200 - "The Rake 2026" & "The Russian Sleep Act"

March 03, 2026 in IconPasta, Just Plain Weird, Strange Fiction, WWCN

The swan song of UCA is a mashup of memes in more ways than one. As David, Allen and Abysmii bid their farewells and look ahead to future silliness in another podcast project, they give their last bit of love to the Creepypasta genre by reading two classics that have been run through 26 different languages to see the weird results.

One behalf of the entire Creative Horror team, thank you for listening to this silly and stupid show for the last 12 years.

“The Rake” is attributed to Bryan Somerville. Read the original here.
”The Russian Sleep Experiment” can be found here.

197 - "Raggedy Bill" by Dartmouth and Friends

October 30, 2025 in Strange Fiction

David and returning guest Ben Paddon have a Halloween tale to tell, as an old man recollects his dark experience one October 31st in the swamps of the Deep South. But first, they have to shamelessly plug the 2nd season of Ben’s Jump Leads audio drama.

Story by Dartmouth and Friends.

196 - "The Assignation" by Edgar Allen Poe

October 14, 2025 in Strange Fiction, Poe Standards

It’s the final episode of Poe Standards! Allen and David return for one more go at the worst of Poe (according to some rando) with a story set in Venice. Is this a tragic romance, a case of obsession, or something more? And how does it compare to the other stories covered thus far?

Story by Edgar Allen Poe, first published in 1834. Read along here.

194 - "The Mask of Death" (Part 1) by Paul Ernst

August 27, 2025 in Pulp Fiction, Strange Fiction, Spooky Sagas

It’s the end of the road for Doctor Satan’s stint in Weird Tales, but was the best saved for last? Abysmii, Allen and David aim to find out as the villain’s plot manifests in a millionaire’s retreat, where Ascott Keane finally gets called out and a sinister new character enters the picture: Madame Sin.

Story by Paul Ernst, first published in Weird Tales, September 1936.

190 - "The Man of the Crowd" by Edgar Allen Poe

June 04, 2025 in Strange Fiction, Poe Standards

Part 4 of Poe Standards takes people-watching to complicated and needless extremes as Allen and David witness a protagonist who has nothing better to do than spend an entire night pursuing an odd-looking stranger throughout London, legitimately for no real reason.

Story by Edgar Allen Poe, first published in 1845. Read along here.

189 - "Silence - A Fable" by Edgar Allen Poe

May 21, 2025 in Strange Fiction, Poe Standards

Part 3 of Poe Standards has an upset: some things in the tier list got moved around, and now there’s an additional story for Allen and David to read! Poe tries his hand at writing a more esoteric fable, and our hosts try to discern what in the world is going on in this narrative of demon headpats, a man on a rock and hippopotami.

Story by Edgar Allen Poe, first published in 1838. Read along here.

188 - "Beyond Death's Gateway" (Part 2) by Paul Ernst

May 06, 2025 in Pulp Fiction, Spooky Sagas, Strange Fiction

Part 2 sees a strangely philosophical side of Paul’s storytelling as Ascott Keane pursues his nemesis into the land of the dead, meets his deceased father, and battles Doctor Satan in a sphere of damned souls. But has the continuity been restored? Does Girse show up? And who exactly is the “dictator of Texas?” David, Allen and Abysmii aim to find out!

Story by Paul Ernst, first published in Weird Tales, March 1936.

187 - "Beyond Death's Gateway" (Part 1) by Paul Ernst

April 08, 2025 in Just Plain Weird, Pulp Fiction, Strange Fiction, Spooky Sagas

David, Allen and Abysmii hesitantly return to the tales of Paul Ernst after being left chilled by the previous entry. Thankfully, it seems Doctor Satan is up to his old tricks of weird crime, with a plan involving speaking to the dead via a peculiar “antidote.” Will Ascott Keane have to follow suit? Why is he keeping a tiny corpse in his pocket? And is the new best character one that the hosts create almost by accident?

Story by Paul Ernst, first published in Weird Tales, March 1936.

185 - "The Imp of the Perverse" by Edgar Allen Poe

March 11, 2025 in Strange Fiction, Poe Standards

Part 2 of Poe Standards - the newest UCA segment that might only last 4 episodes - sees Allen and David reading what begins as an essay but continues into a cautionary tale about intrusive thoughts, self-destructive tendencies, and murdering people with candles.

Story by Edgar Allen Poe, first published in 1845. Read along here.

184 - "King Pest" by Edgar Allen Poe

February 25, 2025 in Strange Fiction

Horror as a whole owes a lot to Poe, but as proven time and again, even masters of the craft have their apparent duds. Allen submits to David the first of four F-Tier Poe narratives (based on some rando’s opinion), which apparently contains an allegory as two drunken sailors have a completely bewildering encounter in a plague-quarantined part of London.

Story by Edgar Allen Poe, first published in 1835. Read along here.

182 - "Horror Insured" (Part 2) by Paul Ernst

January 21, 2025 in Just Plain Weird, Pulp Fiction, Strange Fiction, Spooky Sagas

Just when David, Allen and Abysmii were getting comfortable with this series, Paul throws a curve ball of seeming incompetence when the story forgets a certain character died in a prior chapter; meanwhile Ascott and Beatrice play dress-up to survive, and the main showdown turns into a anti-climactic Pokemon battle.

Story by Paul Ernst, first published in Weird Tales, January 1936.

