Trying to find the best short story audiobooks? You’ve come to the right place. In this guide, expect to find 15 great options that you can listen to and enjoy without spending hours on end.
Everything’s Eventual: 14 Dark Tales
Stephen King, et al.
Written by the master of the horror genre, these short stories have titles such as Ten Nights in Ten Haunted Graveyards, Riding the Bullet, and Lunch at the Gotham Café. If you didn’t know Stephen King wrote short stories, now is your chance to see how great he is at the task. With a list of narrators, the stories are all interesting and will increase your interest in creepy, very dark tales. The book is a perfect addition to anyone’s Stephen King collection.
The Complete Short Stories, Volume 1
Somerset Maugham, et al.
With titles such as Honolulu, The Pool, The Force of Circumstance, The Yellow Streak, and The Fall of Edward Barnard, these stories are written in true Somerset Maugham style. They are interesting yet controversial, and he uses his wit, cynicism, and world-weary loftiness to tell stories that you are sure to remember long after the last page is read. Maugham was a master storyteller, and this will become obvious from the very beginning of the book. These are truly unique stories that make a great addition to your collection of short stories.
Uncommon Type: Some Stories
Tom Hanks, Author
Narrated by the author, these short stories tell of an immigrant arriving in America after his own country has been torn apart by civil war, the adventures of an eccentric billionaire and his assistant, and a man who becomes a celebrity after getting perfect scores on one bowling game and then another. In addition to Hanks, there are numerous other celebrity narrators, and the stories are heartwarming, funny, and will sometimes keep you on the edge of your seat. If you’re a Tom Hanks fan, you need this book because it is one purchase you won’t regret making.
Selected Shorts: American Classics
Amy Tan, et al.
If you love the classics, you’ll love this book of short stories. It contains short stories by such authors as Amy Tan, Edgar Allan Poe, Alice Walker, John Cheever, and Joyce Carole Oates. From a teenage girl being seduced by a drifter to an independent young woman who decides to embark on an adventure, these stories will have you interested in them from the first page to the last. Some will keep you guessing the ending while others will warm your heart, but one thing is certain – they are all stories you will never forget.
Blood is Red: 8 Disturbing Short Stories
Scott Sigler, Author
With titles such as The Great Snipe Hunt, Number One with a Bullet, Red Man, and Hunter Hunterson & Sons, you can get to know characters that include a zombie, an absent-minded genius, feral cats, college students, and even a pedophile. If you love dark stories, this book is for you. Some of the stories will make you laugh and others will have you scared, but they are all interesting and memorable stories that you will not soon forget. If you love innovative and unique stories, read this book.
Scary Stories Volume 1: Scary Tales to Tell in the Dark
James Scary, et al.
Telling ghost stories in the dark is an age-old tradition, and this book gives you a bunch of new stories for your next camping trip or sleepover. From monsters to ghosts to shadowy secrets, this book has it all, and they are written to please people from all age groups. Perfect for storytelling when you’re gathered around a fire in the great outdoors, Scary Stories not only gives you some very interesting tales, but provides you with many ways to startle your imagination. A book that is definitely worth reading!
52 Sleepless Nights: Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, and Horror Short Stories
Tobias Wade
If you love angels and demons and things that go bump in the night, 52 Sleepless Nights is for you. The stories center on serial killers, monsters and aliens, the paranormal, angry midgets, and mad experiments, to name a few. These are unique stories that will suit your fancy regardless of what your tastes are, and they are psychologically terrifying to say the least. If you love the macabre, you’ll love this book, and it is one collection of horror stories that you will never forget.
Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Short Stories
Nathaniel Hawthorne, et al.
Known mostly for the book The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote many short stories as well, and these are but a few of them. Hawthorne was born in 1804 and died in 1864, and he published his first work in 1828 – a novel he named Fanshawe. The short stories in this book mostly center on characters who don’t exactly feel like they belong, and they reflect his New England Puritan upbringing in Salem, Massachusetts. This is a must for any fan of the classics.
Where There’s Smoke: A Short Story
Jodi Picoult, Author
This story is mixed in with another story, a novella, and centers on a young psychic named Serenity. Serenity is wildly successful and even has a television show where she helps people get messages from their deceased loved ones. When a young war widow is a guest on that show, things go awry quickly and she has to find a way to undo the damage and restore her reputation. This is an interesting novel that speaks of the complexity of human relationships, and it will have you on pins and needles many times while you read it.
Jodi Taylor, Author
This is the story of Max and her son Matthew, who go back to 19th century London to deliver some Christmas cheer to some of Matthew’s friends, but when things go wrong they aren’t quite sure what to do next. They know that this is the season to be jolly, but it’s hard to convince Max of this. After all, Christmas at St. Mary’s is tumultuous and riotous, but that doesn’t stop the main characters from moving ahead with their plans, and it guarantees to be a page-turner for you as a reader.
Love Me Forever: Passion Down Under Sassy Short Stories, Volume 2
Mollie Matthews
Joey is the owner of an organic vineyard whose neighbor threatens to ruin everything with the chemicals they’re using in their own vineyard, but this is only one of her problems. When her sister delivers a stillborn baby, Joey prays hard that she has another baby that is healthy. It looks like it’s going to happen, but Joey also gets a gift of her own – a suitor that she isn’t sure she wants to pursue. Instead, her heart is too closed-off to accept him, and she has to decide what to do about him.
Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions
Neil Gaiman, Author
The author’s description of reality is obscured by smoke and darkness and contains characters that include a troll and a young boy, an assassin who advertises his services in the yellow pages, and a young woman who purchases the Holy Grail at a thrift shop. Filled with the unique and sometimes frightening, these short stories tell tales that you won’t soon forget. The stories will both haunt your dreams and touch your heart, which is an amazing combination.
Russell C. James, et al.
This book contains the inspirational stories of 10 amazing individuals who have faced hardships and come out on top in the end. These are people with chronic health problems, disabilities of various types, and people who have gone against societal norms to do what they want to do in life. In a lot of ways, they are average people, but in other ways they shine like few people on this earth get to do. These are encouraging short stories that will make you admire these people and aim to be just like them.
Christmas Stories: 7 Original Short Stories
Kevin Moore
Based on the magic of Christmas, these short stories tell of people who are ordinary in many ways yet extraordinary in others. A boy who spends Christmas with his stern grandfather and a burned-out homecoming queen with all types of excuses for her failures are just two of the interesting characters you meet in this collection of stories. They tell about the magic and the hope that comes once a year around Christmas time, and they allow you to enter someone else’s world for a while so that you can learn something important.
The Things I’m Grateful For: Cute Short Stories for Kids About Being Grateful and Thankful
Arnie Lightning, Author
This book contains five short stories for kids, as well as activities they can do to have fun. If you like gratitude and appreciation and want to teach your kids an important lesson, this is the book for you. They make great bedtime stories and teach kids morals and lessons that all of them need. They also make it easy for kids of all ages to be thankful for what they have, and they are great to listen to when you’re around family and friends.
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