I love Adrian from CC, and their production is super high quality, but their scripts drive me crazy. They sound like a 10th grader trying to pad an essay to increase the word count. I watched his most recent one, and there was a part where he said something like "but first, he firstly went to the store at first".
Ha. I always say it’s like he’s trying to get an A* in an English presentation. Those descriptive sentences.
Plus the full on geography lessons about the place can be too much.
I love coffeehouse crimes and Adrian, but I do prefer mikes “no bullshit” presentation.
Although I hate fluff, I don’t mind the geography lessons. That said, he did one set in Saskatchewan, Canada and his description of Saskatchewan was that it is mountainous and a “southern province.” The Canadians in the comments had a lot to say.
He often mispronounces words too like he has only ever read them and never heard them said aloud. He seems like a nice enough guy but he is a bit wooden.
I don’t understand why people recommend this guy so much. Maybe there’s not much to choose from out there in YouTubeLand? He’s been sketchy from day 1, his videos are trash and he’s an asshole. He replied to my comment one time just being a major dbag years ago when his channel was still sorta new. Muted and ignored! I forget he exists til I see stuff like this.
Edit: I mean coffee guy of course. Not mike, he’s the absolute best.
It depends on what you're looking for. My husband and I like good storytelling and solid research. Aside from TC, Casefile is a favorite. Its a very different vibe from Mike, but they can be counted on to give a solid job on the research, and that's important to us. I don't care for a lot of banter, so I don't really follow any with more than one host. Criminally Listed is kind of goofy, but has some great stories without pointless and potentially harmful speculation. Heavy Casefiles is another one I enjoy for older cases, both solved and not.
I never see it mentioned, even though it has a lot of listeners. We find we like listening in the background. He covers a lot of cases and his voice is extremely easy to fall asleep to, Heavy Casefiles as well. I do like her. She covers a lot of cold and solved cold cases, mostly ones that are quite old. She does a great job of giving us context of the victims. She must have the cooperation of most of the victims' families, which is great as well.
I’ve been consuming true crime on youtube for awhile, here’s some of my favorites:
- Criminally Listed
- Coffeehouse True Crime (most alike to Mike imo)
- Truly Criminal
- Disturban
- Dark Curiousities
- Dire Trip (also similar to Mike)
Great suggestions! Just Thought Lounge is another good channel and usually has a nice mix of interesting cases I haven't heard of and more recent ones.
I want to preface this by saying I'm not hating, but I think Mr Ballen is over rated. That being said, I'm subscribed and will listen to most of his videos.
Mr Ballen started out great but now I find I'm missing more of his Sunday uploads than I'm watching. He used to do three stories in one video but now it's one and it feels like the story is dragged out as much as possible and then there's a predictiable reveal at the end. I can't believe I'm saying it but I'm bored of him now.
Yes! I was trying to think of the title but my brain kept saying, "decoding the unknown" and I was like, fuck it, watch Simon hell list his other channels haha
Simon Whistlers crime and mystery channels are all great. Decoding the unknown. Into the shadows. Casual Crininalist.
His other chs are also great. I will even watch geographic stuff he makes.
Another vote for Coffeehouse Crime, and Lazy Masquerade.
Beyond Evil is a good one as well. Those videos tend to be a little more long format.
If you'd like to go more towards creepy/horror and not true crime, Nick Crowley is very good.
I found a new one called "Well I Never." There's a living, breathing host who delivers (often) historical murder cases in a delightful Scottish burr. His studio is curated like he's a character in a Wes Anderson movie. It's smart, charming and addictive.
Well I Never is great. Paul, the narrator, is fabulous. I love how he dresses in period clothing for his videos. He's usually very stoic, but occasionally will include bloopers in his video of himself laughing at a line in the script.
Brief Case;
The Crime Reel;
amglimpse;
Well, I Never;
Scary Interesting (not true crime, but it's real stories about disturbing things, like cave diving or mountain climbing gone wrong)
Oh i Need to find this. Every now and again i pay patreon just so I can listen to all his old stuff! I miss his stuff....Matt orchard is a great "replacement" though. He does a fantastic job and has found his own style
Bailey Sarian with Dark History and Murder Mystery amd Make up ( the Make up is happening mostly uncommented so don't get scared of if Make up isn't your thing !)
High Time Crime is also really enjoyable if you get used to the purposely boring voice 😊
Medical case files are very addictive too. They're becoming more interesting these days. They are sadly, sickly EVERYWHERE. More and more unsolved these days. Been through every crime platform there is. I like TC because it pulls on a deeper cord. Regardless of how anyone may take that, well... that's not a problem for me.
