Stories About People Challenging a Haunted House

I approached this audiobook expecting another round of creaking floorboards and gasps in the dark, but Nesbit’s collection took me entirely by surprise. The stories are clever, not creepy, with characters who treat haunted houses like a landlord might treat a noisy neighbor—annoyed, but ultimately in control. Robert Maskell’s narration in *The Story of the Amulet* was a standout: his measured, slightly sardonic tone made Nesbit’s dry humor land perfectly, while Ghizela Rowe’s performance in *The Five Senses* added a delightful mischief that kept things light. Mark Rice-Oxley’s section in *Man-Size in Marble* was the most atmospheric, though I wish he’d dialed back the gravelly undertones just a notch—some of his line readings bordered on parody. That said, the pacing is brisk, the production is crisp, and the stories themselves are a masterclass in subverting expectations. If you’re tired of being scared by ghosts, this is the audiobook for you—it’s like a supernatural sneer in literary form.