9 Horror Podcasts For Sleepless Nights

This October, we’ve recommended you spooky movies, TV shows, and even music to settle (or unsettle) you into this year’s Halloween season, especially now that we’re all mostly at home, unable to feel how colder it is outside, or how much more quickly it becomes dark in the evening. If those aren’t enough to satiate your need to be terrified, we offer you these horror podcasts. After all, there’s something a lot more unnerving about listening to something scary and letting your mind roam free. 

Lore

At 155 episodes, Lore serves up dark historical tales ranging from why the asylum is the scariest setting to the creature that ravaged the German town of Bedburg in 1582. This podcast has inspired an Amazon Original of the same name, as well as a book series, so buckle up and feasts your ears on the unsettling and the bewildering. Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Borrasca

This scripted thriller tells the story of Sam Walker, a new transplant to the town of Drisking, Missouri. A few months later, his sister, Whitney, disappears—the first of more disappearances in the town, and Sam, alongside two of his friends, Kyle and Kimber, take it upon themselves to find out what’s behind the disappearances. Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Welcome to Night Vale

Welcome to Night Vale, one of the longest-running horror podcasts, is currently on its 176th episode. It might seem overwhelming to try to catch up to all of that, but worry not—the show’s creators assure you that you can just “start with the current episode, and you’ll catch on in no time.” Trust us, and them. But maybe no one else. Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Last Podcast on the Left 

Last Podcast on the Left skews more towards comedy than horror, but it covers that subject matter nonetheless, “from demons and slashers to cults and serial killers.” While some episodes, depending on which you choose to start with, can seem tame, there are just some stories that you’ll end up wishing you didn’t press play on. (Check out the Josef Mengele episodes, as well as the ones on Dean Corll). Listen on Spotify.

Alice Isn’t Dead 

In Alice Isn’t Dead, a truck driver searches across America for the wife she (yes, she!) had long assumed was dead. Throughout her search, she encounters “not-quite-human serial murderers, towns literally lost in time, and a conspiracy that goes way beyond one missing woman.” Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Knifepoint Horror 

Knifepoint Horror, which has been dubbed by Thrillist as the “spooky offspring of H. G. Wells and Are You Afraid of the Dark?”, tells tales of supernatural suspense, using only a single human voice describing events exactly as it experienced them. We dare you to give us something scarier—or more unsettling—than that. Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

The NoSleep Podcast

The NoSleep Podcast lives up to its name. After one episode, you’ll be hard pressed to get a good night’s sleep for a couple of days. It tells original horror stories, from a college nightwatchman discovering something horrifying in a basement to a malevolent figure seen only by one man. If this piques your interest, check out this list that the podcast’s creator has assembled to get you started. Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

PseudoPod

PseudoPod is the world’s premier horror fiction podcast, now running for over a decade. Don’t worry if you don’t know where to start; like NoSleep, the team behind the scares have asked their listeners to compile each season’s best episodes. The stories on PseudoPod range from séances to haunted houses, and everything else in between. Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Stories After Dark

Stories After Dark is a Filipino podcast on true crime and mystery stories, with stories ranging from Maria Makiling to Lucila Lalu, the Philippines’ first chop-chop lady. There are handful of episodes, and it’s an easy binge (in terms of length), but the subject matter might be a bit more hard to stomach. Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Lead photo by Michael Mouritz on Unsplash