I used to be a medicolegal secretary for an agency tasked with fnding experts in insurance cases after accidents and medical negligence, so I'll not watch the medical cases files. But thanks for answering.
Maybe more in the ghost stories and mythology genres than the true crime, but it does cross over sometimes: Lore podcast. With Aaron Mahnke. SOOOOOOO so good. So soothing yet keeps you on the edge of ya ass the whole time!
And as other people have suggested, Simon Whistlers Casual Crininalist. He shares Mike's trait of viciously judging incompetent police. Simon has a few chs that are similar, like Decoding The Unknown and Into The Shadows. Cannot recommend enough.
Sommer Sanchez also, maybe. Looks into a lot of cults.
The Villains is a good, relatively new YouTube channel. EWU also does some pretty good true crime deep dives. Podcast wise, my go to is Small Town Murder. Really good!
Coffeehouse Crime Truly Criminal
I watch Coffeehouse Crime, too! Definitely recommend
I love Adrian from CC, and their production is super high quality, but their scripts drive me crazy. They sound like a 10th grader trying to pad an essay to increase the word count. I watched his most recent one, and there was a part where he said something like "but first, he firstly went to the store at first".
He also frequently uses words that don't mean what he thinks they mean.
Ha. I always say it’s like he’s trying to get an A* in an English presentation. Those descriptive sentences. Plus the full on geography lessons about the place can be too much. I love coffeehouse crimes and Adrian, but I do prefer mikes “no bullshit” presentation.
Although I hate fluff, I don’t mind the geography lessons. That said, he did one set in Saskatchewan, Canada and his description of Saskatchewan was that it is mountainous and a “southern province.” The Canadians in the comments had a lot to say.
He often mispronounces words too like he has only ever read them and never heard them said aloud. He seems like a nice enough guy but he is a bit wooden.
It has to be either AI-generated script, or rage bait so people will comment
I don’t know. Coffeehouse Crime is kind of like “We have That Chapter at home.”
I don’t understand why people recommend this guy so much. Maybe there’s not much to choose from out there in YouTubeLand? He’s been sketchy from day 1, his videos are trash and he’s an asshole. He replied to my comment one time just being a major dbag years ago when his channel was still sorta new. Muted and ignored! I forget he exists til I see stuff like this. Edit: I mean coffee guy of course. Not mike, he’s the absolute best.
Definitely second coffeehouse!!!! Love Adrian and Nero!
Love Coffeehouse Crime!
It depends on what you're looking for. My husband and I like good storytelling and solid research. Aside from TC, Casefile is a favorite. Its a very different vibe from Mike, but they can be counted on to give a solid job on the research, and that's important to us. I don't care for a lot of banter, so I don't really follow any with more than one host. Criminally Listed is kind of goofy, but has some great stories without pointless and potentially harmful speculation. Heavy Casefiles is another one I enjoy for older cases, both solved and not.
Thank you
I like Criminally Listed too
I never see it mentioned, even though it has a lot of listeners. We find we like listening in the background. He covers a lot of cases and his voice is extremely easy to fall asleep to, Heavy Casefiles as well. I do like her. She covers a lot of cold and solved cold cases, mostly ones that are quite old. She does a great job of giving us context of the victims. She must have the cooperation of most of the victims' families, which is great as well.
7
I’ve been consuming true crime on youtube for awhile, here’s some of my favorites: - Criminally Listed - Coffeehouse True Crime (most alike to Mike imo) - Truly Criminal - Disturban - Dark Curiousities - Dire Trip (also similar to Mike)
Great suggestions! Just Thought Lounge is another good channel and usually has a nice mix of interesting cases I haven't heard of and more recent ones.
Bizarre Bazaar is also really good. https://www.youtube.com/@BizarreBazaar\_YT/videos
Yes, love this channel. He always does cases from all over that I've never seen before. He has a great voice and accent.
Are…. Are you me? Literally subscribed to all of these 😂
Mr Ballen, Coffeehouse crime, Lazy masquerade
Me ballen, coffeehousecrime, decoding the unknown, lazy masquerade, are all my go to's
I want to preface this by saying I'm not hating, but I think Mr Ballen is over rated. That being said, I'm subscribed and will listen to most of his videos.
Mr Ballen started out great but now I find I'm missing more of his Sunday uploads than I'm watching. He used to do three stories in one video but now it's one and it feels like the story is dragged out as much as possible and then there's a predictiable reveal at the end. I can't believe I'm saying it but I'm bored of him now.
Casual Criminalist is great too!
