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Was The Black Tapes the first to do the "fictional podcast" narrative? Or was that Limetown? I know that format exploded after Serial took off.
I think that format can work really well, but I feel none have been able to do it without it feeling fake. My ideal approach would be a Radiolab-style show and the topics getting more and more unsettling, revealing more about the world
Or do the Night Vale "radio station in a creepy town" style but play it completely straight and uneasy.
I think that format can work really well, but I feel none have been able to do it without it feeling fake. My ideal approach would be a Radiolab-style show and the topics getting more and more unsettling, revealing more about the world
Or do the Night Vale "radio station in a creepy town" style but play it completely straight and uneasy.
Just going to echo the sentiments about The Black Tapes finale. Never really liked the show, the first season was an interesting start but as said before the writing was pretty repetitive and failed to engage. I was at the gym when I started it and thought it was odd that it was only 27 minutes. When the final conversation between the two starts happening I remember actively thinking: "This is what the show will end on, isn't it?" I basically laughed out loud when it did, that was one of the most wet fart endings for anything that I had ever dedicated that much time to.
That's how every single one of their podcasts go. Tanis is especially bad at this. They need to hire better writers
That was a terrible ending for The Black Tapes. It felt more like they had to quickly shut down production and rushed out this finale. I got into fictional/audio drama podcasts because of it. Rabbits was OK, but it seems like everything else outside of the the first season of TBT they have done is just messy, convoluted, and a bit too grand for the small NPR-like radio show the podcasts are supposed to be. These kinds of audio dramas are supposed to work because of their subtlety and believe-ability, kind of like watching a slow-burn found footage film.
I've been listening to some of the other podcasts here, and it's pretty amazing how good The Magnus Archives is with a much smaller cast and publicity than th else other shows. It's got a great blend of serialized storytelling versus an overall narrative, and the voice acting is top-notch.
Who makes their series finale their shortest epidode in the series on their own terms? I'm just amazed at how they let good ideas die like that. And what's sad is that I don't even have issues with ambiguous endings, just finish the overarching narrative first please. And I liked Rabbits (like i liked a lot of their first seasons) but they should just let the series die at this point. In fact just forever do one season stories.
But at least the first story in The Big Loop wasn't bad!
Yeah, as far as I can see, they were. At least among the ones that gained any traction.
And I'd love podcasts in that style. I always imagined a podcast that would be basically Within the Wires gone radio. Where it'd less of an insight into a horror. But I'd probably want people to hire as many radio people as they would writers to make it sound as authentic as possible lol.
But at least the first story in The Big Loop wasn't bad!
Yeah, as far as I can see, they were. At least among the ones that gained any traction.
And I'd love podcasts in that style. I always imagined a podcast that would be basically Within the Wires gone radio. Where it'd less of an insight into a horror. But I'd probably want people to hire as many radio people as they would writers to make it sound as authentic as possible lol.
I would excuse TBT story arc if they didnt repeat the weird formula in each of the PWNS podcasts. MAG so far is the gold standard for narrative podcast because it strikes a great balance between self contained stories (or what seem to be self contained) and drip feeds the over arching story in a smart and enticing way. TBT/Tanis biggest faults is that they confused mystery with convolution, and just kept adding story elements willy nilly. MAG earns big reveals because the world is structured with care and is crafted similar to (sorry if this analogy is a stretch) a game like Dark Souls, where you taken through a storyline only to find out it's linked to the overall narrative in smart way.
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I'm a real big fan of King Falls AM, too, but that errs on the funny side more often than not, so it gets a bigger pass from me when the Big Plot falls a bit short. But it feels like two people just happen to have this radio show and constantly air their personal biz out to anyone listening, and it feels pretty natural to me. Like, they're bad at their job, but they're also good at it. I think it does a much better job than Night Vale of pulling off the supernatural radio station thing, too. Having 1) a second host and 2) a skeptic does wonders.
The Magnus Archives is absolutely my favorite, though. As I've mentioned before, and others have echoed. :P
The Magnus Archives is absolutely my favorite, though. As I've mentioned before, and others have echoed. :P
Jonathan Sims really gets not just how to write horror, but how to write great stories. I really enjoyed the Q&A episode. Also I know some people here didn't like his voice, but I think he does a great job at embodying the stories he reads.
Anyone here listen to Tracks?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09g0css
It's a BBC-produced audiodrama, a conspiracy thriller, and it's really good. Some of the best acting I've heard among audiodramas, and the premise is very intriguing. Season 2 started a few days ago
Much better than Homecoming IMO
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09g0css
It's a BBC-produced audiodrama, a conspiracy thriller, and it's really good. Some of the best acting I've heard among audiodramas, and the premise is very intriguing. Season 2 started a few days ago
Much better than Homecoming IMO
Listening to the first episode. Really top notch VA, sound design and Intriguing story.
edit: Wow this is really good! Seems like the Brits really got a knack for audio dramas.
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Also Tumanbay, another BBC audiodrama, about epic fantasy intrigue a la Game of Thrones
Magic Tavern fans might enjoy Mission To Zyxx. It's an improvised sci-fi adventure, with a cast of characters and guests and whatnot
Anybody else listen to No Sleep?
What's your favorite episodes with "scary/horror" stories? I like them but there's so many and a lot of meh stories so I wasn't sure if there was any must hear ones.
Thanks all!
What's your favorite episodes with "scary/horror" stories? I like them but there's so many and a lot of meh stories so I wasn't sure if there was any must hear ones.
Thanks all!
I tried No Sleep.. but most of their good stuff was behind a paywall or something akin to paywall. I got bored. Bounced.
I love NoSleep. I own all the seasons pases, they continuously top themselves. Season 9 was mostly quality and felt like it had a good season finale and the last story in the latest halloween ep was great. I would recommned gettying the passes but the great stories are spread out between free and paywall.
I'll have to mull over which other stories I really liked/loved.
NoSleep was the first horror podcast I heard of at the beginning of this year and I've since listened to the first 4 seasons (season passes for 3+4). I really love the series but I have a hard time pointing to lots of specific stories based on the names.
I remember really liking "The Woman Holding an Orange" from season 2 episode 15 and the 2 Penpal episodes in season 1.
The season enders are normally full-length versions even for the free feed, I think. I quite liked the prison story in the season 4 finale but you could probably just check out every season finale.
Rusty Quill started a third podcast series today:
Outliers
They released 2 episodes and an interview with the writer of each episode, one of which is John Sims from The Magnus Archives. I quite enjoyed it and am looking forward to more.
Outliers
They released 2 episodes and an interview with the writer of each episode, one of which is John Sims from The Magnus Archives. I quite enjoyed it and am looking forward to more.
Not trolling, but when does the Magnus Archives get good? Only on episode 9. Though the story of the serial killer's daughter was interesting.
Episode 1? Episode 3 and 5?
But seriously, if Angler Fish and Thrown Away don't do it for you, it might not be for you.
If you're new to audiodramas, I'd also recommend Sayer (listen past episode 6 at least), Fairy Tales For Unwanted Children, and Tracks
The first story I really loved was episode 3 but I in no way did I think the first two were bad.
Maybe it's not for you.
Oh, shit. This was the one thread I was sad about losing when GAF imploded. I guess I should've checked sooner if you guys migrated over.
Even More_Badass is here!
Looking forward to MAG season 3 along with the rest of you guys.
I'm also like 30+ episodes deep into Wolf 359 now. It's so good, and I've said before that I don't really like sci-fi.
Even More_Badass is here!
Looking forward to MAG season 3 along with the rest of you guys.
I'm also like 30+ episodes deep into Wolf 359 now. It's so good, and I've said before that I don't really like sci-fi.
I binged Wolf 359 while I was in the hospital/rehab recently, 'cause i needed something to do that didn't require much movement, and I liked it a lot!
...Then it kept going. And going. It's still going.
I'm not so sure I like it anymore, but I'm still listening.
I don't remember when this happens, so I'll just spoiler it, but
and another less specific spoiler
...Then it kept going. And going. It's still going.
I'm not so sure I like it anymore, but I'm still listening.
I don't remember when this happens, so I'll just spoiler it, but
when Hilbert dies, I think the show loses a lot of the magic it had
in general, I'm mostly just disappointed with the changes/additions to the original crew - I liked them a lot, and many of the newer people, I don't like so much
The main problem with PNW(tanis, tbt, etc) podcasts is they make the mistake of having a shared world with multiple stories tying into the same charcters. This wouldnt be a problem normally, but their stories are grandiose in scale with some of them having world ending implications. Meaning nothing significant will happen in any of the stories because it would affect the others too greatly
Ideally they should have leveraged that, and had those apocalyptic grand implications seep into the other series and actually have them affect each other in major ways
Not sure if they did this, but did they ever try and link the Rabbits game and the search for Tanis? Or whatever Tanis was and the evil forces in Black Tapes?
They would have been amazing, but they've showed they have no drive to do anything like that. Ideally, there should have been multiple podcasts running in parallel. Each uncovering a truth about the world they share. So you'd have to listen to each podcast to get all of the meta plot. Eventually they would all slowly merge into one huge multi podcast conclusion. Unfortunately, this would take a team of very talented writers lead by a very meticulous leader.
Besides mentioning they work in the same studio, nothing that happens in other podcasts effects Tanis.
I'm glad I dropped Tanis and TBT a year ago. Season 2 of TBT was just messy and the suspense of disbelief was too goddamn high. It's still disappointing to hear that it ended so badly. I'm sorry for everyone who stuck with it.
I'm listening to The Magnus Archives again, after the end of season one lost me a little and I'm glad that I picked it up again. Just finished The New Door and it was just fun. Really good stuff.
I'm listening to The Magnus Archives again, after the end of season one lost me a little and I'm glad that I picked it up again. Just finished The New Door and it was just fun. Really good stuff.
That's such a great episode. "There was never a door there, Archivist, <crazy laugh>"
Hmmmm, i wonder
if the lighter John got was a reminder to him that he's still that spider's prey and will eat him one day
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I listened to episode 3 of Within the Wires and I feel silly for not considering...
(maybe spoilers for the series)
(maybe spoilers for the series)
...That the artist was taken by the Institute, when they first mentioned she was missing. It also looks like Hester might reappear as one of the museum curators who introduces Roimata's narration once it gets to the eighties. [/SPOLER]
FX is doing a Nightvale show
http://deadline.com/2017/12/fx-welcome-to-night-vale-production-deal-podcast-1202222829/
http://deadline.com/2017/12/fx-welcome-to-night-vale-production-deal-podcast-1202222829/