Ok, so my friend Garpu suggested this podcast after Black Tapes ended.  And it’s pretty fun.  The Magnus Archives starts out as individual statements about various supernatural happenings.  Initially they sound unconnected to one another, but as you listen for awhile, you start to recognize various names and creatures, and then it launches into it’s full meta plot, and I’ll admit that when it really got going, I gasped and jumped while sitting on the bus on the commute home.

Why do I do this to myself?

I live in a region where for three months of the year we have less than 8 hours of sunlight, and I listen to horror podcasts and ghost story podcasts almost exclusively.

Granted, right now we’re heading into the less than 8 hours of night time of year so that’s not so bad.

But anyway, the Magnus Archives, produced by Rusty Quill, starts out sounding like a solo podcast, then slowly other voice actors are brought in to do other characters.

The production values are pretty fantastic, with some sound effects, but they aren’t obtrusive.  And at no time has the plot made me roll my eyes or sigh.  It’s really well written, plotted and paced. It has a slow build up, but it doesn’t drag it out. And the early episodes are interesting enough on their own that it never feels slow. I highly recommend this podcast if you’re into spooky podcasts.

This podcast also has the distinction of having two episodes that are the only actual play podcast that I’ve ever enjoyed.  I tend not to like listening to other people playing.  They’d recorded themselves playing Deadlands, Five Englishmen attempting to do American Old West accents, with the exception of the one guy who was supposed to play a Mexican character, but was incapable, in their words, of “doing a Mexican accent with any sensitivity,” so that character became a Yorkshireman with a horse named Jeffy (instead of El Jefe).  It was for a Halloween special for another podcast, but as they are taking a mid-season break they decided to release them on Magnus Archives.

Those gaming episodes make me wonder if I should give Rusty Quill’s gaming podcast a shot.

Anyway, yes, if you enjoy spooky podcasts, I highly recommend the Magnus Archives.

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