My Favorite Spooky Podcasts

Hey "Crime Junkies,"

In honor of Spooky Season and my love of true crime, I present to you a list of my favorite podcasts dealing with true crime, supernatural occurrences, or just plain scary stories.

This started as a True Crime podcast recommendation post, but as I got to writing I realized my favorite podcasts also include other subjects, such as the supernatural. So, for lack of a better word, here are my favorite "Spooky" podcasts!

1. Up & Vanished

I have to start with a shoutout to the first ever true crime podcast I listened to, Up & Vanished with Payne Lindsay. If you haven't listened to this series yet I don't want to go too in depth about it and spoil the outcome because it's pretty impressive. This is an investigative podcast where Payne Lindsay and his crew look into the disappearance of high school teacher and beauty queen Tara Grinstead in Ocilla, Georgia. The case had been cold for years before Payne started getting people talking about it. Through his work, answers started being uncovered. If you're interested in a peek into the life of an amateur detective, this is the podcast for you!

2. My Favorite Murder

This show and its hosts, Karen & Georgia, are near and dear to my heart at this point. These two cover a wide range of cases while mixing in humor in every episode. If you listen to the podcast from the beginning, you really get to know them and grow along with the process of them becoming successful podcasters/business women. They are the funniest women and have mastered making listening to True Crime fun. When they're touring, they post many of their lives shows as episodes and these are especially interesting because they choose cases from the city they're preforming in. They've done shows from Madison, WI to Austin, TX and everywhere in between!

Karen & Georgia came up with some life rules for everyone to follow so that we "Stay Sexy and Don't Get Murdered," (or SSDGM), such as "stay out of the forest," and "you're in a cult, call your dad." They also bring positivity back into their podcast after talking about horrible crimes by doing a "Fucking Hooray" segment where they either tell something positive that happened in their week or one from a listener! "My Favorite Murder's" following is huge because Karen & Georgia have created a space where people of all different backgrounds can come together over a common fascination with true crime, calling their fans "Murderinos." I've definitely become a proud "Murderino" at this point!

My favorite MFM episodes:

1. Episode 18 - "Investigateighteen Discovery"

2. Episode 188 - "The You & Me Of This Group"

"You're in a cult, call your dad."

3. Crime Junkie

Ashley Flowers is the absolute best at getting straight to a story and digging deep into the details. Ashley doesn't spend a lot of time talking about her personal life, but she often does touch on social issues going on at the time. She's fantastic at choosing to highlight cases that are relevant for the time, showcasing cases that have not gotten a lot of publicity, or bringing light to cold cases. If you prefer a podcaster that will get right to the story and be really straightforward (but still interesting), I highly recommend Crime Junkie! As an added bonus, I told my friend to listen and she said she now loves to listen at work because Ashley's voice is "so soothing" haha!

Favorite episodes:

1. CONSPIRACY: North Fox Island & The Oakland County Child Killer Parts 1 & 2

2. SERIAL KILLER: Israel Keyes

3. WANTED: Austin Yogurt Shop Killer (heyyyy, ATX)

4. Supernatural with Ashley Flowers

Ashley Flowers does it again with "Supernatural," but in this one she covers cases that a even harder to explain than true crime cold cases. In this podcast she takes a deep dive into unexplained occurences to see if there's a logical explaination. Spoiler alert: a lot of the time there's not! She covers everything from UFOs, to the infamous Russian mystic Rasputin, to excorcisms. There is never a dull episode! Favorite episodes:

1. MYSTICAL: Rasputin

2. CONSPIRACY: Besa Mafia

3. HAUNTED: The Exorcism of Anna Ecklund

5. Morbid: A True Crime Podcast

I'm pretty new on the Morbid train, but happy I bought my ticket! Hosted by Ash & Alaina, this podcast quickly became one of my favorites. They are quick to get to the story of the week and dive deep and are very funny along the way (but of course, always respectful). I enjoy that they often carry the story from one week into the next. Even though I want to hear what happens right away, having to wait for the next episode keeps me excited and engaged in the content. Ash & Alaina are not afraid to cover the worst of the worst cases, and always give a "trigger warning" when they're about to discuss something especially gruesome. The range of cases they cover is also impressive - they've discussed the heavy hitters like Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and John Wayne Gacy, as well as some lesser known killers like David Parker Ray. They will keep you entertained for hours & always remind you to "keep it weird, but not so weird..."

Favorite episodes:

1. Episodes 166-169: Ian Brady & Myra Hindley AKA The Moors Murders Parts 1-4

2. Episodes 114 & 116: The Amazing Survival Tale Of Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus Parts 1 & 2

3. Episodes 85, 87, and 88: Dennis Rader "BTK" Parts 1-3

4. Episodes 20 & 21: David Parker Ray AKA "The Toy Box Killer" Parts 1-2

6. Crime Countdown

Ash and Alaina are back with "Crime Countdown," where each episode is a category and they highlight the top ten crimes in that group. They go through the worst of the worst in categories like serial killers, cults, cold cases and more. These episodes are significantly shorter than the "Morbid" episodes so they're easy to throw on for a quick fix of terrible news.

Favorite episodes:

1. Killer Texans

2. Unforgettable Crimes of 1995

7. Full Body Chills

Another Ashley Flowers Original, "Full Body Chills" brings you a super spooky short story each week. If you are looking for a quick way to raise your anxiety level, this is the podcast for you! But really, this is basically the adult version of the "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" books we all read as kids and freaked ourselves out. These are short stories that range from 10-40 minutes in length, so it's a fun podcast to put on for a quick drive or while getting ready.

Favorite episodes:

1. I Took A Drive Through The Woods...

2. Why I Stopped Babysitting

8. Serial Killers

"Serial Killers" is the perfect podcast to learn all there is to know about, well, serial killers. They cover the big names like Ted Bundy as well as ones you may have never even heard of. It's pretty crazy to think how many episodes this podcast already has, because you realize there are way more serial killers than we'd like to think. With this podcast, you'll learn about the particular killer's childhood, their crimes, and the psychology behind why they turned out the way they did. You'll learn something new each episode, even with the serial killers we've heard about for years.

Favorite episodes:

1. "The Toy-Box Killer" - David Parker Ray Parts 1 & 2 (clearly I find this case very interesting)

2. "The Butcher of Plainfield" - Ed Gein Parts 1 & 2 (learn about the case that made me interested in true crime in the first place! & S/O to Wisconsin?)

Spooky season may be coming to end now that it's Halloween, but if you ask me, true crime and the supernatural are interesting all year 'round! If any of these sound interesting to you, take a listen and be sure to let me know what you think! I can talk about these kinds of things all day.

SSDGM,

B