Echoes in the Dark: Original Stories, True Hauntings, and Horror Genre Explored

John Keaser Jr.

The Dark Side of Storytelling… Echoes in the Dark: Original Stories, True Hauntings, & Horror Genre Explored is a horror podcast focused on psychological and folk horror, featuring original short stories, true haunting accounts, and deep dives into the lore, films, and cultural nightmares that shape the genre. Each episode invites listeners into unsettling worlds designed to make you question the noise in the hallway, rethink old houses, and linger in the quiet dread that lives between myth and memory. The podcast is hosted by John Keaser Jr., founder of Dark Hollow Media LLC, with the occasional unhinged commentary from Macabre Bob. Echoes in the Dark blends twisted storytelling with research, realism, and just enough adult sarcasm to make your therapist concerned. Expect dark humor, creeping atmosphere, folklore-driven horror, and honest reactions fueled by caffeine, trauma, and questionable life choices. If you like your horror atmospheric, your folklore unsettling, and your jokes a little too inappropriate for HR—welcome home. Some echoes whisper.These ones bite.

  1. 1D AGO · BONUS

    Scary Stories and the Fear That Followed Us

    Send a text If you grew up in the 1990s, there’s a good chance your first real brush with horror didn’t come from movies — it came from books hidden in school libraries and book fairs. In this bonus episode of Echoes in the Dark, host John Keaser Jr. explores the lasting impact of the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark era — not by reading the stories, but by examining why they worked, why the illustrations haunted us, and why childhood horror lingers longer than adult fear. This episode dives into: 90s horror nostalgia and book fair memoriesWhy unsettling illustrations are more powerful than explicit scaresHow childhood fear shapes our relationship with horror as adultsThe connection between classic children’s horror and modern analog horrorAn original short story inspired by the feeling those books left behindNo jump scares.  No retellings.  Just the quiet dread that never really went away. Echoes in the Dark blends original horror fiction, deep reflection, and genre exploration for listeners who prefer atmosphere over shock and stories that stay with you long after the episode ends. 🎧 Best experienced at night. Headphones recommended. Visit darkhollowmediallc.com for episode updates, future projects, and writer submission opportunities. Support the show That noise you hear while you're lying in bed is just your imagination...or is it?

    11 min

  2. FEB 20

    The Place That Keeps Score

    Send a text In this episode of Echoes in the Dark, we explore the terrifying idea that some places don’t need monsters — they just need memory. We dive deep into Hopewell Hollow Chapters 21 and 22, where ritual, fear, and the land itself begin tightening their grip. Then we move into documented hauntings from the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, Canada, India, and Ireland — real locations where history refuses to stay buried. In our horror genre breakdown, we analyze: The Ruins (2008)Annihilation (2018)The Lodge (2019)Lake Mungo (2008)The Dark and the Wicked (2020)The Vanishing (1988)Each film reinforces the same unsettling truth: sometimes the setting isn’t background — it’s the predator. This episode blends folk horror, psychological horror, rural dread, generational curses, possession themes, and the terrifying power of isolation. If you’re drawn to haunted places, atmospheric horror, slow-burn tension, and stories where the land remembers your name — this one is for you. Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your shows. Have your own true haunting?  Submit your story to: hopewellhollow1993@gmail.com Some places don’t want you gone.  They want you to stay. Support the show That noise you hear while you're lying in bed is just your imagination...or is it?

    1h 28m

  3. FEB 13 · BONUS

    Love Bites Back

    Send a text What happens when love stops being romantic… and starts keeping score? In this Valentine’s Day Extended Bonus Episode of Echoes in the Dark: Original Stories, True Hauntings, & Horror Genre Explored, we dive into the darker side of devotion, obsession, resentment, and romance gone wrong. This Friday the 13th special includes: 🩸 A chilling original horror story  👻 Documented true hauntings rooted in unresolved love  🖤 A breakdown of horror tropes tied to obsession and entitlement  🎬 Six Valentine’s Day horror films ranked and dissected in full, cinematic detail: Spring (2014)Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)The Loved Ones (2009)Crimson Peak (2015)Valentine (2001)My Bloody Valentine (1981)From gothic romance to slasher brutality, this episode explores how horror exposes the dangerous side of intimacy — where love becomes possession, permanence becomes punishment, and affection turns predatory. Because sometimes…  love doesn’t whisper. It bites back. 🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Support the show That noise you hear while you're lying in bed is just your imagination...or is it?

