During the Halloween season, there’s nothing like settling down with a hot cup of apple cider and digging into a real-life horror story. We’ve rounded up our favorite creepy podcasts to get you in the mood. If unsolved murder mysteries and strange small town disappearances get you going, these are the podcasts for you. A fair warning, they are not for the faint of heart, enter if you dare…
1. Hollywood and Crime | Wondery
Think you know everything there is to know about the Black Dahlia murder? Think again. Hollywood and Crime is an extremely well-produced, engrossing twist on the Black Dahlia case, that actually extends to cover the grisly murders of other young women around the same time frame. The crimes are brought to life with audio recreations, similar to old radio plays, allowing listeners to peer back in time.
“When I said good night, she was with him, the young guy. That’s the last time I saw her…” – The Silk Stocking Murder | Hollywood and Crime
2. Crimetown | Gimlet Media
Obsessed with how crime culture differs from city to city? From the creators of HBO’s The Jinx comes a podcast that explores just that. In its wildly successful first season, Crimetown covers corruption and extreme mob violence in seemingly idyllic Providence, RI. The only downside? Once you’ve binge-listened to the entire first season, you’ll be begging co-hosts Zac Stuart-Pontier and Marc Smerling for more.
If you like your true crime with a dose of fun, True Crime Garage will be right up your alley. Every week, hosts Nic and the Captain cover a new case from both the headlines and local real-life horror stories, going into painstaking detail yet presenting heavy content in a light-hearted way. Bonus: Their website features supplemental video footage and images from the crimes so you can be the judge.
“We see this a lot, somebody commits a crime and really follows it as almost an obsession and sometimes you can be caught that way.” – The Devil Did It | True Crime Garage
If you’ve already binge-watched The Keepers and Making a Murderer on Netflix and you’re eager for more, My Favorite Murder may be the best way to get your fix. This horror-obsessed duo, which consists of Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, seem to have an encyclopedic knowledge of strange murder lore. Their madcap delivery replete with creepy historical tidbits will make sure you never sleep again.
Lock your doors and engage your security system before you press play on this one. Sword and Scale covers the dark underworld of the criminal justice system and stops at nothing to get to the bottom of the story. From a Christian TV personality who was charged with child pornography to online feuds that turn deadly in real life, the stories range from disturbing to enlightening to downright terrifying.
“Some acts are far too inhumane to have an explanation. Some cases are far too outside the norm to be able to assign a reasonable motive.” – Episode 101 | Sword and Scale
6. Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine
It may be hard to believe but just 100 years ago, medicine was considered a barbaric profession. With little to no internal imaging available, doctors blindly cut into patients who, more often than not, ended up bleeding out on the table. Enter Sawbones, a podcast that digs deep into history to reveal strange and at times horrific medical treatments that were considered normal. Come for the gory stories, stay for the witty banter between hosts Dr. Syndee McElroy and her husband Justin.
“Maybe some mercury, it was a very common cure for syphilis.” – Inside a Doctor’s Bag | Sawbones