Horror is one of the most popular genres for podcasts nowadays. It is a genre I personally enjoy, and I think it has gained popularity due to a fascination that GenZ has with the gruesome details of stories. After all, horror games like Five Nights at Freddy’s and true crime podcasts would not be nearly as popular with the generation if horror was not fascinating to us.
This horror podcast, Spooked, is a podcast telling “true tales” from people who have encountered the supernatural. It is hosted by Glynn Washington, and individuals come onto the podcast to recount these tales.
The Story
The episode starts with a short piece of creative nonfiction from the host of the show. He talks about an experience he had with his son that caused him to feel very claustrophobic.
From there, the central story to the episode starts. A man details how he got lost in a bout of fog as he was trying to return home.
He sees a light right as he reaches the driveway and a voice he believes to be his mother calling for him. He follows the voice until it starts to distort into someone else’s voice instead of his mother. The voice is still calling him “son,” but it is not one he recognizes. He tries to leave, but runs into a gravestone. He learns from his friends later that there was a mother at that house who had tried to call her son, only to find his dead body.
The Techniques Used in the Story
Both stories do a great job of using music to set the tone of the stories. The music is low, slow, and eerie which makes the stories sound scarier than if there wasn’t any music.
The music also doesn’t overpower the voice speaking; even someone with audio processing issues like me can clearly understand what is being said. As well, the music is used to emphasize sections of the story.
As well, both stories use silence to create tension. Because there is always some kind of background audio, either background music or environmental sounds, when there is nothing, the tension of the piece rises.
Audio, as is used in both stories, can also be used to create fear. The podcast distorts audio and overlaps voices to create a sense of fear in the listener. It makes it seem like something is not right when the audio is distorted.
The way that the storytellers speak is good overall. The first narrator has a flow to his words that make them sound like poetry which draws the listener into the story. The second narrator does not speak as well with the same flow, but he also uses a calm way of speaking a conversational English which adds to the entertainment aspect of these stories. The second narrator also changes his speech as the tension of the story rises; he starts stuttering and sounding uncertain as his past fear rises.
Overall, the audio and way of speaking in the podcast are used as a method of storytelling. They are used to draw the audience’s attention, create fear, and create tension.
My Thoughts
Overall, I think this is an incredibly successful podcast episode. While I don’t believe in the supernatural or this ghost, it is an engaging story that draws attention. The audio techniques are the reason that this story does so.
I think that the use of background audio is something incredibly hard to balance. I am autistic and have audio processing issues, so I often find that the background music and effects overpower audio stories so much that I have to turn on closed captions. However, this story did not have that problem. The audio was simply an addition to the story, and it did not overpower the narrator. In fact, many of the audio effects were timed with the narration to add context to both aspects of the story. The audio was used fantastically to create tension and fear with the slow and low music.
As well, something I have a lot of experience in as a writer is how to narratives flow. If a story does not have a good rhythm when spoken, when you read it, it will seem unnatural or forced. This podcast is a fantastic example of writing that sounds good. The first narrator has a flow to his words that keeps the listener engaged with what he is saying. The second narrator may not have that flow, but he never sounds unnatural due to the way he uses a more conversational style of speaking.
However, this podcast falls flat in its transitions. The transition from the first story to the second left me confused because there did not seem to be any connection between the two. I was also abruptly taken out of the story as the podcast transitioned to the outro. If I were making this episode, I would add more connection between the two stories, and I would add more room to breathe at the end of each so that I did not shock my listeners.
Those are my thoughts on the podcast as a writer. Are yours different? Please let me know in the comments if your thoughts are similar or different to mine and why.
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