Myth Lab Entertainment, the Chicago-based, Black woman-owned production company founded by sisters Kyra and Kozi Kyles, releases the trailer for “Clearing the Heir,” the latest episode of its horror-comedy audio drama Home for the Holidays, on October 15, with the full episode arriving October 22 on all podcast platforms.
The episode follows Brandi, played by Joanna Moore, an introverted woman who inherits her grandmother’s mansion in Chicago’s historic Bronzeville neighborhood, only to find herself in a bitter feud with relatives convinced they’re losing their family’s holiday gathering space. When strange occurrences start happening in the house, Brandi turns to self-proclaimed medium Pauletta, played by La Donna Tittle, known for her role as Miss Ethel on Showtime’s The Chi, to confront a demon whose favorite fuel source happens to be family drama. The episode draws clear inspiration from the haunted house horror tradition, nodding to Amityville, Evil Dead, The Exorcist, and The Haunting of Hill House, while building its own specific, culturally grounded take on the subgenre.
Myth Lab’s work sits inside a broader pattern of independent, creator-owned audio production becoming a space where Black women specifically are building sustained, award-recognized franchises outside traditional studio systems. Home for the Holidays has already picked up recognition from the NYC Podcast and American Writing Awards, and the anthology’s second season has used its genre framing to engage directly with real cultural issues, including Episode 2’s storyline addressing Black women displaced by anti-DEI initiatives and federal layoffs, folded into a supernatural narrative rather than treated as separate commentary.
The episode also features narrator T.J. Pryor-Wells as the recurring character “Greatmomma,” voice actor James Smillie of Highlander fame providing the demon’s vocals, and kittie KaBoom, known as Cita from BET’s Cita’s World, making her sixth consecutive appearance in the series. Season 2 began with Episode 1, “Invitation to the Cookout,” starring former NFL player Anthony “Spice” Adams.
With “Clearing the Heir” arriving just in time for Halloween, the bigger story worth watching is how far an independently produced, Chicago-rooted audio anthology can stretch its genre storytelling into real cultural commentary without losing the horror-comedy audience it’s built season over season.