Want to Hear Some Great Bedtime Stories? Look in These Five Places!

Right now, it's pretty much common knowledge that reading bedtime stories to children is good for them and for you. Of course, you should make sure you're reading stories to your own children, because breaking into strange bedrooms and loudly reading a Curious George book is frowned upon in most civilized nations. What you may not know, though is just how good reading is for grown-ups! A recent study at the University of Sussex showed that reading a story for as little as six minutes a day can reduce stress by as much as 68 percent. That, folks, is an amazing return on a small investment of time and attention.

The problem most of us have is that, no matter how much we may want to read, we only have so many hours in a day and we don't get a lot of time to sit down with a good book. We do, however, have another option. Bedtime stories. Specifically, bedtime stories someone else will read to us thanks to the magic of the internet. There are, quite literally, thousands of podcasts, YouTube channels, and websites from which you can get wonderful stories to put you in the perfect relaxed mindset you need at bedtime. We thought we'd share some interesting story sources with you here. Keep in mind we didn't always run to the most popular places for audio stories, such as the main audiobook stores (such as Audible and Librivox). We decided to point you to places you can get something a bit different from the usual fare, something you might just love and want to share with your friends and family.

Ready? Here we go.

1. Sleep Stories by Calm: You may be familiar with the Calm app, but not quite so familiar with the original stories it has, narrated by some quite-familiar voices. The Calm folks put a few of their stories on a YouTube playlist where you can listen to them for free. Of course, you'll have to pay their subscription fee if you want the full library, but the four stories offered in the playlist are worth hearing more than once. 
2. HorrorBabble: While we're on YouTube, let's wander over to the scary side of town. The folks behind HorrorBabble have built an impressive library of stories from well-known authors, mostly taken from the public domain. You will get a healthy dose of Poe, Lovecraft, Hodgson, and others, but that's not all. They've begun to build a collection of original stories, written by up-and-coming authors and the channel's main narrator, Ian Gordon. 
3. Sleep With Me Podcast: Drew Ackerman used to go to sleep listening to late-night radio comedies, which led him to create his own podcast, full of funny and calming stories. The show, which you can find here, isn't your traditional bedtime story fare, though. Drew rambles through his thoughts on the day, his sleeping issues, television shows or movies he's watched, or different business ideas he's cooked up while trying to get to sleep in a voice that'll remind you of Ben Stein. At some point, he ties everything together in a nice little package, but you'll probably be asleep before he gets there. But why not try?
4. Scare You to Sleep Podcast: I found this show while looking for solid scary stories made just for bedtime. The stories can be uneven at times, as the host pulls in tales from reddit creepypasta boards and original stories written by listeners, but you'll get some top-notch tales here as well. The host, Shelby Scott, has an amazing voice and does fantastic work weaving in sound effects and background noises to immerse you in the story she's telling. It might just be your kind of thing! 
5. The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio: Do you like detective stories? Great! This show will be your nighttime slumber-maker. Host Adam Graham presents the adventures and exploits of characters like Boston Blackie and Joe Friday in stories guaranteed to pull you in and make you forget the worries and cares of the day. The only issue you may have is getting so engrossed in the stories that you won't want to sleep right away!

What do you think? If you like these, let us know. Also, if you have a favorite place for bedtime listening, share that with us in the comments. We'd love to hear from you! We'd also love for you to check out our pillow, which lets you listen to whatever story you want in cozy and comfortable privacy thanks to our Night Owl speakers!

(Photo Credit: Ramdlon on Pixabay)