
Make Sure You Die Screaming
A Novel
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 $14.99
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Major Curda
-
By:
-
Zee Carlstrom
About this listen
An electrifying debut about a nonbinary corporate burnout embarking on a road trip from Chicago to Arkansas to find their conspiracy-theorist father, who has gone missing—for fans of Detransition Baby and Chain-Gang All-Stars
The newly nameless narrator of Make Sure You Die Screaming has rejected the gender binary, has flamed out with a vengeance at their corporate gig, is most likely brain damaged from a major tussle with their now ex-boyfriend, and is on a bender to end all benders.
A call from their mother with the news that their MAGA-friendly, conspiracy-theorist father has gone missing launches the narrator from Chicago to deep red Arkansas in a stolen car. Along the way, the narrator and their new bestie—a self-proclaimed "garbage goth" with her own emotional baggage (and someone on her tail)—unpack the narrator’s childhood and a recent personal loss that they refuse to face head-on.
An unflinching interrogation of class rage, economic (im)mobility, gender expression, and the rot at the heart of capitalism, Make Sure You Die Screaming is the loud, funny, tragic, suspenseful road trip novel of our times.
A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.
©2025 Zee Carlstrom (P)2025 Macmillan AudioCritic reviews
Named one of the "hottest debut novels of 2025" by Goodreads
A Barnes & Noble pick for their 2025 Yearly Reading Challenge
One of Them's Most Anticipated Books of 2025
One of Debutiful's Most Anticipated Debut Novels of 2025
The Mary Sue pick for its 15 Most Anticipated LGBTQ Books of 2025
“I loved every loud, messy page. Zee Carlstrom is the first writer to make me feel better about my own life choices.”—Sam Irby, New York Times bestselling author of Wow, No Thank You
"Make Sure You Die Screaming roars to life from page one and never lets up. It’s a Fear and Loathing for the generation devastated by the generation that brought us Fear and Loathing."—Torrey Peters, author of Detransition, Baby
“This intense, shapeshifting, nightmarish debut is like a sweatier, sweeter, queerer, and somehow more mullety Natural Born Killers, where all bets are off, all rules crossed out. Even just one line will keep you up all night.”—Patrick Nathan, author of The Future Was Color
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
What Remains of Teague House
- A Mystery
- By: Stacy Johns
- Narrated by: Helen Laser, Gary Tiedemann, Patricia Santomasso
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For fans of Megan Collins with the taut character study of Angie Kim comes a searing mystery that follows three siblings as they reckon with the darkness hidden within their family after multiple graves are discovered behind their childhood home.
By: Stacy Johns
-
She's a Lamb!
- By: Meredith Hambrock
- Narrated by: Stephanie Willing
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jessamyn St. Germain is meant to be a star. Not an actor who occasionally books yogurt commercials and certainly not a lowly usher at one of Vancouver’s smallest regional theaters. No, she is bound for greatness, and that’s why the part of Maria in the theater’s upcoming production of The Sound of Music is hers. Or it’s going to be.
-
-
Like a decent into madness in the best way possible
- By Lindsey on 04-11-25
-
Their Monstrous Hearts
- By: Yigit Turhan
- Narrated by: Luca John Filiz, Tina Nakhleh Falkenbury
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A mysterious stranger shows up at Riccardo’s apartment with some news: his grandmother Perihan has died, and Riccardo has inherited her villa in Milan along with her famed butterfly collection. The struggling writer is out of options. He’s hoping the change of scenery in Milan will inspire him, and maybe there will be some money to keep him afloat. But Perihan’s house isn’t as opulent as he remembers. The butterflies pinned in their glass cases seem more ominous than artful. Perihan’s group of mysterious old friends is constantly lurking. And there’s something wrong in the greenhouse.
By: Yigit Turhan
-
The Float Test
- A Novel
- By: Lynn Steger Strong
- Narrated by: Andi Arndt
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Kenner siblings are at odds. Jenn is a harried mom struggling under the weight of family obligations. Fred is a novelist who can’t write, maybe because she’s lost faith in storytelling itself. Jude is a recovering corporate lawyer with her own story to tell, and a grudge against her former favorite sister, Fred. George, the baby, is estranged from his wife and harboring both a secret about his former employer and an ill-advised crush on one of his sisters’ friends. Gathered after a major loss, each sibling needs the others more than ever—if only they could trust each other.
-
Trust Me on This
- A Novel
- By: Lauren Parvizi
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Zahra Starling and her younger half sister, Aurora, have nothing in common. Not their childhoods or their personalities. And certainly not their outlooks. After a terrible loss, Zahra prefers the solitude of her LA kitchen to people, especially family. Bubbly Aurora, a rising Hollywood starlet, has everything she’s ever dreamed of, except a relationship with her sister. Then comes a plea from their dying father, who wants both daughters by his side. He has a secret to share that’s been a long time coming.
-
-
Lovely story of two sisters figuring out life, family, and themselves!
- By Katrina L. on 04-15-25
By: Lauren Parvizi
-
When Stars Fall at Midnight
- The Midnight Stars Saga, Book 1
- By: Tess Thompson
- Narrated by: Abigail Reno, Matt Haynes
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1921. Cast out and alone, I lost everything weeks before my wedding—my betrothed, my family, my future. With nowhere to turn, I accept the help of a compassionate stranger, not knowing it may lead me towards a path I swore never to tread.
-
-
Kind of surprised
- By Bernice Q on 04-19-25
By: Tess Thompson
-
What Remains of Teague House
- A Mystery
- By: Stacy Johns
- Narrated by: Helen Laser, Gary Tiedemann, Patricia Santomasso
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For fans of Megan Collins with the taut character study of Angie Kim comes a searing mystery that follows three siblings as they reckon with the darkness hidden within their family after multiple graves are discovered behind their childhood home.
By: Stacy Johns
-
She's a Lamb!
- By: Meredith Hambrock
- Narrated by: Stephanie Willing
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jessamyn St. Germain is meant to be a star. Not an actor who occasionally books yogurt commercials and certainly not a lowly usher at one of Vancouver’s smallest regional theaters. No, she is bound for greatness, and that’s why the part of Maria in the theater’s upcoming production of The Sound of Music is hers. Or it’s going to be.
-
-
Like a decent into madness in the best way possible
- By Lindsey on 04-11-25
-
Their Monstrous Hearts
- By: Yigit Turhan
- Narrated by: Luca John Filiz, Tina Nakhleh Falkenbury
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A mysterious stranger shows up at Riccardo’s apartment with some news: his grandmother Perihan has died, and Riccardo has inherited her villa in Milan along with her famed butterfly collection. The struggling writer is out of options. He’s hoping the change of scenery in Milan will inspire him, and maybe there will be some money to keep him afloat. But Perihan’s house isn’t as opulent as he remembers. The butterflies pinned in their glass cases seem more ominous than artful. Perihan’s group of mysterious old friends is constantly lurking. And there’s something wrong in the greenhouse.
By: Yigit Turhan
-
The Float Test
- A Novel
- By: Lynn Steger Strong
- Narrated by: Andi Arndt
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Kenner siblings are at odds. Jenn is a harried mom struggling under the weight of family obligations. Fred is a novelist who can’t write, maybe because she’s lost faith in storytelling itself. Jude is a recovering corporate lawyer with her own story to tell, and a grudge against her former favorite sister, Fred. George, the baby, is estranged from his wife and harboring both a secret about his former employer and an ill-advised crush on one of his sisters’ friends. Gathered after a major loss, each sibling needs the others more than ever—if only they could trust each other.
-
Trust Me on This
- A Novel
- By: Lauren Parvizi
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Zahra Starling and her younger half sister, Aurora, have nothing in common. Not their childhoods or their personalities. And certainly not their outlooks. After a terrible loss, Zahra prefers the solitude of her LA kitchen to people, especially family. Bubbly Aurora, a rising Hollywood starlet, has everything she’s ever dreamed of, except a relationship with her sister. Then comes a plea from their dying father, who wants both daughters by his side. He has a secret to share that’s been a long time coming.
-
-
Lovely story of two sisters figuring out life, family, and themselves!
- By Katrina L. on 04-15-25
By: Lauren Parvizi
-
When Stars Fall at Midnight
- The Midnight Stars Saga, Book 1
- By: Tess Thompson
- Narrated by: Abigail Reno, Matt Haynes
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1921. Cast out and alone, I lost everything weeks before my wedding—my betrothed, my family, my future. With nowhere to turn, I accept the help of a compassionate stranger, not knowing it may lead me towards a path I swore never to tread.
-
-
Kind of surprised
- By Bernice Q on 04-19-25
By: Tess Thompson
-
The Sideways Life of Denny Voss
- A Novel
- By: Holly Kennedy
- Narrated by: Andrew Eiden, Holly Kennedy
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the surface, Denny Voss’s life in rural Minnesota is a quiet one. At thirty years old, he lives at home with his elderly mother and his beloved blind and deaf Saint Bernard, George. He cleans up roadkill to help pay the bills. Though his prospects are limited by a developmental delay—the result of an accident at birth—Denny has always felt that he has “a good life.” So how did he wind up being charged with the murder of a mayoral candidate—after crashing a sled full of guns into a tree?
-
-
Beautifully real!
- By Anonymous User on 04-21-25
By: Holly Kennedy
-
The Matchmaker
- A Novel
- By: Aisha Saeed
- Narrated by: Tiya Sircar
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Business has never been better for Nura Khan, a third-generation matchmaker in Atlanta. Her exclusive clientele benefits from her impeccable track record. And while a single thirty-one-year-old matchmaker would normally raise some perfectly threaded eyebrows in the community, Nura’s childhood best friend, Azar, is willing to double as her pretend fiancé at her clients’ weddings—even though Nura’s feelings for him might not be so pretend.
By: Aisha Saeed
-
Don't Sleep with the Dead
- By: Nghi Vo
- Narrated by: Greg D. Barnett
- Length: 2 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nick Carraway―paper soldier and novelist―has found a life and a living watching the mad magical spectacle of New York high society in the late thirties. He's good at watching, and he's even better at pretending: pretending to be straight, pretending to be human, pretending he's forgotten the events of that summer in 1922. On the eve of the second World War, however, Nick learns that someone's been watching him pretend and that memory goes both ways. When he sees a familiar face at a club one night, it quickly becomes clear that dead or not, damned or not, Jay Gatsby isn't done with him.
By: Nghi Vo
-
Fun for the Whole Family
- A Novel
- By: Jennifer E. Smith
- Narrated by: Lauren Graham
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The four Endicott siblings—Gemma, Connor, Roddy, and Jude—were once inseparable, a bond created by the absence of their dazzling, mercurial mother, who would return for a few weeks each summer to whisk them off on sprawling road trips around the country. Decades later, the unthinkable has happened: the Endicotts haven’t spoken in years . . . until an out-of-the-blue text arrives from Jude, now a famous actress, summoning them to a small town in North Dakota.
-
-
A story for all siblings
- By Yanks8 on 04-16-25
-
Roll for Love
- By: M. K. England
- Narrated by: André Santana, Natalie Naudus, Mary Helen Gallucci
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harper Reid’s summer is not off to a great start. After the death of her grandpa, she moves across the country, leaving her friends and Dungeons & Dragons group behind. She wasn’t exactly planning to start her senior year on the farm where she spent her childhood summers, but running into Ollie Shifflet—former best friend and first crush—makes things much better. When Harper discovers Ollie and her friends are starting a new D&D campaign, she quickly joins the group. As Harper and Ollie reconnect in the real world, romantic tension begins to build.
By: M. K. England
-
The Mademoiselle Alliance
- A Novel
- By: Natasha Lester
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Morocco, 1928. Marie-Madeleine Méric is not the kind of woman who stays quietly at her husband’s side. Polyglot, pianist, and pilot, she is a woman of many skills, with unconventional interests—like driving in car rallies—that earn her a daredevil reputation. But dabbling in intelligence work to assist her military officer husband and the French government helps her recognize who she is at heart: an adventurer.
-
-
Incredible!
- By Vimala McClure on 04-15-25
By: Natasha Lester
-
The California Dreamers
- By: Amy Mason Doan
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Gideon
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1980s California, and everyone’s dreaming of the endless summer: sun-drenched beaches, infinite waves, and most of all, beautiful, beautiful freedom. For the Merrick siblings, this idyllic vision is their reality, as they travel up and down the coast with their parents in a van year-round, surfing and swimming their days away. But when a photographer secretly snaps a stunning photo of the family with their boards in the sand, and the image ripples across the country, the only life they’ve ever known is put at risk.
By: Amy Mason Doan
-
Friends of the Museum
- A Novel
- By: Heather McGowan
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 19 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Diane Schwebe, the director of a major New York museum, is awakened in the early morning by a text message from the museum’s lawyer, it is the start of a twenty-four hour roller-coaster ride. Diane has sacrificed many things in her life to help the fading institution stave off irrelevance and financial ruin. In this battle, she’s surrounded by her stalwart supporters and a motley assortment of museum employees, each on the precipice of collapse or revelation.
By: Heather McGowan
-
My Documents
- A Novel
- By: Kevin Nguyen
- Narrated by: Kelly Marie Tran
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Informed by real-life events, from Japanese incarceration to the Vietnam War and modern-day immigrant detention, Kevin Nguyen’s novel gives us a version of reality only a few degrees away from our own. Moving and finely attuned to both the brutalities and mundanities of racism, Mỹ Documents is a strangely funny and touching portrait of American ambition, fear, and family. The story of the Nguyens is one of resilience and how we return to one another, and to ourselves, after tragedy.
By: Kevin Nguyen
-
Hard Town
- Kurt Argento, Book 2
- By: Adam Plantinga
- Narrated by: Charles Halford
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After having survived a deadly prison break, ex-Detroit cop Kurt Argento is ready for some quiet. Still working through his grief over the passing of his wife, Argento finds himself house-sitting for a friend with his loyal companion, Hudson, a Chow Chow-Shepard mix. It's a simple life, picking up odd jobs here and there, but it's one that Argento is content to live. Then Kristin Reed shows up with her young son, Ethan, and begs Argento to help find her missing husband... and Argento tells her he'd just be in the way.
-
-
EXCELLENT
- By Kindle Customer on 04-16-25
By: Adam Plantinga
-
The Contest
- By: Jeff Macfee
- Narrated by: Jasmin Walker
- Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Once a child prodigy of puzzles and logic games, Gillian Charles now barely ekes out a living in Los Angeles. With her sick mother facing eviction from her care facility, Gillian can’t say no when her childhood nemesis, Tommy, shows up at her apartment with a $50k offer. All she has to do is return to the place where it all started, where she swore she’d never set foot again: Miscellany.
-
-
It’s okay but lots of illogical pieces of the story
- By T on 04-21-25
By: Jeff Macfee
-
An Expensive Place to Die
- By: Len Deighton
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Paris in the 1960s caters for every taste, and nowhere more than at the private "clinic" run by the enigmatic Monsieur Datt on Avenue Foch, which supplies psychedelic drugs and sexual favors to the city's elite—all the while secretly filming guests in order to blackmail them. Into this decadent underworld steps a bespectacled British spy. Sent on what seems like a simple mission, he soon finds himself playing a game where the rules are unknown—and even victory could be fatal.
By: Len Deighton