PODCAST · fiction
Happy Horrordays
by Matthew Wood
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!
Episodes
-
The Prophets' Paradise - Halloween, Week 3, 2026
The sixth story in Chambers' book, The King in Yellow, was inspired by The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam. And it arguably isn't a story. Call it vignettes, micro-fictions, inscrutable fables. Each one has similar habits and similar themes. Characters like Truth and Death march the stage here, often...
-
In The Court Of The Dragon - Halloween, Week 2, 2026
Well, hello! Robert Chambers's "In the Court of the Dragon" is part of his famous King In Yellow stories. These 10 stories, which inspired legends like the Cthulhu mythos and the first season of True Detective, have resonated widely and well in popular culture. This is a nicely intense little…
more -
An Inhabitant Of Carcosa - Halloween, Week 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....
-
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...
-
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…
more -
The Great God Pan, Chapter 8 (Featuring David Milloway) - Summer Solstice, 2026
The Great God Pan is dead, indeed. Thank you for coming on this journey with us. I noticed that some of you missed chapter 7, but rest assured, it is waiting for you. If you subscribe, that will never happen again. Machens truly knew how to craft a nasty tale. It will almost be a relief when we...
-
The Great God Pan, Chapter 7 (Featuring David Milloway) - Summer Solstice, 2026
Our penultimate chapter, friends! Machen's novella is nearing its end, Helen Vaughn's fate is all but sealed, and... well, very little is right with the world. You don't need me to tell you that, though. You have eyes. David Milloway's voice work has continued to improve throughout this series....
-
The Great God Pan, Chapter 6 (Featuring David Milloway) - Summer Solstice, 2026
Our first content warning, I'm afraid. Don't worry, I'm going back and flagging "Encounter At Night" as well. This material isn't explicit in the usual sense, but the story is focused on people taking their own lives. If that's going to cause you pain, I recommend skipping to a different episode....
-
The Great God Pan, Chapter 5 (Featuring David Milloway) - Summer Solstice, 2026
David and I are happy to welcome you back, friends! This summer of Pan feels long, does it not? We're deep into Machen's story of the clash between civilization and wilderness now, aren't we? Still, we've rounded a corner now, and I can't wait to see what's on the other side! Pan is an odd deity....
-
The Great God Pan, Chapter 4 (Featuring David Milloway) - Summer Solstice, 2026
I'll confess, I didn't realize "The Great God Pan" was a summer-long commitment! When we started this journey, I thought we'd be done before the 4th of July. However, covering other summer holidays like Father's Day slowed our progress, and our reader, David Milloway's, recent illness has also...
-
One Of The Missing (Rerun From 2025) - July 4, 2026
Happy 250, America! May the wings of liberty never lose a feather. Welcome back to Happy Horrordays, my friends. This is my first recycled episode, but I think it's one of the best stories ever on the pod. Ambrose Bierce, of course, was an irascible writer, journalist, and soldier in the service…
more -
The Great God Pan, Part 3 (Featuring David Milloway) - Summer Solstice, 2026
Welcome back to Arthur Machen's "The Great God Pan!" Chapter 3 is titled "The City of Resurrections," but I don't think anyone was bent on raising the dead in Helen's experiments. That said, there's certainly a kind of resurrection here. Details in the episode, but did you know that Pan is the…
more -
When John Comes - Father's Day, 2026
I've been a dad for almost 13 years, and I'm not sure if I've gotten more than a day right. I've been a son a lot longer than that, though, so I'm paying tribute to my dad this Father's Day. "When John Comes" is a variation on a story Dad used to tell me when I was a boy. I hope I've nailed it…
more -
The Great God Pan, Chapter 2 (Featuring David Milloway) - Midsummer, 2026
Hello, my friends! Our month-long celebration of the Summer Solstice continues with chapter 2 of Arthur Machen's "The Great God Pan," as read by my illustrious friend, David Milloway. Here, we see Mister Clark trace his memories and manuscripts, searching for Pan's fingerprints and actively…
more -
The Great God Pan, Part 1 (Featuring David Milloway) - Midsummer, 2026
Our first multi-part episode! My friend David Milloway offered to read "The Great God Pan, "and once I heard his familiar voice turn completely alien to me, I couldn't say no! Stephen King has said he considers "The Great God Pan" the scariest horror story in existence. Who am I to argue? It...
