Tales After Midnight

Aftermidnight

Slow, atmospheric scary stories to help you drift off. Original horror tales told in a calm, steady voice over gentle rain — no sudden jump scares, no loud music, just a quiet stream of eerie stories for sleeping, studying, or relaxing in the dark.  New volumes regularly. Pull the covers up, turn the lights off, and sleep well. Part of the Tales After Midnight collection.

Episodes

  1. Aug 4

    The Gods Ate First — Mesoamerican Horror Stories for Sleep

    Nine stories from the civilizations that built cities larger than London, calendars more accurate than Rome's, and believed the world was made from violence and runs on debt — told slowly, on old stone, for the dark. A woman has been crying by the river since before the Spanish arrived — she was a goddess first, then a ghost, and the sound hasn't changed. A death bat in the Maya underworld tears the head from anyone who looks up too soon. A water creature with a human hand on its tail mimics a child's cry to lure you in. A witch born with a curse separates at the waist and flies through the night to feed on sleeping infants. A beautiful spirit beneath a sacred tree lures drunk men to their death — she made a deal with the Lord of the Dead and got exactly what she asked for. Forest guardians who steal the souls of trespassers and bury them underground. A shapeshifter who is also the village healer. The primordial earth monster, torn apart by the gods to make the world — she is still alive beneath your feet, and she is still hungry. And the four-year road the dead walk through nine levels of the underworld to find rest. Aztec, Maya, and the traditions that survived the conquest. These stories are older than the Spanish language. The stones remember. Fall asleep here. The debt is paid for today. --- Tales After Midnight — folklore horror for sleep. 0:00 — Intro 2:00 — La Llorona (Aztec/Mexican) 15:31 — Camazotz (K'iche' Maya) 27:44 — The Ahuizotl (Aztec) 37:45 — The Tlahuelpuchi (Nahua, Tlaxcala) 48:28 — The Xtabay (Yucatec Maya) 59:12 — The Chaneques (Aztec) 1:08:34 — The Nagual (Pan-Mesoamerican) 1:19:16 — Cipactli (Aztec) 1:29:57 — The Road to Mictlan (Aztec) 1:40:49 — Closing --- Written and directed by Vör. This episode includes AI-generated content.

  2. Jul 31

    The Market Closes at Dusk — West African Horror Stories for Sleep

    Nine stories from the oldest continuous storytelling traditions on earth — told slowly, by the fire, for the dark. A mother has buried four children. The fifth one says he has to go back. A water spirit takes a fisherman to a palace beneath the river and returns him with knowledge and without the piece that made him himself. A thing with iron teeth waits in the canopy of the odum trees, and the experienced hunters turn back when the birds go quiet. A witch who leaves her body at night as a ball of light is also the kindest woman in the village. The dead return wearing elaborate cloth masks at festival, and one man discovers he can't find his way back out of the costume. River spirits who can heal and bring good fishing stop answering when a man asks too many times. And a woman who comes back from the grave still loving her husband — the most frightening kind of love — tells him to fix the wall, use her bowl, and sleep in the middle of the bed. West African oral traditions are some of the oldest continuous storytelling cultures on earth. These stories survived the Atlantic slave trade. They transformed in Haiti, in Brazil, in New Orleans. The roots are still here. Fall asleep here. The fire is still warm. The spirits will keep watch. --- Tales After Midnight — folklore horror for sleep. 0:00 — Intro 2:50 — Àbíkú (Yoruba, Nigeria) 18:41 — Mami Wata (Pan-West Africa) 34:03 — Sasabonsam (Akan, Ghana) 43:47 — Obayifo (Akan, Ghana) 56:22 — Egungun (Yoruba, Nigeria) 1:11:23 — Asanbosam (Akan, Ghana) 1:16:46 — Jengu (Bakweri, Cameroon) 1:26:56 — The Adze (Ewe, Togo/Ghana) 1:39:01 — Nzambi (Kongo, Congo Basin) 1:49:32 — Closing --- Written and directed by Vör. This episode includes AI-generated content.

  3. Jul 28

    She Carried Fire in a Skull — Slavic Horror Stories for Sleep

    Nine stories from the old Slavic world — told slowly, by the fire, for the dark. A girl is sent into the forest to fetch fire from the witch who lives in a hut on chicken legs. Drowned women dance in a summer meadow and sing songs that are not quite songs. A house spirit lives behind your stove and braids your horse's mane when you forget to leave him porridge. An immortal hides his death inside a needle, inside an egg, inside a duck, inside a hare, inside a chest, under an oak, on an island at the edge of the world. A dead man comes home and eats at his own kitchen table. The green-bearded old man at the bottom of the mill pond collects the drowned. A forest spirit leads a woodcutter in circles until he admits he is lost. A mountain fairy sings on the peaks and does not care if you survive the beauty. And the goddess of winter burns every spring — but she always comes back. The old Slavs told these stories around the pech — the great clay stove that was the heart of every house. They told them to fill the dark with something, because a dark that has stories in it is easier to bear than a dark that has nothing. Fall asleep here. The fire is still warm. And the forest is outside where it belongs. --- Tales After Midnight — folklore horror for sleep. 0:00 — Intro 1:49 — Vasilisa the Beautiful (Russia) 19:03 — The Rusalka (Ukraine/Russia) 31:17 — The Domovoi (Russia) 40:23 — Koschei the Deathless (Russia) 53:14 — The Strigoi (Romania) 1:04:43 — The Vodyanoy (Russia) 1:14:30 — The Leshy (Russia) 1:25:35 — The Vila (South Slavic) 1:36:41 — Morana (Pan-Slavic) 1:44:05 — Closing --- Written and directed by Vör.

