Reposting from this beautiful podcast post on reddit
All credit goes to u/Tinnis_
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As we come into October, you might want to check out some Horror fiction audio podcasts!
Narrated or dramatized fictional stories between 20 mins to an hour, released for free either weekly or more intermittently.
Includes both standalone short story anthologies or continuous series.
Full list below, sorted A-Z, with genre/format notes and show descriptions.
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My personal top suggestions would be:
Short stories: Pseudopod; Knifepoint Horror; Nightmare Magazine; Tales to Terrify
Series: The White Vault; The Magnus Archives
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If new to podcasts, I would recommend using (free): Podcast Addict (Android); Overcast (iOS)
Feel free to share your own favorite shows or specific episodes.
Enjoy!
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Alice isn't dead - sci-fi / horror, series
A truck driver searches across America for the wife she had long assumed was dead. In the course of her search, she will encounter not-quite-human serial murderers, towns literally lost in time, and a conspiracy that goes way beyond one missing woman.
Chilling Tales for Dark Nights - horror, standalone
Chilling Tales for Dark Nights is a horror fiction anthology podcast, with each weekly episode featuring several creepy tales from talented authors, brought to life by professional voice actors, and accompanied by SFX and music. ('Simply Scary Podcasts' network)
Dark Dice - horror / fantasy, series, rpg
Dark Dice is a horror actual-play D&D podcast that uses immersive soundscapes to create an added layer of immersion. Six travelers embark on a journey into the ruinous domain of the nameless god. They will never be the same again. (Features the initial six voice cast from 'The White Vault')
Darkest Night - horror, series
Darkest Night is a binaural audio drama that places you, the listener, at the center of a recovered memory that sounds as though it’s happening around you in real time. Each chapter delves into the last memories of the recently deceased, slowly revealing a horrifying master plan. Who is weaving this master conspiracy, and what is their ultimate goal?
Down Below the Reservoir - horror, standalone
A horror podcast series from creator & writer Graham Tugwell.
Hellfire Fables - horror, arcing, series
A weekly fictional adventure into the weird, tragic, and obscene.
Horror Hill - horror, standalone
A multiple story, horror-themed audio storytelling podcast, spun off from Chilling Tales for Dark Nights and its popular YouTube channel of the same name. The show stars voice actor / illustrator Jason Hill, and the hand-picked work of dozens of accomplished independent and previously-published contributing authors. ('Simply Scary Podcasts' network)
King Falls AM - sci-fi / horror, series
King Falls AM centers on a lonely little mountain town's late-night AM talk radio show and its paranormal, peculiar happenings and inhabitants.
Knifepoint Horror - horror, standalone
Tales of supernatural suspense by Soren Narnia.
Nightlight - horror, standalone
Creepy stories with full audio production written by Black writers and performed by Black actors. So scary it’ll make you want to leave your night light on.
Nightmare magazine - horror, standalone
Edited by bestselling, award-winning anthologist John Joseph Adams, NIGHTMARE is a digital magazine of horror and dark fantasy. In its pages, you will find all kinds of horror and dark fantasy, from zombie stories and haunted house tales, to visceral psychological horror. Every month NIGHTMARE will bring you a mix of original fiction and reprints, and featuring a variety of authors: from the bestsellers and award-winners you already know to the best new voices you haven't heard of yet. When you read NIGHTMARE, it is our hope that you'll see where horror comes from, where it is now, and where it's going. The NIGHTMARE podcast, produced by Grammy Award-winning narrator and producer Stefan Rudnicki of Skyboat Media, is presented twice a month, featuring original audio fiction and classic reprints.
Nocturnal transmissions - horror, standalone
NOCTURNAL TRANSMISSIONS is a fortnightly podcast featuring inspired performances of short horror stories, both old and new, by voice artist Kristin Holland. Short stories and mutterings from the wrong side of midnight.
Old Gods of Appalachia - horror, arcing series
In the mountains of central Appalachia, blood runs as deep as these hollers and just as dark. Since before our kind knew these hills, hearts of unknowable hunger and madness have slumbered beneath them. These are the oldest mountains in the world. How dare we think we can break the skin of a god and dig out its heart without bringing forth blood and darkness? Old Gods of Appalachia is a horror-anthology podcast set in the shadows of an Alternate Appalachia, a place where digging too deep into the mines was just the first mistake.
