Happy Horrordays

About Happy Horrordays

A seasonal podcast for horror fans and readers of all stripes! Horror has a strange relationship with almost all our holidays. Christmas and Halloween are the biggest targets but every well-known celebration has been gripped by horror's icy grasp at some point. Whether we're looking into history, reading and exploring classics, or providing our listeners with original tales, Happy Horrordays is here whenever the calendar calls it into being!

Publisher

Matthew Wood

Category

fiction

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

10 Dec 2024

Latest episode

1 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

43 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   1 Oct 2026

   An Inhabitant Of Carcosa - Halloween, Part 1, 2026

   Happy Halloween, my friends! The season of the witch is upon us, and we descend, hand in hand, into weird fiction's open maw! Yes, H.P. Lovecraft is probably the best-known weird fiction author. I can see why. When he wasn't busy being consumed by racist delusions, he had some interesting ideas. However, he was inspired by better writers. M.R. James, E.F. Benson, E.A. Poe... and, indirectly, by the great Ambrose Bierce. Lovecraft, you see, was inspired by Robert Chambers' story cycle "The King in Yellow." And Chambers was inspired by Bierce. Thus, before we get to Chambers, we're starting with Bierce's tale, "An Inhabitant of Carcosa." The image for our podcast is by... dronebogus, apparently. Anyhow, much thanks to them, and the Creative Commons License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) they shared it under. Vivek Abhishek, in his kindness, provided several royalty-free songs for this episode: "Haunting Ghost Choir," "Obsession," and of course, our de facto theme, "The Door." If you're interested, reach out to me: happy.horrordays.2u@gmail.com I have to choose the best weird fiction I can find for October 2026's many weekends, and I'd appreciate your thoughts! Take care, and happy horrordays, to you. #horror #weird #weirdfiction #kinginyellow #carcosa #bierce

2. 

   7 Sept 2026

   Rats - Labor Day, 2026

   Leave it to M.R. James to title a story "Rats," and then immediately say it's not about rats at all. Sometimes, the thing under the blanket is much nastier than mere vermin! Labor Day is a challenging holiday to pair with tales of horror and spirits. It's a relatively young holiday, established locally in NYC in 1882, and as such it doesn't have any august or risible traditions for me to exploit. Still, I think this story has just enough about class in it to fit the bill while still keeping things interesting. No more holidays in September, I think, though if I change my mind, you'll see an episode drop into your feed. If you subscribe, you won't miss any. October, though! It's time for me to get busy reading! I don't have my seasonal tales picked out yet, or even my release schedule, but you can expect at least 4. The final seasonal tale will be released on Día de los Muertos, not Halloween. All Hallows. It's the most wonderful time of the year. #horror #laborday #mrjames #ghosts

3. 

   16 Aug 2026

   Rokuro-Kubi - Obon, 2026

   Hello, friends! Welcome back! Obon is more like the Japanese equivalent of Día de los Muertos than it is Halloween... though it bears a resemblance to Samhain as well. Yes, it is a time for remembering the beloved dead, but it's also a time to expect visitations from Things Beyond The Veil. Of all the possible visitors, Japanese Yokai are some of the most delightfully bizarre and grotesque. Lafcadio Hearn's tale of a samurai-priest and his encounter with Night Things ticks every box for me. It's almost a fairy tale but with some very gruesome fairies in the mix. What did you think of it? happy.horrordays.2u@gmail.com (happy.horrordays.2u@gmail.com) As always, Vivek Abhishek's music greatly enhanced this episode. My thanks to him! Check out his YouTube page (https://www.youtube.com/user/VivEKhsihbA) if you want more music to tell scary stories by. #horror #obon #japan #yokai #hearn #audiobook

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Spotify

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 13 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

26

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

0

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Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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