Short Story Audiobooks - Quick & Easy Reads!
Short story collections offer a glimpse into a world of creative possibility, where a single moment can hold infinite potential. From the masterpieces of classic literature to the latest works by up-and-coming authors, short story collections are an opportunity to experience a wide range of voices and perspectives. These bite-sized tales are perfect for those who crave a quick escape, a moment of reflection, or a chance to experience something new. Whether you're looking for humor, horror, or heartwarming tales of human connection, the short story category has something for everyone. Discover your new favorite read and get lost in the magic of the short story.
Bite-Sized Terror
Total Audiobooks in this Category:
207 audiobooks
Total Authors in this Category:
210 authors
Average Audiobook Length:
3.73 hours
Average Audiobook Rating:
3.37/5
Author: Robert E. Howard
Narrator: Robertson Dean
Audio Length:
@1x speed 23.75 hours
@1.5x speed 15.83 hours
@2x speed 11.88 hours
Overall Rating:
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The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard Audiobook
In this collection of Howard's greatest horror tales, some of the author's best-known characters—Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn, and sailor Steve Costigan among them—roam the forbidding locales of Howard's fevered imagination, from the swamps and bayous of the Deep South to the fiend-haunted woods outside Paris to remote jungles in Africa.
Included in this collection is Howard's masterpiece "Pigeons from Hell," a tale of two travelers who stumble upon the ruins of a Southern plantation—and into the maw of its fatal secret. In "Black Canaan," even the best warrior has little chance of taking down the evil voodoo man with unholy powers—and none at all against his wily mistress, the diabolical High Priestess of Damballah. Also included is the classic revenge nightmare "Worms of the Earth" as well as "The Cairn on the Headland."
“I finally read this book after 2 years! It's a collection of short stories, so it was easy to just read it in between other things. Suffice it to say, Robert E. Howard is a master, one of my biggest influences, and this book was great. Some of the stories were obviously better than others, but it was a great collection.”
— Matthew
Author: David Foster Wallace
Narrator: Robert Petkoff
Audio Length:
@1x speed 14.25 hours
@1.5x speed 9.50 hours
@2x speed 7.13 hours
Overall Rating:
Oblivion: Stories Audiobook
In the stories that make up Oblivion, David Foster Wallace joins the rawest, most naked humanity with the infinite involutions of self-consciousness -- a combination that is dazzlingly, uniquely his.
These are worlds undreamt of by any other mind. Only David Foster Wallace could convey a father's desperate loneliness by way of his son's daydreaming through a teacher's homicidal breakdown (The Soul Is Not a Smithy). Or could explore the deepest and most hilarious aspects of creativity by delineating the office politics surrounding a magazine profile of an artist who produces miniature sculptures in an anatomically inconceivable way (The Suffering Channel). Or capture the ache of love's breakdown in the painfully polite apologies of a man who believes his wife is hallucinating the sound of his snoring (Oblivion).
Each of these stories is a complete world, as fully imagined as most entire novels, at once preposterously surreal and painfully immediate.
“Intelligence, savage humor, and a few uncomfortable truths woven into eight mesmerizing stories of modern disillusionment. Difficult at times, but well worth the effort. Favorite stories: "Mister Squishy," "The Soul Is Not A Smithy," "Good Old Neon," and "The Suffering Channel."”
— Jason
Author: Mark Twain
Narrator: Robin Field
Audio Length:
@1x speed 10.00 hours
@1.5x speed 6.67 hours
@2x speed 5.00 hours
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The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain Audiobook
Mark Twain was known as a great American short-story writer as well as novelist and humorist. This collection of eighteen of his best short stories, from the well known to the lesser known, displays his mastery of Western humor and frontier realism. The stories also show how Twain earned his place in American letters as a master writer in the authentic native idiom. He was exuberant and irreverent, but underlying the humor was a vigorous desire for social justice and equality.
