Best Washington Irving Audiobooks

The best Washington Irving audiobooks — 5 titles ranked by listening experience across Horror, Literature & Fiction, averaging 3.84 ABR stars.

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Washington Irving invented the American ghost story before anyone knew that was a thing worth inventing. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle aren't just enduring tales — they're the originals, the templates that generations of horror and folklore writers have been quietly borrowing from ever since. Irving's prose has a lush, almost theatrical quality: fog-draped landscapes, characters caught between the waking world and something stranger, a tone that plays wry comedy and genuine dread against each other until you're not sure which wins. The Devil and Tom Walker shows the same gift — a Faustian bargain told with the dry moral satisfaction of a man who knows exactly what he's doing. Readers who love folk horror, early American atmosphere, and stories that feel like they were passed down rather than written will find Irving essential.

Washington Irving's highest-rated audiobook in our collection is The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, narrated by Tom Mison (4.1 ABR stars). Performed by narrators including Tom Mison, Stephen Fry, Christian Rummel, and more. Rankings here weight the listening experience — narrator performance and Audible ratings factor alongside reader scores.

Where to Start with Washington Irving

  1. 1
    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow cover

    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

    by Washington Irving

    Narrated by Tom Mison

    ★ 4.10 ABR Score (163.0K ratings)
    ★ 3.77 Goodreads (156.0K) ★ 4.27 Audible (7.0K)
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    Robertson Dean's dramatic reading captures every terrified moment as schoolteacher Ichabod Crane faces the ghostly Headless Horseman in Sleepy Hollow.

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  2. 2
    Ghost Stories: Stephen Fry's Definitive Collection cover

    Ghost Stories: Stephen Fry's Definitive Collection

    by Stephen Fry, Washington Irving, M.R. James, Amelia B. Edwards, Robert Louis Stevenson, Algernon Blackwood, Edgar Allan Poe, Charlotte Riddell, Bram Stoker

    Narrated by Stephen Fry

    ★ 4.11 ABR Score (2.4K ratings)
    ★ 3.97 Goodreads (1.4K) ★ 4.51 Audible (988)
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    Fry's theatrical background shines as he inhabits each classic tale, from Irving's Headless Horseman to M.R. James's scholarly terrors.

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  3. 3
    Rip Van Winkle cover

    Rip Van Winkle

    by Washington Irving

    Narrated by Christian Rummel

    ★ 3.69 ABR Score (19.9K ratings)
    ★ 3.6 Goodreads (19.0K) ★ 4.06 Audible (859)
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    Irving's tale of a man who naps for twenty years and awakens to find the American Revolution has changed everything he once knew.

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  4. 4
    The Devil and Tom Walker cover

    The Devil and Tom Walker

    by Washington Irving

    Narrated by B.J. Harrison

    ★ 3.72 ABR Score (3.3K ratings)
    ★ 3.56 Goodreads (3.0K) ★ 4.25 Audible (271)
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    Washington Irving's classic tale of a man who makes a bargain with the devil gets B.J. Harrison's atmospheric treatment. At just over an hour, this American Faust story packs moral consequences into a perfectly sized listening experience.

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  5. 5
    H. P. Lovecraft's Book of the Supernatural cover

    H. P. Lovecraft's Book of the Supernatural

    by Stephen Jones, Henry James, Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, Rudyard Kipling, Bram Stoker, Robert Louis Stevenson, Guy de Maupassant, Ambrose Bierce, Arthur Conan Doyle, Davina Porter, Steven Crossley, Bronson Pinchot

    Narrated by Davina Porter, Steven Crossley, Bronson Pinchot

    ★ 3.60 ABR Score (477 ratings)
    ★ 3.68 Goodreads (339) ★ 3.99 Audible (138)
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    Three skilled narrators present Lovecraft's influential 1927 horror essay alongside the classic stories he championed. The collection traces supernatural literature's evolution from Gothic novels through contemporary masters.

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Browse Related Lists

Washington Irving — 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 →