Looking for the best horror audiobooks to frighten and thrill? You’ve come to the right article.
Few formats hit harder than horror audiobooks. The narration turns the creep factor up to eleven. A skilled voice actor can make the same sentence that reads “mildly unsettling” on the page feel genuinely terrifying through your headphones at 11 PM.
But there’s a problem: the horror audiobook catalog is enormous, and bad ones waste hours of your life. So we did the work. The list below covers the best horror audiobooks, including classics that defined the genre, modern releases that belong right next to them, and a few that went criminally overlooked.
If any of these get you thinking about writing your own horror story, selfpublishing.com has everything you need to go from idea to published author, including guides on how to write a horror story and a free horror book title generator.
TL;DR: The best horror audiobooks include classics like The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and Pet Sematary by Stephen King, alongside modern standouts like NOS4A2 by Joe Hill, Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker. Whether you want supernatural dread, psychological horror, or gory thrills, this list covers the 25 best horror audiobooks across every subgenre that are all worth your next credit.
What makes a great horror audiobook?
The best horror audiobooks do three things: they choose a narrator who builds dread rather than just reads, they suit the audio format (atmosphere translates; dense prose can be exhausting), and they have something genuinely unsettling at their core, not just shock value.
With that in mind, here are our picks.
The 25 best horror audiobooks right now
In no particular order, let’s dive into some of the best horror audiobooks to get your creep on.
1. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The Haunting of Hill House is one of the most famous horror books of all time, and no list of the best horror audiobooks should leave it out. It has gone on to be the backbone of many movies and shows including the famous The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix.
If you haven’t read this book yet, it’s truly a classic in the horror genre. It’s one of the books you must listen to if you’re a fan of this genre or ever need to write a spooky story yourself.
Even Stephen King himself describes The Haunting of Hill House as having a major influence on his own work and has called it one of the best horror novels of all time.
In this book, we meet four characters who all have their own reasons and intentions behind going to Hill House. Each will confront their own demons as well as a few lurking around each corner in this fascinating classic.
2. Pet Sematary by Stephen King
You can’t write a list of the best horror audiobooks without at least including one book from Stephen King.
While there are tons of books of his to choose from to give you chills, Pet Sematary is a great one to experience as an audiobook.
In Pet Sematary, generations of residents in a small town have buried their pets in the same location. Just beyond the graveyard, there’s a different kind of burial ground.
This book was so dark that after Stephen King finished it, he first put it into a drawer with no plans to release it.
That fact alone should be a top reason you add it to your list of scary audio books.
3. NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
NOS4A2 is one of the best horror books on Audible. Seriously, so much better than in written form.
Victoria McQueen is the only child who ever escaped the sadistic Charlie Manx, who regularly kidnaps children to take them to his twisted “Christmasland.” Vic has spent her whole life trying to forget Manx, but unfortunately, he never forgot her – and now he has her son.
4. The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker
The Hellbound Heart is the horror novella that was later used to create the 1987 film, Hellraiser.
The story is centered around a hedonist criminal who comes to own a puzzle box that can summon demonic beings.
It’s a very gory and scary audio book, so you need to be in the mood for that. However, if gore with your spooks is up your alley, this will be one of the best horror audiobooks to listen to.
5. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Mexican Gothic is a fantastical fever dream, made even better in audiobook format. After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to come save her, Noemí Taboada journeys to High Place, a mysterious manor in the Mexican countryside.
Noemí is completely mesmerized by High Place, but she soon finds she may never be able to leave.
6. The Lesser Dead by Christopher Buehlman
Looking for a scary audio book? Pick up The Lesser Dead. Narrated by the author himself, this is one of the best horror audiobooks of all time.
Joey Peacock is a vampire, who has a regular routine when feeding in Manhattan. But now, some strange vampires are hunting in his subways – vampires that seem to be different from him. And now even he may no longer be safe.
7. World War Z by Max Brooks
While most people know of World War Z as a movie, it’s also one of the best horror audiobooks. With everything going on in the world lately, it’s even scarier post pandemic than ever before.
While it’s a great book to read, it’s definitely a next-level experience as an audiobook.
With narration guests including Mark Hamill and Henry Rollins, you can’t go wrong with this on your TBR.
