Archive 81
(3 seasons, 2016-2019)
FOUND FOOTAGE
WEIRD/HORROR
(for weird (meta)fiction that gradually builds, & creeps out towards you. each season brings something new, though equally strange and fascinating.)
Archive 81 is a found footage horror podcast about ritual, stories, and sound.
There's so much in this podcast that is just Really Really good - in terms of both technical use of the audio medium and writing/worldbuilding/characters.
I find myself Thinking about it v often. rotating it in my mind if you will.
Season 1 unfolds within an almost Frankenstein-esque series of embedded narrative frames: Melody Pendras was conducting an investigation into a strange building that seems to subtly (and not-so-subtly) defy physics itself. Recordings of her investigation are stored on cassette tapes, which archivist Dan Powell has been tasked with organising. Dan sent his own recordings to his friend Mark, shortly before going missing. "Archive 81", as we hear it, is itself a podcast made by Mark, as he goes through and tries to understand what happened to his friend.
From there the story expands and blossoms into something completely new and surreal, with shifts in format and setting each season that will continue to surprise and delight (if you're delighted by good horror as i am)
Season 1 unfolds within an almost Frankenstein-esque series of embedded narrative frames: Melody Pendras was conducting an investigation into a strange building that seems to subtly (and not-so-subtly) defy physics itself. Recordings of her investigation are stored on cassette tapes, which archivist Dan Powell has been tasked with organising. Dan sent his own recordings to his friend Mark, shortly before going missing. "Archive 81", as we hear it, is itself a podcast made by Mark, as he goes through and tries to understand what happened to his friend.
From there the story expands and blossoms into something completely new and surreal, with shifts in format and setting each season that will continue to surprise and delight (if you're delighted by good horror as i am)
listen to the s1 trailer:
Shelterwood: A Suburban Gothic
(1 season, 2024-)
SUBURBAN GOTHIC
DOCU-HORROR
"Home is where the horror is"
(for fake-true-crime horror with twisting, breathing architecture)
(for fake-true-crime horror with twisting, breathing architecture)
Shelterwood is a Docu-horror podcast delving into the depths of Suburban terror.
One part found footage, one part Gothic, and one hundred percent horrifying, Shelterwood follows Nicholas DeRoso on his quest to find his long-lost sister and the impossible neighborhood beyond reality he discovers in her wake.
I somehow got very lucky with Shelterwood, and managed to find it shortly before its first episode released.
I was immediately sold by the trailer but I think in episode 2 is where it became a favourite - something about hearing an unnervingly cheerful local inform our protagonist that, as a security measure, all photos of the Town Hall bite, made something in my brain click and I went "ohh this is going to be COOL."
And I was right !! Every aspect of the horror, from the architectural to the monstrous to the tragic, is so so so well done. It really pulls you in and makes you think.
I've relistened a good number of times and its effects on me do not lessen, even when I know exactly what's coming.
listen to the trailer:
Mabel
(6 seasons, 2016-?)
FAE HORROR
ROMANCE...?
(dreamy, eerie prose, strange & breathing architecture)
a podcast about ghosts, family secrets, strange houses, and missed connections.
A lot of Mabel is told through voicemails, which is a framing device that leaves a lot of room for monologuing.
These monologues are poetic and entrancing, in a style that you can really get swept up in - I've described this podcast many times as a little like if "This Is How You Lose the Time War" was about a haunted house.
It's one that demands a lot of focus to really keep careful track of, but when you do give it the time it needs, it really delivers.
If you would like a story about lesbians that is weird and strange and scary then Mabel has you covered !
listen to Episode One: The Letters:
The Goblet Wire
(1 season, 2022-?)
SURREAL
MICROFICTION
(for a glimpse of a world into which you were not invited and are maybe not supposed to fully understand)
A role playing game hums within a global network of power lines, fiber optic cables and obsolete satellites.
Players who gain access to this mysterious phenomenon create a projection and are guided by the Dictator to realms not yet known to the conscious mind.