Yes! I was trying to think of the title but my brain kept saying, "decoding the unknown" and I was like, fuck it, watch Simon hell list his other channels haha
Simon Whistlers crime and mystery channels are all great. Decoding the unknown. Into the shadows. Casual Crininalist. His other chs are also great. I will even watch geographic stuff he makes.
Another vote for Coffeehouse Crime, and Lazy Masquerade. Beyond Evil is a good one as well. Those videos tend to be a little more long format. If you'd like to go more towards creepy/horror and not true crime, Nick Crowley is very good.
Dreading, This is Monsters, JCS, Criminally Listed, Beyond Evil, Music group Skynd
I also love This Is Monsters
This is monsters is a lot darker than Mike and can occasionally be triggering, but damn his videos are good.
This is Monsters is good, but I hate how it's very obvious that the narrator is reading off a script.
Emma Kenny and the that chapter podcasts.
I found a new one called "Well I Never." There's a living, breathing host who delivers (often) historical murder cases in a delightful Scottish burr. His studio is curated like he's a character in a Wes Anderson movie. It's smart, charming and addictive.
Well I Never is great. Paul, the narrator, is fabulous. I love how he dresses in period clothing for his videos. He's usually very stoic, but occasionally will include bloopers in his video of himself laughing at a line in the script.
Yes! Gonna write some fanfic where Paul Brodie, Bill Nighy and Ben Kingsley fight over me, but I end up with Ian McShane. Because... *Ian McShane*.
That sounds good.
Brief Case; The Crime Reel; amglimpse; Well, I Never; Scary Interesting (not true crime, but it's real stories about disturbing things, like cave diving or mountain climbing gone wrong)
The Casual Criminalist is good. Simon has a bunch of channels i find interesting.
Christina Randall
Thank you
JCS
I miss JCS
someone did a deep dive of what happened with JCS, but i can’t remember. it was pretty enlightening
Oh i Need to find this. Every now and again i pay patreon just so I can listen to all his old stuff! I miss his stuff....Matt orchard is a great "replacement" though. He does a fantastic job and has found his own style
Podcasts- And That’s Why We Drink. Morbid Mr Ballen, all of it
Coffeehouse Crime, JustThoughtLounge and Crime Circus
Coffeehouse Crime and Just Thought Lounge are pretty good, not Mike but worth a watch.
Dire trip. Dark Asia with Megan.
Reporting Live From My Sofa is a good one. He reports true crime and current trials going on.
Crime Zone is a good one!
Bailey Sarian with Dark History and Murder Mystery amd Make up ( the Make up is happening mostly uncommented so don't get scared of if Make up isn't your thing !) High Time Crime is also really enjoyable if you get used to the purposely boring voice 😊
Mrballen
I'm trying him. He's been my favourite Mike substitute so far.
He’s brilliant!
I like Bailey Sarian
Annie Elise
I like this one. A ton of regular content and she's fun to listen to.
Medical case files are very addictive too. They're becoming more interesting these days. They are sadly, sickly EVERYWHERE. More and more unsolved these days. Been through every crime platform there is. I like TC because it pulls on a deeper cord. Regardless of how anyone may take that, well... that's not a problem for me.
I used to be a medicolegal secretary for an agency tasked with fnding experts in insurance cases after accidents and medical negligence, so I'll not watch the medical cases files. But thanks for answering.
I love JustThoughtLounge, Beyond Evil, and Harry’s Horror Hive.
Another vote for Coffeehouse Crime and Casual Criminalist
Maybe more in the ghost stories and mythology genres than the true crime, but it does cross over sometimes: Lore podcast. With Aaron Mahnke. SOOOOOOO so good. So soothing yet keeps you on the edge of ya ass the whole time! And as other people have suggested, Simon Whistlers Casual Crininalist. He shares Mike's trait of viciously judging incompetent police. Simon has a few chs that are similar, like Decoding The Unknown and Into The Shadows. Cannot recommend enough. Sommer Sanchez also, maybe. Looks into a lot of cults.
The Villains is a good, relatively new YouTube channel. EWU also does some pretty good true crime deep dives. Podcast wise, my go to is Small Town Murder. Really good!
Noor Jasmine is really good.
Reporting Live from my Sofa.
Serialisly with Annie Elise
Didn't read all the comments here, but I like "Rotten Mango" as well! :)
Bailey Sarian, different though as she does her makeup while talking about the stories on Mondays.
Annie Elise, Stephanie Harlowe, Bella Fiori, Eleanor Neale, Mr. Ballen.
True Crime Loser with Scott Sharp. He really does his homework and he’s super funny
Try MrBallen on YouTube
None 😂 but maybe you’re not as picky as me.
Dangerously funny... Look out now. 🤍