181 - "Horror Insured" (Part 1) by Paul Ernst

January 07, 2025 in Spooky Sagas, Strange Fiction, Pulp Fiction, Just Plain Weird

With a new year of mounting dread upon most everyone’s heads, David, Allen and Abysmii decide to ease into it with the ever-comforting Luciferian antics of Doctor Satan. This time, he’s getting into the insurance business is a fittingly weird way, and is once again using fire as the catalyst for his plot. How many fat businessmen will Ascott Keane sacrifice in the pursuit of his greatest foe? How many people will be added to the Faint Counter? And how in the world is Doctor Satan still unknown to the elite class that he’s targeting?

Story by Paul Ernst, first published in Weird Tales, January 1936.

180 - "The Crime on Christmas Night" by Gaston Leroux

December 24, 2024 in Pulp Fiction, Strange Fiction

Content Warning: reference to suicide

UCA is officially 10 years old, and to belatedly acknowledge this, Kaela has a special Christmas gift for David: Holiday-adjacent pulp from Weird Tales, written by the author of The Phantom of the Opera. The duo that started it will have contend with sailors, street fairs and the notion that Baby Jesus might actually be the one delivering gifts on Christmas Eve.

Story by Gaston Leroux, first published in Weird Tales, December 1930.

176 - "No Further Communication" by ClericofMadness

October 22, 2024 in Pulp Fiction, Strange Fiction, Writing Challenges

The 2nd-place winner of the New Pulp Writing Challenge is another cosmic nightmare, but this time witnessed through the disjointed epistolary of a mad(?) professor. David, Allen and Abysmii try to put the pieces together and revel in the elegent use of ambiguity in the unknown.

Story submitted by ClericofMadness.

Check out The Fog Report of Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor here.

175 - "Pursuit of the Ivory Horror" by A. S. Evans

October 08, 2024 in Pulp Fiction, Strange Fiction, Writing Challenges

After some careful consideration, David, Allen and Abysmii begin the process of revealing and discussing the winners of our New Pulp Writing Challenge. And this 3rd-place entry is an eldritch nightmare that evokes an alien city and an exacerbated game of cat-and-mouse with the story’s namesake fiendish entity. But what does this creature want with our protagonist? And why does this story bring up a tangent about Animorphs? (Spoilers: because the hosts are dumb)

Story submitted by A. S. Evans.

174 - "Hollywood Horror" (Part 2) by Paul Ernst

September 17, 2024 in Strange Fiction, Spooky Sagas, Pulp Fiction, Just Plain Weird

Atomic scrambling has left Abysmii a living skeleton, so David, Kaela and Allen will have to finish their analysis of Doctor Satan’s current cruel scheme. With Ascott Keane closing in, will the diabolical villain be able to follow through with his plan? Or will the power of his mysterious ray see both of them cut down to size (pun intended)?

Story by Paul Ernst, first published in Weird Tales, October 1935.

172 - "Hollywood Horror" (Part 1) by Paul Ernst

August 20, 2024 in Pulp Fiction, Strange Fiction, Spooky Sagas, Just Plain Weird

Doctor Satan brings his weird crimes to Tinseltown, much to David, Allen and Abysmii's mirth. Can it be that, despite the horror it evokes, this latest scheme to pry cash from wealthy studio moguls doesn't involve direct murder? And how much good has the birdlike Ascott Keane actually done when he has consistently failed to stop his nemesis? No bones about it, this might be the goofiest entry in the series so far!

Story by Paul Ernst, first published in Weird Tales, October 1935.

171 - "The Ghost Table" by Elliot O'Donnell

August 07, 2024 in Pulp Fiction, Strange Fiction

Phantom furniture poses a problem in this odd account from the 1920s. David, Kaela and Abysmii present another weird pulp tale of unintended comedy and unintended(?) sexual tension, all wrapped around one man’s attempt to get an anniversary gift for his wife and how it goes wrong (and on a rampage).

Story by Elliot O’Donnell, published in Weird Tales, February 1928.

Be sure to check out our New Pulp Revival Writing Challenge here!

170 - "The Man Who Chained the Lightning" (Part 2) by Paul Ernst

July 23, 2024 in Pulp Fiction, Just Plain Weird, Strange Fiction, Spooky Sagas

David and Matt are in for a shock as they join Kaela, Allen and Abysmii for the explosive finale of the second Doctor Satan tale. As Ascott Keane learns the truth of his adversary’s latest scheme, prepare to be jolted by the reveal of Bostiff’s backstory, a staggering amount of innuendo, and the electric clock’s purpose becoming the dumbest plot point Paul Ernst has conceived so far.

Story by Paul Ernst, first published in Weird Tales, September 1935.

Be sure to check out our New Pulp Revival Writing Challenge here!

168 - "The Man Who Chained the Lightning" (Part 1) by Paul Ernst

June 18, 2024 in Pulp Fiction, Spooky Sagas, Strange Fiction, Just Plain Weird

The actual second story in the Doctor Satan series is unveiled as Kaela, Allen and Abysmii clue in to the newest scheme of the world’s weirdest criminal. Ascott Keane disguises himself as a tree to film people, a man’s last words have something to do with shaving, and an electric clock (or lack thereof) is somehow a giveaway for Doctor Satan’s dastardly plot. Will Keane ever get over himself enough to have another round with his equally-extra rival?

Story by Paul Ernst, first published in Weird Tales, September 1935.