    56 min

  4. FEB 6

    The Covenant

    Send a text 😶‍🌫️ Fear doesn’t arrive screaming.  It arrives offering solutions. In Episode 8: The Covenant, we explore the moment when fear stops being private and becomes communal — when people stop asking what’s happening and start agreeing on what must be done. 📖 This episode dives deep into Hopewell Hollow Chapters 16 and 17, where suspicion hardens into ritual and the idea of “just three” becomes dangerously reasonable. 🩸 From there, Macabre Bob traces the real-world consequences of fear made law — from the Salem Witch Trials to documented global cases where belief, authority, and panic led to executions and communal violence. 🎞️ We then break down folk horror as a genre, not as monsters or aesthetics, but as a social mechanism. Through in-depth analysis of landmark films like The Wicker Man, The Witch, Impetigore, November, Onibaba, and Häxan, this episode exposes how covenants form, scapegoats are chosen, and relief is mistaken for morality. 🕯️ This isn’t an episode about evil.  It’s an episode about agreement. 🖤 Echoes in the Dark is a horror podcast featuring original stories, true hauntings, and horror genre explored. ⚠️ Listener discretion advised. 🎧 Listen if you’re drawn to: Folk horror & psychological horrorSlow-burn dread and atmospheric storytellingHorror rooted in history, belief, and consequence🌲 Visit darkhollowmediallc.com for more from the Hollow ✍️ Writer submissions: hopewellhollow1993@gmail.com Some places don’t haunt you.  They wait. Support the show That noise you hear while you're lying in bed is just your imagination...or is it?

    53 min

  5. JAN 30 · BONUS

    The Voices That Follow You Home

    Send a text In this chilling bonus episode of Echoes in the Dark, host John Keaser Jr. explores the terrifying idea that the most dangerous voices don’t scream — they whisper. The Voices That Follow You Home blends original psychological horror fiction, real-world encounters, and unsettling analysis to examine what happens when silence invites something in. From internal voices that guide, manipulate, and punish… to true stories of whispers heard through baby monitors, late-night voicemails, and sleepless minds — this episode dives deep into fear that feels uncomfortably familiar. This is horror rooted in isolation, insomnia, and the fragile line between your thoughts and something else thinking for you. 🎧 Headphones recommended. 🕯️ If you’re a writer with a story that won’t stay quiet, submissions are open at hopewellhollow1993@gmail.com . 🌐 Explore more episodes, stories, and upcoming projects at darkhollowmediallc.com. Some voices don’t want to scare you.  They just want you to listen. Support the show That noise you hear while you're lying in bed is just your imagination...or is it?

    16 min

  6. JAN 23

    The Year That Followed Us In

    Send a text New Year’s is supposed to mean closure.  A reset.  A clean page. But some years don’t arrive quietly. In this full-length episode of Echoes in the Dark, host John Keaser Jr. — writer, insomniac, and horror exhibitionist — explores what happens when midnight isn’t a celebration, but a threshold. This episode features: Hopewell Hollow readings (Chapters 14 & 15) — where time, place, and memory begin to fractureAn extended Macabre Bob segment diving into real-world hauntings, midnight phenomena, and why true hauntings don’t announce themselvesA deep Horror Genre Explored breakdown of threshold horror, including in-depth analysis of:The Others (2001)1408 (2007)The Ring (2002)Skinamarink (2022)Rather than surface-level reviews, this episode delivers cinematic play-by-play analysis, psychological breakdowns, budgets, box office context, and dark, inappropriate commentary that connects each film to real human fear — control, inevitability, trauma, and places that quietly change ownership. This episode is recommended for mature listeners and includes spoiler-heavy discussion, disturbing themes, and dark humor. If you’ve ever felt like a place changed without warning…  If midnight felt less like a moment and more like a shift…  If you believe horror works best when it waits… You’re already inside. 🎙️ Listen. Like. Follow. 🕯️ Visit darkhollowmediallc.com for updates, submissions, and more from the Hollow. ✍️ Writers and authors with dark fiction, novels, or true experiences are encouraged to submit. Echoes in the Dark — because endings don’t leave quietly. Support the show That noise you hear while you're lying in bed is just your imagination...or is it?