-
The Gardener - Memorial Day, 2026
Rudyard Kipling wrote every kind of story imaginable. He was an esteemed poet and writer, and a great booster of the British Empire. However, as he aged and understood loss, he wrote children's stories (The Jungle Books, Just-So Stories) and a plethora of ghost stories. I like how human these…
more -
The Yellow Wallpaper - Mother's Day, 2026
Charlotte Perkins Gilman's classic tale of a mother in distress! I managed to use a different voice for the husband every time he spoke, which I think is half hilarious blunder, half stroke of genius. After all, we're hearing the version of John that exists in the narrator's head, and I think…
more -
"Not A Round-Eyed Monster Blinked" - Recommendations - May Day, 2026
Our first recommendations episode! I usually restrict myself to the public domain, but I've decided to touch on some of the fine writers I can't cover properly here. The excerpts are brief, but Theodore Sturgeon, Ray Bradbury, and Walt Kelly are our stars tonight. Sturgeon's "It" is a wonderful...
-
Miss Mary Pask - Easter, 2026
Edith Wharton! One of the greatest writers of her generation, and one of the finest ghost story writers ever! "Miss Mary Pask" is a kind of resurrection tale. On a more profound level, it's about a man more interested in the idea of miracles than he is in the actual people around him. Whatta…
more -
The She-Wolf - April Fool's Day, 2026
April sweet is rolling in, and the Feast of Fools is upon us again! Saki is our master of revels again this year, as his antihero Clovis Sangrail wanders onto the podcast for the first time. Clovis is an influential character. Along with the aunts that populate Saki's stories, Clovis helped…
more -
Teig O'Kane and the Corpse - Saint Patrick's Day, 2026
Happy Saint Patrick's Day! Here we have a story from W.B. Yeats' own Fairy and Folktales of the Irish Peasantry. I was looking for a particularly grisly passage about roasting a corpse on a spit I remembered from another old story, but once I happened on this one, I couldn't resist its charms....
-
The Tale of Ming-Y - Red Lantern Festival, 2026
Lafcadio Hearn collected ghost stories from New Orleans, from his adopted home, Japan, and from visiting scholars from China. The Tale of Ming-Y is a romantic ghost story, as befits the romance of the Red Lantern Festival, which marks the end of the Lunar New Year. I'll make this one brief. I...
-
The Love Life Of Edgar Allan Poe (Plus The Oval Portrait) - Saint Valentine's Day, 2026
We've got a horror story for Valentine's Day, never fear! However, this is a rare episode where the history lesson dominates and, believe me, it's worth listening to! Edgar Allan Poe wasn't the sad, lonely little man you probably imagined. His wife's death affected him greatly, of course, but Poe...
-
The Ride - Groundhog Day, 2026
This story is actually perfect for the Lunar New Year and the Year of the Fire Horse! When my wife told me how that shook out, I kicked myself. No regrets, though, I think any story about animal exploitation works pretty well for Groundhog Day. This is the second, and probably the last, Mary...
-
There Was A Man Dwelt By A Churchyard -Old Christmas, 2026
If you're lucky enough to be born Southern, Old Christmas is the holiday your grandparents remember. Or maybe remember their grandparents reminiscing about. The Gullah and Geechee people of the Carolinas still practice it, I understand, and in some regions a boat or a bull named Old Buck visits…
more -
The Comet - New Year's Day, 2026
W.E.B. DuBois is better known for his essays on race and civil rights than his fiction. That said, "The Comet" is a gorgeous yarn that sent its tendrils throughout various genres. His facility with language is on full display here, as is his deep exploration of what we feel in the middle of...
-
The Clock - Christmas 2025
W.F Harvey's tale of family gatherings, an empty house, and a "small favor" gone wrong! Fryer specialized in stories that don't hand you all the answers, and "The Clock" is wonderfully weird. It's short - a mere holiday treat and not a feast - but it's bound to get your heart pumping for the...
-
The Angel of the Odd - Thanksgiving, 2025
Our first Edgar Allen Poe story! "The Angel of the Odd" is a kind of horror, and its author's credentials give it some credibility in this area, but it's Final Destination by way of Wile E. Coyote. Either a drunken fool has a bad dream, or a drunken fool is haunted by a monster made up of equal...
-
Gabriel-Ernest - Halloween Part 5, 2025
Saki may be my favorite pre-WW1 horror writer. His brevity and humor are unmatched, and he's not afraid to write about monsters. There aren't a lot of great short stories about monsters, but "Gabriel-Ernest" is a notable exception. October has given us a tableful of stories to feast on, and this…
more -
Tam o' Shanter - Halloween Part 4, 2025
Robert Burns' "Tam o' Shanter" needs no introduction, but since I'm a heathen American, I'll give it one. A mock ballad by Scotland's national poet, who resides on the Scottish ten-pound note, it's a story of a drunken Scot who disturbs a Halloween party in a haunted church. It's 18th-century…
more -
On The Brighton Road - Halloween Part 3, 2025
Happy Halloween, friends! Richard Middleton was extremely talented and extremely depressed. He'd be a great subject for a ghost story, but for now, we'll have to settle for the unique take on ghosts the man gave us! Our theme music is Vivek Abhishek's "The Door." He does more than just horror…
more -
Encounter At Night - Halloween Part 2, 2025
Mary Frances McHugh is almost unknown in contemporary circles, but I won't lie, this story hits at some deep, primal fear. If you're unfamiliar, it's much better unspoiled, though I should warn you - this time we're taking a journey into some dark places. I've read that content warnings actually...
