10 Podcasts To Get You In The Mood For Spooky Season

If you like roadside oddities, strange history, bizarre unexplained incidents, and the downright quirky, the New England Legends podcast with Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger is for you. Take a virtual road trip with your hosts to somewhere, someone, or something you’ve likely never heard of. And if you find yourself road tripping to New England IRL, you can use the interactive, Legendary Map on the website to plan your own weird adventures. Although this one is not typically too scary for kids, topics like murder and mayhem do come up frequently.

Jim Harold is one of the godfathers of paranormal podcasting, and Campfire Stories is the cherry on his perfectly decorated, incredibly creepy cake. Each episode is a compilation of callers who speak with Jim and tell their real-life spooky encounters. From cryptids to hauntings to UFOs to what Jim calls “head scratchers,” i.e., the truly unexplained, it’s an hour of paranormal variety and spooky tales.

Actor Raine Wilson plays Terry Carnation, a video rental shopkeeper who introduces a bizarre and frightening tale. When he pops in the “video,” you listen to a true story told by someone who lived through it. From unexplained events to brushes with a serial killer, there’s never a dull moment with Radio Rental.

You can’t have spooky season without some witches, but listening to Witches of Scotland isn’t just about scary tales. Hosts Claire Mitchell KC and Zoe Venditozzi have made it their mission to tell the untold stories of those who were accused of, and mostly killed during, Scotland’s Witchcraft Act. In fact, these two women have been instrumental in leading a movement to have the Scottish government and the Church of Scotland issue public apologies for the atrocities. The hosts discuss these stories with writers, artists, and legal experts. They’ve even made an official Witches of Scotland tartan and have co-authored a book, How to Kill a Witch: A Guide for the Patriarchy.

Host Glynn Washington of Snap Judgment fame has delivered us six glorious seasons (so far) of Spooked. His introduction to each episode can be just as terrifying as the tale to come. Real people recall a strange encounter that changed their lives, and not necessarily for the better. Missing time, hauntings, mysterious voices in the night, Spooked sets itself apart by offering stories from a wide range of voices and cultures. It’s not just another Victorian ghost story podcast and feels fresh and disturbing every time you listen.

Soren Narnia is a masterful short story writer who quietly and creepily delivers them in audible form via Knife Point Horror — featuring a different fiction story each time, with just enough suspense and minimal sound effects to make it particularly eerie. While it can be scary as f*ck, it’s also surprisingly peaceful to listen to.

Ashley Flowers has made a name for herself with her true crime podcast Crime Junkie, among other hits, as well as her bestselling thriller novels All Good People Here and The Missing Half. Flowers’ Full Body Chills is a fiction story series full of creepy tales delivered by Flowers or a cast of other voice actors who know just how freak you out. There are currently six seasons, but the pattern is to drop a bunch at once at the beginning of October, so subscribe now to stay in the loop.

Grim, Grimmer, Grimmest is a kid’s podcast hosted by Adam Gidwitz that explores classic fairy tales with an edge. Each episode lets kids know if it is grim (scary), grimmer (scarier), or grimmest (the most terrifying) so they can decide how much scare they can handle. Adam tells the twisted fairy tale to real kids, who sometimes interject with hilarious results.

For a restful, nostalgic, but still freaky podcast, Creepy Tales Radio rebroadcasts old-time horror and suspense radio shows from the 1930s through the 1960s. Don’t let the old-timey feel fool you; some of these episodes will haunt your dreams.

Although not every story is a scary one, National Park After Dark will still give you thrills and chills. Hosts Danielle and Cassie explore the darker side of National Parks. They do tend to spook it up a bit more around Halloween, and you’ll find educational episodes about everything from gruesome encounters to bizarre ecological crimes. Think of it like a morbid road trip or armchair travel for the dark-minded.