8. The Butcher and the Wren by Alaina Urquhart
Alaina Urquhart is the co-host of Morbid, a true crime podcast.
And let me tell you, some of the best horror audiobooks are written by a podcast host. When you spend so much time reading about true crime, you know exactly what gets audiences spooked. And this is a spooky horror audiobook!
In The Butcher and the Wren, we read between two perspectives: a medical examiner and a serial killer. They’re in a constant battle of playing a cat-and-mouse game, which is why it’s a fascinating story and one you’ll love if you’re into crime.
9. All Good People Here: A Novel by Ashley Flowers
Ashley Flowers is one of the hosts of Crime Junkie, a true crime podcast.
Although this book is fiction, you’re bound to be pulled in due to her podcast work and experience in the crime world.
All Good People Here is a story about a journalist who is haunted by the unsolved murder of her childhood neighbor. Twenty years later, another girl goes missing, which is what catches her attention and why she comes back. This one will have you staying up late for sure – it’s one of the best horror audiobooks.
10. Wrong Place Wrong Time: A Novel by Gillian McAllister
In Wrong Place Wrong Time, a mother watches her son stab a stranger. The next day, she wakes up and it’s the day before. She has to stop him before she’s trapped in the loop forever.
This is more thriller than horror, but the dread it builds is as good as anything on this list. The audiobook pacing is relentless. You will not want to stop.
11. The Ghost Tree by Christina Henry
The Ghost Tree is one of the best horror books on Audible.
One teenager has the weight of the world on her shoulders: she’s starting to see visions of a monster who is terrorizing the town.
People are going missing and her own father was killed just a year before.
If you love haunted woods mixed in with some coming-of-age stories, you’re going to think this is one of the best horror audiobooks ever.
12. The Ritual by Adam Nevill
Four university friends come together for a hiking trip. It was designed as a typical boys’ trip – a good healing hike through nature.
They decide to take a shortcut and that’s where all hell breaks loose. They start to realize they’ve taken a turn they should not have.
If you love creepy woods, stories about good friendships, and ancient fables, The Ritual won’t let you down. It’s one of the best horror audiobooks in recent memory.
13. December Park by Ronald Malfi
December Park is one of the absolute best horror books on Audible.
Children start to vanish in the quiet area of Harting Farms. With police slow to solve the crime, five kids take up the challenge to solve it on their own.
It’s a slow burn novel, but that just adds to the impact of the story.
We get to know the characters and their perspectives in the backdrop of a crime that is plaguing the town.
This is one of the best horror audiobooks with fantastic writing and twists throughout the story that are bound to keep you up late to try and finish the story.
14. Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
In Earthlings, we follow a young child named Natsuki. She has a hard life, which is half of the horror in this book.
This is one of those books that falls under the “You need to read it to believe it” type of plots.
If you’ve ever wondered if you’re following in a path in life that doesn’t seem like a right fit, this book will describe exactly how you’re feeling.
Be ready for a wild ride with Earthlings.
15. Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen M. McManus
A perfect town that’s hiding secrets combined with a threat of murder during homecoming… it sounds like the right recipe for a creepy book.
We meet Ellery, who is moving home to live with her grandmother. Years ago, her aunt went missing and more recently, a homecoming queen was killed.
This is where the story of Two Can Keep A Secret begins and as you can imagine, it’s a wild ride the whole way through.
16. The Shuddering by Ania Ahlborn
In The Shuddering, a group of close friends are in the snowy mountains of Colorado. They’re snowed in, which can already be nerve-wracking enough when you’re not prepared for such weather, but something is lurking in the woods.
What was a fun trip now becomes a fight for their lives against not only outside forces, but against the harsh elements as well.
You won’t want to visit the mountains for a while after listening to this one.
17. Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
Now here is a book causing a lot of noise on BookTok. Tender is the Flesh is a stomach-clenching tale of a future where animal meat is made toxic to humans by a virus. Now, the government has made it legal to eat human flesh instead.
Marcos works at a “special meat” processing plant. They aren’t allowed to speak to the “cattle” there, but unfortunately, he starts to see one of the women as human. You won’t see the ending coming.
18. How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
Grady Hendrix books can be hit or miss for me, but How to Sell A Haunted House was an undeniable win. It’s one of the best horror audiobooks – especially if you are afraid of dolls or puppets. I was so creeped out at one point that I had to pause and take a breather.
