This full cast narration and the sound effects were perfection! It really pulls you in. Kids are going missing and people are searching every where. Panic sets in and the one thing the missing kids have in common is the creepy school bus… Loved it 👏🏼

A wild ride from start to finish. Imagine expecting a school bus to be your safe way home only for it to turn into a huge nightmare! Full of characters to root for and even a dog! I’m sure glad I know my kid’s bus driver pretty well! I might take a second look at who is driving otherwise!

This was my first experience with a full cast format in audiobook. It enhanced the story in such a creative way! I appreciated that it felt like a movie was playing in my ears!

Thank you NetGalley, Recorded Books, and author Paul Hough for the ALC in exchange for my honest review. “The Creepy School Bus” was published February 11, 2025!

This was a respectable juvenile/YA horror, and I'd say it's targeted for ages 11-13. The full-cast nature of the audiobook is what makes it. Great cast, great voice acting. As a public librarian, I'd recommend it for younger ages - tweens who are looking to get into something spooky. I think the twisty, winding nature of the story & the almost otherworldliness is a good introduction into the cosmic horror/existential dread that younger readers may encounter as they age into older works. Additionally, the younger cast of characters features individuals who come from challenging home circumstances, or that are facing their own battles with more insubstantial matters like insecurities. I like that. There will be different options for young readers to relate to. As an adult, it was a little hard to keep everyone & their individual characteristics strictly separate, but I don't think that would be a problem for someone in the book's target audience. It's too young to be coming-of-age, and it's also too young to be full-fledged horror, but it's a good journey of friendship & a nice foray into the genre for kids.

It's a little longer than I felt it needed to be, with some perhaps-unnecessary side quests, but I do think a younger reader would have fun in those moments. The way I hopped back to attention when the resident adult spoke up told me I was just getting a little fatigued by the kid-ness of it all. And again, props to the cast. The sound effects were killer!

This is a review for the Part 1 audiobook. Thank you, Netgalley and RB Media for the Advanced Listener's Copy of The Creepy School Bus. I was concerned over the graphic audio aspect, since I usually get overwhelmed, but this was just SO GOOD! (see final point as to why)
It should be kept in mind that this is tween horror, but is so well done and worth the close to 5 hours of quickplay.

There was not a single part of this that wasn't good. It has a full cast ensemble, and is giving all sorts of vibes. Initially, it was giving a little IT vibes (don't ask me exactly why - it may have been the character with the stutter or the toothy monsters) but once the story was really going, it felt like they were stuck in some version of the upside down; at least, that is how I pictured it. Like everything on the surface was underground but with the vagueness and greyness of 'anywhere.'

I can't wait for part two, and as other reviewers say, this would be a really, really good movie a la Monster House.

I love a full cast production, and honestly, that's what pulled me through this. The Creepy School Bus follows several children and an adult FBI agent as they become enmeshed in an massive missing children's case. I think it aimed at (or should be aimed at) tweens and teens. I found the characters very bland and despite the voice acting, a lot of them blurred together. Maybe someone older wouldn't be so nitpicky.

There is also material I feel could have been cut. Who went to bat to keep the 'we should take a bathroom break! Let's get real in depth about that' scene in? Gross and unnecessary.

This was a 3.7 for me that I am rounding up to 4. I was surpised at how much I enjoyed it. I was specifically looking for horror, but when I saw it was based around tweens, I was a little worried. I am a mother of a tween who loves horror, so I was also looking at it from that standpoint. If it was done right, I think this could be a good tween movie as well. For the most part the pacing was done well. The writing did seem a bit juvenile at times, but I kept reminding myself of its target audience. Regardless of the targeted age, that does not mean the writing needs to suffer. I've read many childrens books with award worthy writing. So that is basically my only critique for this book. Overall it was enjoyable and kept my interest. I would recommend this to parents of tweens that are able to tolerate horror as it's not too gory and there is zero spice.

4⭐
PLEASE! At my ripe age of 26.5 who has never had to ride a school bus in my life, I now have a fear of missing it and having to catch the late bus. So, thank you for that, Paul.

A bunch of students start going missing after taking the late bus, the only thing is, there is no late bus.

* I listened to the graphic audiobook, and OMG! I was captivated from start to finish! Literal chills - bravo!

Thank you NetGalley and RB MEDIA for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

4.5 Stars!

This was a fantastic YA Horror, the full cast really sold this audiobook.
While geared more towards the YA audience, I was on the edge of my seat during parts and thoroughly enjoyed the story.

The Creepy School Bus is a fantastic audiobook! The full cast audio and sound effects really pull the reader in! Recommended for all YA audiobook collections. Listeners will love this one!

This book was phenomenal. I kind of skimmed the summary, so I was not prepared for the full cast and sound effects. Listening to The Creepy School Bus reminded me of an audiodrama. I was wholeheartedly sucked into this world. When I was halfway through, I looked at other reviews and many mentioned it was a Middle Grade Horror. While I do believe it might have been horror for younger kids, it still worked for me too. I felt the quickening of my breath, the anxiety, and the adrenaline. When I had to pause it, I thought of the cliche saying "I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding." That is exactly how I felt. Obviously I was breathing, but it was a tense breathing.

