The NoSleep Podcast 2026 Holiday Hiatus Vol. 2

Date: January 11, 2026
Host: Creative Reason Media Inc.
Episode Overview:
This special hiatus episode presents listeners with three chilling horror tales, each previously released on the Sleepless Universe platform. With The NoSleep Podcast preparing for the launch of Season 24, the host invites listeners to cozy up and brace themselves for a blend of psychological terror, cosmic horror, and eerie urban encounters. Atmospheric music amplifies the dread, while masterful performances and careful storytelling maintain the series’ signature tone.

Episode Structure & Stories

1. The Mud G

[Main story starts: 02:48]

Theme: Haunted legacies, guilt, and the supernatural returning from the earth.

Key Discussion Points & Story Beats:

• Setup:

  • Listener is welcomed to the episode; mention of "Dry January" and settling in for horror (00:18).
  • Introduction to the episode’s first tale – "The Mud G" by Jim Horlock.
  • Setting: protagonist’s home on a cold January night; hears unexplained crying from "the lower field".

• Descent into the Field:

  • Protagonist (B) is lured outside by infant-like wailing.
  • Internal monologue reveals familial trauma and guilt, especially relating to the father:

    "My father had built the damn fence. Gone for more than 10 years, and he was still managing to make me bleed." (03:35 - B)

• Ghostly Confrontations:

  • Finds a mud-caked, seemingly dead infant who horrifically cries again.
  • Protagonist recognizes parallels to his own long-buried family tragedies (abusive father, dead mother, loss of child Joshua).
  • Other characters, all seemingly revenants, appear — Lorna, the protagonist’s ruined wife, and his parents, all muddy and mutilated.
  • The land and mud become a metaphor for guilt and cyclical violence:

    "What I buried, the mud gave back. The sun never set and the past wouldn't stay dead. I'd killed the monster but couldn't escape him because I'd become him." (14:20 - B)

• Profound Quotes & Moments:

  • Father’s repeated condemnation:

    "You reap what you sow, boy, and you sowed death right into the mud." (12:21 - C)

  • Ghostly Lorna’s condemnation:

    "You’re all muddy... it’s in your blood, your heart." (07:52 - D)

  • Final realization and surrender to fate:

    "Somehow I knew I'd been here before." (13:53 - B)

• Memorable Conclusion:

  • The cycle of violence and guilt becomes endless, with the protagonist doomed to relive burying his family and himself, as the mud gives the dead back over and over.

Key Timestamps:

• Protagonist enters the field: 02:48
• Father’s condemnation: 04:48 / 12:21
• First horror manifestations: 06:45
• Climax and self-realization: 14:00

2. It Fell With The Night

[Story starts: 17:33]

Theme: Cosmic horror, the unknown, and survivor’s guilt after a close encounter.

Key Discussion Points & Story Beats:

• Opening Premise:

  • Two friends, narrator (D) and Jackson (C), witness an immense unidentified object crashing from the sky during a stargazing trip.
  • Immediate horror as the object is revealed not to be a plane or space station, but something alive, with many twitching legs.

• Community Chaos:

  • The impact triggers destruction and confusion: fires, loss of power, communications down, parents frantically try to reach their kids.
  • The friends process the terror and share nervous banter:

    "Man, we're going to feel so stupid if this turns out to be a weather balloon." (26:20 - C)

• Philosophical Reflection / Bond:

  • Jackson posits a theory that the falling creature might be harmless, even lonely:

    "What if that's what happened to our weather balloon?... It came here not to attack, but to get to know us." (28:40 - C)

  • Comparisons to the "Loneliest Whale" evoke themes of cosmic isolation and misunderstood intentions.

• Direct Encounter with the Entity:

  • The friends approach a gigantic leg blocking the road. Upon poking it, bizarre reactions occur – patches of the skin seem to harden, and the creature emits bone-shaking vibrations.
  • Things escalate when they accidentally wound the creature, and are exposed to its otherworldly blood.
  • Swarms of smaller, jellyfish-like creatures descend, feeding on the larger being — and then on Jackson, drawn to the blood he carries.

• Profound Loss and Horror:

  • The narrator’s frantic attempts to save Jackson ultimately fail:

    "The last thing he saw was me running away from him. Whether he knew I was coming back or not, I'll never know. But it hurts to think he might have thought I was abandoning him." (45:33 - D)

  • By dawn, all evidence of the cosmic visitors is gone; only a scar remains.