All I can tell you is that if I ever hear “kakawiwi” out in public I will absolutely lose it.
19. Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle
Tingle is best known for some pretty out there erotica, but he decided to debut a horror novel, and he had a big win with it. Camp Damascus is one of the best horror audiobooks that poignantly portrays the demons the queer community faces in America.
Welcome to the camp – the “most effective” gay conversion camp in the country. You don’t want to know how they get their success rates.
20. Hide by Kiersten White
Kiersten knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat. If you are looking for the best horror audiobooks to get your blood pumping, look no further than Hide.
The premise?
People enter a challenge to hide in an abandoned amusement park for one week. If they aren’t found, they can win a life-changing amount of money. But this isn’t a regular game of hide-and-seek, and they are being hunted.
21. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
In The Silent Patient, a famous painter shoots her husband five times, then stops speaking entirely. Her therapist becomes obsessed with finding out why.
Technically a psychological thriller, but the dread in this audiobook is as good as any horror on the list. The twist is genuinely earned and the narration is superb. A crossover pick for anyone who wants their horror grounded in the human mind.
22. Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth
Plain Bad Heroines is a dual-timeline novel weaving 1900s New England boarding school horror with a modern Hollywood production trying to adapt it.
A wasp infestation at a girls’ school leads to deaths, curses, and the founding of a secret society. A century later, filming the story seems to be making things worse. This is queer horror with real literary ambition, and the audiobook narration handles the dual timeline exceptionally well.
23. The Troop by Nick Cutter
The Troop is one of the most viscerally disturbing horror novels published in the last decade. It’s not for the squeamish.
A scoutmaster brings a group of boys to a remote island for a camping trip. A stranger arrives, and things deteriorate rapidly. The horror here is biological and relentless. Stephen King blurbed it as “old-school horror at its best.” He’s right.
24. A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
In A Head Full of Ghosts, a family believes their teenage daughter is possessed. A reality TV crew shows up to film the exorcism.
Tremblay writes horror that interrogates itself. The novel is simultaneously a possession story and a critique of how we consume possession stories. The audiobook narration captures the unreliable-narrator tension perfectly.
25. Dracula by Bram Stoker
Dracula is the original horror novel and its still scary. The full-cast audiobook production is one of the best horror audio experiences available.
The epistolary format, letters, diary entries, newspaper clippings, was always made for audio. A full-cast production with different voices for each character is the definitive way to experience this book. If you’ve never read the original, it holds up better than you’d expect.
What to read next
If any of these audiobooks have you thinking about writing your own horror novel, the path from idea to published book is more achievable than most people realize. selfpublishing.com has helped thousands of authors go from blank page to bestseller, including writers working in horror and thriller genres.
Here are some resources to get you started:
- How to write a horror story — a practical guide from the selfpublishing.com team
- Horror book title generator — find the right name for your story
- 20 scary story ideas — when you need a spark
- Become a Bestseller program — the full selfpublishing.com program for writing and publishing your book
The horror genre has room for new voices. Yours might be one of them.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best horror audiobooks for beginners? The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and Pet Sematary by Stephen King are the best starting points. Both are foundational genre texts, both are well-produced in audio, and both give you a genuine feel for what the horror genre can do.
What are the best horror audiobooks on Audible? NOS4A2 by Joe Hill, The Lesser Dead by Christopher Buehlman (narrated by the author), and World War Z by Max Brooks with its full-cast production are among the best horror audiobooks specifically worth seeking out on Audible.
What is the scariest horror audiobook? Pet Sematary consistently tops reader polls for scariest horror novel, and the audiobook holds up. Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica is the one most readers describe as genuinely disturbing long after they finish it. The Troop by Nick Cutter is the best answer if pure biological horror is your threshold test.
Are horror audiobooks better than reading? For horror specifically, many readers find audiobooks more immersive. A skilled narrator builds dread in ways that silent reading can’t fully replicate. NOS4A2, The Lesser Dead, and World War Z are examples of books that are genuinely better in audio format.
How many best horror audiobooks should I listen to before writing my own? There’s no magic number, but reading widely in the genre helps you understand what works. When you’re ready to write, selfpublishing.com can help you take that from draft to published book.
