On a quiet October night in rural Wisconsin, a front door was blown apart by a shotgun—and a thirteen-year-old girl vanished into the darkness.

This episode of Among Monsters is a deep, emotionally heavy investigation into the 2018 kidnapping of Jayme Closs and the calculated brutality of Jake Patterson, the man who murdered her parents and held her captive for eighty-eight days.

Told in cinematic spoken-word style, this episode examines the psychology of a predator who didn’t stalk for years or groom online—but simply saw a child once and decided she would belong to him. We walk through the night of the murders, the terrifying reality of captivity hidden in plain sight, and the survival instincts that ultimately led to Jayme’s escape.

This is not just a story about a crime.

It’s about control.

Silence.

And the monsters who don’t look like monsters—until they decide.

Listener discretion is strongly advised.

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In this shocking episode of Among Monsters, host Damien Vale explores the disturbing case of Kendall Francois, the soft-spoken serial killer who murdered nine women in Poughkeepsie, New York — and kept their decomposing bodies hidden inside the home he shared with his family. For nearly two years, Francois lived a double life as a school hall monitor by day and predator by night, luring vulnerable sex workers into his home and strangling them. The smell of death filled the house, yet his parents and sister claimed they never suspected a thing. Known as The Poughkeepsie Killer, Francois treated his victims like disposable objects, hiding them in crawlspaces, closets, and beneath insulation — until a survivor escaped and unraveled the horror within. This episode pulls back the curtain on one of the most horrifying domestic crime scenes in American history.

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In 2014, a chilling crime emerged from the quiet town of Waukesha, Wisconsin—one that blurred the line between childhood fantasy and real-world horror. Two twelve-year-old girls, Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, lured their best friend into the woods and stabbed her 19 times… all in the name of Slender Man.

On this episode of Among Monsters, host Myia Vale takes you deep inside the disturbing case of Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, examining how an internet-born myth evolved into a motive for attempted murder. Through court records, psychological evaluations, interrogation footage, and survivor testimony, we explore how belief, mental illness, peer influence, and adolescent vulnerability collided with devastating consequences.

This is not just a story about a crime—it’s a haunting look at how monsters don’t always hide in the shadows. Sometimes, they grow in the mind.

Listener discretion is advised.

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In this chilling episode of Among Monsters, host Damien Vale uncovers the horrific case of William Devin Howell, a drifter-turned-serial killer responsible for the largest homicide case in Connecticut’s history. Between spring and fall of 2003, Howell lured vulnerable women into his battered blue van — a mobile torture chamber he called the "murder mobile" — and murdered them with disturbing ritualistic cruelty. Years later, behind a strip mall in New Britain, Connecticut, police uncovered seven bodies buried face down in a mass grave — a plot Howell chillingly referred to as “his garden.” This episode explores Howell’s dark psychology, his shocking confession, and the haunting legacy he left behind in the brush.

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In this chilling episode of Among Monsters, host Damien Vale unearths the horrifying legacy of Juan Vallejo Corona, the Mexican-born labor contractor who orchestrated one of the deadliest killing sprees in American history. In 1971, a farmer’s quiet orchard in Yuba City, California, became a mass grave — with 25 men buried in shallow pits, all stabbed, mutilated, and left to rot in the soil they once worked. Corona, who supplied migrant workers to local farms, kept a detailed ledger of names — later dubbed “The Death List” — and used his position of trust to lure transients into his web of death. This episode explores how mental illness, rage, and control transformed a hardworking family man into a cold-blooded killer whose victims were nearly forgotten by time.

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In this bone-chilling episode of Among Monsters, host Damien Vale explores the dark double life of John Edward Robinson, the charming businessman turned serial killer who used early internet chatrooms and BDSM forums to lure women to their deaths. Known as The Internet’s First Serial Killer, Robinson promised his victims jobs, romance, and adventure—only to manipulate, control, and ultimately murder them. Operating under aliases like “SlaveMaster,” Robinson used phony adoption papers, fake letters, and forged identities to cover his tracks. But when police searched his storage unit and property in 2000, they uncovered sealed barrels containing the remains of five women — with at least two more victims never recovered. This episode examines how the web became a weapon in the hands of a calculating killer, and how technology helped both conceal and ultimately expose one of America’s most sinister predators.

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In this chilling episode of Among Monsters, we examine a case that shattered a quiet Missouri community and revealed how evil can hide in the most familiar places. Cassidy Rainwater, a young woman searching for stability and safety, trusted the wrong people—never realizing she was being watched, manipulated, and ultimately hunted in plain sight.

We unravel the disturbing actions of James Phelps, exploring how isolation, secrecy, and calculated cruelty turned an ordinary rural property into the setting of an unthinkable crime. Through a careful, documentary-style narrative, this episode traces Cassidy’s final days, the warning signs that were missed, and the investigation that exposed a truth more horrifying than anyone expected.

This is not just a story about violence—it’s a story about vulnerability, exploitation, and how predators often rely on familiarity and silence to operate undetected.

Listener discretion is strongly advised.

Among Monsters — because sometimes the most terrifying monsters don’t hide in the dark… they live right next door.

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In this harrowing episode of Among Monsters, host Damien Vale delves into the horrifying crimes of Robert Joe Long, the so-called Classified Ad Rapist and Tampa Bay Serial Killer. Responsible for over 50 rapes and at least 10 murders during the 1980s, Long used newspaper ads to find his victims — luring women under the guise of buying items and then turning their trust into terror. With a chilling obsession for control, Long abducted, tortured, and murdered women across Florida, meticulously recording each crime in handwritten ledgers and maps. But his reign of terror came to an end thanks to the courage of 17-year-old Lisa McVey, who survived his attack, memorized his movements, and led police straight to his door. This episode explores the depravity of a man who cataloged death — and the survivor who refused to become another statistic.

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In the quiet corners of a seemingly ordinary life, Christopher Ravek hid a darkness that few could imagine. On the outside, he was the picture of calm — polite, dependable, almost forgettable. But beneath that composed surface brewed something far more sinister. What drove him from normalcy into obsession, from curiosity into cruelty, and from control into chaos?

This episode unravels the disturbing journey of a man whose descent into violence left a trail of shattered lives and unanswered questions. Through psychological insight, firsthand accounts, and chilling archival detail, Among Monsters host Myia Vale exposes how one man’s hidden impulses transformed him into something unrecognizable — a predator born from the ordinary.

Step into the darkness. Listen as we uncover the story of Christopher Ravek — a name that reminds us how thin the line between humanity and monstrosity can truly be.

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In this chilling true-crime episode of Among Monsters, we dive deep into the disturbing story of Christa Pike — one of the youngest women ever sentenced to death in the United States. What led a promising young woman down a path of obsession, jealousy, and unspeakable violence? Through haunting details, psychological analysis, and gripping storytelling, we unravel the influences and choices that turned a teenager into a killer. This episode explores the dark intersection of manipulation, mental instability, and the desire for control — showing how monsters aren’t always born; sometimes, they’re made.

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