There are some stories we are afraid to tell. Some truths only happen after dark. And some secrets can only be shared around the fire.

We proudly present, “Campfire Tales X.” An annual tradition featuring supernatural stories from our evil-twin podcast, Spooked.

STORIES

Smell Ya Later

After Laura’s husband gets a fatal diagnosis, he promises to contact her from beyond the grave. But how will she know it’s really him?

Original score by Leon Morimoto, produced by Anne Ford

Paper Route Premonition

Alyssa is taking over her friend’s paper route for the week. It’s a fun way to make a little money. There’s just this one house that’s freaking her out …

Original score by Yari Bundy, produced by Anne Ford

Stormwalker

When Roberta is a little girl, there’s nothing scarier than the thought of being caught out in a big storm. One day, her worst fear comes true … and then someone shows up

Original score by Yari Bundy, produced by Anne Ford

Artwork by Teo Ducot

Season 14 - Episode 37

Did you ever have that one friend that you didn’t want but it turns out you really need? This week on Snap, epic stories about unexpected companionship.

STORIES

Shut Up Rick

He’s called Shut Up Rick. Let’s hear what he has to say.

Thank you Bucky Sinister and Rick Loddy.

Bucky is a poet, author, and comedian — to learn more about Bucky’s work and what he’s up to now, subscribe to his substack.

Original score by Clay Xavier, produced by Zahra Noorbaksh and John Fecile

Rock Paper Scissors

When the two greatest auction houses in the world – Christie’s and Sotheby’s – vied for the privilege of auctioning off $20 million worth of art in 2004, little did they know that they would be forced to engage in an ancient form of ritualized combat known as… rock paper scissors.

Be sure to check out Carol Vogel’s original New York Times article.

Produced by Joe Rosenberg

The Kipling Hotel - LIVE

A young, penniless student arrives at UCLA with no place to stay and is forced to improvise.

Performed by Don Reed at Snap LIVE in San Francisco, CA.

Music composed by Alex Mandel, performed by the Snap Judgment Players: Alex Mandel, David Brandt, and Tim Frick

Artwork by Teo Ducot

Season 14 – Episode 36

A woman takes animal rehabilitation to new heights when she brings over a thousand bats back from the dead. And a Snap producer reveals he owes a lot to one single hairy flying creature. Snap Judgment presents, “Batwoman.” True stories about animals told by humans.

STORIES

Batwoman

A woman in Texas takes animal rehabilitation to new heights when she brings over a thousand bats back from the dead.

There is an explicit word in this story. Sensitive listeners, please be advised.

Thank you, Mary Warwick, for sharing your story with us!

Big thanks also to The Houston Humane Society, The TWRC Wildlife Center, and the Batworld Sanctuary in Texas – whose staff protect and rehabilitate bats, and provide education and training on the proper treatment of bats to people all over the US.

Original score by Dirk Schwarzhoff, produced by Shaina Shealy

Bless the Bat

Snap Producer, John Fecile, tells us how he got where is he today.

Original score by Dirk Schwarzhoff, produced by John Fecile

Artwork by Teo Ducot

Season 14 - Episode 35

Have you ever wanted something so badly you’d do anything to make it happen? Sixteen-year-old Mohamed decides to dig deep in his religion to take the next step with his crush. There’s no love like young love… especially when it’s a secret.

This story contains strong language, discusses sexuality, and mentions corporal punishment. Please take care while listening.

BIG thanks to Mohamed Ali for sharing his story with us! Mohamed is an artist and comedian, he just got back to Canada after spending the last few years working and performing in Southeast Asia. Check out his Instagram!

Special thanks to Zahra Noorbakhsh. Big thanks as well to Zaiba Hasan & her crew from the podcast Mommying While Muslim.

Produced by Regina Bediako, original score by Renzo Gorrio, artwork by Teo Ducot

Snap Music Spotlight: “Honest” by Jada Imani (produced by Dakim)

Jada Imani is an East St. Louis-born, Bay Area-raised Hip-Hop R&B artist and organizer. In addition to a whole bunch of great music, Jada recently launched a new product line called “Good For The Soul”. Be sure to check out her Patreon and follow her on social media!

This song comes to us from the compilation Water For The Town Vol. 4, a project series from SmartBomb created to raise mutual aid and awareness for various organizations and grassroots movements doing vital work right here in Oakland.

The song is produced by Dakim, be sure to check out more of Dakim’s music and follow them on Instagram!

Snap Classic - Season 14 - Episode 34

Nelufar grew up with a Muslim upbringing, and she’s about to dig into a ritual that’s at the center of her religion: the daily call to prayer. It’s a practice uniting 1.8 billion Muslims around the world. But, for a lot of reasons, Nelufar never felt completely comfortable responding to that call. So Nelufar, she tries a slightly different approach.

This episode comes to us from our friends at Ritually. It’s Nelufar Hedayat’s new podcast, from Brazen Media. And In each episode, she tries out a new spiritual or wellness ritual to find out if practicing it can actually make you feel better. Want to hear more? Listen to Ritually wherever you get your podcasts!

