A podcast about the people who live in Wellesley, MA and the ghosts (and monsters) who haunt them.
Not pictured: Chardonnay
Liz Sower is your average suburban mom. She likes wine, baked goods, and ghost stories. Its her love for the last one that inspires her to put up an ad at her local library. Ghost Stories Wanted. She expected to get a few of your run-of-the-mill hauntings: some knocking, and few shadows, and the like. What she got was way more than she could have ever imagined.
While Liz might be your average suburban mom, Wellesley is not your average suburb.
You can listen to Ghosts in the Burbs on most podcast apps. It also exists in blog format at: https://ghostsintheburbs.wordpress.com/
This show provides examples of:
- Adult Fear: Not only are ghosts and other supernatural beings real, but they are only too happy to target children.
- Crapsack World: Crapsack Town. Wellesley seems like a nice Boston suburb filled with type A personalities, but you can't swing a wine bottle without hitting someone with supernatural troubles.
- Creepy Child: Lilith. Also several ghosts (or entities pretending to just be ghosts).
- Cute Ghost Girl: Liz firmly believes that cute ghosts girls are NEVER actually cute ghost girls. This instinct is usually correct.
- Cowardly Lion: Liz wants to hear stories about ghosts, not interact with them herself. This doesn't stop her from getting more involved later.
- Demonic Possession: Crops up from time-to-time, especially when Liz tags along with Biddy for interviews.
- Don't Go in the Woods: The woods around Wellesley have their fair share of creepers, but you REALLY don't want to go into the woods near Lake Winnipesaukee.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: More than a few of the dark happenings in Wellesley are self-inflicted. Special mention goes to the coven who are clearly in over their heads when it comes to magic.
- Ghost Story: The premise of the podcast is Liz wanting to collect local ghost stories. Things escalate from there.
- Haunted House: By the Boatload
- Hollywood Exorcism: Averted so far. We haven't actually seen an exorcism, but the steps needed before the Catholic Church will even consider such extreme measures have been discussed.
- Horrifying the Horror: Inevitable given the amount of weirdness that inhabits Wellesley. The half-ass demon the coven sends after Liz ends up being more scared of her than she's scared of it.
- I See Dead People: Several characters can see or sense the supernatural. Most notably Judith Kay who is clairaudient. Liz also develops this ability around Out of the Swells #5
- Ley Line: Part of the problem in Wellesley seems to stem from the intersection of multiple ley lines.
- Lovable Coward: Liz's husband Chris is terrified of ghosts, but they clearly love one another and he never demands she stop her blog.
- Lovecraft Country: Massachusetts is weird. New Hampshire seems worse.
- Mirror Monster: The one and only Bloody Mary pops up in episode 34: Third Times a Charm.
- Poltergeist: One pops up in Episode 5: The Family Home. They are clearly the result of repressed emotions. Jenn developed one after nearly being killed by a home invader. There are hints that it might be something darker.
- Ouija Board: It is never a good idea to use one, but if you must, for the love of God close the session.
- Spooky Séance: One or two. Most notably The Dark Thing.
- Supernatural-Proof Father: Men are often slower on the uptake than women. Probably because many of the people Liz interviews are housewives who spend more time at home. Liz's own husband Chris probably wishes he was this, since he is terrified of ghost stories. Fortunately he doesn't turn into this trope when their own home gets invaded.
- Things That Go "Bump" in the Night: Usually shows up as an early sign of hauntings.
- Unfinished Business: The reason that some ghosts hang around.
- Vengeful Ghost: Her name is Claire, and she has her own book.
- Witch with a Capital "B": A whole coven full of them. Hillary, Jill and Vanessa.
