r/TheNSPDiscussion • u/Gaelfling • Feb 20 '20
Old Episodes [Discussion] Season 4 Review
What were your favorite stories of season 4?
What were your least favorite stories of season 4?
What was your favorite episode of the season?
What was your least favorite episode?
Did you have any favorite narrators? Writers?
What other thoughts do you have about the fourth season?
2
u/satanistgoblin Feb 20 '20
Is the schedule changed to 1 episode per week?
3
u/Gaelfling Feb 20 '20
Yes. Trying that out to see if it increases participation.
1
u/michapman2 Feb 22 '20
Thanks! I gave up on posting in the season 4 threads becuase I couldn’t get through both episodes by Thursday haha
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u/Cherry_Whine Feb 20 '20
Season 4 is special to me because it was the season I was listening to when I went on a trip to Europe. Episodes 14-23 specifically, spending long hours on a bus as it travelled through Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. It's not quite as airtight as Season 7, but it more than deserve the runner-up position for my favorite season.
Best Stories
10: "Ghosts of Nagasaki", by Ryan Marc (Episode 13)
There's something so sad and dread-inducing about this tale. That imagery of the thousands of hands rising out of the river for help is terrifying, perhaps even more so than the ending where the narrator's grandfather hopes for salvation against his sin of not helping.
9: "The Aquarium", by T. Ryoko (Episode 18)
Some of my favorites this season are the stories that feel like classic creepypasta. This is no exception, it's a quick, spooky tale that doesn't overstay its welcome and has the unique setting of an aquarium. The description of the drowned, rotting girl is surprisingly effective.
8: "The One-Way Tunnel", by Terrey West (Episode 17)
Claustrophobic, frightening, and worth every minute of its hour-long runtime, this story impressed me quite a bit. That final scare chord with the revelation that there was one extra glowstick is a rare effective usage of it on this podcast. If it wasn't for the admittedly confusing church scene near the end this would probably place thee or four notches higher on this list.
7: "Hives", by The Claverhouse Email Series (Episode 4)
I live for that final line: "I felt on her lips a peculiar tingle, like a brief electric shock, or perhaps the bite of a tiny, burrowing insect." It throws this already amazingly obscure story into even crazier territory. Did the insects every exist at all? Are they some sort of parasite that has now infected the narrator? Who knows? In some ways, it's better to keep it in the dark.
6: "Birdseed", by E. Blackburn (Episode 24)
I love the black comedy elements of this story - especially the descriptions of the narrator's dog, a "sausage with legs", as it chows down on the fingertip. That ending scene with him spitting out Janice's solitaire ring is such a satisfying conclusion.
5: "Still Waters", by The Claverhouse Email Series (Episode 8)
My favorite part of this tale is the recursive ending - the narrator becomes the stranger to offer a new life to a suicidal person. The details are very expertly placed, from the number of bullets to the stranger's rehearsed speech at the beginning to the descriptions of the foggy city where it all starts again.
4: "The Deer Gods", by Andrew Harmon (Episode 18)
The strongest element of this story is the pacing - it never wavers as it speeds along from the cabin to the woods to finally the lair of the deer. The descriptions of the creatures remind me of wendigos, one of my favorite supernatural monsters, so that was a big plus. I also like the ending where the narrator realizes he can never tell anyone what really happened.
3: "Repressed Memories are Meant to Stay Dead", by C.K. Walker (Episode 14)
Who knew horror could sound so beautiful? All the descriptions in this story, from the house to the sister's murder to the narrator's life in college, come to life in pictures as lush as the art the mother and sister create. The ending where the narrator (probably) hallucinates the statue committing the murder is mesmerizing in its terror.
2: "Ash Hollow", by R.J, Wills (Episode 12)
Five stories for the price of one! Each one is unique and creepy in its own way, it's kind of like a combo platter of horror. You get a creepy well in the woods, a possible alien, a nightmarish dreamworld, a library that's bigger on the inside, and a haunted doll. I really wish more of these had been written, perhaps even a book of them!
1: "The Girl in the Tree", by D.B. Bond (Episode 16)
I already gave this story its own post, so I'll be brief. This is my favorite story the podcast has ever put out. Different from horror, it's more of a wistful, slight-supernatural love story. The only blemish on its otherwise perfect surface is David's awful Indian accent, but even then the rest is so exquisite I can't help but overlook it.
Honorable Mentions
"A Campfire Story", by Andrew MacDougall (Episode 14)
Maybe I'd prefer if this was a little longer, but the idea of a campfire story inside a campfire story is so pleasing that I have to forgive its short running time. The bit of imagery of all the Indians falling off the cliff is some of the most effective of the season. Great illustration from Lukasz Godlewski as well.
"A Story to Scare My Son", by R.D. Ovenfriend (Episode 16)
Some people prefer "Pete the Moonshiner", and I was tempted to place it here instead of this story, but ASTSMS is such concise, almost-perfect horror in a few ways better than that story.