  4. Jul 24

    She Counted to Nine Every Night — Japanese Ghost Stories for Sleep

    Nine ghost stories from old Japan — told slowly, for the dark. A snow woman spares a boy and marries him years later. A blind musician plays for a dead army and pays with his ears. A man falls in love with a ghost carrying a peony lantern. A servant girl counts plates from the bottom of a well — one through nine, never ten. A priest discovers his host eats the dead. A samurai returns to the wife he abandoned and finds her waiting — but she has been dead for years. A faceless thing stands on a lonely road. Heads float free from sleeping bodies in a mountain house. And a girl's unanswered love burns down an entire city. In Japan they told these stories on summer nights to cool the blood — to trade the heat of the living world for the chill of the dead one. The dead in these stories are not monsters. They are people who were wronged, or who loved too much, or who simply could not let go. Fall asleep here. The ghosts are only stories. And the stories are done. --- Tales After Midnight — folklore horror for sleep. 0:00 — Intro 1:51 — Yuki-Onna (The Snow Woman) 18:53 — Hoichi the Earless 40:41 — The Peony Lantern 56:45 — Okiku and the Nine Plates 1:07:01 — Jikininki (The Flesh-Eating Ghost) 1:18:09 — The Black Hair 1:31:20 — The Faceless Monk 1:37:58 — The Rokurokubi 1:49:24 — The Furisode Fire 1:58:59 — Closing --- Written and directed by Vör. This episode includes AI-generated content.

  5. Jul 21

    The Dead Rode to Her Door — Nordic Horror Stories for Sleep

    Seven stories from the old north — Iceland, Norway, Sweden — told slowly, for the dark. A dead man rides to collect his living sweetheart. A shepherd's corpse walks the rooftops. A fiddler plays music so beautiful it drowns you. A woman in the forest has a back hollow as a rotted tree. A child's ghost cries on the frozen moor. A drowned fisherman rows a half-boat through the fog. And in the mountains, an ogress with clever eyes smells the children who misbehave. These are the stories they told during the polar night, when the sun didn't rise for weeks and the only light was the moon on the snow. They told them not to frighten — but because a haunted dark is less lonely than an empty one. Fall asleep here. The door is locked. The dead are only stories. --- Tales After Midnight — folklore horror for sleep. 0:00 — Intro 1:22 — The Deacon of Dark River (Iceland) 13:19 — The Roof-Walker (Iceland) 28:07 — The Fiddler at the Water's Edge (Sweden) 35:40 — The Hidden Woman (Norway) 44:35 — The Crying on the Moor (Iceland) 52:27 — The Half-Boat (Norway) 1:02:26 — The Ogress in the Mountain (Iceland) 1:14:52 — Closing --- Written and directed by Vör. This episode includes AI-generated content.

  6. Jul 3

    The Wendigo & the Roadside Motel

    Seventy minutes of slow, atmospheric scary stories to help you drift off — three tales from wendigo country, then three from a roadside motel that doesn't quite follow the rules. Calm narration over gentle rain, no sudden jump scares, just a steady stream of eerie stories for sleeping, studying, or relaxing in the dark. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 00:20 My Tent Zipper Was On The Outside 12:03 The Fire Tower Spoke in Her Voice 22:47 The Trail Back to Camp Keeps Getting Longer 34:32 Roadside Motel — Introduction 34:54 The Motel Room Won't Let Me Leave 46:27 The Motel Guest Who Left Before Dawn Every Night 58:26 The Motel in Room 7 Has a Secret New episodes weekly. Sleep well.

  7. Jun 21

    Vol. 1 — Five Tales for a Dark Night

    Fifty minutes of slow, atmospheric scary stories to help you drift off. Calm narration over gentle rain — no sudden jump scares, just a steady stream of eerie tales for sleeping, studying, or relaxing in the dark.

  • 7 Episodes

About

Slow, atmospheric scary stories to help you drift off. Original horror tales told in a calm, steady voice over gentle rain — no sudden jump scares, no loud music, just a quiet stream of eerie stories for sleeping, studying, or relaxing in the dark.  New volumes regularly. Pull the covers up, turn the lights off, and sleep well. Part of the Tales After Midnight collection.

Information

  • Creator
    Aftermidnight
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    7
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright Aftermidnight
  • Show Website
    Tales After Midnight