Without the original, no list of narrative podcasts is complete. Welcome to Night Vale has been around almost as long as podcasts have, and it's still one of the greatest out there. Cecil Gershwin Palmer leads you through the weird and sensational incidents of a town somewhere in the Southwestern United States, presented as a radio show in a fictional town.

Night Vale, a little town in an unnamed desert somewhere in the American Southwest, is a place where ghosts, angels, aliens, and government conspiracies are all ordinary. It is here that the lives of two women will collide, each with her own mystery. A strange man in a tan jacket clutching a deer skin suitcase hands Jackie Fierro, a 19-year-old Night Vale pawn shop proprietor, a paper marked "King City". Everything about him and his paper make her uneasy, particularly the fact that she can't seem to get the paper out of her grip and that no one who encounters him remembers anything about him. Jackie is determined to uncover the mystery of King City and the man in the tan jacket before she herself unravels.

Josh, the son of Night Vale PTA treasurer Diane Crayton, is temperamental and a shapeshifter. And recently, Diane has noticed her son's father following her around everywhere she goes, appearing exactly the same as the day he left years ago when they were both teenagers. Josh, who appears to be changing every time Diane sees him, develops a growing interest in his estranged father, culminating in a calamity Diane can foresee but cannot avoid. Diane's search for a way to reconnect with her son and Jackie's search for a way back to her old life intersect when they both return to two words: "King City". If they can ever discover it, King City holds the key to both their puzzles and their futures.

Website: https://www.welcometonightvale.com/

Mabel is one of the best new horror podcasts on the market right now. Its distinct storytelling and setting set it apart from other modern podcasts in the category. This podcast tells a chillingly familiar story by combining familiar elements like ghosts, labyrinths, and mystery with modern technology. This podcast is new, fascinating, and engaging. It's ideal for late-night listening, especially around Halloween.

Mabel follows Anna Limon, a live-in caregiver, as she explores the home of her charge, Sally Martin. Mabel Martin, the woman's granddaughter, is contacted by Anna. She primarily wishes to inquire about her granny. Sally, like many persons who have caretakers, suffers from dementia. Sally has an outburst a week later while browsing through a box she'd collected from the attic. Sally sends Anna a disturbing message, which she must relay to Mabel. The longer she spends with Sally, the creepier the place seems. Mabel presently has 24 episodes. The episodes are about 20 and 30 minutes long, just the right amount of time to finish a podcast bing. Right now, there are two seasons available!

Website: https://mabelpodcast.com/

Wooden Overcoats is an absolutely brilliant work of audio comedy. The characters are what really make it sparkle, aside from the snappy writing, vibrant conversation, and true laugh-out-loud fun. The town of Piffling Vale is bursting at the seams with fascinating personalities. The naive mayor, the agnostic priest, the overzealous baker/detective, and the overly overworked doctor are all both silly and surprisingly human. Each of their character arcs starts out a little over-the-top, but they quickly win your heart.

On a little terrible business day in the village, you will meet Rudyard and Antigone Funn, funeral planners. They're a great pair together. Their conversation is brisk and incisive. Audio-fiction can often necessitate a certain level of focus and concentration in order to keep the plot straight, but there's nothing to worry about here. A new funeral home in the hamlet, managed by the lovely and engaging Eric Chapman, is posing a threat to Funn Funeral Directors (to whom Antigone can barely manage to speak a single sentence, so overwhelmed is she by his handsomeness). As a result, a fierce, humorous, and incredibly petty competition between the two enterprises is set in motion.

Website: https://www.woodenovercoats.com/

Limetown is a Two-Up Productions podcast fiction series that premiered on July 29, 2015, and became the number one US podcast on iTunes in less than two months. The show has been compared to Serial, a popular podcast, and The X-Files, a popular television show from the 1990s. Zack Akers wrote and directed the series, which was produced by Skip Bronkie. On October 30/2018, the second season premiered.

Lia Haddock is a news journalist on the hunt for a story that would uncover the truth about the fabled Limetown, a community where the whole population vanished in an instant. This fictional story begins as your typical 'missing persons' conspiracy tale, led by a feisty but naive reporter until it progressively changes into something more sinister and menacing.

Limetown is a masterclass in how to construct a narrative that will get people interested and toe the line between fact and fiction; the performances and direction of the story are sometimes so believable, that you might find yourself googling the location of the ruined town. It's eerie and pervasive, and it's something you should listen to before reading the novel.

Website: https://twoupproductions.com/limetown/podcast

Within the Wires is an epistolary fiction-inspired dramatic anthology podcast. The listener, a medical detainee at a facility known as the institution, is guided by the enigmatic narrator of educational relaxation cassettes in the first season. You'll fall in love with the show's unusual storytelling approaches, and each season takes a fresh approach to how it frames and delivers its story.

The story of the first season is told through a series of modified guided meditation cassettes that speak directly to you, the listener. What appears to be typical cryptic and imprecise relaxation instructions quickly turn into smuggled escape plans from a government institute where you, the listener, have been imprisoned for disobeying the rules of your dystopian society. Season 2 tells its story through increasingly personal art museum audio guide snippets, which you, the listener, utilize to take you through a missing artist's exhibition. Season 3 is a narrated email exchange transcript. Each season reveals more and more about the strange new world in which these stories are set, and hearing that picture take shape is breathtaking.

Website: http://www.nightvalepresents.com/withinthewires