Whichever Path is an interactive anthology horror podcast created by Jas and Steven LaFond, and was launched in January 2019. Each story is self-contained, and introduces the audience to a new setting, and new characters. Stories are between four to seven episodes long, with the audience voting each episode on where the storyline will go next.
The first story is Squirrels, and features John, a driver who takes clients to a mysterious Farm. The story opens with John waiting for, and then meeting his client. John doesn’t know what happens on the Farm, but soon he’ll see it with his own eyes. The struggles of motherhood is the story in Colick, with a new baby who won’t stop crying. As the story develops, we find out why the baby cries so much, and things take a sinister turn. Ana is a home-brewed AI, created to be a smart home system, one with a personality, much beyond what we have today – but just how smart do you want your home to be? In Underground, a woman searches for her missing brother. There’s a secret that binds her family together, one she’s been hiding from everyone in her new life, including her husband. In Chosen, members of a black metal band are reunited years after an event that bound them together. Their lives have moved on, but they must now face the aftermath of the tragedy that happened when they were younger.
As each story is self-contained, you don’t need to listen to them all in order if you’d like to jump straight to the current one. When I first got into the show, I started with Squirrels to get a feel for the show, and to see how the voting worked, and then after finishing it, I jumped straight to Chosen, which was currently running at that time. There are, however, some connections between some of the stories, but I won’t spoil the details!
So, how does the interactive aspect of the show work? Well, at the end of every episode, a character or multiple characters have to make a decision, and the audience is asked to make that decision for them. A vote runs on the show’s website, and there are three options to choose from. The next episode picks up with the winning decision, and the storyline then progresses with the aftermath of that choice. One (not too spoilery) example from the Chosen arc is: accept someone’s offer of help, decline it, or demand more proof from them. Scripts are then finalised, and sent out to the cast to record.
Whichever Path’s stories deal heavily with issues such as race, gender and sexuality, and spirituality and mythology. Underground, especially, deals heavily with racism in a small town in America, after Vanessa returns to her hometown to look for her brother. The diverse cast includes LGBTQ+ folks and actors of colour, with a focus on representing groups which are all too often marginalised in traditional mainstream horror stories.
Season three started on October 1st, with an arc titled Catamount. Set in the college town of the same name in Vermont, we meet Dr Marisol Suarez, an animal surgeon who has recently moved to the town. There’s all sorts of talk that a mountain lion is stalking the area and attacking pets, but Marisol isn’t convinced.
Whichever Path have been running a crowdfunding campaign for season three, and there are a few more days left to help them reach their goal: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/witchever-path-season-three#/
- Website: https://www.witcheverpath.com/
- Twitter: @WitcheverPath
- Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/witcheverpath
A Sky Full of Pods 