What has thrills, chills, and something for every book lover? It’s the wonderfully wicked world of horror audiobooks.
With spooky season underway, we asked Spotify’s Katie del Rosario , Associate Director, Audiobooks Editorial, and Lena Yang , Senior Editor, Audiobooks, to walk us through some of the scariest stuff on Spotify. Whether you’re new to the genre or a longtime fan looking for something unexpected, our editors have put together a curated collection of some of horror’s most captivating tales.
“The genre is often associated with fear and violence, but at the core of so many great horror stories is some fundamental truth about what it means to be human,” Lena said. “The darkest books can often be strangely comforting as they give shape to our fears and, crucially, also show us someone trying to survive them.”
And there’s something special about listening to these works. “Horror is inherently visceral, and audiobooks give you that immersive sensory experience with their sound designs,” Lena continued. “But the icing on the cake is hearing a narrator completely let loose, because horror gives them permission to perform at an intensity that other genres rarely call for. I’m talking creepy character voices and full-on shrieking—the more unhinged, the better.
Read on—if you dare…
Ready to take your first steps into the dark depths of horror? These essential audiobooks offer the perfect entry point into horror to kick off your journey.
“We wanted to showcase just how much range exists within horror,” said Lena. “Our starter pack picks span generations and feature some of the genre’s most enduring themes while introducing many of the authors and stories that have helped define horror today. We know everyone’s threshold for fear is different, so these books range from creeping unease to all-out terror. Start with whatever feels most familiar and go from there!”
By Josh Malerman Narrated by Cassandra Campbell
Bird Box builds its terror entirely around what you can’t see. Creatures appear that drive anyone who looks at them to madness, and to survive in this world means keeping your eyes covered or shut. It’s a book that drives home how the fear of the unknown is more powerful than the thing itself. – Katie
By Shirley Jackson Narrated by Carol Jordan Stewart
While horror often contends with supernatural entities and beastly thrills, Shirley Jackson is interested in something closer to home: the darkness lurking in ordinary people. The Lottery is this collection’s most enduring of Jackson’s short stories, but don’t skip the rest-—they’re just as unnerving. – Lena
By Silvia Moreno-Garcia Narrated by Frankie Corzo
Mexican Gothic , one of the defining gothic novels of this decade, delivers all the hallmarks of the genre. It’s the perfect place to start if your ideal horror vibe is less grotesque and more creeping, atmospheric dread, with a possibly haunted house on the side. – Lena
By Ira Levin Narrated by Mia Farrow
This slow-burn masterpiece is paranoia horror at its most suffocating. Rosemary’s Baby follows a woman who suspects her neighbors, husband, and own body are betraying her. Mia Farrow , who played Rosemary in the film, narrates this edition, making it something special. – Katie
By Stephen King Narrated by Steven Weber
A horror starter pack wouldn’t be complete without Stephen King ’s classic about how childhood fear lives inside you after you’ve grown up, and what it costs to go back and face it. It features one of the genre’s great ensembles, and the dual timeline is King’s writing at his best. – Katie
By Grady Hendrix Narrated by Jay Aaseng and Mikhaila Aaseng
Camp and horror have always made excellent bedfellows, and few contemporary writers understand that better than Grady Hendrix . Equal parts funny, frightening, and heartfelt, How to Sell a Haunted House is proof that horror doesn’t have to be bleak to get under your skin. – Lena
If you’re ready to venture further into the shadows, Katie and Lena have plenty for you.
“Once you’ve read horror’s greatest hits, there’s a particular thrill in finding a book that can still surprise you,” said Lena. “These books take recognizable horror traditions and push them somewhere deeper, using ghosts, haunted houses, cosmic terrors, and the human body itself to explore ideas that can be difficult to put into words.”
By John Langan Narrated by Danny Campbell
The Fisherman is a modern classic in every sense, turning the incomprehensible scale of cosmic horror inward to make grief itself feel enormous and unknowable. Challenging, strange, and filled with chilling imagery, it’s a testament to the emotional depths horror can reach. – Lena
By Lucy Rose Narrated by Emma Rydal
What do you owe the person who taught you how to be a monster? This dark debut is perhaps most unsettling because the horror is entirely intertwined with themes of motherhood, love, loyalty, and survival—oh, and cannibalism. – Katie
By Monika Kim Narrated by Jaine Ye
Monika Kim wraps female rage, immigrant family dynamics, and body horror together into something that is really uncomfortable but completely impossible to put down. You’ll feel a little unhinged reading it, but in the best way. – Katie
By Elizabeth Hand Narrated by Carol Monda
Elizabeth Hand takes us back to Shirley Jackson’s infamous Hill House in its first-ever authorized sequel. A Haunting on the Hill is set in one of horror’s most enduring locations, complete with spooky sound design that had me turning around mid-dog walk in fright (and promptly feeling embarrassed). – Lena
By Tananarive Due Narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt
Set in 1950s Jim Crow-era Florida, Tananarive Due layers supernatural horror directly onto historical terror. In this book, the scariest thing isn’t the ghosts, but the humans running the school where the story takes place. It’s scary, devastating, and an essential listen. – Katie
By Stephen Graham Jones Narrated by Cara Gee
To fully appreciate My Heart is a Chainsaw , it helps to speak fluent slasher. We follow Jade Daniels, a horror film aficionado who is both thrilled and terrified to find herself living inside one. Stephen Graham Jones ’ blood-soaked love letter to slashers celebrates the genre while gleefully tearing into its conventions. – Lena
Sure, they’re resident experts on everything eerie, but Katie and Lena are fans, too. Here are the audiobooks that top their list.
By Kylie Lee Baker Narrated by Natalie Naudus
Set amid the eerie emptiness and paranoia of COVID-era Manhattan, Kylie Lee Baker transforms trauma and anti-Asian hate into visceral supernatural horror that’s part ghost story, part serial killer thriller. Bat Eater is incisive social commentary rendered grotesque in the best way. – Lena
By Stephen King Narrated by Michael C. Hall
Pet Sematary is Stephen King at his most emotionally devastating. Michael C. Hall (of Dexter fame) is perfectly cast as the narrator—performing with a quiet menace in his voice that makes the dread build even more slowly than it would on the page. – Katie
Check out the Horror Fiction audiobook hub on Spotify for even more spine-tingling tales, and stay tuned for more genre deep dives coming soon.
The horror audiobook starter pack
Bird Box
The Lottery, and Seven Other Stories
Mexican Gothic
Rosemary’s Baby
It
How to Sell a Haunted House
Next steps into spookiness
The Fisherman
The Lamb
The Eyes Are the Best Part
A Haunting on the Hill
The Reformatory
My Heart Is a Chainsaw
Personal favorites
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng
Pet Sematary