On a Dark, Cold Night - horror, standalone
On a Dark, Cold Night is the ideal podcast for horror-lovers with insomnia; a creepy friend to tell you bedtime/ghost stories. The podcast involves Your Narrator telling you a spine-chilling yet soothing ghost story every week. Launched in January, 2018, the show is written, performed and produced by Kristen Zaza.
On the Threshold - sci-fi / horror, arcing series
Human understanding of the cosmos is like a tiny, flickering candle. This podcast follows Phil Glazer as he chases down accounts of those who have wandered to the edge of the candlelight, and becomes drawn ever further into the shadows himself.
Pseudopod - horror, standalone
You’ve found the world’s premier horror fiction podcast. For over a decade, Pseudopod has been bringing you the best short horror in audio form, to take with you anywhere. We pay our authors professional rates for original fiction and we reach more people every week than any other short fiction horror market. (Backlog feeds https://redd.it/hx5tp2)
Scary Stories Told in the Dark - horror, standalone
A multiple story, horror-themed audio storytelling podcast, spun off from Chilling Tales for Dark Nights and its popular YouTube channel of the same name. The show features master storyteller Otis Jiry, often whimsically referred to by his fans as "The White Morgan Freeman," and the work of dozens of independent and previously-published contributing authors. ('Simply Scary Podcasts' network)
Shadows at the Door - horror, standalone
From Shadows at the Door Publishing comes a chilling new podcast, bringing to life a collection of macabre tales and spirited debate. Drawing on the haunted landscapes of classic folk horror, the podcast lifts the veil on some of your favourite ghost stories, and presents new fables throughout a series of macabre audio dramas. Shadows at the Door: The Podcast artfully showcases the unsettling, the unearthly, and the uncanny, with new tellings of beloved ghost stories, and spectral yarns created exclusively for the podcast by some of the most exciting writers in modern horror. Join presenter Mark Nixon and voice actor David Ault as they bring you ghoulish dramatisations, and discuss what makes the ghost story such a powerful, enduring force in cultures around the world.
Sibling Horror - horror, standalone
Short horror stories written by The Fradd Siblings (Emma and Matt Fradd). A big thanks to Soren Narnia of Knifepoint Horror who inspired us to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) (Read by Kifepoint Horror's Soren Narnia)
Tales To Terrify - horror, standalone
Welcome to Tales to Terrify, a weekly horror fiction podcast that gets under your skin, lays eggs and hatches writhing baby horrors nursed on your darkest fears. We're unique in our simplicity, bringing pure tales of terror to your ears audiobook-style – unadulterated and unadorned.
The Dark verse - horror, standalone
Short stories of occult, metaphysical, and fantastical horror that will follow you to the visions of your sleep.
The Drabblecast - sci-fi / fantasy / horror, standalone
The Drabblecast is a weekly audio fiction magazine that offers strange stories for strange listeners.
The Hidden Frequencies - sci-fi / horror, standalone
Love the Twilight Zone and Tales from the Darkside? You'll enjoy this science fiction horror anthology of audio dramas.
The Liberty podcast - sci-fi / horror, series & standalones
Welcome to the world of Liberty – serialized sci-fi tales told audio drama podcasts. For centuries the colony of Atrius has been cut off from humanity and endured generations of civil war. What remains is a gleaming city and beyond its walls, a lawless expanse known as the Fringe.
The Lost Cat podcast - horror, standalone
The entirely true adventures I have had while trying to find my cat.
The Magnus archives - horror with arcing series
“Make your statement, face your fear.” A weekly horror fiction podcast examining what lurks in the archives of the Magnus Institute, an organisation dedicated to researching the esoteric and the weird. Join Jonathan Sims as he explores the archive, but be be warned, as he looks into its depths something starts to look back… New episodes every Thursday produced by Rusty Quill, featuring guest actors, short stories, serial plots and more.
The Mistholme Museum of Mystery, Morbidity, and Mortality - scifi / horror, arcing series
Human understanding of the cosmos is like a tiny, flickering candle. This podcast follows Phil Glazer as he chases down accounts of those who have wandered to the edge of the candlelight, and becomes drawn ever further into the shadows himself.
The Night Bulletin - horror, standalone
The Night Bulletin is a monthly podcast featuring original short stories written and narrated by author TF Ahmad.
The NoSleep Podcast - horror, standalone
The NoSleep Podcast is a multi-award winning anthology series of original horror stories, with rich atmospheric music to enhance the frightening tales.
