As the wind turns chill and the leaves begin to fall from the trees, it’s the perfect time to snuggle up under a blanket — or perhaps go for a nighttime drive while listening to podcasts about unexplained phenomena, creepy cryptids, and real-life monsters.
Whether you live somewhere boring and peaceful or in the middle of untamed forest, these stories will raise the hair on your arms and give you something else to watch out for in the shadows.
Red Web
Formerly a Rooster Teeth property, Red Web has gone independent after the closure of its parent company.
With hundreds of episodes spanning several years of coverage, the two hosts — Trevor and Alfredo, along with their team — cover everything from weird internet mysteries to truly hair-raising hauntings.
There’s no limit to what they’ll touch on, and subject matter ranges from true crime to the Jersey Devil and everything in-between.
Last Podcast on the Left
It would be an injustice to list spooky podcasts without touching on perhaps the most famous of them all: The Last Podcast on the Left.
Marcus and Henry dive into the grotesque and the gruesome, but their sense of humor isn’t for everyone. Their subjects span war crimes, serial killers, and so much more.
If you want to give them a listen, check out the most recent episodes first before listening to earlier episodes. It took the podcast a bit of time to find its footing.
Cryptonaut Podcast
With creepy vibes that somehow feel like KISS was slotted as the cast of Friday the 13th, Cryptonaut promises 360 episodes (and counting) of phobia-inducing subjects.
The main host weaves together these stories in a way that will both intrigue and disturb, while the other cast members throw in hilarious quips from time to time to break the tension and keep things from getting unbearably spooky.
Hysteria51
Hysteria51 is a special breed of podcast that not only doesn’t take itself too seriously, but somehow manages to provide a lot of information on whatever topic they’re covering that day.
The hosts joke around with each other, play unexpected sound bites, and a lot more. A lot of listeners say that Hysteria51 is vaguely reminiscent of Mystery Science Theatre 3000, and that’s something we can get behind.
Sasquatch Chronicles
Most of the podcasts on this list cover a wide range of topics, but the Sasquatch Chronicles focuses on one cryptid in particular: the most famous of them all. As the podcast’s description says, too many people are seeing something in the woods for it to be ignored.
Almost every culture has some form of Bigfoot in its history, and with one episode per week since November 2013, the Sasquatch Chronicles gives you a ton of listening material.
Monsters Among Us
Monsters Among Us is one of those podcasts that you’re probably not going to be able to catch up on. The show puts out one new episode roughly every two to three days. Sometimes the gap is longer, and sometimes it’s only one day — but at an average length of over an hour per episode, that is a lot of listening.
Unlike other shows, this is a call-in podcast that explores people’s real-life encounters with the paranormal and unexplained.
It’s time to embrace the chill of terrifying ghost stories once more.
There’s just something about the unexplainable that calls to us like a siren song. It’s human nature to want answers and to explain away unsettling events through science. It lets us sleep better at night.
But these podcasts demonstrate a world in shades of grey, where the answers aren’t so clear and not everyone you encounter is necessarily human. Let’s get spooky.