happy new year! i'm finally getting adjusted after the holiday break. i work in higher education, so as the semester is ramping up, so is the work load in my office. it's fine. are there bags under my eyes? it's fine.
in the quiet moments when the phone isn't ringing off the hook, i like to take a minute, put in an earbud, and listen to podcasts. if you haven't gathered from my previous posts, i'm a huge horror fan - ghosts, monsters, evil houses, creepy deer, all of it - and podcasts are a surprisingly effective method of horror storytelling. when good sound design, strong writing, and excellent narration/voice acting all come together, the result is an eerie audio experience that keeps you listening throughout your work day.
(heck, on days off, i'll even listen to a podcast while i'm playing a grind-heavy video game or crocheting a large project.)
if you're looking for an excellent horror podcast but you're not sure where to start, please enjoy my top five horror podcasts featured below.
the black tapes is a "nonfiction" podcast hosted by alex reagan. alex investigates dr. richard strand, an academic who offers an impressive monetary reward to anyone who can provide him with compelling, irrefutable evidence that ghosts are real. most often, interested parties send in video evidence, which dr. strand collects in his office. while no one has claimed the prize yet, dr. strand does maintain a collection of videos that he can't immediately discount as not having a supernatural origin. these videos are known as - you guessed it - the black tapes.
as the show progresses, it becomes clear that something strange is going on. alex, dr. strand, and other characters join the search to find out, once and for all, if the supernatural is real.
i used quotation marks earlier because, as you can imagine, the black tapes is fiction, though it's presented as real. you'll be hard-pressed to find this information on any of the black tapes' official pages, however: if you visit the podcast's website, alex, dr. strand, and other fictional characters are given photos on the "about" page. the dedication, acting, and writing of this podcast is top-notch, and any fan of found-footage horror will get a kick out of this one.
while the black tapes unfortunately never saw a complete ending - its last published episode was a mid-season 3 finale - the show is contained and satisfying, and worth any horror fan's time. i listened to this one while i worked evening shift at a library, so you can imagine how creeped out i got, wandering the tall, quiet stacks, spooky stories about unexplained shadows in my ear.
another scary story presented as truth, the white vault opens on a research team sent to a remote outpost called fristed in svalbard, a frigid island of norway. presented by a mysterious documentarian, the terrifying events that befall the research team continue to be explored even now, four years after the show released. travel remains unadvised.
i love this show. it admittedly takes a little while before any true horror elements grab the listener, but the authenticity can't be beat. since the first season focuses on a team stranded in an unforgiving tundra, you get a ton of excellent writing on the relationships between the characters - how they grow closer, how they become suspicious, how their frightening fates shock you - and you get a good image of the space they occupy. even the mysterious underground cavern...
i won't say any more because spoilers abound. but the white vault is ongoing and offers a lot of content for you to enjoy as you power through this bleary winter.
sharing a name with the reddit thread r/nosleep, this podcast accepts story submissions from listeners everywhere and produces them for the show. it's long-running and has only improved as the years have gone by, recruiting strong voice talent and featuring excellent sound design. some episodes, admittedly, suffer from hyper-realistic eyes and an excess of blood, and the scares are more superficial in nature, but there are some really excellent episodes with interesting premises and unique stories. i remember one about a creepy deer dead-set on revenge against two con artists, a cursed board game that only got hungrier and hungrier, and a puzzling young boy who showed up at a farm just before some unlucky - and disturbing - events plague the woman who lives there.
one thing i love about nosleep is the way anyone can submit and have their stories shared in such an interesting and accessible way. i recommend this one if you're more into one-off stories, or need something quick to fill your time without committing to a long-running story.
she's long assumed her wife to be dead. but after seeing her pop up on television, always in the background, keisha finally knows differently. to find her missing wife, keisha takes on a route as a truck driver and explores the united states, uncovering disturbing and frightening happenings that can only be understood as having something to do with alice.
night vale presents is the publisher of alice isn't dead, and should sound familiar if you know anything about horror podcasts. welcome to night vale is another horror podcast that's captivated listeners for years. joseph fink serves as an author for both night vale and alice isn't dead, and is doing some cool stuff outside podcasts, too. for example, you can get a physical book of alice isn't dead at your local bookstore. (it's true! i've seen it!)
i was absolutely spellbound when i listened to this podcast. keisha is an incredibly likeable protagonist - driven only by the love for her wife and for her dedication to right over wrong - and her adventures are not only intriguing, they're inspiring. i'd even recommend this one to younger listeners, as well, as keisha is accessible and plucky, but also youthful and real. (don't hold me to that, it's been years since i listened, and if there's something violent, well, you didn't hear it from me.) it's also refreshing that the podcast features a lesbian protagonist but, to my memory, doesn't focus on any homophobic antagonist. though it's horror, alice isn't dead is a positive space that encourages listeners to always stand up for the people they love and what they believe in.
all the previous entries on this list are fiction. that's why i've been pleasantly surprised to wholly enjoy the only true-horror podcast on this list: let's not meet. narrated and produced by andrew tate, this podcast accepts true-story submissions from listeners all around the world on frightening or eerie encounters they've had with other people during their lives.
the episodes i've heard (and there are a lot of episodes: the show has seen weekly releases since at least january 2019) predominantly include accounts from women or female-identifying folks. on one hand, this sucks because women shouldn't have to suffer the terrible things they recount in this podcast, but on the other hand, let's not meet is, in this humble listener's opinion, an excellent way to reclaim the narratives these women have endured, shifting the power balance back into their hands as they claim the stories for themselves.
andrew tate is a great narrator, and the sound design is wonderful - ad breaks are bookended by easily-identifiable music, so if you're listening through spotify, you can skip 15 seconds until you hear the music and know you're good to go. (sorry for skipping your ads, andrew.) the podcast is accessible, creepy, and a fantastic listen for anyone who loves true horror stories.
honorable mentions
the left right game: produced by qcode, the left right game boasts tessa thompson as lead in this frightening podcast based on a reddit thread from r/nosleep. thompson plays a young journalist who finds herself on a paranormal journey with a ragtag group of thrill seekers who quickly find themselves way in over their heads.
the edge of sleep: qcode also produces this horror podcast featuring the voice talent of mark fischbach, also known by his youtube name markiplier. in this podcast, a security guard must race against the clock as everyone who sleeps begins to die. teetering on the edge of sleep (see what i did there) himself, the hero of this story becomes privy to frightening knowledge of just what lies beyond our consciousness.
odd trails: also narrated/produced by andrew tate with brandon lanier, odd trails is a true paranormal podcast that follows the same pattern of let's not meet. listeners submit their stories of events that have happened to them, and they're read by andrew and brandon with the same level of quality let's not meet is known for. this one is relatively new, and some of the stories have skeptical levels of believability (it's paranormal, after all), but it's a fun listen and will likely become one of my favorites the more i listen.
final thoughts
podcasts aren't for everyone. and a good horror podcast that doesn't cross the line into ethically-questionable material (murders, traumatic events debated as supernatural occurrences, etc.) are tricky to find. that's why i love all the entries on this list: they understand the format, they treat their stories with respect, and they make it as entertaining as any tv show you could sit down with on a weekend.
what are your favorite horror podcasts? do you have one that didn't make my list? feel free to recommend me a good podcast in the comments. until then, i'll be popping in an earbud, peering around my office door, wondering if that's an evil, murky shadow...or just somebody needing help.