BIG thanks to the entire Ritually team over there for their work on this beautiful piece: Sarah Kendal, Susie Armitage, Clair Urbahn, Troy Holmes, Bradley Hope, Tom Wright, Mariangel Gonzales, Lucy Woods, Charlotte Cooper, Francesca Gilardi Quadrio Curzio, Nour Abdel Latif, Megan Dean, Ryan Ho, and Julien Pradier.

Ritually’s theme music is by Amaroun. Original music is by Jay Brown. Artwork by Ryan Ho and Julien Pradier

Season 14 - Episode 33

Two comic story tellers, Dino Archie and James Judd, bring you love, bromance and a summer camp exorcism with sock puppets. This episode contains explicit language.

STORIES

The Legend of Sweet Foot

Comedian Dino Archie got into a bar fight that blossomed into a bromance. The bond with his soulmate ripens over crab trapping, bankruptcy, and the Ghost of Christmas Future.

Camp Exorcist

Comedian James Judd dreams of being kidnapped, falling in love with a human hair blanket, and a church camp exorcism…you know, the kind with googly-eyed sock puppets.

Original Music by Bells Atlas 

Artwork by Teo Ducot

Snap Classic - Season 14 - Episode 32

Strapped in a harness, on the edge of a mountain, the snow bridge lets out a hollow crack as it gives way. The story of two climbers whose fates are intertwined by a length of rope.

Big thanks to Jim Davidson for sharing his story!

Jim wrote a book with Kevin Vaughan about surviving the fall on Mt. Rainier, called The Ledge. He also wrote a book about his experiences during and after the Nepal earthquake called The Next Everest. Check them out!

Original score by Renzo Gorrio, produced by Justin Kramon, artwork by Teo Ducot

Season 14 - Episode 31

Weed brownies, firefighting, and friendship. Amazing stories by friends, about the friend you did not expect.

STORIES

Weed Brownies

At school, Alia Volz was a weird kid without a lot of friends. She had a secret... after school, she’d go home and help her mom make and sell weed brownies all over San Francisco. But one day, Alia discovered something about her mom’s business that turned her secret into a burden that was far more painful than she could have imagined.

Thank you, Alia, for sharing your story with Snap!

Produced by Shaina Shealy, original score by Doug Stuart

Up in Smoke

Firefighting runs through Nyge’s bloodline. But he had no idea what it would cost to pursue this family dream.

This story was produced by YR Media's Adult ISH podcast. Adult ISH is a culture, advice, and storytelling show about #adulting, that is produced entirely by folks who are "almost adults". It’s distributed by PRX’s Radiotopia. Listen to more episodes of Adult ISH and subscribe!

Produced by Nyge Turner and Davey Kim, sound design by Clay Xavier, Marcel Angelo, and Davey Kim

Letters from Lockdown

Thank you to all of our storytellers from around the world for sharing your stories with us!

Artwork by Teo Ducot

Season 14 - Episode 30

Yohance Lacour is writing plays and selling weed on the south side of Chicago in the 90's. When a young black boy nearby is attacked in "the wrong part of town" Yohance knows he must respond not just with words, but action.

Sensitive listeners should know that this story references a racist hate crime and contains racist language.

You Didn’t See Nothin’ is a production of the Invisible Institute and USG Audio.

The podcast is written and reported by Yohance Lacour with Bill Healy, Dana Brozostkelleher, Erisa Apantaku and Sarah Geis.

Sound design, mixing, and music supervision by Steven Jackson and Phil Dmochowski at the Audio Non-Visual Company. Original music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura.

Executive produced by Alison Flowers and Jamie Kalven for the Invisible Institute, and Josh Bloch for USG Audio. Production support by Jennifer Sears. Fact-checking by Angely Mercado.

Archival audio used in this episode is from C-Span, CBS Evening News, NPR, MSNBC, NBC News, WBEZ, Dateline, CNN, WTTW, Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Youtube, CBS Chicago, The Today Show, WMag, and Conus.

Listen to the rest of You Didn't See Nothin’ wherever you get your podcasts or at usgaudio.com

Season 14 - Episode 29

A man walks off the side of a California highway, deep into the patchy grassland, to build a life away from the rest of the world. And a storyteller travels through a Chicago neighborhood with his grandmother… into a time machine.

STORIES

The Hitchhiker's Guide To America

A man walks off the side of a California highway, deep into the patchy grassland, to build a life away from the rest of the world.

Sensitive listeners should know that this story contains a description of a car accident.

Thank you, Gregory, for sharing your story with us!

Produced by Tessa Paoli, original score by Derek Barber

Time Traveler

A few weeks ago, writer and performer Jacoby Cochran walked through a Chicago neighborhood and into a time machine. That’s where the story begins…

This story contains explicit language and references racial violence. Please take care while listening.

Thank you, Jacoby, for sharing your story with us! For more of Jacoby’s work, please head on over to jacobycochran.com.

Produced by Regina Bediako & Anna Sussman, original score by Clay Xavier

Artwork by Teo Ducot