Podcasts about Ranker

Al Capone begged his way into the prison band, Robert Stroud spent eleven years in the hospital, and every inmate at Alcatraz learned fast that on the Rock, almost everything beyond a meal and a cot had to be earned... and a single broken rule could send you into total silence and darkness in the hole.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/alcatrazREAD or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/y7sjc7zwCHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:01:23.422 = Show Open00:02:30.901 = Being An Alcatraz Inmate00:19:49.953 = The Impossibility of Escaping Alcatraz ***00:40:10.152 = Prisons More terrifying Than Alcatraz ***00:52:59.621 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:“Being An Alcatraz Inmate” by Melissa Sartore for Ranker.com's Weird History:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/535vhu7n“The Impossibility of Escaping Alcatraz” by Melissa Sartore for Ranker.com's Weird History:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/bdfj2ypt“More Terrifying Than Alcatraz” by Michelle Nati for Ranker.com's Unspeakable Times: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3jwhh268(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: February, 2021Weird Darkness takes listeners inside the federal penitentiary on Alcatraz Island — what daily life was actually like behind its walls, the fourteen escape attempts that mostly ended in the San Francisco Bay, and a tour of American prisons whose conditions make the Rock look mild by comparison.It opens with the texture of everyday survival at Alcatraz, where the prison held roughly 330 men in cells measuring five feet by nine, and where food, clothing, shelter, and medical care were the only four rights an inmate had — everything else, from library access to a spot in the prison band, had to be earned. Warden James A. Johnston enforced a code of silence that lasted until 1937, so inmates like Jim Quillen talked through the pipes between cells, and Quillen described nineteen days in solitary as total silence and darkness. Al Capone begged his way into the Rock Islanders band and learned tenor guitar, tenor banjo, and mandola; Robert Stroud, the Birdman of Alcatraz, spent eleven of his seventeen years there in the hospital, studying law and languages. Prisoners were counted thirteen times a day, allowed a single two-page letter each week to a blood relative, and served food widely regarded as the best in the federal system — and still, by inmate Bryan Conway's account, fourteen of three hundred seventeen men went violently insane during his last year, one dock worker chopping off the fingers of his own left hand with an ax.From there, the episode turns to the men who tried to leave. Joseph "Dutch" Bowers became the first, shot off a fence on April 27th, 1936, while working the incinerator detail. Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe sawed through a window in the Model Industries Building and vanished into a storm-driven current in December 1937, their bodies never found. The 1938 breakout by James Limerick, Jimmy Lucas, and Rufus "Whitey" Franklin killed guard Royal C. Cline with a hammer; Arthur "Doc" Barker, son of Ma Barker, was shot in the head near the shoreline in January 1939. The May 1946 "Battle of Alcatraz" pulled in the Coast Guard and the Marines over two days and left guards William Miller and Harold Stites dead. And the most famous attempt of all came in June 1962, when Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin chipped through their cell walls with spoons, left dummy heads made of soap and hair in their beds, and disappeared on a raft stitched from raincoats — three men the FBI never found.The episode closes by leaving Alcatraz behind for prisons still standing. ADX Florence in Colorado, the "Alcatraz of the Rockies," holds inmates like Ted Kaczynski and Ramzi Yousef in seventy-five-square-foot concrete cells for twenty-three hours a day. At the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, Texas, an inmate named Andre Thomas removed his own eye. Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Maricopa County Tent City Jail in Phoenix housed people outdoors in the Arizona heat until it was dismantled in 2017. Orleans Parish Prison in New Orleans has stood on the same ground for three hundred years, first used to hold enslaved people who tried to escape. San Quentin, built in 1852 and once home to Charles Manson and Richard Ramirez, drew a court-appointed report describing a facility so old, dirty, and overcrowded that housing people there was called dangerous.

A 2023 book collects accounts of shapeshifting strangers, reptilian visitors, and living doubles, arguing the aliens John Carpenter put on screen may have been walking among us all along.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/TheyLiveREAD or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/ycktrfu5FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Have you ever felt like something was off about someone you met? What if the truth was more bizarre than you could imagine - that aliens walk secretly among us, perfectly disguised? (Mimic In The Mirror) *** The short story “Eight O'Clock In The Morning” by Ray Nelson – the inspiration for the movie “They Live!” *** Left-handedness: once a mark of the devil, now a unique trait celebrated across the globe. From the Salem Witch Trials to modern-day challenges with spiral notebooks, left-handers have been forced to navigate a world designed for righties, despite the historical stigmas, surprising advantages, and the evolving recognition of left-handers in combat, culture, and commerce. (Left-Handers Are In League With The Devil) *** In the shadow of Switzerland's majestic Eiger mountain, 29-year-old Aidan Roche vanished without a trace during a solo hiking trip. Despite an unlocked camper-van and one last eerie messages sent from the trail, his disappearance remained shrouded in mystery. Months later, a grim discovery brought more questions than answers. (The Disappearance of Aidan Roche) *** In the summer of 1948, a series of inexplicable fires ravaged the Willey farm near Macomb, Illinois, destroying the family's home and barns. Despite the efforts of local authorities and the U.S. Air Force, no logical explanation could be found for the hundreds of mysterious blazes that seemed to start spontaneously. At the center of this baffling case was 13-year-old Wanet McNeil, whose alleged confession to arson left many unconvinced. Was Wanet truly responsible? Could she have been starting the fires with her mind? (The Macomb Firestarter) *** In 1991, 63-year-old Vasile Gorgos left his home in Romania to visit a cattle market and never returned, leaving his family to believe he had met a tragic fate. But 30 years later, Vasile shocked everyone when he mysteriously reappeared, wearing the same clothes as the day he vanished and carrying an unused train ticket from 1991 in his pocket. With no memory of where he'd been for three decades, Vasile's strange case has left people wondering if his disappearance could be tied to supernatural phenomena like portals, alien abduction, or shifts in time and space itself. (The Mysterious Vanishing of Vasile Gorgos)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = “Eight O'Clock In The Morning” (short fiction)00:12:38.092 = Show Open00:15:46.852 = Mimic In The Mirror: Are Aliens Among Us? ***00:26:13.246 = Left-Handers Are In League With The Devil00:32:35.305 = The Disappearance of Aidan Roche ***00:38:57.889 = The Macomb Firestarter00:48:20.167 = The Mysterious Vanishing of Vasile Gorgos ***00:55:50.605 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:“Eight O'Clock In The Morning” by Ray Nelson: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/mu7tmynm“Mimic In The Mirror” source: Sean Casteel at Spectral Vision: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yckjpyz8BOOK: “Mimics – The Others Among Us” by Sean Casteel and Tim R. Swartz: https://amzn.to/3Ws07IJBOOK: “Sky Crash Throughout Time (A Cosmic Conspiracy)” by Philip Kinsella and Brenda Butler: https://amzn.to/3WlE2v2“Left-Handers Are In League With The Devil” source: Baiily Benningfield at Ranker's Graveyard Shift:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8acbdh“The Disappearance of Aidan Roche” source: Strange Outdoors: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/mrxvj87r“The Macomb Firestarter” by Troy Taylor: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/5n7dbzmh (used with permission)“The Mysterious Vanishing of Vasile Gorgos” source: Marcus Lowth at UFO Insight:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/jxztu8nd(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: April 30, 2024In this episode of Weird Darkness, listeners move through alien impostors, the long history of left-handed stigma, a hiker who vanished in the Swiss Alps, a farm besieged by fires no one could explain, and a Romanian cattle trader who came home after thirty years.It opens with the mimics. Ray Nelson's 1963 story "Eight O'Clock in the Morning" — the basis for John Carpenter's 1988 film "They Live" — imagined reptilian aliens ruling Earth from behind human faces, and the 2023 book "Mimics: The Others Among Us" argues that scenario may not be fiction. The book collects accounts like that of Brenda Butler, co-author of a book on the Rendlesham Forest UFO incident, who in 1984 met a tall, blue-eyed man calling himself David Daniels and claiming to be from the Pleiades star cluster, then watched his skin turn scaly and reptilian before he shifted back to human. It recounts author Chris Holly's memory of a strikingly similar white-haired, blue-eyed family she later connected to the extraterrestrial "Tall Whites," alongside cases of living ghosts, doppelgangers, and a 1970s poltergeist blamed on a mimic wearing a teenage girl's face.From there the episode traces why left-handedness was treated as sinister for centuries. During the Salem Witch Trials, favoring the left hand could bring an accusation of witchcraft, and as late as the 1970s schools still forced left-handed children to write with their right. The Book of Matthew places the righteous on the right and the cursed on the left, the Zulu scalded children's left hands to stop their use, and communities along the Niger River tied left-handed cooking to witchcraft — while the ancient Celts prized left-handed warriors, Rome read left-side omens as favorable, and the Inca chief Lloque Yupanqui was admired for his left-handedness. The stigma softened by the late 1960s, when William Gruby opened Anything Left-Handed, Ltd. to sell scissors, kitchen tools, and watches built for lefties.Next comes the disappearance of Aidan Roche, a 29-year-old chemical engineer from Middlesbrough who vanished on June 22nd, 2023, while hiking the Eiger Trail in Switzerland's Bernese Oberland. His campervan sat unlocked and abandoned near the trailhead with everything inside intact, and his final messages placed him two hours from Grindelwald in clear weather on a well-traveled path. Swiss police, mountain rescue teams, dogs, and drones searched for five days, and his brothers Connor and Niall raised over £30,000 for helicopter surveillance and screen advertisements in twenty-four locations, yet found nothing until September 24th, 2023, when Aidan's body was discovered near the trail with the cause of death still unreleased.The episode then settles on the Willey farm outside Macomb, Illinois, where hundreds of fires broke out in the summer of 1948. They started on August 7th as small brown spots that appeared on the living room wallpaper, spread, smoldered, and burst into flame — more than 200 of them in one week, igniting curtains, an ironing board, and newspapers sealed inside a closed cupboard, often erupting on walls and ceilings while witnesses watched. The blazes consumed the farmhouse on August 14th and both barns soon after, drew over 1,000 spectators on August 22nd, and even brought in the U.S. Air Force, which floated directed radiation from the Russians as a possible cause. Officials declared the case solved on August 30th by pinning it on 13-year-old Wanet McNeil, who confessed to using kitchen matches after hours of questioning despite never being seen holding any; psychiatrist Dr. Sophie Schroeder found her mentally normal, researcher Vincent Gaddis called it poltergeist activity, and Fire Chief Fred Wilson retired still convinced something unexplainable had happened.The episode closes with Vasile Gorgos, a 63-year-old cattle trader from Bacău, Romania, who left for a market in 1991 and disappeared for three decades. His wife reported him missing, an extensive police search turned up no trace, and his family eventually held a ceremony and accepted that he was dead. On a Sunday afternoon in August 2021, a car pulled up outside his old house and drove off before anyone could read the plate, leaving behind a 93-year-old Vasile in the same clothes he had worn in 1991, carrying an unused train ticket from that year and an old identity card listing an address in another part of Romania. Doctor

A serial killer who kept his victims' heads, a woman held under a waterbed for seven years, and a phantom passenger who vanishes from the back seat — the open road has taken more than its share.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/HitchhikingHorrorsREAD or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/29xmnbkaFEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: The open road is a beautiful place where you can make friends that you'd otherwise never meet and have adventures that will change your life. But there are also extreme dangers to traveling with strangers on highways and backroads. No matter how trustworthy or well-intentioned a driver might seem, it's nearly impossible to tell if they are actually a predator or murderer, preying upon innocent hitchhikers. Creepy, true hitchhiker stories can make you think twice before picking up that stranger at the side of the road - or trying to "thumb it" yourself.LISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:“The Hitchhiker” original story at the beginning of this episode was written by HoneyBunny00:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8b53e2“Hitchhiking Horror Stories” by Isadora Teich for Ranker.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3yj8t3ka, by Jacob Shelton for Ranker.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2s4a2wkz, Eric Redding for ThoughtCatalog.com:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/hk8pn8rf, and from ScaryCarries.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2aead59t“Phantom Hitchhikers” posted at Anomalien.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/y4dxkv7m, Kelly Agan for Medium.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/36wucpzm, Paul Adams for The History Press:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8z538u, and Krystal DeCosta for ScientificAmerican.com:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/mr29nkpa(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: January, 2021Weird Darkness gathers the true horrors of the open road and the ghosts said to haunt it, moving from real hitchhiker murders across the United States and abroad to the phantom passengers who vanish from the back seat before the ride is over.It opens with the account of a newly married couple driving through a rainstorm who stop for a soaked hitchhiker, drop him at a crossroads, and later break down on a dark stretch of highway, only for the wife to wake to police floodlights and the sight of the same man atop their car with a machete over her husband's dismembered body, an escaped prison inmate cut down by gunfire moments after she runs.From there the show turns to a long run of documented and reported cases. Jacci Ansell-Lamb was last seen hitchhiking from London toward Manchester in May 1970 and found sexually assaulted and strangled with electrical wire outside Knutsford, England, a killing police have linked to serial murderer Peter Tobin though no suspect was ever charged. A German traveler on foot near Timaru, New Zealand had all his belongings stolen by a man in a white Honda in February 2016. Along Australia's outback near the cattle town of Hughenden, as many as twelve hitchhikers including eighteen-year-old Catherine Graham and thirty-two-year-old Tony Jones turned up dead over roughly two decades on a stretch dubbed the Highway of Death, the murders still unsolved. On May 19, 1977, twenty-year-old Colleen Stan was hitchhiking to a friend's birthday in California when Cameron Hooker picked her up and held her as a sex slave for seven years, keeping her in a box beneath his waterbed until his wife helped her escape in 1984 and Hooker drew a 104-year sentence.Next comes the case of Edmund Kemper, the six-foot-nine "Co-ed Killer" born December 18, 1948, who shot his grandmother and grandfather at fifteen, was released from a psychiatric hospital into his mother's care, and between May 1972 and February 1973 picked up hitchhiking female students, killed and decapitated them, and had sex with the corpses before murdering his mother with a claw hammer on Good Friday 1973 and phoning the same local police he drank with to confess. Woven among these are firsthand accounts shared online, among them a driver whose kindness reportedly talked a would-be killer out of his plan, a New Zealand couple who vanished in 1989 near Thames leading to the disputed conviction of David Tamihere, and a backpacker in Austria who fled a trucker's advances barefoot at a gas station.From there the episode moves deeper into unsolved and predatory cases. Between 1972 and 1973 the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders claimed at least seven women in Sonoma County, California, beginning with nineteen-year-old Kim Wendy Allen found bound and strangled in a creek bed on March 5, 1972, and including twelve-year-olds Maureen Sterling and Yvonne Weber, thirteen-year-old Lori Lee Kursa, fourteen-year-old Carolyn Davis, and twenty-three-year-old Theresa Walsh, the case never closed. The segment also gathers the crimes of clown-costumed killer John Wayne Gacy, trucker Keith Hunter Jesperson who dragged one victim beneath his rig, photographer Joseph Naso the "Alphabet Killer," the spree killers Douglas Gretzler and Willie Steelman, and sadistic trucker Ben Rhoades, caught when an Arizona trooper found a shackled woman inside his cab.The episode closes on the phantom hitchhiker, tracing the folk formula of the vanishing passenger before laying out the strongest real-world cases. One belongs to Maria Roux, killed on the N9 near Uniondale, South Africa on Good Friday 1968, whose specter was reported by driver Anton Le Grange in 1976 and motorcyclist Dawie Van Jaarsveld in 1978, her rear door seen opening and closing by a following officer. Another is "Lydia" of Jamestown, North Carolina, the white-gowned figure sighted at a railroad underpass since the 1920s and possibly rooted in the 1920 traffic death of Annie Jackson on the High Point Road. The final account belongs to carpet fitter Roy Fulton of Dunstable, England, who picked up a silent young man on Station Road near Stanbridge on October 12, 1979, turned to offer him a cigarette, and found the seat empty, a story he repeated without change on Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers in 1985.

Two crossed pencils, a sheet of paper marked yes and no, and a name spoken twice — and by the time an Italian priest was called into a Calabrian primary school, the children had already asked Charlie their questions. | July 19, 2026==========HOUR ONE: Just because the Ouija board is made by a board game manufacturer does not mean it should be treated like a toy – as many have discovered. *** The similar game, Charlie Charlie seems more innocent – but is so dangerous that in one school where children were playing it, they had to call in an exorcist. *** And you never know when playing any of these types of games what kind of spirit you might be inviting into our realm – but I can tell you this…. It's never good. They might pretend to be good, but that's far from the truth. And one particular demon has found notoriety through the Ouija board community, a demon you don't want to risk opening a door for. It's name is Zozo.==========HOUR TWO: Did lost cosmonauts make it into space before Yuri Gagarin? (The Tombs in Space) *** Don't take a gift from Gracie Watson's grave... or her life-like statue might cry tears of blood. (Gracie's Ghost) *** Did Bonnie Scott run away? Was she kidnapped? Murdered perhaps? All anyone knew was that no one had a clue where she was. She had simply disappeared without a trace. (The Murder of Bonnie Leigh Scott) *** A latchkey kid comes home to an empty house… or so they thought until they heard footsteps in another room. (The Laundry Room)==========SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME: People often encounter strange and frightening things when they experience sleep paralysis – but in one particular story, the horrors began well before going to bed. (Sleep Paralysis in Bangkok) *** Samuel Joselyn was buried in 1810 in a North Carolina cemetery.  Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that Samuel was actually DEAD at the time of his burial! (Buried Alive in Wilmington) *** in 1894 Rosa Lochner was a witness to murder, but she had been deaf since birth and her spoken vocabulary was limited. So how could she testify against the accused? (Murder In Pantomime) *** A boy wakes to find his previously closed curtains now open – and the only explanation involves a previous resident of the house he's now living in. (Strange Manifestations) *** Mention the word “Chupacabra” and most people will think of a strange, hairless dog-like animal. They are never described as having the ability to fly… until now. (Winged Chupacabras) *** These UFOs aren't shiny metallic discs or cigar-shaped spaceships. They are humanoid – and they fly without the help of a jetpack, wings, cape or even a broom to sit on. And the sightings are still coming in all throughout Mexico. (The Flying Humanoids of Mexico) *** The North Carolina Cherokee have a story about how dangerous it can be even near a calm river – where the waters can suddenly foam and a giant beast can appear on the rocks. (James and the Giant Leech) *** Supernatural women, shadowy men, odd animal sightings, and more… they can all be found at late-night truck stops if you're not careful. (Truck Stop Horror Stories)==========SOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM TONIGHT'S SHOW:“Charlie Charlie” https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/ydpwych9, and “Ouija Boards” https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/mzyfmweeby Jacob Shelton for Graveyard Shift“ZoZo the Ouija Board Demon” by Maggie Clendenin for Ranker: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/xtc8x9pe“The Tombs in Space” posted at The Unredacted: http://ow.ly/nW5U30mwbWw“Gracie's Ghost” by Gary Sweeney for The Line Up: http://ow.ly/arFz30mwaLc“The Murder of Bonnie Leigh Scott” by Troy Taylor for American Hauntings Ink: http://ow.ly/v6wX30mwbwW“The Laundry Room” submitted anonymously to Weird Darkness“Sleep Paralysis in Bangkok” by MarkiO for YourGhostStories.com: http://ow.ly/FUOD30mwc0C“Truckstop Horror Stories” by Erin McCann for Ranker: https://tinyurl.com/wldxxnl“Buried Alive in Wilmington” by TheresaHPIR for Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State: https://tinyurl.com/rr4cvoh“Murder in Pantomime” by Robert Wilhelm for Murder By Gaslight: https://tinyurl.com/y97rswf5“Strange Manifestation” by Brian Abraham posted at My Haunted Life Too: https://tinyurl.com/wmlzd22“Winged Chupacabras” by Nick Redfern for Mysterious Universe: https://tinyurl.com/th8p7ox“The Flying Humanoids of Mexico” by Brent Swancer for Mysterious Universe: https://tinyurl.com/urxujoc“James and the Giant Leech” by James Mooney from the book “Myths of the Cherokee”: https://amzn.to/2JHpUFo==========(Over time links seen above may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for material I use whenever possible. If I have overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it immediately. Some links may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)=========="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46==========WeirdDarkness®, WeirdDarkness© 2026==========To become a Weird Darkness Radio Show affiliate, contact Radio America at affiliates@radioamerica.com, or call 800-807-4703 (press 2 or dial ext 250).==========

Travelers on the Kansas trail stopped at a lonely inn run by a family of Spiritualists — and the ones who sat in the seat nearest the curtain were never seen leaving it.

