I finally gave in to peer pressure and started listening to The Magnus Archives and oh boy, is this funny because the only thing I knew beforehand was that this Jon dude and this Martin dude are very gay for each other canonically but so far it’s only been like
Season 1 Jon: Ugh Martin is such a NUISANCE. He is so INCOMPETENT and STUPID and I Do. Not. Like. Him.
Season 2 Jon: Martin is so much more competent and clever than I thought. Also, he is so nice to me since I came back and for some reason, he won’t quit his job here. Clearly, there can only be one reason for all of this - he is evil. And to prove it, I read his complete poetry collection.
It’s a fiction podcast! A very good one, imo. It’s horror and (from what I’ve heard) isn’t set up to have the happiest of endings, so I do recommend it with caution. However, if either of those aren’t deal breakers I highly suggest giving it a try. The story follows Jonathan Sims, head archivist of the Magnus Institute, an organization that investigates and keeps records of supernatural occurrences. Each episode functions as a short story wherein Jonathan records a statement (via old fashioned recorder) that someone has made about their supernatural experience and the listener realizes very early on that all the statements we hear - the ones not digitized but taken down with the recorder - are the ones that really happened. So you get a great horror story each episode as well as (eventually) a long-term story about how many of these experiences actually fit together, the things beginning to stalk Jonathan, his relationships with other members of the archive, the mysteries surrounding his predecessor… it’s a damn good time :D
They’re all free too. You can listen on Rusty Quill’s website or (like me) use Spotify.
I’m not stupid enough to listen to The Magnus Archives. I know how this works. I’ve seen it happen again and again. One day friend decides to give it a listen and suddenly that friend is gone. Only TMA fan content remains. Soon I will have lost all my friends and will be surrounded only by empty shells posting fanart of eyeballs man and hole boy and texts posts about a scary grandma named Gertrude. You can’t catch me with this incredibly obvious soul trap you stupid fuckers. I’m not listening to your goddamn cursed podcast.
I have mad respect for the guy from Episode 2 of The Magnus Archives. The coffin says “Do Not Open?” He doesn’t open it, by George. The thing inside acts up when he puts things on top of the coffin? He stops doing that. The thing tries to manipulate him into opening the coffin while sleepwalking? He encases the key in a block of ice that his sleeping self can’t reach. He avoids the pitfalls that lead most horror protagonists to their doom, he gets that coffin out of his life, and he survives! This man is going places.
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