r/audiodrama

Something kinda like a Blair Witch, which is a found footage film of what the characters filmed in universe. Is there like a version of an audio drama where it’s showing a sort of “in universe podcast” where things go wrong like in found footage horror films?

Hi all! I've really enjoyed listening to audiodramas in the comedy/mystery overlap zone, and now I'm looking to build up a list of more to check out, if anyone has recommendations! I'm looking for anything that's really funny, but also has a strong mystery plot behind it. Some mystery/comedies I've already listened to and enjoyed include Who Exploded Vivien Stone and Victoriocity (my two favorite ADs of all time), Sherlock and Co, and Fawx and Stallion (which I liked but didn't love as much as the others). I've also just started on Mockery Manor, which I'm enjoying so far.

(also, this might make me a bit of a snob, especially as I'm American myself, but it's worth noting that I have a slight preference for British ADs)

Can I please have recommendation of short shows easy to listen that have a definitive ending and no cliffhanger or an ending that leaves room for another season.

This year has been long so far and I want to take it easy for my birthday. I am feeling brain tired and I want something easy to listen that spoon feeds me all the answers and explanations.

There's like 4 instances of episode 2 and that's not the only one

Can anyone recommend good sci-fi audio dramas?

I’m looking for something with great stories, interesting characters and genuinely immersive world-building.

Standalone, anthologies, long running series, limited series, I'm open to all.

Thankyou.

EDIT: WOW! Thank you all for all the suggestions.

Note: Reddit's formatting for post preview formatting is REALLY broken.

Producer Guy: So you’ve got a new audio drama for me?

Writer Guy: Yes sir, I do. It’s called Limetown and it’s about a public radio reporter who decides to research the disappearance of more than 300 people from a remote company town where her uncle Emil used to work.

PG: A disappearance huh?

WG: Yeah all the people that lived there are gone! Vanished! And all anyone knows is there was a 911 call from a resident and a news copter sees a big fire and then a bunch of reporters and emergency responders show up but get denied access to the town by private security guards.

PG: The police don't stop them from interfering with an emergency?

WG: Ahhh... <look at notes> No.

PG: Well okay then. So what happens next?

WG: So afterwards the place turns out to be deserted, there's not a shred of evidence anywhere, and all the guards get sent to Guantanamo Bay!

PG: [laughing] Sorry, it sounded like you said "sent to Guantanamo Bay".

WG: Yeah it's all super spooky and mysterious. Anyway ten years later that woman Lia I told you about decides "Hey someone should look into all this" so does that for her podcast.

PG: It took 10 years for something like that to happen?

WG: Well see, the news cycle moved on. Y'know, gay marriage and other stuff so eventually people stopped caring... which also means somehow there was no market for anything related to the inexplicable disappearance of an entire U.S. municipality.

PG: What about the FBI or state authorities? And the lawsuits from the families alone would-

WG: Look, sir we need this to be something that can only be uncovered by our intrepid protagonist so I need you to get all the way off my back right now.

PG: Sure, let me get off that thing!

WG: Anyway Lia finds out the town was built by this rich business guy to attract top scientists for a very important project. And this place was completely self contained, like people worked and lived there with everyone doing double duties as janitors and barbers and things like that.

PG: Telling the world's best scientists they'll work as janitors sounds like a terrible job offer and use of their time. But how does Lia find all this out?

WG: Ah, get this sir. There are actually multiple surviving residents of the town around for her to talk to.

PG: Wowowowow. So they tell Lia what happened?

WG: Actually whenever she asks anything really important they'll deflect with "How are you not there yet?" or "That's not the right question!" or they'll just dive into their personal backstory for a long period of time.

PG: A very indirect group of survivors! And Lia's fine with this?

WG: Oh yeah, which is really helpful because I need for there to be just enough information dripped out each episode to fill up a season.

PG: Smart. Now how's this thing end?

WG: Well it turns out the scientists in Limetown were doing secret experiments on human consciousness and gave some of the residents mental powers just like Lia's uncle and that caused violence to break out.

PG: Oh no!

WG: Yeah but then Lia meets a woman who was there doing corporate espionage to steal the technology and she was the one responsible for everyone in town disappearing and covering it up.

PG: How?

WG: Caves and chemicals!

PG: Ohhh caves and chemicals are tight! I used to do that on the weekend sometimes. But hey wouldn't it be near impossible to hide the evidence for all this?

WG: Actually it's super easy! Barely an inconvenience!

PG: Oh really?

WG: Yeah we'll just have the espionage lady keep saying how good she is at her job. So yeah... that should do it.

PG: Very convincing. Except that 911 call which could've told the authorities anything and the big fire that attracted attention and such.

WG: Oh yeah... Whoops!

PG: Whoopsie!

WG: And so that's it, the espionage lady tries to get Lia to be part of a suicide pact live on air then kills herself because it was all a draw-out plot right as people burst in and drag Lia away. The end.

