I can't write or work in silence. I know there are people who NEED silence to operate, but I just can't. And I actually prefer the sounds of human voices (or rain, but that's difference) to instrumental music or whatever. Sometimes I'll turn on a playlist of narrators reading creeppastas on youtube, turn it down to the point I can only barely hear it, and get working. Mr. Creepypasta is GREAT for this because his voice is beautiful and his selection of stories is huge. He selects some real gems and then brings gravity and beauty to them. But I can listen to them over and over just for the rhythm and the sound-feel as if his voice were an instrument. (His background music is really nice too, always puts me in the mood to write disquiet.)
Sometimes the creative well is a little drier than others, or the work I'm doing is boring (hey data entry like writing work!) and i want something with more plot. As a result, my partner and I have been listening to a ton of serial story podcasts all in a spooky mood. (He also listens to a lot of political stuff, but I just can't do it. Politics are way scarier than horror to me.) Anywhere, here's what we're listening to and why.
Imagine if NPR existed in a world of creepypastas and urban legends. Probably. It's one of those charming well
spoken white woman thoughtfully explores some topic and we nod and feel like we leaned something. Except, Alex Regan, our host, isn't exploring geo caching or why the criminal justice system is crappy. She's investigating the world of the supernatural. Or is she? Everything she sees, experiences, investigates, could be explained away, almost. It skirts the line between the real and the unreal with disturbing consistency. It feels SO real. It could be so real. It's a fantastic experience.
If there's a downside, it's in location? This story, and its sister podcast Tanis, take place in the pacific north west, which is a beautiful moody place. As a result, maybe, the cast of both podcasts is very white. Which is kinda the only thing that bums me out. But. Gender parity is fantastic. Lots of happy gay couples mentioned as if its perfectly normal. So. Take that criticism for what it's worth. I'm a white woman, so, I probably get this wrong all the time too.
Set in the same continuity as the Black Tapes, Tanis follows another of the producers as he explores a collection of conspiracies to a center mystery/conspiracy. It's a bit more internet/dark web plus cults and Charles Manson. (There's not actually a LOT of Manson. But. Some!) I think my favorite part of Tanis is how close it skims reality. I'm an internet nerd and fan of most things creepy, and Tanis brushes up against creepy stories i know about (the Elevator ritual, for example) and it thrills me! This conspiracy even touches Dungeons and Dragons. How can you beat that? You can't.
What Tanis lacks in Dr. Strand, it more than makes up for in Meerkatnip. That'll make more sense to you when you listen. And you should really listen.
If there's a down side, it's just the same as Black Tapes. The cast is very white. I don't think that's a reason to toss it out, but, that's easy for me to say as, again, a white lady.
Alright. I know that Night Vale exists. And I love Night Vale. But you already know about Night Vale. King Falls is different, despite the similar premise. Promise.
Sammy "shotgun" Stevens, a 'big city' AM radio host moves to a quaint little town in the middle of somewhere America. Just, you know, in this small town America happens to be haunted like crazy, vampires, werewolves and of course aliens. (It was TOTALLY aliens.) The locals know about it, they accept it, it's pretty hilarious. Rather than a single voice making announcements, this is a AM radio show with a co-host and call ins. It's FANTASTICALLY produced. The dialogue is brilliant and the whole thing is more... low brow... then Night Vale. (There's nothing wrong with High Brow. But. You know how it is.) I don't know, I love it. Give it at least two episodes. It's damn good fun and funny as shit.
Also ghost gatling gun.
The show describes itself as a 'found footage podcast' and that's pretty apt. A man is hired to digitally preserve a bunch of audio from some weird New York historical preservation society. The audio so far largely focuses on a woman doing audio interviews in and around a historical apartment building in New York. It's a story inside of a story inside of a story. And that's not just the format, that's also the... theme? I'm not sure yet.
There aren't a lot of episodes out yet, it's fresh, and it's also BEAUTIFULLY produced. I'm SO SCARED I won't find out enough before it ends. But that's kind of the nature of this sort of serial open ended spooky material. But. I guess its kind of a down side that it's not deep into the series yet? Kinda?
Archive 81 is set in New York. And the producers aren't afraid of that fact. The cast of the story inside the story is diverse and feels much more authentically New York than I'd expect from a podcast. Black people live in New York and it's nice to see that in casting.
The story is spooky and strange and worth your time.
The Bright Sessions
I saw this pop up in my radar a few times. For some reason I got the wrong idea that this was a comedy with a psychologist who treats super heroes.
This is not a comedy. It's actually fantastic. (Comedy can be fantastic, natch.) The short version is we're hearing audio notes and phone calls with a woman who acts as a therapist for people with ... unusual powers. A teenage empath with anger issues. Someone who vanishes when she has a panic attack. That sort of thing. The sessions are real and human feel so real. Super powers aren't treated as an analogy for being gay or emotional problems or anything. Because some of the characters are gay, no metaphor needed. Some of the characters do have emotional problems, so no metaphor. It's really charming in that way. Dr. Bright is played by a woman of color. It feels beautiful and real and I'm greatly enjoying the simple human drama of it.
There are a ton of other shows I could talk about. This is the stuff that's pretty live and pretty high on 'what should we listen to again' list. I hope you enjoy!