The Other Stories - sci-fi / horror, standalone
These aren't the stories your mother used to tell you ... no, these are The Other Stories. The Other Stories is a weekly short story podcast. A modern take on The Twilight Zone, Tales From The Crypt, or The Outer Limits. Sci-Fi, Horror, Thriller, WTF stories delivered right to your podcast feed every Monday morning.
The White Vault - horror, series
Explore the far reaches of the world’s horrors in the audio drama podcast The White Vault. Follow the collected records of a repair team sent to Outpost Fristed in the vast white wastes of Svalbard and unravel what lies waiting in the ice below. This Fool and Scholar production is intended for mature audiences.
The Wicked Library - horror, standalone
The Wicked Library is a Parsec Award winning show featuring horror fiction stories from upcoming, new, independent and bestselling authors. Our Tales of terror are read by Host / Producer, Daniel Foytik and other popular voice actors and feature custom music to bring the stories to life. Each episode features the work of some of the best voices in independent horror fiction. Authors of all types have contributed stories, like Jessica McHugh, KB Goddard, C. Bryan Brown, Stephanie Wytovich, and bestselling authors like Neil Gaiman and Owl Goingback.
Twilight Zone Radio Dramas - sci-fi / fantasy / horror, standalone
All 176 episodes of the Twilight Zone Radio Dramas which were produced and aired on radio during the 2000's. Each episode presents a stand-alone story in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described as entering "the Twilight Zone," often with a surprise ending and a moral. Although predominantly science-fiction, the show's paranormal and Kafkaesque events leaned the show towards fantasy and horror. The phrase “twilight zone,” inspired by the series, is used to describe surreal experiences.
Uncanny County - sci-fi / horror, standalone
Mystical truck drivers. Robots gone haywire. Killer clown demons. And pie. So. Much. Pie. This quirky, darkly comic, Southwestern-flavored anthology brings you a new paranormal audio play every month. Sit back, open your ears, and hold on tight. Because you're about to take a quick detour...through Uncanny County.
Welcome to Nightvale - sci-fi / horror, series
WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE is a twice-monthly podcast in the style of community updates for the small desert town of Night Vale, featuring local weather, news, announcements from the Sheriff's Secret Police, mysterious lights in the night sky, dark hooded figures with unknowable powers, and cultural events. Turn on your radio and hide.
Well told tales - sci-fi / horror, standalone
Every Monday, the Well Told Tales podcast brings you an original short story — either sci-fi, horror or hardboiled. Think of them as audiobooks, only shorter — 15 to 35 minutes, the perfect length for your commute, workout, whatever. And did we mention they’re FREE?
Westside Fairytales - horror, standalone
Books that kill whomever reads them, strange dolls that bring death wherever they go, and tales from men and women driven to the edge by madness, poverty, and guilt. These strange and varied stories are guaranteed to stay with you long after you've finished listening. New episodes the first Friday of every month.
Wrong Station - horror, standalone
"Come on in, have a seat. It's been a while since I've seen you. There's this story I've been dying to tell you. Maybe you'll find it interesting..." The Wrong Station is a radio horror series in the tradition of Quiet Please and Lights Out, created by Alexander Saxton and Anthony Botelho.
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From my larger cross genre google sheet list, which also includes Sci-Fi & Fantasy specific suggestions and subtabs for genre & format sorting too.
Audio fiction podcast list (horror, sci-fi, fantasy)
im just a normal girl . i sit near a body of water and immediately experience the entire range of human emotions
Arabic dark academia
Having tea first thing in the morning, the afternoon, evening, night and whenever you have nothing to do and whenever you have everything to do
Practicing calligraphy, hoarding calligraphy pens and quills like a dragon hoards its jewels
Youre now a calligragon btw
Pretentious hand written letters
Fragments of poetry and prose on the wall
In Egypt you can buy a vintage gramophone (as far as I remember)
Wrinkling your nose at orientalists who have clearly never been anywhere near the culture they're trying to portray.
Appreciating the orientalists who have in fact been there and paint like it. (Sorry to disappoint but there were never sexy slave babes roaming the streets)
Mourning for the scholars of Al Andaluas and times when Arabic was the language of science
Arguing over e'arab (the value of a word with regard to others in the sentence) and balagha (it translates to "eloquence" but is more like a complex version of figures of speech) of words
Arabic being such a complex language you get carried away sometimes
Passing the allotted wordcount so you start going over your paper and compressing a whole sentence, consisting of a conjunction, a subject, a verb and two objects into a word in desperation
Words like فأسقيناكموه (faa'skainakumooh) meaning "and so we have let you drink it" being an example.
