The NoSleep Podcast: Season 24, Episode 1 (S24E01)
Release Date: February 1, 2026
Host: David Cummings
Podcast: The NoSleep Podcast, Creative Reason Media Inc.
Episode Overview
The NoSleep Podcast launches its 24th season with a chilling aquatic theme: stories centered on the darkness and horror lurking in and around water. Host David Cummings welcomes listeners back, announcing a landmark 15th anniversary, a new base of operations on the mysterious Cape Fear River, and a major live event in partnership with other horror and true crime podcasts. The episode features three original horror tales, each exploring different aspects of aquatic dread—from oceanic body horror to the dark mysteries of bogs and familial grief washed up on the shore.
Key Episode Segments & Discussion Points
1. Season Introduction & Announcements
[00:08 – 05:59]
- Theme: Season 24 focuses on the fear and horror associated with water—in showers, rivers, oceans, and everything between.
- Quote:
"We are drawn to it, yet it holds immense power over us. It can bring unspeakable horror to the most familiar places."
—David Cummings [00:09] - New Beginnings: David shares that the NoSleep production has relocated to the Cape Fear River, bringing southern gothic undertones to Season 24.
- Community Event: Announces "Crime Wave at Sea 2.0" — a five-day Caribbean cruise with NoSleep and other leading horror/true crime podcasts (Last Podcast on the Left, Case File, etc.).
- Meet-and-greet and special guest details provided.
- Tickets available with a group discount code, community celebration encouraged.
- Setting the Mood: Invites listeners to “plunge into the horror of our sleepless tales.”
2. Story One: "Rainbows on the Beach" by Kimberly W. Hayman
[06:00 – 15:07]
Plot Summary
- Setting: Marine scientists Angie and Dr. Jimmy Howard investigate a beached gray whale.
- Atmosphere: The whale appears healthy but is surrounded by ominous electricity in the air, an unsettling ozone scent, and an intensely vivid rainbow-hued ooze around its eye.
- Discovery: As the autopsy begins, they find iridescent, sweet-smelling mucus not like any natural oil and rainbow-colored worms inside the whale’s eye.
- Body Horror: Unexpectedly, glowing worms erupt from the whale, latching onto the scientists’ skin and burrowing in. Both become possessed and are compelled to join the nearby crowd, no longer in control of their bodies.
Notable Quotes & Moments
- On the unnatural sensation:
"No, it feels almost electric. Like after a lightning strike or something."
—Angie [06:49] - Description of the ooze:
"It was more mucusy, and though the sheen had a similar iridescent hue to petroleum products, the rainbow coloration wasn’t just a surface phenomenon—it coursed through the gel."
—Angie [10:16] - Horrific transformation:
"The worms sucked at my skin, cold and vibrating with the same energy I felt in the air... My body was no longer my own."
—Angie [14:10] - Climactic loss of control:
"Viewing the world through a multi-colored filter, I couldn’t even croak out a sound... My body strolled toward the crowd, my mind shouting soundlessly at my helplessness."
—Angie [14:33]
Key Themes
- Body horror & loss of autonomy
- The unknown lurking in nature
- Visceral marine descriptions
3. Story Two: "Backwater" by Peter Genoay
[16:59 – 50:03]
Plot Summary
- Narrator: Maya, a young Toronto university student working at a summer wilderness outfitter in northern Ontario.
- Inciting Incident: Nathan Upshaw, in distress, claims his wife Kim went missing in the swamp. Local police (Sergeant Brock and Constable Teddy) question him.
- Nathan’s Account:
- Couple were on a multi-day canoe trip.
- Night of heavy storms, Kim leaves the tent to pee and vanishes.
- Nathan searches for her, only to encounter a surreal, nightmarish swamp:
- Dazzling drumming of thousands of frogs.
- A monstrous, living mass with throbbing blisters birthing frogs.
- Nathan is attacked (“gummed, bitten, sucked”) and eventually flees, traumatized.
- Aftermath:
- Nathan is aggressive, bitten Maya, and is arrested, possibly hallucinating (found with magic mushrooms).
- Police search is organized, but Maya is haunted by the supernatural details.
- Months later, Maya learns Kim has been found alive, surviving in the wild.
