The Babysitter Lives

By: Stephen Graham Jones

Narrated by: Isabella Star LaBlanc, Stephen Graham Jones - acknowledgments

Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

“I enjoyed The Babysitter Lives very much. It’s perfect for audio, as really scary stories always are, and this one is really scary. Perfect for a long car ride…especially when you’re almost out of gas and you start wondering if maybe someone has gotten into the backseat and will lurch into the rearview mirror.”—Stephen King

Only on Audio! A new horror novel from the bestselling author of The Only Good Indians and My Heart is a Chainsaw.

A mother carries her six-year-old daughter into the tiled bathroom where the bathtub is already running, is still running, is overflowing, and for a moment the girl calms, seeing her little brother floating facedown in the water, his hair a golden halo around him, but then this mother is guiding her face-first down into that water, that, as it turns out, isn’t just water but scalding water, and eleven years later her scream is the drawer screeching out of the counter by the sink.

When high school senior Charlotte agrees to babysit the Wilbanks twins, she plans to put the six-year-olds to bed early and spend a quiet night studying: the SATs are tomorrow, and checking the Native American/Alaskan Native box on all the forms doesn’t mean jack if you choke on test day.

But tomorrow is also Halloween, and the twins are eager to show off their costumes—Ron is a nurse, in an old-fashioned white skirt-uniform, and Desi has an Authentic Squaw costume, complete with buckskin and feathered headdress. Excitement is in the air.

Charlotte’s last babysitting gig almost ended in tragedy, when her young charge sleepwalked unnoticed into the middle of the street, only to be found unharmed by Charlotte’s mother. Charlotte vows to be extra careful this time. But the house is filled with mysterious noises and secrets that only the twins understand, echoes of horrors that Charlotte gradually realizes took place in the house eleven years ago. Soon Charlotte has to admit that every babysitter’s worst nightmare has come true: they’re not alone in the house.

The Babysitter Lives is a mind-bending haunted house tale from the Jordan Peele of horror literature, Stephen Graham Jones.

Featuring a note from the author.

©2022 Stephen Graham Jones. All rights reserved. (P)2022 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Isabella Star LaBlanc, a Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota actor, is the ideal choice to represent Indigenous teen Charlotte; her voice is both youthful and commanding, allowing listeners to relax and put their trust in her as a babysitter. Her voice exudes confidence as she continues to deal with all of the supernatural misfortunes thrown at her. While some listeners may think LaBlanc’s portrayal of Charlotte is too stoic, those who pay attention will notice how she adds emotions to reflect the danger other characters encounter. Using slightly but believably different voices for the other characters, LaBlanc aces the rhythm and writing style distinct to Stephen Graham Jones, giving it a naturally flowing quality. Encourage Jones' fans who may be disappointed in the lack of a print edition to listen to this audio-exclusive, even if they aren’t fans of audiobooks. They may come back for more!" (Suzanne Temple)

A Haunted House Tale Like No Other

In The Babysitter Lives, Stephen Graham Jones tackles the haunted house theme with the same unique style and flair readers have come to expect. When Charlotte arrives at the Wilbanks' house to babysit their twin six-year-olds, she has no idea she's walking into a place more dangerous and horrifying than anywhere else she's been. In what could be described as House of Leaves meets Stranger Things, Jones weaves a disorienting tale that leaves the reader questioning what's real just as much as the narrative forces the same confusion on Charlotte.
Charlotte, Ron, and Desi are not alone in the house, and there's a depth to the shadows and dark corners that threatens to swallow anyone who ventures into the dark spaces without caution.
Ultimately, the story succeeds in being a unique and tense haunted house story, capturing the highest stakes on a small scale. The natures of reality and identity are questioned in a big way, but Jones isn't satisfied simply leaving us with questions. He wants to delve into the how and why of it all. Jones forces us to think about everything happening through the lens of Charlotte's analysis and the horrors of the past she's forced to witness.
This might be my second favorite story from the author, following the masterpiece that was The Only Good Indians, and with good reason.
The narration provided by Isabella Star LaBlanc combines with Jones's writing to make Charlotte feel like a real girl. She's smart, funny, and thoroughly out of her depths but too stubborn to give up. The supplemental material from Jones himself adds a nice touch, touching on his inspirations and what he hoped to accomplish with The Babysitter Lives. I'd say he was more than successful.

Listen carefully. Will leave you gobsmacked

An amazing work of psychological horror and insight. The confusion encountered at times is necessary to gain understanding of the main character's confusion. Stay with this until you arrive at the final destination. Great narration.

Wow!

My goodness this man can write! The Only Good Indians is still my favorite, but this was so original! I loved it!

Once I figured it out, I loved it

The plot and characters are brilliant! I thought “the idea of ____” was slightly overdone and I’m honestly not smart so it took me a day to figure out the plot once I was done. But love SGJ and everything he does.

a ride

loved it. time travel, multiverses, murder, & creepy everythings. sad ending, but i am here for it.

Great

Great listen! Nothing at all what I expected but loved it! Crazy ending! Would recommend to anyone

Fantastic and Unexpected

Another great book from Stephen Graham Jones, who both respects the tropes of horror stories and knows how and when to turn them on their head. You won’t be able to predict where it’s going in the best way.

LaBlanc is a great narrator, emotional without being overwrought, made great use of Jones’s unusual prose style. Worth the listen!

Not in the house, well not exactly

No one is calling the babysitter from inside the house.. It's much worse than that... A really fun read. I highly recommend this, and check out all of SGJ's books while you're at it.

Fantastically Entertaining 

This book had me at the very first sentence.This will be an audiobook I will listen to over and over.

Great addition to the haunted house genre

Every time I read Stephen Graham Jones’ writing, I find myself thinking about it long after I’ve finished reading it.

The Babysitter Lives isn’t going to be an exception to this.

It’s a great addition to the genre of haunted houses. It builds on and expands many of the ideas in his spare, luminous novella, Mapping the Interior - which is on my short list of favorite haunted houses.*

It’s genuinely creepy, as well as thought provoking.

This book is good for readers wanting a fast-paced, creepy novel in which nothing is as it seems. It’s equally good for readers who want to contemplate the nature of reality, and the spaces in between those we can measure.

*if anyone wants the rest of my list of favorites…
The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James
The Beckoning Fair One, by Oliver Onions
The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson
The House Next Door, by Anne River Siddons
The Shining, by Stephen King
The Woman in Black, by Susan Hill
Mapping the Interior, by Stephen Graham Jones