9 Spooktacularly Good Halloween Audiobooks for Families
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AudioFile Magazine
Halloween brings many fun traditions for families to share in together: pumpkin carving, getting decked out in costumes, telling ghost stories. It’s also the perfect time to listen to some spooky audiobooks together! We have goofy audiobooks for your little listeners, creepier action-packed tales for your middle grader, and suspenseful stories for your teen.
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More-Fun-Than-Frightful Listens for Little Ones
If your little ones are anything like mine, there’s a fine line between being excited by the goblins and ghouls, and getting too scared to read any further. We’ve put together a list of audiobooks for your youngest listeners that should stay firmly on the fun side. These audiobooks are especially wonderful when paired with the accompanying picture books.
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A Teeny Tiny Halloween
A teeny tiny woman faces a big problem when her house is buried in leaves, and her teeny tiny voice isn’t loud enough to call for help! Kids will love her tasty solution, and the trick-or-treating young heroes who come to her rescue. Sound effects add to each scene, and may inspire your own little one to start tapping on windows and banging pots and pans around (I may be speaking from experience!).
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Los Gatos Black on Halloween
Yowling cats, growling monsters, and a bespectacled werewolf are gathering for a ghoulish party in this Halloween tale, and background sounds add to the fun. Spanish words pepper the story, balanced with unobtrusive definitions in rhyming couplets. This narration is a little bit spookier, but children will be surprised to find that the monstruos have Halloween fears of their own!
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Where the Wild Things Are and Other Stories
Your wild things will set sail with Max in this audiobook read with spirit by Tammy Grimes, beautifully paired with orchestral music. I’ve loved introducing my kids to Max, who combines that perfect storm of chaos and sweetness unique to preschoolers, and can inspire future costumes and wild rumpuses at home. This collection includes some of Maurice Sendak’s other captivating classics as well, giving your family a longer listen to enjoy.
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Slightly Spookier Stories for Tweens
Your middle grade readers are likely delighted to read slightly scarier stories, especially if they have that perfect balance of creepiness and humor. Listen together to immerse yourselves in these tales that put kids at the center of the story, ready to save the day.
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The Empty Grave (Lockwood & Co., Book 5)
Lucy Carlyle shares the latest story of her adventures with the Lockwood & Co. kids. She works with a team of psychic young agents who have banded together to fight the ghosts that are plaguing England. The action-packed story deliciously blends humor and horror, with narration from Emily Bevan adding both hilarity and suspense. If your family isn’t already familiar with this delightful series, go back and start from the beginning with The Screaming Staircase.
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The Jumbies
After an adventure into the woods on All Hallow’s Eve, young Corinne discovers that the “jumbies” of her island’s lore aren’t imaginary, but frighteningly real. The jumbies lurk in the forest of Trinidad, and it’s up to Corinne and her friends to defend their island from the spirits. Robin Miles narrates this lyrical story based on a Haitian folktale with voices that range from the French dialect of the island to the evil voices of the jumbies themselves.
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The Graveyard Book
Nobody Owens lives surrounded by his loving and caring community, who just happen to be dead. The ghosts in the graveyard took him in as a toddler, and have been raising him as their own — and protecting him from the villain who took his parents’ lives years ago. Neil Gaiman’s narration of his darkly humorous tale lets listeners hear exactly what the author was imagining for each captivating scene and ghoulish character.
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Count Karlstein
Philip Pullman, loved for his Dark Materials series, wrote this funny and suspenseful tale full of adventure and spirit. A full cast narrates the audiobook, and their pitch-perfect voices paired with music and sound effects make for quite the audio experience. Listen as the evil Count Karlstein tries to sacrifice his two nieces to the Demon Huntsman on All Soul’s Eve to save his own life — without counting on the wit and intelligence of his nieces and their servant and tutor.
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Totally Creepy Tales for Teens
Imagining that your teen may balk at suggestions for Halloween-themed audiobooks, we’ve found two stories that will be the perfect blend of suspense, horror, and intensity.
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The Accident Season
Colby Minifie’s accent will transport you to the small Irish town where 17-year-old Cara and her family brace themselves for the annual “accident season”. October is the time of year when they randomly face small mishaps and large disasters, ranging from cuts and scrapes to the death of their father nine Octobers ago. This year, Cara is getting closer to uncovering the origins of her family’s accident season, and Minifie’s narration adds to the mounting tension as they creep closer to Halloween.
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Genuine Fraud
Your teen has probably already devoured E. Lockhart’s bestseller, We Were Liars, and this new novel is a gripping listen. Jule is an unlikable, detached 18-year-old and an untrustworthy narrator, and the story moves backward in time, keeping listeners anxious for the next revelation. Twists abound, and Rebecca Soler’s narration matches the tone of this psychologically complex and suspenseful audiobook.
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What other spooky, creepy, fun listens would you recommend for kids and teens? Share with us in the comments below.