The Magnus Archives

The Magnus Archives is a horror fiction podcast written by Jonathan Sims, directed by Alexander J. Newall and distributed by Rusty Quill. Sims narrated the podcast in-character as the main character, Jonathan Sims, the newly-appointed Head Archivist of the fictional Magnus Institute—an institution based in London centered on research into the paranormal. In 2018, BBC Sounds listed the show as one of the largest British dramatic podcasts, with an extensive fanbase on Tumblr having driven much of its success. , "The Magnus Archives" had reached a download rate of over 2.5 million downloads a month, growing to over 4 million downloads a month by July 2020.
Production.
The podcast is structured as a series of statements recorded or written and then recorded for internal research use within the Magnus Institute. At the beginning of each statement, the statement-taker - typically Jon, the head archivist - provides a brief description of the statement and the name of the statement-maker. Those who give or record statements in the Magnus Institute tend to lapse into a trance-like state, not unlike reliving the event as they narrate it.
Plot.
The podcast is initially presented as a horror anthology, following the efforts of Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, to record on tape a number of statements of paranormal events that have proven impossible to record through conventional, digital means. Over the course of 5 seasons, a more complex metaplot develops, revealing the nature of the Magnus Institute, its head, Elias Bouchard, and the nature of the paranormal events recorded in the statements.
Season 1.
Season 1 of the Magnus Archives ran from 24 March 2016 to 13 October 2016.
The eponymous Jonathan Sims is installed as the new Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute's Archives, his predecessor Gertrude Robinson having gone missing, presumed dead. As he attempts to digitize the supernatural statements, he finds that some statements can only be recorded on a tape recorder, as opposed to the preferred digital recordings. Among these statements are mentions of paranormal books referred to as "Leitners", many of them having originated from a library previously belonging to a man called Jurgen Leitner.He also records statements live from subjects, including Melanie King, a paranormal investigator who hosts a YouTube series called "'Ghost Hunt UK.'"""
Initially, John is sceptical of the supernatural happenings but eventually begins to uncover connections between the statements, suggesting that the dark forces and horrors described within them are real. Various characters make incidental appearances to speak to John during recordings, such as the Institute's Head, Elias Bouchard, and the archival staff, Martin Blackwood, Tim Stoker, and Sasha James. Sasha herself makes a statement regarding a supernatural being called Michael, that seems at least slightly more benevolent than other supernatural beings mentioned.
The final conflict of the series involves a woman named Jane Prentiss, who has become the host for a mass of parasitic worms that seem intent on attacking members of the archival staff, attacking Martin and eventually the Archives itself. In the chaos of Prentiss' attack, Sasha dies at the hands of another supernatural being, but her death goes unnoticed as the being replaces her and assumes her identity. The body of Gertrude Robinson, the former Archive Head, is also found in one of the tunnels beneath the Institute, with three bullet wounds.
Season 2.
Season 2 of the Magnus Archives ran from 1 December 2016, to 31 August 2017.
In the aftermath of Prentiss' attack and subsequent death, John is increasingly paranoid. Convinced there is a greater conspiracy behind the murder of Gertrude Robinson, he works alongside the police to investigate, most notably Constable Basira Hussain. John also begins to explore the tunnels beneath the Archives, convinced that someone is down there. The other archival staff begin to worry for both John's safety and sanity. As John continues to distrust and investigate his coworkers to the point of stalking, his archival assistants become more aggravated, particularly Tim, though Martin shows more concern than annoyance at John's actions.
After taking a live statement from a woman named Helen Richardson, a real estate agent who claimed to be terrorized by a supernatural being, John finds himself confronted by the supernatural being in question, Michael. Michael implies that there are much greater forces at work, and states that Sasha is "lying to him", before leaving and taking Helen with him.
John continues his investigation of the tunnels, finding evidence of both Sasha and an unknown old man entering the tunnels.
Later, Melanie returns to the Institute, stating that her YouTube crew has disbanded. She and John argue that the woman John knows as Sasha is actually "not Sasha", as Melanie does not recognize the woman the rest of the staff refer to as Sasha James, whom she met before the events of the previous season's finale. This eventually raises John's suspicions, particularly after finding more statements connecting a strange being called the "NotThem" that can replace people with a strange table sitting in the Institute's artefact storage. John decides to destroy the table, inadvertently freeing the creature impersonating Sasha, before being chased through the Institute tunnels by it, eventually saved by the unknown old man seen entering the tunnels, who reveals himself as Jurgen Leitner, the previous owner of the library of paranormal books in various statements. The two return to John's office, where Leitner explains that he has been hiding in the tunnels since the destruction of his library in 1994, evading various monsters and people who sought to do him harm. He then explains his understanding of the entities behind the books (and creatures such as "Michael" and the "NotThem"): that they are manifestations of vast, powerful entities based on primal fears that exist just outside of human perception. He also relates that he believes that the Institute's Head, Elias, is the one who killed Gertrude, who Leitner had been working with to destroy the Institute, itself a place of power for one of the entities known as The Eye.
John steps out of the office, overwhelmed with these revelations, at which point Elias enters, surprised but pleased to discover the person with whom Gertrude had been working. Elias then murders Leitner brutally with a metal pipe and leaves, not wanting to leave any loose ends. When John returns, he immediately flees from the scene. The body is then discovered by Tim and Martin.
Season 3.
Season 3 of the Magnus Archives ran from 23 November 2017, to 27 September 2018.
John, now a wanted man in the murder of his predecessor and the murder of Leitner, flees the Institute. Tim and Martin struggle to hold themselves together following the disappearance of their friend Sasha. The newly-hired Melanie begins to act in an increasingly erratic fashion, and the archival staff come to realize that they are possibly too involved with the Archives to ever leave, and that they may have been unable to do so even before the events of the podcast.
As a wanted man, John hides with his friends before being kidnapped by a supernatural circus, before travelling the world attempting to piece together what information his predecessor had left in regards to a mysterious future event known as the "Unknowing".
Season 4.
Season 4 of the Magnus Archives ran from 10 January 2019, to 31 October 2019.
John, having been knocked into a coma by the Unknowing, awakens, referring to himself now only as "the Archivist". The Archivist returns to the Archives to find a changed archival staff team, with Tim having perished following the events of the Unknowing, in which he sacrificed himself.
The Archivist becomes concerned with Martin and his relationship with the new acting Head of the Institute, Peter Lukas, and discovers that Martin agreed to work with Lukas in order to stop a new supernatural power, the Extinction, from coalescing and coming into its full power.
Season 5.
Season 5 of the Magnus Archives ran from 1 April 2020, to 25 March 2021. 
On 1 April 2020, excitement surrounding the release of the first episode was rumoured, though unconfirmed, to have temporarily crashed Patreon. The season was split into three acts due to production delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Critical reception.
"The Magnus Archives" has been praised by critics and reviewers, with the development of the lengthy metaplot and the voice acting by Jonathan Sims in his role as the Archivist receiving particular praise. "The Magnus Archives" has appeared on numerous Top Horror Podcast and Top Fiction lists, from publications such as "The A.V. Club", "GamesRadar", "Cosmopolitan", and "The Verge" since 2016.
In popular culture.
A scene from episode 97 ("We all ignore the pit") has been a popular TikTok challenge.