I love Old Time Radio, and podcasts are the modern equivalent. Their serial nature allows for depth-of-character and deep mysteries that a listener can truly get lost in. Let our curator direct your journey through the darkness to the most desirable audio destinations while you lay… Awake at Midnight.
The number of podcasts emerging now is incalculable, so I have focused on supernatural horror. (While I reserve the idea of doing a separate overview of Science Fiction-based podcasts, this review contains no True Crime, Creepypasta, Urban Myth/Folklore/Cryptids, or Paranormal Investigation, no live Tabletop Play, and no podcasts of people talking about or reviewing any of the above. Audio Drama/”Books on Tape” will also be reviewed on a separate post.)
Alexandria Archives, The
A college radio station much like Night Vale, (except with the sports team The Wendigos that I thought was cute,) each episode delving into a story between call-ins from vampires, etc. I didn’t find anything that stood out as especially humorous or creative. Some volume issues here, but overall a pretty good show.
Bridge, The
Weird fiction at its best! This is a slow-burn that you can really get into, developing a relationship with the characters and the setting.
It’s set in the not-too-distant future where a Trans-Atlantic Bridge is long past its prime. There are Lovecraftian monsters in the water and ghosts in the towers. Like a travelogue of ruins, it is told from the point of view of a radio announcer and her associates as they explore strange occurrences and the mysterious history of the bridge and the businesses it once placed host to, like Aqua-Land and The Transcontinental Hotel.
Watchtower 10’s Staff:
Etta Perrault, the radio station host who DJs stories from the Bridge’s sordid past;
Roger Kaplan, Watchtower Supervisor and brunt of many jokes;
Kate Burnham, a Travel Agent;
Bertie Renard, ex-sound engineer and current Groundskeeper; and
Bob, who likes Cheeze Whiz.
We also meet Frank, who streams Etta’s stories back on the mainland… and Henrietta, the daughter of the Transcontinental Hotel’s concierge… and a few incidental characters like Percy and Nora, who come looking for trouble.
Campfire Radio Theater
Unlike many other horror anthologies, this one doesn’t waste time with a horror host or introductory framework, they get right to the story. These fireside tales are usually high quality, and original. The narratives aren’t interconnected, so you can listen in any order. Don’t miss this one!
Darkroom
The narrator is another guy trying to sound like Batman, but the stories are dark and imaginative. I found myself looking forward to each next installment. Much like the 80s TV show of the same name, it is an anthology framed by found photos; but in the current age of digital phones, it becomes a look back at a dusty, vintage past through the lenses of antique cameras. I was wholly disappointed to discover there are only four episodes. This one had a lot of potential!
HorrorBabble
A dramatic reading of classic horror short stories (and sometimes science fiction, but always with a british accent,) by Peter Van Melsen. A lot of these have been done elsewhere, especially on Old Time Radio like The Black Mass or Sleep No More, but there is also a large amount of quality original content, especially new stories of Hodgson’s Carnacki, the Ghost Finder. Melsen’s calm demeanor and tenor voice conveying the gothic mood of these tales is just what the doctor ordered to put a person in the frame of mind to fall asleep at night.
I Am In Eskew
Single narrator with background music. The narrator sounds just like those of Lost Cat and Magnus Archives because he’s got a british accent, and I’d have to group these anthologies in terms of production quality and creativity. It is imaginative, and a few of the episodes are a step above. Eskew, while containing a sizeable helping of blood and body horror, tends to run more along the lines of weird fiction.
Lake Clarity
A group of modern Ken and Barbies play Scooby-Doo at Camp Crystal Lake. It feels like this was written by high school kids. There’s a lot of swearing and loud, fast dialogue, but no story and zero atmosphere.
Light House
A single-person narrative, the story suffers from a lack of editing. Though it presents an interesting story about a woman who goes to live in a haunted lighthouse, It is too heavy on details and description and the plot advances slowly. Ultimately it was unable to capture my attention for more than a couple episodes.
Lore
A vocal creepypasta written and narrated by Aaron Mahnke. It is reminiscent of the Old Time Radio show Sleep no More, only the stories are non-fiction. There is often verifiable data online about the real-life occurrences that inspired the stories. It inspired a TV series as well.
Lost Cat Podcast, The
An imaginative, well produced podcast about a man’s search for his missing cat and the odd places he finds himself during the search. The cat does show up from time to time, but always seems to be off on another adventure soon. It is a single narrator, who’s voice is comforting to fall asleep to. The stories are creepy in a bizarre and vaguely threatening, but not frightening, horror.
The author provides a “Cup of Tea” in each episode: a Night Vale-style musical interlude. The songs are really enjoyable, too. I look forward to them.
Season 2 is more of a serial storyline than stand-alone episodes; good, but anticlimactic. (It gets better, though.) My favorite episode is “Rats” from Season Three, but the following show, “Explosion” is not to be missed!
