Pacific Northwest Stories
52 episodes listed below
A case file for the unexplained.
The Black Tapes is serialized mystery fiction built in the shape of a careful journalism podcast. Across black tapes, interviews, archival fragments, and uneasy debriefs, it follows a widening case file around Dr. Richard Strand, the Order of the Cenefis, the Unsound, and things that refuse to stay explained.
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The Black Tapes is serialized supernatural fiction presented with the sober machinery of a public-radio investigation. It does not sprint toward scares. It builds them from case files, phone calls, taped interviews, old documents, and the slow return of details that seemed incidental the first time through. At the center is the Strand Institute and its enigmatic president and founder, Dr. Richard Strand. Around him collects a shelf of black tapes, some solved, some not, and some apparently connected by fibers he is reluctant to call a pattern. The recent episodes move through cuneiform parchment, the Horn of Tiamat, the Vatican, the Order of the Cenefis, the musica mundana, Pythagorean schools, Devacorp, Howard Strand, Thomas Warren, and the recurring upside-down face symbol. The language of the mystery is unusually scholarly. Archaeology, mathematics, theology, music theory, and ancient sects sit beside apartment break-ins, sleep notes, shadow figures, and recorded chants in caves or tunnels. That contrast is the show’s best trick. It makes the impossible feel administratively documented. The tone stays grave and controlled, even when the material becomes grotesque. A cat in a dream becomes something larger. A child’s hand appears where a paw should be. A tape of children or robed figures turns into evidence that may be ritual, staged footage, or something no category can hold. Nick often functions as a practical sounding board, while Strand’s skepticism sharpens rather than dissolves the fear. The result is not a monster-of-the-week anthology. It is a patient conspiracy thriller about symbols, sound, inheritance, and the danger of hearing the wrong thing in the wrong order. The Black Tapes suits listeners who enjoy mystery audio that trusts ambiguity, withholds tidy conclusions, and lets dread accumulate in the margins of the evidence.
Made for: For listeners who like serialized mystery, occult conspiracy, and audio drama that borrows the discipline of investigative reporting. Best for patient audiences who enjoy ambiguity, academic clues, and slow-building dread.
What sets it apart: Its edge comes from treating supernatural material as evidence rather than spectacle. The show blends expert interviews, skeptical debriefs, archival fragments, and recurring symbols into a mystery that feels researched even when it turns impossible.
The Black Tapes is a weekly podcast from the creators of Pacific Northwest Stories, and is hosted by Alex Reagan. The Black Tapes Podcast is a serialized docudrama about one journalist's search for truth, her subject's mysterious past, and the literal and figurative ghosts that haunt them both. Do you believe?
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
The Black Tapes makes supernatural mystery feel investigable, building dread through interviews, records, recurring symbols, and Alex Regan's persistent questions.
The Black Tapes turns supernatural investigation into documentary procedure. Alex Regan follows calls, interviews, archival recordings, photographs, and institutional records while Dr. Richard Strand supplies a skeptical counterweight to increasingly uncanny evidence.
A dead crow hits the floor, and suddenly your quiet evening belongs to Alex Regan's case file.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A historical mystery darkens as children's footage begins to rhyme with a private nightmare.
Richard Strand's investigation starts with a dozen Sebastian Torres lookalikes on the lawn of the Oneida Community Mansion House, then narrows toward Juris and a trail through Russia, Bulgaria, Cylon, and unnamed monks.
A blocked-number voice message turns a Geneva trip into a tense test of escape, trust, and unfinished danger.
Richard Strand's alarm becomes the hinge of the episode. Police have found no sign of forced entry at the narrator's apartment, yet Strand arrives shaken by a blocked-number voice message and by a fear that sits outside his usual control.
Pythagorean theory, Devacorp records, and a familiar symbol tighten The Black Tapes' central mystery.
Musica mundana gives The Black Tapes a strong bridge between cosmic theory and the show's practical investigation. Alex walks Nick through what she has learned about Pythagoras, then follows that line toward the Unsound, the Order of the Cenefis, and the possibility of traveling…
A methodical slide from church history into accusation and occult dread, capped by a final image that lands hard.
The episode moves from Servetus and the Order of the Cenefis to a book of names that reads like a ledger of unusual deaths, then into the Church's own logic of accusation and concealment.
A patient mystery episode that turns letters and interviews into a sharper pattern.
The episode follows Thomas Warren and Richard Strand through letters tied to Howard Strand and Tiamat, then shifts into a new interview that casts the earlier details in a different light. Its real strength is accumulation.
An institutional case file slowly turns from diagnosis into dread.
An institutional case file slowly turns from diagnosis into dread. The episode keeps adding progress notes, staff reports, and half-credible sightings until treatment language starts to feel haunted, with the patient's obsession, the adversary, and the talk of ghostly visitors…
A measured return to Jessica Weldon's story that gives her room to push back.
This episode works best when Jessica Weldon gets to answer for herself. Alex listens, apologizes, and the hurt of being pulled into public view feels real.
A patient return that turns small clues into a cold, credible unease.
