Mister Magic
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $23.99
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Rebecca Lowman
-
Kiersten White
-
Written by:
-
Kiersten White
About this listen
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Who is Mister Magic? Former child stars reunite to uncover the tragedy that ended their show—and discover the secret of its enigmatic host—in this “skin-crawling story of pop culture fandom and ‘90s nostalgia” (Melissa Albert, author of The Hazel Woods) from the author of Hide.
“[A] propulsive, exciting, often genuinely scary, endlessly compelling mystery.”—Terry Miles, author of Rabbits
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: PopSugar, Polygon, Chicago Public Library, CrimeReads
Thirty years after a tragic accident shut down production of the classic children’s program Mister Magic, the five surviving cast members have done their best to move on. But just as generations of cultishly devoted fans still cling to the lessons they learned from the show, the cast, known as the Circle of Friends, have spent their lives searching for the happiness they felt while they were on it. The friendship. The feeling of belonging. And the protection of Mister Magic.
But with no surviving video of the show, no evidence of who directed or produced it, and no records of who—or what—the beloved host actually was, memories are all the former Circle of Friends has.
Then a twist of fate brings the castmates back together at the remote desert filming compound that feels like it’s been waiting for them all this time. Even though they haven’t seen each other for years, they understand one another better than anyone has since.
After all, they’re the only ones who hold the secret of that circle, the mystery of the magic man in his infinitely black cape, and, maybe, the answers to what really happened on that deadly last day. But as the Circle of Friends reclaim parts of their past, they begin to wonder: Are they here by choice, or have they been lured into a trap?
Because magic never forgets the taste of your friendship....
©2023 Kiersten White (P)2023 Random House AudioYou may also enjoy...
-
The September House
- Written by: Carissa Orlando
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
- Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Margaret and her husband Hal bought the large Victorian house on Hawthorn Street—for sale at a surprisingly reasonable price—they couldn’t believe they finally had a home of their own. Then they discovered the hauntings. Every September, the walls drip blood. The ghosts of former inhabitants appear, and all of them are terrified of something that lurks in the basement. Most people would flee. Margaret is not most people. Margaret is staying.
-
-
Great spooky read
- By Stormy Angela hart on 2025-01-02
Written by: Carissa Orlando
-
Hide
- Written by: Kiersten White
- Narrated by: Emma Galvin
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The challenge: Spend a week hiding in an abandoned amusement park and don’t get caught. The prize: enough money to change everything. Even though everyone is desperate to win—to seize a dream future or escape a haunting past—Mack is sure she can beat her competitors. All she has to do is hide, and she’s an expert at that. It’s the reason she’s alive and her family isn’t.
-
-
Not worth it
- By Just okay on 2024-06-20
Written by: Kiersten White
-
The Night Guest
- Written by: Hildur Knútsdóttir, Mary Robinette Kowal - translator
- Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal
- Length: 2 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Iðunn is in yet another doctor's office. She knows her constant fatigue is a sign that something's not right, but practitioners dismiss her symptoms and blood tests haven't revealed any cause. When she talks to friends and family about it, the refrain is the same—have you tried eating better? exercising more? establishing a nighttime routine? She tries to follow their advice, buying everything from vitamins to sleeping pills to a step-counting watch. Nothing helps. Until one night Iðunn falls asleep with the watch on, and wakes up to find she’s walked over 40,000 steps in the night.
-
-
Kept me entertained
- By Dayana Kibilds on 2025-01-14
Written by: Hildur Knútsdóttir, and others
-
The Handyman Method
- Written by: Nick Cutter, Andrew F. Sullivan
- Narrated by: Corey Brill
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a young family moves into an unfinished development community, cracks begin to emerge in both their new residence and their lives, as a mysterious online DIY instructor delivers dark subliminal suggestions about how to handle any problem around the house. The trials of home improvement, destructive insecurities, and haunted house horror all collide in this thrilling story perfect for fans of Nick Cutter’s bestsellers The Troop and The Deep.
-
-
Another nick cutter beauty
- By Michael on 2023-10-05
Written by: Nick Cutter, and others
-
What Moves the Dead
- Written by: T. Kingfisher
- Narrated by: Avi Roque
- Length: 5 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruritania. What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices at night, and her brother Roderick is consumed with a mysterious malady of the nerves. Aided by a redoubtable British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.