Lovecraft Investigations, The
(by BBC) A modern interpretation of stories by H.P. Lovecraft. It is generally agreed that the first two seasons are amazing, but the third falls short.
I read “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward” ten or more years ago, and maybe I should have read it again to brush up on the story, because there were so many characters with no remarkable characterization to hold my memory over the episodes that I forgot who people were, confused the names, and generally couldn’t figure out what was going on except at a rudimentary level. Still, the production value was very high and the acting decent. The BBC’s modern adaptation was adequate, but given this was just a convoluted detective story with a bit of chanting thrown in, I am left without the desire to move on to Season Two.
Season 1 – The Case of Charles Dexter Ward Season 2 – The Shadow Over Innsmouth Season 3 – The Whisperer In Darkness
Listen, guys, the more I hear that old trope of an actor trying to speak way lower than his normal voice in order to pass himself off with a demonic scary growl, the more I laugh when I hear it. (“Grrr. I’m a big scary monster. I have a deep voice. Don’t you feel threatened?”) Its silliness is even worse when accented by a distortion pedal.
Magnus Archives, The
One of the best podcasts I’ve fallen into. It starts out with “slice of life” mysteries, none of which have a resolution, just documentation of weird happenings that hint at a terrifying hidden element within our everyday lives that might rear its ugly, slavering heads at any moment. The stories all held my interest, and are mostly stand-alone episodes, which is nice when you want to fall asleep and not have to worry about catching up on a serial storyline. The atmosphere is perfectly thick and gloomy, but not overly oppressive. The stories are original and varied.
There is a “monster of the week,” but the podcast has an overarching story that takes hold about season three and flips the ongoing storyline to be the main feature, despite the “statements” read as the meat of each episode.
I see people asking where it’s best to jump into the 200 episodes, and I’d have to say Season 3 or 4 because it gets really good around episode 100, BUT I can’t imagine being able to really appreciate them without the background of the characters having been fed to you slowly, bit by bit, each chapter drawing you closer and further into the mythos, which is really the charm of a longer, episodic story like this.
Season 5 really sucks. Its more of a retrospective contemplating the happenings of the last four seasons that takes place in a desolate landscape of torture, painful stories, and “vomiting horrors” after The Fears have taken the world. It’s just sadness and despair and really long-winded prose, (and I couldn’t understand a word of what Jarod Badapple said through the distortion pedal.) I suppose I should go back and hear how it all ends, but the magic is just gone.
The Narrow Caves
The narration of this podcast is over-written, as if it is being read from a book with lots of needlessly big words.
In the first episode, a monster in a cave hurts a dog and violently threatens to kill it. So I’m out. I understand why some folks confuse cruelty for horror, but I don’t need that hanging over me for a whole series.
Old Gods of Appalachia
Folk Horror that isn’t a retelling of The Wicker Man or The Ritual. Ancient forces of nature battle witches. With no hard delineation of good and evil, just shades of motivation, some dark, some life-affirming, we are drawn deep into the history of the land in the seclusion of the Appalachian Mountain Region.
This is the measure of all horror podcasts. The single narrator speaks as if he’s telling a tale around a campfire, not reading aloud or narrating a show. It’s the best writing I’ve heard in any podcast yet. It is scary and horrifying. It has Lovecraftian elements, but is entirely original.
Seventh Daughter, The
A stand alone story for adults in which a girl is retrieved from a convent by a woman who says she will take A to her father. But first they need to raise the fare by developing a mentalist act. It soon turns into an overarching attempt at revenge by AA the psychic who begins training A in not only the tricks of the trade, but in assassination as well.
Exploring the underside of the Victorian wave of mediums and mentalists, the main antagonist is a Crowley-like character who wishes to own the young psychic. But of course, she has very real powers of her own. There are some foreseeable twists towards the end, but it’s an enjoyable ride nonetheless.
A good story, with good acting and decent sound quality, with lots and lots of commercials interspersed ruining the listening experience, but that’s what you get from a podcast produced by iHeart Radio.
Spines
Wren doesn’t know who she is. She woke up a couple months ago, covered in blood, and flashes of memory that show her a strange occult ritual. The podcast takes on on her journey to visit the people she remembers from that night. Each of those she encounters seems to hold some unique, yet somehow evil supernatural power.
We are carried along on her story as she discovers her origin and the powers that manifest from within herself. Though you can guess where it is taking us, it’s a fun rids down the highway there.
Suspense (Blue Hours Productions)
This is not available through iTunes, but I have no problem going over to the Suspense YouTube app to get a well-produced show like this. You won’t be disappointed by these creepy stand-alone episodes! My only criticism is that they have chosen to re-make the best of Old Time Radio and the classic short stories of horror literature that I have heard too often, and don’t always care to listen to yet again. In the same category as The Black Mass.
13 Days of Halloween, The
This podcast plays out like a local haunted hayride as you arrive at a haunted mansion for a thirteen day visit. (Hawthorne House? Don’t quit your day job to write gothic bodice rippers.) The house has many inhabitants each with their own grisly, horrific story, to be heard as we visit each room in ever deeper exploration.
