Like comedy in a tragedy, like happiness in a drama, different types of genres have a tendency to have more than one trick up their sleeves to incite a variety of emotions out of their audience. The world of entertainment would be dull otherwise and podcasts are no less capable of pulling off a seamless overlap here and there. Some of the best out there are able to incite a number of emotional responses and the one most commonly explored is horror.

Though the horror podcast genre is in no short supply for audio drama, there are many who are able to capture the magic in their own special ways. Even shows that don’t brand themselves as horror can be scary in their own ways. No matter how brief or personal the experience, here is a small selection of moments from non-horror podcasts that I found especially chilling.

Wolf 359: Box 953

While Wolf 359 is certainly a series that values suspense in its later seasons and the concept of being abandoned in a barely functional spaceship is terrifying in its own ways, it’s really season one’s eighth episode, “Box 953” that shows what kind of creative potential the series is capable of with scary scenarios.

Though season one is relatively lighthearted with plots dedicated to hoarding toothpaste and wondering if space suits are itchy, “Box 953” feels like its own separate entity completely divorced from the show’s central plot, something that lead writer Gabriel Urbina confirms himself. 

It follows our protagonist Doug who, in an attempt to avoid his commander’s crew bonding talent show, sneaks off to an isolated room far off in the ship and finds a row of massive creates on his journey. 

While the rest of the crates’ contents are provided on a sheet of paper-a crate full of L-shaped lego blocks, shrunken heads, and another holding full sets of armor being one of few-we never learn what this create might be containing. To add to the mystery, the guide only informs us that the create is “reserved for Douglas Eiffel” and should not be opened under any circumstances. Doug also never uncovers the mystery by the end of the episode which leaves things out in the open with no follow up.

Some fans say it’s an empty casket, and, if not, possibly something with the same level of vague ominous energy as 2001: A Space Oddity’s The Monolith. A possible homage seeing as how Doug Eiffel seems to communicate exclusively through pop culture references and yet the lack of a joke or ever referencing the sacred box in later episodes just makes its discovery more intense.

This episode also predates “The Empty Man Cometh”, an entire twenty minutes dedicated to psychological trickery but “Box 953” is worthy of its special mention since, at least to this fan, it truly represents the tipping point into dark territory for Wolf 359.

MarsCorp: Learning to Live Correctly

There’s something very off putting about the ever growing weight of capitalism and this topic and how we can artistically represent it appears just about everywhere nowadays. 

In this prelude and the first real impression of science comedy MarsCorp comes this calm, quiet and bizarre monologue from Bonnie Clark.

The title of the episode alone,”Learning to Live Correctly” already preys on deep psychological fears and Bonnie only presses on with question after question as she tests the listener about their actual self worth and that their contributions as a worker is what truly matters.

“Having an opinion on anything is completely meaningless,” says Bonnie more than half way through the episode, and it’s here that you realize the low backtrack and her smooth voice makes the whole experience feel like brainwashing, dronification specifically.

Even if the episode is specifically made to condition drones, this does take place in the future after all, it still feels like the writing is woven with personal attacks on the listener. Bonnie is prone to say at least something that strikes a nerve be it about your work, your appearance, or your ability to hold a meaningful relationship-ultimately bullying you into submission if you’re a drone or not.

It’s not as scary as it is depressing but comparing this grim opening statement compared to an otherwise upbeat sci-fi comedy is always such a whiplash. There’s nothing else quite like this in the rest of Mars Corp, even if it does lean heavily on black comedy satire with many of its jokes, so one must wonder if we were spared a more cruel telling of the audio drama to match the likes of SAYER.

2298: Guiding Hand

Themes of isolation, sense of self, and relevance in an otherwise broken society are a common trend in podcasts and one that has done the theme exceptionally well is “2298” by A.R. Olivieri.

In its bite sized episodes that make up a brief single season, it introduces a future society that seems entirely rooted in a social media network that spans the whole world. Like Twitter with a sleek iPhone aesthetic, its core themes and what make it such a memorable and creepy listen is a combination of “TERMS & CONDITIONS” and, to a greater extent, “GUIDING HAND” that lays out the groundwork of the otherwise vague yet menacing setting.

