Best fiction Podcasts

“Make your statement, face your fear.” A weekly horror fiction podcast examining what lurks in the archives of the Magnus Institute, an organisation dedicated to researching the esoteric and the weird. Join Jonathan Sims as he explores the archive, but be warned, as he looks into its depths something starts to look back… New episodes every Thursday produced by Rusty Quill, featuring guest actors, short stories, serial plots and more. The Magnus Protocol launches in January 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Life's not easy for Doug Eiffel, the communications officer for the U.S.S. Hephaestus Research Station, currently on Day 448 of its orbit around red dwarf star Wolf 359. He's stuck on a scientific survey mission of indeterminate length, 7.8 light years from Earth. His only company on board the station are stern mission chief Minkowski, insane science officer Hilbert, and Hephaestus Station's sentient, often malfunctioning operating system Hera. He doesn't have much to do for his job other than monitoring static and intercepting the occasional decades-old radio broadcast from Earth, so he spends most of his time creating extensive audio logs about the ordinary, day-to-day happenings within the station. But the Hephaestus is an odd place, and life in extremely isolated, zero gravity conditions has a way of doing funny things to people's minds. Even the simplest of tasks can turn into a gargantuan struggle, and the most ordinary-seeming things have a way of turning into anything but that. Wolf 359 is a radio drama in the tradition of Golden Age of Radio shows. Take one part space-faring adventure, add one part character drama, and mix in one part absurdist sitcom, and you get Wolf 359.

Award Winning Sitcom - Start with Season 1 Episode 1Rudyard Funn and his equally miserable sister Antigone run their family's failing funeral parlour, where they get the body in the coffin in the ground on time. But one day they find everyone enjoying themselves at the funerals of a new competitor - the impossibly perfect Eric Chapman! With their dogsbody Georgie, and a mouse called Madeleine, the Funns are taking drastic steps to stay in the business…

Do not fear the dark, fear what darkness brings... Arkham Private Investigator Arthur Lester wakes up with no memory of who he is or what has happened, only a nameless, eerie voice guiding him through the darkness.Blind, terrified, and confused, his journey will lead him towards a series of mysteries in the hopes of understanding the truth of what has transpired.As cosmic horrors seep into the world around, Arthur must ask himself whether this entity truly seeks to help him, or are its intentions more…MalevolentMalevolent is produced, written, edited, performed, scored & created by Harlan Guthrie. This podcast contains mature themes, explicit language, bodily horror, violence, otherworldly terror and death. Listener discretion is advised. Full transcripts of every episode are available here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Gloria took a waitressing job at a diner outside of Phoenix, she didn't realize she was now an employee of Midnight Burger, a time-traveling, dimension-spanning diner. Every day Midnight Burger appears somewhere new in the cosmos along with it's staff: a galactic drifter, a rogue theoretical physicist, a sentient old-timey radio, and some guy named Caspar. No one knows who built Midnight Burger or how it works, but when it appears there's always someone around who could really use a cup of coffee. "When the waves of the universe crash unrelentingly, when the stars seem indifferent to your plight, suddenly there is a diner." We open at 6.

Nothing fancy here — just the simple audio diary of a girl in space. Also, there’s this weird and potentially ominous light in the distance that seems to be growing steadily closer. Listen for science, guns, trust, anti-matter, truth, beauty, inner turmoil, and delicious cheeses. It’s all here. In space.

Twice-monthly community updates for the small desert town of Night Vale, where every conspiracy theory is true. Turn on your radio and hide. Never listened before? It's an ongoing radio show. Start with the current episode, and you'll catch on in no time. Or, go right to Episode 1 if you wanna binge-listen.

SERIES COMPLETE. Start with episode 101. Dr. Bright provides therapy for the strange and unusual; their sessions have been recorded for research purposes. Visit www.thebrightsessions.com for more information and additional content. Created by Lauren Shippen

Doctors in space, a deposed alien prince, a super gay space pirate and a fiery nurse who’ll help you win your bar fight.

At the Penumbra, you might follow Juno Steel, a brooding, sharp-witted private eye on Mars, as he tangles with an elusive homme fatale, tracks dangerous artifacts of an ancient alien civilization, and faces his three greatest fears: heights, blood, and relationships. Or you might enter the world of the Second Citadel, where the merciless Sir Caroline must corral a team of emotionally distraught all-male knights to defend their city against mind-manipulating monsters...even the ones they’ve fallen in love with. These audio dramas and more await you in the Penumbra, dear traveler. We hope you enjoy your stay. (Start with "1.01: Juno Steel and the Case of the Murderous Mask" or "1.09: Second Citadel - The Head of the Janus Beast.")The Penumbra is created and produced by Sophie Takagi Kaner and Kevin Vibert. Follow us on Twitter (@thepenumbrapod), Tumblr (@thepenumbrapodcast), or Facebook (The Penumbra Podcast). You can find all of our transcripts here. If you would like to view trigger warnings or SFX attributions, you can scroll to the end of the appropriate episode transcript: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/2/folders/1bnWLw5dTW4l9A0bmOMzEiy6XqqsXHHi_

Arnie Niekamp fell through a dimensional portal behind a Burger King into the fantastical land of Foon. He's still getting a slight wifi signal, so he uploads a weekly podcast from the tavern the Vermilion Minotaur where he interviews wizards, monsters and adventurers. It's a major discovery!