Beginning the collection is Twain’s comic version of an old folk tale, “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog,” first published in 1865 in the New York Saturday Press. It became the title story of The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Sketches, the work that established him as a leading American humorist.
Stories include:
1. “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog”
2. “The Story of the Bad Little Boy Who Didn’t Come to Grief”
3. “Cannibalism in the Cars”
4. “Journalism in Tennessee”
5. “The Story of the Good Little Boy Who Did Not Prosper”
6. “How I Edited an Agricultural Paper Once”
7. “Political Economy”
8. “A True Story, Repeated Word for Word as I Heard It”
9. “The Facts Concerning the Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut”
10. “Punch, Brothers, Punch!”
11. “Jim Baker’s Blue-Jay Yarn”
12. “The Stolen White Elephant”
13. “The McWilliamses and the Burglar Alarm”
14. “The Private History of a Campaign That Failed”
15. “Extracts from Adam’s Diary”
16. “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg”
17. “The $30,000 Bequest”
18. “Eve’s Diary”
“I love Mark Twain's more common work such as Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn, so thought I would give this collection a try, and it did not disappoint. Humorous, insightful, and disturbing stories carefully woven together to make a beautiful book.”
— Ira
Author: Stephen King
Narrator: Craig Wasson, Jessica Hecht
Audio Length:
@1x speed 15.00 hours
@1.5x speed 10.00 hours
@2x speed 7.50 hours
Overall Rating:
Full Dark, No Stars Audiobook
“The pages practically turn themselves” (USA TODAY) in Full Dark, No Stars, an unforgettable collection centered around the theme of retribution.
In “1922,” a violence awakens inside a man when his wife proposes selling off the family homestead, setting in motion a grisly train of murder and madness.
In “Big Driver”, a mystery writer is brutally assaulted by a stranger along a Massachusetts back road and plots a revenge that will bring her face-to-face with another stranger: the one inside herself.
In “Fair Extension,” making a deal with the devil not only saves a man from terminal illness but also provides rich recompense for a lifetime of resentment.
In “A Good Marriage,” the trust forged by more than twenty years of matrimony is irrevocably shattered when a woman makes a chance discovery leading to the horrifying implications of just who her husband really is.
Like Different Seasons and Four Past Midnight, which generated such enduring hit films as The Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me, King’s Full Dark, No Stars is a “page-turner” (The New York Times) “as gripping as his epic novels” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), and “an extraordinary collection, thrillingly merciless, and a career high point” (The Telegraph, UK).
“I have been a King fan since I was in middle school (20-ish years ago), and he never ceases to disappoint me. I read this one in a day, and enjoyed the stories very much. Equally disturbing and compelling, as always! He is still the horror master :)”
— Amie
Author: Louis L’Amour
Narrator: Jim Gough
Audio Length:
@1x speed 9.75 hours
@1.5x speed 6.50 hours
@2x speed 4.88 hours
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A Man Called Trent: A Western Duo Audiobook
Here are two exciting stories featuring Lance Kilkenny by beloved Western writer Louis L'Amour
In "A Man Called Trent," nester Dick Moffitt lies dead, killed by King Bill Hale's riders. His son Jack and adopted daughter Sally, who witnessed the murder, go for safety to a cabin owned by a man called "Trent"—an alias for Kilkenny, who is seeking to escape his reputation as a gunfighter.
In "The Rider of Lost Creek," Lance Kilkenny is the fastest gun in the West, but once the gunfight is over, he disappears. Some time back, Mort Davis saved Kilkenny's life. Now Davis needs Kilkenny's help with a pair of feuding ranchers taking over his property.
“Set in New Mexico, A Man Called Trent opens to a nester named Dick Moffitt lying dead where he was killed by King Bill Hale's riders. Sally Crane, who is sixteen and was adopted by Moffitt, and Moffitt's fou8rteen-year-old Jack witnessed the murder from their hiding place.”
