Pseudopod is the world’s premier horror fiction podcast. Each week, Pseudopod brings you the best short horror in audio form, to take with you anywhere. Pseudopod has won the annual Parsec Awards twice, and been a finalist six times.
WARNING: This is a podcast of horror fiction. The stories presented here are intended to disturb. They are likely to contain death, graphic violence, explicit sex (including sexual violence), hate crimes, blasphemy, or other themes and images that hook deep into your psyche. We do not provide ratings or content warnings. We assume by your listening that you wish to be disturbed for your entertainment. If there are any themes that you cannot deal with in fiction, that are too strongly personal to you, please do not listen.
Pseudopod is for mature audiences only. Hardly any story on Pseudopod is suitable for children. We mean this very seriously.
And Pseudopod would like us to tell you: every story is true.
Hosts and Editors[]
From its start in August 2006 through July 2007, Pseudopod was co-hosted and co-edited by Ben Phillips and Mur Lafferty. In July 2007, Mur stepped down from PseudoPod and Alasdair Stuart stepped into hosting. Ben Phillips stepped down from PseudoPod at the end of 2010, when Shawn Garrett took over as editor. Alex Hofelich joined Shawn in 2015 as co-editor.
Press and Reviews[]
"If horror fiction is your jam, look no further than Pseudopod, a podcast specializing in short story horror. Coming with an advisory warning that listeners should take seriously, the show covers stories that do not shy away from difficult topics. With a roving cast of hosts, the show is able to match the right narrator to the story and the end result is often an irresistible blend of intimate storytelling. The stories highlighted are varied and can range from gothic tales centered on ghosts to character studies steeped in perversion. But the end result is always a well-crafted journey into themes that will appeal to fans of the written horror.
Mandatory Listening: Episode 415: Night’s Foul Bird is a harrowing story that will make you rethink what it is you believe to be true about vampires (hint: they aren’t sparkly)." source: 5 essential podcasts for horror fans - Entertainment Weekly
"Another expertly-produced and multiple-award-winning horror fiction podcast, Pseudopod runs the full gamut of short-form horror tales, from Lovecraftian lore to bizarro gore, and all shades in between. Showrunners Shawn M. Garrett & Alex Hofelich have assembled an elite team of voice artists to narrate and enact audio versions of short stories from an award-winning roster of writers as well as user-submitted short stories from around the world (they’re always looking for new material, so be sure to check out their submission guidelines). Dulcet-voiced host Alasdair Stuart gives each story an elegant prologue with details about the author, which helps capture the feel of hearing passages from a forbidden occult tome in an antique study before a crackling fire… but don’t be misled by the classy presentation; these stories are designed to disturb, and are for adults only." source: Ten Horror Podcasts You Should Be Listening To Right Now - Blumhouse
"The middle child of the Escape Artists podcasts, Pseudopod brings listeners the best horror stories week after week. Pseudopod is hosted by Alasdair Stuart, who always provides great observations and insights about the world following each story." This is followed by a curated list of thirteen recommended stories. Source: The Audio File: Pseudopod
"I've covered a few fiction podcasts over the year - but Pseudopod remains my favourite. It's a website featuring horror stories - partner podcasts cover fantasy, science fiction, young adult fiction - and while the audio readings themselves are top notch, what I really like is that episodes also feature a mood-setting introduction and a discussion afterwards of the themes featured in the story. Many years ago, on the BBC, there was a fantastic series of movies as part of their Moviedrome season, introduced and discussed by director Alex Cox. Pseudopod is the Moviedrome of horror podcasting. It's like those moments sitting chatting with friends about what you loved in a story, all done with keen insight into the issues laid bare by the writer, and by the actor reading the story aloud." source: top 5 podcast shows this year - Altered Instinct
"[PseudoPod] will always hold a place close to my heart. It was the first modern horror storytelling podcast I stumbled upon and it lead me to their sister podcasts, Escape Pod (Science Fiction) and PodCastle (Fantasy). Between the three of them I am entertained for days.
This one picks a variety of horror flavored stories to share and produces them with very professional audio. I am never disappointed by an episode." source: Top 10 Horror Story Podcasts that Will Terrify You - Horror Made
If you want to look at our story list through an alternate history lens, this list is an excellent place to start: http://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-alt-hist-file-pseudopod.html