-
-
Good Story, Disappointing Narration
- By Georgia on 2022-08-27
Written by: T. Kingfisher
-
Episode Thirteen
- Written by: Craig DiLouie
- Narrated by: Gregory D. Barnett, Sam Slade, Kimberly Bonny, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Episode Thirteen takes them to every ghost hunter's holy grail: the Paranormal Research Foundation. This brooding, derelict mansion holds secrets and clues about bizarre experiments that took place there in the 1970s. It's also famously haunted, and the team hopes their scientific techniques and high tech gear will prove it. But as the house begins to reveal itself to them, proof of an afterlife might not be everything Matt dreamed of.
-
-
The worst produced audiobook ever
- By Cayce on 2024-10-29
Written by: Craig DiLouie
-
The September House
- Written by: Carissa Orlando
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
- Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Margaret and her husband Hal bought the large Victorian house on Hawthorn Street—for sale at a surprisingly reasonable price—they couldn’t believe they finally had a home of their own. Then they discovered the hauntings. Every September, the walls drip blood. The ghosts of former inhabitants appear, and all of them are terrified of something that lurks in the basement. Most people would flee. Margaret is not most people. Margaret is staying.
-
-
Great spooky read
- By Stormy Angela hart on 2025-01-02
Written by: Carissa Orlando
-
Hide
- Written by: Kiersten White
- Narrated by: Emma Galvin
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The challenge: Spend a week hiding in an abandoned amusement park and don’t get caught. The prize: enough money to change everything. Even though everyone is desperate to win—to seize a dream future or escape a haunting past—Mack is sure she can beat her competitors. All she has to do is hide, and she’s an expert at that. It’s the reason she’s alive and her family isn’t.
-
-
Not worth it
- By Just okay on 2024-06-20
Written by: Kiersten White
-
The Night Guest
- Written by: Hildur Knútsdóttir, Mary Robinette Kowal - translator
- Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal
- Length: 2 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Iðunn is in yet another doctor's office. She knows her constant fatigue is a sign that something's not right, but practitioners dismiss her symptoms and blood tests haven't revealed any cause. When she talks to friends and family about it, the refrain is the same—have you tried eating better? exercising more? establishing a nighttime routine? She tries to follow their advice, buying everything from vitamins to sleeping pills to a step-counting watch. Nothing helps. Until one night Iðunn falls asleep with the watch on, and wakes up to find she’s walked over 40,000 steps in the night.
-
-
Kept me entertained
- By Dayana Kibilds on 2025-01-14
Written by: Hildur Knútsdóttir, and others
-
The Handyman Method
- Written by: Nick Cutter, Andrew F. Sullivan
- Narrated by: Corey Brill
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a young family moves into an unfinished development community, cracks begin to emerge in both their new residence and their lives, as a mysterious online DIY instructor delivers dark subliminal suggestions about how to handle any problem around the house. The trials of home improvement, destructive insecurities, and haunted house horror all collide in this thrilling story perfect for fans of Nick Cutter’s bestsellers The Troop and The Deep.
-
-
Another nick cutter beauty
- By Michael on 2023-10-05
Written by: Nick Cutter, and others
-
What Moves the Dead
- Written by: T. Kingfisher
- Narrated by: Avi Roque
- Length: 5 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruritania. What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices at night, and her brother Roderick is consumed with a mysterious malady of the nerves. Aided by a redoubtable British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.
-
-
Good Story, Disappointing Narration
- By Georgia on 2022-08-27
Written by: T. Kingfisher
-
Episode Thirteen
- Written by: Craig DiLouie
- Narrated by: Gregory D. Barnett, Sam Slade, Kimberly Bonny, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Episode Thirteen takes them to every ghost hunter's holy grail: the Paranormal Research Foundation. This brooding, derelict mansion holds secrets and clues about bizarre experiments that took place there in the 1970s. It's also famously haunted, and the team hopes their scientific techniques and high tech gear will prove it. But as the house begins to reveal itself to them, proof of an afterlife might not be everything Matt dreamed of.
