"THe only way to be brave is to first be afraid." -Joseph Fink, Alice Isn't Dead
Podcasts.
The millennial equivalent to old-school radio. But I think we can give ourselves a little credit here. Podcasts are pretty awesome, and if you have a true crime/horror obsession like I do, this is a world that does not disappoint. If you’re a little new to the rabbit hole, I’ll walk you down. The most well-known podcasts focused in true crime or horror (these genres tend to meld together down here) include The No Sleep Podcast hosted and produced by David Cummings, Lore hosted by Aaron Mahnke, My Favorite Murder by Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff, and everyone’s favorite: Serial by Sarah Koenig.
However, there are some hidden gems among this sea of sound effects, phenomenal voice acting, and legendary story-telling. So today I pulled some less-popular but equally amazing titles from the depths (and also my own list) to show you. These are only a teeny collection from my deep dark archives, but they’ll get you started without having to worry about a huge fandom. Granted, some of the topics will be gruesome, but that’s why you’re here, isn’t it?
First up on our list is Let’s Not Meet, hosted and narrated by Andrew Tate. This podcast is a different spin on horror, focusing on the stories of those who made it out alive. Which, in Tate’s words, “I really wanted to share these stories because I found that they were the most terrifying.” Let’s Not Meet went on a pretty long hiatus a few years ago, but it is back, with new episodes and new stories. These stories are taken from the subReddit exclusively, and are all true stories that the podcast retells (with a healthy dose of dramatic music of course). The most popular episodes of the podcasts are: Season 1, episode 9 “Freeway”, Season 1, episode 8 “Attic”, and Season 1, episode 7 “Kessington”.
www.letsnotmeetpodcast.com/
Next is Something Scary narrated by Sapphire Sanaldo, and is pretty self-explanatory. Imagine a more lengthy, detailed, and wonderfully gruesome version of traditional campfire stories. Something Scary actually used to be a Youtube series on the channel SNARLED, where Sanaldo would take personal stories along with emailed ones and animate them. Something Scary has successfully released 8 seasons worth of animated stories, and continues to produce them. They recently opened the podcast, where they choose to animate one of the stories per episode (you can find them on Youtube) and narrate the rest. Sanaldo covers urban legends, folktales, and the most traditional ghost stories from around the world. The most popular episodes are: “Stories from India”, “Sick”, and “Smoke and Mirrors”.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVTKO1D_G19UlK03ezaADag
Next up is Dark 5, which also has roots in SNARLED. Hosted by Rachel Evans, a spitfire woman a little too obsessed with serial killers, it is the podcast version of the Youtube series. The original Dark 5 covered topics like serial killers, cults, Creepypasta stories, and even Amazon reviews. It does this by chopping each topic into 5 nice little facts or details. Evans eventually turned to a podcast because she felt that the Youtube version was too short to fully dive into the world of horror and true crime. Though the podcast is still very much new, there have been positive reviews about it. There hasn’t been any ranked episodes yet, but I suspect there will be some soon.
And finally, the creators of Welcome to Nightvale (quite possibly one of the most popular podcasts out there) bring you Alice isn’t Dead. Welcome to Nightvale’s younger cousin, it is more of an audiobook than a podcast, but still keeps that air of suspense only Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor can create. It follows a series of audiodiares recorded by Keisha Taylor, who is chasing a wife whom she presumed was dead across America. This lone truck driver must face the supernatural, the weird, and the simply unexplainable. Alice isn’t dead, and her wife is coming to get her. The top episodes of Alice isn’t Dead are: Part 1, Chapter 3 “Nothing to See”, Part 1, Chapter 4 “The Factory by the Sea”, and Part 2, Chapter 10 “Why Am I Alive?” Please keep in mind that Alice isn’t Dead is a series, and should be listened to in the order of the episodes.
These are my podcast picks for today, and hopefully one of these can get you started and absolutely fall in love with gorgeous voice acting and well-produced episodes.
