{Scary’s Voices} Sound Bites: This weeks recommended horror podcasts. (Week Ending 4th September 2020)

Scary’s Voices – Sound Bites

Week Ending 4th September 2020

Sometimes, when shadows stretch and the house is quiet, I hear voices. They tell me about ghosts and creatures of the night. They whisper sinister tales making my skin crawl. Sometimes they even tell me to do things, like watch certain movies or read specific books. Where do these strange voices come from? Podcasters, of course. But I like to call them Scary’s Voices.

It’s Friday and that means it’s time for Sound Bites, where I highlight the best podcasts I’ve heard through the week. Here’s a quick breakdown of my rating system:

Scream of the Week – only one podcast can take this spot each week, and it represents the best of what’s haunted my earbuds, like a 5-Star rating.

Shivers – these shows are great, and not only do I recommend you give them a listen, but I’ve marked them down to listen to again in the future.

Goosebumps – podcasts I liked and will probably try again, but they didn’t quite knock my socks off.

If I listen to something that didn’t make me scream, give me shivers or even goosebumps, they won’t be listed here.

Now let’s get to it!

My Scream of the Week goes to:

This Is Horror Podcast

I’ve been a long-time fan of This Is Horror Podcast and was hooked from my very first listen. If you’re not familiar with this show, I’d compare it to the TV program Inside the Actors Studio but focused entirely on horror. In the podcast, hosts Michael David Wilson and Bob Pastorella interview horror writers with questions that dig down into subjects such as the creation process, life lessons, and inspirations behind the fiction.

This week I listened to “Episode 362: This is Horror Awards 2019,” which announced nominees and winners in several categories within horror, from short story collections to novels, publishers to podcasters. The episode covered the best of the genre’s creations and included short interviews with each winner.

Whether horror calls to you as a fan or as a creator, I highly recommend checking out This Is Horror Podcast. New episodes are available every week, with a typical runtime of about 1.5 hours. They also have a fantastic website with book reviews and other articles you don’t want to miss: www.thisishorror.co.uk

Now for the Shivers!

Thanks to Kev Harrison, a talented horror writer and website contributor to This Is Horror, podcast creator Luke Kondor reached out to me to explore some of his work. This week I listened to a few episodes of one of Luke’s projects called The Other Stories. I enjoyed them all and especially loved “Episode 55.3: Temporal Fracture,” a short story written by Matthew C. Butcher, narrated by Josh Curran. This fantastic tale ponders what if one day you were singing along to a popular advertising jingle, but the words had changed. Would you think you were going crazy? Or could it be something larger is happening to the universe? The Other Stories presents strange tales in the vein of The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, with new episodes every Monday, which range in length from 7 to 20 minutes. The podcast is one of several projects undertaken by a group of creators known as Hawk & Cleaver. Offering additional themed podcasts, horror books, and opportunities to submit your own creations, be sure to check out Hawk & Cleaver’s website: www.hawkandcleaver.com/

Another podcast I’ve listened to for quite a while is The Creepin’ It Real Show, focused on horror movies, true crimes, and paranormal experiences. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be a paranormal investigator, you need to listen to their episode “San Diego’s Pacific Paranormal Investigations Interview.” In it, hosts Moni and Kristi talk to team members of PPI, discussing the difference between evidence and data, how scientific methods can be employed on investigations, and some real paranormal experiences that are sure to give you shivers. The Creepin’ It Real Show has a fantastic backlog of content, with most episodes falling between 1 to 1.5 hours in length, and you can find them all here: www.creepinitrealshow.podbean.com/

My Twitter friend and devoted fan of The Omen franchise, @MediumAtomic, passed along a suggestion to check out Beyond the Void, a horror movie review podcast. I did and had a great time listening to “Episode 199,” where hosts Alex and Christina were all about closet monsters as they delved into the weirdness of Monster in the Closet (1986) and Cameron’s Closet (1988). To accompany every episode, the hosts create horror-themed alcohol shots, such as “Long Eyed Iced Tea” which you can make yourself by following the recipe on their website. As another nice touch, Beyond the Void provides timestamps in the show notes so you can avoid the spoiler review section, if you wish, and they also include movie trivia. I’m excited to listen to “Episode 200” as Alex and Christina focus on Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in their reviews of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte. New episodes of approximately 1.5 hours and new #HorrorShots are posted every Monday on their website: www.longlivethevoid.com/

Everything I listened to this week was terrific, so there’s no Goosebumps rated podcasts this week and that’s a wrap for Sound Bites!

Thanks so much to the awesome podcast listeners and creators who have been sending me terrific recommendations. Keep them coming via the comments section below, or direct messaging on Twitter or Instagram (links below). I can’t promise I’ll enjoy every podcast you throw my way, but I’ll give everyone a fair shot.

Remember, I’m all about scary things and spooky podcasts are what I’m after. Content focused on reviewing horror movies and horror books, true paranormal encounters, facts about cryptids, true crimes, and original scary stories are exactly what I want to hear.

Can’t wait to listen to all the dark podcasts you fine fiends suggest, and I’m looking forward to presenting you with even more Scary’s Voices next Friday.

J.A. Sullivan

J. A. Sullivan is a horror writer and paranormal enthusiast, based in Brantford, ON, Canada. Attracted to everything non-horror folks consider strange, she’s spent years as a paranormal investigator, has an insatiable appetite for serial killer information, and would live inside a library if she could.

Her latest short story can be found in Don’t Open the Door: A Horror Anthology (out July 26, 2019), and other spooky tales can be found on her blog. She’s currently writing more short stories, a novel, and reading as many dark works as she can find.

You can follow J. A. on Twitter @ScaryJASullivan

Check out her blog https://writingscaredblog.wordpress.com

Find her on Instagram www.instagram.com/j.a_sullivan