The Darkive — Scary Stories, Horror Fiction, and Creepypastas – Details, episodes & analysis

John Reders awakens handcuffed to a school desk alongside a room full of terrified strangers, with no memory of how he got there or why. But confusion quickly gives way to horror when a routine “tornado drill” becomes a deadly survival test, forcing the captives to fight their way through a grotesque underground institution where every classroom activity carries lethal consequences. Guided by emotionless children and a disturbingly cheerful walrus mascot, the survivors are marched through twisted versions of recess, gym class, art projects, and music lessons, each one designed to punish weakness and reward obedience. As the body count rises and the true purpose of the school begins to emerge, John realizes this nightmare may not simply be about survival—it may be about judgment. A brutal and relentlessly imaginative descent into psychological terror, “The Finishing School” blends dystopian horror, deadly games, and nightmarish institutional cruelty into a chilling tale where graduation comes at an unimaginable cost.

FEATURED STORY:

"The Finishing School " by Kyle Harrison

Performed and produced by Drew Blood

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Chilling Tales for Dark Nights | ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠

Scary Stories Told in the Dark | ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠

Horror Hill | ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠

Drew Blood's Dark Tales | ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Fear From the Heartland | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎬 Other Places to Watch:

⁠⁠Rumble ⁠⁠• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠

After miners uncover a mysterious barricade deep underground, Professor Greg Darwin is called in to investigate strange symbols and growing rumors of creatures lurking beneath the tunnels. But when the excavation team becomes trapped inside an ancient cave system, the stories quickly prove terrifyingly real. Hunted through darkness by savage one-eyed predators while deadly traps close in around them, the survivors must navigate a labyrinth designed to keep something imprisoned below the earth. A tense and action-packed tale of subterranean horror and survival, this story explores the terrifying consequences of uncovering what was meant to remain buried forever.

FEATURED STORY:“What Lies Beneath” by an anonymous author

Performed and produced by Kellie Fitzgerald

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Chilling Tales for Dark Nights | ⁠Spotify⁠ • ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠

Scary Stories Told in the Dark | ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠

Horror Hill | ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠

Drew Blood's Dark Tales | ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠

⁠⁠⁠Fear From the Heartland | ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠

⁠⁠⁠🎬 Other Places to Watch:

⁠Rumble ⁠• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube

Unable to provide for his starving family, Abdu eagerly accepts an offer of shelter and food from an elderly woman who claims to be his cousin. But after overhearing the woman reveal sinister intentions in the barn, Abdu’s wife becomes convinced they are living under the roof of something monstrous. As Abdu refuses to believe her warnings, the family is forced to choose between trust and survival. A chilling folktale of desperation, denial, and grim consequence, this story delivers a dark lesson about the price of refusing to listen.

FEATURED STORY:

"Beginning with the Ears" by Arielle North Olson and Howard Schwartz

Performed and produced by Craig Groshek

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🔊 Listen to More of our Podcasts:

Chilling Tales for Dark Nights | ⁠Spotify⁠ • ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠

Scary Stories Told in the Dark | ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠

Horror Hill | ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠

Drew Blood's Dark Tales | ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠

⁠⁠⁠Fear From the Heartland | ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠

⁠⁠⁠🎬 Other Places to Watch:

⁠Rumble ⁠• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube

When a strange, featureless figure begins appearing outside his window night after night, a terrified narrator initially assumes it’s some kind of cruel prank. But as the entity continues watching him with impossible persistence, he realizes the thing outside isn’t human—and may not even be confined by the glass separating them. As the creature’s hidden features begin pushing through its skin and the window itself starts to crack, the narrator discovers that some horrors don’t stay where they’re supposed to.

FEATURED STORY:

"The Thing in the Window" by an anonymous author

Performed and produced by Jordan Antle

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Chilling Tales for Dark Nights | ⁠Spotify⁠ • ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠

Scary Stories Told in the Dark | ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠

Horror Hill | ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠

Drew Blood's Dark Tales | ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠

⁠⁠⁠Fear From the Heartland | ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠

⁠⁠⁠🎬 Other Places to Watch:

⁠Rumble ⁠• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube

Exhausted by the overwhelming burden of maintaining his enormous farm, Richard Mayes believes his troubles are finally easing when a plague begins thinning his livestock. But after his wife becomes pregnant, a horrifying new problem emerges as the unborn child develops an insatiable hunger that only grows more monstrous with time. As their son consumes more and more of the farm—and eventually everything around him—Richard realizes too late that the creature he helped raise may never stop feeding. A grim and unsettling tale of greed, denial, and unstoppable appetite, this story transforms a simple family tragedy into a terrifying nightmare.

