AUDIO HORROR
A unique method of horror story telling, this was not common at all - only a hand few of audio dramas having gotten popular at this time, and only few being published, though - this did mean that the quality, both in production and storytelling, were significantly better compared to the aforementioned.
Many of the audio horrors that have been created are simply just audio dramas / readings of Creepypastas or Stories from NoSleep - which, while technically they were originally in the format of writing, I feel some of these deserve a place as Audio horror as their own seperate identity.
Due to it being audio, the scares depend alot on the descriptiveness, deliver and sound effects of the podcast - no scary red-eyed bloody image to accompany and help increase the scare factor.
What are Audio Dramas?
Another one of the self explanatories, audio dramas are audio-only narrative fictional stories, using dialogue, sound effects, line delivery and music to immerse the listeners into the story.
Audio dramas have been very popular, even in the 19s - mostly consisting of antological romantic dramas, but as the years grew, more and more unique audio dramas began poping out - most notably Welcome to NightVale and The Penumbra Podcast.
I heard it too.
THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES
The Magnus archives, written by Jonathan Sims and Alexander J. Newall, is a fictional horror podcast following the main character, Jonathan Sims, the Head Archivist for the Magnus Institue, London.
For the first few episodes, it follows an episodic formula - but as the series goes on, an overarching plot slowly seeps in.
The Magnus Archive was critically acclaimed for its wonderful atmosphere, storytelling, and sound effects; being the second-third most popular podcasts alongside Welcome to Nightvale -- despite having ended with its 200th episode, both creators have decided to create a sequal, The Magnus Protocol, which takes place in an alternate universe.
It is not often I give reccomendations, but this is worth the listen.
THE NOSLEEP PODCAST
The Nosleep podcast is one of the most successful audio drama podcasts out there, having won many awards for its amazing quality and production.
Nosleep originally began as a subreddit on Reddit by the same name, a place where people could post their own original horror stories for others to see - and one used, Matt Hansen, proposed the idea of creating a podcast where the top stories of that week get read out like an audio book
It was done, only having a small team at first, but as the days went on, it slowly grew in fame and eventually became award winning. Up until today, it is still publishing stories weekly - though, having their own writers rather than taking from the subreddit,
SCP ARCHIVES
Similar to Nosleep podcast, the Scp archives is an incredibly successful that follows the different articles of the SCP foundation.
Similar to Nosleep, all of the SCP articles were user-written, with a few written by the mods, with the SCP Archives giving life to these articles and giving them the recognition they deserve, with Jon Grilz narrating the episodes with guest voice actors also tagging along.
SCP archives is incredibly accessable, very useful for fans who don't have time to read the new top article, fans who have reading disabilities, or if they just like listening more than reading.
ALICE ISN'T DEAD
Written by Joseph Fink and produced by Night Vale presents, the same company to produce Welcome to Nightvale, Alice isn't dead is a short horror podcast following Kiesha, who is broadcasting her experience across America as she attempts to find her missing wife - who she believes is not really dead.
As the podcast continues, Kiesha uncovers mysteries and supernatural conspirasies.
Alice Isn't Dead is probably my favorite podcast, thought it is on the shorter side, it is incredibly entertaining and uses its time well.
One thing that I'd like to note about Alice Isn't Dead is their two main characters, Keisha and Alice, who are in a Lesbian relationship. One thing about audio dramas / podcasts is that they are very accepting of queer identities and usually have queer characters in their podcast - but having two lesbians as the main focus when podcasts often have gay male leads is refreshing.
OVERVIEW
Audio dramas are, to me, one of the most unique forms of story-telling -- and horror just also happens to be one of my favorite genres, so its a perfect match.
Most people don't try audio dramas due to having a low attention span, which I understand, but ever since I began listening to them, my attention span had gotten better, way better than it had ever been -- so I hope that, even if horror isn't someones forte, they'd find a podcast that suited their interests.
Even if I am focusing on horror, I feel that I also need to bring recognition to other podcasts that I have listened to because they deserve it.
Lee's beginner podcast guide
Peak the others!
Innocent-turned-scary / ''mascot horror ''