
Curiosity House: The Shrunken Head
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $17.99
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Greg Steinbruner
About this listen
The audiobook is about, among other things: the strongest boy in the world, a talking cockatoo, a faulty mind reader, a beautiful bearded lady and a nervous magician, an old museum, and a shrunken head.
Blessed with extraordinary abilities, orphans Philippa, Sam, and Thomas have grown up happily in Dumfrey's Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities, and Wonders. But when a fourth child, Max, a knife thrower, joins the group, it sets off an unforgettable chain of events.
When the museum's Amazonian shrunken head is stolen, the four are determined to get it back. But their search leads them to a series of murders and an explosive secret about their pasts. This sensational new series combines the unparalleled storytelling gifts of Lauren Oliver with the rich knowledge of the notorious relics collector H. C. Chester.
What you will find in this book:
- A rather attractive bearded lady
- Several scandalous murders
- A deliciously disgusting Amazonian shrunken head
- Four extraordinary children with equally extraordinary abilities
- A quite loquacious talking bird
What you will NOT find in this book:
- An accountant named Seymour
- A never-ending line at the post office
- Brussels sprouts (shudder)
- A lecture on finishing all your homework on time
- A sweet, gooey story for nice little girls and boys
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Trials of Apollo, Book One: The Hidden Oracle
- By: Rick Riordan
- Narrated by: Robbie Daymond
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After angering his father, Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disoriented, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the 4,000-year-old deity must learn to survive in the modern world until he can somehow find a way to regain Zeus' favor. But Apollo has many enemies - gods, monsters, and mortals who would love to see the former Olympian permanently destroyed.
-
-
Finally a good narrator
- By Michael on 05-08-16
By: Rick Riordan
-
The Librarian of Crooked Lane
- The Glass Library, Book 1
- By: C.J. Archer
- Narrated by: Marian Hussey
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Librarian Sylvia Ashe knows nothing about her past, having grown up without a father and a mother who refused to discuss him. When she stumbles upon a diary that suggests she's descended from magicians, she's skeptical. After all, magicians are special, and she's just an ordinary woman who loves books. She seeks answers from a member of the most prominent family of magicians, but she quickly learns that finding the truth won't be easy, especially when he turns out to be as artless as her, and more compelling and dangerous than books.
-
-
Fun to be Back
- By Meg on 10-12-22
By: C.J. Archer
-
Liesl & Po
- By: Kei Acedera, Lauren Oliver
- Narrated by: Jim Dale
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Liesl lives in a tiny attic bedroom, locked away by her cruel stepmother. Her only friends are the shadows and the mice - until one night a ghost appears from the darkness. It is Po, who comes from the Other Side. Both Liesl and Po are lonely, but together they are less alone. That same night, an alchemist's apprentice, Will, bungles an important delivery. He accidentally switches a box containing the most powerful magic in the world with one containing something decidedly less remarkable. Will's mistake has tremendous consequences for Liesl and Po....
-
-
Great story made better by a great narrator
- By Marie on 09-16-12
By: Kei Acedera, and others
-
The Agency 1: A Spy in the House
- By: Y. S. Lee
- Narrated by: Justine Eyre
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Victorian England, orphan Mary Quinn lives on the edge. Sentenced as a thief at the age of 12, she’s rescued from the gallows by a woman posing as a prison warden. In her new home, Miss Scrimshaw’s Academy for Girls, Mary acquires a singular education, fine manners, and a surprising opportunity. The school is a cover for the Agency — an elite, top secret corps of female investigators with a reputation for results — and at 17, Mary’s about to join their ranks.
-
-
yes, it's YA-but credible for genre for any age
- By connie on 02-25-11
By: Y. S. Lee
-
The Shape of Water
- By: Guillermo del Toro, Daniel Kraus
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Shape of Water is set in Cold War-era Baltimore at the Occam Aerospace Research Center, which has recently received its most sensitive asset ever: an amphibious man captured in the Amazon. What unfolds is a stirring romance between the asset and one of the janitors on staff, a mute woman who uses sign language to communicate with the creature.
