History Podcast / TheNoSleepPodcast

* MrSeahorse: "The Anomaly."

* TheTheTitle: "The Stairs and the Doorway", "The Midnight Man", "The Cornfield", "The Neighbors Upstairs", "The Smiling Man", "The Djinn Bottle", "The Figure in the Nursery", "The..."

* WomanInWhite: The narrator of "I've Been Intimate With a Ghost" is haunted by one.

* SpiritualSequel: "Ultrasound" is this to "A Horrible Game".
** Also, "The Deer Gods" to "The Camping Trip".

* StealthSequel: [[spoiler: "Blue Ridge"]] is a sequel to "Paradise Pine", and it would be up to the listener to figure this out if David didn't spoil it in his opening narration.
** [[spoiler: "Midnight Rendezvous"]] to "Fairweather Nightmares".
** [[spoiler: "Corn Maze 44"]] is set in the same universe as "Christmas Land". In all likelihood both are sequels to [[spoiler: "What I Saw Beneath the Riptide"]].
** "House Full of Eyes" to [[spoiler: "The Cats of Sycamore Grove"]], [[spoiler: "A Lesson on Applied Narratives"]], and [[spoiler: "Taco Tuesday"]].
* SuckECheeses: "Uncle Jerry's Family Fun Zone" features one of these.

* CreatorCameo: C.K. Walker, author of "Copper Canyon", lends her voice to one of the characters in the podcast's adaption.

* TheBusCameBack: James Cleveland disappeared from the podcast during season three, but came back early on in season six and has resumed his position as a regular narrator.
** Sammy Raynor left the podcast at the end of the first season, but came back fourth. By the fifth, he had left again.
* DoingInTheWizard: A common theme in stories by C.K. Walker, with a side of HumansAreTheRealMonsters, but also occasionally dipping into RealAfterAll territory. Also features heavily in "She Was Just a Child," "I Regret Ever Working in the North Pole" and others.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first and second season's episodes were much shorter - sometimes going for only 25 minutes. The stories didn't last as long as the usually do now as well, and they didn't feature as many narrators. Some episodes were narrated entirely by David.

* LargeHam: Jesse Cornett, especially in "Feed the Pig" and "Great White". David can also ham it up with the best of them.

* [[OneShotCharacter One Shot Narrator]]: The earlier seasons were full of narrators that would narrate one or two tales and then never work on the podcast again. Averted towards the later seasons, as the show got its fixed cast.

* ShootTheShaggyDog: "I'm Not One of Those Cops", in which our policeman narrator [[spoiler: lets a pregnant 15 year old girl die from stab wounds so he can finally pin a rapist, murderous drug dealer for a serious crime and put him behind bars for good. It was all in vain, though, cause the security camera he thought was recording the while event was broken and the dealer ends up OD'ing a week later anyway]].

* BalefulPolymorph: Magic in "The Yule Tithe" turns the narrator into a hare, a fish, a rook, and a deer to help her get away from fairy hunters.

* BoyMeetsGhoul: "The Open Secret of East Hall" is about a college student who ends up dating a werewolf. See "My Girlfriend's Loving Limbs" for a gender-flipped version.

* ClosedCircle: The narrators of "Hide and Seek" and "You May See Some People" are trapped in isolated cabins during a snow storm in the middle of the wilderness.

* AllHallowsEve: Most of the Halloween episodes, although some stories take place in the days leading up to it or in the days after.

** "Cold Room", possibly, as it's clear the story takes place in the past, but it's unclear which year.

* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: The endings of [[spoiler: "He Howls at the Moon", "The Monsters are Already Here", "My Grandmother's Doll", "The Room That Echoed", "The Dry Man", "Dust", "Gristle", "Dead Milk", "Row Boat", "Soft Teeth", "The Name Eater", and "500 Yards"]].

