It’s your friendly KF on KND editor April here, and today I’m sharing some Whispersync for Voice bargains that are perfect for the season: horror classics.
This post features Kindle book + Audible audiobook pairings where the book is free, and after you’ve “bought” it you can get the accompanying professional narration from Audible for just 99 cents to $2.99 per book! In every case, you’re getting a discount of 50% off or more on the Audible edition by “buying” the free Kindle book first.
Personally, I don’t usually switch back and forth between the Kindle book and the Audible narration, I like to just let the narration play while I’m working on holiday crafts, driving or doing quiet, mindless household chores. There’s nothing quite like driving through a cold, maybe even stormy, night while listening to the original, spine-chilling tales of Dracula, Frankenstein and the like!
Note that the cover images shown in this post are for the Audible editions, but they’re all linked to the Kindle editions so you can “buy” the free Kindle book first, then add narration from the purchase confirmation page.
Dracula (4.5/5 stars, currently FREE for the Kindle book, 99 cents to add the Audible full-cast recording narration featuring Alan Cumming and Tim Curry after purchase of the Kindle book)
Bram Stoker’s Dracula introduces one of literature’s most famous characters, as the terrifying Count wreaks havoc on the band of hunters intent on stopping him.
Frankenstein (4/5 stars, currently FREE for the Kindle book, $2.99 to add the Audible narration performed by Simon Vance after purchase of the Kindle book)
One Amazon reviewer says:
“Frankenstein, loved by many decades of readers and praised by such eminent literary critics as Harold Bloom, seems hardly to need a recommendation. If you haven’t read it recently, though, you may not remember the sweeping force of the prose, the grotesque, surreal imagery, and the multilayered doppelgänger themes of Mary Shelley’s masterpiece.”
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (4.5/5 stars, currently FREE for the Kindle book, 99 cents to add the Audible narration performed by Scott Brick after purchase of the Kindle book)
When a brute of a man tramples an innocent girl, apparently out of spite, two bystanders catch the fellow and force him to pay reparations to the girl’s family. The brute’s name is Edward Hyde.
A respected lawyer, Utterson, hears this story and begins to unravel the seemingly manic behavior of his best friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll, and his connection with Hyde. Several months earlier, Utterson had drawn up an inexplicable will for the doctor, naming Hyde as his heir in the event that he disappears. Fearing his friend has been blackmailed into this arrangement, Utterson probes deeper into both Jekyll and his unlikely protégé. He is increasingly unnerved at each new revelation.
In a forerunner of psychological dramas to come, Stevenson uses Hyde to show that we are both repulsed by and attracted to the darker side of life, particularly when we can experience it in anonymity.
Phantom of the Opera (4.5/5 stars, currently FREE for the Kindle book, 99 cents to add the Audible narration performed by Ralph Cosham after purchase of the Kindle book)
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. With an increasing pattern of fear and violence, The Phantom of the Opera begins to strike, but always with a beautiful young performer at the center of his deadly desires.
The Picture of Dorian Gray (4.5/5 stars, currently FREE for the Kindle book, $2.99 to add the Audible narration performed by Simon Vance after purchase of the Kindle book)
Dorian Gray, a handsome and narcissistic young man, lives thoughtlessly for his own pleasure – an attitude encouraged by the company he keeps. One day, after having his portrait painted, Dorian makes a frivolous Faustian wish: that he should always remain as young and beautiful as he is in that painting, while the portrait grows old in his stead.
The wish comes true, and Dorian soon finds that none of his wicked actions have visible consequences. Realizing that he will appear fresh and unspoiled no matter what kind of life he lives, Dorian becomes increasingly corrupt, unchecked by public opinion. Only the portrait grows degenerate and ugly, a powerful symbol of Dorian’s internal ruin.
The only Oscar Wilde novel ever published.