The 5 Podcasts You Should Be Listening To In The Kitchen This Halloween

As you know, I’m a massive podcast fan. While I have an Audible subscription so I can listen to new books in the kitchen (as well as the Harry Potter books on a pretty much permanent loop), podcasts are usually where I get my audio to keep me company while I’m recipe testing (and working my way through the also permanent pile of washing up that always seems to stack up!) My two favourite genres are business podcasts and true crime, so I thought with Halloween coming up I thought I’d share some of my favourite podcasts that would probably scare me half to death if I listened to them in the dark that you should be downloading this October!

Haunted Places

Some episodes of Haunted Places are genuinely scary. Each episode focuses on a supposedly haunted place around the world, and some of them are really fascinating. It does not matter if you don’t start with the first episode here, so I’d recommend you start with The Catacombs of Paris. I was listening to this at my parents house with my headphones in while I was editing Christmas photos last year and my Dad came into the room without my noticing. I was so freaked out by the episode that when he asked me if I wanted a cup of tea I jumped and screamed louder than I think I have in ages!

Just one disclaimer, the Tower of London episode got me a bit suspicious as to the accuracy of some of the history behind the podcast, but as long as you take what you’re listening to with a pinch of salt, it is still excellent fun!

Cults

Made by the same team who make Haunted Places, each episode or two part focuses on a different descructive cult – aka a cult who have caused harm to themselves and/ or others – at a time. Starting with the most famous cult of them all, the Manson family, each investigation takes a deep dive into some of the better known cults (Heavens Gate, The Branch Davidians) before moving on to some that are slightly more obscure. Some of the stories are rather unsettling, and will open up so many easter eggs you may not have got before if your also planning on re-watching/ binging American Horror Story: Cults on Netflix this Halloween!

S-Town

Again, a podcast that is more unsettling than creepy, where have you been if you’ve not listened to S-Town yet? From the creators of Serial, this stand alone podcast is just makes you feel uncomfortable. You get taken into the slightly creepy life and world of John B McLemore, after he sends the producers an email inviting them to investigate a murder, in a story that turns out not to be all it was cracked up to be, that is until someone else, someone you, by that point would have got to know really well turns up dead. This is one for a binge listen over a couple of days; when I was listening I had it on all the time start to finish, from when I woke up in the morning, on the tube to and from work, while I made my dinner and while I got ready for bed, it is just that compelling.

In The Dark (Season 1)

The first season of In The Dark is proper true crime stuff. The summary on the In The Dark website gives a pretty great summary (reporter Madeleine Baran reveal how law enforcement mishandled one of the most notorious child abductions in the country and how those failures fuelled national anxiety about stranger danger, led to the nation’s sex-offender registries and raise questions about crime-solving effectiveness and accountability) but the reason it is one of my Halloween picks is just that the storytelling is so vivid. You feel like you’re there on that horrible, dark night, and in some of the less than savoury locations the season takes you afterwards. The next season is very different, but also very fascinating, so worth seeking out too.

Someone Knows Something (Season 1)

In contrast, the first season of Someone Knows Something is the best true crime podcast I know without much of a real resolution or real breakthroughs in the investigation. Another dark one involving a missing child I’m afraid. This season follows the investigation onto the disappearance, years after the fact of five year old Adrien McNaughton on a family fishing trip in Eastern Ontario in 1972, where there have been no real clues or breakthroughs ever since. This is one of my Halloween picks because while it is fascinating to learn about some of the forensics involved, there is something unsettling about setting out to dredge a frozen lake in hunt of a years old corpse.

Do stick around and listen to the following seasons of Someone Knows Something afterwards because they’re all fascinating and are some of the best investigatory true crime podcasts out there. It is this sort of thing that made me not understand all of the hype around Making a Murderer when I finally got around to watching it, as I’ve become so used to a much better quality of storytelling (also, if you’re looking for some Halloween true crime on Netflix, in my view The Staircase is the best show of the genre on there!)

As ever, I’d love to hear your podcast recommendations for Halloween and beyond! After I posted about my favourite podcasts last year you all sent me such great recommendations I fell head first into the worlds of so many new shows – I’ll share some more of my favourites soon. Also, if you’re after some more Halloween inspiration, do check out my Halloween Recipes and my ‘Fright Night‘ board on Pinterest!

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