* CosmicHorrorStory: "A Scarecrow for God" and "Halloween Under the Irish Cultural Center".
* CreepyBasement: "The Stairs and the Doorway", "The Basement", "Don't Ever Turn it Off", "Basement Cameras", "My Basement", "The Church Basement", "The Jack Monster", "The Church's Grimm", "We Tried to Keep Them Out", "They Told Me to Stay Out of the Basement", "Down in the Library Basement", and "63 Years Ago"

* {{Novella}}: Many of the longer tales (sometimes running over two hours!) could easily be published as one of these. Examples include "Operation Stingray", "Borrasca", "The Showers", "Stranded on Lake Michigan", and "The One-Way Tunnel"

** [[UpToEleven Take up to eleven]] in "5.5", where the reader (or in this case, listener) actually serves as the story's protagonist.

* OutOfGenreExperience: Much to some listeners' dismay, the podcast sometimes delves into other genres besides horror, such as fantasy ("A Seaside British Pub", "The Gossip"), noir ("I'm Not One of Those Cops", "The Price of Truth"), thriller ("Unknown Caller", "A Hunt in Pennsylvania") and even 'comedy'' ("Not Now, Eric", "The One-Headed Hound","Does Anyone Know a Good Plumber","Escape the Dungeon").

* VignetteEpisode: "Anecdotes in Ashes", "The Things They Left Behind", "Ash Hollow", and "Search and Rescue".

The podcast is currently on it's eleventh season. Each season consists of 25 episodes (except for the first season, which has 18), including some bonus episodes.

As of June 2016, it costs $19.95 for a season pass (except for the first two seasons, where all episodes are full and free), or $1.49 for an individual episode. Partial episodes (usually the first two or three stories out of five or six) are available for free on the website as well as podcast apps.

* StockEpisodeTitles: "The Girl in the Log", "The Girl in the Tree", and "The Girl in the Shed".
** "Mr. Sweetly", "Mr. Thompson", "Mr. Pershing", "Mr. Cracks", "Mr. Grabs", and "Mr. Banana".

* WordSaladTitle: "Heart of Plastic", "Dinner by Swamplight", "The Albino Farm", "My Grandfather Knows Why We Run From the Dark", "Fake Beats", "Operation Stingray", "The Woman Holding An Orange", and others.

* DomesticAbuser: Mr. Curtis in "The Curtis's Dragon" and the narrator's father in "Hide and Seek".

The Podcast is currently on it's eleventh season. Each season consists of 25 episodes (except for the first season, which has 18), including some bonus episodes.

The Nosleep Podcast is a Podcast dedicated to horror fiction, originating from a subreddit named /r/Nosleep. It features stories of various topics all based around the Horror genre.

The show is hosted by ''[[http://www.thenosleeppodcast.com/david-cummings David Cummings]]'' who introduces each tale. There are a number of narrators that contribute regularly to the Podcast as well as some illustrators and a composer. Many of the stories due to their themes are NSFW.

The Nosleep Podcast is a Podcast dedicated to horror fiction, originating from a sub reddit named /r/Nosleep. It features stories of various topics all based around the Horror genre.

* AnnualTitle: "1957", "October 9, 2013", and "March 29, 2015".

** Ditto with Paul Bae in "My Grandfather's Journal" and Marcus Damanda in "Dusk on Old Arcadia".

* HornyDevils: The narrator of In My Line of Work and The Executrix is a succubus, according to WordOfGod.

** The vampire in "The Executrix" does this to [[spoiler: Tyler]] after he tries to rape and kill her.

* DreamingOfThingsToCome: "A Dream My Mother Had" has the narrator's mother dreaming of being in a house but never opening a door. She finally opens it in one dream and promptly dies the next morning.

* DrivenToSuicide: The narrator's coworker in "Losing a Friend on Facebook" kills herself after being harassed by an old woman that lives in the hospital she works at.

** The poor narrator of "EATOIN" works at a suicide hotline and is constantly harassed by a mysterious caller saying that he is going to die if he doesn't get out of the building he works at. Ultimately subverted, as the last call saves the narrator's life from a murderer trying to break into the building.

