likely something to suit every listener, including choices for more adventurous or more sensitive listeners. So dim the lights, grab your earbuds and a nice cup of tea or warm cider, and enjoy a good fright!
Ages 4-6
MILLIE FLEUR SAVES THE NIGHT is an Earphones Award-winning audiobook and a gently spooky story for little ones who are afraid of the dark.
An orchestral score is seamlessly layered with the sounds of nocturnal creatures and the frightened murmured voices of Garden Glen residents who are scurrying to light lanterns to keep the darkness at bay. Narrator Elizabeth Knowelden's prim English accent perfectly suits Millie and her mom, the only family with a night garden. After extinguishing the street lamp, Millie lures the dark back to Garden Glen. Overcoming their fear, townspeople are drawn to the scent of her garden’s night-blooming flowers and its wonders.
EVELYN WITCH GETS A PET offers a humorous mystery and a small lesson in patience and resolve.
Narrator Kate Coventry creates an energetic and high-pitched voice for the witch Evelyn, who, much to her initial disappointment, has only enough money to get a mystery pet, rather than the pet of her choice. What's more, the pet is inside an egg—so she doesn't know what it is. Coventry captures Evelyn's frustration as she struggles to wait patiently for her egg to hatch. She tries every spell to hatch her mystery pet, but each attempt fails. Exciting music and sound effects add fun and whimsy to this story.
LEO: A GHOST STORY is about a young ghost who just wants a friend. A good choice for kind or sensitive kids who will understand Leo's desire to fit in.
Nicol Zanzarella's narration is ever steady. She is as gentle of voice as Leo, the not-your-usual ghost, is of personality. Zanzarella's modulation is even, no matter if the occupants of the house are shrieking wildly about a ghost, if a police officer walks through that ghost, or if Leo is chatting with the first person who talks directly to him. When Leo and friend Jane enter their imaginary world, Zanzarella mirrors the joyful responses of both characters. And she's even more heartfelt when Leo divulges his true identity.
Middle Grade
Narration from Golden Voice Ramón de Ocampo and horror author Paul Tremblay's first foray into middle-grade fiction combine to make ANOTHER a listener’s dream nightmare.
Ramón de Ocampo's prosaic narration adds to the uneasy mood of this middle-grade horror story. After an embarrassing school incident, Casey is a social outcast. His family worries about him—until a local dad drops a new friend at Casey's home. Morel doesn't speak, has no eyes, and appears to be made of clay. Oddly, only Casey seems to notice these peculiarities. De Ocampo shines at adding to the listener's discomfort. Rather than reflect Casey's anxiety, his delivery mirrors the normalcy that Casey's parents exhibit around Morel. When Morel's true nature is finally revealed, de Ocampo conveys Casey's panic—which the listener has felt all along.
THE PUMPKIN PRINCESS AND THE FOREVER NIGHT is an Earphones Award winner with a gentle, old-fashioned mood.
This spooky middle-grade audiobook has all the cozy comforts of autumn, and Golden Voice Alyssa Bresnahan sets the tone perfectly. When Eve runs away from the orphanage, she's unexpectedly rescued and then adopted by the Pumpkin King. Bresnahan's Pumpkin King sounds delightfully gruff and grumbly, but he's caring and protective, and he just wants to be a good father and give Eve a welcoming home. He takes her to Hallowell Valley, where she discovers that she's the only living human among a bustling populace of scarecrows, witches, vampires, werewolves, skeletons, and other mysterious entities.
For middle-grade listeners who want just a taste of horror, LIVING GHOSTS AND MISCHIEVOUS MONSTERS: CHILLING AMERICAN INDIAN STORIES is a collection, more cautionary than frightful, that offers a glimpse into Native cultures.
Wes and DeLanna Studi narrate this collection of modern and traditional stories from a variety of American Indian tribes. Only mildly frightening, most of these stories are intended to teach traditions of caution, bravery, obedience, loyalty, compassion, and more. DeLanna Studi reads with a tone of nervous apprehension intended to instill fear and anxiety. Wes Studi uses a slow pace and solemn tones to create the otherworldliness that often characterizes these tales. Five chapters include ghosts, spirits, witches, monsters, and the supernatural.
Young Adult
For teens pressed for time or seeking bite-sized bits of darkness, THE COLLECTORS is an eclectic, eerie choice, edited by A.S. King, the popular, award-winning YA author, and narrated by a talented ensemble.
Ten distinguished writers contributed to this anthology of short stories with a theme of collections. The stories are as varied as the nine narrators who deliver them, but all have a dark tone. In two surrealist stories featuring Latine women trapped in bleak situations, Frankie Corzo narrates with an edgy tone of underlying power. Vas Eli is outstanding in "Sweet Everlasting," expressing the complete disdain of a demon who gives people what they think they want and then collects their sweet moments for all eternity.
FIVE MIDNIGHTS offers thrills and chills in a tropical setting and introduces readers to a frightening myth.
Almarie Guerra is wonderfully cast to narrate Cardinal's fabulously creepy murder mystery set in Puerto Rico and based on the El Cuco myth (a boogeyman monster). Guerra's well-paced performance, including her perfect Spanish pronunciation, will keep listeners engaged with the suspenseful narrative, which is equal parts crime investigation, macabre ghost story, and slow-burn romance.
For a completely different horror experience, teen listeners can hear a full cast in THE AGONY HOUSE, a spine-tingling performance of a graphic novel, and an Earphones Award winner.
Mystery meets ghost story meets graphic novel in an audio tour de force that blends genres and formats while fully exploring the unique characteristics of each. Seventeen-year-old Denise and her family are trying to renovate their ramshackle New Orleans home, but the house—and the increasingly nasty ghosts that live within it--seems determined to thwart their plans. Narrator Haven Burton infuses earnest warmth into the story and skillfully communicates Denise's resilience as, aided only by clues from a mysterious comic book, she sets out to stop the unfriendly specters. A full cast gloriously narrates the comic book's panels, which are layered with eerie music and evocative sound effects.
—
Lisa Taylor is an AudioFile reviewer.