The Goblet Wire is about 2 hours of essentially eavesdropping, hearing small sections of different people's personal campaigns in this cool, surreal world of a mysterious & solitary role-playing game played by phone.
Each little vignette gives you more incredible details and bizarre experiences, leaving you full of questions but also strangely satisfied. Incredible sound design/synthscaping all throughout.
It has a very specific aesthetic goal that I think it hits perfectly. Really really tasty stuff.
listen to the trailer:
Remnants
(2 seasons, 2024-current)
DARK FANTASY
THRILLER
(a mysterious and poignant purgatory, with secret codes and messages even woven into the podcast itself)
When we die, the remnants of us return to the First and Last Place...
Remnants is a dark fantasy thriller audio drama following the Apprentice as he learns how to read remnants under the frustrating supervision of Sir. Remnants are seemingly innocuous objects - a broken pocket watch; a steel thimble; a silk scarf - but when the Apprentice looks closely, he sees how each one holds the remnants of someone's life story.
Each week the Apprentice reads a new remnant, following that person's journey beginning to end. When he's done, he must make a judgement; shelve or discard. But he doesn't know what the criteria is or what the consequences of such a judgement might be.
The more remnants the Apprentice reads, the more we begin to understand the magnitude of the task he has been set. And the more both we, and the Apprentice himself, wonder why it is him who has been chosen to do it.
With every week, a new mystery. With every new mystery, a terrible choice.
Remnants is a dark fantasy thriller audio drama following the Apprentice as he learns how to read remnants under the frustrating supervision of Sir. Remnants are seemingly innocuous objects - a broken pocket watch; a steel thimble; a silk scarf - but when the Apprentice looks closely, he sees how each one holds the remnants of someone's life story.
Each week the Apprentice reads a new remnant, following that person's journey beginning to end. When he's done, he must make a judgement; shelve or discard. But he doesn't know what the criteria is or what the consequences of such a judgement might be.
The more remnants the Apprentice reads, the more we begin to understand the magnitude of the task he has been set. And the more both we, and the Apprentice himself, wonder why it is him who has been chosen to do it.
With every week, a new mystery. With every new mystery, a terrible choice.
(starts crying before i can even get a word out)
ok. sorry about that. anyway.
Remnants is an incredibly beautiful series that feels both surreal and deeply human. It is written with such care and love and detail that it fully immerses you in each remnant's individual life as well as hooking you into the wider mystery that unfolds as the series continues. It's had a profound effect on me which I will not describe in detail for fear of getting far too vulnerable here on podcards dot neocities dot org :)
ok. sorry about that. anyway.
Remnants is an incredibly beautiful series that feels both surreal and deeply human. It is written with such care and love and detail that it fully immerses you in each remnant's individual life as well as hooking you into the wider mystery that unfolds as the series continues. It's had a profound effect on me which I will not describe in detail for fear of getting far too vulnerable here on podcards dot neocities dot org :)
listen to the trailer:
At the Bottom of the Garden
(1 season, 2025-)
~FOUND FOOTAGE
FAE HORROR
(horror and hidden messages as you dive into the things that lie beneath the surface of these fairy stories)
A deep dive into family history, storytelling, truth and fantasy, and the ways in which we construct our own personal narratives, thanks to the inspiration of a child's journal.
One of very few shows that have really properly given me the creeps. Takes a minute to really get into the Scary but oh boy when it gets there it REALLY gets in there.
I think the best possible experience of this one involves knowing as little as possible so I'm reluctant to give much more detail but trust me ok this is good shit
I think the best possible experience of this one involves knowing as little as possible so I'm reluctant to give much more detail but trust me ok this is good shit
listen to the trailer:
I Am In Eskew
(2018-2019)
HORROR
Trapped in the horror-filled and impossible city of Eskew, a man makes endless recordings of his day-to-day experiences, hoping to reach the outside world.
This show routinely contains body horror and other disturbing scenes. See the website for detailed warnings.
