“The NoSleep Podcast” is a weekly anthology of audio horror stories that scares its listeners the old-fashioned way. Spooky tales spring to life through theatrical storytelling, subtle production and taut writing. The online show has attracted fans who appreciate the podcast’s knack for creating macabre and frightening thrills.
“We’re bringing the old-time radio show back into the modern culture,” said “NoSleep” host and producer David Cummings, calling from his home in Canada. “The audience members bring their own imaginations and fears. That really heightens their sense of connection. I’m constantly hearing from fans that they’d rather listen to the podcast than watch a horror movie. That’s such a gratifying feeling.”
Since its debut in 2011, the program has steadily grown its fan base. Today it averages 300,000 downloads a week. The acclaimed series won the 2014 Best Fiction or Anthology Podcast from the annual Parsec Awards, which honor excellence in the field of science fiction podcasts.
“NoSleep” is currently taking its show on the road for a series of live dates. Cummings, who also serves as a narrator on the show, will be joined onstage by four other actors and the show’s composer and musician Brandon Boone.
Cummings came by his love of horror early in life. As a child, he received a coffee-table book about vintage scary films. “I don’t know who decided to give a child that, but it piqued my interest,” he laughed.
As a teenager, he listened to a radio station in Toronto that played old-time horror and suspense shows on Sunday nights. “I would lie awake listening to it,” he recalled. “That spurred both a love of horror and horror audio. Back then it was that radio show, not movies, that was painting pictures in my mind.”
He spent the 1990s playing bass in the rock band the Dustkickers. The experience afforded him the chance to work on his voice onstage and in the studio. A decade later he went in search of a steady day job and became a software developer.
A fateful connection occurred when he visited the media aggregation and discussion website Reddit.
“There is a forum — or subreddit as they’re called — that was created to be a community where people could post scary stories,” he said. “The focus is to make them seem real or plausible. Most are written in the first person. I like to use the term ‘campfire stories.’ ”
The forum grew in members. One day someone advanced the idea of creating a podcast of the best stories. Although it wasn’t Cummings’ idea, he decided to do the narration.
“When no one else picked up the ball to get the episodes produced, I offered to do that,” he said. What he initially thought would be a temporary situation eventually turned into a full-time career.
He created his first podcast in 2011. It was a grass-roots effort that involved a handful of other volunteers who pitched in.
“Over the years we’ve been able to foster a cast of voice actors and it’s grown to be quite remarkable,” he said. “We now have the NoSleep Players if you will, the regular cast who do most of the stories. We’re spread across the planet. We all record in our own spaces and the audio files are sent to two producers in a central location who do the production.”
The live shows will bring the entire cast together in person for the first time. (The tour stops in Cambridge Wednesday at the Middle East. Tickets: $20, available from ticketmaster.com.)
“One of the neat aspects of this tour is that this group of people who have worked together for years will finally have a chance to meet face to face,” he said. “It will be a unique experience to finally meet these people who I consider close friends now.”
The podcast has grown slowly and steadily over time, picking up new fans along the way.
“I’ve never done anything in terms of advertising or marketing,” Cummings said. “It’s always been word-of-mouth. We’ve had some nice things happen. We’ve been featured on iTunes. We’ve had articles in high-visibility publications.”
The show can be found at www.thenosleeppodcast.com. Although the majority of fans listen to the free version of the show, there’s also a $19.99 season pass available that offers additional content. Episodes feature a range of scary themes including “dark entities that dwell deep within,” mysterious strangers, messages from beyond, haunted houses and Christmas shows with prowling Santas.
“It’s similar to roller coasters where you push yourself to an uncomfortable place and get that release,” Cummings said. “Horror is unique because it’s one of the only genres that tries to elicit a negative emotion. Comedy wants to make you laugh. Romance wants to make you swoon. But horror wants to make you afraid. There are some people who connect with that and like being scared in a safe format. There’s a tremendous audience for it.”
In an age of smartphones and portable technology, fans can listen to the show anywhere they choose. No matter the setting, though, the stories still haunt.
“I hear from people who listen to the show while they’re riding the bus,” he said. “They’re cleaning their house or sitting in the park on their lunch hour. In all these disparate settings, they’ll say, ‘I’m so engrossed in the story that I’m getting shivers and I’m getting scared.’ It’s a unique experience. You put your earbuds in and it creates an enveloping atmosphere.”
The proof that a horror story is successfully doing its job is in the emotion.
“It always amazes me that people can be scared by the show while riding the subway or vacuuming their carpet,” Cummings said. “It’s quite a powerful format.”
