Welcome to Maplewood-Sparta—where suburban streets are lined with shadows. Some say the 90s are dead and gone. But here, they linger.

So gather close for a story of Thanksgiving 1994, a good Catholic boy with a beastly hunger, and a hayride to hell.

I call it: THE CORDS

Campfire Rating for THE CORDS

🔥 Campfire (Mature Teen / 16+)

Advisory: Creature horror and sustained peril; teen sexual themes (non-graphic); underage smoking; brief strong language, sin/shame themes.

THE CAMPFIRE SCALE

To help listeners choose the right vibe for their listening, each episode will be marked with a rating on our Campfire Scale.

🕯️ Candlelight (All Ages) – Gentle, cozy, safe for kids. Light spookiness, no heavy themes.

🌙 Lantern (Teen / PG-13) – Haunting but not graphic. May include themes of death, bullying, or mild language. Best for ages 13+.

🔥 Campfire (Mature Teen / 16+) – Stronger intensity. Possible mature themes: sexuality, mental health struggles, swearing, or unsettling imagery.

KEVIN'S BURNED CD

A playlist for THE CORDS, episode 3 of the Spartans! fiction anthology podcast on Spotify.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4lLvx1o0eSfid6bg5C6toB?si=UAuf0Tq6Q6m65T8hNVPcVw

CREDITS

Written by Nina Alvarez

Sound design by Nina Alvarez

Narrated by Kelvin Melendez

Spartans! is a production of Camp Cosmographia Radio

MUSIC

Echoes Through Empty Rooms

Song: I Can't Stop

Composer: Punch Deck

Website

Music powered by BreakingCopyright: https://breakingcopyright.com

Song: In the Shadows

Composer: Ethan Meixsell

Website: https://ethanmeixsell.com

Music powered by BreakingCopyright: https://breakingcopyright.com

Songs from https://www.epidemicsound.com

Additional sounds from the Descript Audio Library

Become a Spartan

Follow ⁠⁠⁠@Spartans_Radio⁠⁠⁠ for episode updates, audio, pics, behind-the-scenes, 90s nostalgia, and Easter eggs.

Follow SPARTANS! on Substack at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://substack.com/@spartansradio⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and become a paid subscriber for access to minisodes.

Paid subscribers on Substack and Patreon will get early access to the episode on Mondays, two days before free subscribers.

And all episodes will post without the commercial music to ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Amazon Music⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠Audible ⁠⁠⁠the following Friday.

About the Series

Set in the shadow of Maplewood-Sparta High, SPARTANS is an anthology podcast that weaves together haunting, deeply personal tales of adolescence, loss, and the supernatural. Each episode stands alone—yet together, they form a tapestry of interconnected lives, spanning decades and generations.

In a town where every cemetery holds secrets and every lost soul leaves a mark, a cast of unforgettable characters struggles to find belonging at the edge of innocence and oblivion. Whether it’s chasing after missing friends in overgrown graveyards, navigating the heartbreaks of first love, or confronting the literal and figurative ghosts that haunt them, the Spartans are always searching: for themselves, for each other, for meaning in the darkness.

Blending gritty realism with the uncanny, SPARTANS explores the way trauma, memory, and longing bind us together—and how the past, no matter how deeply buried, is never truly dead. Through eight rich, atmospheric episodes, listeners are invited to gather ‘round the campfire and remember: in this town, some hearts never fade. They linger, just out of sight, waiting to be found.

coming-of-age supernatural drama

Spooky seasonal stories

spooky season stories

spooky reads

haunted high school

haunted woods

spooky tales

haunted hometown

More from Nina Alvarez

⁠⁠⁠Legends of the Lost with Nina Alvarez⁠⁠⁠—personal essays, research, stories, and writing about writing.

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠miraclefieldnotes⁠⁠⁠.