12 Best Scary Podcasts You Can Listen to Right Now

Are you up for some scares this Halloween? Turn up the volume and turn down the lights with these scary podcasts.

Though Halloween might look a little different this year, there's no reason it shouldn't be as scary as ever. From old-school classics to modern-day monsters, these scary podcasts deliver all the chilling storytelling and auditory frights you could want this October. So tune in and get ready to be terrified, with the best scary podcasts for the season.

Yes! I also want to get the Early Bird Books newsletter featuring great deals on ebooks.

Collecting the works of independent horror writers, this scary podcast series features a horde of well-told terrors. With multiple stories packed into each episode, you'll be sure to hear all manner of scares. The terrifying tales span insanity, darkness, death and so much more. Listen up for the horror that awaits.

Set in the dark backwoods of an "Alternate Appalachia," this sinister podcast dives into the eternal secrets of the famed and foreboding mountain range. With overarching stories spanning multiple episodes, the podcast explores what happens when humankind oversteps its bounds and mines the depths of the Earth–where the ancient gods dwell.

Maeltopia brings some seriously sinister scares. Starting in 2018, the podcast has built up a growing collection of interconnected stories. And as many of the episodes are shorter in length, it's easy to listen to binge more than one in a single sitting. The podcast's stories range from "The Damnation Machine", in which a dark machine curses a human-like breed of beings with dark powers, to "Red Mother", in which the old tapes discovered at a murder scene reveal a sinister new reality. Maeltopia is certain to make your skin crawl.

An award-winning podcast, The Wicked Library features stories from both established and up and coming horror writers. Boasting a treasure trove of spooky stories, episodes that are longer in length, and fantastic voice acting, The Wicked Library consistently delivers a good fright.

Listen to the first episode of Season 10 above. In "Shiny Entrails" by Christopher Long, Sir Arthur Kane finds his life's work turning against him.

The Other Stories spans horror, thriller, and sci-fi. It's divided into different volumes, with each volume centered on a special theme. Volumes range from Zombies and Under the Bed to Alien Invasion, Metamorphosis, and Contagion. With 13 distinct volumes waiting for you, you can pick your poison.

Listen above to the first of the Under the Bed volume, "The Skritch". After years away, the creepy creature is back—and it will not leave until it finishes what it first set out to do.

Yes! I also want to get the Early Bird Books newsletter featuring great deals on ebooks.

These stories promise to do more than just send shiver down your spine. If you ever miss sitting around a campfire listening to scary stories, then Full Body Chills is for you. Told exactly how one might tell a strange story to a group of friends, these tales will grip you with fear.

From the creators of Welcome to Night Vale, Alice Isn't Dead is an epic, fantastic, and creepy tale of a truck driver who sets out to find her wife Alice. Though she previously thought Alice was dead, her search across the country reveals far more unbelievable things. Finding serial murders that aren't quite human and conspiracies that bend the rational mind, this horrifying tale makes for an engrossing listen.

Scared to Death provides listeners with a fresh format to listen to some terrifying real-life tales. Listen along, as Dan Cummins tries to scare his wife Lynze with allegedly true horror stories. Each episode contains two stories, from supernatural possessions to unexplainable occurrences. Rich with creepy detail, and accompanied by Lynze's terrified reactions, the show challenges you to get to the end of the episode without being "scared to death"—figuratively speaking, of course.

The episode above covers a woman's terrifying experience in her own house and a custodian's startling discovery in a high school band room—both of which are set in the same haunted Idaho town.

Taking on all of the dark, dreaded, and deadly cases you could imagine, Disturbed looks into a range of unfathomable true stories. Episodes are often told through the first-person accounts of those who lived through the terrifying experience, making for one harrowing listen.

Featuring classic horror story broadcasts, The Horror! will take you back in time. Each episode presents a terrifying tale from the golden age of radio—and beyond the nostalgia, these chilling audio narratives pack a bite. If you're up for some classic scary stories, The Horror! is worth a listen.

Return Home

Return Home is a spooky serial podcast that follows a man driving across the country to return to his mysterious hometown. Going back to Melancholy Falls, New Jersey, the podcast is both frightening and funny. With plenty of background noises to bring the series to life, the show is one that easily pulls you in and keeps you captivated.

Examining the mysterious happenings in Point Mystic, this eerie fiction podcast invites you to the dreary and isolated seaside town. Narrated by a journalist as he investigates the area, Point Mystic centers on the supernatural and is rife with tales of dark secrets, hauntings, and possessions.

Featured photo: Max Bender / Unsplash