-
-
The worst produced audiobook ever
- By Cayce on 2024-10-29
Written by: Craig DiLouie
-
Boys in the Valley
- Written by: Philip Fracassi
- Narrated by: David Aaron Baker
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
St. Vincent's Orphanage for Boys. Turn of the century, in a remote valley in Pennsylvania. Here, under the watchful eyes of several priests, thirty boys work, learn, and worship. Peter Barlow, orphaned as a child by a gruesome murder, has made a new life here. As he approaches adulthood, he has friends, a future...a family. Then, late one stormy night, a group of men arrive at their door, one of whom is badly wounded, occult symbols carved into his flesh. His death releases an ancient evil that spreads like sickness, infecting St. Vincent's and the children within.
-
-
best horror book of the year for me
- By Amazon Customer on 2023-08-01
Written by: Philip Fracassi
-
Silver Nitrate
- Written by: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- Narrated by: Gisela Chipe
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Montserrat has always been overlooked. She’s a talented sound editor, but she’s left out of the boys’ club running the film industry in ’90s Mexico City. And she’s all but invisible to her best friend, Tristán, a charming if faded soap opera star, though she’s been in love with him since childhood. Then Tristán discovers his new neighbor is the cult horror director Abel Urueta, and the legendary auteur claims he can change their lives—even if his tale of a Nazi occultist imbuing magic into highly volatile silver nitrate stock sounds like sheer fantasy.
-
-
A fun throwback to the 1990s however a bit predictable on the story side #Bookstodon
- By Aimee on 2024-03-16
Written by: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
-
Out There Screaming
- An Anthology of New Black Horror
- Written by: Jordan Peele – Intro / Editor, John Joseph Adams – Editor, N. K. Jemisin – Contributor, and others
- Narrated by: Jordan Peele, full cast
- Length: 14 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The visionary writer and director of Get Out, Us, and Nope, and founder of Monkeypaw Productions, curates this groundbreaking anthology of all-new stories of Black horror, exploring not only the terrors of the supernatural but the chilling reality of injustice that haunts our nation. Featuring an introduction by Peele and an all-star roster of beloved writers and new voices, Out There Screaming is a master class in horror, and—like his spine-chilling films—its stories prey on everything we think we know about our world . . . and redefine what it means to be afraid.
-
-
Awful stories
- By Dave on 2024-11-06
Written by: Jordan Peele – Intro / Editor, and others
-
The Watchers
- Written by: A.M. Shine
- Narrated by: Jacqueline Milne
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This forest isn't charted on any map. Every car breaks down at its treeline. Mina's is no different. Left stranded, she is forced into the dark woodland only to find a woman shouting, urging Mina to run to a concrete bunker. As the door slams behind her, the building is besieged by screams. Mina finds herself in a room with a wall of glass, and an electric light that activates at nightfall, when the watchers come above ground. These creatures emerge to observe their captive humans and terrible things happen to anyone who doesn't reach the bunker in time.
-
-
Great book
- By Emily on 2024-12-11
Written by: A.M. Shine
-
Black Sheep
- Written by: Rachel Harrison
- Narrated by: Jeremy Carlisle Parker
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nobody has a “normal” family, but Vesper Wright’s is truly...something else. Vesper left home at eighteen and never looked back—mostly because she was told that leaving the staunchly religious community she grew up in meant she couldn’t return. But then an envelope arrives on her doorstep.
-
-
not great
- By Kindle Customer on 2024-02-27
Written by: Rachel Harrison
-
Incidents Around the House
- A Novel
- Written by: Josh Malerman
- Narrated by: Delanie Nicole Gill
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To eight-year-old Bela, her family is her world. There’s Mommy, Daddo, and Grandma Ruth. But there is also Other Mommy, a malevolent entity who asks her every day: “Can I go inside your heart?” When horrifying incidents around the house signal that Other Mommy is growing tired of asking Bela the question over and over, Bela understands that unless she says yes, her family will soon pay. Other Mommy is getting restless, stronger, bolder. Only the bonds of family can keep Bela safe, but other incidents show cracks in her parents’ marriage. The safety Bela relies on is about to unravel.
