Campfire Radio Theater is an anthology horror series tied to no apparent central themes, no reoccurring characters, and as a bit of foreshadowing: not a consistent approach to storytelling. I picked the episodes semi-randomly, going mostly off if the title or premise seemed interesting.
Civilized is a first for me as a reviewer: it’s an improvisational podcast. Meaning the actors are just playing off each other. And as such, I can’t really judge it on its plot progression. Narrative, themes, writing quality: all out the window. There really isn’t even a storyline to speak of yet, just a premise.
Alba Salix, Royal Physician is such a departure from most podcasts I’ve come across in my career as a critic. It’s basically a cartoon but in an audio-only format. Each of the first three episodes is an isolated, silly situation with very little seeding for any future plots. It’s episodic, is what I’m saying—the point is to be a fun distraction and to make you laugh.
Weeping Cedars promised in its description to be a slow burn. And they weren’t kidding. The first three entries have a glacial pace, relying on their other strengths to carry the listener through. Basically, not a lot has happened yet.
Pseudopod is a juggernaut of horror podcasting, serving up stories at such a consistent pace that it’s now at 879 episodes (at time of writing). If you like horror even a little, I can pretty much guarantee you’ll find something amazing.
The Mistholme Museum of Mystery, Morbidity, and Morality is, for one thing, the piece of media with the longest title I’ve possibly ever reviewed. It’s also a podcast series with a premise I love. Though I have no idea how well Warehouse 13 holds up in quality or how well it has aged with its content since 2009, I used to be a massive fan of that series, and The Mistholme Museum feels like its cousin.
The Domestic Life of Anthony Todd puts me in an interesting conundrum. The early episodes have a negative quality that, as the story continues, turns out to be intentional and basically a plot point. But that didn’t make the first few episodes not annoying for its inclusion. Mulling it over almost becomes a question of artistic intent over general podcasting practices. Is it a good inclusion if it serves the story but risks the impatient listener simply bouncing off?
Unwell is a somewhat enigmatic listening experience, and I mean that complimentary. Unlike The Cellar Letters or even the much better The Storage Papers horror podcasts, the mysteries in this series are intriguing. It doesn’t feel like the answers to the proposed questions were only vaguely defined before the story began. This feels planned.
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Now it’s time for the negativity. The stuff I least enjoyed reviewing. I’ve sandwiched this part between two positive articles, so we don’t end this retrospective on a low note.
I’ve written many articles this year and reviewed piles of movies, tons of shows, and even a few books. And while a lot of media flees my memory once I’m done reviewing it, a few things were so good and memorable that they’ve stuck with me throughout the year. And in the same vein, some media pieces were so disappointing that I still wish for a better version.
Halloween is about to be here. A glorious time for celebrating spooky and horrifying things. And, if you’re not usually a horror fan but want to get into it this year, I have recommendations.
