Ghost Fiction

If you're looking for the scariest stories you can get your ears on, your search is over. Accomplished storyteller Roberta Simpson Brown unfolds her thrilling stories for listeners of all ages.

The ghost story is perhaps the oldest of all the supernatural literary genres and has captured the imagination of almost every writer to put pen to the page. Here, Edgar Award-winning editor Otto Penzler has followed his keen sense of the supernatural to collect the most chilling and uncanny tales in the canon.

Caina Amalas is a nightfighter of the Ghosts, the spies and assassins of the Emperor of Nighmar, and through cunning and valor she has cast down both proud lords and mighty sorcerers. But a power darker than any she has ever faced is awakening. When a mad assassin armed with a sorcerous blade rampages through the Emperor's capital, Caina must track the weapon to its origin, a ruined city blighted by the folly of sorcerers, a city that holds weapons far more potent than mere blades. Weapons that can resurrect an ancient empire of dark sorcery to enslave the world anew...

When Diya Burman's best friend, Angie, dies unexpectedly, it feels like her own life is falling apart. Grief costs her friends, family and even her job. But that's ok, because now she's got a new job: working at Slough & Sons, a family firm that deals in cleaning up after the recently deceased. Old love letters. Porcelain dolls. Hoarded trinkets. Clearing away the remnants of other people's lives, Diya begins to see things. Horrible things. Things that get harder and harder to write off as merely her grieving imagination.

The story begins with an investigation into some strange reports of an "opera ghost", legendary for making the great Paris opera performers ill-at-ease when they sit alone in their dressing rooms. Some allege to have seen the ghost in evening clothes moving about in the shadows. Nothing is done, however, until the disappearance of Christine during her triumphant performance.

The chilling first novel by filmmaker, composer, and graphic novelist Leopoldo Gout, performed by actor Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us; Narcos; Game of Thrones) “Ghost Radio reminded me of early Stephen King. The story sticks with you long after you’ve finished the final page.” —James...

Charles Dickens was a master of the macabre. His stories of madness, murder and revenge, often imbued with a sympathetic moral undertone, have continued to thrill and chill fans ever since they were written. Here then are 15 tales that display the full range of Dickens' Gothic talents. "The Signalman," perhaps the most well-known, is a chilling story about a mysterious figure and its deathly omen. "The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain" shows the consequences for those who make deals with the dead. Listen for more.

Ginger Stuyvesant, an American heiress living in London during World War I, is engaged to Captain Benjamin Hartshorne, an intelligence officer. Ginger is a medium for the Spirit Corps, a special Spiritualist force. Each soldier heading for the front is conditioned to report to the mediums of the Spirit Corps when they die so the corps can pass instant information about troop movements to military intelligence. Ginger and her fellow mediums contribute a great deal to the war efforts, so long as they pass the information through appropriate channels.

Who would suspect that the same mind that created the most famous literary detective of all time also took on the eternally popular genre of vampires? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a contemporary of Bram Stoker, gave us some fascinating works of vampire fiction. From the bloodsucking plant in "The American's Tale" to the bloodsucking wife in "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire," he reveled in the horror created by creatures who survived on the blood of men and women.

After Imogen takes drastic action, Hank is forced to grapple with his role as a leader and make some tough choices. These decisions lead him to the financial center of the universe where wealth and poverty clash. Danger is everywhere and nothing comes easy. But he is also moving up through the ranks as a bounty hunter and has some new leads that will bring him ever closer to Codename: Extinction.

When Alice's husband disappears while investigating a series of strange and terrible incidents in the bustling seaport of Salem, she is forced to bring her young daughter, Abigail, along from Boston while she takes up the search. But she soon learns of a terrible curse that has the entire town bracing for nightfall: One hundred years after the infamous witch trials, the vengeful spirit of a woman hanged for witchcraft will rise from hell to claim the souls of Salem's children.

Zoltan, an evil wizard, has stolen a Dream Orb! With the orb, Zoltan has access to the Dream World—a place that is forbidden to all wizards. Drake and Bo travel to Zoltan's castle in Gothica to stop him. There, they meet Dragon Master Sandor and his Ghost Dragon Phantom. Is Phantom a ghost or a dragon? Can Drake and Bo find the orb and stop Zoltan before he opens the Dream Gate?

Everybody loves scary stories, and nobody loves them more than children. Storytellers Richard and Judy Dockrey Young gathered these stories from the most discerning of critics: the children themselves.

When best-selling horror author Sam McGarver is invited to spend Halloween night in one of the country's most infamous haunted houses, he reluctantly agrees. At least he won't be alone; joining him are three other masters of the macabre, writers who have helped shape modern horror. But what begins as a simple publicity stunt will become a fight for survival. The entity they have awakened will follow them, torment them, threatening to make them a part of the bloody legacy of Kill Creek.

With the start of seventh grade, Olivia's longtime friend, Beth, has found new interests and new friends. Now Olivia thinks if she could just afford the type of clothes that Beth now wears, maybe their friendship could be restored. Motivated by a need for cash, Olivia agrees to babysit for a family of four who recently moved to the neighborhood haunted house. Now she's not sure what's scarier: hearing countless creepy sounds or being responsible for four kids!

"My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973." So begins the story of Susie Salmon, who is adjusting to her new home in heaven, a place that is not at all what she expected, even as she is watching life on earth continue without...

2022 MYSTERY AUDIE AWARD WINNER! From legendary storyteller Stephen King—sometimes growing up means facing your demons... The son of a struggling single mother, Jamie Conklin just wants an ordinary childhood. But Jamie is no ordinary child. Born with an unnatural ability his mom urges him to...

An alien spacecraft four times the size of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier enters the solar system. Tensions run hot within the UN, but the alien vessel doesn't approach Earth. Instead, it sits off at L4, over a hundred million miles from Earth, baffling scientists around the world. Chris "Crash" Williams leads an international crew to investigate the appearance of this ghost ship, but he quickly learns that the spacecraft isn't as dead as it seems.

The Ghosts of Beatrice Bird is an unforgettable story of obsession, redemption, and the magic of unexpected friendship, from the acclaimed author of A Secret History of Witches. Beatrice Bird is haunted by ghosts—a gift she's had since she was a small child. Unfortunately, it's an ability...

Botanist Alfred Homer, ever hopeful and constantly surprised, is invited on a road trip by his parents’ friend, Professor Morgan Bruno, who wants company as he tries to unearth the story of the mysterious poet John Skennen. But this is no ordinary road trip. Alfred and the Professor encounter towns where Black residents speak only in sign language and towns that hold indigenous parades; it is a land of house burnings, werewolves, and witches.