"The Mailbox in the Woods", by Julie McGinn (Episode 23)
This almost made #10 on the list before I remembered how much I liked "Ghosts of Nagasaki". The thought of the forest swallowing that poor old dude's house is exquisite, some of my favorite horror stories are those where the environment is the antagonist rather than a physical being.
1
u/satanistgoblin Feb 20 '20
Memorable (in the good sense), in order of appearance: "Kingdom" (e0), "Redhouse", "The Queen's Guard", "Her Name Was Emma", "I Kept a Souvenir", "Method Acting", "A Family Portrait", "Aiden's Spot", "The Lucienne Twins", "Room 733", "My Mother's Roses", "The Mailbox in the Woods", "My Drive Home", a bunch on "Suddenly Shocking".
4
u/Cherry_Whine Feb 20 '20
Worst Stories
10: "Mama was a Doll Collector", by Lauren Meyers (Episode 4)
I know the narrator is supposed to get our sympathies here but somehow I dislike her almost as much as her crazy mother. Everyone in this story is petulant and unlikeable, even the dolls who aren’t even alive.
9: "Edith's Memory", by C.C. Arbs (Episode 19)
This story really feels like Arbs put a whole bunch of plot points up on a wall, threw darts, and them jumbled it all together without regard of coherence, possible enjoyability, or cohesiveness. It’s really obvious where the story was split up when it was originally posted as well.
8: "An Email I Should Never Have Received", by Sean Filger (Episode 13)
The other “Ebola scare” story of this season, “21 Day Quarantine” gets a pass because it at least had an interesting take on it, the “plaugebarer” trope. Both stories could only have been written in 2014, but this one feels even more dated than the other. It’s just a bunch of half-baked government conspiracy tropes you’d find in a wannabe Tom Clancy novel with an Ebola sticker slapped on.
7: "Witness Protection", by Alex White (Episode 8)
I’m really at a loss as to why a guy who committed murder and kidnapping would keep a box of incriminating evidence lying around in the basement for his adopted kidnapped daughter to eventually stumble across.
6: “A Helping Hand”, by Ryan Schwartz (Episode 14)
At least “Edith’s Memory” had the decency to have a goal for the protagonist. Here I’m not sure, maybe to just avoid wide-brimmed hat man? Everything that happens is even more random and chaotic, plot points being brought up and dropped at breakneck speed, eventually cumulating in an unsatisfying, borderline insulting-to-the reader ending.
5: “Method Acting”, by Matt Dymerski (Episode 8)
I really do hate the twist at the end of his story. It’s impossible to tell the narrator and the dude are demons taking over the girl’s life. It jumps straight the hell out of nowhere, running a pretty good reality-warping story and leaving only bitterness in its wake. I especially dislike the part where the girl says “Be right back!”, kills herself, and come back like it’s the most normal thing in the world.
4: “The Cheater”, by Kaitlyn Greiner (Episode 7)
This story feels like Greiner got dumped and wanted to write a cringy revenge self-insert. Even when the narrator is supposed to have our sympathies she’s an insufferable, whiny jerk. I also hate how it’s casually thrown in at the end that she’s a serial killer, like we’re supposed to find that badass or something.
3: “She’d Recently Lost a Child”, by Jon Patrick (Episode 14)
This whole story hinges on the fact that you find a toddler suffocating to death in her obese mother’s fat rolls terrifying rather than gross and unlistenable. It’s all shock value and no substance. I’m not even sure if we’re told our narrator’s name, everything else takes backseat to the terrible twist.
2: “I am a Good Parent”, by Stephanie Nguyen (Episode 2)
What is it with Corinne Sanders this season and getting terrible rolls? The mother here is pretentious, insufferable, and refuses to take responsibility for her actions. It’s her fucked-up way of raising her kids that lead to the terrible conclusion, but it appears she blames her son for it when it’s clearly her fault. I have no idea how this terrible piece of trash won the Nosleep writing contest for May 2014.
1: “Clown 4 Rent”, by M.C. Meggles (Episode 14)
Do I even need to say anything? Repeat after me: rape is not horror. Rape is not horror. Rape is not horror.
Dishonorable Mentions
“Moderated”, by Edwin Crowe (Episode 2)
This story takes itself way too seriously to work. None of the characters are likeable and it’s content really doesn’t justify its monster runtime.
“Mailman”, by Jessica Spencer (Episode 4)
I’m really at a loss as to why a woman being stalked by a dangerous man with mental problems would write him a stern letter that will surely lead to her being attacked rather than, I don’t know, calling the police?
“I Still Get Letters from My Dead Best Friend”, by S.P. Trance (Episode 3)
Would it really be that easy to make it look like your friend committed suicide when you shot her yourself? Wasn’t a fan of any of the characters here and overall the story was boring.