"Murder is the spice of life"
Death by Dying
is a dark comedy fiction podcast, created by Evan Gulock and Niko Gerentes, that serves as the obituary column for the charming town of Crestfall, Idaho. The Obituary Writer (voiced by Evan Gulock) finds himself deeply in over his head as he investigates a series of strange and mysterious deaths... when he is supposed to simply be writing obituaries. Along the way he encounters murderous farmers, man-eating cats, haunted bicycles, and a healthy dose of ominous shadows.
The podcast finished its first season in October of 2018, which was followed by a live show at Chicago Podcast Festival 2018. The show has since released a crossover with SCP Archives and three side stories called Tales from Creastfall with the last one ending with a teaser for Season 2. Season 2 was successfully funded in April 2021 and released its first two episodes in October 2022.
Tropes
- Abusive Parents: Violet's father from Whispers from the Quarry is a downplayed example, he blames his daughter for the death of his wife and is emotionally abusive as a result. By the end however, he forgives her when he thinks she ran away and vows to be a better parent.
- Armor-Piercing Question: At the end of episode three when the Obituary Writer breaks the Grief Support Group out of their forced happiness an upset Charlotte confronts him with a question he doesn't have a response to."You write about death O.W. but how much do you know about what it feels like to lose someone?"
- Badass Preacher: Pastor Jeff reveals himself to be one when he fights the empathic vampires.
- Bathos: The primary source of comedy in the series, the sheer amount of death plaguing Creastfall would usually make the series very dark but the absurdity of everything makes it funny. Examples include ghosts manifesting as gangs of riderless bicycles to the Button Eyed Raven screaming random bleak Non Sequiturs
- Beat Still, My Heart: When Charlotte makes her deal with the Angel of Life to die in order to revive Aunt Lillian, her heart is ripped out of her chest and it keeps beating.
- Big Good: The Angel of Death is a good friend of Obituary Writer and does what she can to help him investigate the deaths in town, she's also opposed to the Angel of Life who is looking to be the Big Bad of the series.
- Bittersweet Ending: Whispers from the Quarry has a mostly sweet one. Violet and her father reconcile and Jackie begins to spend more time with her and not alone, however Ned is dead and his spirit runs from the Angel of Death, still blaming himself for his father abandoning him.
- Chekhov's Gun: The Cragmire Cannon, which fires whenever someone dies, with its cannonballs landing near the Hudson farm. One it ends up killing a fleeing Bernard Hudson.
- Deal with the Devil: The Angel of Death explains that The Angel of Life offers people the chance to revive their dead loved ones but doesn't tell them that the deal will cost them their own life. She makes this deal with Charlotte and is implied to have tried to make this deal with Isaiah Goodwin.
- Dissonant Serenity: The Obituary Writer doesn't lose his cheery tone even when talking about the various deaths he has to deal with.
- Downer Ending: Season one ends with Charlotte killing herself to bring back her Aunt Lillian however the Angel of Life breaks her promise to do so and when the Obituary Writer tries to bring Lillian back she refuses and Charlotte's soul runs away before she can be revived. Somewhat mitigated by the Obituary Writer vowing to bring her back but it's implied that her death has shattered him emotionally.
- Driven to Suicide: Elder Isaiah Goodwin is believed to have poisoned himself after escaping the empathic vampires which caused all of his grief to return to him. In reality it's all but stated that he killed himself to escape from the Angel of Life.
- Emotion Eater: The Silent Nuns are actually empathic vampires who feed on the grief of others by posing as councilors in a Grief Support Group.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The Obituary Writer and Creastfall Law Enforcement, though those might actually be their real names. The Butcher is also never named.
- Flipping the Bird: When Obituary Writer is talking with a group of ghosts, he sees Bernard flipping him off.
- Frame-Up: The first episode has two examples. First, Bernard shot her husband Wyatt Hudson and framed the Wild Man for the murder. Then her lover Marion pretends to have been tortured by Wyatt to ruin his reputation so he and Bernard can marry without upsetting the townsfolk who loved Wyatt.
- Gender-Blender Name: Bernard, Wyatt's wife and Marion, Bernard's lover.
- I Lied: After Charlotte kills herself to revive Aunt Lillian, the Angel of Life reveals that she never intended to follow through on her side of the deal and leaves.
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Wyatt Hudson is described as being, "truly good," was loved by the entire town, and wasn't even mad to learn that his wife was cheating on him.
- Karmic Death: Marion is shot in the stomach accidentally by Bernard, just like how Bernard murdered her husband in order to marry Marion.
- Off with His Head!: At the end of Episode 1 Bernard is killed when the Cragmire Cannon is fired and hits her in the head.
- Only Friend: Charlotte to the Obituary Writer who most people treat with suspicion.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: The Butcher is able to speak to his pet goat Chester.