Tea over burning coal. Over logs (hatab) tea over bokhour/oud hits different and you know it.
Brewing coffee over low heat and humming to Layali Al Ouns
"No offense but I like real coffee" when someone mentions starbucks
Um Kulthoum and Asmahan are superior you cant change my mind.
NO I DID NOT FORGET ABDUL HALIM HAFEZ I WANTED HIM A BULLET OF HIS OWN.
Fareed al atrash concerts at 3 am.
Nothing you ever cook will be under seasoned.
Reciting poetry to yourself in the mirror
Big chunks of jewelry (usually gold) engraved or woven through with intricate patterns and swirls. Wearing four bracelets in one hand is absolutely fine and under dressing is a myth
Owning swords is not out of fashion (ancient arabs were well known for their swordsmanship) but using them is, unfortunately <3
Wondering how they won wars with these swords. I couldn't even lift it enough to stab myself if I wanted
Extra names. People called شهد honey (shahd), جمال beauty (jamal), زهرة flower (zahra), ليلى night (laila), سماء sky (samaa), مهند/سيف sword (mohanad/saif) and صفاء purity (safaa) like it's the most normal thing in the world (which it should be, along with names of ancient gods)
Poetry from the abbasid era describing palaces and fountains and music so eloquently your heart skips several beats and you wonder how it is still beating at all and if, after all, you have been born in the wrong era.
Classic poetry from the school of Apollo brimming with romance and yearning you have never seen matched.
Poems that tear at your heart and stitch it whole with every bayt (verse? The equivalent for it) and you keep coming back for more.
Stories so well told that you swear you can see the princes and charmers and musicians and dancers all flicker to life in the flames before you
Historical masjids and churches.
Going to the palaces and shrines and towers from the ancient days of yore
Not exclusively (as neither is anything on this list) arabic but BRAIDS and braid jewellery that clinks when you shake your head
The unwavering belief that poetry is meant to be sung.
Singing poetry because it is meant to be sung
Thick eyebrows
Lining already lash lined eyes with kohl.
Beautiful brown eyes. Honey eyes. Chocolate eyes. Freshly turned earth eyes. Eyes that hold all the ethereal beauty of the world.
Hair styled in dark, thick curls or braids
Savouring the way the words move around from your throat to your chest to the tip of your tongue, like liquid gold,
The sweet music from the strings of a qitharah (string instrument)
Scented candles are cute, but have you ever heard of oud (perfume infused wood)? Anyhow one of my Sudanese friends make it AND IT IS BEAUTIFUL.
Wanting to study with the scholars of baghdad and azhar so bad
Recognizing that for all your culture, some of it is inspired by others and that's okay.
Please add what you can to this list. It is far from complete.
Trying to fall in love is like trying to make your heart beat backwards. It can’t be done. I am already what you are. And so we don’t fall in love; we simply notice that we are in love already, and always have been. We don’t fall in love; it is the ‘we’, the ‘me’ and the ‘you’, the ‘inbetween’, that falls away in love, revealing the intimacy of our own absence. We are all so deeply in love that we don’t realise it.
Jeff Foster (via lazyyogi)
if it’s dark, don’t shine your flashlight into the trees.
if a child approaches and asks you a question, don’t tell the truth.
you may find some harrowing artifacts (i found a ribbon on a tree and some bible pages) pick these up and keep them. they belong to you.
if you walk down a long, straight pathway, you will feel someone behind you. don’t look
you may see people in your peripheral vision; these are the spirits. they won’t hurt you.
if you wish to communicate with the spirits, do not do it alone. cast a protection circle. only ask polite questions.
you will feel bursts of dread and terror. ignore them.
don’t read too much into what the graves say. some things are best left unsolved.
research the history of the graveyard beforehand. you need to know what you might encounter.
some beings may not want you to leave. should you come into contact with one of these beings, leave immediately.
don’t read the hidden graves.
if you find a headless angel statue, don’t look for her head.
if you find a tipped over angel statue, leave her be. she’s only resting.
don’t listen to music. this will distract you from them.
don’t look in the bushes. you will find something that you weren’t supposed to.
