The Magnus Archives Podcast By Rusty Quill cover art

The Magnus Archives

The Magnus Archives

By: Rusty Quill
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About this listen

“Make your statement, face your fear.” The Magnus Archives is a weekly horror fiction audiodrama podcast examining what lurks in the archives of the Magnus Institute, an organisation dedicated to researching the esoteric and the weird. Join Jonathan Sims as he explores the archive, but be warned, as he looks into its depths something starts to look back… New episodes every Thursday produced by Rusty Quill, featuring guest actors, short stories, serial plots and more. The long awaited continuation The Magnus Protocol launched in January 2024. Season 2 of the Magnus Protocol is ongoing!


This multi-award winning and record breaking epic horror anthology features elements of the supernatural and the eldritch while blending genres of horror, mystery, tragedy and romance in to a truly epic metaplot that has captivated millions and helped make The Magnus Archives the worlds most popular horror podcast.

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Episodes
  • Announcement: Ten Years of Rusty Quill Livestream
    Jun 24 2025

    Hello there! My name is Shahan Hamza – you may know me from The Magnus Protocol!


    The Magnus Protocol is still currently on hiatus, but we have plenty of exciting things to keep you entertained as we wait for the second act in season two.

    Firstly, voting for the British Podcast Awards Listeners Choice Award is open now! If you love The Magnus Protocol or Neon Inkwell, please do consider voting for them. To cast your vote, visit www.britishpodcastawards.com/voting and search for “The Magnus Archives” or “Neon Inkwell” to vote.


    Next up, this June marks Rusty Quill’s tenth anniversary – and we want to celebrate this momentous milestone with you!


    Join guests from across the last ten years of Rusty Quill including myself Alexander J Newall, Ben Meredith, Tim Meredith, Jon Gracey, Nemo Martin and many more on Saturday 28th June for a Big Birthday Livestream on Twitch.


    We’ll be playing special themed games and activities, including in-character Among Us with the cast of The Magnus Protocol, Rusty Quill Jeopardy and a tabletop roleplaying game special, hosted by the GM of Ain’t Slayed Nobody, cuppycup!


    It also says here – and I’m not sure if I’m reading it right…. It just says the word “Dig”? Over and over? Weird.


    As part of the stream, we will be fundraising for two fantastic charities: The Trevor Project, who provide crisis services and advocacy for LGBTQ+ youth, and SpecialEffect, who work to transform the lives of physically disabled people by creating innovative, accessible ways to play video games.


    So, come along, join the fun, and show your support for these incredible ventures on Saturday 28th June at 3pm BST.


    For more details visit rustyquill.com/rq10 or follow us on Twitch at twitch.tv/rusty_quill to get notified as soon as we

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    2 mins
  • RQ Network Feed Drop – Ain't Slayed Nobody
    Jun 20 2025

    This month we are featuring a feed drop from Ain’t Slayed Nobody one of the amazing shows on the RQ Network.


    AINT SLAYED NOBODY is a Gold Ennie winning actual play podcast with this first episode being from their first season set in the American Old West. The production blends tabletop roleplaying and audio drama with fast pacing and immersive sound design.

    The posse begins their quest in grand Old Western tradition: with a hanging. Bullets begin to fly as a shady priest, a rough and tumble miner, a suave former outlaw, and an earnest hobo join vengeful Deputy Sheriff Ellie Bishop on the Canutillo Railroad Bridge. Little does this ragtag posse know of the cosmic horrors that are about to unfold.

    Introduction and outro by Anusia Battersby. Listen to Ain’t Slayed Nobody wherever you find podcasts, on the Rusty Quill website and at www.aintslayednobody.com.


    Credits:


    cuppycup as Keeper of Arcane Lore

    Jay Arnold as Lance Kilkenny

    Wes Davis as Jeremiah Fensworth

    Chuck Lawrence as Johnny Rhodes

    Alex McDaniel as Ellie Bishop

    Brandon Wainerdi as Father Flint Westwater

    Production and Creative

    Writing and Production: cuppycup

    Game Rules and Setting: Call of Cthulhu 7e, Down Darker Trails by Chaosium, Inc.

    Theme Song: “Dead Man Walking” by Cody Fry

    Content warnings:

    Explicit violence, Execution by hanging, Firearm violence, Blood and Gore, Profanity

    Transcript: https://www.aintslayednobody.com/s/ASN-E01-An-Occurrence-at-Canutillo-Bridge.txt

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    53 mins
  • RQ Network Feed Drop – The Cellar Letters
    May 15 2025

    This month we are featuring a feed drop from The Cellar Letters one of the brilliant shows on the RQ Network.


    After a series of traumatic events, Nate and his dog, Bella, move across the country to the East Coast. Nate, desperately seeking a fresh start, documents the whole process, exploring the perfect new house – loads of space, a yard for Bella to run in, unbelievably low rent….


    But there’s something not quite right. Something about the house feels wrong. There’s knocking noises in the nighttime, not to mention the locked room in the basement, filled with letters about strange occurrences and ghostly figures.


    Who wrote these letters? And why are they all stored in the cellar? And what, exactly, was Nate running from in the first place?

