Halloween Countdown, Day 13

[eldritchhobbit]

It's list time again! Here are my picks for the spooky podcasts you don't want to miss this Halloween.

In no particular order...

* Welcome to Night Vale: This 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. Think Lake Woebegone meets Stephen King. (It's gods_lil_rocker's fault I'm completely addicted to this podcast.)



* Tales to Terrify: This weekly audio magazine is one of StarShipSofa's siblings in the District of Wonders. Hosted with flair by horror author Larry Santoro ("the Vincent Price of podcasts!"), it includes the best of contemporary horror fiction and nonfiction. (I have narrated three haunting stories for this podcast. Follow the links to hear my reading of “After the Ape” by Stephen Volk, my reading of “Jewels in the Dust” by Peter Crowther, and my reading of “Payback” by P.D. Cacek.)

* Kat & Curt's TV Re-View: In this weekly podcast, bloggers Curtis Weyant and Katherine Sas introduce Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Doctor Who to each other, watching one episode of each per week, sharing fannish delight and critical analysis. Curt, a long-time Buffy devotee, introduces the show to Kat, and newly-certified Whovian Kat acquaints Curt with the Doctor. Join them for a journey through time, space, and the halls of Sunnydale High as they battle demons, aliens, and the inscrutable process of creating quality narrative television. Perfectly timed for October, the latest episode, "Eyeballs and Entrails," includes a close-up look at Buffy's "Halloween" as well as Doctor Who's "The Girl in the Fireplace."

* MonsterTalk: This is the science show about monsters — a free audio podcast that critically examines the science behind cryptozoological (and legendary) creatures, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and werewolves. Hosted by Blake Smith, Ben Radford, and Dr. Karen Stollznow, MonsterTalk interviews the scientists and investigators who shine a spotlight on the things that go bump in the night. The episode airing dates average out to mean a new show once a month, sometimes more. (Thanks to ankh_hpl for introducing me to this great show.)

* Classic Tales: Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Wilkie Collins, Arthur Conan Doyle, Mary Shelley: what's not to love? This is a fantastic weekly podcast featuring B.J. Harrison's unabridged readings of great -- and often haunting and Halloween-friendly -- fiction.

* Atlanta Radio Theatre Company: Founded in 1984, ARTC is a staple at venues such as Dragon*Con and has a standing program year-round, performing adaptations of works by authors such as H.P. Lovecraft and H.G. Wells live. ARTC podcasts its fantastic productions.

* Pseudopod: One of the oldest horror podcasts and still one of the best, Pseudopod presents fine short horror in audio form weekly.

* The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast: In each weekly podcast, Chris Lackey and Chad Fifer discuss a specific H.P. Lovecraft story – what it’s about, how it reads, why it may have been written and what other works of art it’s influenced. Since concluding Lovecraft’s stories, they’ve been covering other weird fiction that inspired the author, mostly from his essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature." They regularly have talented guest readers and contributing composers for our music sections. The majority of the Lovecraft episodes are free. The podcast is now mostly subscription-only, but it's well, well worth the modest cost.



What other spooky podcasts do you recommend?


“Good things come to those who wait. But so do really malevolent and scary things. In fact, probably more of those. Better keep moving.” - Welcome to Night Vale

“Don't worry. Someday you'll find that person who is perfect for you. They can't hide forever. We have satellites.” - Welcome to Night Vale

“Big news in the science world! Scientists announce that they have discovered the world’s deadliest spider — a previously unknown species that is as hard to spot as its bite is hard to survive. Apparently the specimen was found when your dead body was examined. They say you were a portrait of agony, your skin a myriad of pulsing, angry colors and... Oh... You know what? I’m sorry. This report is from next week. Aw, things have gotten so confusing ever since the wire services started using time machines. Never mind. No need to worry about that report for a few days.” - Welcome to Night Vale

Comments

[gods-lil-rocker.livejournal.com]

I am so glad you're enjoying WTNV so much! I got to listen to several episodes while running all over town yesterday. Just started episode 26.

My favorite proverb is: "What walks on 4 legs in the morning, 2 at midday, and 3 in the evening? I don't know, but I just caught one in my room and it is horrifying!" I almost fell in the floor when I heard that one.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

It's fantastic! I'm almost caught up with you. When they bring out the book of transcripts, it must be mine. ;)

My favorite proverb is: "What walks on 4 legs in the morning, 2 at midday, and 3 in the evening? I don't know, but I just caught one in my room and it is horrifying!"

*cackles* Brilliant.

[equusentric.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow, what an awesome post! I like to listen to audio when I do my feeding rounds and am always looking for new things to listen to. The only one of these I've heard is WTNV, so this is a bonanza for me. Woot!

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm so pleased to hear this is useful to you! Thanks so much. Happy listening. :D

[curtana.livejournal.com]

I love WTNV too :) One other creepy podcast I've been listening too lately is Anything Ghost, which is a show where people send in their personal paranormal experiences and the host reads them out. The quality of the stories varies of course, but I find the host very easy to listen to and he adds his own music which is quite enjoyable as well.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Yay! Another WTNV fan!

Anything Ghost sounds great. I hadn't heard of it before, but I'll definitely check it out. It's the perfect season for it! Thanks so much for the recommendation.

[curtana.livejournal.com]

I especially like it because it's been running a long time, so there's a large number of back episodes for me to work through ;) I think I started somewhere around number 100, just to see if I liked it, and have carried forward from that point up to around 135 or so (there are about 180 in total, ranging in length from about 30 minutes to sometimes over 2 hours for the Halloween special episodes!) And eventually I can go back and listen to the older ones as well!

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's great! I really enjoy discovering something new that has a lot of material to work through. It's good to hear you can dive in wherever you like and them move forward/backward through the backlog as the mood strikes you. I made a note of this earlier -- I'm going to go download a show now!

[caffeinated joe (from livejournal.com)]

Wish I could subscribe. Feel like I am maxed out in things to read, watch and listen to. My daughter loves that Nightvale podcast, though.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

I can understand and sympathize with the "maxed out" feeling! I'm glad to hear your daughter enjoys the podcast, too. It's brilliant.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

Think of the lantern you could carve from this ...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24507714

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Good heavens! That's huge. And that would make one fantastic carving project. :)

(The article says his name is Baggs, but I'd prefer to imagine it's really Baggins... and his gardener deserves a lot of the credit. *g*)

[katherine sas (from livejournal.com)]

Thank you so much for the plug! Glad you're enjoying our podcast so far. It means so much to Curtis and me to have your support.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

It's my pleasure! I'm loving the podcast. You two are doing a fantastic job -- not only with the individual series, but also with finding connections between the two. I'm tickled to have the opportunity to recommend it.

[travels-in-time.livejournal.com]

Okay, okay, FINE. Since you are about the eleventeenth person on my flist to mention Night Vale, I will try it. Happy now? :)

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

LOL!

I am indeed happy now. :) And I do hope you're happy once you've heard it! (I suspect you will be...)