Can I be honest? I’m a fiend for ghost-related content. When paranormal podcasts are updated in my feed, my day is made. However, there’s a lot of unbearably cheesy ghost media out there. A lot of it takes its self too seriously or they say its about ghosts but it’s really just an excuse to talk about their “abilities”. I’ve given many of those podcasts more chances than I should have. And while they wasted my time, you, dear reader are safe. Those Halloween podcasts are not on this list. I’m glad to be here to help you on your annual journey to find the best spooky podcasts. Together, we’ll avoid the gory, the cheesy and the boring. Some of the podcasts here are funny some are very scary, most of them are not for kids.
The Best Podcasts for this Halloween Season
Other World
This bare bones, true story paranormal podcast is told by the people affected by the stories. Sometimes told from multiple perspectives, the stories cover everything from hauntings to alien sightings. The host, Jack Wagner, is open minded but unobtrusive, letting the guests unravel their tale naturally. This podcast is the most likely to make me hesitate at the top of my basement stairs, and wonder if I should maybe listen to something less scary for a little while.
American Hysteria
Originally focused on the satanic panic, this podcast covers a wide range of pop culture subjects. In the spooky season, which officially starts after Labor Day for all you Halloween lay people, the host, Chelsea Webber Smith, swings into a fever pitch of Halloween themed subjects. This year she is joined by all my favorite people in the podcasting world including Sarah Marshall from You’re Wrong About and Will Rogers and Kristin Anderson, the dynamic sibling duo from Guide to the Unknown. What a small and lovely world we podcast fans live in.
You Can See Me In The Dark
The intro to this ghost story podcast is a total bop but don’t let it fool you. Much like Other World, this podcast can veer into the truly frightening and is told from the first person perspective. There’s a bit more of an interview format in this podcast. The hosts, Melissa Sweazy and Nathan Reisman, talk to people who have experienced the paranormal as well as investigators and other podcasters. While I typically skip episodes that feature other podcasters and investigators, the first-person stories can be very scary.
Guide to the Unknown
These guys are my Friday morning hang. I don’t agree with them on everything. Kristen’s take on Jaws is, from my humble perspective, entirely whack but Guide to the Unknown is a joy, throughout the year. They cover urban legends, slasher movies, cryptids, and The Real Housewives. All important parts of pop culture. Very whacky, a little immature and spooky adjacent, I would recommend this to anyone who’s looking for a Halloween podcast that isn’t too spooky. This is one that you can listen to with an older kid who can handle a few bad words, a little scary content, and the blue humor that you would expect from two siblings razzing each other in a basement studio.
Sightings
I’m recommending this for people who want a Halloween podcast to listen to with their kids. The hosts of this podcasts, Brian Siegele and Macleod Andrews, are two cornballs. The format is interesting. Macleod, a voice actor, tells classic paranormal stories that cover hauntings and alien abductions from a first-person perspective. After the first-person story is through, they discuss the details of the case. Avoiding gore and swear words, if you want to listen to something scary with the whole family, this could be a great pick.
Ghosted!
Roz Hernandez is a great hang. Come to Ghosted! for the “EVP or EV Please!” section, alone. Roz typically interviews entertainers from the LGBTQ community about their paranormal experiences. Sure, sometimes its a stretch but it’s always a good time. Her segments include reading the product descriptions for haunted dolls on eBay and trying to decipher EVPs from You tube so while she may veer into pop culture she always returns to the paranormal.
Spooked
Listen to ghost stories from around the world with Spooked’s host, Glynn Washington. The format has This American Life vibes and often features two ghost stories from an array of cultures and locations. While the stories are typically extraordinary, be aware. Glynn loves a corny intro. Turning nursery rhymes into something spooky is actually on my long list of horror pet peeves, but the content is good and somewhat family friendly so I’m willing to suffer through it, or at least press the fast forward button a few times.
Ghosts In The Burbs
If you like a pumpkin spice latte and a ghost story, stop off with host, Liz Sower, in the suburb of Wellesley Massachusetts. With over a hundred episodes of stories, you’ll have so many characters to get to know. Some tales are quite scary but all are sprinkled with Liz’s cozy sense of humor. While you could listen to some of the stories as a one-off, start at the beginning for a Halloween journey that will make you want to surf real estate web sites and wonder what could be going on behind the doors of those perfectly decorated rooms?
There you go. That’s my list of full-hearted spooky Halloween podcast recommendations. Happy listening! Want more Halloween content? I feel ya. Check out my latest scary story or read “Invasive Species” my birding horror story.
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