* ShootTheShaggyDog: "I'm Not One of Those Cops", in which our policeman narrator [[spoiler: lets a 15 year old pregnant girl die from stab wounds so he can finally pin a rapist, murderous drug dealer for a serious crime and put him behind bars for good. It was all in vain, though, cause the security camera was broken and the dealer ends up OD'ing a week later anyway]].

* FantasyKitchenSink: "A Seaside British Pub" - the titular pub's clientele includes a banshee, a were-eel and a succubus, and its proprietor is a sorcerer.
* ForbiddenZone: Many, many stories deal with the narrator being told by someone to not go into a certain house, room, or town, only to go in there anyway. Most notable examples include "One Condition", "The Forbidden Third Floor", and "My Basement".

* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: The narrator of "The Soul Game" tells the listener the rules of the "soul game" of the title, then reveals that hearing the rules of the game immediately passes a curse to to the listener that entails being killed in the night by ghostly children. The only way to get rid of the curse is to tell the rules to someone else.

** The narrator of "Never, Ever Go Into the Morgue" goes into said morgue at an abandoned hospital and finds a rotting body hanging from the ceiling with his name written on its chest in blood. He leaves quickly, but what does he do a few days later? [[spoiler: He goes back to look at it again, of course!]]

* ChekhovsGun: The necklace the narrator's aunt gives her in "Behind Closed Doors".
** The discarded webcam on the narrator's floor in "Psychosis".
** The narrator's cell phone in "Autopilot".
** The piece of gum that the narrator's grandfather gives him in "You May See Some People".
** The snowmen in the yard of the abandoned house in "Snow"...[[spoiler: although, they should really be considered [[ChekhovsGunman Chekhov's Gunmen]]]].
** The extension cords in the narrator's friend's attic in "An Unexpected Guest".
** Dr. Lang's business card in "Pheromones".

** The twist at the end of "Snow" is that [[spoiler: The snowmen in the front yard of the abandoned house, originally thought to be a [[ChekhovsGun Chekhov's gun]] turn out to be a pair of Chekhov's Gunman.]]

* CreepyBasement: The narrator of "My Basement" hates his basement because it give him the creeps for unknown reasons. It is revealed later that [[spoiler: there are the bodies of over 30 children buried in the basement's walls]].

* CreepyDoll: The main antagonist in "The Doll With the Lifelike Eyes".
** One also features in "My Grandmother's Doll"

* DeadAllAlong: Many, many examples:
** [[spoiler: The little girl]] in "Tales of a New York Subway".
** [[spoiler: The narrator's brother]] in "Just Another Night".
** [[spoiler: The father]] in "A Simple Photo".
** [[spoiler: The little girl the narrator babysits]] in "Cindy".
** [[spoiler: Ms. Robinson]] in "Losing a Friend on Facebook".
** [[spoiler: Mr. Brady]] in "What the Paperboy Saw".
** [[spoiler: Hamida]] in "The Girl in the Tree".
** [[spoiler: The narrator herself(!)]] in "This is My House".

* DeadManWriting: The narrator's sister of "October 29th, 2013" leaves her notes that need to be opened up on specific dates.

* TheDogWasTheMastermind: The narrator of "Unknown Caller" is a young woman getting harassing phone calls from a creepy stalker. Her boyfriend tries to find out who the stalker is while her male friend talks to her about it. In the end, rather confusingly, the stalker is revealed to be [[spoiler: her boyfriend]].
* TheDollEpisode: "Dolls", "Betsy the Doll", the 'Red Maggie' segment of "Ash Hollow", "The Doll With the Lifelike Eyes", "My Grandmother's Doll", and "Lily Doll".

* DontGoInTheWoods: "Laurel Highlands" has the narrator being chased through the woods for three days by a mysterious creature.
** The hiking instructor narrator and his charges are stalked through the woods by a strange light in "The Midnight Hike".