Coming out of my cage and I've been doing just fine
Gotta gotta be down, because I want it all
the dubious philosophy of salmon
you wanted it, you got it, babes! caveat: this list is long (seriously, sorry about the length) and i can’t write blurbs for everything, but i highly recommend going and looking at anything that sounds interesting. some books will fall under multiple headings, so i’m listing them twice. i am linking to their purchase pages on bookshop.org, because amazon sucks and bookshop helps support indie booksellers, but if your local indie bookstore offers delivery or curbside pickup, buy it there. and i’m trying to keep this list confined to pretty recent titles, so even though a few older ones might slip in there, it’s definitely centered on releases from the past few years. okay let’s do this.
godshot by chelsea bieker
the book of joan by lidia yuknavitch
girl, woman, other by bernadine evaristo
her body and other parties by carmen maria machado (short stories)
trust exercise by susan choi
my dark vanessa by kate elizabeth russell
the rehearsal by eleanor catton
indelicacy by amina cain
the answers by catherine lacey
the mars room by rachel kushner
the love affairs of nathaniel p. by adelle waldman
you too can have a body like mine by alexandra kleeman
the new me by halle butler
queenie by candice carty-williams
prep by curtis sittenfeld
the idiot by elif batumen
my year of rest and relaxation by ottessa moshfegh
oksana, behave! by maria kuznetsova
where’d you go, bernadette by maria semple
convenience store woman by sayaka murata
nothing to see here by kevin wilson
made for love by alissa nutting
the pisces by melissa broder
the herd by andrea bartz
mrs. dalloway by virginia woolf
the awakening by kate chopin
we have always lived in the castle by shirley jackson
gone girl by gillian flynn
rebecca by daphne du maurier
white oleander by janet fitch
cousin bette by honore de balzac
wide sargasso sea by jean rhys
play it as it lays by joan didion
the piano teacher by elfriede jelinek
valley of the dolls by jacqueline susann
postcards from the edge by carrie fisher
if we were villains by m.l. rio
social creature by tara isabelle burton
the basic eight by daniel handler
the incendiaries by r.o. kwon
bunny by mona awad
hex by rebecca dinerstein knight
the dreamers by karen thompson walker
the book of joan by lidia yuknavitch
severance by lin ma
gold fame citrus by claire vaye watkins
the farm by joanne ramos
followers by megan angelo
the power by naomi alderman
the glass hotel by emily st. john mandel
normal people by sally rooney
fame adjacent by sarah skilton
stay up with hugo best by erin somers
the seven husbands of evelyn hugo by taylor jenkins reid
circe by madeline miller
the nobodies by liza palmer
evvie drake starts over by linda holmes
my sister, the serial killer by oyinkan braithwaite
baby teeth by zoje stage
dare me by megan abbott
eileen by ottessa moshfegh
social creature by tara isabelle burton
the worst kind of want by liska jacobs
the girls by emma cline
oligarchy by scarlett thomas
devotion by madeline stevens
baby by annaleese jochems
marlena by julie buntin
bunny by mona awad
necessary people by anna pitoniak
red at the bone by jacqueline woodson
the care and feeding of ravenously hungry girls by anissa grey
mostly dead things by kristen arnett
bee season by myla goldberg
bowlaway by elizabeth mccracken
everything i never told you by celeste ng
the nest by cynthia d’aprix sweeney
the grammarians by cathleen schine
ask again, yes by mary beth keane
my brilliant friend and the neapolitan novels by elena ferrante
such a fun age by kiley reid
gingerbread by helen oyeyimi
the female persuasion by meg wolitzer
the burning girl by claire messud
expectation by anna hope
the animators by kayla rae whitaker
my education by susan choi
permission by saskia vogel
mostly dead things by kristen arnett
real life by brandon taylor
after dolores by sarah schulman
patsy by nicole dennis-benn
wilder girls by rory power
enter the aardvark by jessica anthony
less by andrew sean greer
exciting times by naiose dolan
dept. of speculation by jenny offill
the interestings by meg wolitzer
godshot by chelsea bieker
play it as it lays by joan didion
the bonfire of the vanities by tom wolfe
wolf in white van by john darnielle
things you would know if you grew up around here by nancy wayson dinan
sex and rage by eve babitz
wise blood by flannery o’connor
leading men by christopher castellani
saint x by alexis schaitkin
the cosmopolitans by sarah schulman
lake success by gary shteyngart
odds against tomorrow by nathaniel rich
the great believers by rebecca makkai
good citizens need not fear by maria reva (short stories)