P.P.T Week One: The Harry Strange Radio Drama

“Magic and magical people — the ‘unnatural order’ is all around us. There are white witches, black witches, demons, vamps, werewolves, shape shifters, ghosts; it’s a protoplasmic party of creature features out there. But unless you know where to look, you won’t find them. I know where to look.

My name is Harry Strange.”

From their website: " Harry Strange is an award winning radio drama that tells the tale of a private investigator whose beat takes him into the supernatural. Harry's adventures bring him face-to-face with demons, succubi, vampires and all manner of 'unnatural' and the occasional 'natural' evil. "

Check it out here: http://www.harrystrange.com/

Harry Strange isn't the most beautifully produced podcast ever, but they seem to be self aware of that. In fact, they seem to play it up a bit with their acting and sound effects. It's often over-the-top and it fits. So well. It has its own style and flair that makes it different from other pods.

Certain aspects of it...the self-awareness, the embracing of it's style, the fact Harry is immortal and has a slew of people who assist him (and whom often end up in danger)...reminds me very much of Doctor Who. Just PI-noir style (with a supernatural bent), and not sci-fi.

While I've made no decisions yet, I think The Harry Strange Radio Drama will survive another week in my personal podcast tournament.

Personal Podcast Tournament: Week 1

It's no secret that I'm a fan of "elimination" games. For example, my favorite Sims challenge is The Bachelor Challenge.

I like to do this with my everyday life too. I'm planning my next Disney trip and we're selecting restaurants by eliminating the ones we don't want, round by round, until we are left with the amount we need. It makes me feel more sure of the decisions I make. I can be indecisive, and it is easier to decide to eliminate one and keep the rest than to just choose one. At least in my brain.

Which is why I'm doing my own personal little podcast tournament to decide what shows I will listen to each week.

My list of podcasts that I listen to is way too long, and I end up listening to episodes weeks, months or even years after they are aired. I'd like to do a better job of keeping up with my favorites. My new plan is to update my MP3 player weekly, and only download just enough to get me to the next week.

But...which ones to choose?

And...how many to choose?

That's where the fun happens!!!!

Each week, I will have a selection of shows that I am "considering", as well as a growing pool of shows I keep up with weekly. The pool of "keeping" weekly shows is starting at 0. The pool of "considering" is starting at 10. (If I run out during the week, I have a bunch of things I downloaded already that I need to clear out of my MP3 player, so I will just listen to that).

At the end of each round, one show will be moved from the "considering" pool to the "keeping weekly" pool, and one show will move from the "considering" to the "not now" pool. Those that remain in the "considering" pool will stay for another week in that same pool. I will replace the two I removed from the considering pool with new podcasts from my "need to try" list.

Okay, to recap...

• Pods start out on a list in my Bullet Journal of pods I want to try or am currently listening to.
• Pods will move from that list to my "considering" list
• Pods will stay on the considering list until one of two things happen:
  • Either they get added to the "keeping" list that I will update weekly.
  • Or they will get rejected, for now, to the "not now" list.

Meanwhile, I will keep you updated on my progress here. Why? So you can get some podcast recommendations, of course! Also, please leave comments with your own recommendations if you have any!!!

My first 10 in the "Considering Pool"

1. The Harry Strange Radio Drama
2. No Sleep
3. The Lift
4. Criminal
5. Tanis
6. Pod Save America
7. Wooden Overcoats
8. Subject: Found*
9. In the Dark*
10. Tunnels*

* These three podcasts are entirely new to me. The others I have listened to several episodes of (at least).

I will take the time to detail out these podcasts in the future- giving you my reactions, recommendations, and a general description of what they are about. Discussing them now would take far too long!

I started this yesterday, so I already have some comments. I will post those tomorrow!

8 Halloween Podcast Recommendations

1. Anything Ghost- Anything Ghost has been around for awhile now, so the audio and formatting are well-established. I consider this the least creepy of the podcasts I'm going to recommend. Anything Ghost tells personal ghost stories as reported by the people who experienced them. This means that the vast majority are just minor events or things that make you wonder. If you have a healthy dose of skepticism (like me), you'll find these stories curious, but not scary.
2. Here Be Monsters- Here be Monsters is not about anything supernatural and it is non-fiction. These are stories about real-life monsters, fears, the unknown....the topics are interesting, fascinating, often dark, and all over the place. This week's episode is about a boy growing up in a deeply religious environment and trying to fight his attraction to other boys. Last episode, we learned about flesh-eating beetles. And the week before that, a girl's battle with an eating disorder. It's hard to explain the atmosphere of the show, so just give it a listen.
3. Alice Isn't Dead- Alice Isn't Dead is a unique piece of fiction about a truck driver and her pursuit for her missing wife. You bounce back and forth between her talking in her truck, to events occurring recently on her mission, to flashbacks from her past with her wife. It's from the Welcome to Night Vale folks, and the audio is very good. It is more supernatural murder mystery...not too scary, but creepier than the above two.
4. Welcome to Lime Town- Limetown is another fictional supernatural mystery. It's about an entire community that went missing. The tone is creepier than Alice, in my opinion. Still safe for non-horror people though. :)
5. The Lift- The Lift is creepy, but low on the scary scale. There is a bit of supernatural, plenty of murder, and plenty of evil people. It's very well done, and creepy little Victoria adds a certain playful & cute vibe. I love this one.
6. We're Alive- A serialized zombie survival story that will take you a LONG time to get through. The voice acting and audio is fantastic. It is a "can't-put-down" situation like a good book. It's pretty action packed with plenty of zombie killings, so non-horror people be wary.
7. No Sleep- This is a straight-up horror podcast. However, it was the thing that made me realize I LIKED horror. I was completely unaware until I found this beautifully produced podcast of short fiction that just happens to be horror. Since it's audio, the gore factor is minimal. If you are interested in horror at all, you should give it a go. If you dislike horror, please turn around now.
8. Pseudopod- This podcast is new to me, so I'm unsure where it falls on the creepy scale. However, I did just listen to a very creepy, slightly scary and well-produced piece that had me on the edge of my seat. So, I think this one is going to be down here with No Sleep.

Pleasant Nightmares!