Are you the type of person who loves having the spooky season permeate your life all year long and not just during October? Well, what a coincidence, you’re like me! Lately I’ve been feeling the loss of the Halloween and Samhain season as more stores prep for Christmas and TV and internet ads have started adding Christmas themed promotions. I just wish I could hold onto the feel of Halloween and Fall all year long. When that feeling takes me, I turn to podcasts. It’s in podcasts that I can find communities and entertainment geared towards people like me who have a year-long interest in the supernatural, the creepy, and the unsolved. So if you’re like me, I’d like to recommend the podcasts I’ve been listening to the most as the weather turns colder outside and the Christmas season inches closer.
Jim Harold’s Campfire
Do you like true paranormal stories? Well, Jim Harold has the podcast for you. Each episode is filled with true stories of ghostly encounters, UFO sightings, or just head-scratching moments from regular people. People will call in or send their stories via email and Jim will read them on-air for listeners, sometimes adding commentary of his thoughts on what might have happened or noting anything strange that is sure to make you scratch your head. I love this podcast and have often used it to drift off to sleep at night. Not to say that the stories aren’t creepy, but that I’m a weirdo that loves listening to ghost stories at night before bed. There have definitely been a few stories that left me wondering or some really heartfelt moments from lost loved ones returning. My only frustration is that past episodes are behind a paywall on his website, with only about a dozen up on Spotify right now.
Lore
I’m sure you’ve heard of this one, as it’s been getting a ton of attention since it started. Aaron Mehnke has even created a whole brand around developing spooky or paranormal focused shows, podcasts, and books. The podcast itself even got a live-action series on Amazon Prime that I think has two seasons right now. To me, Aaron Mehnke’s voice is so pleasant to listen to, and it’s just a plus that he’s telling creepy or mysterious tales on the podcast. I’ve been listening to it for a while and have recommended it to friends and coworkers who also became fans. I’ve frequently used it for research as well, as Mehnke makes sure to delve deep into the history and use primary sources to get the facts and story straight. I would highly suggest checking it out if you’re a fan of history, the paranormal, true crime, or unsolved mystery podcasts.
Astonishing Legends
Do you like more conversational podcasts? I know I do sometimes. The straight reading of stories can get a little bland sometimes, and you just want the feel of being inside of a conversation between friends while also having that slightly spooky feel. Well, Astonishing Legends has accomplished that. It’s a podcast about spooky things, true paranormal stories, unsolved mysteries, historical oddities, and UFO sightings. They cover the gamut of topics related to conspiracies, ghosts, and the supernatural. The episodes are fairly long, but I think that allows them to really delve deep into the topics and create the feel they are going for. They have frequent multi-part episodes, reader submitted ghost stories, and interviews with experts, horror or documentary movie producers, and authors to break up the usual episodes. The hosts also do a great job at adding effects during story readings and their podcasts are always great quality. If this sounds interesting to you, all of their episodes are up and not paywalled. I personally love their multi-part series on the Black Eyed Kids.
The Hidden Djinn
The Hidden Djinn is a great podcast to delve deep into one specific mythology. It’s a collaboration between I Heart Radio and Aaron Mehnke’s production company Grim & Mild to bring a multi-episode deep dive on the mythology and modern day beliefs surrounding the existence of the Djinn. The legends of the Djinn, creatures out of Middle Eastern and Mulsim mythology, span generations and continents and can be found in a variety of myths out of the culture. This podcast aims to show that the mythology of the Djinn has permeated more areas of the supernatural and paranormal community than we know, and their existence could be behind some of the stories we tell each other of ghosts and hauntings. I especially love the stories she tells of American soldiers coming back from Afghanistan and finding they might be haunted by a Djinn because of something they brought back with them. The stories and history told in this podcast is very interesting and I’d highly recommend it to history, paranormal, or fans of Lore.
Stuff They Don’t Want You to Know
This is more of a conspiracy theory and unsolved mystery podcast, but I think it has enough of the creepy factor to interest some of you. The hosts are well-versed in the kinds of topics they discuss and they have been doing this podcast for a long time considering the episode count. The feel is similar to Astonishing Legends in that the hosts try to cultivate a conversational like feel with everything they talk about instead of just reading from a script. Their humor and personalities really draw you in and make you feel comfortable through everything that they discuss. I especially like their Strange Mail segments where they comb the internet for news stories that are creepy, confusing, mysterious, or just plain weird. I love to see the integration of current events and strange happenings, it makes for a more immediately creepy feel. There’s a ton of different episodes, so I’m sure you’ll be able to find something to meet any interest you may have.
The Ghost Story Guys
This is a podcast I only recently started listening to, and another one I mainly listen to before bed. As the title suggests, it’s a show about ghost stories as told by the hosts. What I like about this one is that it’s another show that tries to incorporate a conversational feel into the episodes. They will read the stories very seriously, but will provide humorous commentary or get into a discussion about what might be happening in each story. Each episode has a few stories that they read to keep it interesting, so if you don’t wind up liking one story in the episode, you can hang around for the next. I wind up liking shows about true happenings more than fictional horror story readings as they feel a lot more creepy because you can imagine them happening to you at some point. The Ghost Story Guys have collected a lot of really interesting stories and the episode list is up over the 100 count so you’re sure to find something to creep you out on a dark and windy night this fall.
*****
If you’re a regular listener of these podcasts let me know how you like them and what your favorite episode is in the comments below!
~~Thanks for Reading!~~
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