    1h 9m

  7. JAN 9

    Night Terrors and Sleep Demons

    Send a text Tonight, sleep isn’t rest — it’s exposure. In Episode 6 of Echoes in the Dark, John Keaser Jr. (writer, insomniac, and horror exhibitionist) drags you into the in-between: night terrors, sleep paralysis, shadow figures, and the sickening moment you wake up aware… but can’t move. We begin with two chilling Hopewell Hollow readings (Chapters 12–13), where the Hollow doesn’t just take bodies — it takes certainty, turns neighbors into suspects, and teaches fear how to speak through a crowd. Then Macabre Bob takes over with escalating night terror story readings: the corner that deepens, the weight on the chest, the voice that shouldn’t be in the room, the visitor that follows you, and the terrifying sensation of being pulled out of your body. To finish, we count down six films that weaponize sleep — from grief-made-monsters to sleep-paralysis predators to dream-territories you can’t escape — ending with the grand finale: A Nightmare on Elm Street. Because no matter how long you fight it… you will sleep. And something knows it. Listen, like, and follow.  Explore merch, episodes, and the world of Hopewell Hollow at darkhollowmediallc.com. Writers can submit novels, short stories, and scripts to hopewellhollow1993@gmail.com . Links are in the show notes. Support the show That noise you hear while you're lying in bed is just your imagination...or is it?

    1h 15m

  8. JAN 2 · BONUS

    More Hopewell Hollow

    Send a text Step back into the woods of Hopewell Hollow in this bonus episode of Echoes in the Dark: Original Stories, True Hauntings, and Horror Genre Explored. Due to overwhelming listener demand, author John Keaser Jr. delivers something extra—an immersive reading of Chapters 9–11 from the folk-horror novel Hopewell Hollow, accompanied by exclusive author reflections that peel back the dread without revealing the end. These chapters mark a turning point as the Hollow reveals itself not as a place of superstition, but as a living system—one that remembers blood, watches from the treeline, and demands someone to blame. From ancient bargains and inhuman watchers to fear-driven hysteria and scapegoats, this episode dives deep into slow-burn psychological horror, folk horror mythology, and the terrifying ways communities fracture under pressure. If you love atmospheric horror, cursed towns, unsettling folklore, and horror stories that linger long after the episode ends, this is a journey worth taking—just don’t expect to leave unchanged.  Horror writers are invited to submit original short stories and dark folklore for potential feature on the podcast. Submissions can be sent to hopewellhollow1993@gmail.com . Listener discretion is advised. Support the show That noise you hear while you're lying in bed is just your imagination...or is it?

    24 min
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About

The Dark Side of Storytelling… Echoes in the Dark: Original Stories, True Hauntings, & Horror Genre Explored is a horror podcast focused on psychological and folk horror, featuring original short stories, true haunting accounts, and deep dives into the lore, films, and cultural nightmares that shape the genre. Each episode invites listeners into unsettling worlds designed to make you question the noise in the hallway, rethink old houses, and linger in the quiet dread that lives between myth and memory. The podcast is hosted by John Keaser Jr., founder of Dark Hollow Media LLC, with the occasional unhinged commentary from Macabre Bob. Echoes in the Dark blends twisted storytelling with research, realism, and just enough adult sarcasm to make your therapist concerned. Expect dark humor, creeping atmosphere, folklore-driven horror, and honest reactions fueled by caffeine, trauma, and questionable life choices. If you like your horror atmospheric, your folklore unsettling, and your jokes a little too inappropriate for HR—welcome home. Some echoes whisper.These ones bite.

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