In this non-fiction thriller, “Snap Judgement Spooked”, includes a montage of different horror stories. Each episode tells the tales of different encounters with real life events, told by real victims. Hosted by Glynn Washington, he begins every episode enticing readers by instantly putting them onto the edge of their seat. In the first episode titled “The Watcher,” Washington opens up the podcast by asking if you know if you are ever truly alone, setting an eerily feeling into our minds.
The podcast begins with Washington telling a story of how two brothers planned to tell the other when one would die, this being known as the “Houdini Promise”. Flash forward, one of the brothers is presumed dead, however, the other one believes that he can still see him. Abruptly the story is cut off and the introduction begins playing. The whole entire beginning story helped set up the mood and scene for the stories that follow after the introduction is finished playing.
In the first story a woman talks about her experience being left alone back in the fifties. The change in voices captures any listeners attention because the whole entire tone and mood of the podcast has shifted. We learn that her mother was running late and alone in a house, all she could hear were the sounds of heavy footsteps and felt an unknown presence watching her. Immediately, the sounds of footsteps and knocking play into the background, adding to the tension of the narrator’s current situation. The music in the background picks up, and the narrator’s voice begins to have a sense of urgency, until everything stops and goes silent.
Suddenly, the setting completely shifts to her hearing the sound of sirens approaching her house. When the police arrived at her door she found an officer, a woman, and her baby. The once tense mood is immediately eased and taken back into a more seemingly normal setting. However, we soon learn that the sounds previously heard were the result of a murder going on in the house next door. The story then ends there and the listeners are met with a moment of silence, which helps to take a moment to process that story.
The next story divulges into a woman’s high school life after a breakup with her boyfriend. The narrator uses many personal pronouns to appeal to listeners, and make her current situation feel more relatable. She then shifts the more sentimental tone into a state of confusion as she walks into a forest and senses someone watching her. Suddenly she hears a voice urging her to “run” and “stop,” these voices change from the narrator’s into a more high pitched screaming. As listeners, the upbeat music and change in voices make us feel the urgency and stress that the narrator was feeling. Luckily, the voice that blared into her ears is said to have saved her life because she would most likely have fallen victim to whoever or whatever was in the forest if she wasn’t told to leave.
The first episode then concludes there, inviting any listeners to submit stories of their spooky encounters. The abrupt ends to each story leaves us wanting more and more, thus retaining listeners for every new episode. The dramatic music that plays in the background helps build up tension, and the sudden silence allows for all the possible drama to unfold. Each narrator emphasizes and describes their encounter in such detail that any listener can feel as though they were in their position. The constant change in voice also helps keep listeners feel engaged with the narrator, making me especially excited to see what future episodes hold.
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Hi Niki,
Snap Judgement sounds like a really interesting story telling podcast. The use of sound and music seems like it would pull you right into the podcast, immersing you in the world and perspectives of the stories.
The introduction to set the tone of the stories sounds quite similar to the first episode of the podcast I listened to, Crimetown. Crimetown follows the story of organized crime in the city of Providence, Rhode Island. My podcast starts with a music hook and puts you right into the action which sounds similar to Snap Judgment. The rapid shifts in settings and different vignettes is different from the more continuous story of the podcast I listened to.
Effectively using sound effects and a soundtrack is something I would want to incorporate in my own podcasts. Just adding little touches to the story such as subtle ambient noise or background effects could really immerse the listener. Music seems equally important for creating the desired tone and mood. Picking the right music of the scene feels like it could be the difference between an awkward read-aloud to a dramatic story.
Leaving the podcast on a cliffhanger or at least keeping things open-ended is something that both our podcasts do would engage the listener and make them excited for the next episode.
The vignette or anthology approach also carries its own pros and cons. It gives short, exciting, and dense stories that are opened and closed fairly quickly. However, this might make getting the listener to keep coming back more difficult because they are not invested in a single story.
I think exploring different storytelling styles and audio are things I will definitely put into consideration for my own podcast.
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