In all, I give this 5 stars because of the cast performance, the uniqueness of some of the plot details, and because of how it made me feel. I did have a chuckle at Warren's super crutches. That is a detail I could see a middle school kid thinking of. I was kind of sad it ended. If this author could make this same kind of book as an adult horror, I would drop everything to get it. I will definitely look into some other books he has written!!!

This was one of the most enjoyable, engaging, and immersive audiobooks I've ever listened to. The sound effects paired with the full voice cast made this such a fun and unique listen. I loved the story- it was atmospheric and way creepier than anything I've read in a very long time- which is saying a lot considering I mainly read horror! I loved the characters- even loved hating the baddie -Who was PARTICULARLY atrocious. This one ends with plenty left unanswered- I have not been so impatient for a sequel in a very long time! I will be recommending this book to literally everyone. 547865

The Creepy School Bus by Paul Hoog: A fun and spooky ride for kids and adults alike, with engaging narration that brings the story to life. Four stars.

I really enjoyed this! The cast was incredible! Very creepy & kept me on the edge of my seat! The sounds, music & full cast truly made this feel like a horror movie in my mind.

This was one of the most fun books I listened to. I loved the fact that it felt like actual show or play not just a simple audiobook.
The sounds and noises made the book come alive and I really enjoyed that !

This was so much fun!
Such a solid middle school/YA creepy book!

The full cast on the audio was fantastic too!

Highly recommend!

This book was very entertaining and I loved it, I know my middle school self would have eaten this up.
Perfect amount of creepy with some humor as well!

Thank you to RBmedia and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to The Creepy School Bus.

Wow! What a ride this was! The full cast and sound effects really bring you into the story. I felt I was sitting and standing next to these characters as the story unfolded.

Each narrator did a great job with emotions and speaking out the characters thoughts.

The sound effects definitely adding to the experience. Overall I highly recommend checking this book out!

***Hint of a spoiler at the end of review

The Creepy School Bus is definitely a creeper of a read. The audiobook is fantastic with an entire cast and crew coupled with impressive sound effects.

This book is written for the teenage group and I think they would totally enjoy the thrill of it and the gory bits near the end.

Chloe is a middle school girl that is held after school by one of the nastiest teachers I have ever encountered. As she is delayed an hour, she misses her bus. But, another bus is quickly available. Chloe gets on the bus and soon realizes that she is not heading towards her house. She finds herself being taken into an underground tunnel without cell service. As the bus parks in the tunnel, she looks around only to see hundreds of busses and one kid in each one and they all appear to be sleeping and look sick.
She realizes that this might be the same way other kids have disappeared in the area and then finds out it’s happening around the country.

This is when the scary part of this journey begins and she realizes she is in jeopardy. She teams up with other classmates that have been taken and an FBI agent posing as a middle school teacher that is an amputee since he was 13. Together, they try and piece together the nefarious scheme of why kids are missing.

Paul Hough has spun a scary and sometimes quirky mystery, or is it horror book? The ending is action packed and the reason they are taking kids is a bit Soylent Green.

This was quite something. I do listen to audiobooks, but rarely. I loved the voice actors. they emoted it very well. I felt the scare, the anger and the feelings. The book is descriptive, without it being too much. This is for teens and Young Adult. It is horror. but it is not gory horror.

At the same time even with finishing the whole book i still am really curious about what was behind the door that made the Special Agent so scared. I guess they can't go too deep into it since the author touched that bit but did not describe it too much. If he did it might not be good for teens or YA.

The Creepy School Bus by Paul Hough ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What a creepy kids book lol. A story about killer bus drivers? Let me read it! 😅 Okay, but seriously, this is the perfect horror book for middle grade readers. Perfect balance of horror and thriller. The story is about kids who keep going missing after school on what turns out to be a fake school bus. They take the kids to some secret place that no one can get to (with hints towards it being a supernatural place). The kids phones are taken under the assumption that its the “no phones on the bus” rule and then thats when the driver kidnaps them. The teachers are in on it and the kids are being eaten and others are finding teeth of sharks, but maybe its not sharks because theyre weird supernatural beings with vampire teeth 😆 Im laughing as im typing this, but i can imagine a young kid either being freaked out by the cannibalism or falling in love with gory horror 😅 It was also my first time listening to a graphic audiobook so it kinda felt like I was listening to a movie rather than a book, but I really liked it. It was cool listening to a full cast.

Check this book out when it hits shelves February 11, 2025.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with this free advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is a good middle school audio book it was cute and I listened this one with my kid. He really like this one and kept us wanting to keep reading. It was a good mystery I didn't know this was a middle school read but I liked it still. I really like the full cast audio book it keep it intresting. This would have been something I liked at that age.