* EarnYourHappyEnding: The narrator of "I've Been Intimate With a Ghost" spends six months being haunted by an insane, rotting ghost of a bride that wants to have sex with him =before he finally reconciles with his ex-wife at the end.
* EatenAlive: The narrator's friend from "The Crawling House on Black Pond Road" is eaten alive from the inside out by wasp larvae.

* EmpathicEnvironment: Many, many stories, but most notably "Hide and Seek" and "You May See Some People"
* EvilElevator: In "Working Late" the narrator gets in an elevator alone and goes down to the lobby of his work building, but it gets stuck between floors. After several minutes in the dark, the technician gets the doors open and then asks if the girl in the elevator with him is okay.

** This is the twist at the end of "My Friend's Mother".
** This is also the twist of "My Last Time Babysitting".
** The narrator and his girlfriend of "Calls From My Girlfriend" are stalked by one (or possibly two) mysterious creature(s) that look almost exactly like the two and can mimic their voices.

* EvilOldFolks: The main antagonists in "My Best Friend's Grandmother", "Why I Didn't Shower For 21 Years", "In The Darkness of the Fields", "The White Room", "Losing a Friend on Facebook", and many other examples.
* ExactEavesDropping: The narrator of "Fake Beats" receives headphones that lets him hear in on his neighbor's radio conversations, which always seems to happen right when they are talking about their plot to murder him and his wife.

* EyeScream: "They Were Looking Back At Me" is about one of the narrator's friends cutting out one of his other friend's eyes and keeping them in a box in his room.
** The insane narrator of "Psychosis" stabs out his eyes with a pencil after the police arrive to arrest him.
** Jake of "Ultrasound" burns his eyes out with a hospital-grade laser. A girl named Amy from the same story bleeds to death from her eyes after scratching them out.
** The titular little girl of "Cindy" was apparently killed by her neighbor's dog scratching her eyes out.
* ExtremelyShortTimespan: "Proof" is only 22 sentences long and only takes about a minute and a half to tell.

* AbandonedHospital: The main setting of "Never, Ever Go Into the Morgue".
* AbandonedMine: The main setting of, to no one's surprise, "The Mine".

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: "Not Now, Eric", in which the narrator is stalked by a friendly ghost that won't leave her alone after he heard her complimenting him.

* AffectionateParody: "American Whitehair" is a retelling of Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado", set on a 1993 college campus.

* TheAlcoholic: The mother of the girl the narrator is babysitting in "Poor Little Babysitter" drinks constantly and stays out till 3:00 AM at one point in the story.
** The narrator's father in "Hide and Seek" is an incredibly heavy drinker.

* AllHallowsEve: Most of the Hallowe'en episodes.
* AlphaBitch: Most often seen in school stories.
** Sara from "The Cornfield".
** Anna from "Anna".

** "9004" ends without explaining how the mysterious text messager was able to see the narrator while he walked, or text the number of a parking sign while the narrator was alone and you had to be at most 4 feet away to see it.
** "The House of Painted Doors" never explains who or what the children that live in the walls are, or if the narrator's daughter is alive or dead after being taken by them.

** Is the eponymous house from "The Crawling House on Black Pond Road" haunted? Or is the creaks, screams, and general feeling of unease caused by the huge insect nest below the house? Also, why did the narrator's friend's aunt kill herself?
** What exactly did the narrator's friend see inside the abandoned warehouse in "The Red Light in the Warehouse"? Why was he so scared by it? And is he ''really'' dead at the end of the story?

** The antagonists of "The Deer Gods" and "The Camping Trip" are some kind of strange combination of man and deer.

* AntagonistTitle: "The Smiling Man", "The Passenger", "The Figure in the Nursery", "Dolls", "She Found Her Way Into My Home", "Playful Giants", "The Neighbors Upstairs", and many, many other examples.

* ApocalypticLog: While exploring an abandoned hotel in "Say Cheese!", the narrator and his friend find the hotel's guest log, which is full of cryptic messages telling people to leave the hotel while they still can.
** "All the Swans are Gone" is essentially this, as it is pretty clear that the narrator will die shortly after the story ends.

