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20 Creepy Podcasts To Listen To This Fall

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When I was growing up, fall and Halloween were celebrated by reading scary stories, watching all the Halloween TV specials, going trick-or-treating, and obviously watching Hocus Pocus at least once per day. Now, I listen to podcasts. Whether you’re in the mood for unsolved mysterious medical issues in a drama, stories of haunted places and things, campfire folklore, or private investigations of murders, you’ll find something to enjoy in these 20 creepy podcasts to listen to this fall.

Things really do come full circle, don’t they? Our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents all used to listen to stories on the radio for entertainment (before there was TV), and they were very much like a podcast. There were voice actors, music, sound effects, and a great story to tell. Some of these spooky podcasts are fictional and tell a story like back in the ‘30s, ‘40s, and ‘50s, while others are true life (which makes them even scarier) and are told through interviews and investigative reporting. All are creepy, spooky, and will make you think. So grab your pumpkin-flavored coffee and snuggle up on the couch to tune into these creepy podcasts if you dare. You won’t be disappointed. (But you might need a nightlight at bed time.)

1. Creepy

Speaking of creepy... um, I think this title says it all, don't you think? Creepy: A Horror Podcast Twitter bio stated that this podcast is dedicated to "creepypastas" and scary stories from around the internet.

2. Lore

Lore features real-life scary stories, and "explores the darker side of history," according to the description. When listening to this creepy podcast, you'll learn about the "frightening history behind common folklore." Also, Lore is so good, it's now a Prime Original Series with two seasons — and it's produced by the executive producer of The Walking Dead.

3. Hell and Gone

The Hell and Gone podcast is told in the present tense and gives listeners a front row seat to the investigation of the 2004 Arkansas murder of 22-year-old Rebekah Gould in the first season. The host is Catherine Townsend, who is a writer and private investigator. The second season is happening now, and centers around the mysterious death of 16-year-old Janie Ward in 1989.

4. Today in True Crime

Today in True Crime focuses on a true crime event that happened on that same day years ago. The description states: "It might be the anniversary of an important case being solved, the end of a landmark trial, or a serial killer’s birthday." The team behind the podcast then analyze the story's impact of the events in every daily episode.

5. This Podcast is Haunted

The description of This Podcast Is Haunted is simple: it focuses on ghost stories and "exploring the creepy side of history." One episode, for example, explores the history behind Bloody Mary, everyone's favorite middle school sleepover game.

6. Jim Harold's Campfire

Now this podcast is super creepy. Jim Harold's Campfire tells true stories of paranormal phenomena, and they include "ghost stories, UFOs, cryptids and more," the description noted.

Plus, it's been in production for the last decade, so you have more than 300 stories to choose from.

7. We're Alive

Love zombies and the apocalypse? We're Alive is your podcast. It's told as a classic style radio drama, and it focuses on a group of survivors when the world is at the end of its rope. The new Season, Goldrush, will premiere on Sept. 10.

8. Hide and Seek

This scary story will hit you right to your core, as Season 1 of the Hide and Seek podcast is focused on the disappearance of Nancy Moyer, who was a mother of two in Tenino, Washington.

9. Medical Mysteries

I don't know about you, but one of my biggest fears is having an illness and doctors not being able to diagnose me. This is why I find Medical Mysteries to be such a creepy podcast. You'll learn about patients with terrifying symptoms and doctors frantically searching for a diagnosis, which is probably really great if you're a hypochondriac.

10. Alaska Unsolved

Alaska Unsolved is exactly what it sounds like: a podcast about unsolved cases in Alaska. (Anyone else get the Unsolved Mysteries theme song in their head just now?) The description notes that Season 1 focuses on the disappearance of Erin Marie Gilbert who "vanished from a festival in Girdwood, Alaska on July 1, 1995."

11. The NoSleep Podcast

The NoSleep Podcast is an award-winning podcast of original horror stories to "frighten and disturb." Some authors of these stories have gone on to become published. There's scary music, great voice actors, and sound effects, making this the perfect podcast to listen to on Halloween night.

12. Room 20

Room 20 follows the story of an unidentified man who lays unconscious in a hospital bed, and the search to figure out who he is and the story behind his accident. And to make it even more unnerving, the man may not have been unconscious this entire time.

13. The Black Tapes

Even though this podcast is a few years old, if you haven't already listened, you should. The Black Tapes is part docudrama, part ghost story. Follow "one journalist's search for truth, her subject's mysterious past, and the literal and figurative ghosts that haunt them both."

14. Spooked

Spooked is an NPR podcast that features "true-life supernatural stories, told firsthand by people who can barely believe it happened themselves," the description noted. Now if this doesn't sound like the perfect Halloween podcast, I don't know what does.

15. Inside the Exorcist

If Spooked isn't scary enough for you, maybe this will be your perfect Halloween podcast. I mean, nothing is scarier than The Exorcist, right? I still to this day cannot finish the original movie. Inside the Exorcist goes behind the scenes of this horrifying movie in a seven-part series. It talks about the scary and not-so-scary things that happened on set while making this film. In fact, because of a few deaths that occurred during and after filming, some folks even say the film is cursed. Learn more about all of the creeptacular and sometimes unexplainable things that happened on set.

16. Deadly Manners

Dark murder-comedies seem pretty on point for Halloween spooky fun, and Deadly Manners not only provides spooky entertainment, but it has an all-star cast as well, including Kristen Bell, Denis O'Hare, Alisha Boe, RuPaul, Anna Chlumsky, Michelle Visage, Alona Tal, David Cummings, Timothy Simons, and LeVar Burton. Set in the winter of 1954, the Billings family is having a dinner party until a snowstorm traps everyone inside with a murderer. "The guests must figure out who is responsible, or at least how to stay alive..." according to the description.

17. Haunted Places

Haunted Places talks about how "normal places" can become a "paranormal minefield." Anywhere can become haunted depending on its history, and Haunted Places talks about these "normal" places and how they became such spooky areas.

18. The Moonlit Road

The south can be a scary place, even when it's not Halloween, and we have a lot of ghost stories, folktales and myths that are a huge part of our culture. The Moonlit Road features short stories and "campfire tales" from the south's best storytellers.

19. Astonishing Legends

"Hosts Scott and Forrest have been called the 'Click and Clack of esoterica' by listeners," according to the podcast description. If you don't know, Click and Clack are the beloved hysterical brothers from NPR's Car Talk. Astonishing Legends is a little more lighthearted than say, Inside The Exorcist, and the show's premise looks at legendary strange events from history and interviews folks who had "close encounters with the unexplained." Though still creepy, there are some laughable moments thrown in there, too.

20. Limetown

According to the synopsis, Limetown is a fictional story about 300 men, women and children disappearing from Limetown, Tennessee, and never being heard from again. It's told as a series of investigative reports by "Lia Haddock." It's so captivating, there is even a novel prequel to the stories of Limetown.

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