10 Horror Podcasts for the Love of All Things Scary

DC.

Joe Hill—the mastermind behind N0S4A2 and Locke & Key—has arrived at DC, curating his own cutting-edge horror comics pop-up! Hill House Comics will terrify readers with a smart, subversive and scary lineup of five original limited series. Hill House Comics debuted with Basketful of Heads, written by Hill and illustrated by Leomacs. The chills continued in the following months with The Low, Low Woods; The Dollhouse Family; Daphne Byrne and Plunge, from some of the biggest names in horror storytelling. Enter to win the entire chill-filled line!

I love everything about horror stories. I love to be scared. I love thinking about being scared. I love talking about being scared. Horror is pretty much the best thing in the world. Which is why one horror podcast to terrify me is simply not enough. I need at least ten horror podcasts to keep me going. If you’re anything like me (please say there are other people like me), then this list is for you. Here are ten horror podcasts for those of us who love everything scary.

The Know Fear Cast

Looking for in-depth analysis of all things horror? You’ll want to check out The Know Fear Cast. This bi-weekly podcast dissects all things horror: haunted houses, zombies, ghosts, vampires, creepy children, and so much more. This podcast has three delightful hosts. Matt is a writer and zombie enthusiast who works in higher education. Mel is a haunted house expert who teaches at a university. And Lisa writes horror and has an advanced degree in Gothic Literature. Horror fans should also check out Mel and Lisa’s amazing book about women horror writers: Monster, She Wrote.

Nightlight

Nightlight is an excellent podcast that features horror stories from Black voices. Each episodes feature creepy stories written by Black authors and performed by Black actors. The episodes are full audio productions with music and sound effects of optimum creepiness.

Lore

We all have those creepy stories we’ve heard and told one another a million times. But where did those stories come from? The award-winning critically acclaimed podcast Lore explores the dark history behind folklore, because truth is often even more terrifying than fiction. Lore releases new episodes every two weeks, on Mondays.

The No Sleep Podcast

The No Sleep Podcast is dedicated to bringing listeners horror stories that will terrify and disturb. These are not for the faint of heart. “NoSleep” started as a subreddit where people could post original scary stories, like the online version of telling scary stories around a campfire. The No Sleep Podcast started in 2011 with the goal of gathering the best stories from the “NoSleep” forum. Since it’s been running for so long, this podcast can provide you with hundreds of hours of spooky stories. But no need to feel overwhelmed. The podcast’s website has a guide for people who are new and are looking for where to start.

Pseudopod

Pseudopod is a horror fiction podcast that showcases the best short horror in audio form, including lots of original horror fiction you won’t be able to hear anywhere else. Like The No Sleep Podcast, this podcast has been around for quite a while, but don’t let that scare you off! (Get it? Scare?) Pseudopod has also put together a guide for where to start for new listeners.

Audio Drama Horror Podcasts

Blackwood

Blackwood is a podcast audio drama from Skylark Media. Five years ago, Molly Weaver, Bryan Anderson, and Nathan Howell started a podcast to dig deeper into the local legend of The Blackwood Bugman. The deeper the three podcasters get into the investigations, however, the more they discover how real (and horrifying) all of the legends about the monster actually are. The website also includes bonus content like images and newspaper clippings, to really help the story come to life and scare you even more.

Welcome to the Night Vale

Twice a month, Welcome to the Night Vale delivers podcast episodes in the style of community updates for Night Vale, a small desert town where lots of creepy things seem to always happen. This podcast has become so popular that they have also branched out into horror books as well. If you’re interested, the first book is called (you guessed it) Welcome to the Night Vale by Joseph Fink.

The Black Tapes

The Black Tapes is a serialized documentary-style drama podcast from Pacific Northwest Stories and Minnow Beats Whale, and it’s hosted by Alex Reagan. The format of this fictional series has been compared to the ultra popular true crime podcast Serial. While the story begins as a biography of paranormal investigator Dr. Richard Strand, the host of the podcast soon becomes looking deeper into Strand’s unsolved cases. This podcast is released bi-weekly.

Palimpsest

Palimpsest is a podcast that explores “memory, identity, and the things that haunt us.” This horror audio drama is read (for the most part) by one narrator. Each season is a ten-episode story arc that stands on its own, so you can rest assured that each story will have a beginning and a (terrifying) ending. The third season of the series just finished up earlier in 2020, so you have three seasons you can listen to right now.

Unwell

Unwell is a gothic horror podcast about the strange ties of family and the way a dark past can cast a shadow over the present. After Lilian Harper’s estranged mother Dorothy is injured, Lilian moves back to Mt. Absalom, Ohio, to care for her. Lilian’s return to her family home unearths a lot of hidden family secrets and conspiracies. Not to mention ghosts.