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Dead Silence

The sci-fi haunted house story from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Death's Daughter

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Dead Silence

By: S.A. Barnes
Narrated by: Lauren Ezzo
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

A GHOST SHIP. A SALVAGE CREW. UNSPEAKABLE HORRORS.

Claire Kovalik is days away from being unemployed--made obsolete--when her beacon repair crew picks up a strange distress signal. With nothing to lose and no desire to return to Earth, Claire and her team decide to investigate.

What they find at the other end of the signal is a shock: the Aurora, a famous luxury space-liner that vanished on its maiden tour of the solar system more than twenty years ago. A salvage claim like this could set Claire and her crew up for life. But a quick trip through the Aurora reveals something isn't right.

Whispers in the dark. Flickers of movement. Words scrawled in blood. Claire must fight to hold onto her sanity and find out what really happened on the Aurora, before she and her crew meet the same ghastly fate.

'Truly un-put-downable in its purest sense' Chloe Gong, bestselling author of These Violent Delights

'At the intersection of science fiction and horror, Dead Silence is the ultimate haunted house story, in space' Alma Katsu, author of The Deep and The Hunger

'This story slides and slithers from creepy and atmospheric to skin-crawling, edge-of-your-seat terror' T. Kingfisher, author of The Hollow Places

© S.A. Barnes 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

 Ghosts Horror Science Fiction Space Exploration Haunted Scary

Critic Reviews

I ate this book in one sitting because I was in the mood to be freaked out and it delivered tremendously. Truly un-put-downable in its purest sense. (Chloe Gong, #1 New York Times bestselling author of THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS)
Stomach-turning, sinister space horror perfect for fans of Alien and Event Horizon. (Kendare Blake)
At the intersection of science fiction and horror, Dead Silence is the ultimate haunted house story, in space. (Alma Katsu)
This story slides and slithers from creepy and atmospheric to skin-crawling, edge-of-your-seat terror (T. Kingfisher)
Dead Silence gives you the suffocating claustrophobia of 2001: A Space Odyssey mixed with the horrors of Alien. I couldn't stop reading (Mur Lafferty)
The richly realized world that S.A. Barnes creates draws us in, and the relatable characters charm us. The dread mounts to a powerful conclusion (David Wellington)
All stars
Most relevant
Got to chapter 9, and nothing had happened other then a bunch of terrible internal monologue. I had to bail out.
If you want horror or thriller, keep looking.

Couldn't finish

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I love the lost ship genre, but only if its interesting. I tried to push through and i have 40mins left and I just cannot find the last bit of energy to push through an incredibly disappointing story and unfortunate performance. The twist is an absolute snore fest that made me genuinely sigh and roll my eyes and the voice artist while passable in the female voices, sounds like if you ask a kid to "do a mans voice" for the male roles. really wish I didn't bother with this and could have my time back

Regret pushing through

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