Comedian Dan Cummins is a master of the podcast world. But with the help of his wife, Lynze Cummins, he reaches a new audience through their podcast, “Scared to Death.”
“Scared to Death” has a simple premise. Dan loves scary stories and he loves sharing them with other people. However, Lynze does not share the same enthusiasm as her husband.
Each week on “Scared to Death,” Dan shares two terrifying, claimed-to-be-true tales in an attempt to spook his wife and their audience.
“I tell those tales in a darkened studio surrounded by objects of the occult, across the street from the cemetery, telling them to my wife, Lynze. Knowing that if I can scare her, I can scare you,” Dan says in the podcast’s trailer.
The stories featured on “Scared to Death” range from obscure firsthand accounts to well-known myths, like the tale of the Winchester Mystery House. However, the married couple’s storytelling capabilities and comedic timing make even the most well-known tales of horror intriguing.
While Dan has shared that his love for all things horror started from a young age, he began his venture into the world of entertainment through comedy. Dan was a professional stand-up comedian and a co-host for “The Playboy Morning Show” before he started his first podcast in 2016.
Dan’s first podcast, “Timesuck,” is a comedic informational podcast. In each episode, he explores a single listener-suggested subject. These topics may include serial killers, cryptozoology, historical events, cults, mysteries and more.
“Timesuck” garnered a dedicated fan base and a large cult following. Fans of the podcast deem him “Master of the Suck” and Lynze the “Queen of the Suck” in honor of the first podcast’s origins. The fanbase also calls themselves the “Cult of the Curious.”
While “Timesuck” focuses on getting all the information and perspectives available, all that matters in “Scared to Death” is the fear factor.
“The thing I like to think about with these stories is, they don’t all have to be true … but if one in one-hundredth is true, it’s a game-changer,” Dan says in the first episode.
Unlike “Timesuck,” Dan is not attempting to prove or disprove any of the stories he shares on “Scared to Death.” Instead, the main goal of the newer podcast is defined in its title.
Several fans from “Timesuck” carried over to their newest podcast. But the couple pointed out in several of their episodes that many of “Scared to Death” fans had never heard of “Timesuck.” In fact, “Scared to Death” is growing even faster than “Timesuck” did in its first year.
Lynze only made the occasional appearances in “Timesuck,” like in special Episode 100, “Drunk As F*#k Suck of the Axeman of New Orleans,” and Episode 186, “The Sex Suck: Who’s Doing What, Female Ejaculation and More!”
With “Scared to Death,” Lynze is immersed in Dan’s world, and their listeners, including myself, love her for it.
Like its predecessor, fans of “Scared to Death” dubbed themselves creeps and peepers, depending on the way they consume the podcast and other stories of horror.
Dan himself is a self-proclaimed creeper. He enjoys getting scared and it doesn’t bother him as much as it interests him. Of course, that doesn’t mean he never gets scared. It’s just an attitude thing.
On the other hand, Lynze falls into the peeper camp. Peepers are fans who listen to the podcast with the lights on or watch scary movies with their eyes covered. Lynze shields herself from any bad vibes with blankets, fuzzy socks and crystals.
Once the show started rolling, Lynze began sharing scary stories submitted by their listeners to return the scares. These listener stories add another dimension to the podcast and give their fans another way to interact with the hosts.
“Scared to Death” may have a formulaic structure, but with Dan and Lynze, the podcast is never predictable. The couple’s dynamic personalities make the podcast unique and successful.
The two also share excerpts from their own lives on “Scared to Death.” They live in Couer d’Alene, Idaho, where they raise Dan’s children from a previous marriage, Kyler and Monroe. Several episodes allow their fans to get a peek into their lives outside of the podcast world.
Lynze once mentioned that she thought there was something otherworldly in her home.
Before the spread of the coronavirus, Dan constantly traveled for his job as a stand-up. And the couple shares custody of their kids with Dan’s ex-wife. So Lynze was alone in their house, fit for four people, for long periods of time.
During her days home alone, Lynze started to notice a presence in their house. In a few episodes, she even shared the possibility that it could be a negative presence rather than the comforting one of a lost loved one hanging around.
In another episode, Lynze said she believes that most of the haunting activity in their house comes from their son Kyler’s room. She hears distinct footsteps coming from his room when no one is home or her son is fast asleep.
To combat these feelings and whatever entity was causing them, Lynze turned to crystals as an outlet. Dan does not share Lynze’s love of crystals, which leads to a teasing dynamic and outright hilarity about their beliefs in all things spiritual.
The couple’s ongoing debate about crystals and spirituality help to add a bit of comedy to the podcast as well as give more of a peek into their lives.
If you want to get “Scared to Death” with Dan and Lynze, just check out their podcast on YouTube or Spotify. You won’t regret tuning into their wicked banter and spooky tales.