-
-
Superb
- By E. Chadwick on 03-29-18
By: Guillermo del Toro, and others
-
The Paper Magician
- The Paper Magician, Book 1
- By: Charlie N. Holmberg
- Narrated by: Amy McFadden
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ceony Twill arrives at the cottage of Magician Emery Thane with a broken heart. Having graduated at the top of her class from the Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined, Ceony is assigned an apprenticeship in paper magic despite her dreams of bespelling metal. And once she's bonded to paper, that will be her only magic... forever. Yet the spells Ceony learns under the strange yet kind Thane turn out to be more marvelous than she could have ever imagined.
-
-
The narrator needs to relax
- By Ashley on 09-15-14
-
The Trials of Apollo, Book One: The Hidden Oracle
- By: Rick Riordan
- Narrated by: Robbie Daymond
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After angering his father, Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disoriented, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the 4,000-year-old deity must learn to survive in the modern world until he can somehow find a way to regain Zeus' favor. But Apollo has many enemies - gods, monsters, and mortals who would love to see the former Olympian permanently destroyed.
-
-
Finally a good narrator
- By Michael on 05-08-16
By: Rick Riordan
-
The Librarian of Crooked Lane
- The Glass Library, Book 1
- By: C.J. Archer
- Narrated by: Marian Hussey
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Librarian Sylvia Ashe knows nothing about her past, having grown up without a father and a mother who refused to discuss him. When she stumbles upon a diary that suggests she's descended from magicians, she's skeptical. After all, magicians are special, and she's just an ordinary woman who loves books. She seeks answers from a member of the most prominent family of magicians, but she quickly learns that finding the truth won't be easy, especially when he turns out to be as artless as her, and more compelling and dangerous than books.
-
-
Fun to be Back
- By Meg on 10-12-22
By: C.J. Archer
-
Liesl & Po
- By: Kei Acedera, Lauren Oliver
- Narrated by: Jim Dale
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Liesl lives in a tiny attic bedroom, locked away by her cruel stepmother. Her only friends are the shadows and the mice - until one night a ghost appears from the darkness. It is Po, who comes from the Other Side. Both Liesl and Po are lonely, but together they are less alone. That same night, an alchemist's apprentice, Will, bungles an important delivery. He accidentally switches a box containing the most powerful magic in the world with one containing something decidedly less remarkable. Will's mistake has tremendous consequences for Liesl and Po....
-
-
Great story made better by a great narrator
- By Marie on 09-16-12
By: Kei Acedera, and others
-
The Agency 1: A Spy in the House
- By: Y. S. Lee
- Narrated by: Justine Eyre
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Victorian England, orphan Mary Quinn lives on the edge. Sentenced as a thief at the age of 12, she’s rescued from the gallows by a woman posing as a prison warden. In her new home, Miss Scrimshaw’s Academy for Girls, Mary acquires a singular education, fine manners, and a surprising opportunity. The school is a cover for the Agency — an elite, top secret corps of female investigators with a reputation for results — and at 17, Mary’s about to join their ranks.
-
-
yes, it's YA-but credible for genre for any age
- By connie on 02-25-11
By: Y. S. Lee
-
The Shape of Water
- By: Guillermo del Toro, Daniel Kraus
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Shape of Water is set in Cold War-era Baltimore at the Occam Aerospace Research Center, which has recently received its most sensitive asset ever: an amphibious man captured in the Amazon. What unfolds is a stirring romance between the asset and one of the janitors on staff, a mute woman who uses sign language to communicate with the creature.
-
-
Superb
- By E. Chadwick on 03-29-18
By: Guillermo del Toro, and others
-
The Paper Magician
- The Paper Magician, Book 1
- By: Charlie N. Holmberg
- Narrated by: Amy McFadden
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ceony Twill arrives at the cottage of Magician Emery Thane with a broken heart. Having graduated at the top of her class from the Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined, Ceony is assigned an apprenticeship in paper magic despite her dreams of bespelling metal. And once she's bonded to paper, that will be her only magic... forever. Yet the spells Ceony learns under the strange yet kind Thane turn out to be more marvelous than she could have ever imagined.