Eskew is the show I've heard the least of out of everything on this list
(not for any reason other than that i just have a very long to-listen list so it's slow going) but I've heard enough to know that I really like it & it definitely belongs amongst these shows.
Awesome evil fucked up city. It rules
Awesome evil fucked up city. It rules
listen to Episode 0: Initiation:
The Great Chameleon War
(2 seasons, 2020-2021, + specials??)
i dont fucking know how to
describe this one at all
(the absolute weirdest thing i can think of, journey through a psychedelic landscape that defies understanding)
The Great Chameleon War: a surreal audio drama podcast about reality-altering reptiles, cursed dreamscape explorers, and caustic imagination.
This podcast takes you on a weird and fucked-up journey through a landscape where nothing makes sense & the rules are beyond your understanding but god does it sound good.
Really incredible soundscaping + absolutely entrancing prose that viscerally evokes really specific imagery while still maintaining a healthy distance between itself and anything even slightly resembling "reality".
It's good i like it a lot :) the first time i listened it was about 4am and i hadnt been able to sleep. which really elevated the whole experience i think
Really incredible soundscaping + absolutely entrancing prose that viscerally evokes really specific imagery while still maintaining a healthy distance between itself and anything even slightly resembling "reality".
It's good i like it a lot :) the first time i listened it was about 4am and i hadnt been able to sleep. which really elevated the whole experience i think
listen to the trailer:
The Tower
(4 [short] seasons, 2019-2025)
WEIRD FICTION
FANTASY
(just really exemplary audio fiction. something really special)
At the centre of the city lies The Tower, an abandoned relic of a forgotten age, built by a proud king who wanted to rule the sky as well as the land.
It stretches up into the sky, through the smog.
One night, Kiri decides to leave behind her suffocating, isolated life in the city and climb the Tower, not quite understanding why.
As she climbs, she finds payphones, and she calls those who she has left behind.
However, the Tower holds many secrets and unsolved mysteries that haven't been disturbed for a long time.
It stretches up into the sky, through the smog.
One night, Kiri decides to leave behind her suffocating, isolated life in the city and climb the Tower, not quite understanding why.
As she climbs, she finds payphones, and she calls those who she has left behind.
However, the Tower holds many secrets and unsolved mysteries that haven't been disturbed for a long time.
The things that I love about The Tower are mostly things that are very difficult to describe.
There are simply not the words in any language to describe the feelings I experience hearing Kiri make her long and uncertain journey, swept along by a genuinely awe-inspiring score - but the overall impression is absolutely incredible.
It's beautiful and strange and somehow so, so real despite its fantastical premise.
And now that it's complete, each season only an hour or two, you could listen to the whole thing in a single day, with plenty of extra time set aside for crying! (which I have done)
listen to the trailer:
Transcripts:
linked per episode
SINKHOLE
(2 seasons, 2022-?)
WEIRD FICTION
NORMAL ;)
(more excellent audio fiction. +was instrumental for me personally actually getting into audio drama as a medium)
A very normal podcast about data restoration, wireless neural interfacing, and why you really shouldn't bring your tapes anywhere near the Hole.
SINKHOLE is a short-form audio fiction podcast presented as a collection of audio posts from a member of a community of data restoration hobbyists in a sometimes-unfamiliar future. Season three in production.
SINKHOLE is a short-form audio fiction podcast presented as a collection of audio posts from a member of a community of data restoration hobbyists in a sometimes-unfamiliar future. Season three in production.
SINKHOLE is probably one of the shows I've relistened to the most & also one of the shows I most often recommend to ppl in conversation, because 1) it is pretty short, 2) the transcripts are excellent & easy to follow, and 3) it is Weird! Both in format/framing and in the subject & world of the story itself. It's an example of how great the medium of audio drama can be for telling stories that might not work as well elsewhere.
+ there's a big scary hole in the ground and it makes cool noises:)
+ there's a big scary hole in the ground and it makes cool noises:)
listen to Episode 1: The Three Rules of Data Restoration: