After three seasons of Once Upon a Wasteland, writer and showrunner Brad Williams completes the debut season of his original horror-comedy, Dark Road Diaries.
Brad Williams spent three seasons telling a love story in a world devastated by nuclear war. With the recently completed first season of Dark Road Diaries, he took listeners into another troubled landscape: an American road trip unfolding amid a demonic crisis.
The two audio dramas differ in setting and tone, but both put their characters’ relationships at the center of the action. That emphasis has helped Williams build an audience for Once Upon a Wasteland: A Fallout Story and establish a foundation for his original work.
Based in North Carolina, Williams is the founder of Once Upon a Wasteland Productions. He graduated from Syracuse University’s broadcast journalism program and built a career in cybersecurity architecture. His audio work draws on both the communication skills of the former and the technical discipline of the latter. As a writer, director and showrunner, he stays involved from the development of a script through the finished production.
Once Upon a Wasteland launched in 2021. Set in Bethesda’s Fallout universe, the series follows Elizabeth “Beth” Kirby and Odessa Valdez, whose romance provides the emotional center of a story that expands into questions of memory, identity and mythology.
The setting comes with an established history and an audience that knows it well. Williams’s task was to give listeners a reason to follow these particular characters within it. Beth and Odessa’s relationship does much of that work. Their decisions have personal consequences, even when the story reaches beyond the familiar dangers of post-apocalyptic Appalachia.
Over three seasons, the production earned nine Signal Awards, including honors for Best Scripted Fiction and Best Writing. Bethesda also recognized it with an official Fallout Community Spotlight. The show reached hundreds of thousands of listeners—substantial recognition for an independent production built around a story within an existing game universe.
For Dark Road Diaries, Williams developed the world himself.
The supernatural horror-comedy debuted in 2026 and recently concluded its first season. It followed Jack Fletcher and Daria Bishop on a cross-country search amid a demonic crisis, introducing an original cast and supernatural mythology.
Moving into horror-comedy brought a different set of demands. Suspense needs time to build; a joke can turn on a single beat. Dialogue and performances have to accommodate both, while keeping the characters believable enough for listeners to remain invested when events become outlandish.
Williams brought experience from Once Upon a Wasteland to that balance, particularly in directing performances and developing a serialized story. Completing the season marked a significant step for his production company: an original show with a full season available for listeners to discover.
Much of the work happens in details that are easy to overlook when a scene is playing well. An actor’s delivery can change the meaning of a line. A pause can leave room for doubt or let a joke land. Sound establishes where the characters are and what is happening around them, sometimes before anyone speaks.
Williams’s approach gives those decisions a place in the storytelling. His involvement in writing, directing and the final sound allows him to carry a scene’s intent through the production process, while working with performers to bring the characters to life.
He also participates in the wider podcast community. A member of the Podcast Academy, Williams has served as a judge for the Ambies and the Signal Awards.
With Dark Road Diaries’ debut season complete, his body of work now includes both an award-winning Falloutdrama and an original supernatural series. For listeners arriving at either show, there is time to settle into its world, get to know its characters and hear the consequences of their choices unfold across a season.
Connect with Once Upon a Wasteland, Dark Road Diaries, and Instagram.
Men’s Insider Contributor
Ethan Marsh
Covers health, fitness, and modern lifestyle, with a focus on practical habits and the long game of staying well.
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