— Eddy
Author: Michael Connelly
Narrator: Len Cariou
Audio Length:
@1x speed 3.25 hours
@1.5x speed 2.17 hours
@2x speed 1.63 hours
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Suicide Run: Three Harry Bosch Stories Audiobook
LAPD Detective Harry Bosch as we've never seen him before, in three never-before-collected stories.
In "Suicide Run," the apparent suicide of a beautiful young starlet turns out to be much more sinister than it seems. In "Cielo Azul," Bosch is haunted by a long-ago closed case -- the murder of a teenage girl who was never identified. As her killer sits on death row, Bosch tries one last time to get the answers he has sought for years. In "One Dollar Jackpot," Bosch works the murder of a professional poker player whose skills have made her more than one enemy.
Whether investigating a cold case or fresh blood, Bosch relentlessly pursues his quarry, always on the lookout for the "tell." In this first collection of Harry Bosch stories, Michael Connelly once again demonstrates that he is the master of "fast-paced, brilliantly plotted crime fiction.... Harry Bosch is back on the case, and not a moment too soon" (Chicago Sun Times).
“Here are three fun shorts involving Harry Bosch, which have been published elsewhere but collected in time to warm the reader up for the next installment of Connelly's Bosch series. Good, quick reading, almost like a telepic. When are we going to see Harry on screen, Mr. Connelly?”
— Tom
Author: Stephen King
Narrator: John Cullum, Peter Gerety, Arliss Howard, Becky Ann Baker
Audio Length:
@1x speed 3.75 hours
@1.5x speed 2.50 hours
@2x speed 1.88 hours
Overall Rating:
The Man in the Black Suit: 4 Dark Tales Audiobook
"...the face of the man in the black suit grows ever clearer, ever closer, and I remember every word he said. I don't want to think of him, but I can't help it, and sometimes at night my old heart beats so hard and so fast I think it will tear itself right clear of my chest."
A haunting recollection of a mysterious boyhood event, The Man in Black Suit read by John Cullum leads off this masterful collection from Stephen King.
Other dark tales include: All That You Love Will Be Carried Away read by Peter Gerety, in which a man checks into a Lincoln, Nebraska Motel 6 to find the meaning in his life; That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French read by Becky Ann Baker presents the ultimate case of d├®ej├áa vu; and The Death of Jack Hamilton read by Arliss Howard -- a blistering tale of Depression-era outlaws on the run.
Whether writing about encounters with the dead, the near dead, or about the mundane dreads of life, Stephen King's The Man In The Black Suit: Four Dark Tales is intense, eerie and instantly compelling.
“All 4 of these were great short chillers. The last 1 really got me b/c it hit on some deep seeded Catholic teachings about purgatory which tends to twist my gut (which is what made it so incredible b/c it really got to me).”
— Alicia
Author: Nam Le
Narrator: Robin Miles, various narrators, James Yaegashi, Henry Strozier, Ali Ahn, Gideon Emery, Jennifer Ikeda, Jesus Martinez
Audio Length:
@1x speed 10.50 hours
@1.5x speed 7.00 hours
@2x speed 5.25 hours
Overall Rating:
The Boat Audiobook
“This terrific book of short stories should win awards this year. The stories are so well written that I visualized all the characters and scenes without being aware of detailed descriptions. Although the author is originally Vietnamese, the stories are set in a variety of countries. Many have teens as major characters so it would be interesting to see what a mature teen thought of the collection.”
— Karlan
Author: Mary Higgins Clark
Narrator: Jean Stapleton
Audio Length:
@1x speed 5.50 hours
@1.5x speed 3.67 hours
@2x speed 2.75 hours
Overall Rating:
The Lottery Winner (Abridged): Alvirah and Willie Stories Audiobook
Alvirah Meehan, the ever-resourceful former cleaning lady who struck it rich in the lottery, won the hearts of millions of readers and listeners when she narrowly survived a stalking killer in the #1 bestseller Weep No More My Lady. Now she returns with her occasionally befuddled mate Willy in this dazzling collection of interconnected stories.