FEATURED STORY:

"Man-Eater" by Craig Groshek

Performed and produced by Jonathan Jones

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🔊 Listen to More of our Podcasts:

Chilling Tales for Dark Nights | ⁠Spotify⁠ • ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠

Scary Stories Told in the Dark | ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠

Horror Hill | ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠

Drew Blood's Dark Tales | ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠

⁠⁠⁠Fear From the Heartland | ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠

⁠⁠⁠🎬 Other Places to Watch:

⁠Rumble ⁠• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube

While spending a summer night near a lonely cornfield, two boys encounter a horrifying figure lurking in the darkness—something that appears neither fully human nor entirely dead. After the creature attacks Trevor, a mysterious infection begins spreading through his body, leaving doctors helpless as his condition steadily worsens. As fear and disbelief give way to horror, Will realizes that whatever they saw that night may have passed something far more terrifying than a simple disease. A bleak and deeply unsettling story of transformation and dread, this tale lingers long after its chilling final image.

FEATURED STORY:

"The Thing" by an anonymous author

Performed and produced by Jonathan Jones

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Chilling Tales for Dark Nights | ⁠Spotify⁠ • ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠

Scary Stories Told in the Dark | ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠

Horror Hill | ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠

Drew Blood's Dark Tales | ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠

⁠⁠⁠Fear From the Heartland | ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠

⁠⁠⁠🎬 Other Places to Watch:

⁠Rumble ⁠• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube

Heather’s afternoon visit to her friend Jenny’s house takes a disturbing turn when a doll in the next room seems to fix its gaze on them, no matter how many times they try to shut it away. As doors open on their own and the doll refuses to stay where it’s placed, the unease builds into something far more sinister. A simple childhood object becomes the center of a growing nightmare, leaving Heather to question whether they were ever truly alone.

FEATURED STORY:

"The Staring Doll" by Jack Stryker

Performed by Luke Fischer

Produced by Moon Raven

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Chilling Tales for Dark Nights | ⁠Spotify⁠ • ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠

Scary Stories Told in the Dark | ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts

⁠⁠Horror Hill | ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠

Drew Blood's Dark Tales | ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts

⁠⁠Fear From the Heartland | ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠

🎬 Other Places to Watch:⁠

Rumble ⁠• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube

Lost in the depths of a sprawling forest, a weary hunter seeks shelter for the night in an abandoned cabin hidden among the trees. Inside, he discovers the walls covered with unsettling portraits whose hateful expressions seem fixed directly on him, filling the cramped room with an overwhelming sense of dread. But when morning arrives, the hunter learns that what he saw during the night was far more terrifying than paintings on a wall. A short but unforgettable tale of isolation and creeping terror, this story proves that sometimes the things watching us are much closer than we realize.

FEATURED STORY:

"The Cabin in the Woods" by an anonymous author

Performed and produced by Craig Groshek

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Chilling Tales for Dark Nights | Spotify • Apple Podcasts

Scary Stories Told in the Dark | ⁠Spotify⁠ • ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠

Horror Hill | ⁠Spotify⁠ • ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠

Drew Blood's Dark Tales | ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts

⁠Fear From the Heartland | ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts

⁠🎬 Other Places to Watch:

Rumble • ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube

Deep beside a lonely lake sits an old house burdened by a terrible secret—one whispered through generations but never fully told. For young Arthur Pale, the nightmare begins on his very first night there, when a voice from beneath his bed warns him that something monstrous is waiting in the darkness. Though Arthur desperately pleads for his father to believe him, his fears are dismissed as childish imagination, leaving the boy alone to face the growing horror hidden within the house. As the nights pass and the warnings become more sinister, the line between nightmare and reality begins to vanish, leading to a tragedy that will haunt the decaying home long after its occupants are gone. Written in the style of a dark cautionary fairy tale, “The House on the Lake” is a chilling story of disbelief, regret, and the terrible cost of ignoring the fears of a child.

FEATURED STORY:

"The House on the Lake" by Mark Newton

Performed by Edward Bennett

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🔊 Listen to More of our Podcasts:

Chilling Tales for Dark Nights | ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠

Scary Stories Told in the Dark | ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠

Horror Hill | ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠

Drew Blood's Dark Tales | ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Fear From the Heartland | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎬 Other Places to Watch:

⁠⁠Rumble ⁠⁠• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠

Deep in a lonely cabin north of Charleston, two lifelong friends struggle through a bitter season of illness and exhaustion. Aaron Dinkins, weak and fever-ridden, spends his nights begging for death to take him and end his suffering, while his healthy companion George Heyward slowly grows resentful of the endless complaints. But one restless night, frustration turns to cruelty when George dares his sick friend to call for Death himself. What begins as a moment of angry mockery soon draws the attention of something ancient, listening, and all too willing to answer. Steeped in Southern folklore and dark irony, “Death and the Two Friends” is a haunting cautionary tale about bitterness, fate, and the dangerous power of words spoken in anger.

FEATURED STORY:

"Death and the Two Friends" by Robert D. San Souci

Performed by Christina Cross (feat. Craig Groshek)

Produced by Craig Groshek

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🔊 Listen to More of our Podcasts:

Chilling Tales for Dark Nights | ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠

Scary Stories Told in the Dark | ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠

Horror Hill | ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠

Drew Blood's Dark Tales | ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Fear From the Heartland | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎬 Other Places to Watch:

⁠⁠Rumble ⁠⁠• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