If you've been following the Kooky Spooky Countdown, it has all been leading up to this: Elise Parisian, the host of Unspookable, sits down with Adam Gidwitz, the creator and host of Grimm, Grimmer, Grimmest and New York Times best-selling author, to talk about scary stories themselves. Why do we tell them? What purpose do they serve? And what has Adam learned in all his years of studying and retelling Grimms’ Fairy Tales? All with a little help from our SCARE-rator, Jonathan Cormur, the host of Dorktales Storytime. It’s a conversation you don’t want to miss.

Three award-winning, family-favorite children’s podcasts - Grimm, Grimmer, Grimmest (Pinna), Unspookable (Soundsington Media), and Dorktales Storytime - have teamed up this October for the Kooky Spooky Countdown, a seasonal, screen-free listening event for families and classrooms everywhere. Participants are challenged to listen to 13 “spooky-ish” podcast episodes to earn rewards, including exclusive congratulatory videos from all three podcast hosts.

The challenge celebrates October’s festivities with safe thrills, playful storytelling, and engaging experiences. It launches on October 2nd and runs until October 31, 2025. Families and classrooms can download the challenge materials at https://jonincharacter.com/kooky-spooky-countdown/.

How It Works

The countdown challenges participants to listen to 13 curated playfully spooky episodes across all three podcasts, mark their progress on a printable tracker, and celebrate their accomplishments with an official certificate, award cards, exclusive host video messages, and a special crossover finale episode featuring Unspookable’s Elise Parisian interview with New York Times bestselling author Adam Gidwitz.

Why It Matters

The Kooky Spooky Countdown Challenge brings the best in family-friendly podcasts together for a seasonal, audio-only experience. It also highlights the educational benefits of podcasts: improving listening skills, strengthening social-emotional growth, and inspiring curiosity about cultural heritage and folklore.

About the Podcasts

Grimm, Grimmer, Grimmest (Pinna)

It's Grimm fairy tales like you've never heard before! On every episode of Pinna Original Grimm, Grimmer, Grimmest, bestselling author Adam Gidwitz retells a classic fairy tale to a group of inquisitive kids, who anticipate plot twists, crack jokes, and share their own perspectives on these very Grimm stories.

Unspookable (Soundsington Media)

Unspookable is a family-friendly podcast that explores the history, brain science, and real-world influences behind spooky stories, myths, and urban legends. Host Elise Parisian takes the scare out of spooky stories by digging into the real history behind them, the cool facts, and why people keep telling them.

Dorktales Storytime

Be the hero of your own story with Dorktales Storytime, a podcast for kids and their pop culture loving grownups. Hosts Jonathan Cormur and Mr. Reginald T. Hedgehog share reimagined fairytales and fables with SEL themes, stories of hidden heroes, and wildly imaginative folklore.

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