-
-
The narrator needs to relax
- By Ashley on 09-15-14
-
The Magic Misfits
- By: Neil Patrick Harris
- Narrated by: Neil Patrick Harris
- Length: 4 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A New York Times best seller and USA Today best-selling book! From award-winning actor Neil Patrick Harris comes the magical first book in a new series with plenty of tricks up its sleeve. When street magician Carter runs away, he never expects to find friends and magic in a sleepy New England town. But like any good trick, things change instantly as greedy B.B. Bosso and his crew of crooked carnies arrive to steal anything and everything they can get their sticky fingers on.
-
-
A kids book EVERYONE will enjoy
- By Saralynn Dobler on 12-02-17
-
Wild Cards I
- Wild Cards, Book 1
- By: George R. R. Martin - editor
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 18 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the aftermath of WWII, an alien virus struck the Earth, endowing a handful of survivors with extraordinary powers. Originally published in 1987, the newly expanded saga contains additional original stories by eminent writers.
-
-
Dry Politics
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 02-24-13
-
The Diviners
- By: Libba Bray
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 18 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Something dark and evil has awakened.... Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City - and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It's 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult. Evie worries her uncle will discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far.
-
-
A delightful surprise.
- By Amazon Customer on 09-27-12
By: Libba Bray
-
Geek Love
- By: Katherine Dunn
- Narrated by: Christina Moore
- Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No one wants to be a victim, but most find the event too hypnotic to ignore. In order to save their traveling carnival from bankruptcy, the Binewskis are creating their own brood of sideshow freaks. Under Al's careful direction, the pregnant Lil ingests radioisotopes, insecticides, and arsenic to make her babies "special".
-
-
Shudderingly Good!
- By reader on 08-22-09
By: Katherine Dunn
-
Jackaby
- By: William Ritter
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Newly arrived in New Fiddleham, New England, 1890, and in need of a job, Abigail Rook meets R. F. Jackaby, an investigator of the unexplained with a keen eye for the extraordinary - including the ability to see supernatural beings. Abigail has a gift for noticing ordinary but important details, which makes her perfect for the position of Jackaby’s assistant.
-
-
YA Sherlock and his Dr. Who companion - with fae
- By withherownwings on 02-20-15
By: William Ritter
-
The Anubis Gates
- By: Tim Powers
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Brendan Doyle is flown from America to London to give a lecture on Samuel Taylor Coleridge, little does he expect that he will soon be traveling through time and meeting the poet himself. But Brendan could do without being stranded penniless in the teeming, thieving London of 1810.
-
-
Yesterday… All My Troubles Seemed So Far Away
- By Doug D. Eigsti on 06-21-16
By: Tim Powers
-
A Beautiful Poison
- By: Lydia Kang
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Just beyond the Gilded Age, in the mist-covered streets of New York, the deadly Spanish influenza ripples through the city. But with so many victims in her close circle, young socialite Allene questions if the flu is really to blame. All appear to have been poisoned - and every death was accompanied by a mysterious note.
-
-
It had potential, but faltered in execution
- By Constance Jenkins on 01-14-18
By: Lydia Kang
-
The Crooked Sixpence
- The Uncommoners, Book 1
- By: Jennifer Bell
- Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When their grandmother Sylvie is rushed to the hospital, Ivy Sparrow and her annoying big brother Seb cannot imagine what adventure lies in store. Soon their house is ransacked by unknown intruders, and a very strange policeman turns up on the scene, determined to apprehend them with a toilet brush. Ivy and Seb make their escape only to find themselves in a completely uncommon world, a secret underground city called Lundinor where ordinary objects have amazing powers.
-
-
Hmm... If You Haven't Read Harry Potter?--
- By Gillian on 02-03-17
By: Jennifer Bell
-
Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat
- By: Lynne Jonell
- Narrated by: Lynne Jonell
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emmy was a good girl—too good, perhaps. The rat, whose cage sat on the counter next to Emmy’s desk, was not so good. On the other hand, he was the only one in Emmy’s class who would talk to her. The rest of the kids barely knew she existed. Even her teacher didn’t seem to know she was there! Only her nanny, the lovely-but-sinister Miss Barmy, really pays her much attention.
-
-
A girl finds a friend in a rat.
