March was an odd month in audio fiction or audio dramas. I found myself leaning more towards the dark. Not necessarily the scary or horrifying, but the starkly real and haunting. More than usual, it took a lot of effort to find stories that weren’t all doom and gloom, that didn’t take a magnifying glass to our current situation and set fire to it. 

I’m happy to say that I succeeded at rounding up a collection of audio dramas that are shocking, true, imaginative, funny, and enthralling. An eclectic blend from across the audiosphere that stood out from the noise. My aim is to less review, but to recommend something new or to remind you of an old favorite that deserves a repeat listen. 

As always, if you are the creator or writer for an audio drama or audio fiction podcast, please drop me a line through my site, on Twitter, or in my inbox. Let me know what you’re working on and putting out into the world. I can’t guarantee it’ll make it on one of these roundups, but I can guarantee that I’ll listen to it with an open mind and excitement for your words.  

SCIENCE FICTION

The Strange Case of Starship Iris

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of queer content. I eat that shit up like jam. I’m also a bit of a sci-fi nerd who loves a good romp through space with a crew of marauders. That’s what the audio drama a The Strange Case of Starship Iris is all about. So, I was hooked from the first episode. The show follows a crew of smugglers in a galaxy far in the future as they scratch out existence in the war-torn stars. Even though it premiered a few years back in 2017, I listened to it for the first-time last month because they released a new episode at the beginning of March, “The Museum Heist”, that added another favorite genre of mine, heists, to the whole mix. The voice acting of the show flows between the characters naturally without suffering from lackluster interactions and placid emotions. The tension, friendships, and romance are all well-acted, allowing the show to carry a lot of intrigue and conflict without exhausting the listener. 

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HORROR

CreepsMcPasta Creepypasta Radio, “Why my father went into the woods”

Forget the name for a moment—or don’t-— CreepsMcPasta Creepypasta Radio is actually solidly scary and not a joke show. Pulling from Reddit and internet urban legends, CreepsMcPasta Creepypasta Radio brings listeners a blend of new age horror. A lot of the stories come from the No Sleep subreddit, some with authors and others without names or authors attached, just vague life details that could be real or made-up. The only thing for certain is that the tales featured on CreepsMcPasta Creepypasta Radio sometimes dances too close to everyday life. Though there is a stacked back catalog of stories for listeners to dive into, I want to shine a light on one of the many released during March, “Why my father went into the woods” written by author Brandon Faircloth about a family mystery coming to find a man after the recent death of his father. 

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Light House

Another spooky delight I had the pleasure of stumbling upon this past month was Light House, which is both parts mystery and horror. Parts of it reminded me of The Haunting Series with all its familial ghosts, haunted people, and hungry spaces. This is an older podcast that wrapped up its final episode back in the summer of 2020. But I got a thing for older. There’s no guess work to whether the creators are going to finish the story. It’s all laid out. The creators have are also putting out a new show based off a local LA legend of the Putty Man, Searching for Putty Man. It sounds just as mysterious and spooky as Light House. That podcast tells the story of a woman and her family who inherit a home and a ghost that’s been waiting, deserted, for something to feed upon. 

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CHILDREN’S

Circle Round, “Counting Crocodiles”

Circle Round is a children’s audio fiction show featuring tales from around the world acted by actors from around the world. There’s music and sound effects that takes the energy of the voice actors up a notch and makes the show not only fun but entertaining to listen to. Best for kids aged four to ten, but the wide sampling of stories, folktales, structures, and themes makes Circle Round perfect for any lover of storytelling. This past March, Circle Round released five episodes, all of which are stellar and deserve a listen. But if I was to recommend one from their recent line up, it’d be the episode “Counting Crocodiles” about survival and cunning wits.

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FANTASY

Hello From the Magic Tavern

The funniest fantasy show I’ve listened to in a while, Hello From the Magic Tavern, is the perfect mesh of fantasy, audio dramas, and interview shows. Set up like a mock talk show between fantastical creatures and characters from a mad-up land called Foon, Hello From the Magic Tavern has almost 100 episodes of hilarious parody interviews with spirits, princes, wizards, and heroes on a quest to defeat the dark lord. Each episode builds a larger picture of the world and even connects certain characters and storylines. I’ve come across fantasy interview shows that are obnoxious, overly inaccessible, and hard to follow, Hello From the Magic Tavern was none of those things and had me laughing from the first episode.

Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Website

Tumanbay 

CW: racism, abuse, brutal depictions of slavery practices

Tumanbay was my month of March. I’ve never heard an audio drama quite like it. The historical fantasy comes from a partnership with Goldhawk Productions, the BBC, and IHeartRadio, so to say that it’s a large-scale production is an understatement. It is a meticulous production with impeccable sound design all the way down to the background silence during scenes. Inspired by the Mamluk slave dynasty of Egypt during 1250–1517, there are brutal and realistic depictions of how slave owners treated and felt about the people they enslaved. It’s done to such a point that I had to stop a few times to collect myself before continuing the very intriguing story of political drama and fantasy elements. It’s entire four seasons ran back in 2020, wrapping up in November, so listeners can hear the full show without having to wait for the next episode to drop. 

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EROTICA

Titillating Stories, “Lola by the Lake”

To be very up front and honest, I felt like the voice acting in Titillating Stories was a bit over the top and comical. I wasn’t even going to include it on the list, but I kept listening because it takes a lot for me to stop an episode in the middle. I’m glad I listened past my knee-jerk reaction to the creator’s voice. The stories are what kept me tuned in and excited about what was going to happen next. Like I’ve already mentioned: queer shows are my jam, so when I realized one of March’s episodes was about a gay hook up, I was interested to see how the writer would handle it. And I was not disappointed.

Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher 

As we move faster and faster into the future, I hope that you can be kind enough to yourself to take a moment and listen to a new story, a new tale. Even if it’s outside of your comfort zone, take a step in a new direction. If you do and find yourself falling down a hole of audio dramas, drop me a line. Tell me about it. I’m always on the lookout for something new, something different. 

I also insist that you go beyond listening to these podcasts but support them by sharing them with other people, donating to the creators or subscribing as a returning listener. These acts of support not only show the creators that people are into what they are creating, but it also helps ensure these podcasts keep getting made.

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