In 1912, an axe killed all eight people sleeping in a Villisca, Iowa farmhouse, and the two men suspected of it — a traveling preacher and a business rival — both walked free.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/VilliscaReverendRivalREAD or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p84usw4FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Conspiracy theories, while often dark, can also be kind of humorous due to being so outlandishly unbelievable. For example… is the Earth's moon artificial, and actually an extraterrestrial spaceship? We'll look at the strange theory. (Could Our Moon Be An Alien Spaceship?) *** In 1912 one of the most brutal slayings in America took place in the small town of Villisca, Iowa… a murder so brutal that numerous documentaries have been made about it, books have been written, and amateur detectives have poured over the facts and suspects still trying to find out who the murderer was that swung the bloody axe. (The Unsolved Villisca Ax Murders) *** The President of the United States, no matter who is in the position at the time, is always in danger from those who would like to see someone else in office. We'll hear on the news of the assassination attempts that came close, but we more often than not are completely unaware of the attempts and plans that have been thwarted – and some of those attempts to kill a sitting U.S. President have been extremely bizarre. (Bizarre Assassination Attempts on U.S. Presidents) *** Some Biblical accounts seem unbelievable and we tend to dismiss them as fantasies, or dreams of the person writing the events down. But what if some of the strange creatures described in the bible are actually real – but come from another dimension, or even outer space? (Are Extraterrestrials in the Bible?) *** If you are told there is a city that has been built specifically for the dead, you probably think of some ancient culture that worshipped their ancestors. Personally, I think of pyramids in Egypt… but I never would've thought of the suburbs in California, USA. (California's City of the Dead)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = Show Open00:02:33.183 = Could Our Moon Be An Alien Spaceship?00:08:21.362 = The Unsolved Villisca Axe Murders ***00:20:59.742 = California's City of the Dead00:31:12.990 = Are Extraterrestrials in the Bible? ***00:39:47.780 = Bizarre Assassination Attempts on U.S. Presidents00:48:06.915 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:“Could Our Moon Be An Alien Spaceship?” posted at Anomalien.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/bdhz5563“The Unsolved Villisca Ax Murders” by Joe Turner for HistoricMysteries.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8mnfp6, and from HauntedRoom.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/36b6k2h4“California's City of the Dead” by Hugh Landman for Ranker.com's Graveyard Shift:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yckrxjzd“Are Extraterrestrials in the Bible?” by Ellen Lloyd for AncientPages.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/mr3d8dpk“Bizarre Assassination Attempts on U.S. Presidents” by Richard Stockton for AllThatsInteresting.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/26avtuhr(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: January, 2022This episode of Weird Darkness runs from a Cold War theory that the Moon is a hollow alien spacecraft, through the 1912 Villisca ax murders that left eight people dead in a single Iowa night, into the California cemetery city of Colma where the dead outnumber the living a thousand to one, on to a former NASA engineer's claim that the prophet Ezekiel witnessed a UFO, and closing with some of the strangest attempts ever made on the lives of sitting U.S. presidents.It opens with the Spaceship Moon Theory, proposed in July of 1970 by Soviet Academy of Sciences members Michael Vasin and Alexander Shcherbakov, who argued the Moon is a hollowed-out planetoid engineered by unknown beings and steered into Earth's orbit. Darren walks through the claims stacked behind the idea — the Moon ringing like a bell for more than an hour after the Apollo 12 crew crashed their lunar module into it on November 20th, 1969, craters of wildly different widths that all share the same shallow depth, moon rocks dated older than the Earth itself, and the near-perfect circular orbit that lets the Moon exactly cover the Sun during an eclipse.From there the episode turns to Villisca, Iowa, and the night of June 9th, 1912, when someone entered the home of Josiah and Sarah Moore and killed all six members of the family along with two young house guests, Lena and Ina Stillinger, striking each victim with an axe as they slept. Darren lays out the crime scene that neighbor Mary Peckham and Josiah's brother Ross discovered the next morning — cloth draped over the mirrors, two cigarette butts in the attic, a slab of bacon left beside the Stillinger girls, and a bloody basin in the kitchen — and the suspects who never brought closure, from traveling minister Reverend George Kelly, who spoke of eight dead bodies before the news broke and later gave a confession the court dismissed, to Josiah's embittered business rival Frank Jones. More than a century on, the boarded-up house survives as a museum where investigators report a heaviness on the stairs, drifting fog, and the sound of dripping blood after the 2 a.m. train whistle.Next the show travels to Colma, California, the suburb built for the dead, where roughly 1,600 living residents share the ground with more than 1.5 million graves across 17 cemeteries. Darren traces how San Francisco banned burials in 1900 and evicted its dead, triggering the largest grave relocation in history after the 1906 earthquake, with more than 150,000 bodies hauled south and tens of thousands reburied in mass graves when families wouldn't pay the ten-dollar transfer fee. He points out the famous names resting there — Wyatt Earp, Levi Strauss, William Randolph Hearst, Joe DiMaggio, brain-injury case Phineas Gage, and self-declared Emperor of the United States Joshua Norton — alongside the darker footnotes of looted skeletons, discarded headstones repurposed as gutters and seawalls, and the town's own gallows-humor slogan, "it's great to be alive in Colma."The episode then examines whether extraterrestrials appear in the Bible, centering on the vision of the prophet Ezekiel by the river Chebar and the four winged creatures with human hands, calf-shaped feet, and four faces that rose out of a fiery whirlwind. Darren details how former NASA chief engineer Joseph F. Blumrich, honored in 1972 for his work on the Saturn and Apollo programs, set out to disprove Erich von Däniken's ancient-astronaut claims and instead became convinced, arguing in his book The Spaceships of Ezekiel that the prophet had described a landing spacecraft — rotor blades, fairing housings, landing legs with round footpads, and remote mechanical arms rendered in the only words an ancient man had for them.The episode closes with a run of bizarre presidential assassination attempts, from John Hinckley's 1981 shooting of Ronald Reagan over an obsession with actress Jodie Foster, to the 2013 ricin letters mailed to the Obama White House by a man framing an Elvis impersonator over an online feud, to truck driver Samuel Byck's 1974 plot to hijack a DC-9 and crash it into the White House to kill Richard Nixon. Darren ends on the two women who tried to kill Gerald Ford seventeen days apart in September of 1974 — Manson follower Lynette Fromme, who never chambered a round, and Sarah Jane Moore, whose shot missed by six inches because her replacement revolver's sights were misaligned.

Read an even deeper-dive into the werewolf trials here: https://weirddarkness.com/wolves-on-trial/Across four centuries of European court records, dozens of men, women, and children confessed to shedding their skins for wolf-hides and hunting under the moon — and the magistrates who heard them believed every word.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/RealWerewolfTrialsREAD or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/43rjhjvpFEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: We're all familiar with the concept of werewolves – they are all over pop culture, movies, television, comic books, novels, and every other medium you could possibly imagine. And while they are considered fictional, or at least in the realm of cryptids, that doesn't mean there aren't true stories of reported werewolves in history. (Real Historic Accounts of Werewolves) *** Just the idea of going to prison is enough to scare people into living a squeaky-clean life, but if you're one of the most dangerous prisoners known to exist, ordinary prison would look like a vacation as compared to life in the Florence ADX Supermax Prison. (Life In The Supermax) *** What was supposed to be a two day trip turned into a maritime mystery when the ship, the MV Joyita was discovered floating with no crew on board. What happened? (The Mysterious Abandonment of the MV Joyita)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:01:37.814 = Show Open00:03:32.506 = Real Historic Accounts of Werewolves, Part 100:28:44.978 = Real Historic Accounts of Werewolves, Part 2 ***00:42:51.099 = The Mysterious Abandonment of the MV Joyita ***01:02:49.562 = Life In The Supermax ***01:15:37.977 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:“Real Historic Accounts of Werewolves” by Miss Celania for MentalFloss.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p84ut66, Nick Redfern for Mysterious Universe: http://bit.ly/2MFFx5p, WolvesRox on Playbuzz.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p9bjcht, and Tim Flight for HistoricCollection.com:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p87s85sThe short fable, “The Werewolf” was written by Angela Carter: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yckt8fn6“The Mysterious Abandonment of the MV Joyita” by Marcus Lowth for UFOInsight.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8sux2j“Life In The Supermax” by Jacob Shelton for Ranker.com's Unspeakable Times: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8u82p9(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: January, 2022Weird Darkness digs into three dark corners this time out — the real men and women who were tried and executed as werewolves across Early Modern Europe, the South Pacific ghost ship MV Joyita found drifting with all 25 aboard vanished, and daily life inside America's most locked-down prison, the ADX Supermax in Florence, Colorado.It opens with the documented history of lycanthropy trials, tracing the term back through the Old English werwulf and the Greek myth of King Lycaon, whom Ovid recorded being turned into a wolf by Zeus. From there the episode walks through the real cases: the Gandillon family, burned in France in 1598 after the witch hunter Henri Boguet arranged their arrest; Thiess of Livonia, an eighty-year-old man tried in 1692 who claimed to be a benevolent werewolf who fought the Devil for the year's harvest; Peter Stubbe, the "Werewolf of Bedburg," broken on the wheel and beheaded on October 31st, 1589; Gilles Garnier, the "Hermit of Dole," burned alive in 1573 for killing and eating children; the Werewolves of Poligny; the Wolf of Ansbach, an ordinary wolf hanged from a gibbet in a wig and beard in 1685; teenaged Hans the Werewolf, executed in Estonia in 1651; fourteen-year-old Jean Grenier of Gascony, spared the stake and sent to a friary; the "Demon Tailor" of Chalons; and the more modern Spanish serial killer Manuel Blanco Romasanta, the "Werewolf of Allariz," who used lycanthropy as his legal defense, alongside the Ludwigslust and Angers cases and the cannibal beggar Swiatek of Poland.From there the show turns to the MV Joyita, the yacht built in 1931 in Los Angeles for director Roland West and named for his wife, Jewel Carmen. On October 3rd, 1955, she left Apia, Samoa, for the Tokelau Islands carrying 16 crew and nine passengers, and vanished; found over a month later on November 10th by the merchant captain Gerald Douglas, she was drifting more than 600 miles off course, partially submerged but afloat thanks to her cork-lined refrigerated hold. Investigators found the cabin lights on, the clocks stopped at 10:25, the radio tuned to the distress frequency, a doctor's bag holding a scalpel and blood-stained bandages, mattresses stacked over the engine, and all four escape craft gone — with the cargo, and all 25 people, never recovered. Captain Thomas Miller took the blame for sailing on one engine, but the theories that followed ran from mutiny to Japanese fishermen, Soviet submarines, pirates, and insurance fraud, with researcher Robin Maugham laying out the mutiny case in his book The Joyita Mystery.The episode closes inside the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence, Colorado, the ADX Supermax that has held Ted Kaczynski, Terry Nichols, Robert Hanssen, Ramzi Yousef, and Zacarias Moussaoui since 1994. Inmates spend 23 hours a day alone in 7-by-12-foot concrete cells with a single 4-inch window angled so the sky and the surrounding mountains stay out of view, communicating through drained toilet pipes and "finger handshakes" through recreation-cage fencing. Former inmates and staff — including warden Robert Hood, who called the architecture itself the control, and prisoner Travis Dusenbury — describe a facility that strips away nearly every trace of ordinary life, the suicide of mentally ill inmate Jose Vega in 2010, and the ongoing lawsuits over medical and mental-health treatment that forced ADX to reevaluate its practices in the mid-2010s.

The 1975 film that emptied the beaches was built on real horror — the 1916 Jersey Shore attacks that killed four, the unsolved disappearance of Tom and Eileen Lonergan, and the science of why great whites bite at all.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/jawsREAD or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/jawsFEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: In June of 1975 we were exposed to one of the scariest movies ever made. For this podcaster, it's just not Independence Day until I watch it – and you still can't get me to swim in the ocean. We'll look at what made ‘Jaws' so successful… and so frightening. We'll also look at the true story of a string of shark attacks in 1916 that inspired the novel and the film. And while 1975's ‘Jaws' was inspired by a series of shark attacks but greatly fictionalized, the film ‘Open Water' from 2003 is based on a very real and terrifying story. But the truth behind the movie is a dark mystery that goes way beyond the horror of what you see in the film. We'll look at several other real shark attacks that are almost too incredible to believe, and also try to answer the question as to why shark attacks don't happen more often as you would expect them to, seeing as humans should be easy pickings.CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding (My First Experience With a Horror Movie)00:02:16.983 = Show Open00:05:28.642 = The Real-Life Inspiration for “Jaws”00:15:01.913 = The Horror of “Jaws” ***00:40:05.165 = The True Darkness of “Open Water” ***00:52:06.811 = Real Shark Attacks01:04:18.086 = Why Sharks Attack Humans ***01:23:44.579 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:“The True Darkness of Open Water” by Erin McCann for Ranker: https://tinyurl.com/y8vaqgra“The Real-Life Inspiration for ‘Jaws'” by Christopher Klein for History: https://tinyurl.com/yb5s35xc“The Horror of ‘Jaws'” by Jackie Flynn Mogensen for Mother Jones: https://tinyurl.com/y2mxf8us, Andrew Housman for ScreenRant: https://tinyurl.com/yae8ohh6, Meagan Navarro for Bloody Disgusting: https://tinyurl.com/y7p8q9lw, Tim Donnelly for the New York Post: https://tinyurl.com/y9twrcc7, and Rachel Paige for Hello Giggles:https://tinyurl.com/ycdlb6je“Real Shark Attacks” by Charles W. Bryant for How Stuff Works: https://tinyurl.com/y9scmg9x, and Lou Boyd for Mpora: https://tinyurl.com/y9e55t4u“Why Sharks Attack Humans” by Richard Gray for BBC: https://tinyurl.com/ycf563up(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: July 03, 2020This episode of Weird Darkness dives into the world of sharks — the 1975 film that made a generation afraid of the water, the 1916 New Jersey attacks that shaped America's fear of the sea, the unsolved disappearance behind a 2003 horror movie, a catalog of real maulings, and the science of why sharks bite people at all.It opens with Steven Spielberg's Jaws, the 1975 blockbuster that grossed $7 million its first weekend and ranked sixth on IMDb's list of the ten best horror films. The mechanical shark, three models all nicknamed "Bruce," sank on first submersion and corroded in the saltwater of Nantucket Sound, forcing Spielberg to keep the animal off-screen for all but roughly four minutes and to build terror through John Williams' two-note score instead. Screenwriter Carl Gottlieb, who now calls it "the fish movie," predicted audiences would fear the ocean the way they feared showers after Psycho. Clinical psychologists Ali Mattu and James Hambrick, both trained to talk people out of irrational fears, admit the film gave them their own galeophobia, with Mattu once showering while standing on the edge of the tub to avoid a drain-based attack. Author Peter Benchley, who wrote the novel, spent his final years advocating for shark conservation after fishermen killed sharks by the thousands in the film's wake, cutting large shark populations along the eastern seaboard by an estimated fifty percent.From there the episode turns to the real attacks that preceded the fiction, the deadly summer of 1916 along the Jersey Shore. Charles Vansant, a 25-year-old from Philadelphia, bled to death in the lobby of the Engleside Hotel in Beach Haven on July 1 after a shark clamped his left leg in three-and-a-half feet of water. Five days later Charles Bruder, a 27-year-old Swiss bellboy captain, lost both legs off Spring Lake, and on July 12 the killing moved more than a mile inland up Matawan Creek, taking 11-year-old Lester Stillwell and Stanley Fisher, the 24-year-old tailor who dove in to recover the boy's body. President Woodrow Wilson convened a cabinet meeting over "the shark horror," and shark hunter Michael Schleisser later killed a shark in Raritan Bay with human bones reportedly found inside, after which the attacks stopped.Next the episode examines Open Water, the 2003 film built on the disappearance of Tom and Eileen Lonergan, experienced divers left behind by the Outer Edge dive boat at St. Crispin Reef on the Great Barrier Reef on January 25, 1998. No one noticed them missing for roughly forty-eight hours. A dive slate later recovered miles away bore the date January 26 and a plea for help, their diaries revealed unhappiness and Tom's stated readiness to die, and their wetsuits and air tanks washed ashore without a single bite mark or trace of blood. Australian diver Ben Cropp argued tiger sharks took them within two days, while boat owner Jack Nairn faced a manslaughter acquittal and a civil negligence conviction that shuttered his company, and more than twenty people claimed to have seen the couple alive afterward, leaving the truth unresolved.Next comes a run of documented real-life attacks stretching across centuries. The USS Indianapolis sank near Guam on July 30, 1945, dropping roughly 900 sailors into the water where sharks reduced the survivors to 317. Barry Wilson, a 17-year-old tuba player, became the first person killed by a shark in California history, and free-diving abalone hunters Omar Conger and Randall Fry were both taken by great whites, Fry's body recovered with his head separated from it. Bethany Hamilton lost her left arm at thirteen and returned to competitive surfing, spearfisherman Rodney Fox survived a torso bite by gouging the shark's eyes and now educates the public about the animals, and Brook Watson lost a leg to a shark in Havana Harbour in 1749 at the age of fourteen.The episode closes with the science of why sharks bite people, drawn from researchers including Gavin Naylor of the Florida Program for Shark Research and marine biologist Blake Chapman. Attacks correlate with the overlap of people and sharks in the same water, which is why rising seal populations off Cape Cod — rebounding under the 1972 Marine Mammal Act — drew great whites that delivered Massachusetts its first fatal attack in eighty-two years in 2018. Most bites appear to be cases of mistaken identity, the flash of a foot resembling bait fish, and the three species most often responsible are the great white, tiger, and bull sharks, the last hunting murky water by smell and electroreception rather than sight. The odds of dying in a shark attack sit near one in 3.7 million, yet Hannah Mighall, mauled by a five-metre great white in Tasmania's Bay of Fires at thirteen, still carries the toothy bite scar on her leg and the nightmares that came with it, alongside her refusal to see the animals culled for what they did to her.

For a few terrifying hours in the summer of 1955, two Kentucky families emptied their guns into small, glowing creatures that swarmed their farmhouse and simply would not die — and to this day, no one agrees on whether they fought off aliens, owls, or something the mind conjured out of the dark.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/kellyhopkinsvilleREAD or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p86wb4mFEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: It's considered one of the most bizarre and convincing extraterrestrial events ever reported… we'll look at the alien encounter in 1955's Hopkinsville, Kentucky that was experienced by two terrified families. (The Hopkinsville Encounter) *** In the deep jungles of the Congo, natives tell of a giant creature that, once described, sounds exactly like a long-necked dinosaur. But how could this be? And is it pure legend? Perhaps not, as one noted biologist from the area saw it with his own eyes and reported it. We'll look at the supposed real sighting of Mokele-Mbembe, the living dinosaur of the Congo! (Dinosaur Observed In The Congo) *** Running a club during prohibition was extremely lucrative… and extremely dangerous, as one Theodore Lakoff would've learned… had he been awake when he was murdered. (The Mysterious Death of Theodore Lakoff) *** Benjamin Franklin was known not just as one of the father's of the United States of America, but also as an inventor, a womanizer, and a man with a bit of an ornery streak in him – as is evidenced by a series of letters he wrote to the New England Courant, where he pretended to be a woman. (Who Was Mrs. Silence Dogood?) *** The internet is a vital part of modern life. Without web access, all kinds of businesses and jobs would be unable to function. So, as you can imagine, there are plenty of people who would love to see the internet crumble. And many have tried. (Taking Down The World Wide Web) *** In 1983 sightings poured in from people on the California coast who claim they saw a sea monster. (The California Sea Monster)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:01:10.244 = Show Open00:03:40.994 = The Hopkinsville Encounter00:13:15.837 = Dinosaur Observed in the Congo ***00:27:07.561 = Taking Down The World Wide Web ***00:36:42.752 = The Mysterious Death of Theodor Lakoff00:43:15.319 = Who Was Mrs. Silence Dogood?00:49:11.286 = The California Sea Monster00:55:29.517 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:“The Hopkinsville Encounter” by Hannah Collins for Ranker.com's Graveyard Shift:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yp8pnfx7“Dinosaur Observed in the Congo” by Richard Greenwell for the ISC Newsletter: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yc3r3mpp“The Mysterious Death of Theodore Lakoff” by Kathi Kresol for HauntedRockford.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/ku5x3cat“Who Was Mrs. Silence Dogood?” by Bipin Dimri for HistoricMysteries.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p868eac“Taking Down the World Wide Web” by Benjamin Thomas for ListVerse.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/c85j5cau“The California Sea Monster” by Malcom Smith for Malcom's Cryptids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yc2wts7h(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: December, 2021Weird Darkness pulls together a farmhouse siege by little gray creatures in Kentucky, a biologist's claimed sighting of a living dinosaur in the Congo, decades of attempts to knock the internet offline, an unsolved Prohibition murder in Illinois, a teenage Benjamin Franklin's literary hoax, and a hundred-foot sea serpent sighted off the California coast.It opens on August 21, 1955, when Billy Ray Taylor stepped out to the well at Glennie Lankford's farmhouse in Kelly, outside Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and watched a bright object drop behind the trees. Two families spent the night barricaded indoors, firing a 12-gauge shotgun and a .22 rifle at short gray creatures with spindly legs and glowing eyes that peered through windows and swiped at Taylor from the roof, yet the buckshot rang off them like sheet metal before they floated away unharmed. Skeptics later blamed an aggressive great horned owl or a green glow of bioluminescent foxfire, while the U.S. Air Force's Project Blue Book dismissed the case as a hoax and filed it under C.P., for crackpot.From there the episode reaches the Likouala swamps of the People's Republic of the Congo, where in 1983 biologist Marcellin Agnagna became the first trained scientist to claim he had seen Mokele-Mbembe, the long-necked animal described as a surviving dinosaur for over two centuries. At remote Lake Télé on May 1, 1983, he watched a creature with a long neck, small head, and broad back rising some fifteen feet above the water, judged it a Mesozoic sauropod, and waded out to film it — only to find he had left the lens cap on, and his last roll of film later developed black.Next comes a survey of attempts to knock the internet offline since Tim Berners-Lee launched the World Wide Web. A man named Liu in Weifang, China tore apart four China Telecom junction boxes in 2016 to bury footage of himself joining a public "granny dance," while the Mirai botnet's 2016 assault on the firm Dyn took down Twitter, Netflix, and CNN, and Cornell student Robert Tappan Morris had loosed the first such attack by accident in 1988. It ends on Seth Aaron Pendley, a Texas man arrested in 2021 for plotting to blow up a Virginia data center with C-4 in hopes of crippling most of the web.The show then drops back to January 1931, when roadhouse owner Theodore Lakoff was shot once through the top of the head as he slept in his own Rockford, Illinois resort, a Prohibition den of liquor, gambling, and women he ran under the alias Tony Evanoff. His wallet lay emptied while far more cash sat untouched, and suspicion fell on twenty-year-old Viola Hunsficker, said to be extorting him, until ballistics cleared the pistol found in her apartment. Investigators then turned up five other women who each believed she was his only sweetheart, and the killing was never solved.Then it reaches back to 1722 Boston, where a witty widow named Silence Dogood published letters in the New England Courant skewering religious hypocrisy, Harvard, and fashion, charming readers so thoroughly that several men wrote in offering to marry her. She was the invention of sixteen-year-old Benjamin Franklin, an apprentice in his brother James's print shop who slipped the letters under the door at night for six months before revealing himself, then carried his taste for hoaxes to Philadelphia and a fabricated 1730 account of a Mount Holly witch trial.The episode closes off the California coast, where on October 31, 1983 a highway crew above Stinson Beach watched a dark, slender animal roughly a hundred feet long swim toward shore, trailed by about a hundred birds and two dozen sea lions. Crew member Matt Ratto described three humps rising straight from the water before a head lifted to look around, and days later, near Costa Mesa, a surfer named Young Hutchinson reported a long black eel-like animal with no dorsal fins surfacing ten feet from his board — though a Caltech spokesman offered that the witnesses might have seen a whale or a line of porpoises.

A mysterious gentleman who never aged, never ate, and never seemed to die charmed the high society of two centuries — until police found his wine bottles filled with blood.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/stgermainREAD or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/WD20260625-StGermain.txtFEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: The mystery surrounding Count St. Germain is more than a little strange. Some think him to be a centuries old vampire. Others believe him to be a time traveler. And still others believe the whole thing to be a complete fraud. (The Vampire Time-Traveler) *** Escaping jail isn't easy, but we'll look at some who did the impossible – escaping the most secure prisons, in the most daring of ways. (History's Most Daring Prison Breaks) *** What would you do if you discovered that the church you attend every Sunday has a dark past that involves hauntings and supernatural phenomena? We'll look at some of the most haunted churches in the United States – perhaps you attend one of them and don't even realize it! (Most Haunted Churches in America) *** Benny Binion was one of the friendliest mobsters in Las Vegas… unless, of course, you made him mad. (Benny Binion, The Nice Guy Brute)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:01:46.615 = Show Open00:03:35.546 = St. Germain: The Vampire Time Traveler00:15:55.827 = Daring Prison Breaks ***00:35:47.335 = Benny Binion, The Nice Guy Brute ***00:52:51.426 = Most Haunted Churches in America ***01:00:52.327 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:“The Vampire Time-Traveler” by Marcus Lowth for UFO Insight: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2f2psdnm“History's Most Daring Prison Breaks” by Mike Rothschild for Ranker's Unspeakable Times:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p948z5e“Most Haunted Churches in America” by Rain-Screaming-For-Horror, posted at Vocal.Media:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8we2se“Benny Binion, The Nice Guy Brute” by Melissa Sartore for Weird History: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/4rczaf27(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: December, 2021This episode of Weird Darkness moves from an immortal vampire said to haunt two centuries of high society, through history's most audacious prison escapes, into the bloody rise of a Las Vegas gambling kingpin, and ends among the haunted pews of America's churches.It opens in London in the early 1740s, where a man known as the Count of St. Germain charmed the upper classes with flawless violin playing, fluency in several languages, and a habit of handing out diamonds, prompting Horace Walpole — son of Prime Minister Robert Walpole — to describe him in a letter as odd and mad before the Count was arrested on suspicion of spying and released without charge. He surfaced next in Paris as a regular guest of Louis XV, working in a commissioned laboratory on fabric dyes and carrying out discreet missions, while gossip held that he could turn ordinary stones into jewels and had lived for hundreds or thousands of years, even claiming presence at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. After reported appearances aiding Catherine the Great in Russia and a friendship with Prince Charles of Hesse-Cassel in Germany, where he was said to die in 1784, the story jumps to early-1900s New Orleans and a wealthy newcomer named Jacques St. Germain, who threw lavish parties yet never ate or drank, claimed descent from the Count, and bore an uncanny resemblance to him. The account turns dark when a woman leapt from his balcony into the street, telling police he had bitten her neck; St. Germain vanished overnight, leaving his belongings behind and several open bottles that proved to hold a mixture of wine and blood.From there the episode trades immortality for ingenuity, walking through the boldest jailbreaks on record. It runs from the 2016 Orange County escape, where Jonathan Tieu, Bac Duong, and Hossein Nayeri cut through walls and rappelled to a sixteen-hour head start, to Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán slipping out of Altiplano through a mile-long lighted tunnel in 2015, and Clinton Correctional inmates David Sweat and Richard Matt crawling through a steam pipe with tools handed over by prison worker Joyce Mitchell. Ted Bundy jumped from a Colorado courthouse library window, John Dillinger bluffed his way out of an Indiana jail with a wooden pistol painted in shoe polish, and yoga master Choi Gap Bok greased himself and squeezed through a six-by-eighteen-inch food slot in thirty-four seconds. The larger breakouts carry heavier counts: three men vanished from Alcatraz in 1962 on a raft of raincoats, more than 480 Taliban prisoners filed out of Kandahar's Sarpoza Prison through a thousand-foot tunnel in 2011, over a thousand Japanese prisoners stormed the wire at Australia's Cowra camp in 1944, and inmates at the Nazi death camp Sobibor killed eleven SS guards with homemade knives before running for the treeline.Next the episode settles in Dallas and then Las Vegas with Lester Ben "Benny" Binion, the cowboy-hatted racketeer who founded the World Series of Poker and shot rival bootlegger Frank Bolding in the neck in 1931, walking away with a two-year suspended sentence and the nickname the Cowboy. He killed gambling competitor Ben Frieden in 1936 and beat the charge after witnesses vanished, ran dice games and bookies out of Dallas hotels for high rollers like Howard Hughes and H.L. Hunt, then moved to Las Vegas in 1946 and turned the Eldorado into the no-limit Horseshoe, laying down the first carpet in a Vegas casino. His feud with Dallas gambler Herbert "the Cat" Noble ran through eleven attempts on Noble's life and killed Noble's wife Mildred with a car bomb before a mailbox blast ended Noble in 1951. Binion died on Christmas Day 1989 and was carried to the cemetery behind six black horses, while his son Ted was found dead in 1998 in a case that convicted Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish of burglary but acquitted them of the slaying, with the missing silver bullion never recovered.The episode closes inside America's churches, where worship shares the building with the dead. At Most Holy Trinity in Brooklyn, built over a former cemetery, parishioners report the spirit of clerk George Stelz, murdered in 1897, alongside bells that ring on their own and a bloody handprint in the bell tower stairway. The Washington National Cathedral carries the echo of Woodrow Wilson's cane and charred figures from a 1946 fire, while New Orleans' St. Louis Cathedral is tied to voodoo queen Marie Laveau, socialite Delphine Lalaurie, and six men executed on its grounds. At St. Mark's Episcopal in Cheyenne, a Swedish immigrant is said to have sealed his dead coworker inside the unfinished bell tower wall to avoid deportation, and at St. Paul's Chapel in New York — where George Washington prayed on his inauguration day — the spirit of actor George Frederick Cooke is said to wander still, his actual skull having traveled from a Philadelphia medical library and, by lore, onto the stage as a prop in Hamlet.

When the Hale-Bopp comet swung past Earth in 1997, thirty-nine people put on matching black shirts and brand-new Nikes, swallowed a lethal mix of barbiturates and vodka, and lay down beneath purple shrouds to die — certain their souls were about to board the alien ship they believed was hiding in the comet's tail.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/heavensgateREAD or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/343j2ju2FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Following an anonymous tip, police enter a mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, an exclusive suburb of San Diego, California, and discover 39 victims of a mass suicide. The deceased–21 women and 18 men of varying ages–were all found lying peaceably in matching dark clothes and Nike sneakers and had no noticeable signs of blood or trauma. It was later revealed that the men and women were members of the “Heaven's Gate” religious cult, whose leaders preached that suicide would allow them to leave their bodily “containers” and enter an alien spacecraft hidden behind the Hale-Bopp comet. *** PLUS, the creepy true-crime story of two men who were caught trying to steal the body of the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. But that is by no means the end of this story full of twists, turns, myths, and conspiracies.CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = Heaven's Gate, Part 1 00:00:53.808 = Show Open00:02:37.373 = Heaven's Gate, Part 200:04:59.269 = Heaven's Gate, Part 300:09:37.695 = Heaven's Gate, Part 4 ***00:23:22.776 = Stealing Lincoln's Bones, Part 1 ***00:44:45.437 = Stealing Lincoln's Bones, Part 2 ***00:57:58.687 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:“Heavens Gate” by Rolling Stone: http://bit.ly/WeirdDarkness2D7tbeZ, Ranker: http://bit.ly/weirddarkness2UIsK4O, and History.com: http://bit.ly/WeirdDarkness2G3uqfN“Stealing Lincoln's Bones” by Troy Taylor: https://www.americanhauntingsink.com/stealing-lincolns-bones(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: November 28, 2021Weird Darkness runs from the 1997 mass suicide of the Heaven's Gate UFO cult outside San Diego to an 1876 counterfeiting gang's attempt to steal Abraham Lincoln's corpse from his tomb in Springfield, Illinois.It opens with the discovery, on March 26, 1997, of thirty-nine members of Heaven's Gate inside a rented mansion in the San Diego suburb of Rancho Santa Fe — twenty-one women and eighteen men lying beneath purple shrouds in matching black shirts and new black-and-white Nike sneakers, plastic bags over their heads, after swallowing phenobarbital and vodka. They believed the deaths would free their souls to board an alien spacecraft trailing the Hale-Bopp comet, which was making its closest approach to Earth that month. Former music professor Marshall Applewhite had started the group in 1975 with his nurse Bonnie Lu Nettles, the two of them renaming themselves Bo and Peep and later Do and Ti before persuading about twenty people in Oregon to leave their families and wait in eastern Colorado for a ship that never arrived. Applewhite preached that human bodies were disposable containers, that he was the second coming of Jesus, and that God was an alien. Nettles died in 1985, but he held the group together, and by the 1990s it had become the first well-known internet-era cult, paying its bills by building web pages under the business name Higher Source. The members watched Star Trek: The Next Generation, sewed Heaven's Gate Away Team patches onto their uniforms, severed contact with relatives through a practice Applewhite called breaking away, and submitted to a ban on sex that several of the men, Applewhite among them, enforced on themselves through castration.The episode closes with the 1876 plot to steal Abraham Lincoln's body from his tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. A Chicago counterfeiting ring run by James "Big Jim" Kneally had lost its master engraver, Benjamin Boyd, to a ten-year term in Joliet Penitentiary, so the gang resolved to seize the president's corpse and ransom it for Boyd's freedom. On election night, November 7, 1876, gang members Terence Mullen and Jack Hughes filed through the lock and split the marble sarcophagus with an ax, unaware that the grave robber they knew as Jim Morrissey was Secret Service operative Lewis Swegles, and that Captain Patrick Tyrell's agents and Pinkerton detectives hired by Robert Lincoln were hidden elsewhere in the monument. The trap fell apart when the lawmen fired on one another in the dark and the two robbers wandered off and escaped, though both were captured on November 18 and, with grave robbery barely a crime in Illinois at the time, served only a year in Joliet. What the public would not learn for years was that custodian John C. Power and a secret brotherhood calling itself the Lincoln Guard of Honor had already dragged the five-hundred-pound coffin into a damp labyrinth beneath the monument and buried it under loose boards and dirt, leaving visitors to grieve over an empty sarcophagus. The body was shifted from hiding place to hiding place until 1901, when Robert Lincoln ordered his father's casket lowered ten feet, locked inside a steel cage, and sealed under two tons of concrete, following one last viewing in which Leon P. Hopkins, the plumber who had closed the coffin back in 1865, studied a chalk-whitened but recognizable face and soldered the lead shut for good.

Behind the walls of H.H. Holmes' "World's Fair Hotel" waited trap doors, gas chambers, and a basement of acid vats — and more than a century after the Murder Castle burned, something still lingers at 63rd and Wallace.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/HHHolmesHotelREAD or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/57djvd7fFEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: It's one of the most infamous and macabre subjects of Chicago history – it even served as inspiration for TV's “American Horror Story: Hotel”. It's what has become known as “The Murder Castle” where serial killer H.H. Holmes committed his monstrous crimes. But even today, Holmes continues to terrify… in spectral form. (H.H. Holmes' Hellish Hotel And Lingering Haunting) *** A woman tries to save the soul of her daughter, believing her to be possessed… but her solution to drive out the demon was to murder her daughter using a holy crucifix. (Murder By Crucifix) *** What's worse than proclaiming yourself to be a supernatural being and starting your own cult? How about telling your followers you are God so you could do drugs and have sex with teenage girls? It's the disturbing true story of the cult called “The Group”. (Theodore Rinaldo – The Drug Cult Rapist) *** Shrunken heads – believe it or not, they are real. And some tribal peoples create them even today – from real human heads. But why do it at all? We'll look at the reality behind shrunken heads, the reason they are created… and even how they are created. (The History and How of Shrunken Heads) *** A terrifying series of paranormal activities invade a family's home in Wales. (The Swansea Entity) *** Tenome is a Japanese Urban Legend about a blind man who was robbed and murdered. His dying wish? To have eyes on his hands so he could see. (The Seeing Hands of Tenome) *** Unsolved mysteries are intriguing simply because they are unsolved. That's why we are so fascinated by stories of people disappearing without a trace. But one man's disappearance is so bizarre, so weird, that upon hearing the story you'll be scratching your head wondering what the heck you just heard. (The Strangest Disappearance at Sea in History) CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:01:27.539 = Show Open00:04:09.416 = H.H. Holmes' Hellish Hotel and Lingering Haunting00:22:02.613 = The Seeing Hands of Tenome ***00:25:29.843 = The Strangest Disappearance at Sea In History00:36:31.904 = Murder By Crucifix ***00:42:31.316 = The Swansea Entity00:52:22.872 = The History and How of Shrunken Heads ***00:58:56.160 = Theodore Rinaldo: The Drug Cult Rapist01:05:34.000 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:“The Swansea Entity” by Brent Swancer for Mysterious Universe: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3pt262t4“Murder By Crucifix” by Inigo Gonzalez for Ranker's Graveyard Shift: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/4h6mjabw“The Strangest Disappearance at Sea in History” from Strange Company: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/nsrhjdew“Theodore Rinaldo – The Drug Cult Rapist” by Matthew Lavelle for Ranker's Unspeakable Times:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yx2hmzus“The Seeing Hands of Tenome” from The Scare Chamber: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/y4dnxee6“The History and How of Shrunken Heads” by Bipin Dimri for Historic Mysteries: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/4wdznwwc“H.H. Holmes' Hellish Hotel and Lingering Haunting” from Chicago Hauntings: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/pvthp98(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: November, 2021This episode of Weird Darkness moves from the haunted ground of H.H. Holmes' Chicago Murder Castle to a flesh-eating Japanese yokai, a millionaire's impossible vanishing at sea, an Oklahoma exorcism that ended in murder, a violent Welsh poltergeist, the real-world practice of shrinking human heads, and the Washington State drug cult led by a man who claimed to be God.It opens in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood, where Herman W. Mudgett — better known as H.H. Holmes, America's first serial killer and the inspiration for the Hotel Cortez in American Horror Story: Hotel — built his three-story "World's Fair Hotel" at 63rd and Wallace to prey on visitors to the 1893 Columbian Exposition. The building held sixty rooms riddled with trap doors, hidden staircases, gas chambers, and a basement furnished with a dissecting table and vats of acid and lime. Holmes confessed to 27 murders before his hanging in Philadelphia on May 7, 1896, though some historians put his victim count at 200 or more, and the strange deaths that followed his execution — a poisoned forensics expert, a suicidal prison superintendent, a priest beaten to death in his own churchyard — fed talk of a Holmes curse for decades. The site was never excavated, and employees at the Englewood post office built beside the old Castle property still report stacking chairs, a singing woman no one can find, and apparitions on the grass where the hotel once stood. Even Holmes' own descendant, Jeff Mudgett, author of Bloodstains and the figure behind the History Channel's American Ripper, walked out of that basement a changed man.From there the episode crosses to Japan and the legend of Tenome, a blind old man robbed and beaten to death in a field who returned as a vengeful yokai with eyes on the palms of his hands. First recorded in the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō, the creature hunts graveyards and open fields by scent, feeds on fresh human bones, and inspired the Pale Man of Pan's Labyrinth. The segment ends with the Kyoto tale of a young man who hid from the Tenome inside a locked temple chest — and was found afterward as an empty sack of skin, his bones sucked out through his flesh.Next comes the 1931 disappearance of Hisashi Fujimura, the Japanese-born silk millionaire who vanished from the Red Star liner Belgenland somewhere between Halifax and New York on the night of August 13. Fujimura had told a friend he feared gamblers would follow him aboard, his mistress Mary Reissner was registered under a false name as a governess, and his bank account had dropped from over $333,000 to $2.65 in five months. The ship's captain saw him talking to an unseen person at 2:45 a.m.; by morning his bed was unslept-in and his seven-year-old daughter was alone in the stateroom. Federal investigators closed the case without answers, a dust-free wallet bearing his name later surfaced in an empty Manhattan flat, and Fujimura was declared legally dead in 1938 — leaving murder, suicide, accident, and a staged escape all equally possible.The darkness turns domestic with the 2016 killing of 33-year-old Geneva Gomez in Oklahoma City, beaten to death by her own mother, Juanita Gomez, who claimed she was performing an exorcism to drive Satan from her daughter. Juanita punched Geneva repeatedly, forced a crucifix and religious medallion down her throat, then arranged the body in the shape of a cross with a wooden crucifix on her chest. A forensic psychologist concluded she was feigning incompetence, the insanity plea collapsed, and in January 2018 a jury needed only 20 minutes to convict her of first-degree murder and recommend life without parole.The episode then travels to Rhondda Street in Swansea, Wales, where in 1965 Marcia and David Howells, their two small children, and Marcia's grandmother endured a poltergeist that began with choking sensations in the night and escalated to bottles flying off mantelpieces, rooms ransacked in minutes, the gas stove turning itself on, and a double bed found hurled on top of the baby's empty cot behind a barred door. Police, reporters, and a priest all came to the little house; the only room ever left untouched was the grandmother's. The family finally moved out, the activity stopped, and no tragedy in the home's history was ever found to explain it — leaving psychokinesis, spirit attachment, and Marcia's own verdict, a demon, on the table.From haunted houses the show turns to a practice that is grimly real: the shrunken heads, or tsantsas, of the Jivaro people of northern Peru and southern Ecuador. Warriors severed the heads of slain enemies in the belief that shrinking them enslaved the victim's vengeful spirit, then boiled the skin free of the skull, packed it with hot stones and sand, blackened it with charcoal ash, and sewed the lips shut to seal the spirit inside — reducing a human head to a third of its size. Genu

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This podcast we smoke Perdomo Fresco Connecticut, Diplimatico Mantuano Rum & a look at the the best movie of 2016, along with our typical sophomoric behavior.   Follow @TheCigarDungeon  On twitter/Instagram/facebook

Help support the show and receive a link to our private discord community: ko-fi.com/wedgeheadpodcastWe are joined by longtime supporter of the bar and podcast, Conor Wilson who created an awesome new website to make ranking your favorite pinball machines that makes it simple, easy, and fun to do, and allows you to share your lists with your other pinball friends.You can start your journey here at: pinballranker.comAs always, some swear words may be used in the passionate discussionSupport the show

On a remote ridge in Washington sits a nine-foot pit that has no measurable bottom, swallows everything thrown into it without ever filling, plays decades-old music through any radio brought near it, and—according to those who've used it to dispose of their dead—occasionally gives the dead back, alive and walking out of the forest still wearing the collars they were buried in. (LAST STORY IN THE EPISODE)EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources and full transcript): https://weirddarkness.com/MelsHoleFEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: The next time that you hear a conspiracy theory, take the time to investigate before you decide that it's too impossible to be true. (Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out To Be True) *** The Black Knight satellite. Is this satellite nothing more than a Russian attempt at signal jamming or spying? Or is there something more sinister behind it? (Black Knight Satellite Conspiracy) *** A man starts to fall asleep at the wheel – but gets a supernatural shakeup from an unusual police squad car. (Guardian Angel Speed Trap) *** In a quiet Virginia cemetery is a peculiar tomb that has mystified visitors for nearly two hundred years. Nobody seems to know who is buried there. (The Grave of the Female Stranger) *** A man is knocked unconscious and while being so, he lives an entirely different life. (A Parallel Life) *** “I do not suppose that any man and wife lived more happily and wished each other better than we.” Strange last words from a man who murdered his wife due to a love triangle. (Neal Devaney) *** Did a strange race of albino, sun-fearing people used to roam the Appalachian Mountains? (Moon Eyed People) *** She can kill a man just by sucking all the blood from his body out through his nose. She can slip out of her skin at night to terrorize the countryside. Those who believe in hoodoo call her the Boo Hag. (The Boo Hag) *** A rash of attacks took place in India's New Delhi back in 2001 – and the attacker was described as having monkey-like qualities. Who or what was the Monkey Man of New Delhi? (Monkey Man of New Delhi) *** Bizarre secrets are said to hide somewhere in the bottomless depths of Mel's Hole. The hole definitely exists… but it appears that Mel himself may never have been real. (Mel's Hole) *** The old hag, the succubus, whatever you call it – it's a paranormal nighttime encounter with erotic overtones. Erotic – but more terrifying and mentally scarring than enjoyable. (The Old Hag Revisited)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = Show Open00:03:00.772 = The Black Knight Satellite Conspiracy00:05:43.919 = Guardian Angel Speed Trap00:09:53.004 = Grave of the Female Stranger00:14:50.756 = Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out To Be True00:26:36.438 = The Old Hag Revisited ***00:33:31.099 = The Boo Hag00:41:49.846 = A Parallel Life ***00:45:23.733 = Neal Devaney00:50:00.024 = The Moon-Eyed People01:00:25.240 = The Monkey Man of Delhi ***01:05:22.088 = Mel's Hole= Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:“The Black Knight Satellite Conspiracy”: https://tinyurl.com/r3wxu6s“Guardian Angel Speed Trap” submitted by Weirdo family member Blackfire Wolf“Grave of the Female Stranger” by Orrin Grey: http://ow.ly/7cVz30nf1Di“Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out To Be True” from Occult Museum: (website no longer exists)“A Parallel Life/Awoken By a Lamp” posted anonymously to Reddit: http://ow.ly/kgX130ncj11“Neal Devaney” by Robert Wilhelm: https://tinyurl.com/ycsf7nqz“The Old Hag Revisted: Nighttime Terrors” from the book, “Basic Instinct: Erotic Paranormal Encounters”: https://amzn.to/4vjKbX0“The Moon Eyed People” by Brent Swancer: https://tinyurl.com/vgdmen7“The Boo Hag” from North Carolina Ghosts: (link no longer valid)“The Monkey Man of Delhi”: https://tinyurl.com/rq488nu“Mel's Hole” by Maggie Clendenin for Ranker: https://tinyurl.com/u9lzy78(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: March 16, 2022

Ronald Gene Simmons turned Christmas week into a nightmare, methodically murdering 16 people—including his own family—before calmly surrendering to the police.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources and full transcript): https://weirddarkness.com/MockingbirdHillFEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: The story of serial killer Ronald G. Simmons from the audiobook, “Murderous Minds, Vol2” by Ryan Becker. (Weekend Murder Spree of Ronald G. Simmons) *** Long before the disastrous Philadelphia Experiment, partially based on Nikola Tesla's technology, Tesla is rumored to have discovered by accident the secrets of traveling through time and the inherent dangers of tampering with the cosmic framework that governs the laws of time and space. (Nikola Tesla's Secret Time Travel Experiments) *** Four friends get lost on a country dirt road, and try to find their way back following what turns out to be a phantom vehicle. (Ghost Car of Picton) *** In the 1800s seven nuns set up a school for girls, and when they added a chapel to that school, what many thought was a miracle occurred in the construction of the chapel stairs. (The Legend of the Loretto Chapel Staircase) *** Police officers and first responders share their own experiences with the supernatural. (Paranormal 911) *** I'll share the very dark and classic creepypasta “Holes” by S. R. Underschultz. (Holes)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:01:53.906 = Show Open00:03:50.173 = Ronald Gene Simmons00:28:11.542 = Holes (Fictional Story) ***00:42:57.539 = Paranormal 911, Part 1 ***00:59:24.778 = Paranormal 911, Part 2 ***01:26:09.206 = Nikola Tesla's Secret Time Travel Experiments ***01:35:23.932 = Ghost Car of Picton ***01:38:00.599 = Legend of the Loretto Chapel Staircase01:45:30.570 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:The story of Ronald G. Simmons is from the book, “Murderous Minds, Vol2” by Ryan Becker – audiobook version narrated by Darren Marlar. Get the full-length audiobook https://amzn.to/3JD94rK“Holes” by S. R. Underschultz, posted at Creepypasta.com: https://tinyurl.com/sncw8rs
“Paranormal 911” by Jessika M. Thomas for Ranker's Paranormal Activity: https://tinyurl.com/urodzgu“Nikola Tesla's Secret Time Travel Experiments” by CommanderX for UFO Review: https://tinyurl.com/yhjoyjm“Ghost Car of Picton” by ‘James' in Sydney Australia for Ghost Attic: https://tinyurl.com/udn36zy“Legend of the Loretto Chapel Staircase” by Les Hewitt for Historic Mysteries: https://tinyurl.com/vm299qr(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: January 2019

After playing Dracula hundreds of times on stage and making numerous screen appearances in a variety of roles, Bela Lugosi spent his final years battling addiction, checking himself into a psychiatric ward, accepting charity from strangers, paying his ex-wife one dollar a month in alimony, and watching his career dissolve into Ed Wood's z-grade pictures until his death, after which he was buried in his iconic vampiric cape.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources and full transcript): https://weirddarkness.com/BelaLugosiFEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: He began as an obscure actor, became a universally loved monster, but ended in destitution. We'll look at the career of Bela Lugosi. (The Rise and Fall of Bela Lugosi) *** Nearly a century has passed, and the grisly crime committed by two sisters remains as mysterious as ever. We'll look at the Papin Sisters and the shocking gruesome murder they committed in 1933 that horrified France. (The Murderous Papin Sisters) *** You think you know what Halloween is all about, but you might not—not really. After all, it wasn't always about carving pumpkins and collecting candy. (Why Celebrate Halloween) *** When it comes to murder investigations, the skeletons in everyone's closets – even those who are only peripheral characters in the drama – can still have their darkest secrets revealed. (The Mystery of the Poisoned Powder) *** And if I was to tell you I had a story called “The Woodchipper Murder” you might think it sounds like something out of the movie “Fargo” - but for Helle Nielsen, it was all too real. (The Woodchipper Murder of Newtown, Connecticut)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:00:42.739 = Show Open00:02:42.800 = The Rise and Fall of Bela Lugosi00:20:13.567 = The Murderous Papin Sisters ***00:27:52.588 = Why Celebrate Halloween?00:41:44.009 = Mystery of the Poisoned Powder ***00:49:44.161 = The Woodchipper Murder01:00:30.443 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:“The Rise and Fall of Bela Lugosi” by Quinn Armstrong for Ranker's Entertainment:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/f3jaaphz“The Murderous Papin Sisters” by Orrin Grey for The Line Up: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yhkwymzm“Why Celebrate Halloween” by Charlotte Hilton Andersen for Reader's Digest: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2fyzrarh“The Mystery of the Poisoned Powder” from Strange Company: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/nrdbvuc5“The Woodchipper Murder of Newtown, Connecticut” from The Scare Chamber:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/n2yhsppx(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: October, 2022

In June 1865, two children went into the woods for a picnic and never came home — and what was found a week later would horrify New England for nearly a decade before a wandering old man's confession turned the case into something far stranger than anyone imagined.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/busseywoodsFEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: It began when a teenager made a deal with the Devil in the mid 1970s. That's when the werewolf sightings began – and some experts say there is proof of their existence. (Werewolves of Central England) *** Some think they are escaped circus freaks, others that they are strange medical experiments gone wrong. Some believe them to be ghosts or demons. What are the terrifying white animals or entities people are seeing in Pennsylvania – and could it be more than one kind of creature? (Mystery Monsters From P.A.) *** A couple moves to an old mining town with a dark past… and the darkness apparently hasn't gone away yet. (The Old Mining Town) *** Is it any surprise that something strange might happen in a pub that used to be a church? One of our Weirdo family members tells her story. (Bandit) *** One of the best worst poets of all time has taken inspiration from a certain mountain in North Carolina – but even when there for the solitude, he wasn't alone. (The Phantom Hiker of Grandfather Mountain) *** In 1946, a sadistic killer dressed in a white mask terrorized a small town at night. And to this day, the Moonlight Murders killer could still be at large. (The Unsolved Texarkana Murders) *** Plus, I'll share a chapter from the audiobook, “Suffer the Children: American Horrors, Homicides and Hauntings” by Troy Taylor, a story called “The Most Monstrous and Inhuman Criminal of Modern Times”. CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:01:32.648 = Show Open00:04:06.836 = Werewolves of Central England00:12:36.537 = Mystery Monsters From P.A. ***00:28:16.172 = Bandit00:30:39.204 = The Old Mining Town00:37:40.282 = The Phantom Hitchhiker of Grandfather Mountain ***00:40:39.173 = The Unsolved Texarkana Murders00:47:50.775 = The Most Monstrous And Inhuman Criminal of Modern Times, Part 100:53:29.952 = The Most Monstrous And Inhuman Criminal of Modern Times, Part 2 ***01:20:10.413 = The Most Monstrous And Inhuman Criminal of Modern Times, Part 3 ***01:40:39.633 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:“Werewolves of Central England” by Hugh Landman for Ranker: https://tinyurl.com/s6h83am“Mystery Monsters from P.A.” by Brent Swancer for Mysterious Universe: https://tinyurl.com/wps4dtr“Bandit” by Weirdo family member Eleanor, submitted directly to https://WeirdDarkness.com/submit“The Old Mining Town” by ADM for MyHauntedLifeToo.com: https://tinyurl.com/tg9dfby“The Phantom Hiker of Grandfather Mountain” for North Carolina Ghosts: https://tinyurl.com/vgh3tvv“The Unsolved Texarkana Murders” by Orrin Grey for The Line Up: http://ow.ly/2miw30mTCSo“The Most Monstrous And Inhuman Criminal Of Modern Times” from the book “Suffer the Children: American Horrors, Homicides and Hauntings” by Troy Taylor: https://amzn.to/3J5acmx(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: November, 2018

Beneath the ice of Antarctica, something has been watching the surface for thousands of years — and the four scientists who finally saw it watching back never spoke a word of it on the record. | May 24, 2026HOUR ONE: 
We travel to the Antarctic – onto it, over it, and under it… and find some strange, and often terrifying things during the trip. (Antarctic Apparitions And Eerie Enigmas)===HOUR TWO: We are all familiar with humans' desire to fly. There are many legends about flying horses in various parts of the world, and they all have common characteristics that make them difficult to dismiss as only aviation dreams of the ancient people. Do some myths and legends reveal ancient people had sufficient technical knowledge to produce sophisticated flying machines? (Ancient Mechanical Flying Horses) *** A man in China claims to have been abducted by aliens not just once… not just twice… but three times. But will you believe his story after hearing the details? (Flying on an Alien's Back) *** There's an odd grave marker at Riverside Cemetery in Wahpeton, North Dakota – and an odd story that goes along with it. I'll tell you about the strange obelisk draped in rope and chains. (The Wahpeton Circus Grave) *** Those who walk along the wooded Hinds Road in Gadsden, Alabama should be wary, for there is a legend that residing there is a witch who sold her soul to the devil. (The Gadsden Witch of Alabama) *** You may think that a ghost referred to as ‘Humpty Doo' might be fun-loving and perhaps even a little goofy. However, Humpty Doo is an Australian slang term that means everything is being turned upside down...and, fittingly, it is also the name of the town where some bizarre poltergeist events took place. (The Humpty-Doo Poltergeist) *** Plus, from Paranormality Magazine - “Haunted Rockville, Indiana!”=SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME: More strangeness from the Antarctic!=SOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM TONIGHT'S SHOW:“Haunted Rockville, Indiana” by Kjristi Beth for Paranormality Magazine“Antarctica Strangeness” by Ellen Lloyd for Ancient Pages: https://tinyurl.com/y5unjlwe,https://tinyurl.com/y494goxn, https://tinyurl.com/y4q2w754“Ghostly Shivers in Antarctica” by Erin McCann for Ranker: https://tinyurl.com/y2rxprvw“Antarctic Oddities” from Wayfair Travel: https://tinyurl.com/yxrjd4zv“Ancient Mechanical Flying Horses” by Ellen Lloyd for Ancient Pages: https://tinyurl.com/y5nvjukg,https://tinyurl.com/y6arm4bw“The Humpty-Doo Poltergeist” from Astonishing Legends: https://tinyurl.com/yxgl75la“Flying on an Alien's Back” by Tristan for Bizarre and Grotesque: https://tinyurl.com/yy4gtajy“The Wahpeton Circus Grave” from Journal of the Bizarre: https://tinyurl.com/y22nax92“The Gadsden Witch of Alabama” by Christina Skelton: https://tinyurl.com/y22u3adk(Over time links seen above may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)=========="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.

In 1910 two witnesses see a pair of lights that transform into radiant beings with “human form.” You might dismiss the report as misidentification of ball lightning or some other natural explanation – but in 1952 those radiant humanoid beings of light were seen again! #WDRadio — May 17, 2026HOUR ONE: 7-year-old Maria went missing in 1957, and while her body was later found, her murder was never solved and the case went cold – until 50 years later when the case was finally solved and closed. But it turns out everybody was wrong. (A Cold Case Finally Solved… Then Unsolved) *** If you take State Route 375 through Nevada you will pass by the infamous Area-51. But of course they are not going to let you in, even if you ask nicely. But State Route 375 isn't called the Extraterrestrial Highway just because of one area you can't visit – there's a lot more to it than that. (The 98-Mile Extraterrestrial Highway) *** Hikers sometimes get lost in the woods, as do children of course. But those on bikes almost never disappear; but there is one tragic case of a fat tire rider who couldn't be found. (The Vanished Mountain Biker) *** In 1910 two witnesses see a pair of lights that transform into radiant beings with “human form.” You might dismiss the report as misidentification of ball lightning or some other natural explanation – but in 1952 those radiant humanoid beings of light were seen again! (Close Encounters of the Fairy Kind)==========HOUR TWO: "It was a terrible sight… I have seen horrible sights, but never anything like this.” Those were the words of the local undertaker after seeing the results of a triple murder laying before him in 1932 Pennsylvania. (The Axe Murders of Lykens) *** A gypsy once told Leonarda that all of her children would die before her.  A different fortuneteller  told her that she faced either a future in prison or in a criminal asylum. And the reason she gave for becoming a serial killer is something you'd hear out of a bad direct-to-video horror film. And that's a tiny sample of this woman's insanely dark life – which began even before her birth. (The Woman Who Made Soap) *** Ireland's Loftus Hall is considered by many to be the most haunted location on all the Emerald Isle. But the most infamous story of Loftus Hall begins not with terror, but with romance… with a beautiful young girl falling madly in love with… the devil. (The Girl Who Fell In Love With The Devil) ==========SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME: More of the story of Ireland's Loftus Hall and the young girl who fell in love with the devil! (The Girl Who Fell In Love With The Devil) *** Chlorosis was a frequently diagnosed disease during the 19th century that gave the skin of the afflicted a greenish tinge. As a cure, doctors told young women to get married and reproduce. As you can probably surmise, the cure was not in the least bit effective. (The Girls Who Turned Green) *** Have you heard of the poor girl who was bullied and pushed down into a sewer by those whom she thought were her friends? I'll tell you the story. And while this episode is not a creepypasta episode, so all the stories are supposed to be non-fiction, that is… true, I will be sharing this urban legend anyway – because when it comes to urban legends, sometimes it's best to err on the side of caution and simply assume they are true. (The Urban Legend of Carmen Winstead) *** Weirdo Family member Brad Hicks describes the experience as “cool… and creepy as hell”. We'll tell you his story. (The Thing In The Light) *** More of the story of Ireland's Loftus Hall and the young girl who fell in love with the devil! (The Girl Who Fell In Love With The Devil)==========SOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM TONIGHT'S SHOW:BOOK: “The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries” by W.Y. Evans-Wentz: https://tinyurl.com/y3kwqflrVIDEO: John Tessier (Jack McCullough) questioned by police: https://tinyurl.com/y5lc53dlBOOK: “Foosteps in the Snow” by Charles Lachman: https://amzn.to/2D5wXskBOOK: “The Cold Vanish” by John Billman: https://tinyurl.com/y6jjeyto“Close Encounters of the Fairy Kind” by Nick Redfern for Mysterious Universe: https://tinyurl.com/y5vvkpkc“A Cold Case Finally Solved.. Then Unsolved” from Mystery Confidential: https://tinyurl.com/y2zrhdpa“The 98-Mile Extraterrestrial Highway” by Alexandra Schonfeld for Newsweek: https://tinyurl.com/y5ubmo6e“The Girls Who Turned Green” by Fiona Zublin for Ozy: https://tinyurl.com/yamqxtoh“The Vanished Mountain Biker” by John Billman, an excerpt from his book “The Cold Vanish” https://tinyurl.com/y6jjeyto, posted at Outside Online: https://tinyurl.com/yxplwqzm“The Axe Murders of Lykens” from Pennsylvania Oddities: https://tinyurl.com/yyfjhgok“The Urban Legend of Carmen Winstead” by Paul Middleton, edited and added-to by Darren Marlar: https://bit.ly/31iaGj1“The Woman Who Made Soap” by Romeo Vitelli for Providentia: https://tinyurl.com/y4tjelur“The Girl Who Fell In Love With The Devil” by Laura Allan for Ranker: https://tinyurl.com/yxb939jt“The Thing In The Light” by Weirdo Family member Brad Hicks=========="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46==========WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.

Centuries ago, fear and superstition led to bizarre and cruel witch trials, where the accused faced impossible tests—from floating in water to being weighed against Bibles — that often sealed their grim fate.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources and full transcript): https://weirddarkness.com/CondemnedAsAWitchFEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: We've all heard of the Salem Witch Trials – but accusations of witchcraft took place everywhere, not just Massachusetts. But who were these individuals, and were they guilty of what they were convicted of and killed for? (People Killed As Witches) *** Of course, not all those charged with witchcraft died in the 1600s during the witch trial mania – some died much much later, like the 21st century. Yes, it still happens even today. (Modern Witch Killings) *** The ways witches were tested during the mass hysteria of the witch trials resulted in some bizarre and cruel ways to determine if someone was a witch. And I'd bet most all of us would be deemed witches if forced to take the tests today. (How To Test a Witch) *** But before we get into the people who were accused, the tactics used to test them or make them confess, and how many of them were killed, we'll look at some of the misconceptions of the Salem Witch Trials that you probably think are true. (Salem Witch Trial Misconceptions)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:01:00.501 = Show Open00:03:00.571 = Salem Witch Trial Misconceptions00:11:28.154 = People Killed As Witches ***00:26:21.262 = How To Test a Witch00:35:31.660 = Modern Witch Killings ***00:47:41.080 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:“Witch's Brew” poem: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/n7p3j8us“Salem Witch Trial Misconceptions” by Tamar Altebarmakian for Weird History: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/57ah3yw5“How To Test a Witch” by Tamar Altebarmakian for Ranker's Witchcraft: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/34vsfs9r“People Killed As Witches” by Laura Allan for Ranker's History: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3pejpv5c“Modern Witch Killings” by Greg Beneven for Ranker's History: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/rafzhksz(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: March 04, 2023

From morgue freezer alarms tripping with nobody inside to a Scream-masked figure waving at the security camera, twenty-one workers describe the moments they realized empty buildings are rarely as empty as they look.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources and transcript): https://weirddarkness.com/AloneOnTheJobFEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Complete isolation sounds horrifying, but for people who work alone, it just becomes part of the process. *** Fog and mist are a staple of creating a perfect horror atmosphere. In some cases, such as movies like “The Fog” or “The Mist”, it is the creeping haze that is the danger itself. But then there is the true story from the Florida woods of a supernatural fog bank that appeared to eat people alive. *** How did The Devil's footprint get in a rock in North Carolina? *** One of our Weirdo family members didn't used to believe in the supernatural – but that changed when he insisted that the ghost prove it exists. *** Mysterious fires and moving objects have terrified the residents of a house in central Morocco.CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:01:03.467 = Show Open00:02:51.044 = Creepy Working Alone Stories00:27:01.430 = A Strange Carnivorous Mist ***00:35:48.414 = Devil's Rock00:39:48.078 = Demanding Proof ***00:41:53.899 = Poltergeist in Morocco00:48:58.487 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:“Creepy Working Alone Stories” by Stefanie Hammond fore Ranker: https://tinyurl.com/tuxe6zd“A Strange Carnivorous Mist” by Brent Swancer for Mysterious Universe: https://tinyurl.com/vyveg7a“Devil's Rock” posted at North Carolina Ghosts: https://tinyurl.com/trcpobe“Demanding Proof” by Weirdo family member Christopher Gray, submitted directly to WeirdDarkness“Poltergeist in Morocco” originally posted in Hespress of Morocco, translated by The Fortean:https://tinyurl.com/y8s7glte(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.

An English butcher murdered his wife the day his exorcism ended, the Son of Sam blamed his neighbor's dog, and a forked-tongued occultist who called himself Pazuzu buried bodies in his backyard — and every one of them swore it was the demon who did it. | #WDRadio May 10, 2026==========HOUR ONE: “The devil made me do it.” It's an excuse that has been used so often by so many that it has lost its meaning, and its effectiveness. So only a fool or a madman would commit a horrible act and then try to blame it on the devil or a demon… unless, of course, that person truly believes that is exactly what happened to them. (A Demon Made Me Do It) *** The little Norwegian village of Bærum Verk still stands as an old foundry settlement, and is an active place, both as a place to work, and as a place to live – and as a place to keep living even after you're dead. (The Most Haunted Village in Norway) *** There are more than a few stories from upright citizens around the world who claim to have seen tiny humans. I'm not talking about the diminutive human beings we used to classify as dwarves or midgets until we became more enlightened. I'm talking about short, maybe two-foot tall, perfectly proportioned people. (Big Stories About Little People)==========HOUR TWO: Like many desolate places, the Arctic has its share of ghost stories and haunted legends floating around the frigid, wild areas of its domain. It might be the frights rather than the cold that gives you goosebumps. (Ghostly Shivers of the Arctic Circle) *** You never know what might be lurking just out of sight – in the shadows, behind a door. I'll share a few true stories that might make you double-check the locks at night and check the closet before going to bed. (Never Trust The Dark) *** When you think of the Salem Witch Trials, you typically think of women being burned at the stake, innocently accused of witchcraft. There are two incorrect assumption about that mental picture. First, most of the accused were hung, and none have been truly verified to be burned alive. And second, sorcery and Satan worship were not seen to be bound by gender, and so either a man, woman, boy, or girl could be a witch. And one of those unfortunate men was Giles Corey – but his punishment went beyond the norm, and into the gruesome. (The Most Dreadful Execution of The Salem Witch Trials)==========SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME: When John and Eva were married they told their relatives that they planned to honeymoon on the Atlantic coast, but John had another plan, and it would not be his last deception. But it would be the first act in what ended up being a mystery that has still gone unsolved to this day. (The Lawrenceburg Shanty-Boat Mystery) *** Weirdo family member James Pierce brings a true story that he calls, “It Came Through the Screen Door”. *** A 5-year-old boy having the time of his life at a carnival suddenly goes missing – and when found later there is no evidence whatsoever as to how he got where he was, who took him there, or what happened to him before he was found. (The Disturbing Case of Little Stephen McKerron) *** Weirdo family member Joy Cruz remembers something her mother told her as a child… and it quite possibly saved her soul. (I've Seen The Devil)==========SOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM TONIGHT'S SHOW:“The Genesis of Geraldine” by David Jeremiah for Light Source: https://tinyurl.com/y7t7nuwx“A Demon Made Me Do It” by Jacob Shelton for Ranker: https://tinyurl.com/y2qedyjq, and Orrin Grey for The Line Up: https://tinyurl.com/yb8e6z25“The Most Haunted Village in Norway” from Moon Mausoleum: https://tinyurl.com/ya8nuxur“The Lawrenceburg Shanty-Boat Mystery” by Robert Wilhelm for Murder By Gaslight: https://tinyurl.com/yyod3q3j“Big Stories About Little People” by Nick Redfern for Mysterious Universe: https://tinyurl.com/ycql47wq“It Came Through the Screen Door” by Weirdo family member James Pierce“Ghostly Shivers of the Arctic Circle” by Jodi Smith for Ranker: https://tinyurl.com/yc9ymjyx“The Most Dreadful Execution of The Salem Witch Trials” from Sometimes Interesting: https://tinyurl.com/y979qn8e, and Evan Corey for History: https://tinyurl.com/y7qt45kx“I've Seen The Devil” by Joy Cruz for Weird Darkness: https://WeirdDarkness.com/submit“The Disturbing Case of Little Stephen McKerron” from Strange Company: https://tinyurl.com/ydf4w6ce“Never Trust the Dark” from The Line Up: https://tinyurl.com/y7bgdq5z==========Join the Weird Darkness Syndicate: https://weirddarkness.com//syndicateWeird Darkness theme by Alibi Music Library. Background music provided by Alibi Music Library, EpidemicSound and/or StoryBlocks with paid license. Music from Shadows Symphony (https://tinyurl.com/yyrv987t), Midnight Syndicate (http://amzn.to/2BYCoXZ) Kevin MacLeod (https://tinyurl.com/y2v7fgbu), Tony Longworth (https://tinyurl.com/y2nhnbt7), and Nicolas Gasparini (https://tinyurl.com/lnqpfs8) is used with permission of the artists.==========PODCASTS I HOST:Weird Darkness: https://weirddarkness.com/listenParanormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/paranormalitymagMicro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrorsRetro Radio – Old Time Radio In The Dark: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/retroradioChurch of the Undead: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/churchoftheundead==========(Over time links seen above may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)=========="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46==========WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.

In 1936, a Russian man named Karp Lykov watched a Soviet patrol shoot his brother dead in a field — and in that moment, he made a decision. He gathered his wife and two young children, packed seeds and a spinning wheel, and walked into the Siberian wilderness. He never came back. For 42 years, the Lykov family lived in a one-room log cabin more than 150 miles from the nearest human settlement, raising two children who had never once seen another face besides their own family's. Julie and Kaycee tell the full story — the hunger, the ingenuity, the grief, and the one member of the family who is still out there today. 01:08 Podcast Intro 01:29 1978 Helicopter Discovery 03:20 Why They Fled 05:36 1936 Escape Into Taiga 08:45 Building A Mountain Life 11:55 Hunger And Hunting 14:08 Akulina Sacrifice 16:12 Faith And Isolation 20:08 First Contact 1978 23:05 Modern World Revealed 24:53 Deaths After Contact 29:08 Agafia Alone Today 31:27 Helper And Visitors 36:33 What This Survival Means 37:49 Sources And Farewell Listen AD FREE: Support our podcast at patreaon: http://patreon.com/TheCruxTrueSurvivalPodcast Email us! thecruxsurvival@gmail.com Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thecruxpodcast/ Get schooled by Julie in outdoor wilderness medicine! https://www.headwatersfieldmedicine.com/ KEY REFERENCES: Vasily Peskov, Lost in the Taiga: One Russian Family's Fifty-Year Struggle for Survival and Religious Freedom in the Siberian Wilderness (Doubleday, 1992) Mike Dash, "For 40 Years, This Russian Family Was Cut Off From All Human Contact, Unaware of World War II," Smithsonian Magazine, January 28, 2013 (updated October 2, 2024) "Lykov family," Wikipedia (citing primary Peskov reporting and Komsomolskaya Pravda archives) "Meet the Last Lykov," Vice News, 2013 (interview with Agafia Lykova) "The Lykov Family That Fled Civilization and Lived in Total Isolation for 42 Years," All That's Interesting "The Lykov Family: How They Survived 42 Years Alone in the Siberian Wilderness," Rare Historical Photos "The Lykov Family: Forty Years Beyond the Edge of the World," Utterly Interesting "The Russian Family of Six, Cut Off from All Human Contact for 42 Years," Abroad in the Yard "How Did Agafia Lykova Stay Alive," Ranker "The Lykovs' 42-Year Exile," Fun Fact / Top News Source Komsomolskaya Pravda archives, Vasily Peskov series on the Lykov family, 1982 Agafia, documentary film, RT (Russia Today) Far Out: Agafia's Taiga Life, documentary film       Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Growing up is hard enough, but for the children of serial killers, the weight of their parents' horrific crimes is a shadow that never fades.EPISODE PAGE (includes sources and transcript): https://weirddarkness.com/ChildrenOfSerialKillersIN THIS EPISODE: Many people have claimed to see ghosts near the iconic “Hollywood” sign in California – but one particular ghost is seen more often than the others – and it comes with a sad story. *** Weirdo family member Andrew Horne tells of his ghostly experience in Gettysburg. *** Why did Nellie Blye intentionally check herself into an asylum for a harrowing ten days? *** Statistically speaking, you will walk past a murderer 10.76 times in your life. But what if you didn't just walk past a murderer - what if they were a part of your family and you didn't know it?CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = Show Open00:01:32.128 = The Children of Serial Killers00:30:05.441 = Hollywood Sign's Lady in White ***00:33:57.435 = Ghosts In Gettysburg00:38:10.085 = Nellie Bly's Living Nightmare00:42:29.147 = Show CloseSOURCES AND RESOURCES FROM THE EPISODE…“The Children of Serial Killers” by Stefanie Hammond for Ranker: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/557775be“The Hollywood Sign's Lady In White” posted at RealParanormalExperiences.com: (link no longer valid)“Ghosts In Gettysburg” by Weirdo family member Andrew Horne – submitted directly to Weird Darkness.“Nellie Bly's Living Nightmare” by Orrin Grey for The Line Up: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/nellie-bly=====(Over time links seen above may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)= = = = ="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46= = = = =WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.=====Originally aired: November, 2018

