Ramón de Ocampo's prosaic narration adds to the uneasy mood of this middle-grade horror story. After an embarrassing school incident, Casey becomes a social outcast. His family worries about him--until a local dad drops a new friend at Casey's home. Morel doesn't speak, has no eyes, and appears to be made of clay. Oddly, only Casey seems to notice these peculiarities. De Ocampo shines at adding to the listener's discomfort. Rather than reflect Casey's anxiety, his delivery mirrors the normalcy that Casey's parents exhibit around Morel. As days pass, Morel becomes more boy-like and ingratiates himself with Casey's parents. When Morel's true nature is finally revealed, de Ocampo conveys Casey's panic--which the listener has felt all along.
(Horror. 9-12)Pub Date: July 22, 2025
Duration: 5 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063396388
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Smith’s spunky delivery keeps this quirky friendship story plausible.
Ina-Marie Smith’s charming performance captures the sweetly bewitching story of Greta, the only human member of her family, and Agnes, her new human neighbor. Greta lives in a haunted castle with parents who are dragons and brothers who are a ghost, a vampire, and a zombie, respectively—and they all get humorous voices from Smith. Greta longs for a friend and decides to audition Agnes for the job. However, her gift to Agnes—a monster ferret—puts their budding friendship to the test. Amusing wordplay and fairy tale references are upbeat, not scary, and a glimpse of Greta’s monster family out shopping and encountering “normal people” is moving.
Smith’s spunky delivery keeps this quirky friendship story plausible. (Fantasy. 7-11)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
Duration: 2 hrs, 35 mins
DD ISBN: 9781547617371
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2026
Solid middle-grade horror.
Kaipo Schwab performs this fourth outing in the Tales From Cabin 23 series. In this entry, a Lipan Apache middle schooler finds himself trapped in a house that’s slowly falling into the ocean off coastal Massachusetts. Sean’s been uprooted from his Texas home to live temporarily with his cousin, Zeke, and Schwab convincingly captures his hesitancy and earnestness. Little Badger’s story is propulsive, and Schwab matches its pacing easily. His characterizations also include brash and confident Zeke as well as lonely schoolmate Jenny and “Many Names,” a monster who’s as displaced as Sean—and very hungry. Each character comes alive for listeners as Sean desperately works to rescue himself, his cousin, and their new friend from both Many Names and the Atlantic.
Solid middle-grade horror. (Horror. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2026
Duration: 5 hrs, 20 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063298286
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Aug. 24, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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