You probably had really big plans for spooky season, didn’t you? You were going to carve a pumpkin…until you remembered that you hate getting elbow-deep in sticky orange stuff. You were going to make festive Jell-O shots…until you got to the store and they didn’t have the right color mix. You were going to dress up in a wicked costume…until you realized that all the bars in your neighborhood were closed because we’re still in the middle of a global pandemic. Even your plans to visit the apple orchard fell through. If you aren’t ready to give up on your plans yet, allow me to offer a suggestion. You can always listen to a horrifying podcast, which is a very free and easy way to scare your own pants off.
I personally don’t recommend listening to any of these pods before bed (unless you’re freaky like that—if so, go off). Ruining your night and your ability to sleep is totally up to you, but it’s better to play it safe and queue up an episode during a *daytime* walk through your neighborhood before whipping up a yummy fall cocktail with all the lights on and all the doors and windows locked. Whether you’re looking for true crime, zombie stories, or old-fashioned ghost tales, there’s something for everyone on this list. So don’t be shy. Pick up your phone, grab your headphones, and listen to one of the best horror podcasts…if you dare.
If there is something spooky to discuss, The Last Podcast on the Left guys will chat about it. These best-friend comedians are down to cover everything from cults to demons. It’s delightfully horrifying, and according to Spotify, it’s officially the spookiest podcast out there.
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There’s a pretty solid chance that if you’re perusing a list of spooky podcasts, you already identify as a Murderino. If not, start streaming this Exactly Right podcast right away (yep, correct, they have their own podcast network now), and let Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark tell you all about their very favorite murders.
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Every episode of Parcast Presents: Halloween is dedicated to a different freaky topic: ghosts, ghouls, urban legends, serial killers, and more. From stories about Marie Antoinette to your classic babysitting-gigs-gone-wrong, there’s plenty of yikes-inducing content to go around.
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You know what’s scarier than ghosts and zombies and vampires? A neurosurgeon who brutally botches spinal surgeries, resulting in permanent injuries and even death. The stuff of real-life nightmares, tbh. Oh, and it’s even been turned into a Peacock series that you can watch after binging all the episodes of the Wondery podcast.
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The premise of Small Town Dicks is so clever. It’s all about crazy crimes that happen in the smallest towns in America. Hosted by Yeardley Smith (the voice of Lisa Simpson, LOL) and identical twin detectives Dan and Dave, every episode features the local detectives who actually worked on each case.
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If you’re too afraid to listen to true-crime podcasts because they’re all about things that actually happened, you should give The No Sleep Podcast a try. Showrunner David Cummings describes it as telling spooky stories around a virtual campfire. Do you have chills yet?
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Want to hear all about effed-up historical events that prove humans can be total monsters? Of course you do! You’re going to want to listen to this indie podcast immediately.
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If you’ve ever listened to a regular true-crime podcast and wished it included more paranormal sh*t like aliens and ghosts, then And That’s Why We Drink was made for you. Plus, they love boxed wine. We can all relate.
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If you binged Making a Murderer, you need to listen to Murder in Oregon from iHeartRadio. It’s about the murder of Michael Francke, the director of Oregon’s Department of Corrections, who was brutally stabbed to death in 1989. Though a drug dealer was convicted for the crime, investigators are now convinced—thirty years too late—that someone else actually killed Michael. This podcast seeks to find out the truth.
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You can probably guess by the name of this podcast, but Morbid is about anything and everything creepy. Whether it’s a conspiracy theory or a cold case, if it’s deeply unsettling, they’ll discuss it.
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Everyone has skeletons in their closet, but for this serialized docudrama, hosted by journalist Alex Reagan, people are followed by ghosts—figuratively and literally. Alex and her subject dive into their mysterious pasts and by the end of the episode, you’ll need to sleep with the lights on.
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The little Midwestern town of Mt. Absalom, Ohio is haunted by dark secrets. After moving to care for her estranged mother, Lillian Harper discovers that the boarding house run by her mom is fraught with suspicious residents. This fiction podcast will give “small-town America” an entirely new meaning.
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Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Let’s Not Meet tells the stories of people who survived horrific events. Hear about the experiences straight from the people who lived through them in this suspenseful anthology.
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When I browsed through Wrong Station episodes, I felt a chill dart up my spine. No lie—that’s how creepy it is. One story follows a closed mill where the lights come on and the temperature drops. When an investigative team is forced to stay there overnight, they realize that someone (or something) is watching them from the woods. Taking inspo from classic 1940s radio horror broadcasts, Wrong Station will definitely stick with you.
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A podcast devoted to telling horror stories written by Black authors and performed by Black actors? Hell yes. Vengeful dolls, bloodthirsty vampires, and more creepiness abounds in this one.
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Every episode is an audio diary entry from a long-haul truck driver named Keisha. She records her thoughts as she journeys through the U.S. to try and find out what really happened to her wife Alice. Along the way, she goes through spooky towns and encounters crazy, out-of-this-world serial murders.
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This podcast is done like updates from a local radio station set in a fictional desert town called Night Vale. The show really immerses listeners and sets the eerie tone well, with soundbites like local commericals and sheriff announcements. It’s hard not to get totally sucked in!
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Children’s librarian Liz Sower started this podcast about stories that kids wouldn’t want to hear. All of the scary stories told here are ones that some of the residents of suburban Wellesley, Massachussets claim to be true. What’s creepier than listening to real ghost stories from real people?
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Follow the fictional Magnus Institute’s new head archivist, Jonathan Sims, as he goes through the organization’s old documents to convert a collection of supernatural statements into audio files. But as he digs deeper into the past, there seems to be an unsettling presence lurking about.
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