Shadow people slip through the dark in three escalating forms — fleeting glimpses, lingering watchers, and rare physical encounters that defy every rational explanation. But what are they?HOUR ONE: When you think of human sacrifice, you might picture Aztec or Mayan ceremonies, or maybe a Satanic cult standing in a pentagram with a naked woman on an altar – possibly even a volunteer. Personally, I picture Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. While civilizations and groups such as these certainly did (and maybe still do) their share of brutal sacrificing, they are by no means the only ones that conducted death rituals. Some will most certainly surprise, and possibly disturb, you. (Sadistic Sacrificing of Souls) *** A shadow person is a humanoid figure that you perceive in a patch of shadow. Some believe that they are supernatural spirits or extra-dimensional beings. What are they? Paranormal researchers have a theory, neuroscientists have another theory. (Contact With a Shadow Man) *** An astronomy professor says we should begin focusing on space archaeology – starting with our own moon. Why? Well, he believes E.T. might have left a clue there of his existence. (Extraterrestrial Evidence on the Moon) *** Thousands of years ago, people were performing a form of surgery that involved boring holes through a person's skull. Why on earth would they do such a thing? (Trepanation: I Need That Like Another Hole In The Head) *** What Does It Mean To Dream About Aliens?==========HOUR TWO: David Parker Ray is believed to have tortured and killed more than 50 women inside his soundproof trailer. A trailer he referred to as his “toy box”. (The Toy Box Killer) *** Two friends sipping soda and playing pool find the green table stained blood red, with no warning whatsoever. (Murder At The Pool Table) *** Malta, Italy is known for its splendid ruins, historical monuments, and ancient sites, but one of these places stands out; a mysterious underground complex that holds with in it many enigmas and oddities that remain unsolved to this day. (Malta's Cryptic Catacombs) *** Weirdo family member Robert Foster tells of a creepy incident that happened to him while working security at an army depot in Oregon. (The Phantom Truck) *** Imagine opening up the newspaper and reading this paragraph: “If anyone doubts this story in the least… they are reliable men who would under no circumstances lend their names to an untruth.” Newspapers just do not stand by their sources this unwaveringly, at least not anymore… and especially if the subject of the article is a haunted house. (The Ghost Told Them To Move)==========SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME: What if we were to discover there were aliens still living on the moon – and they were meddling in our affairs? How would you feel about that? Should extraterrestrials interfere in human affairs if they can help our society, or should we refuse that kind of leap in technology and medicine? (Should Aliens Interfere With Earthly Affairs?) *** Those who work nights are already in the creepy position of working what is called the “graveyard shift” - so you have to expect something to go wrong. If you are a security guard actively looking for something out of the ordinary during the graveyard shift, you know you're going to go home with stories to tell. (Tales of Graveyard Shift Security)==========SOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM TONIGHT'S SHOW:“What Does It Mean To Dream About Aliens” from Paranormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.com/magazineBOOK: “The Secret War: The Heavens Speak of the Battle” by Heidi Holllis: https://amzn.to/3c0oeD7“Trepanation: I Need That Like Another Hole In The Head” by Robin Wylie for the BBC: https://tinyurl.com/yatx2ruu“Sadistic Sacrificing of Souls” by T.L. Perez for Ranker: https://tinyurl.com/y9noz4wz“Contact With a Shadow Man” by Stephen Wagner for Live About: https://tinyurl.com/y8j6j7qb“Extraterrestrial Evidence on the Moon” by Cynthia McKanzie for Message to Eagle: https://tinyurl.com/y86xeukz“Should Aliens Interfere With Earthly Affairs?” by Ellen Lloyd for Message to Eagle: https://tinyurl.com/y9yle3a6“The Toy Box Killer” by Christina Skelton: https://tinyurl.com/yafys82x“Murder At The Pool Table” by Robert Wilhelm for Murder By Gaslight: https://tinyurl.com/y3bzlff6“Malta's Cryptic Catacombs” by Brent Swancer for Mysterious Universe: https://tinyurl.com/ya9pa9je“Tales of Graveyard Shift Security” gathered by Bailey Brown for Ranker: https://tinyurl.com/ycyyuh3w“The Phantom Truck” by Weirdo family member Robert Foster“The Ghost Told Them To Move” from Strange Company: https://tinyurl.com/ycrke6qn==========Join the Weird Darkness Syndicate: https://weirddarkness.com//syndicateWeird Darkness theme by Alibi Music Library. Background music provided by Alibi Music Library, EpidemicSound and/or StoryBlocks with paid license. Music from Shadows Symphony (https://tinyurl.com/yyrv987t), Midnight Syndicate (http://amzn.to/2BYCoXZ) Kevin MacLeod (https://tinyurl.com/y2v7fgbu), Tony Longworth (https://tinyurl.com/y2nhnbt7), and Nicolas Gasparini (https://tinyurl.com/lnqpfs8) is used with permission of the artists.==========PODCASTS I HOST:Weird Darkness: https://weirddarkness.com/listenParanormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/paranormalitymagMicro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrorsRetro Radio – Old Time Radio In The Dark: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/retroradioChurch of the Undead: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/churchoftheundead==========(Over time links seen above may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)=========="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46==========WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.

When a reclusive miser turns up dead with an axe to the head, his family's buried secrets and bitter rivalries start spilling out, and no one walks away clean.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources and full transcript): https://weirddarkness.com/CharlesHenryFEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Ebeneezer Scrooge had nothing on a man named Charles Henry. Charles was miserly, and cruel. No doubt he had a long list of people who could've been accused of wanting him dead. *** When it comes to B-movie horror, you can't do much better than the 1958 classic “The Blob”. But don't believe it's just science fiction – reports have been coming for years of people in real life actually coming across some type of amorphous creatures very similar to what was originally seen on the big screen. *** The Conjuring, The Amityville Horror, Annabelle, and many other books and films have been based on Ed and Lorraine Warren and the stories they tell. But it appears they may not be as advertised. If fact, they've been shown to be fraudulent on more than one occasion. *** Whether or not you believe in curses, luck, or fate it may be hard to explain away some of the eerie items people have had in their keeping, only to get rid of them as quickly as possible for fear of suffering more calamities. *** A woman describes her home as a child as evil – even on sunny days, the gloom would overtake her. *** In an old cemetery in North Carolina, a young girl is buried – but not in a coffin as you might expect. She was buried while submerged in a keg of rum.CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:01:18.836 = Show Open00:03:38.797 = Miser Henry's Murder00:10:39.439 = Unlucky Possessions00:27:00.103 = My Haunted Childhood Home ***00:29:29.674 = The Blobs00:41:55.110 = The Rum Keg Girl00:47:07.349 = When The Warrens Were Exposed As Frauds ***01:14:48.146 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on YouTube Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other apps. Get the full list of options here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:“Miser Henry's Murder” by Robert Wilhelm for Murder By Gaslight: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/bdhek2cw“Unlucky Possessions” by T.C. Bridges for Haunted Ohio Books: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yck36nt7“My Haunted Childhood Home” by Marie Davis, posted at MyHauntedLifeToo.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yc8cbkwm“The Blobs” by Brent Swancer for Mysterious Universe: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2wu24zca“The Rum Keg Girl” posted at North Carolina Ghosts: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/27ssnbh8“Were The Warrens Exposed as Frauds?” by Christopher Shultz at Ranker.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8tyrhr(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: November, 2018

Link Up w/The Morning Sickness Digitally All Over:Instagram: @hms_98_official, @bosskupd, @bretvesely, @dickToledoX/Twitter: @HMSon98, @DickToledo, @bretveselyFacebook: @HMSKUPDYouTube: @hmspodcast9320, @98kupdRequest/Call in/Wakeup Song line:(IN AZ) 602.585.9800More HMS: holmbergpodcast.com, 98kupd.comEmail: dtoledo@98kupd.com, bvesely@98kupd.com, bbogen@98kupd.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Link Up w/The Morning Sickness Digitally All Over:Instagram: @hms_98_official, @bosskupd, @bretvesely, @dickToledoX/Twitter: @HMSon98, @DickToledo, @bretveselyFacebook: @HMSKUPDYouTube: @hmspodcast9320, @98kupdRequest/Call in/Wakeup Song line:(IN AZ) 602.585.9800More HMS: holmbergpodcast.com, 98kupd.comEmail: dtoledo@98kupd.com, bvesely@98kupd.com, bbogen@98kupd.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Link Up w/The Morning Sickness Digitally All Over:Instagram: @hms_98_official, @bosskupd, @bretvesely, @dickToledoX/Twitter: @HMSon98, @DickToledo, @bretveselyFacebook: @HMSKUPDYouTube: @hmspodcast9320, @98kupdRequest/Call in/Wakeup Song line:(IN AZ) 602.585.9800More HMS: holmbergpodcast.com, 98kupd.comEmail: dtoledo@98kupd.com, bvesely@98kupd.com, bbogen@98kupd.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Link Up w/The Morning Sickness Digitally All Over:Instagram: @hms_98_official, @bosskupd, @bretvesely, @dickToledoX/Twitter: @HMSon98, @DickToledo, @bretveselyFacebook: @HMSKUPDYouTube: @hmspodcast9320, @98kupdRequest/Call in/Wakeup Song line:(IN AZ) 602.585.9800More HMS: holmbergpodcast.com, 98kupd.comEmail: dtoledo@98kupd.com, bvesely@98kupd.com, bbogen@98kupd.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For thousands of years, the most desperate minds in history — scientists, sorcerers, and everyone in between — have refused to accept that death is the end. | #WDRadio April 12, 2026==========HOUR ONE: I'm pretty sure that unless you were born of a virgin, died, and then rose from the grave three days later, no one has had any real success at bringing people back from the underworld. But that's exactly what people who practice necromancy try to do – wake the dead. They can't be successful at it though, can they? (Raising The Dead) *** The people of Japan have a myth of a terrible snake-like creature with death-dealing powers called a Tsuchinoko. But unlike many legends, there have been modern sightings of this bizarre cryptid. Is it real? If so, what could it be? (Is The Legendary Tsuchinoko Real?) *** At the age of only 14, George Stinney Jr. was the youngest person in history to be put to death in the electric chair. Then, seventy years later he was proven innocent. (The Execution of an Innocent) ***They were cigar-shaped, glowed red and could turn on a dime. Which ruled out even the most sophisticated rockets of the time. What is it that World War II fighter pilots were seeing in the skies flying with them? (The UFOs of World War 2)==========HOUR TWO: All families have their ups and downs. However, when you find a clan where an infanticide trial is arguably the least worst thing to happen to them, it's safe to say you've found one very special household… the Mabbitt family. 
(The Confusing Disappearance of Luella Mabbitt) *** A woman moves into a home where the past three residents went insane. What could possibly go wrong? (The House With The Unfortunate Past) *** Bartholomew Roberts, better known as the in famous pirate Black Bart, operated in the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean from 1719 to 1722. He was easily the most successful pirate of the Golden Age of Piracy, having been known to have captured over 400 ships in his day. But could it be true that he was actually forced to become a pirate against his will? (Was Black Bart Forced To Become a Pirate?) *** If you could choose a superpower, what would it be? Invisibility? Flight? Super strength or speed? What about X-ray vision like Superman? Would you believe there was a man in the 20th century who did have x-ray vision, without technology to do it? He had a few other superpowers as well! (The Man With The X-Ray Eyes)==========SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME: It was the slaying that shocked Australia. Sometime on the night of December 26th, 1898, Michael Murphy and his two younger sisters were slaughtered as they traveled back from Gatton in southeastern Australia. Their murders prompted a massive investigation—yet the crime remains unsolved to this day. (Australia's Unsolved Gatton Murders) *** A snowy November day, a bus full of students, and an icy lake. It was about to become the day of the worst school-related accident in Washington state history. (School Bus Plunges To An Icy Death)==========SOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM TONIGHT'S SHOW:VIDEO of Kuba Bux from 1938: https://weirddarkness.com/archives/6546BOOK: Military Encounters with UFOs in World War II by Keith Chester: https://amzn.to/2MdWUHl“Australia's Unsolved Gatton Murders” by Orrin Grey for The Line Up: https://tinyurl.com/yapybysk“The Confusing Disappearance of Luella Mabbitt” from Strange Company: https://tinyurl.com/y88xoa95“The Man With The X-Ray Eyes” by Marc Hartzman for Weird Historian: https://tinyurl.com/y9ok2wnz“The House With The Unfortunate Past” by Dar77 from Your Ghost Stories: https://tinyurl.com/y85t95qe“Was Black Bart Forced To Become a Pirate?” by Ellen Lloyd for Ancient Pages: https://tinyurl.com/yc7doxlj“Is The Legendary Tsuchinoko Real?” by Ellen Lloyd for Ancient Pages: https://tinyurl.com/y7aoznc2“The Execution of an Innocent” from Bugged Space: https://tinyurl.com/yagynb2y“Zombie Science” by Kimberly Hickok for Live Science: https://tinyurl.com/ybud3hly“Raising The Dead” by Jen Jeffers for Ranker: (link no longer available)“The UFOs of World War 2” by Adam Janos for History: https://tinyurl.com/yamx3hnl“School Bus Plunges To An Icy Death” by Daryl McClary for History Link: https://tinyurl.com/ybtxdrrl==========(Over time links seen above may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for material I use whenever possible. If I have overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it immediately. Some links may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)=========="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46==========WeirdDarkness®, WeirdDarkness© 2026==========To become a Weird Darkness Radio Show affiliate, contact Radio America at affiliates@radioamerica.com, or call 800-807-4703 (press 2 or dial ext 250).

While science offers an explanation for sleep paralysis, the haunting tales of shadowy figures, demons, and unearthly whispers remind us that, in the dead of night, the line between reality and nightmare blurs.Look for this podcast on YouTube Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other apps. Get the full list of options here: https://pod.link/1078714736*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*IN THIS EPISODE: It feels like a demon trapping you inside your own body. For some, it's a faceless entity trying to suffocate them. For others, it's a creepy old witch with long, dirty claws. Others believe it's alien abduction, and some even see the face of dead relatives during these attacks. However it happens, whatever is seen or felt, whatever the truth of the phenomenon may be… sleep paralysis is always terrifying. (Stories of Sleep Paralysis) *** It was the single most destructive fire in American history, on October 8, 1871 a large portion of the midwest burned to the ground… but this wasn't the Great Chicago Fire. (The Great Peshtigo Fire) *** You could say their story is a long and fishy tail… mermaids have been in folklore and myths throughout history, and with stories of them being found worldwide. (Mermaid Mythology)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:00:56.194 = Show Open00:02:43.892 = Stories of Sleep Paralysis, Part 100:24:37.070 = Stories of Sleep Paralysis, Part 2 ***00:43:30.403 = Mermaid Mythology00:50:26.607 = The Great Peshtigo Fire ***01:13:11.745 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakHELPFUL LINKS & RESOURCES…https://WeirdDarkness.com/ALBUMS = Songs and Videos by our Weird Darkness punk band, #DarkWeirdnesshttps://WeirdDarkness.com/STORE = Tees, Mugs, Socks, Hoodies, Totes, Hats, Kidswear & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/HOPE = Hope For Depression or Thoughts of Self-Harmhttps://WeirdDarkness.com/NEWSLETTER = In-Depth Articles, Memes, Weird DarkNEWS, Videos & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/AUDIOBOOKS = FREE Audiobooks Narrated By Darren Marlar EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/sleepdemonSOURCES and RESOURCES:Episode Page at WeirdDarkness.com: https://weirddarkness.com/SleepParalysis“Stories of Sleep Paralysis” by Christoper Shultz for Ranker: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yckmrapk; and US Ghost Adventures: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/72p3x994“The Great Peshtigo Fire” by Troy Taylor from the book “And Hell Followed With It”: https://amzn.to/3HdyOci“Mermaid Mythology” by Louise Pryke for The Conversation: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p9bzzsx(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)"I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: January 09, 2024

Mental institutions have a way of leaving their mark—whether it's through the haunting tales of abandoned asylums, the horrifying experiences shared by patients and staff, or the disturbing reality of 19th-century facilities that turned human suffering into a spectacle.Look for this podcast on YouTube Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other apps. Get the full list of options here: https://pod.link/1078714736*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*IN THIS EPISODE: Mental Institutions, psychiatric hospitals, lunatic asylums… whatever you want to call them, they can do good work if given the right resources and staff, helping patients to live through or possibly even overcome mental health crises. But even in the more well-funded locations, nightmares still occur according to both staff and patients. And even when those institutions are abandoned and left to rot, many refuse to release the tormented souls who have somehow found themselves entrapped there in the afterlife. We'll look at haunted asylums, we'll hear some horrifying true stories from both patients and workers about what happens inside asylums that are still in operation, and we'll learn about the horrifying reality of mental asylums in the 19th century acting almost like amusement parks for paying visitors. CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:01:52.693 = Show Open00:03:39.632 = Madness in the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum00:15:40.319 = The Buffalo State Asylum ***00:22:43.987 = Athens Asylum00:33:25.105 = Haunted Asylums00:42:36.694 = Psych Ward Horror Stories ***01:11:40.472 = Seeing The Sights at the Psych Ward ***01:20:32.348 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakHELPFUL LINKS & RESOURCES…https://WeirdDarkness.com/ALBUMS = Songs and Videos by our Weird Darkness punk band, #DarkWeirdnesshttps://WeirdDarkness.com/STORE = Tees, Mugs, Socks, Hoodies, Totes, Hats, Kidswear & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/HOPE = Hope For Depression or Thoughts of Self-Harmhttps://WeirdDarkness.com/NEWSLETTER = In-Depth Articles, Memes, Weird DarkNEWS, Videos & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/AUDIOBOOKS = FREE Audiobooks Narrated By Darren Marlar EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/AsylumGhostsSOURCES and RESOURCES:“Madness In The Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum” by Katie Serena for All That's Interesting:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3k8t8far and Kathy Weiser-Alexander for Legends of America:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/mryb2uv3“Athens Asylum for the Insane” by Kathy Weiser-Alexander for Legends of America: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/mvx5kr9z“The Buffalo State Asylum” posted at The Scare Chamber: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2a5jacp3“Haunted Asylums” by Christopher Myers for Ranker: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/bdt42kwa“Psych Ward Horror Stories” by Duke Harton: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2a4avdvz and Isadora Teich: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/57t2z279 for Ranker“Seeing the Sights at the Psych Ward” by Christy Box for Ranker: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/mr3bn87b(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)"I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: January 08, 2024

From a forest so silent it felt like the trees themselves were hiding, to glowing eyes across the river, to footprints in the snow that started and ended at cliffs no one could climb — these are the camping trips nobody talks about around the fire.*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*IN THIS EPISODE: IN THIS EPISODE: With all the nastiness and violence that has taken place around the Tower of London, you'd probably expect to come across a spook or twelve… but would you be surprised to find out that it's also haunted by a spectral bear? (Ghost Bear of the Tower of London) *** In the winter of 1982, Alan Phillips was lost in Colorado's Rocky Mountains, in temperatures of -22°F (-30°C), in a blinding snowstorm. His survival and rescue was seen as miraculous… and then later it was found out that rescuers had just saved the life of a serial killer. (The Miracle Rescue of a Serial Killer) *** A famous silent-film actress suddenly disappears at sea. Was she the victim of foul play? Did she fall overboard? Or was it all a hoax simply to gain publicity? (The Case of the Vanishing Movie Star) *** Ghosts are almost always scary – but the most terrifying are those that become violent. The poltergeists. We'll look at five of the most violent poltergeist cases of all time. There are some ghosts you do not want inside your home. (Violent Poltergeists) *** Camping is always fun – getting together with friends or family, pitching a tent, roasting hotdogs on an open fire, telling ghost stories, hearing a snap of a twig in the brush behind you, seeing glowing eyes in the darkness, hearing animal-like growls coming from just outside your tent in the middle of the night… what's there not to like? Okay, so maybe camping can be a bit creepy, as we'll find out from a few Redditors who share some of their scariest camping experiences. (Camping Creepies)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = Show Open00:02:37.186 = Camping Creepies00:20:51.094 = The Ghost Bear of the Tower of London ***00:35:32.755 = The Case of the Vanishing Movie Star00:43:59.107 = The Miracle Rescue of a Serial Killer ***00:48:51.353 = Violent Poltergeists01:02:30.285 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakHELPFUL LINKS & RESOURCES…https://WeirdDarkness.com/ALBUMS = Songs and Videos by our Weird Darkness punk band, #DarkWeirdnesshttps://WeirdDarkness.com/STORE = Tees, Mugs, Socks, Hoodies, Totes, Hats, Kidswear & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/HOPE = Hope For Depression or Thoughts of Self-Harmhttps://WeirdDarkness.com/NEWSLETTER = In-Depth Articles, Memes, Weird DarkNEWS, Videos & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/AUDIOBOOKS = FREE Audiobooks Narrated By Darren Marlar EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/CampfireEncountersSOURCES and RESOURCES:“The Case of the Vanishing Movie Star” from Strange Company: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/c4t7hn4a“Camping Creepies” by Erika Valverde for Ranker: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/8ccm9h2d“The Ghost Bear” by Miss Jessel for Haunted Palace Blog: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3zbymxsy“The Miracle Rescue of a Serial Killer” from Strange Outdoors: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/ycn23vwh“Violent Poltergeists” by Audrey Webster for The Line-Up: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/uanuyyz6(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)"I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: September 14, 2021ABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: #WeirdDarkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all things strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold cases, conspiracy theories, and more. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “20 Best Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a blend of “Coast to Coast AM”, “The Twilight Zone”, “Unsolved Mysteries”, and “In Search Of”.DISCLAIMER: Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised.

