Sunday Sundries: The Magnus Archives

Creeeeeepy Podcast recommendation

Hi folks! Welcome back to Sunday Sundries, where I talk about whatever’s on my mind.

Today…I am exhausted from lack of sleep, and I have toothache on both sides of my head, so it’s a short-ish one. But, I want to tell you about the podcast I’ve been bingeing the last few weeks!

The Magnus Archives, which you can find here, or just search on your podcast app, is a show which is ostensibly about an archive of statements by people who have experienced something unnatural/supernatural.

And that’s true. That’s the main thrust of the on top story.

But it’s something of an iceberg, because the real story lies below, in the connections, the repeating themes and characters, and the Entities grappling for control of the world.

Jonathan, the new Archivist, is frankly appalled at the state in which his vanished predecessor left things. And, annoyingly, certain statements simply will not record digitally, only onto an old, mechanical, tape recorder. So that’s what he, and later his assistants, have to do. The statement is recorded, any follow-up is done, and onto the next!

Of course it doesn’t stay that simple for very long. Soon the tape recorders are also coming in handy for giving us the rest of the plot.

I’ m up to Season 4 by this point, and I’m not going to give the secrets away, but it’s very good. The tape recorders are used to really good effect, and come with overarching plot of their own which is particularly ingenious.

It’s a horror podcast, and it varies wildly in subject matter, so be prepared for anything, and check the shownotes for content warnings.

If you need to miss an episode, or if, like me, you keep needing a reminder of who the recurring characters are, there are great recaps on the Fandom Wikia. Obviously there are also spoilers, and the order in which we find out information about the recurring characters isn’t linear, while the wiki pages are, but at the top you get a quick meta recap, and at the bottom you get a list of episodes in which they appeared or were mentioned, so those are really helpful.

There are 5 seasons in total, each 40 episodes. And there’s a new series called The Magnus Protocol which is a continuation in the same universe, so I’m looking forward to that. I do like to binge, because my memory is not good, so I’ll be waiting until it’s all out, but in the meantime I’m going to enjoy listening to the rest of this one.

It’s a high quality show. Some of the voice acting can be a little flat at times, but given everything going on, it’s not that hard to put that down to everyone undergoing every trauma ever, and it doesn’t detract from the show.

I love how stripped back it is. Any background sfx that there are, come in subtly, and keep the focus on the events happening at the front. It’s really well done, so that even when there are things happening beyond just someone reading a statement at a desk, or talking to each other, it never submits to the temptation to detract from that main focus.

That’s all I’ve got for you today, go check out the show, and I’ll see you next time when I will hopefully feel less awful!