If you find yourself making a strange detour onto a long dirt road, you may end up in Uncanny County. And that’s exactly where I’ll be any time I need a refreshing audio drama to listen to.

Uncanny County is an anthology audio drama series set around (you guessed it) the strange happenings in Uncanny County, USA. And these mystery, horror or even comedy-style short stories are absolutely phenomenal.

In the interest of being forthright, I’ll say that I’m not a fan of most anthologies. I could never get in to Black Mirror, or amy other anthology television show, and I had assumed that I would feel the same way about an anthology audio drama – I was wrong.

In fact, I had initially (unfortunately) told the creators of Uncanny County that we didn’t review anthology series. And while we still might not in the future, I am glad to say that Uncanny County was our first forray into that subgenre.

Each individualized story is a delight. And, despite how many times I said it in our PlotCast review, I’ll say it again – These stories feel like a full-length play, in only a 30-minute timeframe.

The amount of world building, tension and emotional progression that happens in a relatively short amount of time is almost unparalleled in the audio drama space. Some shows that take an entire series of hour-long episodes cannot come close to the captivation that you’ll find in a single episode of Uncanny County.

From the very first episode, you’re fully immersed in the small town Junction Falls, following Hal as he tries to ask his longtime girlfriend, Sally, to marry him. With a simple enough premise, it’s easy to get immersed in the story – a few minutes in, you want Sally to say yes. A few minutes after that, you’re taken on a rollercoaster of not only emotions, but tension and fear with a sci-fi twist that culminates in a story that sticks with you. And each and every episode is just as good as the last.

If anything, the only down side is that sometimes you’ll want more afterward – a continuation of your favorite episode, that unfortunately might not come. (Although there are instances of crossover in the series.)

The audio quality and acting is phenomenonal. And it’s quite impressive that the Uncanny County team can come up with such a unique story, produce it expertly and put it out every month. (Frankly, it’s taken us months to put together a single episode of How i Died.)

All of the care that goes into each episode is what makes this show a new favorite of mine.

Instead of needing to listen to an entire series to get a complete plot – and sometimes not even a complete plot, the easily-digestible nature of each episode of Uncanny County makes listening a treat that you can stop by and enjoy.

So after listening to some series that we shall not name, I know that when I need a refresher, an enjoyable one-off short story, you’ll fine me in Uncanny County.