If you’ve been driving for many years, you might remember the days when people would listen to audiobooks on CD or even cassette tapes to get them through long drives. Podcasts are the natural descendant of these media. As a relatively new format, many podcasts use creative methods like voice acting and sound production to tell a story, which is especially effective for the horror genre. Here are some of the best fictional horror podcasts to make your road trips a little spookier. Interestingly, each of these podcasts relies heavily on their uniquely American settings to make their stories work.
Alice Isn’t Dead
If you like a little horror and a lot of suspense, Alice Isn’t Dead is an amazing story to listen to. Told by a truck driver in a dystopian future America searching for her presumed-dead wife, Alice Isn’t Dead delivers thrills and chills in abundance. You’ll be binging every episode right up till the end. Most of it takes place on the road, so it’s particularly good for driving.
Unwell
Unwell is a self-described “gothic horror” podcast, set in a small town in middle America. It follows a young woman who comes home to care for her estranged mother. The small-town setting lends itself to classic haunted house/ghost town weirdness, with a large cast of characters both living and dead. The show uses voice actors and background noises to put you right inside its world.
Ghosts in the ‘Burbs
Unlike Unwell and Alice Isn’t Dead, Ghosts in the ‘Burbs is an anthology podcast with a slowly-unfolding narrative through-line. The narrator is a suburban housewife (playing herself) in Wellesley, Massachusetts, who tells the surprisingly haunted stories of her fellow suburbanites. Since each episode stands on its own, it’s a good option if you aren’t the biggest fan of binging. It’s also slow-burn on the intensity–the first few stories aren’t really scary, but by the 30th episode you’ll be gripping the wheel tight in fear.