PG: ....GEEZ. And so this will all make sense and pay off somehow next season?

WG: Maybe! Who's to say?

PG: You, I think? Wait... did you do a Lost where all the effort went into setting up a cool mystery and not on how it ends?>

WG: Dang it. But hey maybe audiences don't even want that, you know? Like maybe the real payoff will be all the suspense and theorizing we did along the way.

PG: I guess that could be true.

[Smash cut to articles/posts titled "Why Limetown Season 2 Disappointed" and "Listeners frustrated by lack of resolution"]

I started listening to it the other day as a workplace listen and honestly, I'm surprised it's not more popular. It's about a doctor, Radulf Burntwine, and the many odd cases he encounters of the horror and eldritch variety.

The worldbuilding is incredible, as someone who loves applying a more "realistic" spin to various horror scenarios. What if Zombies were a recognized disease? Lycanthropy? I've also, frankly, been looking for more horror that borrows from Judaism that isn't obviously filtered through a culturally Christian lens.

And Radulf is a great character to be stuck with, since everything is from his perspective. He's old, he's grumpy, he gives kids candy at check ups for being so brave in going to the doctor. oh, and in my mind he looks like Mandy Patinkin lol

not a very long or in depth review I just needed to do a quick gush about a podcast I admittedly avoided because I thought "thorb" was a silly name

I absolutely loved TMA, I was practically addicted to it when I first found it. After finishing it, I've not found much else I like that's on Youtube. Most suggestions are exclusively on Spotify, but I don't like Spotify. I want more podcasts that are similarly episodic and also have a long running story, but I'm willing to try different things. I mostly just need a new podcast to listen to.

So, does anyone have recommendations for horror podcasts on Youtube specifically?

Hello! It’s finally started raining where I live and am looking for any autumn / longer nights / winter creeping in recommendations. I have searched the sub, am seeing if there’s any specific recommendations or anyone’s personal faves that I’ve missed.

I would prefer full cast, and an overarching story. My favourite audiodramas are The Lovecraft Investigations, The Magnus Archives, a lot of the Limelight series, Sherlock and Co. I enjoyed The White Vault, various QCODE shows and Modes of Thought.

I’m assuming my request leans more to horror. My main hope is for anything that feels a bit immersive & atmospheric. Thanks in advance!

I keep trying to get into new shows, but so many of them are strictly serialized. Novels or miniseries type format. A great deal of them don't even have re-caps preceding them, making them difficult to pick up and go from.

Besides anthologies, have there been any shows lately that've used a more episodic format?

That's slightly subjective. I'll make it more precise: do you have a "favorite" episode of your show you can recommend to anyone without requiring a great deal of context?

Most podcasts are episodes in a series, but these will be unique dramas, maybe 4-6 per year.

How should I approach getting them out there ?

EDIT: 30-90 minute full plays. Maybe drama, comedy. Serious or fun. Small cast.

Midnight Burger 10/10
Old Gods of Appalachia 10/10
Parkdale Haunt 10/10
Woodbine 10/10
Bright Sessions 10/10
Desert Skies 10/10
Harbingers 10/10
Unseen 9/10
Wolf 359 9/10
EOS 10 9/10
The Liberty Podcast 9/10
Two Thousand and Late 9/10
Wooden Overcoats 9/10
Josie’s Lonely Hearts Club 8/10
Our Fair City 8/10
Where the Stars Fell 8/10
Nine to Midnight 8/10
BOOM 8/10
Eliza: A Robot Story 8/10
Jackie the Ripper 8/10
Zero Hours 8/10
Unknown 9 7/10
The Department of Variance of Somewhere, Ohio 7/10
Dean’s Killer Joke 7/10
The Occurrence in River Oaks 7/10
Metropolis 7/10
Victoriocity 7/10
Bleeders DIEgest 7/10
90 Degrees South 7/10
Brimstone Valley Mall 7/10
How I Died 7/10
Next Stop 7/10
Afflicted 7/10
The Diaries of Nectovicius the Vampire 7/10
The White Vault 7/10
World Gone Wrong 6/10
Blood Thirsty Hearts 6/10
October’s Children 6/10
Unwell 6/10
Don’t Mind 6/10
Null/Void 6/10
Modes of Thought In Anterran Literature 6/10
Dark Heights 6/10

Honorable Mentions include… The Magnas Archives, The Amelia Project, King Falls FM, and Spines. I couldn’t finish them and won’t rate them unless I do. It’s not that I think they’re bad, I think they’re very well made but for one reason or another they just weren’t for me.

I like things that really make you feel human. I’m not ashamed to say some of these have had me crying happy tears. I love found family. Ensemble casts. I would say I hate slow burns most of the time. I have focusing issues so I love good performances and stories that don’t get too complicated and confusing. Thank you in advance and if the list looks familiar it’s my third time posting with some new shows added.

Spotted in today's Podnews, a paper on the upcoming tool that might make it easier to create (lower quality) audio dramas from existing fictional written works