Written by Makenna Arase
The millennial equivalent to old-school radio. But I think we can give ourselves a little credit here. Podcasts are pretty awesome, and if you have a true crime/horror obsession like I do, this is a world that does not disappoint. If you’re a little new to the rabbit hole, I’ll walk you down. The most well-known podcasts focused in true crime or horror (these genres tend to meld together down here) include The No Sleep Podcast hosted and produced by David Cummings, Lore hosted by Aaron Mahnke, My Favorite Murder by Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff, and everyone’s favorite: Serial by Sarah Koenig.
However, there are some hidden gems among this sea of sound effects, phenomenal voice acting, and legendary story-telling. So today I pulled some less-popular but equally amazing titles from the depths (and also my own list) to show you. These are only a teeny collection from my deep dark archives, but they’ll get you started without having to worry about a huge fandom. Granted, some of the topics will be gruesome, but that’s why you’re here, isn’t it?
First up on our list is Let’s Not Meet, hosted and narrated by Andrew Tate. This podcast is a different spin on horror, focusing on the stories of those who made it out alive. Which, in Tate’s words, “I really wanted to share these stories because I found that they were the most terrifying.” Let’s Not Meet went on a pretty long hiatus a few years ago, but it is back, with new episodes and new stories. These stories are taken from the subReddit exclusively, and are all true stories that the podcast retells (with a healthy dose of dramatic music of course). The most popular episodes of the podcasts are: Season 1, episode 9 “Freeway”, Season 1, episode 8 “Attic”, and Season 1, episode 7 “Kessington”.
www.letsnotmeetpodcast.com/
Next is Something Scary narrated by Sapphire Sanaldo, and is pretty self-explanatory. Imagine a more lengthy, detailed, and wonderfully gruesome version of traditional campfire stories. Something Scary actually used to be a Youtube series on the channel SNARLED, where Sanaldo would take personal stories along with emailed ones and animate them. Something Scary has successfully released 8 seasons worth of animated stories, and continues to produce them. They recently opened the podcast, where they choose to animate one of the stories per episode (you can find them on Youtube) and narrate the rest. Sanaldo covers urban legends, folktales, and the most traditional ghost stories from around the world. The most popular episodes are: “Stories from India”, “Sick”, and “Smoke and Mirrors”.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVTKO1D_G19UlK03ezaADag
Next up is Dark 5, which also has roots in SNARLED. Hosted by Rachel Evans, a spitfire woman a little too obsessed with serial killers, it is the podcast version of the Youtube series. The original Dark 5 covered topics like serial killers, cults, Creepypasta stories, and even Amazon reviews. It does this by chopping each topic into 5 nice little facts or details. Evans eventually turned to a podcast because she felt that the Youtube version was too short to fully dive into the world of horror and true crime. Though the podcast is still very much new, there have been positive reviews about it. There hasn’t been any ranked episodes yet, but I suspect there will be some soon.
And finally, the creators of Welcome to Nightvale (quite possibly one of the most popular podcasts out there) bring you Alice isn’t Dead. Welcome to Nightvale’s younger cousin, it is more of an audiobook than a podcast, but still keeps that air of suspense only Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor can create. It follows a series of audiodiares recorded by Keisha Taylor, who is chasing a wife whom she presumed was dead across America. This lone truck driver must face the supernatural, the weird, and the simply unexplainable. Alice isn’t dead, and her wife is coming to get her. The top episodes of Alice isn’t Dead are: Part 1, Chapter 3 “Nothing to See”, Part 1, Chapter 4 “The Factory by the Sea”, and Part 2, Chapter 10 “Why Am I Alive?” Please keep in mind that Alice isn’t Dead is a series, and should be listened to in the order of the episodes.
These are my podcast picks for today, and hopefully one of these can get you started and absolutely fall in love with gorgeous voice acting and well-produced episodes.
Written by Makenna Arase
