Bedtime stories are a great memory from most people’s childhoods. Parents, grandparents, friends at sleep overs- reading out load, telling stories from real life, or just plain making things up. Adventure stories, mysteries, scary tales and so forth, what a great set of memories. But WHY on earth do those have to stop in adulthood?!?!?! I still love stories at night. Lying in the dark, listening to tales is not something that should be abandoned after too many birthdays. I still embrace them.
So, I thought it would be fun to collect some of my favorites (*Spoiler alert, I like Mysteries) so you can share in this nocturnal ritual with me. And…away we go!
Old time Radio – Adult Bedtime Stories from Generations past
I came across this lovely treasure trove several years ago and have been using it ever since. Some lovely people collected SEVERAL radio shows (mostly from the 1930-50’s) and placed them online for streaming. Most of you probably know, radio was TV before TV. People had their favorite shows they would gather around the radio for in the evenings, faithfully listening every week. As a fantastic added bonus, they kept in the old commercials, which really add to the production IMO.
- Archive.org has an Old Time Radio section that is quite extensive but less intuitive for searching if you don’t know which program to look for.
- Old Radio World has several categories of genres to choose from (comedy, drama, westerns, detectives, music and more) in a user-friendly format
- There are also several podcasts in this realm, which you can find many searching ‘Old Time Radio’
Bedtime Story by Benedict Cumberbatch anyone?
Who wouldn’t want this guy to read you a bedtime story? The man who masterfully personified the newest version of the master sleuth has done this audio book available here for free. Enjoy!
Adult Bedtime Stories by a Therapist
Dan Jones is a best-selling author on hypnosis, meditation, personal development, parenting and autism spectrum disorder. His YouTube channel (110K subscribers btw) has several adult bedtime stories with a more therapeutic tone and technique for those who have a harder time getting to sleep and find other bedtime stories too stimulating. Happy zzzz’s!
The Bible read by the Infamous Hercule Poirot
This is a bit of an Agatha Christie niche, but if you know, you know. The voice of the great Sir David Suchet reading the entire Bible (don’t worry, you can just pick a single section). You’ll find this hidden treasure in the Bible App, which also has a sleep timer (how convenient). Simply download it and his version will be under the New International Version (Anglicised) or NIVUK.
Popular Stories for Adults set in a Bedtime Format with relaxing Voice and Sounds
On YouTube you can find Sleep Cove (Over 93K subscribers), with classic stories told in a bedtime format to help guide you to sleep. Fall fast asleep to classics such as…
- Aladdin
- Sinbad the Sailor
- Peter Pan
- Sherlock Holmes
- Hercule Poirot
- Father Brown
- Ali Baba & the Forty Thieves
- Many more!!!
Another Classic Bedtime Story format is available from Soothing Pod (Over 98k subscribers), with well-known tales such as…
- Treasure Island
- Journey to the Center of the Earth
- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- Poseidon
- Zeus
- Noah’s Ark
- Any many more
Fall Asleep to Audio Books of Your Choosing from the Library
Libby is a popular free app among audio book lovers (they also do online ebooks and magazines as well). Just put in your local library card information and chose from an enormous selection. The app also has a sleep timer.
Add Soothing Ambient Sounds to your Bedtime Stories
A little trick I learned a while back. If you want to personalize a regular book reading, you can often play it in unison with a sleep sounds app. For instance, with this Relax Meditation App, they have a sound mix with rainstorms, rivers, oceans, etc (all the classics), that allow you to create your own mix. You can play that mix with your story to add a relaxing element to it (and yes, totally has the sleep timer).
Finding Words Distracting While Your Trying to Fall Asleep? I Got You!
This lovely YouTube Channel known as Relaxing White Noise has an assortment of white and ambient noises to block out distractions and allow your mind to relax into a soothing peace. They have 3.1 million subscribers and their 828 videos have been viewed over 1.6 BILLION times (1/3 of those are me). If you can’t find a sleep sound to your liking on this channel….I can’t help you.
Conclusion
I hope you find these selections relaxing, entertaining, and they add joy and peace to your nighttime rituals. Bedtime can be filled with all the tingly ambience we had in our childhoods once again. Happy snoozing mi amigos. Until next time, stay cozy.
Care to share your favorite adult bedtime stories or rituals? Leave them in the comments below. Any other topics you’d like me to cover? Let me know!
These are great! Can’t wait to try out the audiobook links.