Honoring standout paranormal, metaphysical, historical and true-crime podcasts, with the winners to be announced October 24, 2026.

We are honored to recognize these creators and give their outstanding podcasts the celebration they deserve.”

— Tony Sweet, Founder, ParaPod Podcast Awards

REDLANDS, CA, UNITED STATES, September 15, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Parapod Podcast Awards has announced the official nominees and industry judges for its fourth annual celebration of podcasting. Winners will be announced on October 24, 2026. The nominees represent distinctive voices in ghost stories, cryptid research, metaphysical exploration, psychic phenomena, ancient history, conspiracy investigation and true crime. Selections recognize achievement in storytelling, research, hosting, originality, production and audience engagement.

“These creators inform us, challenge us and take listeners into stories and mysteries that might otherwise remain unexplored,” said founder Tony Sweet. “We are honored to recognize their work and give these podcasts the celebration they deserve.”

Official 2026 Nominees

Best Newcomer Podcast
1. Spooky Story Bootique – Amelia Cotter
2. The Common Anomaly Podcast – Stuart James and Clayton James
3. Cozy Coven Chats: A Witch’s Journey Back to Simplicity – Jenny C. Bell

Best Conspiracy Podcast
1. The Why Files: Operation Podcast – AJ Gentile
2. The Soul Explorers
3. Occult Symbolism and Pop Culture – Isaac Weishaupt

Best Archaeology / Ancient History Podcast
1. Fall of Civilizations – Paul Cooper
2. The Ancients – Tristan Hughes
3. Shadow Clock | “Child,” Episode 6 – Katie Mahalic

Best Ghost / Haunting Podcast
1. abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast – Blake Pfeil
2. Tell Me a Ghost Story – Michelle Newman
3. Paranormalish – JoJo Wright

Best Metaphysical / Spiritual Podcast
1. ACID FOR SQUARES – Tanya Dahl and Cody Blue Snider
2. Hacking the Afterlife Podcast – Richard Martini and Jennifer Shaffer
3. Ultra Minds with JK ULTRA – Jennifer Carmody
4. The Witches Movie Coven – Patti Negri, Heather Greene, Jason Mankey, Richard-Lael Lillard and Courtney Buckley

Best Cryptid Podcast
1. Bigfoot and Beyond with Cliff and Bobo – Cliff Barackman and James “Bobo” Fay
2. Monsters Among Us – Derek Hayes
3. Blurry Creatures – Nate Henry and Luke Rodgers

Best Psychic Podcast
1. The Colby Rebel Show – Colby Rebel
2. The Psychic and the Doc – Mark Anthony and Dr. Pat Baccili
3. Diary of a Psychic Medium
4. CharVision – Char Margolis

Best True Crime Podcast
1. The Book of the Dead – Courtney Liso
2. Crime Junkie – Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat
3. Morbid – Alaina Urquhart and Ash Kelley

Best Investigative Podcast
1. Uintah Basin High Strangeness
2. Uncanny
3. Haunted Road – Amy Bruni

2026 Industry Judges

Traci Long DeForge, founder and CEO of Produce Your Podcast, brings expertise in podcast production, strategy, branding and audience growth.

Sam Sethi joins the panel as an industry podcast judge, contributing his experience and perspective on creativity, presentation and audience connection.

David Hoffman, founder and principal of CitizenRacecar, is a podcast producer and creative director specializing in narrative development, audio production and storytelling.

The judges will consider storytelling and content quality; research and subject knowledge; host performance; originality; audio production; consistency; impact; and responsible treatment of subject matter.

Sponsors and Industry Support

Spreaker, Triton Digital and iHeartMedia support the awards as official media sponsors, helping provide promotional opportunities, industry recognition and potential consideration for Spreaker Prime.

PodSEO will provide a one-year subscription among the 2026 prizes, giving a selected recipient tools to strengthen podcast discoverability and audience growth.

Llewellyn Books, a leading publisher of metaphysical, spiritual and paranormal books, will provide a special prize for a selected recipient.

About the ParaPod Podcast Awards

Founded by broadcaster, producer and podcasting pioneer Tony Sweet, the Parapod Podcast Awards recognize excellence in paranormal and unexplained-phenomena podcasting. Sweet has worked in podcasting since 2008 and has interviewed more than 2,000 entertainment, cultural and paranormal personalities, researchers and influencers.

The fourth annual winners will be announced on October 24, 2026.

For updates, visit ParaPodEvents.com and follow @parapodevents on Instagram.

Media Contact
ParaPod Podcast Awards
info@parapodfestival.com
https://parapodevents.com
Instagram: @parapodevents

TONY SWEET
Parapod Events
+1 323-497-0556
email us here
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