Narrator André Santana skillfully performs a thrilling Hollywood horror novel. Screenwriter Misha Byrne has just received an ultimatum from the studio executives--their algorithm says to kill off his beloved queer TV characters, or else. Misha refuses, and Santana captures his initial anger, then his terror as he suddenly finds himself facing deadly characters from his horror films. Santana nails all the characters, who range from a raspy-voiced ghost threatening to steal Misha's bones to Misha's levelheaded boyfriend. He gives particularly moving performances of the sections that illuminate experiences from Misha's childhood that inspired his nightmarish characters, adding depth to the story. Scripts of certain mysterious scenes are performed by a full cast of real-life authors. Both a spine-tingling horror story and a moving exploration of queer identity, humanity, and storytelling.
Pub Date: 2024
Duration: 10 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781250351272
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Janina Edwards narrates this homage to the eldritch horror of Lovecraft and King. A diverse group of people become stranded on an island off the coast of Antarctica after an unspecified cataclysm. Throughout the story, breaks in the narrative are represented by white noise. While their purpose is to simulate the memory lapses of the protagonist, the jarring results initially sound like production flaws. An additional distraction is the inconsistent quality of Edwards' accents; her New Zealand and Russian voices often fall within the realm of caricature, especially at the beginning of the production. Edwards, a talented narrator, struggles to maintain the tension of cosmic dread--though the confusing plot does her no favors.
Pub Date: 2025
Duration: 10 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668151655
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Piper Goodeve narrates this dark academia audiobook set in New Mexico. After five years away, Cella Gibbons returns to her alma mater to help solve a magical mystery involving students and staff. Coming back to campus after dropping out of her master's program dredges up a myriad of feelings for Cella, and Goodeve balances the guilt, shame, and nostalgia she feels. Cella also carries multiple personal traumas from her own time as a student, which Goodeve highlights in her portrayal. But Goodeve's handling of accents, such as Cella's ex-boyfriend Max's drawl, is inconsistent. Additionally, the production choice to have the same narrator read both the main text and the footnotes and other ephemera makes it difficult to keep the structural integrity and flow of the story intact. Overall, a mixed production.
Pub Date: 2025
Duration: 13 hrs
DD ISBN: 9798895947333
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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