The Great Halloween List 🎃
The Top 9! 👻 and a Cautionary Tale...
Hey Poddy Zombies🧟♂️,
Hope you’re having a ghoulish week. Welcome to the spooky master list edition. Once in a full moon 🐺🌕 I aggregate publication top lists and give you a master list of what they all have in common. This week is obviously a Halloween mix.
Incubator News: A new class of USC startups for the fall started at the incubator. With that, new mentor sessions are happening a networking event on campus for homecoming at USC. Please don’t message me about the football record. I already know.
Podcast friend news: Sneaking in for a friend of GP here. Jay got nominated for the Choose Your Struggle pod:
You can vote here.
Industry News: From the Hot Pod News with Ashley Carmen, Youtube is trying to take podcasting more seriously, while Spotify is adding video podcasts to take on Youtube.
What was more interesting is the scoop that Amazon is secretly developing a live radio app. Oh, the memories at Tune In. There was development in my time there, for a live broadcasting app and the “Twitter for Voice” podcast app. You can get a glimpse of my unbearded self in one of the screenshots. Both never left beta and died. Anyway, I think that’s there a time and place which didn’t work out for Tune In, and this certainly can be the time now for everyone else. Read it about it here.
Other news: I Zoom attended PRX’s “Ready To Learn Podcast Accelerator Showcase”. It was a straight-up demo day definitely awesome to see talent and content in the kid’s podcast space. I loved the enthusiasm for all the pitches. You can hear the pilots here.
On to my list this week…
The following list is pulled from eleven Halloween 2021 lists. If you are new to horror/supernatural/spooky podcasts then this list is great for you to start off with. Those who listen to podcasts for a few years will recognize a majority of these pods. Here you go! (Sources listed below)
#1 Alice Isn’t Dead (8 publications in common)
Publisher: Night Vale Presents
I never listened to this podcast until it was #1 on this year’s list. With three seasons available, I binged the first season this week to the gym, at the gym, and back. The first-person narrative and sound quality are pretty good. Not sure if I want to take a road trip anytime soon. 😬
Lucy White - Independent.ie
“Alice Isn’t Dead is widely considered the gold standard of story podcasting, effortlessly straddling genres of gritty realism, horror and mystery.”
#2 Lore (7)
Publisher: Grim & Mild
Justine Goode - Vanity Fair
“addictively creepy performance”
#3 The NoSleep Podcast (7)
Publisher: David Cummings
Jahla Seppanen - The Manual
“From the first few seconds, the ominous mood is set”
#4 The Last Podcast on the Left (6)
Publisher: The Last Podcast Network (Spotify only)
Jeremy Hargrove - The Sage
“every episode is absolutely hysterical”
#5 Dr. Death (5)
Publisher: Wondery
I don’t know which season of Dr. Death these lists were referring to since they are different RSS feeds. So I dropped them all in here.
Season 1
Aja Romano - Vox
“...gripping storytelling”
Colette Coleman - Forbes
“engages its audience, while also educating them”
Season 3Miranda Sawyer - The Guardian
“Her (Benita Alexander) Dirty John-style tale holds you in its grasp”
#6 Pseudopod (5)
Publisher: Escape Artists, Inc
Peter G - The Evil Eye UK
“a very, very good place for horror podcasts”
#7 The Black Tapes (5)
Publisher: Pacific Northwest Stories
Michele Pariza Wacek - Michele PW
“messes with your head”
#8 The Magnus Archives (5)
Publisher: Rusty Quill
Puzzle Box Horror - Digital Trends
“fascinating and eerie way of pulling you”
#9 Unwell (5)
Publisher: HartLife NFP
Andrew Liptak - The Verge
“a good example horror storytelling”
Sources: The Manual, Cosmopolitan, Our Midland, The Every Girl, Cultured Vultures, Kotaku, Fiction Horizon, Digital Trends, Life Hacker, Pure Wow, Discover Pods
You can also visit this list with additional podcasts that had fewer votes here: https://greatpods.co/podcast/top/best-2021-halloween-podcasts-master-list
Honorable Mention:
Podcast: Cautionary Tales
Genre: History
Lauren from Podcast the Newsletter mentioned an episode about the real Hansel & Gretel story that is on the Cautionary Tales podcast. I couldn’t shake the thought of Jeremy Renner in the H&G Witch Hunters movie so I had to listen. Long story short, this episode has lessons to be learned.
Robert Nease - Quill Inc.
“…the storyteller style and the effort put into breathing life into the lived experiences of real persons”
You made it this far! Here’s a list of some review additions this week:
Just added:
More reviews on Batman: The Audio Adventures
Keep safe, get the booster, be kind, get some candy!
XOXO
Captain Ron
Great Pods is a website that uses podcast critic reviews and ratings to help you find & decide your next podcast listen.