Books: Audiobooks

Dirk Maggs's latest "audiomovie" An American Werewolf in London (BBC, 2hrs, pounds 8.99) is, like all his "surround sound" masterpieces, best heard on headphones. Ghastly gurgles from the werewolf's victims are perhaps a little too prolific, but there are plenty of chuckleworthy moments in this retelling of the 1981 jokey horror classic. The original cast (Jenny Agutter, Brian Glover, John Woodvine) do their terrified thing superbly.

Spoonface Steinberg (BBC, 1hr, pounds 5.99) uses Maria Callas's arias to punctuate the story of how opera helps a brilliant but autistic seven-year-old come to terms with the fact she has terminal cancer. I know, I know, it does sound a bit over the top on slush factor, but ten-year-old Becky Simpson reads with a straightforward simplicity that makes Lee Hall's dramatic monologue quite unforgettable.