To help conjure up the spirit of Halloween this year, I’ve been playing the spookiest podcasts of the season. I listen to a lot of podcasts during my hour commute to and from work and these all make the trip so scary good.
5 Scariest Podcasts
My Favorite Murder
This is, hands down, my favorite podcast right now. Hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, My Favorite Murder is a conversational murder podcast. It’s actually classified as a comedy, and recently rose to the number one position on iTunes podcasts. Karen and Georgia each pick their favorite murder of the week and recount it, replete with erroneous facts from Wikipedia and other third party sources. Most murder podcasts aren’t funny. They actually run on the dry side. What makes My Favorite Murder so great is the banter between Karen and Georgia. You almost feel like you’re in their living room with them – another one of the girls.
Lore
Do you like urban legends and fairy tales? Lore, by Aaron Mahnke, is the podcast with the most wicked tall tales. Sometimes the truth is more frightening than fiction. Aaron Mahnke, a master storyteller himself, weaves each 20-minute episode with suspense. Lore is so enthralling that in just over a year since it started, it’s managed to secure an Amazon tv series. Aaron Mahnke will partner with contributors to the Walking Dead and X-Men to bring Lore tales to life on screen.
Black Tapes
Full disclaimer: Black Tapes is fiction. It’s not real. Or is it? The Black Tapes is a documentary-style serial podcast following one journalist’s exploration of the Strand Institute’s enigmatic leader, Richard Strand. The Institute studies paranormal activity – or rather, debunks it. Yet Richard Strand has a mysterious collection of unsolved mysteries, the “black tapes”. As the series progresses it’s revealed the black tapes may have something in common, and may hold the key to preventing a powerful paranormal force from taking over the world. The Black Tapes will keep you on the edge of your car seat waiting for the next big reveal from Alex Reagan via the Pacific Northwest Stories. Do you believe?
Tanis
What is Tanis? Is it a place, a time, a society, or a mystery that transcends the earthly realm? Tanis was definitely a city in the northeast Nile delta of Egypt. Look it up. If you like the Black Tapes, chances are high you’ll also like Tanis. The same network produces them, and the characters have some cross over. However, Tanis ventures into the territory of the unknown, mystery, and interdimensional travel. Tanis, from the heat and fire, from the sand and spire, her light to bed, her darkness fled, across the sea, eternal she..
The Message
The Message is another serial storytelling podcast, where each episode is like another chapter in the story. A linguist graduate student podcaster is embroiled in a mystery when her seemingly straightforward interview with a language institute uncovers a message containing a virus capable of killing anyone who listens to it. The plot thickens. Where does the message come from? What is its purpose? This podcast doesn’t string you along in quite the same way as Tanis and Black Tapes, and I liked the way it neatly tied up the narrative at the end of the season.
If you’re still looking for a few new podcasts this month and none of the above give you the chills, check out these podcasts. They didn’t quite make the list of podcasts I impatiently wait for the next episode from, but they’re well worth a listen:
Criminal * In the Dark * Unsolved Podcast * Welcome to Night Vale * Limetown * Casefile * Pseudopod * Sword and Scale * Night of the Living Podcast * Hello from the Magic Tavern * True Murder * Mysteries Abound
Be careful when you listen to these podcasts! I can listen to these all day driving in traffic, but can’t stop looking over my shoulder and checking the locks on doors if I try to listen to them at night. If you have the same problem, check out the scary podcast antidote: Sleep with Me | Helps You Fall Asleep Via Silly Boring Bedtime Stories.
Stay sexy, don’t get murdered!