What Empty Spaces Need (Audio Drama) (Ep. 181)

About this episode

This Halloween special features an audio drama about an American English teacher in Japan who encounters a supernatural entity during a snowstorm.

🎃 HALLOWEEN SPECIAL 🎃 This year's Halloween episode is a full-length audio drama based on the urban legend of Sukima-onna—the woman who watches from the gaps. An American English teacher in Japan loses everything: his job, his apartment, his passport. Drunk and desperate during a snowstorm, he finds shelter in an abandoned house. But he's not alone. Something lives in the cracks, the spaces between things. And it's been waiting for him. Content Warning and Huge Spoilers, do not read unless you're a very sensitive person who needs content warnings before listening to a FRIKKIN' HALLOWEEN STORY--HELLOOO!, I'm about to ruin the ending for you, if you're so sensitive that you need a sensitivity reader-approved content warning, you should not listen to this episode or watch it on Spotify anyway: This story contains depictions of alcoholism, death by drowning, emotional manipulation/gaslighting, and peril involving children. Themes of isolation, homelessness, and psychological horror throughout. (Also, Terrie drops an S-Bomb.) Written by: Thersa Matsuura and Rich Pav Featuring the voices of: Thersa Matsuura and Rich Pav Sound design: Rich Pav Love this episode? Share it with someone…

People in this episode

Host: Thersa Matsuura

Topics covered

• urban legend
• audio drama
• horror
• isolation
• psychological horror

Keywords

• Sukima-onna
• Halloween
• alcoholism
• death
• emotional manipulation
• gaslighting
• homelessness

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Spotify, Apple Podcasts

Places: Japan

More episodes of Uncanny Japan

• The Ghost-Playing Actor Who Became a REAL Vengeful Ghost: Kohada Koheiji (Ep. 191) · June 1, 2026 · 31 min
• All That Flows: Benzaiten, White Snakes, and Human-Headed Serpents · May 18, 2026 · 23 min
• Everyone Has a Throat Buddha / What is it and Why? -- Nodohotoke & Story Time: "The Buddha Bone" (Ep. 189) · May 4, 2026 · 33 min
• Ofuda & Omamori: Lucky Talismans & Charms · April 21, 2026 · 29 min
• Tsukimono: Possessed by an Animal (Ep. 187) · April 7, 2026 · 31 min
• Takiyasha Hime & the Gashadokuro: Japan's Frog-Riding Witch & Giant Skeleton (Ep. 186) · March 17, 2026 · 22 min