Timecodes: 00:00 Intro 05:35 Housekeeping 34:32 CBT 44:40 Denim Diped Devil at Large 52:10 Mid Break 54:10 Jim is HYPED for Harry Potter HBO 1:00:20 Jim is HYPED for Lord of the Rings Movies More! 1:07:06 Pusha T in the Files 1:11:39 Kindness Shared 1:12:24 Captain Jack 1:13:42 Thoughts on something deep... 1:18:19 JAR Call-In 1:23:12 Self-diagnose

Lindsay and Madison discuss Peter Niers, as well as various Medieval torture methods, how to make your own Invisibility Cloak, and why you shouldn't trust your personal belongings to strangers. Information pulled from the following sources 2024 Cult Nation article by Sean Reveron 2023 Gothic Bite Magazine post by Paula 2021 Ranker article by Jen Jeffers 2018 Executed Today post by Headsman 2017 The Raven Report blog post 2010 Spiegel International article by Frank Thadeusz Alchetron article Wikipedia (1) (2) You can download “How We Feel” for Apple and Android. Send us your listener questions to bit.ly/AskYOC. Become a member on Buy Me A Coffee for as little as $1/month to support the show.  Get your groceries and essentials delivered in as fast as 1 hour via Instacart. Free delivery on your first 3 orders. Min $10 per order. Terms apply. You can write to us at: Ye Olde Crime Podcast, PO Box 341, Wyoming, MN 55092. Leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, Spotify, Podcast Addict, Audible, or Goodpods! Don't forget to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Threads, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Read a more in-depth article about Candyman: https://weirddarkness.com/candyman-love-story/Say his name five times in a mirror, and Candyman, a vengeful spirit born from love, betrayal, and unspeakable violence, will appear to continue his blood-soaked legend across generations.*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*IN THIS EPISODE: If you look in a mirror and say his name five times, he will appear behind you, complete with a hook for a hand – covered in blood because his hand has been cut off. Isn't that romantic? No? Well, Clive Barker's 1992 horror cult classic “Candyman” actually began as a real-life love story. So how did it turn so gruesome and terrifying? (The Nightmarish Love Story Behind Horror's Candyman) *** The Enfield Poltergeist has become infamous thanks to Ed and Lorraine Warren and “The Conjuring” films. That took place in a house in Brimsdown, Enfield, London England. But on the other side of the pond there is an Enfield, Illinois. Not as well known as the one in England of course, but they still have a horror in their past. One that took place four years before the Enfield incident in London… about a terrifying creature that locals who were alive at the time still get goosebumps talking about. (The Horror of the Enfield, Illinois Monster) *** Complex family dynamics and an infatuated businessman ended in a murder that was covered up and remained hidden for three decades, buried in the grounds of the house at 10324 Canyon Road. (A Dark Secret Leads To a Death On Canyon Road) *** One girl decided to go by the name of Lila, because her true name was Delilah but she didn't want to be associated with that harlot in the Bible. The stories behind how people get nicknames can often be fascinating. So how do you supposed Margaret Dickson got tagged with the nickname of “Half Hangit Maggie”? (Half Hangit Maggie) *** The search for intelligent life in the universe has been a goal for decades, with everyone from NASA to SETI to backyard Ufologists looking to the skies, listening to various radio waves, hoping to catch just a glimpse, at least a hint of what we hope to find. But could it be that we're looking in the wrong place? Perhaps the extraterrestrial intelligence, the more advanced life we seek to make contact with, is not out there somewhere… but it is here somewhere… already on Earth? (There Might Be Intelligent Life On Earth After All) *** Too often we are let down by those whom we look up to – and that goes doubly so for those in religious authority. How many well-known religious figures have toppled over after being exalted on high by the followers they so skillfully misled? Jim Bakker, Robert Tilton, Ted Haggard, Jimmy Swaggart… but none compare to Major Thomas Weir – a strict Presbyterian known for his powerful prayers, earning him a reputation for being one of the most saintly men of his time. But then he made a confession so outlandish, so ghastly and profane, they executed him. (Confession of a Warlock)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = Show Open00:03:42.594 = The Nightmarish Love Story Behind Horror's “Candyman”00:19:53.864 = Horror of the Enfield Monster ***00:29:03.329 = Half Hang-It Maggie00:43:57.532 = Dark Secret Leads to a Death On Canyon Road ***00:51:32.380 = There Might Be Intelligent Life On Earth After All01:03:56.242 = Confession of a Warlock ***01:17:24.131 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakHELPFUL LINKS & RESOURCES…https://WeirdDarkness.com/ALBUMS = Songs and Videos by our Weird Darkness punk band, #DarkWeirdnesshttps://WeirdDarkness.com/STORE = Tees, Mugs, Socks, Hoodies, Totes, Hats, Kidswear & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/HOPE = Hope For Depression or Thoughts of Self-Harmhttps://WeirdDarkness.com/NEWSLETTER = In-Depth Articles, Memes, Weird DarkNEWS, Videos & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/AUDIOBOOKS = FREE Audiobooks Narrated By Darren Marlar EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/candymanSOURCES and RESOURCES:“The Nightmarish Love Story Behind Horror's Candyman” by Linda Meyers for Graveyard Shift:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/m2jehmrs; music from Candyman soundtrack by Philip Glass“The Horror of the Enfield, Illinois Monster” by April A. Taylor for Ranker: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3ec4bpfh“A Dark Secret Leads To a Death On Canyon Road” by Fiona Guy for Crime Traveller: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/knmaee7e“Half Hang-it Maggie” by Suzie at Digging Up 1800: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/m438c37r“There Might Be Intelligent Life On Earth After All” from Earth Chronicles: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3sehpz6w“Confession of a Warlock” from Esoterx.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3u4tdup6(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)"I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: September 08, 2021ABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: #WeirdDarkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all things strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold cases, conspiracy theories, and more. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “20 Best Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a blend of “Coast to Coast AM”, “The Twilight Zone”, “Unsolved Mysteries”, and “In Search Of”.DISCLAIMER: Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised.

Look for this podcast on YouTube Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and numerous other podcast apps. Get the full list of options here: https://pod.link/1078714736Anneliese Michel's tragic battle with horrific demonic possession and the exorcisms performed on her, inspired the chilling film “The Exorcism of Emily Rose”. But was she truly possessed, or suffering from schizophrenia? Or maybe something more sinister?*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*PARANORMAL PUNK SONGS BASED ON THIS EPISODE: https://weirddarkness.com/music-annelieseIN THIS EPISODE: IN THIS EPISODE: Most horror film fans will either have seen or at least know about the 2005 movie, “The Exorcism of Emily Rose”. The story follows a woman who acts as a kind of defense attorney for a priest who is on trial for murder after a girl dies when he performs an exorcism on her. The film is loosely… very loosely… based on a real story of a girl named Anneliese Michel, who so demonically possessed, that in the span of just ten months she forced to endure 67 exorcisms. (The 67 Exorcisms of Anneliese Michel) *** Ever since the beginning of the 16th century, Penkaet Castle has been the scene of a number of unexplained mysteries – and people who visited this old lonely Scottish castle have had some terrifying experiences. (The Peculiar Happenings at Penkaet Castle) *** When they knock on your door and say, “Let us in” or “We need to use the phone” – do not let them through the door if you notice their eyes are completely black. I'm talking about black-eyed children. Have you ever wondered what happens if they do get through the door? The answer is not pretty. (What Happens When You Let a Black-Eyed-Kid Inside Your House?) *** Is it possible that a tribe in the Amazon found a way to travel to another dimension thousands of years ago – and still do so today, through something called DMT? (The DMT Mystery) *** Why do ghosts haunt us? Author and researcher Brian Haughton has a few thoughts and the subject and takes us through a short history of ghostly folklore, and some theories as to why there are hauntings in the first place. (Ghosts and Folklore) *** Things begin to feel or sound wrong. You feel you are the size of a mouse, or the size of a mountain – or the objects you are looking at are the wrong size. The whole concept of time might become meaningless and confusing to you. You'll have no way to control it, your doctor won't be able to help, and you'll never see it coming. With a name like Alice in Wonderland Syndrome, it might sound harmless, but once you hear what it is, you'll hope or your children never get it. (What Is It Like To Have Alice in Wonderland Syndrome?)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:00:51.852 = Show Open00:04:15.038 = The 67 Exorcisms of Anneliese Michel00:19:50.505 = The Peculiar Happening at Penkaet Castle ***00:28:04.010 = What Happens When You Let a Black-Eyed Kids Inside Your House?00:38:52.330 = The DMT Mystery ***00:45:53.133 = Ghosts and Folklore00:55:29.124 = Alice In Wonderland Syndrome01:04:58.990 = Show Close= Song, “Anneliese”*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakHELPFUL LINKS & RESOURCES…https://WeirdDarkness.com/ALBUMS = Songs and Videos by our Weird Darkness punk band, #DarkWeirdnesshttps://WeirdDarkness.com/STORE = Tees, Mugs, Socks, Hoodies, Totes, Hats, Kidswear & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/HOPE = Hope For Depression or Thoughts of Self-Harmhttps://WeirdDarkness.com/NEWSLETTER = In-Depth Articles, Memes, Weird DarkNEWS, Videos & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/AUDIOBOOKS = FREE Audiobooks Narrated By Darren Marlar EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/AnnelieseMichelSOURCES and RESOURCES:“The 67 Exorcisms of Anneliese Michel” story = from Bugged Space Horror Storieshttps://weirddarkness.tiny.us/cfv4v4ur; and Gabe Paoletti from All That's Interesting:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/x4f53zth“The 67 Exorcisms of Anneliese Michel” audio clips = https://weirddarkness.com/anneliese-michel-audio/“The Peculiar Happenings at Penkaet Castle” by A. Sutherland for Ancient Pages: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2u392v3h“The DMT Mystery” posted at Anomalien: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/4t8nk68p“Ghosts and Folklore” by Brian Haughton: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/tmt86wna“What Happens When You Let a Black-Eyed-Kid Inside Your House?” by Lara Cuschieri for Horror Movie Blog:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/x764p4rd“What Is It Like To Have Alice in Wonderland Syndrome?” by Laura Allan for Ranker: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/cs8we4u8(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)"I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: September 06, 2021ABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: #WeirdDarkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all things strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold cases, conspiracy theories, and more. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “20 Best Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a blend of “Coast to Coast AM”, “The Twilight Zone”, “Unsolved Mysteries”, and “In Search Of”.DISCLAIMER: Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised.

Link Up w/The Morning Sickness Digitally All Over:Instagram: @hms_98_official, @bosskupd, @bretvesely, @dickToledoX/Twitter: @HMSon98, @DickToledo, @bretveselyFacebook: @HMSKUPDYouTube: @hmspodcast9320, @98kupdRequest/Call in/Wakeup Song line:(IN AZ) 602.585.9800More HMS: holmbergpodcast.com, 98kupd.comEmail: dtoledo@98kupd.com, bvesely@98kupd.com, bbogen@98kupd.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

From medieval France to ancient Greece, these chilling cases of accused werewolves reveal a dark history where shapeshifting confessions, devil's pacts, and gruesome crimes blurred the line between legend and reality.==========HOUR ONE: On a barren field in the U.S. state of Georgia, five granite slabs rise in a star pattern. Each of them weighs over 20 tons and on top of them, there is a capstone. Nobody knows who built it or why they were placed there, but one popular opinion that their purpose is to guide humanity after a predicted post-apocalyptic event that will come in the not so distant future.  (The American Stonehenge) *** When you think "fairies," what comes to mind? You probably picture an adorable and sparkly creature akin to Disney's Tinker Bell, a lovely - and above all, friendly - presence. You may even want to make contact with them. Unfortunately, glittering humanoids with butterfly wings are the stuff of children's books. Retrace faerie folklore, and you'll discover their secret scary origins. (The Dark Side of Fairies) *** In the Summer of 1949, a geologist named Vadim Kolpakov discovered a strange feature on the surface of the earth in the Bodaibo, Irkutsk, region of South-Eastern Siberia.  Encircled by a largely treed area, this anomaly is oval with a conical crater that contains a small ball-like mound in its middle.  The geologic mystery has baffled scientists who are uncertain of what caused this weird formation. (What Caused the Patomskiy Crater) *** Is there any truth behind the enduring legend of the werewolf? 
(Planet Werewolf) *** The Red Pen==========HOUR TWO: Love, money, divorce, anger, and murder. One Pennsylvania family had it all and then some in the late 1800's. (The Butler County Tragedy) *** Count Saint Germain and Jacques Saint Germain, John and Wayne Carter, the Casket Girls of New Orleans. Despite many years between all of their lives, they all still have one grisly thing in common. All were thought to be, and possibly were, real vampires tied to the Big Easy… a place where real blood-suckers continue to live and roam the streets even now in the twenty-first century. (Vampires of New Orleans) *** They have a long history in the United Kingdom, stalking the moors and fog-carpeted streets in the night. But it appears hounds from Hell have also made their way to the Americas. (American Hellhounds)==========SOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM TONIGHT'S SHOW:Big Matt, “Long Road” song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWEvHVz2V6U“American Hellhounds” by Brent Swancer for Mysterious Universe: https://tinyurl.com/yczhkvde“The Butler County Tragedy” by Robert Wilhelm for Murder By Gaslight: https://tinyurl.com/yyn78amz“Vampires of New Orleans” by Brian Harrison for Exemplore: https://tinyurl.com/ycyy4vjpEpisode containing “The Elves of Iceland”: https://weirddarkness.com/?s=Elves+Iceland“Planet Werewolf” by Lea Rose Emery for Graveyard Shift: https://tinyurl.com/vcetp96“The Dark Side of Fairies” by Amber Fua for Ranker: https://tinyurl.com/rbexptk“The American Stonehenge” by Mihai Andrei for ZME Science: https://tinyurl.com/yaogafuz“What Caused the Patomskiy Crater?” by Lochlan McClelland for Historic Mysteries: https://tinyurl.com/wu9r5bc“The Red Pen” by Kjirsty Beth for Paranormality Magazine==========(Over time links seen above may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for material I use whenever possible. If I have overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it immediately. Some links may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)=========="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46==========WeirdDarkness®, WeirdDarkness© 2026==========To become a Weird Darkness Radio Show affiliate, contact Radio America at affiliates@radioamerica.com, or call 800-807-4703 (press 2 or dial ext 250).

Every second Monday at midnight, a blood-faced ghost walks the ruins of Rollesby Hall — but whose blood stains his face, and whose death keeps him there, depends on who you ask.*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*IN THIS EPISODE: One of the most intriguing Hopi legends involves the ant people, who were crucial to the Hopi's survival, not just once, but twice. We know this from the cave drawings they left behind. But who or what exactly were the ant people? (The Ant People and the Anunnaki) *** The red-faced ghost of Rollesby comes with an an identity crisis. People aren't sure if the bloody face they see is the ghost of a murderer - or a victim of murder. (The Red-Faced Ghost of Rollesby) *** A woman is scared senseless when someone visits her home during a rainstorm… but it's not just any passerby. (The Faceless Girl In The Striped Dress) *** One thing people just cannot seem to resist is a challenge – doubly so if you happen to be of the criminal persuasion. If they're told a place is impregnable, it makes it an almost irresistible challenge. (Never Say Your Place Is Impregnable) *** Joachim Kroll, the "Ruhr Cannibal," terrorized West Germany for over 20 years, eating the flesh of his victims because "meat was expensive." (The Duisburg Man Eater) *** It is said that the Vatican is holding manuscripts that hold details about ancient races of man that used to populate the Americas – powerful rulers from the south, described as having white beards, and red eyes. Who could these people have been – and where have they gone? (The Mystery of the Ancient White-Bearded Red-Eyed Rulers) *** We all know the Nazis inflicted terror and death upon innocent people during WWII – but many don't know just how horrifying the treatment was, particular the experiments they conducted on living prisoners. (Horrifying Nazi Experiments)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = Show Open00:02:29.754 = The Red-Faced Ghost of Rollesby00:06:06.399 = The Faceless Girl in the Striped Dress00:09:32.305 = Never Say Your Place Is Impregnable ***00:21:21.822 = The Duisburg Man-Eater00:30:52.180 = The Ant People And The Anunnaki ***00:39:45.907 = The Mystery of the Ancient White Bearded, Red-Eyed Rulers00:56:56.705 = Horrifying Nazi Experiments ***01:09:13.448 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakHELPFUL LINKS & RESOURCES…https://WeirdDarkness.com/MUSIC = Songs and Videos by our Weird Darkness punk band, #DarkWeirdnesshttps://WeirdDarkness.com/STORE = Tees, Mugs, Socks, Hoodies, Totes, Hats, Kidswear & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/HOPE = Hope For Depression or Thoughts of Self-Harmhttps://WeirdDarkness.com/NEWSLETTER = In-Depth Articles, Memes, Weird DarkNEWS, Videos & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/AUDIOBOOKS = FREE Audiobooks Narrated By Darren Marlar SOURCES and RESOURCES:“The Red-Faced Ghost of Rollesby” by Stacia Briggs and Sofia Connor for Weird Norfolk:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2djct9nz“The Faceless Girl In The Striped Dress” posted at YourGhostStories.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/ezbspc57“Horrifying Nazi Experiments” by Jacob Shelton for Ranker: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/m5ddb6pk“Never Say Your Place Is Impregnable” by Megan Summers for Weird History: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/4rmjf6n3“The Duisburg Man Eater” by Emily Stringer for All That's Interesting: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/jj6wx74“The Ant People and the Anunnaki” posted at Alien-UFO-Sightings: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/rpfncw“The Mystery of the Ancient White Bearded, Red-Eyed Rulers” by Ellen Lloyd for Ancient Pages:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/ukvebb2t, https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2ax8cmfm, https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/nz8de5dt,https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2szdtzxk=====(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)= = = = ="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46= = = = =WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.=====Originally aired: August 11, 2021EPISODE PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/RollesbyHauntingABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: #WeirdDarkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all things strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold cases, conspiracy theories, and more. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “20 Best Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a blend of “Coast to Coast AM”, “The Twilight Zone”, “Unsolved Mysteries”, and “In Search Of”.DISCLAIMER: Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised.

