Halloween may be coming to an end in a few hours, that doesn’t mean you can’t keep the spirit of the holiday with you all year round! These podcasts help to keep a little horror in your heart no matter when or where you are. So sit back, crank up the volume, and enjoy these creepy listenings.
1) The NoSleep Podcast
This is the king of horror podcasts, hence why it gets the top slot. Every week, David Cummings and his crew of spooky voice actors bring stories to life from Reddit’s NoSleep forum. Ranging from gruesome and gross to mind bending and malicious, these stories are sure to give you that horror fix you’re craving. I will say that not every story is the same level of scary, but like with all things, your mileage will vary by how easily you get scared. Plus, they have a two and a half hour Halloween episode every year and a holiday special in December – who could want more.
2) Darkest Night
If you’re the kind of person that likes stories connected by a long narratives, then Darkest Night is for you. Follow Katie and her adventures at the Roth Lobdow Center, where she is partaking in a series of experiments where scientists review the final memories of a person through their eyes. Every story is different in tone and genre, but the conspiracy adds a little extra as every victim is somehow connected to this mysterious research center. It’s one of the few time corporate conspiracy has been interesting to me, and it has a great cast of actors to tell the tales, with Lee Pace as narrator!
3) Lore
It’s no secret that I love Lore, and I will never get sick of it. Want to know why? Because Aaron Mahnke always knows how to make any subject interesting. From haunt dolls to sunken ships to a tunnel in the middle of a mountain in Massachusetts, every episode is short but sweet, giving you a well-researched creepy story in 20 minutes. Definitely a great one to binge, and every October comes with extra episodes! It also has a book series, TV show, subscription book, and some pretty swanky merch — not to shabby for a podcast that’s only been around for two and a half years.
4) The Dark Tome
Another series of short stories nested in a continuing narrative, Cassie finds that Mr. Gussy has a magic book, the Dark Tome, that when she read allowed from it, they are transported into the story, for better or worse. What I really love about this podcast can be summed up in one word: quality. Quality acting, quality characters, quality stories, quality sound design. It does take time for them to get their episodes out, sure, but they are so good and the stories are so immersive that it is consistently worth the wait.
5) Unexplained
The world is a weird place, and there are lots of mysterious historical happenings out there. Richard MacLean Smith takes you through stories from across the world as in-depth as possible. He explains each story with such clarity that even the most winding story is comprehensible, and every episode comes with an additional side episode to delve into different aspects of the story or additional cool materials. What I like most is that while the host provide alternative solutions but doesn’t feel the need to discount the supernatural. More history than folklore, I always learn something new in these episodes.
6) Deadly Manners
So this show is new this season, but it’s so weirdly delightful that I decided to throw it on the list. It follows a party of well-to-do rich people sometime during the 1950s when one of the entertainers is struck dead. Every episode, more and more people die, and with less than five left, the party guests are getting desperate. This podcast has a pretty star-studded cast: Kristen Bell, Denis O’Hare, LeVar Burton, Alisha Boe, Mark Berry, Elizabeth McLaughlin, Timothy Simons, Anna Chlumsky and David Cummings. Fun but still perfectly creepy.
7) LifeAfter
Sometimes, the best stories are the ones that hit just a shade too close to home. With how in-depth social media profiles are, could you bring someone to life with access to that information and a smart enough computer program? That’s what LifeAfter suggests, as it follows grieving husband Ross who is given the ability to “speak” to his wife, but the program that makes it possible keeps asking Ross to use his job at the FBI to obtain information. The story only grows more and more disturbing as deeper into the conspiracy it goes. The season before it, The Message, is also great if you like more alien-centric sci-fi.
8) Limetown
Limetown is a legend around podcasting circle for being epically enthralling and captivating and then literally dropping off the face of the Earth. But on Halloween 2017, the creators announced that the next season will be coming out in 2018, so there’s plenty of time to catch up with a minimal wait for the . The show follows Lia Haddock as she investigates the mysterious disappearance of over 300 people from a live-in research facility known as Limetown. The further she digs, the weirder and darker the story gets. At only 11 episodes long, you’re likely to devour the show in a day and still be left wanting more.
9) The Black Tapes
It can be so easy to explain away videos that you see online of hauntings, but what if even a professional debunker has cases he can’t solve? Enter reporter Alex, who tracks down Dr. Richard Strand, debunker extraordinaire, and the two delve deep into the weird, dark instances where there appears to be more than what meets the eye. Personally I think this show is better than the company’s other two hits, TANIS and Rabbits if only because it’s not quite so convoluted and the voice actors are more distinct. Make no mistake, there are lots of twists and turns, and it can get a little weird but they always bring it back. Additionally, the acting in the early part of Season 1 is…amateurish but it does get better, so keep going.
10) Unsolved Murders: True Crime Stories
Do you like true crime but hate just listening to someone summarize the story for you? Unsolved Murders: True Crime Stories does one better – they actually get actors to play out scenes written based on the real stories. They tend to come in two parters because of this, but it’s worth it because of how in-depth every story goes. And they even theorize about who the killer might have been, which adds a little extra investment in the story. Sure, the banter between the hosts can be a little wooden and the acting can leave something to be desired but the overall effect is like listening to the world’s cheesiest murder radio show.
