After suffering through a swelteringly hot summer that seemed to last years instead of months, we’ve finally reached the best time of year. The cool weather brings some of the year’s best things: spice lattes, crisp fall leaves, and fall fashion – I know that I personally have been looking forward to cozying up with a warm sweater and a nice cup of tea – but the standout of an exceptionally great month? Halloween, of course.
We all have our favorite seasonal movies, music, and shows to get in the Halloween spirit, but if you’re searching for ways to get in a spooky mood, there might be a common medium you’ve overlooked: podcasts! Because they’re relatively cheap to produce, podcasts are a uniquely diverse medium – there are podcasts for absolutely every topic under the sun – and finding podcasts to fit the season is easier than saying “amok, amok, amok.”
Here are five of my favorite spooky, creepy, and otherwise chilling podcasts:
1. The Black Tapes Podcast
This podcast, a fictional radio drama in the vein of “Welcome to Nightvale”, takes place in the Pacific Northwest. Alex Reagan, a daring journalist, narrates a story that spans over several episodes and seasons. The podcast begins as a biography of paranormal investigator Dr. Richard Strand, a renowned skeptic of all things paranormal, but the podcast then takes a creepy turn when Strand and Reagan team up to solve Strand’s unsolved “Black Tape” cases – all of which seem to eerily link together in some demonic way. If you’re a fan of creepy storytelling, radio dramas, and “Serial”, this is the podcast for you.
2. Lore
This horror nonfiction podcast from Aaron Mahnke is set to become a book and a TV drama this fall – catch up now while you still have time! Mahnke publishes biweekly episodes on historical events, usually linked by a common theme and always terrifying. He examines folklore, mythology, religion, and things that simply cannot be explained. If you’re a fan of history and horror, you should absolutely check out this podcast.
3. We’re Alive: A Story of Horror
I haven’t personally listened to this one, so I can’t give my personal review. However, from what I’ve heard from friends who listen, it’s a must-listen if you’re a fan of the zombie craze. This podcast, a horror drama similar to “Black Tapes”, takes place in the wake of a zombie apocalypse and follows a cast of survivors, whose every day is marked with peril and tension. Will they make it out alive? You’ll have to listen to the podcast to find out.
4. The NoSleep Podcast
I can personally guarantee that this podcast is the creepiest one I’ve ever listened to. A talented team of voice actors and editors brings stories from the Reddit thread “/r/nosleep” to life each week with terrifying results. This one simply isn’t for the faint of heart. I actually had to stop listening because of how frightening these tales were. Be warned: if you listen to this horror podcast, be prepared to sleep with the lights on.
5. Limetown
Though it may be on hiatus at the moment, “Limetown” is yet another one of my favorite creepy podcasts. “Limetown”, another horror drama, follows burgeoning journalist Lia Haddock as she follows the story of the “Limetown” disappearance: the entire town abruptly vanished without a trace. Involving cults, aliens, and a government conspiracy, “Limetown” is absolutely a horror must see this Halloween season.
Of course, there are so many horror podcasts out there that it’d be impossible to discover them all. Do you have a horror podcast you like to listen to? Let me know in the comments if there’s any I missed. Happy Hallow-month, everyone!