While it may be unintentional, this episode of an ongoing horror audio drama from the “Running Scared” podcast captures the tone of Edgar Allan Poe and some of his most famous short stories. It takes a page from Poe’s classic gothic tales like “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” and turns them into something both new and frightening, which will probably make you run faster if out jogging in the middle of the night.

A Traditional Podcast with Audio Drama on the Side.

“Time to Burn” might not be the only audio drama episode, but the podcast “Running Scared” is more of a traditionally formatted podcast focused on Horror/Thriller stories with Jamie Roberts and Robert Lendrum as the co-hosts. This story’s horrific elements comes from the past while the present is more like a thriller. The past shapes the present and the two feed off each other to the point where only the horror survives.

There are a few surface level similarities to The Fall of the House of Usher from Edgar Allan Poe. The most obvious one being that both stories have a haunted house feature in them. In “Time to Burn,” the narrator is a famous runner who only wants to improve his time during the next marathon. There’s no explanation given as to why, but his motivation is clear enough. What that has to with the story that unfolds is almost irrelevant.

Loud Jump Scares and Family History a la Edgar Allan Poe

Jump scares hit differently without visuals. In a movie, you’re scared in that brief moment for the jump scare and after the movie is over and you’re alone in the dark. An audio drama that has jump scares tends to increase the decibel count to something louder than the average sound loudness. I imagine the risk of hearing loss or heart attacks increases if not handled with care. “Time to Burn” finds that perfect balance between having noises be loud enough to impact the listener, but soft enough to not give you mild to severe medical problems.

Most of the horror happens near the end, during the marathon. The story eases you into the paranormal and supernatural. Once the race begins, things get trippy according to the narrator’s description of events and the sound effects used. The voice actor is a bit too serious. Despite all that’s going on, there’s no sense of fear in the way he delivers lines. The majority of his emotions deal with confusion on the strange, unexplainable and impossible to believe.

There are two reveals involving the narrator’s family. When the final hits the narrator, the metaphorical gates of hell open up and it’s about as immersive as one can get without breaking the bank on equipment. There’s a bit of a secret history with biblical era civilizations that echo the Knights Templar from the Da Vinci Code. It’s not relevant until close to the end and feels like an after-the-fact justification for the supernatural things happening during the race. For maximum impact, I recommend listen to this alone in a large room with no lights as the sun begins to set outside.

8/10 Stars