Image source: Merlina McGovern
I recently wrote about five nonfiction podcasts that will educate and entertain you. I don't just spend my time on educational content — I also listen to a ton of spooky fiction podcasts. A lot of them scratch that itch of wanting to listen to creepy tales narrated by talented voice actors, but there are just a few that rise to the top of the list for me.
Unwell. This is one of my very favorite fiction podcasts. The creators describe it as “Midwestern Gothic Mystery,” and it does what gothic stories do so well: It gives you a definite sense of place draped in mystery and the macabre.
The beauty of this particular podcast is in that “Midwestern Gothic” description. Typically, gothic tales happen in broken-down castles and dreary, rain-swept moors. Insane old ladies are locked away in cobweb-filled attics. Here, in Mt. Absolom, Ohio, you’ll find strong-willed women running a bed and breakfast and townsfolk who stop by to share a foil-covered casserole. In this podcast executive produced and directed by Jeffrey Nils Gardner, you’re just as likely to encounter a quirky celery festival and Halloween hayrides as you are ghost wolves and secret societies.
The characters are fully fleshed out, with family traumas and town ghosts intermingling in a series of engaging stories. Each of the five seasons has an overall narrative arc that plays out over 12 episodes. The sound design gives you a vivid sense of time and place, and the voice acting is top notch.
The No Sleep Podcast. This was my very first foray into the world of fiction podcasts. Originally, the creators read stories from the /nosleep subreddit aloud, and several of the early ones are deliciously spooky, with one of my favorites being PenPal. I still feel shivers running up and down my spine as I think about the ominous polaroid photos sent to a young boy participating in a class pen-pal experiment.
Over time, the shows moved into submitted fiction stories, and showrunner David Cummings is the rock-solid thread tying all 19 seasons together. Several of the regular voice actors, like Graham Rowat and Danielle McRae, have achieved success in TV and video game voice acting. Most of the stories tend more toward the spooky and dreadful, but they do have experimental seasons where they can ratchet up the gore and violence. These experimental episodes are not really my cup of tea, but with each season containing around 26 episodes, you’ll have plenty of scares to choose from.
Welcome to Night Vale. How to describe this surreal and otherworldly podcast? Twice a month, a podcast, or rather a radio broadcast, from Night Vale radio drops. Night Vale radio broadcasts from a small desert town, where radio host Cecil Gershwin Palmer (voice acted by the fabulous Cecil Baldwin) shares news about town residents as varied as the Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home to the Glow Cloud, a deity-like, well, cloud, that used to be the president of the Night Vale School Board. You never know if Cecil will be broadcasting about placental mammals raining down from the sky or warning residents away from eating any wheat. Each episode breaks for “the weather,” where you’ll get to listen to original music from a variety of bands.
The episodes are all standalone experiences, so you can drop in and listen to any of them. Whenever I’m in the mood for the absurd, hilarious, and oftentimes spooky, I take a listen to this well-written podcast from Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph Fink.
As I noted, there are a lot more spooky fiction podcasts that I listen to, but these are the best in my humble opinion. They all have terrific writing, unique sound direction, and immersive voice acting that hits the spot when I’m looking for a scare.
What are your favorite fiction podcasts? Drop your recommendations in the comments.
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