It’s October and that means Halloween is creeping around the corner. Spooky themed movies, music and decorations are all around and if you too are a podcast junkie, this is the list for you.
“Spooked” By Snap Judgement
Average Spookiness of Season: 8.5/10
Hosted by Glynn Washington, this podcast holds a serious tone with very little humor in it and is perfect for listeners who want to get creeped out. Washington hosts a variety of guest speakers who have all kinds of unexplainable or unusual stories to tell, all from their own experiences.
“Spooked” focuses on a variety of topics such as hauntings, murders, paranormal activity and much more. Listeners can pick a topic to suit their scary mood. Each of these stories make the characters personable so that listeners find themselves immersed in the story.
This podcast is excellently curated, with every story being different from the rest. Hearing directly from the storyteller instead of the host adds an extra dimension of believability.
The only downside to this podcast is that in some episodes, more than one story is told. The seriousness of this podcast makes one longer story easier to get wrapped up in rather than more than one. Some listeners might not mind combining multiple stories into one podcast because in some podcasts this approach works.
Recommended Episodes: “A Friend in the Forest” and “37 Seconds”
Length: Full-episodes are only 30 minutes long which means listeners can listen to more than one in a day (if they want to).
“Welcome to Nightvale” created by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor
Average Spookiness of Each Episode: 7/10
This podcast is not the average run-of-the-mill scary podcast. “Welcome to Nightvale” tells stories about the mythical town of Nightvale. Each episode features a weather update from Nightvale. The weather update is actually a song featuring a guest musician.
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This podcast also features news updates and announcements from the sheriff of Nightvale. Quirky and serious, “Welcome to Nightvale” is an entire world of scary stories, all connected to each other. Even when the details of the podcast are not scary they are peculiar, painting a picture of a world that breaks the rules of the world we know.
The writers of “Welcome to Nightvale” are clearly fond of double negatives and often use puns. Listeners should be prepared to give full attention to this podcast because the storyline is often complicated with unexpected twists and turns.
Length: Each episode is almost 30 minutes in duration.
Recommended Episode: “108-Cal,” an episode about a visitor from a different reality
“The Black Tapes” hosted by Alex Reagan
Average Spookiness of Each Episode: 6.5/10
This podcast follows a fictional public radio journalist. This journalist focuses on the paranormal world featuring guest speakers who are fascinated by the paranormal and study it, taking more of an exploratory form than a story form.
Given that Alex Reagan does not take a traditional storytelling approach in this podcast, it is less scary than others, but just as immersive and fascinating. The podcast alternates from the host recounting the story and conversation between her and guest speakers on the show.
For listeners who are paranormal junkies, this podcast is the one. It details stories of the paranormal and human attempts to draw out ghosts, spirits and other paranormal entities.
While this podcast will not make most listeners afraid to turn off the lights for bed, it can give listeners quite the scare. If listeners prefer the traditional storytelling approach, this podcast is not the one.
Length: Each episode is about 40 minutes long
Recommended Episodes: “Tale of Two Tapes” and “Part One and Two”
“My Favorite Murder” A True Crime Podcast with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
Average spookiness of each episode: 5/10
Kilgariff and Hardstark talk about their favorite murder stories with witty and often dry humor. The two talk like good friends and throw out their own theories about the stories they tell, much like their listeners are doing at home.
Kilgariff and Hardstark do not take themselves too seriously when telling stories making their perception of death, other difficult topics and spooky tales more human. Often scary stories can become too serious which ironically make them less believable. The hosts do their research and openly talk about this research.
The hosts will often recommend other podcasts for listeners which is pretty unique to this show. Many of the murders that Kilgariff and Hardstark talk about come from small towns, which adds an additional mystery to the murders. These stories are based on real-life events.
One of the downsides of this podcast is the amount of conversation between the two hosts. If listeners want chills running down their back this podcast might not be the one. This podcast won’t be giving most listeners night terrors, which might be a plus side for some listeners.
Length: Full-episodes are about an hour and a half, mini-episodes are about 20 minutes.
Recommended Episode: “Minisode 86,” an episode about an attempted kidnapping
Megan Holmen is the assistant news editor at the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com, culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @megan_holmen.