- The story ends with a shocking news article: Nathan, Kim, and five deformed infants die in a house fire/murder-suicide, and Maya notices a strange blister on her own hand—implying sinister contagion from her bite.
Notable Quotes & Moments
- Nathan’s terror:
“I saw that thing in the swamp... It was moving, like it was breathing... These big pulsating blisters... they popped and started to ooze out more of those fucking frogs.”
—Nathan [34:34] - Maya’s dread:
“There was something else in its place, something that definitely wasn’t there the day before—a single festering blister.”
—Maya [49:52] - Skepticism vs. belief:
“I know you’re convinced they made it to Diamond Lake, but like I said, in swamps like Barrens... maybe even passages to places no one’s ever been?”
—Maya [40:15]
Key Themes
- Rural eco-horror; swamps as mysterious, malevolent places
- Trauma and psychological haunting
- Possible supernatural infection/transmission
- Ambiguity between the rational (drugs, hysteria) and the supernatural
4. Story Three: "The Sweetness of Mermaids" by Sean Seabock
[51:56 – 65:07]
Plot Summary
- Narrator: A reflective second-person letter to a troubled, recently deceased cousin, Daniel.
- Context: Daniel’s life was marked by violence, addiction, and tragedy; his ashes are cradled in a glass pendant by the narrator, who performs a ritual in Daniel’s honor.
- Imagined Afterlife: The cousins meet in a dreamlike seashore, sharing bittersweet memories, regrets, and symbolic gestures—sea turtles, laughter, warmth, and familial longing—suggesting a mix of absolution and unresolved pain.
- Resolution: The dream turns dark—resentments boil, physical confrontation ensues, ending with the narrator cast adrift in the waves, desperate for hope but haunted by sorrow.
Notable Quotes & Moments
- On loss and memory:
"You fed the wolf and the wolf kept coming back, more ravenous than before, and you continued feeding and feeding..."
—Narrator [53:57] - The mythic touch:
"Are there any sharks in the water?"
"No, only mermaids who sing and give you breath if you go under for too long."
—Daniel, Narrator [60:48-60:51] - Bittersweet closure:
"You squeeze my hand once for each daughter, for each of their mothers, for your brothers and your mom and your dad. No squeeze for me and that's okay. I don’t deserve one."
—Narrator [61:58] - Final confrontation:
"You show your teeth, scrunch your eyebrows, flare your nostrils. You look just like your mother, like the old you. I pull back and grab you by the oversized collar and move you close until we both go under..."
—Narrator [63:20]
Key Themes
- The ocean as a metaphor for grief, memory, and forgiveness
- Intergenerational trauma
- Personal connection to cycles of violence and addiction
Memorable Quotes (with Timestamps)
- “It can truly be said that this season will be dripping with horror.”
—David Cummings [00:56] - “Electric. Like after a lightning strike.”
—Angie [06:49] - “Viewing the world through a multi-colored filter, I couldn’t even croak out a sound.”
—Angie [14:33] - “Love is strange, and I knew firsthand.”
—Maya [47:53] - “Are there any sharks in the water?”
“No, only mermaids who sing and give you breath if you go under for too long.”
—Daniel & Narrator [60:48-60:51]
Key Timestamps for Major Segments
- [00:08] — Season 24 introduction, new setting, and cruise event announcement
- [05:59] — Story 1: Whale autopsy, rainbow ooze, and body horror
- [16:59] — Story 2: Wilderness outfitter, missing woman, surreal swamp horror
- [51:56] — Story 3: Reflective elegy to a lost cousin, ocean metaphors
- [65:07] — Episode wrap-up, thanks, production credits
Episode Tone & Style
- Maintains The NoSleep Podcast’s signature: immersive, atmospheric, and literary horror storytelling.
- Serious, somber, and unnerving; often poetic and emotionally resonant.
- Host David Cummings balances warmth and gravitas, engaging horror fans while teasing the coming stories.
Conclusion
Season 24, Episode 1 of The NoSleep Podcast masterfully launches its aquatic horror theme, introducing both narrative innovation and a sense of community via live events. Its stories explore the terror of the unknown in nature, the psychological wounds of traumatic encounters, and the mournful tides of familial loss and redemption. Each tale is both self-contained and deeply evocative, reminding listeners that beneath the surface of even the calmest waters, unspeakable fears may be lurking.