In the first episode, the Caretaker’s voice, at just “a little too loud” volume, still whispered away to an incomprehensible nothing, and when he was loud enough, the hissing echo drowned out my ability to discern what he was saying, so seriously, I have no clue what he said.
There was also already another podcast called The 13 Days of Halloween, but I guess if you have money, you don’t care. The production is self-aggrandizing and over-acted, but the story was well written.
The Tower
Relaxing music to listen to on your drive home. They even put a story line with it. wanted to suspend my disbelief promise is absurd to woman claims tower the tower of no return. She discovers telephones on the way up after the first day or two she’s reached the second or third phone she develops relationships with her boyfriend back home the guy he tells her there are over there almost 1600 phones on the tower is only day two big glossed over the packing part so I assumed she had food for a couple days. Short but sweet. There is only one season as of October, 2020. The episodes are only 15-20 minutes each. I would easily listen to season two.
Town Whispers
This series of tales about The Fort is set in the Pacific Northwest, though it could be any rural town. The story pulls you in. An overlooked, quality podcast. For fans of OGOA, this is very similar but slightly less polished.
Video Place
The writers must have felt the premise of The Ring wasn’t taken in the right direction. The soundtrack’s synth music copies Stranger Things in a similar ’80s homage, setting the tone for this compelling story about a guy who watches a white plastic video tape of static then starts talking in his sleep. Mark Cambria finds a personal grail, a white VHS video tape, only spoken of in hushed whispers back in the 80s. When he starts researching the provenance of the White Tapes, he falls down a rabbit hole.
Well-produced by Shudder; there are no sound peaks from the compression, and the “clatter and bang” is minimal. A zombie gang of video enthusiasts, an eyeless man, the sound of stacked dimensions make listeners sick as cultists listen for a tap code to location of meetups. This mystery has it all.
The final episode ties things up nicely, which I was beginning to worry about, but don’t. Although the transmission at the end is barely intelligible, Tamra then breaks it down for us, piece by piece, so it is all spelled out in a satisfying manner. Unfortunately, at this point, it does not look as though a second season will be forthcoming…
One of the biggest challenges podcasting must grapple with is the audio compression. Too often after turning up the sound to hear those voices whispering in the dark, the theme song or a special effect comes on and blasts out the windows, leaving the listener’s eardrums throbbing in pain if not dripping with blood.
Welcome to Night Vale
One of the most creative and beloved shows of recent times, Night Vale is a consistently top-rated podcast for a reason. It’s more weird fiction than horror, but it has some pretty creepy elements. It is scary and romantic, mysterious and absurdly weird all at once. If you ever visit Night Vale, DO NOT go into the library. Not without a Girl Scout guide.
There have also been original novels that have taken place in the world of Night Vale, and I’ve seen their tour live on stage. There is a reason this forerunner of the modern podcast wave has lasted hundreds of episodes.
White Vault, The
This show is Lovecraftian in that it draws heavily on elements from x and works by Arthur Machen.
They repeat many of the occurrences from different character’s standpoints, which is fun and clarifies the action. The storytelling has also mastered the vagueness necessary to create this kind of ancient/cosmic horror. There are some actors here that we’ve heard before over on the No Sleep Podcast. I found this found footage podcast well acted and well written, though slow moving, and I appreciated the inclusion of multiple languages.
Svalbard, Norway. The crew has been dispatched to an ice station for repairs, but a storm will not allow them to leave.
Characters: Walter Heath
Graham Casner – Their guide and security person. Sounds like Batman. He cuts his hand on a statue, but keeps it secret as an infection festers.
Dr. Karina Schumacher-Weis – Has a beautiful voice.
Dr. Rosa De La Torre – A Spanish speaking medic who has the hots for Batman there.
Jonas Porirsson – The transmitter repair guy. He tells us the radio was purposely re-programmed to transmit a kind of “send more brains” message.
They find a cave leading to ancient stone age village, apparently phased in time and space, populated only by huge stone effigies and apparently made from human teeth and boxes filled with beating hearts as the radio transmitter begins receiving what sounds like the ancient chanting of inhuman priests. A snow creature destroys their snowmobiles and drags people away. Catacombs, gigantic sea creatures from below the ice, illogical maps, rockslides, and glowing carvings abound!
Season 2 starts out as the same situation only in Patagonia instead of Svalbard. Amid much lengthier stints of untranslated foreign language, The sound differentiation that was a mild issue in Season One became an immediate no-go for me. I like to listen to podcasts while driving home, and in the 2nd season the sounds of wind, static, and crashing rocks muffle the dialogue and make it difficult to follow (and wearing headphones becomes painful). If you turn it up to make out the dialogue, the sudden sound effects will blow your speakers if not your eardrums. I plan to revisit the second season, but for now that’s where I had to leave off.
