I’m such a huge fan of Pacific Northwest Stories, but I have to admit I’m getting pretty impatient for Season 3 of The Black Tapes.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Pacific Northwest Radio, it’s a “news source” that’s actually completely fictional, and models itself after NPR. They currently have two horror podcasts, though they only work on one at a time. The original podcast, The Black Tapes, follows Dr. Richard Strand, a skeptic who’s so sure nothing outside of this world exists (nothing paranormal, no ghosts, God or aliens) that he’s offered a million dollar reward to anyone who can provide indisputable proof. Interested by this proposition, Pacific Northwest Radio reporter Alex Regan contacts Dr. Strand, and begins looking into the stories he hasn’t been able to expose as hoaxes.
After two excellent and really, really scary seasons of The Black Tapes, PNR decided to launch a second podcast called Tanis. It’s very similar, but hosted by Nic Silver. It seeks to expose the myth of Tanis, using everything from hacking to Blair Witch Project style explorations. It’s creepy, super interesting, and the mystery is compelling.
But as much as I’m loving Tanis, I don’t love the podcasters’ decision to do two seasons of The Black Tapes, and then abandon ship and switch to Tanis. They keep promising new seasons of The Black Tapes, so let me get back to Alex Regan and Dr. Strand!
While I’m very much impatiently waiting for The Black Tapes to (hopefully, maybe, one day) return, here are some books that have helped fill the void. Do you have any other suggestions? Let me know in the comments!