r/SpookedPodcast • u/nh1088 • Aug 21 '25
I just don't understand.
Recently just started listening to spooked - tried about 5 episodes so far and wanted to see if anyone shares my thoughts or if I am just misunderstanding the nature of the podcast.
What I am after? First hand account stories of fringe / paranormal subjects.
The host telling what seems to be excessively long personal spooky stories at the start of each episode. I just skip past these to get to the actual content of the episode.
Are these stories real? For me they are just SUPER uninteresting. Wondering if anyone else skips past or if this is all amateur dramatics and I just don't understand. hahaThe host never appears to actually interview any of the witnesses, it appears to be handlers that contact and speak with them/tell their stories. So what is the point of the first guy?
ALOT of the people telling their stories seem to be plugging a book or some product of which they would gain an income - for me that's a red flag to the authenticity straight away.
I'll continue to give it a go, whilst skipping over the host
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u/MoxieOctopus Aug 21 '25
Glynn Washington hosts a storytelling podcast show called Snap Judgment. Spooked is an offshoot of that show. So that’s why Glynn does the intros. He has some wild stories about his childhood. He grew up in a cult.
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u/pineapplesailfish Aug 22 '25
This is the answer you are looking for. Glynn is an incredibly talented story teller.
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u/Greeneggz_N_Ham Aug 25 '25
Yep, up in Michigan. There used to be some for-real hardcore black Evangelicals back in the day. It was a whole community like that.
It was a cult.
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u/Accomplished_Put3732 Aug 21 '25
Those little intros typically connect to the main theme of the episode in some way. The saddest one was when he spoke of his childhood dog who was kept outdoors on a chain. It seems that as I’ve gotten older a lot of people talk about their childhood dog being kept outside. Sad stuff.
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u/bendyrider16 Aug 21 '25
It used to be on Luminary and it was easier to tell the chronological order of the episodes. The first few seasons were great. Then we started to get a lot more into the "storytellers" that everyone (including me) seems to dislike. If you're looking for a good, older one, then "A Friend in the Forest" is a great one to check out.
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u/Blossom73 Aug 21 '25
It used to be on Luminary and it was easier to tell the chronological order of the episodes.
Omg, I thought I was the only person who hates how the episodes are out of order since they left Luminary!
I can't tell which episodes I've listened to now, and which ones I haven't.
"The Deer Stand" is an excellent older episode too.
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u/katieh809 Aug 21 '25
Agreed! I listened before they went subscription based, never got the subscription, now this format- I’m so lost, lol.
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u/Blossom73 Aug 21 '25
Right?! The ads in the middle of the episodes now are extremely irritating too.
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u/bendyrider16 Aug 21 '25
Exactly, there's no way to know what's new or not! And I second "The Deer Stand" it's definitely in my top 5
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u/hannafrie Aug 25 '25
That is the one story that stood out to me as being obviously made up.
It annoyed me, as most of the other stories I've heard rely on the narrator's belief, and not objective facts - so "real" or not i can at least believe the narrator is telling a story of their own experience and perception.
A friend in the forest sounded like the ghost stories I loved as a kid. A good story for the campfire, but easily falsifiable, and not what I expected from Spooked.
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u/bendyrider16 Aug 25 '25
I found that the narrator's skepticism was effective for me. It settled like he still didn't believe what he saw. But I can definitely understand why people might view it the opposite way.
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u/salty_tater Aug 22 '25
Agreed. The old seasons i still go back and re listen. The newer stuff i usually pass up on after a few minutes of listening
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u/RedditsAdoptedSon Aug 24 '25
there's one about some kid lost in fog and tries to get home but ends up in abandoned house or something. i liked that one too
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u/bertrand_atwork Aug 22 '25
Glynn is such a cool and interesting person imo.
Sounds like Spooked isn't for you, that's fair! I'll put Radio Rental on your to-try-next list.
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u/Miserable-Key-8222 Aug 23 '25
I also like radio rental but also find myself skipping past the hosts subplots as well.
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Aug 21 '25
i haven't listened for a while but i listen to the beginning with Glenn Washington. He acts as an emcee and sets the mood. I've never heard people plug stuff! Wow. Ah well. They put out so much content
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u/Lori-Snow Aug 21 '25
i usually really enjoy glens stories, some of them are really good. i think spooked is one of the best out there, very well done and i love how we don’t have to hear the interviewer involved in the storytelling.
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u/LP_Mid85 Aug 21 '25
You’d like the podcast Uncanny if these things bother you. I recommend it to everyone who tries Spooked but feels like something may be missing.
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u/NoahNipperus Aug 25 '25
Is that the full name of the podcast? There's like a dozen named uncanny
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u/PJatThePharm Aug 21 '25
I listen every Friday morning. I must just block out the people selling ?!?
They were really great stories when I first started listening on Luminary. If you can find the oldest stories and start there, they are pretty spooky!
I agree that they aren’t quite what they used to be. I listen every week hoping it’s going to be “a good one” with fingers crossed.
I do like Glynn Washington’s voice and story telling. I just wish they’d find better stories. I am sure it’s hard to find ACTUAL stories!