-
August Heat - Halloween Part 1, 2025
Welcome, my friends, to the most wonderful time of the year. This is the first of four episodes for the Halloween season! I'll be putting out one a week until All Hallow's Eve, the result of a lot of reading and research. Glad I get to share it with y'all. William Fryer Harvey's "Midnight House"...
-
The Horrible - Labor Day, 2025
Happy Labor Day! If I understood Billy Joel correctly, we didn't start the class war, it was always burnin' or some such. An aristocrat's view of horror in today's story, Guy de Maupassant's "L'Horrible." There's class struggles aplenty here but also a deliciously grisly cannibalistic march…
more -
Hoichi the Earless - Obon, 2025
Light a lantern in memory of Hoichi for Obon, the Japanese feast of the dead! This peerless blind musician had an encounter with deadly forces that, in a roundabout way, enriched him but also cost him more than he could have imagined. Obon snuck up on me. In fact, I didn't realize it was a real...
-
One of the Missing - Fourth of July, 2025
All-American writer Ambrose Bierce wrote plenty of horror fueled by his experiences in the Civil War. "One of the Missing" might be his most genuine and realistic horror story, though, about the liabilities inherent to being a good soldier and the inevitability of the fear of death. Vivek...
-
Lost Hearts - Father's Day, 2025
Mister Abney of Aswerby Hall is one of horror's quintessential Bad Dads. I hope you'll tune in for Father's Day and the tale of a genial monster, the power of privilege, and the value of innocence in a dark world. For his part, the story's author, M.R. James was a scholar but never a father. He…
more -
The New Mother - Mother's Day
Lucy Lane Clifford was a well-regarded novelist and playwright in her day but her oddball children's book, The Anyhow Stories, Moral and Otherwise, is probably her most enduring legacy and even that's not well-known. It's a pity. As "The New Mother" demonstrates, Clifford had a real talent for...
-
Easter-Sredni Vashtar
Easter is about life, death, and rebirth and so is Saki's painfully funny horror story, Sredni Vashtar. All I can say is that religion looks different to children than adults. My uncle-in-law, Willy Longori, was kind enough to loan me his composition, "Nachtmerrie Waltz," for tonight's show.…
more -
April Fool's Day - The Open Window
April sweet is coming in, let the Feast of Fools begin! H.H. Munro, who wrote under the name Saki, specialized in humor and horror. "The Open Window" is one of his most famous stories, and I think "Gabriel-Earnest" is my favorite Saki piece, I couldn't resist this tale of a terrible prank for All...
-
Saint Patrick's Day - Ancient Lights
Algernon Blackwood was a believer in supernatural events and one of the greatest crafters of weird, ghostly stories. Since Americans associate Saint Patrick's Day with leprechauns, fairies, and the like, his tale "Ancient Lights" seemed like the perfect choice on this chilly March night. Our…
more -
Mary Postgate
Rudyard Kipling's story of a woman, her surrogate family, and an unfortunate gentleman caller is an unlikely choice for Valentine's Day. Still, I think Mary is a romantic at heart, even if she'd never characterize herself that way. And she certainly carries more than a little horror with her! Our...
-
Coming To Town
First, I turned to the greats, Charles Dickens and M.R. James. In my arrogance, I've placed my own Christmas horror story alongside them. As I recorded it, I realized its strengths and shortcomings, and if you've read this far, I think you'll enjoy it. For the record, I'm a North Carolinian by...
-
A School Story
"A School Story" is an underrated ghost story by M.R. James, who made a habit of writing and performing ghost stories for his friends at Christmas. First appearing in More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, this morsel of a tale gives horror fans a taste of the influential author's humor and love of...
-
The Signal-Man
Christmas ghosts are an old tradition and who knows more about Yuletide ghost stories than Charles Dickens? While "A Christmas Carol" is his most popular fireside tale, it was a young man's story. "The Signal-Man" was the Christmas ghost story Dickens published in 1866. While his most famous work...
We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.
No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.
No topics indexed yet for this podcast.
Loading reviews...
ABOUT THIS SHOW
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!
HOSTED BY
Matthew Wood
CATEGORIES
Loading similar podcasts...
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Happy Horrordays have?
Happy Horrordays currently has 45 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Happy Horrordays about?
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,...
How often does Happy Horrordays release new episodes?
Happy Horrordays has 45 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Happy Horrordays?
You can listen to Happy Horrordays on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Happy Horrordays?
Happy Horrordays is created and hosted by Matthew Wood.
URL copied to clipboard!