Best Peter Straub Audiobooks

The best Peter Straub audiobooks — 5 titles ranked by listening experience across Fantasy, Horror, averaging 3.63 ABR stars.

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Peter Straub occupies a rare space in horror — literary enough to unsettle readers who don't think they like the genre, scary enough to satisfy those who do. Ghost Story is his landmark: a slow-burn, architecturally intricate novel where the terror lives in memory, guilt, and the stories we tell ourselves about the past. The Talisman, co-written with Stephen King, shows his range — a mythic road-trip fantasy shot through with darkness and wonder. Straub's prose is dense and deliberate, full of psychological shadow and carefully constructed dread. He's less interested in monsters than in what they represent — the weight of the past, the corruption lurking in ordinary life. Readers who want horror that demands something from them, rather than just delivering shocks, will find Straub one of the genre's most rewarding and underappreciated voices.

Peter Straub's highest-rated audiobook in our collection is The Talisman, narrated by Frank Muller (4.17 ABR stars). Performed by narrators including Frank Muller, Buck Schirner, Robertson Dean, and more. Rankings here weight the listening experience — narrator performance and Audible ratings factor alongside reader scores.

Where to Start with Peter Straub

  1. 1
    The Talisman cover

    The Talisman

    The Talisman • Book 1

    by Stephen King, Peter Straub

    Narrated by Frank Muller

    ★ 4.17 ABR Score (160.4K ratings)
    ★ 4.1 Goodreads (143.3K) ★ 4.41 Audible (17.1K)
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    Twelve-year-old Jack travels between our world and a dark parallel dimension to find a magical talisman that can save his dying mother in this ambitious King-Straub collaboration.

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  2. 2
    Ghost Story cover

    Ghost Story

    by Peter Straub

    Narrated by Buck Schirner

    ★ 3.87 ABR Score (86.8K ratings)
    ★ 3.91 Goodreads (83.7K) ★ 4.01 Audible (3.1K)
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    Four elderly men in Milburn, New York confront the supernatural consequences of a decades-old crime. Buck Schirner's narration spans the epic length while maintaining tension through Straub's slow-building dread.

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  3. 3
    A Dark Matter cover

    A Dark Matter

    by Peter Straub

    Narrated by Robertson Dean

    ★ 3.14 ABR Score (5.3K ratings)
    ★ 2.97 Goodreads (5.1K) ★ 3.46 Audible (202)
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    Charismatic campus guru Spenser Mallon led students to witness ritual murder in the 1960s, leaving survivors traumatized for decades until his apparent return threatens new horrors.

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  4. 4
    The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine cover

    The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine

    by Peter Straub

    Narrated by Michael Kramer

    ★ 3.37 ABR Score (651 ratings)
    ★ 2.79 Goodreads (639) ★ 3.5 Audible (12)
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    Age-separated lovers bound by erotic obsession spend twenty-five years aboard a mysterious yacht traveling endlessly down the Amazon River. Michael Kramer navigates this unsettling psychological novella with appropriate unease.

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  5. 5
    The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2010 cover

    The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2010

    Kyle Murchison Booth • Book 4

    by Paula Guran, Kelley Armstrong, Holly Black, Ramsey Campbell, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Joe R. Lansdale, Stewart O'Nan, Sarah Pinborough, Norman Prentiss, Barbara Roden, Lucius Shepard, Peter Straub, Michael Shea, Kelly Link, Ekaterina Sedia, Catherynne M. Valente, Gerard Houarner, Gemma Files, Kurt Dinan, Elizabeth Bear, Roby Davies, Maura McHugh, Dale Bailey, Deborah Biancotti, Gary McMahon, Holly Phillips, John Mantooth, Marc Laidlaw, Margo Lanagan, Michael Marshall Smith, Nadia Bulkin, Nathan Ballingrud, Paul Tremblay, Peter Atkins, Sarah Monette, Seth Fried, Stephen Graham Jones, Steve Duffy, Steve Rasnic Tem, Suzy McKee Charnas, John Langan

    Narrated by Kristin James, Matt Godfrey

    ★ 3.59 ABR Score (436 ratings)
    ★ 3.84 Goodreads (431) ★ 4 Audible (5)
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    From haunted houses to mysterious green stones, this collection explores darkness in everyday places through stories by Peter Straub, Kelly Link, and other masters of the genre.

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Browse Related Lists

Peter Straub — Author Profile James Patterson Jonathan Maberry J.D. Robb Stephen King Ed McBain Agatha Christie Anne Perry Terry Pratchett Nora Roberts Tom Clancy Michael Connelly Daniel Schinhofen Kevin J. Anderson Unknown Author Brandon Sanderson John Grisham David Archer Nora Achrati Lois McMaster Bujold Lee Child Best Fantasy Audiobooks Best Sci-Fi Audiobooks Best Thriller Audiobooks Best Mystery Audiobooks Best Horror Audiobooks Best Literary Fiction Audiobooks

How We Rank Audiobooks

Rankings are driven by listener ratings and review counts from Audible and Goodreads. Books with high ratings across a large number of listeners rank higher — a 4.5 with 50,000 ratings says more than a 4.8 with 200.

Unlike most book lists, we weight audiobook-specific factors: narrator performance, production quality, and how well a story translates to audio. A great book with a poor narration isn't a great audiobook.

We don't accept paid placements or prioritize new releases. These rankings reflect what listeners actually enjoy, not what's being promoted.

Rankings update periodically as new ratings come in and new titles are added to the collection.

Read our full ranking methodology →