If someone would have told me a year ago that I would be spending my morning drives to school listening to a podcast, rather than staying within the comfort of my meticulously crafted playlists, I wouldn’t have believed them. 

Whenever I am scrolling on TikTok, it is quite common for me to come across a video of someone making slime, cutting soap, or even just simply playing the game Subway Surfers with the audio from a podcast called Two Hot Takes playing over it. After becoming captivated by these short, one to three-minute clips of the podcast, I decided I needed to listen to a full episode to satisfy the entrancement it held over me.

Two Hot Takes is a podcast created and hosted by Morgan Absher, and the sole purpose of the podcast is purely to share spine-tingling stories for her own enjoyment and for the listeners. Absher brings on different guests, most commonly her boyfriend, best friends, and even her dad, as they spend roughly an hour and a half reading stories on the website Reddit and giving their conflicting opinions, also known as their “hot takes.”

After I started listening to Absher and her co-hosts scavenge the internet for juicy stories a couple of months ago, I started looking forward to the new episodes every week, but there was one episode I had been anticipating since the first scent of fall had crept in: the spooky stories episode.

This episode was named, “Ghosts are real, we’re not gullible,” and it featured Absher and her friend, Alejandra, diving into a realm of stories that gave me full-body chills. The stories told in this episode range from paranormal activity to receiving complex messages from the beyond. For me, the most goosebump-inducing story was about a man receiving Facebook messages from his girlfriend who had passed away.

It was a write-in about how a man’s girlfriend, Emily, had passed away in a tragic accident; however, a while after her death, he started receiving messages from her Facebook account. All the messages were recycled from their previous conversations, but it was still bone-chilling. When the messages started coming through more often and “Emily” started tagging herself in the photos he would post from the account, my jaw dropped.

Even though this anecdote was emotionally shocking, it was hearing Absher and Alejandra’s reactions that made the episode superior. It felt as though I was there with them, expressing my raw reaction while listening to the thrilling tale. They provide a sense of comfort, even when reading the most horror-stricken stories.

Although I’ve never been a big fan of Halloween, this episode filled with scary stories made me excited for the holiday to arrive. The ghost stories and eerie vibe as a whole made this episode the perfect kick-off to the “spooky season.”

Two Hot Takes is, by far, one of the most entertaining podcasts I have ever stumbled upon, and this episode has me more hooked than ever. I fully intend to stay entirely enthralled by Absher and her many co-hosts for more sinister stories this month, and all future episodes after that.