-
-
Decent
- By Jessa on 2024-10-01
Written by: Josh Malerman
-
I Was a Teenage Slasher
- Written by: Stephen Graham Jones
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch, Stephen Graham Jones
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1989, Lamesa, Texas. A small west Texas town driven by oil and cotton—and a place where everyone knows everyone else’s business. So it goes for Tolly Driver, a good kid with more potential than application, seventeen, and about to be cursed to kill for revenge. Here Stephen Graham Jones explores the Texas he grew up in, and shared sense of unfairness of being on the outside through the slasher horror Jones loves, but from the perspective of the killer, Tolly, writing his own autobiography. Find yourself rooting for a killer in this summer teen movie of a novel gone full blood-curdling tragic.
-
-
Perfect story telling
- By dylan on 2024-10-26
Written by: Stephen Graham Jones
-
Delicate Condition
- Written by: Danielle Valentine
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anna Alcott is desperate to have a family. But as she tries to balance her increasingly public life as an indie actress with a grueling IVF journey, she starts to suspect that someone is going to great lengths to make sure that never happens. Crucial medicines are lost. Appointments get swapped without her knowledge. Cryptic warnings have her jumping at shadows. And despite everything she's gone through to make this pregnancy a reality, not even her husband is willing to believe that someone is playing twisted games with her.
-
-
Perfect for American Horror Story
- By Mr. Yum on 2023-09-04
Written by: Danielle Valentine
-
The Reddening
- Written by: Adam Nevill
- Narrated by: Conner Goff
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lifestyle journalist Katrine escaped past traumas by moving to a coast renowned for seaside holidays and natural beauty. But when a vast hoard of human remains and prehistoric artifacts is discovered in nearby Brickburgh, a hideous shadow engulfs her life. Helene, a disillusioned lone parent, lost her brother, Lincoln, six years ago. Disturbing subterranean noises he recorded prior to vanishing, draw her to Brickburgh's caves. A site where early humans butchered each other across 60,000 years. Upon the walls, images of their nameless gods remain.
-
-
meh
- By Anne on 2021-03-06
Written by: Adam Nevill
-
Near the Bone
- Written by: Christina Henry
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mattie can't remember a time before she and William lived alone on a mountain together. She must never make him upset. But when Mattie discovers the mutilated body of a fox in the woods, she realizes that they’re not alone after all. There’s something in the woods that wasn’t there before, something that makes strange cries in the night, something with sharp teeth and claws. When three strangers appear on the mountaintop looking for the creature in the woods, Mattie knows their presence will anger William. Terrible things happen when William is angry.
-
-
Wow that was dark
- By LadyK on 2022-07-17
Written by: Christina Henry
-
Infinity Gate
- Written by: M. R. Carey
- Narrated by: Dami Olukoya
- Length: 16 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Pandominion: a political and trading alliance of a million worlds–except that they’re really just the one world, Earth, in many different realities. And when an AI threat arises that could destroy everything the Pandominion has built, they'll eradicate it by whatever means necessary, no matter the cost to human life.
-
-
Riveting
- By Anonymous User on 2024-06-12
Written by: M. R. Carey
-
Intercepts: A Horror Novel
- Written by: T.J. Payne
- Narrated by: Joe Hempel
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joe works at a facility that performs human experimentation. His work just followed him home. The government wanted to unlock hidden abilities in the human mind. They put subjects in extreme sensory deprivation. All the test subjects went violently insane. But the research continued. Today it has been perfected. Almost perfected.
-
-
A total mind f^$k
- By Kindle Customer on 2024-08-07
Written by: T.J. Payne
What the critics say
“Mister Magic is a propulsive, exciting, often genuinely scary, endlessly compelling mystery. Imagine a trip through Twin Peaks by way of Stranger Things and Stephen King’s It.”—Terry Miles, author of Rabbits
“In this skin-crawling story of pop culture fandom and ’90s nostalgia, Kiersten White fully delivers on her gripping premise: the troubled reunion, thirty years later, of the cast of a magical kids’ show that exists only in its viewers’ memories. Mister Magic walks the twilit line between wonder and terror where all the best childhood games are played.”—Melissa Albert, New York Times bestselling author of The Hazel Wood
“It meets The Stepford Wives in this wildly compelling story that explores whether it’s possible to recapture the magic of childhood friendship and what happens when you discover the darkness hiding underneath your memories. White’s writing is guaranteed to hook you. Be careful cracking this open; Mister Magic will pull you in like a riptide.”—Mallory O’Meara, Los Angeles Times bestselling author of The Lady from the Black Lagoon