• Aftermath:

  • The town embraces a “polite fiction” of a meteor strike, but the trauma lingers with those who truly witnessed the unnatural event.
  • The narrator reflects:

    "I don't think it was an attack. I think it was just some sort of cosmic entity reaching the end of its life cycle..." (46:40 - D)

Key Timestamps:

• Impact & first look at the creature: 17:33 – 20:36
• Power outage & anxiety for family: 23:52
• Jackson’s existential musings: 27:22 – 28:56
• Poking the leg & horror escalates: 37:54 – 40:36
• Swarm descends / tragic resolution: 41:33 – 45:33
• Closing reflections: 47:45

3. Keep On Rocking in the Free World

[Story starts: 51:39]

Theme: Urban weird fiction, music as protection, and the price of curiosity.

Key Discussion Points & Story Beats:

• Premise:

  • Young couple (narrator C and Elena E) on a road trip to a music festival; their car dies mysteriously on a shortcut road.
  • No cell service; the town they enter is filled with abandoned houses and strange, ever-present heavy metal blasting from everywhere.

• Increasing Unease:

  • The only occupied building is a run-down radio station (KLLD), where an old DJ keeps the music going.
  • The man quizzes them on their route and insists they help keep the records playing, dodging questions about why.

• Creepy Clues:

  • Disturbing realization:

    "The music keeps them away." (80:07 - C, reading a note discovered at the DJ’s trailer)

  • When the music stops, faceless, static-like figures emerge from doorways — danger is immediate and real.
  • Music resumes; monsters vanish.

• Desperate Plan:

  • Couple deduces they need to keep the music going to escape, ideally by putting on the longest album or song they can find.
  • Argument about who will run for help; they decide to stay together — but Elena ultimately leaves while narrator is in the bathroom.

• Ominous Ending:

  • The narrator discovers Elena has abandoned him to keep the music playing, the closing tune being "The Final Countdown" by Europe:

    "...the lead singer for the band Europe belted out the chorus of their most popular hit, the Final Countdown." (92:20 - B)

Key Timestamps:

• Car breaks down and journey to town: 51:39 – 55:20
• Arrival at abandoned town; music everywhere: 55:54 – 60:52
• They find the radio station & meet the DJ: 66:26 – 70:14
• Note reveals the truth (“music keeps them away”): 80:07
• Faceless figures appear: 81:51 – 84:24
• Final escape plan & betrayal: 89:35 – 92:20

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "You reap what you sow, boy, and you sowed death right into the mud." (The Mud G, 12:21 - C)
• "Man, we're going to feel so stupid if this turns out to be a weather balloon." (It Fell With The Night, 26:20 - C)
• "The last thing he saw was me running away from him..." (It Fell With The Night, 45:33 - D)
• "The music keeps them away." (Keep On Rocking, 80:07 - C reads note)
• "You can't be serious. Look at the size of that thing." (It Fell With The Night, 32:32 - D)
• "We're just looking for a phone so we can call someone to come help us." (Keep On Rocking, 70:32 - E)

Episode Tone & Atmosphere

• Consistently foreboding, bleak, and immersive, with the narrative voice emphasizing psychological dread, cosmic insignificance, and everyday people thrust into inexplicable horrors.
• Performers maintain a conversational, sometimes humorous rapport, plenty of banter breaking tension, which makes scary moments hit harder.

In Summary

The NoSleep Podcast’s 2026 Holiday Hiatus Vol. 2 is a masterclass in horror storytelling, blending psychology, cosmic dread, and eerie modern myths. Each of the three tales is rich in character and atmosphere, delivering scares that linger. Whether it’s haunted farmland, mind-bending extraterrestrial encounters, or eerie abandoned towns, the stories revolve around the inescapable past and unknown terrors lurking just out of sight. The recurring motif is inescapability—of trauma, doom, and the things we can never truly shed. Music, as both comfort and shield, links the tales emotionally and thematically.

Listeners can expect an engaging, dread-soaked ride well worth their time, even if they’re catching up during Dry January—or not.

For those new to the NoSleep Podcast:
This episode offers a perfect snapshot of what the series does best: haunting, expertly performed horror anthologies that leave you with more questions, chills, and a sense of uneasy wonder about the world.