The Mystery Hour (Nighty Night)

Every time this show auto-plays from my podcast feed, it’s such a nice break from my usual news listening. Great story selections, great narration, and really awesome backing music. Several episodes have made a lasting impression now, so I’m going back through the archive to listen to ones I’ve missed!

I absolutely love the stories and how Rabia tells them, but the abrupt (and often middle of a word) ad placement is very distracting (or the sudden realization that Rabia is reading an ad sounding like it’s part of the story). I get needing sponsorship, but maybe aim for better placement using markers / include an audio cue that an ad is coming.

Rabia’s reading seems so natural, like a story telling rather than reading. Selected stories are mostly interesting. Perhaps we listeners are equivalent to the Strand readers following Sherlock Holmes escapades 100 years ago. But be quick with the FF button as nasty commercials pop up suddenly

Love Rabia and everything she’s narrated, worked on, contributed to, etc. and her voice is lovely! Mystery Hour is no exception. The stories on her latest endeavor are always fresh, interesting and sometimes quite creepy. The ‘fact is stranger than fiction’ segment at the end is a perfect way to tie off each episode. However, while I don’t necessarily mind the ads I am a bit disappointed in their placement amid the episode. Rabia is often mid-sentence when an ad break disrupts at the most random times. This does not bother me enough to give less than 5 stars, but would love if the editors could find a more sensible part of the story.

I was sooo excited when I heard that Rabia was coming back with a new season of Nighty Night until it was revealed that she would just be reading old stories written by other writers and not her own like before. I was very disappointed and haven’t tuned back in, but I’m not giving up and am still holding out hope for some original stories to make a return sometime soon!

I enjoyed Rabia's previous podcast The Hidden Djinn. She did a really nice job there, i tuned in faithfully. But it was a different kind of podcast. As a lover of scary stories, creepy pastas and all the podcasts that showcase this, I was happy to see her venture into this area. Sadly, it’s much like a child being read a story from mom. It’s NOT bad. It’s just not really good either. Rabia reads the story, she adds inflection and sentiment, but she is not a voice actor or horror podcaster and these stories fall flat under her. Sorry to say she should leave this genre to the podcasters who are really good at it.