There are cases that make people question everything they thought they knew about how justice works — and then there are cases like these. The names Brendan Dassey and Kimberly Long have been argued over in courtrooms, in living rooms, and in comment sections for years, by people who cannot let go of the nagging sense that something went terribly wrong. And wrapped around both of their stories is a question that researchers, attorneys, and psychologists have spent decades trying to answer — one that sounds simple until you really sit with it.*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*Take the Weird Darkness Survey: https://take.supersurvey.com/QGZCRXPVSIN THIS EPISODE: In 2007, a sixteen-year-old boy was tried and convicted as an adult for the assault and murder of a woman in Wisconsin. But is it possible that Brendan Dassey isn't guilty as we were all led to believe? (Is Brendan Dassey Innocent?) *** After a night of bar-hopping, Ozzy Conde and girlfriend Kimberly Long got into an argument that ended up with Ozzy laying on the floor – dead. Kimberly was sent to prison. At least that's the story the prosectors told. But Kimberly fought for years to try and convince people she was not a murderer. But was she? (Kimberly's Long Struggle to Prove Her Innocence) *** The idea of someone breaking down and confessing to police that they committed a crime – when in actuality they did not do it – seems ludicrous to us. But it happens all the time. Why on earth would someone ever do such a thing? We'll look a bit closer at how it happens. (Why Do The Innocent Confess?)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = Show Open00:01:48.355 = Is Brendan Dassey Innocent?00:13:49.474 = Kimberly's Long Struggle To Prove Her Innocence ***00:25:59.894 = Why Do The Innocent Confess? ***00:33:46.093 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakHELPFUL LINKS & RESOURCES…https://WeirdDarkness.com/MUSIC = Songs and Videos by our Weird Darkness punk band, #DarkWeirdnesshttps://WeirdDarkness.com/STORE = Tees, Mugs, Socks, Hoodies, Totes, Hats, Kidswear & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/HOPE = Hope For Depression or Thoughts of Self-Harmhttps://WeirdDarkness.com/NEWSLETTER = In-Depth Articles, Memes, Weird DarkNEWS, Videos & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/AUDIOBOOKS = FREE Audiobooks Narrated By Darren Marlar SOURCES and RESOURCES:“Is Brendan Dassey Innocent?” by Colleen Conroy” for Unspeakable Crimes: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yfvmdf9c“Kimberly's Long Struggle To Prove Her Innocence” by Maggie Clancy for Ranker: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/36dwdcuy“Why Do The Innocent Confess?” by Lea Rose Emery for Unspeakable Crimes: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/bjtvenfv=====(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)= = = = ="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46= = = = =WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.=====Originally aired: August 04, 2021EPISODE PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/TheConfessionTrapABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: #WeirdDarkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all things strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold cases, conspiracy theories, and more. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “20 Best Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a blend of “Coast to Coast AM”, “The Twilight Zone”, “Unsolved Mysteries”, and “In Search Of”.DISCLAIMER: Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised.

In the early morning hours of April 17, 1966, five law enforcement officers from four different agencies watched in disbelief as a massive, glowing, football-shaped craft silently hovered over a Pennsylvania shopping center parking lot — the same object two Ohio sheriff's deputies had just chased at speeds exceeding 100 mph across 86 miles of highway. When the Air Force investigated, they had a simple explanation: the officers had been chasing the planet Venus.*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*IN THIS EPISODE: Some believe them to be ghosts, others feel they are creatures or even humans from a different dimension. Still others believe they are demonic entities. Whatever the truth about what they are, the one thing everyone agrees about is that an encounter with a shadow person is undeniably terrifying. (Terrifying True Stories Of Shadow People) *** The townsfolk of Beaver County, Pennsylvania saw something very strange in 1966 – and now, so many decades later, it's just as much of a mystery as it was the day the encounter occurred. (The Unsolved Sighting in 1966) *** Some are beloved favorites like “The Wizard of Oz”, others you may never have seen, like Atuk. Some are dark in tone like “Poltergeist”, or heroic like the first Superman movie starring Christopher Reeve. But one thing all of these films and the others I'll share in this episode have in common is that they are all supposedly cursed. (Infamously Cursed Films)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = Show Open00:01:47.590 = Terrifying True Stories of Shadow People00:10:44.014 = Unsolved Sighting in 1966 ***00:39:29.825 = Infamously Cursed Films ***01:04:29.801 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakHELPFUL LINKS & RESOURCES…https://WeirdDarkness.com/STORE = Tees, Mugs, Socks, Hoodies, Totes, Hats, Kidswear & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/HOPE = Hope For Depression or Thoughts of Self-Harmhttps://WeirdDarkness.com/NEWSLETTER = In-Depth Articles, Memes, Weird DarkNEWS, Videos & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/AUDIOBOOKS = FREE Audiobooks Narrated By Darren MarlarSOURCES and RESOURCES:“Terrifying True Stories Of Shadow People” from Anomalien.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/5f3vxdh4“The Unsolved Sighting in 1966” by Scott Tady for EllwoodCityLedger.com and The Beaver County Times: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3ck54nvr“Infamously Cursed Films” by Randolph Strauss for Ranker: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/uh8xjj9j=====(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)= = = = ="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46= = = = =WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.=====Originally aired: July 21, 2021EPISODE PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/UFOPoliceChaseABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: Weird Darkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all things strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold cases, conspiracy theories, and more. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “20 Best Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a blend of “Coast to Coast AM”, “The Twilight Zone”, “Unsolved Mysteries”, and “In Search Of”.DISCLAIMER: Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised.#WeirdDarkness #UFO #FlyingSaucer #UFOSighting #UFOEvidence #ProjectBlueBook #AirForceUFO #GovernmentCoverUp #UAP #UFOWitness #RealUFO #UFOPoliceChase #1966UFO #PortageCountyUFO #OhioUFO #DaleSpaur #UFOTrueStory #AlienSpacecraft #UFOInvestigation #CloseEncounters #UnexplainedPhenomena #ParanormalTrue #TrueUFOStories #UFOHistory #AncientAliens #UFOCommunity #ExtraterrestrialLife #UFOAlert #ConspiracyTheory #UFODisclosure

Think vampires are just spooky fun from movies and books? Wait until you hear about the real-life people who took their bloodthirsty obsession way too far.IN THIS EPISODE: If you're a fan of U.S. History, you might already know that camels once roamed the American Southwest – brought to Texas by the military because they'd be perfect for the desert climate. But once it was all over a legend remained… a terrifying one. (The Red Ghost of Arizona) *** Just because an official government report is released about a UFO sighting or incident doesn't mean that Ufologists and researches are going to accept those findings – or the story the government tells. Thus is the case with a UFO incident in 1952 outside of Tokyo at the Haneda Air Force Base. (The Heneda Incident) *** When it comes to horror and fantasy, you'd be hard-pressed to find something more dangerous or terrifying than the vampire. Skulking around at night, feeding off the blood of the living, shapeshifting into a wolf or bat, hypnotic powers… it's creepy stuff. Good thing it's just fiction. But when you discover criminals in our actual world who think they are vampires – that horror and danger becomes all too real. (Real Life Vampiric Villains)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:01:28.476 = Show Open00:03:27.117 = The Heneda Incident00:12:55.697 = Real Life Vampiric Villains ***00:33:30.481 = Red Ghost of Arizona ***00:42:11.329 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakHELPFUL LINKS & RESOURCES…https://WeirdDarkness.com/STORE = Tees, Mugs, Socks, Hoodies, Totes, Hats, Kidswear & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/HOPE = Hope For Depression or Thoughts of Self-Harmhttps://WeirdDarkness.com/NEWSLETTER = In-Depth Articles, Memes, Weird DarkNEWS, Videos & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/AUDIOBOOKS = FREE Audiobooks Narrated By Darren Marlar SOURCES and RESOURCES:“The Heneda Incident” by Marcus Lowth for UFOInsight.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/4xfsnzxpBOOK: Unexplained Mysteries of the 20th Century by Janet and Colin Bord: https://amzn.to/2UbRK6p“Real Life Vampiric Villains” by Amy Robleski for Ranker's Unspeakable Times: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/wamwxb35“The Red Ghost of Arizona” by Rachel Souerby for Ranker's Weird History: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/ftcv6td=====(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)= = = = ="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46= = = = =WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.=====Originally aired: January 02, 2019EPISODE PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/VampireMurderersABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: Weird Darkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all things strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold cases, conspiracy theories, and more. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “20 Best Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a blend of “Coast to Coast AM”, “The Twilight Zone”, “Unsolved Mysteries”, and “In Search Of”.DISCLAIMER: Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised.#WeirdDarkness #RealLifeVampires #VampireKillers #TrueCrime #KillersWhoDrankBlood #VampireMurders #EvilOrInsane #DarkHistory #ParanormalTrueCrime #VampireObsession #BloodDrinkers #RodFerrell #ElizabethBathory #FritzHaarmann #RichardTrentonChase #TraceyWigginton #VampireCult #SatanicRituals #TrueCrimeDocumentary #CreepyStories #DarkestMinds #VampireLore #TrueCrimeCommunity #HorrorHistory #ScaryStories #CriminalMinds #SerialKillers #VampireMyth #Bloodlust #TrueCrimeStories

CHRONICLES OF THE BLACK DEATH: From bird-masked doctors filling their beaks with rose petals to an entire city dancing itself to death, the history of plague is far stranger — and far more disturbing — than most people realize. And when a 20th-century outbreak hit San Francisco, the government's response wasn't to fight the disease — it was to cover it up. | #WDRadio WEEK OF FEB 15, 2026==========HOUR ONE: About 80 years after the black plague began, a different plague came upon England – a fatal one that would cause you to almost instantly perspire to death. (Death By Sweat) *** Most everyone is familiar with the plague in Europe in the early 1400s – but in the early 1900s it struck again. This time in San Francisco. If you've not heard that before, it could be because the U.S. government tried to cover it up. (The Plague of San Francisco) *** Of all the imagery that comes to mind when hearing the words “bubonic plague” the most prevalent is most certainly that of the doctors – and the odd, bird-like masks they would wear. Why they dressed that way is interesting – but what the doctors did while wearing those suits and in their labs as they tried to battle the illness is absolutely horrifying. (Plague Doctors) *** And it probably comes as no surprise that something so deadly and horrific as the black plague would leave behind some residual paranormal energy – and boy is there a lot of it. (A Plague of Ghosts)==========HOUR TWO: During the bubonic plague in the early Middle-Ages, those who became sick and were even suspected of having the plague, were forced to relocate to a quarantined island – Poveglia Island. The gruesomeness that took place there still continues today, with the island being illegal to visit – and reportedly, very haunted. (Inside Black Plague Island) *** We look at some of the bathing – and lack thereof – that took place during the bubonic plague, as well as some of the beliefs they had about diet and how it might protect from contagion. Some of the ideas of what people thought could protect them from the disease are nothing short of shocking. (Living With The Black Death)==========SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME: We look at some of the bathing – and lack thereof – that took place during the bubonic plague, as well as some of the beliefs they had about diet and how it might protect from contagion. Some of the ideas of what people thought could protect them from the disease are nothing short of shocking. (Living With The Black Death – CONTINUED) *** Europe just could not escape plagues of any kind – for example, the plague that made you, against your will, keep dancing until you dropped dead. (The Dance of Death)==========SOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM TONIGHT'S SHOW:“Inside Black Plague Island” by Cheryl Adams Richkoff for Graveyard Shift: https://tinyurl.com/v85y7k6“Plague Doctors” by Melissa Sartore for Ranker's Weird History: https://tinyurl.com/rmap5d8“Death By Sweat” by Melissa Sartore for Ranker's Weird History: https://tinyurl.com/vqpvgrz“The Dance of Death” by Melissa Satore for Ranker's Weird History: https://tinyurl.com/u6kdwgp“The Plague of San Francisco” by Melissa Brinks for Ranker's Weird History: https://tinyurl.com/sbaht69“Living With The Black Death” by Genevieve Carlton for Ranker's Weird History: https://tinyurl.com/tcbo9af,https://tinyurl.com/sfkjhrg; and Kellen Perry for Ranker: https://tinyurl.com/u4bxkuf“A Plague of Ghosts” by Erin Wisti for Graveyard Shift: https://tinyurl.com/tm2cxzr==========(Over time links seen above may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for material I use whenever possible. If I have overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it immediately. Some links may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)=========="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46==========WeirdDarkness®, WeirdDarkness© 2026

It's the official day of romance (at least according to Hallmark Cards). Valentine's Day bring up feelings of love and adoration, moments of affection, gifts to show one's heartfelt emotions for another. But February 14th doesn't always bring the warm and fuzzies. Sometimes the day brings tragedy, heartbreak, or just something of the bizarre and strange.CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = Show Open00:01:10.731 = A Freak Love Story00:11:12.851 = Ghost Love Stories ***00:27:41.588 = Bloody Story Behind Valentine's Day ***00:32:00.771 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakHELPFUL LINKS & RESOURCES…https://WeirdDarkness.com/STORE = Tees, Mugs, Socks, Hoodies, Totes, Hats, Kidswear & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/HOPE = Hope For Depression or Thoughts of Self-Harmhttps://WeirdDarkness.com/NEWSLETTER = In-Depth Articles, Memes, Weird DarkNEWS, Videos & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/AUDIOBOOKS = FREE Audiobooks Narrated By Darren Marlar SOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM THE EPISODE…“A Freak Love Story” by Rachel Souerbry for Ranker.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/4kr4ep45“Ghost Love Stories” posted at NotebookOfGhosts.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/345vwf54, and BurroughsOfTheDead.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/4hcjbps8“The Bloody Story Behind Valentine's Day” by Avani Raj for ED Times: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/c759fnnyWeird Darkness theme by Alibi Music Library. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)= = = = ="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46= = = = =WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.=====Originally aired: February 14, 2022EPISODE PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/FreakShowLoveABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: Weird Darkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all things strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold cases, conspiracy theories, and more. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “20 Best Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a blend of “Coast to Coast AM”, “The Twilight Zone”, “Unsolved Mysteries”, and “In Search Of”.DISCLAIMER: Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised.#WeirdDarkness, #ValentinesDay, #DarkHistory, #FreakShow, #SideshowLoveStory, #MonkeyGirl, #AlligatorSkinnedMan, #GhostStories, #HauntedLove, #Lupercalia, #ValentinesDayOrigins, #RomanticGhosts, #BrokenHeart, #HauntedNewYork, #Paranormal, #TrueLoveStory, #EmilysBridge, #CastilloDeSanMarcos, #MinnieQuay, #AaronBurr, #CandyDude, #KilledByKisses, #GhostLoveStories, #DarkValentines, #CreepyStories, #TrueStories, #HauntedLocations, #ScaryStories, #AncientRome, #ScaryButTrue

Sea monster tales have existed for thousands of years, with stories of giant squids and octopuses being especially common. But where's the last place you'd expect to find such a creature? The desert of Oklahoma, perhaps?IN THIS EPISODE: Tales of sea monsters go back millennia, tales of giant squids and octopus are particularly prevalent. But where is the last place on earth you'd expect to find such a creature? How about the desert landscape of Oklahoma? (The Oklahoma Octopus) *** Parental hostility drove a girl out of her home and into the arms of her cousin. As I'm sure you can guess, that was not a wise decision. (Kissing Cousins) *** I'll read a short passage from G. Michael Vasey's book, “Chasing the Goddess”, a chapter called “Strange Things Happen To Me”. *** Margaret Allen was hanged to death. But it's the strange life she lived and the odd nature of her crime that still interests people in her case. (The Hanging of Margaret or Bill) *** 12-year-old Gabriel enjoyed playing games with an online friend. But when he borrowed less than two dollars for an in-game purchase from this friend, then ignored his requests to continue playing, he found himself dying the most horrifying murder you can imagine. And despite law enforcement knowing who the murderer is, he is free now – and no one knows where to find him. It is a brutally horrible story you do not want children in the room for. (A Deadly Gaming Friendship) *** Being the victim of a stalker is terrifying – not knowing when or where the person might show up next, or what they'll do to you when they do show up. But there are those who have an even more terrifying situation – where the stalker follows them their entire lives, and there's nothing they can do to stop it – because the stalker is paranormal. (Phantom Stalkers) *** The 1725 newspaper headline read “Bloodsucker Devastates Village!” And thus began a great vampire epidemic. (The Vampire Plague of 1725)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = Show Open00:02:50.321 = Oklahoma Octopus00:18:33.155 = Kissing Cousins ***00:29:14.289 = Strange Things Happen To Me00:36:05.927 = Invisible Phantom With Invisible Furniture ***00:38:02.629 = The Vampire Plague of 172500:44:54.413 = The Hanging of Margaret or Bill ***00:52:49.618 = Mysterious But Appreciative01:04:11.094 = Phantom Stalkers ***01:19:22.940 = A Deadly Gaming Friendship ***01:24:46.857 = Show Close01:26:38.563 = Bloopers*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakHELPFUL LINKS & RESOURCES…https://WeirdDarkness.com/STORE = Tees, Mugs, Socks, Hoodies, Totes, Hats, Kidswear & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/HOPE = Hope For Depression or Thoughts of Self-Harmhttps://WeirdDarkness.com/NEWSLETTER = In-Depth Articles, Memes, Weird DarkNEWS, Videos & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/AUDIOBOOKS = FREE Audiobooks Narrated By Darren Marlar SOURCES and RESOURCES:“The Oklahoma Octopus” by Bex Shea: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/uscmrhuk,https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/y6nv5ad5“Kissing Cousins” by Robert Wilhelm for MurderByGaslight.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/ytcedcxv“Strange Things Happen To Me” by G. Michael Vasey for MyHauntedLifeToo.com, from his book “Chasing the Goddess”: https://amzn.to/3hmH6lS“The Vampire Plague of 1725” by Jack Doyle for Ozy.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2tu2hcpu“The Hanging of Margaret or Bill” by Romeo Vitelli for Providentia.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/5awpvbh9“A Deadly Gaming Friendship” by R.A. Brewster for RABrewster.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/585afzhv“Phantom Stalkers” by Jacob Shelton for Ranker.com's Graveyard Shift: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/a3uyx6vw=====(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)= = = = ="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46= = = = =WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.=====Originally aired:July 07, 2021 = “Oklahoma Octopus”, “Kissing Cousins”, “Strange Things Happen To Me”July 13, 2021 = “Vampire Plague of 1725”, “The Hanging of Margaret of Bill”, “Mysterious But Appreciative”, “Phantom Stalkers”, “A Deadly Game of Friendship”EPISODE PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/OklahomaOctopusABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: Weird Darkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all things strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold cases, conspiracy theories, and more. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “20 Best Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a blend of “Coast to Coast AM”, “The Twilight Zone”, “Unsolved Mysteries”, and “In Search Of”.DISCLAIMER: Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised.#WeirdDarkness, #OklahomaOctopus, #LakeMonster, #Cryptids, #Kraken, #SeaMonster, #VampireOrigins, #TrueCrime, #Paranormal, #GhostStories, #HauntedHouse, #ShadowPeople, #UrbanLegends, #DarkHistory, #UnexplainedMysteries, #CreepyStories, #VampireFolklore, #SlavicShaman, #LifetimeHaunting, #ColdCase, #VictorianMurder, #BritishTrueCrime, #GamingMurder, #Poltergeist, #DemonicHaunting, #ScaryStories, #MysteriousStranger, #OccultRitual, #TrueCrimePodcast, #HorrorStories