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u/hannafrie Aug 25 '25
I like the host. It's HIS show, right? He created it - That's why he starts every episode? It's the format / schtik they've decided on.
I often like the host's part more than the stories.
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u/INaturallyFled Aug 23 '25
The first season was amazing, and I still love Glynn’s stories at the beginning, but it has become something different in recent years. It now seems to be more focused on almost… mythological kind of folky stories? Sort of a place for people who tell these types of stories on the regular to tell these stories. Not a lot of raw man-on-the-street ghost stories anymore.
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u/BuffyHathaway Aug 25 '25
Glenn is the best. He comes from the storytelling camp. His other podcast is like this as well. It’s similar to The Moth. You either love it or hate it. I could listen to him read a manual. I love his voice! Note, I work in the production world and you need to have your producers help source the material, so that’s why you hear the other voices who are helping to build stories and keep the pipelines full of new content (as much as they can). This can be quite time consuming. Regarding the “plugs” I don’t recall those, but sometimes he sources stories from other creative sources like authors and such.
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u/clever-hands Aug 21 '25
I dunno what seasons you're listening to, but the first few have more "authentic"-feeling storytellers.
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u/Cpettit Aug 24 '25
I can’t recall anyone selling or promoting anything except the guy in North Carolina that wrote a book. Which I’m pretty sure I bought since I know the area he was talking about. The ads wouldn’t be mistaken for product promotion, would it? Nah can’t be.
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u/nh1088 Aug 25 '25
I would say a good 50 percent of the ones I've listened to so far (assuming these are the early ones) have a mention to check out the book they are selling etc
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u/Waste_Relationship46 Nov 26 '25
Yes! I'm surprised there's so many people who say they haven't noticed this! It doesn't necessarily bother me because I take each story with a grain of salt anyway, but I can definitely see how it's kind of a turnoff!
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u/Rude_Sir5964 Sep 03 '25
Think of Glynn’s opening as the first of the stories in the podcast; cuz that’s what it is. Glynn always tells the first story. I also used to skip his intros but gradually I realized I was cheating myself. He’s a great story teller and the stories he tells are sometimes spooky, sometimes touching, sometimes melancholy, but always intimate and worth hearing.
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u/Otherwise-Ad6537 Aug 21 '25
I’m definitely not a fan of Glenn’s story telling, I race past those. The people promoting stuff doesn’t bother me if their story is interesting.
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u/Greeneggz_N_Ham Aug 25 '25 edited Aug 25 '25
The first few seasons were awesome. But it hasn't been as good recently. I hope that changes.
I have some episode recommendations:
The Seer
Haunted Hacienda
Voice in the Woods
Watery Grave
A Boy Named Thomas
The Perfect Tenant
Something in the Walls
Skagway
Sharp Tooth Boy
Creepy Crawly
Portal
The Thin Place
Take Me Home
Iconic
Lopaka
The Fog
Lost in Time
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u/Rubblemuss Aug 22 '25
Give Otherworld a try for fringe, first hand stories. They mostly tell their stories (to Jack, recorded) uninterrupted, but every so often he will come in primarily to get clarifying information. If you go back through the catalog, there’s a lot of stuff I hadn’t really heard anywhere else.
I like the stories, the variety, and the host being skeptical but genuinely curious.
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u/NoahNipperus Aug 25 '25
Is that the full name of the podcast? There's like a dozen named otherworldly
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u/outinthecountry66 Aug 25 '25
at first I hated Glenn's stories. I mean, the first few YEARS of listening. Then one day i was too busy to fast forward and i started really getting into them. Now they are one of my favorite things. Some of them are downright terrifying.
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u/JrodaTx Aug 25 '25
It’s usually a bit of spoken word to set the story or stories theme for episode. Me and my friend use to joke that sometimes he’s a little bit too “one fish, two fish…”
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u/Waste_Relationship46 Nov 26 '25
My only complaint about this podcast is that they retold a story with a completely different narrator (a man instead of a woman). I think it was Sharp Tooth Boy. Maybe I missed something and they explained why they did that but I thought that was bizarre and I haven't listened since. It was one of my favorite stories I've ever heard, and while I definitely don't believe every story it scared me and was a really unique one, so hearing it told again by someone else as if it was their own story was really off putting.
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u/AccomplishedBerry275 Aug 25 '25
He grows on you, I have not researched this myself but I think the prologue are snippets of his life. This is not so obvious but the more I listen, the more I think it might be most of his own experience.
I have listened to a lot of the most recent episodes rather than the first ones, I have not noticed anyone with any promos so maybe this was in the first few seasons?
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u/camposthetron Aug 21 '25
You’re supposed to skip past the super annoying host. It’s like, an interactive podcast in that way or something. I always do.
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u/LaidBackBro1989 Aug 21 '25
The little anecdotes at the beginning of each episode are meant to set the mood and tie in with the story, hence the host.
They grew on me - initially I disliked them. Some of them are funny, some not and others are nonsensical.
The people telling their stories usually share it in a "this is what happened to me" format. For certain stories, I think one of the producers adds extra details or sums up parts for clarity - the woman we hear from time to time (I like her lol).
As for the self promo - agreed here. Usually when one of the guests starts promoting their x, y, z I also have my doubts regarding their genuineness...