The need to censor, monitor, and push harmful ideologies onto the masses to better control them is not only a relevant topic in today’s political climate, but also a cautionary look into a future where these kinds of people seeking that control succeed.

“2298” leaves much to the imagination with its dedication to minimalism and a single perspective, and it’s not too long until we realize our narrator has become entirely subservient to his oppressive overloads while we the audience can tell something is clearly wrong. The main character is not only part of a system he calls The Network but that he himself has fallen into their oppressive trappings and encourages their hostility.

“Could you imagine being so selfish?” Says the narrator in response to a controversial social media post pushing for individuality in the consumption of content that acts as the real centerpiece of the episode. A rebel with a cause being punished for speaking out is an equal parts true and tragic event that occurs in this episode but those who stand by idly and let it happen allow such horror to prevail.

Hadron Gospel Hour: “This Particle, Doomed!” OR “The Incident At Universe 603-X”

If it weren’t for it’s goofy execution and Douglas Adams’ style world building, Hadron Gospel Hour made by comedy duo Richard Wentworth and Michael McQuilken would be an epic cosmic horror story. On most days it isn’t but on others, it’s episode seventeen’s, “This Particle, Doomed!”

Picking just one example is already a bit hard seeing as how Hadron Gospel prefers long form episodes that packs a lot of story, overarching plots, and returning characters. Many of the one off episodes are rooted around Openheimer coming to face his failures of trying to weaponize the Hadron Effect and seeing what horrors and chaos sprung from it. 

One of the main characters is permanently stuck in a wall, there’s a corporate entity called Product Corp that owns literally everything right down to abusing their employees for 24/7advertisments, and my personal favorite detour being episode sixteen’s, “The Ballad of Freddie Plastic” which has a man becoming malformed after being merged with melted plastic but coming out the other end a superhero.

“This Particle, Doomed!” starts off slow with Mike, voiced by Michael McQuilken himself, going to a convention in hopes of meeting a crazed recluse he admires called Googar-Zoozar.

The episode takes a turn when Mike is promptly brainwashed over the course of one conversation with Googar, complete with a transidelic sound effect and Googar’s echoing voice,  and almost tricked into commiting suicide by drinking poison. Commander Funk, a side character who also makes an appearance half way through the episode, can’t even use his cosmic funky power to avoid the sonic hypnosis and becomes another one of Googar’s servants.

Googar seems like a bumbling idiot but also a bumbling idiot who will stoop to such lows to spread his message, even if it involves getting others and himself killed. Hadron Gospel Hour is a lot of things but a cautionary tale about cult ideologies and not trusting crazy men at conventions certainly isn’t what I expected out of them.

The Amelia Project, “Alicia Carin”

The Amelia Project is a show that directly markets itself as a calm and calculated dark comedy that takes death about as seriously as Wooden Overcoats. The opening narration before an episode even has the narrator encouraging the listener to pick up a cup of coco before tuning in, further honing itself to its coffee shop aesthetic.

The Amelia Project is a show about a mysterious but nonetheless warm and classy business that specializes in faking people’s deaths. The whole show is as silly as it is witty and clients can range from cult leaders to The Lochness Monster and Santa Claus in just a few episodes.

But one episode that’s one of my personal favorites and the qualifier for this list is season one, episode three’s “Alicia Carin.” In it a reality show celebrity of the same name must find a way to completely distance herself from her successful but nonetheless oppressive life of stardom, especially when the company she works for states that her continuing to exist as herself can prompt a lawsuit as they now own her entire being.

The solution offered for her predicament is when things take a darker turn as The Interviewer proposes Alicia go under extreme cosmetic surgery from their private doctor, Dr. Kozłowski.

“We’ll get Kozłowski to replace your liver, your kidneys, your heart, your lungs, your intestines, your pancreas, your blood, your facial tissue, your ligaments,” The Interviewer rattles off with a sort of displaced happiness “…replace everything with synthetic parts.” 

It’s only after Alicia is confused and disgusted by the idea that they settle on a brain transplant between her and her eerily identical understudy, not that this solution is any less bizarre.

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