    Join Nate, his dog and his friend Steve as they search for answers.


    Introduction and outro by Billie Hindle. Listen to The Cellar Letters wherever you find podcasts, on the Rusty Quill website and at www.thecellarletters.com.


    If you would like to support the creator of The Cellar Letters you can check out REDACTED a new project they are working on in collaboration with the creator behind The Grotto and a range of other talented creators by going to rustyquill.com/REDACTED.


    Twitch.tv/athansmusic

    Twitch.tv/jamiepetronis


    Credits: The Cellar Letters is an Audio Drama created by Jamie Petronis.


    Content warnings:

    · Mentions of: COVID-19 pandemic

    · SFX: Loud noises, beeping, static


    Transcript: https://www.thecellarletters.com/episode-1-the-move/

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    17 mins

Featured Article: The Best Fiction Podcasts


Audio dramas and scripted fiction podcasts are as varied as novels. They come in every genre imaginable, including mysteries and thrillers, contemporary drama, historical fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, and comedy. And as we are living in a Golden Age of podcasts, whether you're craving aliens, romance, humor, family drama, suspense, magic, or something else altogether, there’s bound to be something that fits your interests. This list includes some of the best story podcasts out there. Once you start listening, you're never going to want to stop.

All stars
Most relevant  
Listening will add to the list of your worst nightmares. LGBTQ+ inclusive with diverse casting

Something for Everyone

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I’ve been listening to audiobooks/podcasts every day for six years while at work and on drives (9+ hours a day) and I’ve never relistened to something as much as this
the writing, ambience, and performance are some of the best I’ve herd

I could be listening to Magnus Archives

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Okay so first things first:

This podcast is incredible. The Magnus Archives is a horror fiction podcast of unparalleled story, narration, ambience, and just all around tremendously well done. The characters are incredible, the plot is sublime, and the voice acting is too notch in all but 1 or 2 places where it's just slightly (and I mean very very slightly) hammy. Overall this podcast is one of my favorite fiction stories that there are.

HOWEVER:

Audible is a bad platform to listen to it on. Audible has an appalling habit of treating podcasts as constant livestreams, where "next" episode means "latest" episode, and so trying to listen to this series in order means you will have to manually select each new episode yourself, or risk being sent to the very last episode that there is when each episode ends.

You will also have to deal with your Audible App freezing and glitching out when you try and swap from a podcast episode to an actual audiobook, or vice vursa, because Audible treats them differently. If you try and swap back and forth, the app with slow down so much and eventually freeze altogether, and the only way I have found to fix the issue is to turn your phone to Airplane Mode just to stop it from dropping into a permanent loading lock.

Downloading each canonical episode seems to help a little, but even then: if you want to have a playlist of Magnus Archives episodes in order, you'll have to play around with turning airplane mode on and off to "reset" your audible apps loading. This app is a terrible way to listen to them, don't do it unless you are willing to open your phone every 20-30 minutes to manually select the next episode, because:

YOUR PHONE WILL NOT AUTOMATICALLY GO TO THE NEXT EPISODE, EVER, AT ALL, IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, AT ALL, EVER, when using audible.

Now, all that being said, this podcast is still absolutely a 10 out of 10 podcast if you love horror, fiction, complete stories, or just good writing and voice acting in general.

Great Podcast, audible sucks at it though

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I got into this to bond with my niece, and stayed for the storytelling and suspense. The story is well thought out, the acting is great, and it’s actually impressively somewhat unpredictable (not entirely, but better than most). I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that as a 31-year-old who lives alone, I didn’t check my locks more than usual some nights while being unappreciative of my noisy house.

Rapturing!

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this story sadly is one of the more distracting episodes. this one requires the listener to have their undivided attention I can't recall what just happened other than this person is dreaming of an alternate London or something.
since I drive a lot more these days I've been currently listening to these archives and some have grabbed my attention more than others some have given me a WTF what was going on?
the story is probably more for those who read dreams and stuff.

my only critique would be that if you're going to talk about something that's obscure having some audio cues or something to help fill in the imagination or something would probably help out more for those of us who are not strong

wait, what's going on?

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This is single-handedly, one of the best podcast with storytelling that I’ve ever listen to.
When I say that, I’ve been fully satisfied with this podcast, I can’t even begin to tell you how satisfied and wonderful the storytelling and the characters are. It leaves you on just the edge at the very end, but you know exactly what happened.

Life changing

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Amazing, intense, exhilarating. I stumbled into this from a clip on tiktok from episode 93, I am so happy to have found such an intriguing depth of story and horror. From the first episode completely pulling me in, to when the story starts to take on a life of its own. Truly fascinating and thrilling.

Depth rarely seen in other horror podcasts.

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It starts out a bit slow, but picks up quickly. I would recommend this to anyone who has the time.

the best story podcast I've ever listened to

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I give it 5 stars because it is a good podcast that you should listen to

Um 5 stars

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I have never in my life listened to a better written and executed podcast. It has an amazing plot and characters. I got so attached to each and every one of them. I’ve been recommending this to everyone I know. It is phenomenal!

Best ever

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