A mystery drama about the limits of experimental science, confronting your own past, present & future, & trying to remember the level select cheat from Sonic 2. 

Ten years ago, over three hundred men, women and children disappeared from a small town in Tennessee, never to be heard from again. In this podcast, American Public Radio reporter Lia Haddock asks the question once more, "What happened to the people of Limetown?" Limetown is produced by Two-Up, the producers of 36 Questions, The Wilderness and Shipworm.

Unwell, a Midwestern Gothic Mystery is a new audio drama from HartLife NFP.Releases every other week during season.Lillian Harper moves to the small town of Mt. Absalom, Ohio, to care for her estranged mother Dorothy after an injury. Living in the town's boarding house which has been run by her family for generations, she discovers conspiracies, ghosts, and a new family in the house's strange assortment of residents.

It's Spring 2142 (a Tuesday), and Gated Galaxies has launched its 400 Oz-8000 ships, each carrying 50,000 "resting guests" to, hopefully, a new home on a shiny, brand-new planet. Except this whole "terraform and take over" idea isn't actually the plan; the real plan is far more nefarious and involves a great deal of cackling. But those aboard the ships don't know that, so off they toodle (those that make it out of Earth's atmosphere, at least), all shiny and optimistic. This is the story of one of those ships – the Oz 9 – and its tiny crew of hopeless incompetents. So far, they've been in space half an hour and several hundred people are dead. So... bright future, clearly.

An improvised science fiction sitcom following a team of ambassadors as they attempt to establish diplomatic relations with planets in the remote and chaotic Zyxx Quadrant… better known as the "ass end of space."

The NoSleep Podcast is a multi-award winning anthology series of original horror stories, with rich atmospheric music to enhance the frightening tales.

King Falls AM centers on a lonely little mountain town's late-night AM talk radio show and its paranormal, peculiar happenings and inhabitants.New shows available the 1st and 15th of every month! Be sure to start from Sammy's first show (May 1st, 2015) to stay up to date with all your King Falls favorites.

Now a Prime Original TV series. From Gimlet, Homecoming centers on a caseworker at an experimental facility, her ambitious supervisor, and a soldier eager to rejoin civilian life — presented in an enigmatic collage of telephone calls, therapy sessions, and overheard conversations. Starring Catherine Keener, Oscar Isaac, David Schwimmer, David Cross, Amy Sedaris, Michael Cera, Mercedes Ruehl, Alia Shawkat, Chris Gethard, and Spike Jonze.

The award-winning fantasy-comedy! In Alba Salix, overworked, cynical witch Alba tends to the health of the King, Queen and citizens of the kingdom of Farloria, with the help of her obnoxious apprentice Magnus and an absent-minded fairy named Holly. The spinoff The Axe & Crown follows the misadventures of Gubbin the troll tavernkeeper, his clueless landlord Stan and his shady niece Betula.Support us here!

A truck driver searches across America for the wife she had long assumed was dead. In the course of her search, she will encounter not-quite-human serial murderers, towns literally lost in time, and a conspiracy that goes way beyond one missing woman.

When a night watchman finishes his shift at work, he is terrified to discover that everyone in the world who went to sleep the previous night has died. Now he and a band of survivors must stay awake and uncover the secret of this global epidemic, before they fall asleep.Starring and produced by Markiplier. Created by Jake Emanuel & Willie Block.

Tessa Thompson stars as an idealistic young journalist trying to make a name for herself by following a group of paranormal explorers, obsessed with a seemingly harmless pastime known as the Left/Right Game. The journey takes her into a supernatural world that she and the other members of the expedition can neither handle nor survive.

Rupert and Amir are finally getting married and this time nothing is going to stop them. Not the handsome new prince who’s rolled into town and only has eyes for Rupert. Not the mysterious disappearance of half the kingdom’s population. Not even the End of the World. Yes, this time the princes are definitely, absolutely, 100% getting married – even if it’s the last thing they do. Season 3 is out now!The Two Princes stars Noah Galvin, Ari'el Stachel, Jonah Fields, Gideon Glick, Michelle Gomez, Mandi Masden, Wesley Taylor, Samira Wiley, and CJ Wilson. The Two Princes was written by Kevin Christopher Snipes and directed by Mimi O’Donnell. Music and lyrics by Matt Schatz.Executive producer Mimi O'Donnell, senior producer Katie Pastore, associate producer Julie Balefsky. Recorded and mixed by Jonathon Roberts, engineered by Armando Serrano, sound design by Daniel Brunelle. Music direction by Jonathon Roberts. Score by Greg Laswell.