Tis The Season For Horror

The time of year is upon us for flannel, pumpkin spice lattes, and of course, scary stories. As I sit here at my desk snuggled up in my hoodie and sipping on my latte while listening to a narrator tell me about djinn, I started to wonder just how long we’ve been telling each other scary stories.  

According to the Big Think, in relation to horror stories in Western literature, “horror stories are as old as storytelling itself, their origins stretching all the way back to Greek antiquity”. The monsters that are regulars in movies now: “vampires, werewolves, zombies, demons, and ghosts can all trace their origin to medieval and in some cases, ancient times”. First century Roman authors wrote about haunted houses and werewolves, while in the Dark Ages, The Divine Comedy and Beowulf were penned. 

“The 18th and 19th centuries became the Golden Age of horror stories”. The Castle of Otranto was written in 1764 followed by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in 1818 and Bran Stoker’s Dracula in 1897.

The 20th century brought us H.P Lovecraft and Stephen King and today, in my very unprofessional opinion, the tradition continues as urban legends and creepypasta.  

Today we’ve brought horror stories into the digital age with horror narration channels on YouTube. In the spirit of the spooky season, I thought I would share a few of my favorites for you to check out. 

Lore: With over 8 million subscribers, the channel created by Aaron Mahnke is one of the largest horror narration channels I’ve found on YouTube. In the description, Lore is described as “exposing the darker side of history, exploring the creatures, people, and places of our wildest nightmares”. Lore is part of Aaron Mahnke's Grim and Mild Podcast network and has also been adapted into a series on Amazon Prime. Aaron Mahnke has also written several books and a comic book series. 

Darkness Prevails: With over 600k subscribers, the channel is described as “stories of the unexplained and terrifying from everyday folk all over the world”. Darkness Prevails is part of the Eeriecast Network that includes Freaky Folklore, Redwood Bureau, and Tales from the Breakroom.  

Tell me some of your favorite horror narration channels on the B92.1 app.