- By vic5 on 02-15-25
By: Lynne Jonell
-
A Perilous Journey of Danger and Mayhem, Book 1: A Dastardly Plot
- By: Christopher Healy
- Narrated by: Tara Sands
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1883—the Age of Invention! A time when great men like Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Nicola Tesla, and George Eastman work to turn the country into a land of limitless opportunity. And it all happens at the world famous Inventor’s Guild headquarters in New York City—a place where a great idea, a lot of hard work, and a little bit of luck can find you rubbing elbows with these gods of industry who will usher humanity into the future.
-
-
Good Fun
- By Cbennett on 11-14-18
-
The Pilo Family Circus
- By: Will Elliott
- Narrated by: Mark Stephens
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"You have two days to pass your audition. You better pass it, feller. You’re joining the circus. Ain’t that the best news you ever got?" Delivered by a trio of psychotic clowns, this ultimatum plunges Jamie into the horrific alternate universe that is the centuries-old Pilo Family Circus, a borderline world between Hell and Earth from which humankind’s greatest tragedies have been perpetrated. Yet in this place - peopled by the gruesome, grotesque, and monstrous - where violence and savagery are the norm, Jamie finds that his worst enemy is himself.
-
-
Entertaining but unremarkable bit of the lmacabre
- By David on 05-31-14
By: Will Elliott
-
Invisible Ellen
- By: Shari Shattuck
- Narrated by: Shari Shattuck
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Ellen Homes, not only does she wish it - she actually lives it. She spends her days quietly observing but unobserved, watching and recording in her notebooks the lives of her neighbors, coworkers, and total strangers. Overweight, socially stunted, and utterly alone, one night Ellen saves a blind young woman from being mugged. Then everything changes.
-
-
Invincible Ellen!
- By Gretchen on 06-01-14
By: Shari Shattuck
What listeners say about Curiosity House: The Shrunken Head
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kerry
- 11-25-18
best thing on this app
I love th8s story and the others is the series. If this was a movie I would pay over a million dollars to see it I listen to it every day! this it my favorite hook to listen to I enjoy the story and would recommend it to anyone anyone ten and up
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Crystal
- 06-23-16
Mix the Circus and a Murder Mystery
Creepy (but not-scary) murder mystery filled with circus-like characters. I wouldn't recommend it for young children, but its an interesting story with an unexpected twist at the end! The narrator was great.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Karissa Eckert
- 11-28-16
Pretty classic Clue type of story..nothing special
I got this book as part of the Lauren Oliver audiobook sale on Audible. I was excited to read a middle grade series by Oliver; the synopsis sounded interesting and I thought this would be something I would love. In the end it was okay but not great. The story is fairly predictable and very boring at times.
I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was decent. The narrator does a good job with character voices. However, this wasn’t one I thought was great on audiobook...actually I was pretty ambivalent about it in general.
This is a pretty classic “Clue” type of story. Someone is killed in Dumfrey’s Dime Museum and a group of unusual children try to unravel the mystery of who killed them and why. Initially the increasing number of deaths is blamed on a curse from a shrunken head that’s stolen from the museum. However the story ends up much more convoluted than that.
Our group of extraordinary pre-teens follow the clues through a number of mis-directions to unravel this increasingly deadly mystery. The end game though is fairly predictable given the foreshadowing throughout the book.
For some reason I had trouble engaging with the story. All the characters seemed a bit stereotypical. Additionally the story seemed more like a laying out of facts than an interesting story or mystery. I just didn’t think it was all that interesting or all that well done.
Overall this was an okay middle grade “who done it” type of mystery. There are a couple interesting twists right at the end of the story but for the most part the story is incredibly predictable and boring. I wouldn’t recommend. There are a lot of wonderful middle grade reads out there and this isn’t one of them.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- CrunchySocks
- 07-04-18
Decent enough
Fun, weird little story. Nothing special but kept my attention for most of it. Worth a listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Shae Nahn
- 04-28-17
I can't believe I finished it.
normally I adore children adventure stories but for some reason this one was really hard to get into. The overall performance was bland and all the characters sounded alike. aside from that the story was predictable except for the fact that even though these children are supposedly extraordinary and gifted they didn't remotely act like how children would react. I will not be continuing the series.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tara
- 12-07-16
S'ok
Interesting concept but did not hold my attention long. Struggled to finish, but got better at the end...much better.
I purchase 2 for 1 so I will try the next in series but I don't think I'll move beyond that.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful