Seven Ghostly Podcasts for Halloween

Hello folks! I wanted to try something a little different this week. Here are seven fiction podcasts which include ghosts! I wanted to look at the way this staple of the horror genre is treated in audio fiction, and give some recommendations.

Middle:Below

A horror comedy from Scotland’s Tin Can Audio. Our world is ‘The Middle’, and that’s where Taylor lives, with his cat Sans, and ghost friend Gil. Taylor is able to travel between our world, and ‘The Below’, a parallel world filled with ghosts. He, along with Gil, help spirits stuck in The Below move on to The Above, until one day, they meet another person who has somehow ended up in The Below.

Unwell

Unwell is a gothic mystery set in the small town of Mt. Absalom, Ohio. Lilian Harper moves back to her family’s boarding house, to look after her mother. The boarding house has been in the family for generations, and is a part of Mt. Absalom’s history. Without spoiling too much, this story features ghosts heavily. There are ghost tours around the house for tourists, but the haunting isn’t what you’d expect. There’s also a brilliant storyline in the show’s second season which features a ghost at another location in the town.

The Mcilwraith Statements

I wrote a post about The McIlwraith Statements a few weeks ago, but I really wanted to feature it in this list as it’s a story about ghosts and supernatural phenomena. The McIlwraith Statements is a series of recordings made by Sarah McIlwraith, who was part of a team working on a study which had been set up to investigate the paranormal fifteen years ago, back when she was a PhD student. The study investigated ghosts, mediums, psychics, and any kind of paranormal activity. But Sarah has a big secret, she can actually see ghosts.

Palimpsest

Each season of Palimpsest introduces us to new characters in a new setting, but these stories all deal with the same theme – the things that haunt these characters. In season one, Anneliese moves into a new apartment, looking for a fresh start. In a series of recordings for her former therapist, she documents her feelings about and memories of her sister, who passed away ten years ago, and the strange and paranormal things she’s experiencing in her new home. Season two is set in the 19th century, and season three in London during the Blitz.

Less Is Morgue

Less is Morgue is a comedy podcast set in an alternate Florida, hosted by Evelyn and Riley. Evelyn is a ghost, and was in her early 20s when she was killed at a Nickleback concert in 2004. She’s stuck with Riley, a ghoul who lives in their parents’ basement, and they decide to make a talk podcast together. Every week they invite guests onto their show, with…varying results. There are historical figures, demons, and Todd, who has created his own, very unique, afterlife.

Light Hearts

Light Hearts is a sitcom set in Prism, a queer community space. Janine has to deal with the struggles of running a new business by herself, and also the ‘significant ghosts’ which haunt the building. The ghosts are not keen on swearing, or being threatened with exorcisms, but they do enjoy getting up to some shenanigans with the folks who visit Prism.

Hughes and Mincks: Ghost Detectives

It was featuring Hughes and Mincks: Ghost Detectives in one of my Audio Fiction Sunday posts that originally gave me the idea of this post. As I mentioned in that post, I’ve been struck at how human the ghosts in HM:GD are. Hughes and Mincks investigate hauntings, talking to the ghosts they encounter, who don’t always realise that they’re dead, and encourage them to move on.