… You can probably get rid of “he said” and “she said” at the end of nearly every character quote. It’s kind of a given in the podcast medium especially after you just hear them say it.
The echoing, barely voice-changed sound effects do come across as a little robotic, like someone is holding a synth key down in the middle of a supernatural event, and it jars a bit. If I were a supernatural entity hearing my voice repeat that much with barely any fade I’d go nuts. You’re almost stopping the show to present that effect. There doesn’t have to be 8 perfect echoes of something. Maybe toy with ApeDelay or something to go beyond your basic effects. If you had (fewer!) different readings of the same phrase said at the same time it could maybe save the sound effect. And recently there’s no cave echo or exertion at all with your main actors, and barely any passion in the male actor’s voice. It sounds like he is either a calm person who really doesn’t have/feel a basis for antagonistic rage, or seems reluctant to raise his voice because of his landlord or something. I noticed he shares a last initial so hopefully this isn’t a relative. Maybe he just loves you that much, I dunno. But look up “Sarcastic Welch’s Voiceover” and you’ll hear someone go absolutely volcanic… over an ingredients label. There needs to be a similar bit of abandon in the acting because it sounds very self-restrained, like “Yeahhh. You love the dog more than mee.” “No. I. Don’t. Cut me ouut, I’m. Gettingspiderred.” He said.
Also, your ads jump out mid-sentence. I’d rather hear a fraction of a second and even a full second as silence if need be.
Not bashing your accent, but your inflection sabotages the cadence of what you are trying to focus on and leaves emotional expression abrupt. Maybe practice a bit hearing it in text to speech.
Last of all, some yells just sound like sound effects and when they portray an echo all of a sudden, the campy factor goes off the charts and the scariness vanishes. Make your sound effects blend in well and readers can stay with the flow of the suspense. Some sound effects sound not made by actors. I would rather just hear your voice if it came to down to shelving sound effects for a while.
Reading this back I know it sounds harsh but it’s just a list of things that can be fixed. You’re making very good progress and I know it takes experimentation like you said, so thank you for all you have done, it is very much appreciated, and the scene with the mountain lion was well done, sound effects included.
