Lights out… Everybody

Lights Out review

Rating –

Back before I was a self confessed podcast addict, I did a deep dive into old time radio horror shows. One of my favourites was a show called Lights Out. Airing from 1934 to 1947, this groundbreaking radio series popularised tales of the supernatural and horror on the radio. You can still find them online quite easily, and if you need a fix of vintage creepiness, then this show is one of the best.

 When this show was recommended to me I wondered if this was some kind of reboot. I mean, how many “Lights Out” can there be? We won’t mention the movie that took a genuinely creepy YouTube short film, and ran it through a pasta machine to make it a feature film.

So what’s it about?

Kicking off with the same creepy voice as the old radio show, Lights Out isn’t a horror fiction anthology, but an episodic dive into creepy stories of hauntings, serial killers, and cryptids. As podcasts go, this is pretty venerable, starting 6 years ago and clocking in at 300 episodes (at the time of writing) there are plenty of cases to explore.

The first ten episodes include coverage of serial killer Gary Ridgeway, the infamous Cecil Hotel, the Columbine High School shooting, Anton LaVey, and the alien abductions of both Betty and Barney Hill, and Travis Walton. Quite a heady mix I’m sure you’ll agree. The episodes average about 90mins each, which already gives it an advantage over the previously reviewed I Could Murder A Podcast, because there is enough time to make a good episode without needing to rush the end.

Is it any good?

The problem with shows like this is that there are so many of them out there. I would go so far as to say that the market is pretty saturated, second only to true crime investigations. If they weren’t then the TV show Only Murders In The Building wouldn’t exist would it?

Unfortunately, because of this market saturation, there really isn’t anything new to discover, Particularly when Last Podcast On The Left has been going for over ten years, and has over twice the number of episodes as Lights Out. As I mentioned in my last review though, LPOTL is a divisive show, and certainly not for everyone. It is, however the best in its class for the genre. 

Final thoughts

If you can’t handle the humour (or the personalities) of LPOTL, then this show will probably be perfect. Or maybe ICMAP would be. That’s the problem, when it comes to shows like this, you are really spoiled for choice. With some digging you can find a real gem, but this market is flooded with costume jewellery. It certainly looks the part, but you won’t cry if you lose it.

You can get Lights Out here:

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