* AssholeVictim: Herbert in "The First Person To Surgically Removed Their Own Brain", who thinks he is better than everyone else, brags constantly, and makes a mess wherever he goes.
** Sara in "The Cornfield". She causes the narrator and herself to get detention by bullying her. On the walk home in the dark, she calls the narrator "freak" and refuses to talk to her.
** The father in "Snow". He strictly disciplines his children and even whips them. Then again, his children die too...
** The [[spoiler: homeless man]] living inside the narrator's walls in "Holes".
** The little girl's abusive father and passive mother and brother in "The Curtis's Dragon".
** The abusive older brother of the narrator in "Sibling Rivaly".
** Christina from "Jesus Camp". She kills multiple animals, harasses the narrator and her friend, and practices satanism.
** Gertie from "American Whitehair"...maybe. We're never told what she did to piss off the narrator so much.

* AuthorAppeal: This podcast really loves anything written by C.K. Walker.
* AwfulWeddedLife: The narrator and his wife of "When One Window Closes" fight constantly and cheat on each other. Ultimately averted at the end of the story, however, as they reconcile and even have children together.
* BabysittingEpisode: "My Last Night Babysitting", "Poor Little Babysitter", "Cindy" and "I'm Never Babysitting Again".

** The ghost of the girl that was burned to death in "The Smell of Gasoline" succeedes in killing the narrator's wife and daughter in a house fire and framing it all on him.

** [[UpToEleven Taken up to eleven]] with Christina from "Jesus Camp". She kills two deer, a squirrel, a dog, and a fox and does many, many, disgusting and horrifying things with their corpses.

** Both "Editic Memory" and "Bigger Fish" are set in one of these.
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: The narrator's friend from "The Crawling House on Black Pond Road" commits suicide rather than slowly be eaten from the inside out by wasp larve living in his stomach.

* BigCreepyCrawlies: The eponymous house from "The Crawling House on Black Pond Road" has a gignatic insect nest covering the bottom of it's foundation.

* BigStormEpisode: "Dust", "Hide and Seek", "You May See Some People", and "A Message in a Very Old Bottle".

* BloodyHorror: "The First Person To Surgically Remove Their Own Brain" ends with the narrator finding his roommate dead on their blood-soaked kitchen table, having apparently surgically removed his own brain. Then, to the narrator's horror, the corpse winks at him.

** "The Mine" has the narrator's friend luring him and his other friends into an abandoned mineshaft before killing everyone (including himself) except the narrator.

* BodyInABreadbox: The narrator of "I've Been Intimate With a Ghost" has the the "woman in white" that is haunting him stuff herself into his incredibly small backpack in order to smuggle herself onto his campsite.

* BottleEpisode: "Children's Playground" takes place almost exclusively inside some climbing tubes in a playground.
* BoyMeetsGhoul: "The Open Secret of East Hall" is about a college student who ends up dating a werewolf.

* BrokeEpisode: "Can You Hear the Birds Singing?"

* BuriedAlive: The old man from "Milk and Cookies" was trapped in the back of a milk truck in an abandoned dump for three days whole playing a game of hide and seek. He was barely rescued in time.
** Gertie from "American Whitehair" is entombed alive in a library basement a la "The Cask of Amontillado".

* CampingEpisode: "The Camping Trip", "Laurel Highlands", and "The Deer Gods".

* OutOfGenreExperience: Much to some listeners' dismay, the podcast sometimes delves into other genres besides horror, such as fantasy ("A Seaside British Pub", "The Gossip"), noir ("I'm Not One of Those Cops", "The Price of Truth"), thriller ("Unknown Caller", "A Hunt in Pennsylvania") and even *comedy* ("Not Now, Eric", "The One-Headed Hound", and "Escape the Dungeon").

* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: "He Howls at the Moon". They have long fingernails and yellow eyes but the similarities between wolves stop there.