Limetown: 'Don't Try to Run'

Ten years ago, over three hundred men, women and children disappeared from a small town in Tennessee, never to be heard from again.

In this seven-part podcast, American Public Radio host Lia Haddock asks the question once more, "What happened to the people of Limetown?"

5 stars

Okay. Limetown. I'm a little late on the bandwagon for this one, but on a long road trip, a friend demanded that we listen. So we did. And I was enthralled from the very first minute.

You'll notice that this one isn't a book. It's actually a fictional podcast, and it falls very firmly into the whole storytelling through various mediums realms. It's technically a podcast, but the story is told as a fictional radio broadcast. Radio/podcasting is one of my favourite mediums of storytelling. For a little while there, I was big into Welcome to Nightvale, which I found similar to this one purely for the spine-tingling sense of creepy. Nightvale, however, is more light-hearted than Limetown. The story of Limetown is a truly terrifying one.

I think I was so fascinated by the whole thing because it felt very real. Of course, it's fiction. Or so we're told. But the notion of disappearing towns is not a new one, nor an entirely fictional one. The disappearance of flight MH370 has left the world perplexed. The stories of entire cruise ships left empty as it drifted out of the Bermuda Triangle still gives me shivers. Limetown has left me thoroughly disconcerted with the world, and with a strange feeling in my bones. It was fantastic.

The premise of the story is built almost entirely on its mystery, so I'm not going to give away any spoilers. Not one, in fact. The less you know about this podcast going in, the better. You'll be slack-jawed and astonished the way I was when I listened.

What I will say is that the show is a superbly well-written insight into human nature, the way that we justify our actions, and the mystery of who and what we really are.

Lia is a relatable and kick-ass protagonist, and you absolutely feel for her as the story progresses. The medium of radio broadcast is also interspersed with recorded phone calls, 'live' expeditions in which you get to hear things moving around but you see nothing (which totally adds to the creepy factor), and interviews.

It's hard to review something while saying next to nothing about it, but Limetown is best consumed with no pre-knowledge. Just dive right in.

I would highly recommend it to pretty much everyone, but especially fans of Serial, The X-Files, or people who love stories that leave your skin crawling and wanting more.

#podcast #horror #5stars #limetown