Season two opens by following Alex Regan from studio chatter into a dream about Maddie, then on to Dr. Strand’s inherited house, where dust, boxes, and a sparse front room do the work of a slow-burning haunt.
Four McElroys narrate a wizard battle-royale tournament across elimination trials on Octave Ziggurat.
A continuous Fabula Ultima actual-play campaign following one party through the world of Perpetua.
An ensemble cast plays teen superheroes through Masks: A New Generation campaigns and guest one-shots.
A recurring cast plays full Pathfinder 2E, Shadowdark, and Pendragon campaigns session by session.
A Dungeon World actual-play campaign following three comedians battling villain Callum Blackhammer.
This teaser episode promotes listener engagement by inviting paranormal stories for Dr.
A teaser for an upcoming episode of The Black Tapes podcast exploring demonic possession and paranormal research, followed by promotional content from the producer.
A teaser for a paranormal mystery podcast episode involving suspicious deaths, disappearances, and eerie events at a festival.
A listener shares a terrifying childhood experience of sleep paralysis and paranormal phenomena in an old farmhouse.
This is a preview for a new podcast called The Big Loop, which explores the experiences of people on the fringes of society, featuring a dramatic monologue about a moment of crisis and reflection.
This is a promotional announcement for the new podcast 'Rabbits' from the Public Radio Alliance, featuring a preview of its mysterious storyline about a friend's disappearance linked to a game.
This teaser for episode 107 of The Black Tapes podcast previews a tense interview about broadcasting an interview without permission and its potential consequences.
This teaser for Episode 111 of The Black Tapes podcast hints at a mysterious investigation involving a woman's account, police interactions, and occult legends at Boulder Field.
A teaser for an upcoming episode where a musician contacts Dr.
A teaser for a podcast episode exploring mysterious connections between unsounds, historical figures, and cursed locations, with hints of supernatural and apocalyptic themes.
Nick announces the release of a new Tannis spinoff podcast called The Last Movie, dropping all six episodes on March 27th.
A person documents their second day of a sleep-focused vacation in a remote cabin on the Olympic Peninsula, dealing with isolation, darkness, and nightmares while reading a book about the devil.
The executive producers announce that the podcast is going on a two-month hiatus to give host Alex Regan a much-needed vacation due to health concerns, while addressing fan questions about a mysterious countdown clock.
Terry Miles announces the upcoming release of his standalone novel 'Rabbits' on June 8th, published by Delray, and promotes a related podcast miniseries called 'The Path'.
A personal reflection on seeking rest in a remote cabin, where the narrator encounters a bear while hiking, prompting thoughts on solitude and nature.
A listener shares a disturbing experience where staring at his face in a mirror caused it to transform into someone else's during an acting exercise.
The hosts announce a hiatus for The Black Tapes podcast to complete production via a Kickstarter campaign, followed by a listener's letter describing supernatural orbs from childhood.
Simon Rees vanishes.
Servetus shows up on a disturbing list.
Strand finds a familiar mark.
Alex Regan is losing the thread.
Alex Reagan investigates a surveillance video of herself sleeping with a shadowy intruder, while tensions rise with Nick over her objectivity towards Dr.
In this Season 3 episode of The Black Tapes, journalist Alex Regan continues investigating Dr.
This Halloween bonus episode features unreleased sleep recordings from host Alex Reagan, detailing a series of terrifying and surreal nightmares involving a mysterious cat, a sinister old woman, and a dark entity.
In Season 2 episode 212 of The Black Tapes, journalist Alex Regan debrief Dr.
Alex investigates Richard Strand's past, uncovering a childhood incident where he dreamt the location of a missing boy's body, challenging his rational image.
Howard Strand's letters point toward Tiamat.
Strand returns one of Alex Regan's calls.
In Episode 208 of The Black Tapes, Alex Regan and producer Nick Silver travel to Vancouver, British Columbia to track down the elusive Thomas Warren while investigating a mysterious box of patient records discovered at Riverview Hospital in 1993.
Jessica Weldon calls back.
Alex Regan has crossed a line.
Alex Regan is back from hiatus and still barely sleeping.
Alex Regan starts with a geocaching interview.
Alex keeps calling Strand.
Alex Regan opens with Strand returning calls.
Strand finally calls Alex back.
Alex hands the mic to Nick.
A mesa casts its shadow over the search.
Bath has no music department.
Charlie Strand shuts down fast.
In this bonus listener mail episode, hosts Alex and Nick, joined by executive producer Paul Bay, answer fan questions from the Black Tapes subreddit, addressing timeline inconsistencies, character details, and plot points.
Alex Regan finally gets Richard Sprague on the line.
A video catches Dr.
Alex Regan keeps calling.
In this bonus episode of The Black Tapes, host Alex Reagan interviews author and podcaster Aaron Mahnke about his new novel Grave Suspicion and his podcast Lore.
Demons and psychiatric hospitals are exactly Alex Regan's bad terrain.
Alex goes back to the exorcism tape.
Charlesworth turns its fear upside down.
A sound will not behave.
Alex Regan opens by steering the series back toward Dr.