From the glittering streets of New York City to the shores of both California and Cape Cod, Alvirah and Willy come to the aid of a vacationer accused of murder in "Death on the Cape," assist a fellow lottery winner in distress in "A Clean Sweep," return to the Cypress Point Spa to solve a brutal slaying among the rich and beautiful in "The Lottery 'Winner," and track down a kidnapper at Christmas time in "Bye, Baby Bunting."
Written with Mary Higgins Clark's trademark wit, romance, and keen eye for thrilling detection, and presented here in unabridged recordings, these Alvirah and Willy stories are destined to become perennial favorites.
“This was one of Mary Higgins Clark's best books in my opinion. I loved it! There were so many different mysteries in this book it kept you guessing the whole time. Alvirah and Willy are great at solving mysteries. I can't wait to read more books that they are in.”
— Alison
Author: David Sedaris
Narrator: David Sedaris, Ann Magnuson, Amy Sedaris
Audio Length:
@1x speed 4.25 hours
@1.5x speed 2.83 hours
@2x speed 2.13 hours
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Narrator Rating:
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Holidays on Ice Audiobook
No matter what your favorite holiday, you won't want to miss celebrating it with the author who has been called "one of the funniest writers alive" (Economist).
“It's a 5/5 because I read it every Christmas. I can't wait till I have have grand kids and grandma can get drunk and read the stories out loud. Totally appropriate and way more interesting than "The Night Before Christmas".”
— Jenn
Author: Stephen King
Narrator: Tim Curry, Stephen King, Kathy Bates, Rob Lowe, Whoopi Goldberg, Matthew Broderick, Gary Sinese
Audio Length:
@1x speed 9.50 hours
@1.5x speed 6.33 hours
@2x speed 4.75 hours
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Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Volume I Audiobook
New to Pocket Books’ Stephen King backlist—the short story collection containing the story "Dolan’s Cadillac," soon to be released as a feature film starring Christian Slater and Wes Bentley.
With numerous unforgettable movies based on his short stories—including Shawshank Redemption, 1408, and The Green Mile—readers will be delighted to rediscover this classic collection, also released as a television mini-series and on DVD. Featuring twenty short horror stories, a television script, an essay, and a poem, Nightmares and Dreamscapes contains unique and chilling plots including everything from dead rock star zombies to evil toys seeking murderous revenge. It will be treasured by King fans new and old.
“More spectacular short stories from Stephen King. I especially liked the almost humorous tone of "The Night Flier" and "Popsy" which appear (according to King's "liner notes") to be concerning the same vampire character.”
— Justin
Author: Lucia Berlin
Narrator: Thom Rivera, Dawn Harvey, Carol Monda, Hillary Huber, Bernadette Dunne, Kyla Garcia, various narrators
Audio Length:
@1x speed 14.75 hours
@1.5x speed 9.83 hours
@2x speed 7.38 hours
A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories Audiobook
“I have always had faith that the best writers will rise to the top, like cream, sooner or later, and will become exactly as well-known as they should be—their work talked about, quoted, taught, performed, filmed, set to music, anthologized. Perhaps, with the present collection, Lucia Berlin will begin to gain the attention she deserves.”—Lydia Davis, from the foreword
A Manual for Cleaning Women compiles the best work of the legendary short-story writer Lucia Berlin. With the grit of Raymond Carver, the humor of Grace Paley, and a blend of wit and melancholy all her own, Berlin crafts miracles from the everyday, uncovering moments of grace in the laundromats and halfway houses of the American Southwest, in the homes of the Bay Area upper class, among switchboard operators and struggling mothers, hitchhikers, and bad Christians.
Readers will revel in this remarkable collection from a master of the form and wonder how they’d ever overlooked her in the first place.
“Berlin’s writing, both tempered and elastic, provides a perfect springboard, and the narrators use it to full advantage: gracefully leaping, twisting, and—when called for—landing with force on the emotional heart of each story. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile