Audible has a creepy new feature that lets you talk to characters in books.

Ever wished you could crack Mr. Darcy's stoicism or give Humbert Humbert a piece of your mind? Audible has announced a series of features that will let audiobook listeners do just that. According to TechCrunch, three new AI-supported tools will allow users to "explore a book's characters, engage in interactive stories, and view additional imagery and bonus information about landmarks or places" mentioned in the book.

One of the most promising features is the character guide, which will "display who's speaking in real time directly on the player page so listeners don't get lost." This could be incredibly helpful for complex novels with many characters, such as One Hundred Years of Solitude, Middlemarch, or War and Peace. In the meantime, Audible will begin with the pilot version of this feature in a new Audible Original of Bram Stoker's Dracula.

But that's not all - there's also a "spoiler-free character cards" feature that will showcase the narrator behind the voice. This should be particularly useful for those who struggle with memory or auditory aphasia. However, the inclusion of an interactive feature that allows listeners to "ask questions about the story as it unfolds" is a bit more concerning. While Amazon assures that this feature will only appear where sanctioned by an author, it's still a significant step into the realm of interactive storytelling.