Ding Dong Darkness Time

Who would have guessed that the disbandment of the Knights Templar in 1309 would have led to centuries of people scrambling to lay claim to their legacy as descendants of the legendary order of Catholic knights?

With a lot of mysticism borrowed from a dozen different spiritual movements, including Christianity, Rosicrucianism, and perhaps a smidge of white supremacy, The Order of the Solar Temple aspired to attain the ultimate spiritual nexus in the hopes of riding out a coming apocalypse, but as most movements of this type tend to do, it took around a decade before it all crumbled into a heap of crime, murder, and mass suicide that spanned across three countries.

Learn more about this still very mysterious cult, as well as how affluence-bred boredom can be particularly detrimental to societies at large.

Additional Info:

https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/di-mambro-joseph-1924-1994

https://www.ranker.com/list/order-of-the-solar-temple-cult/amandasedlakhevener

https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/09/world/a-preacher-with-a-dark-side-led-cultists-to-swiss-chalets.html?pagewanted=all

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Solar_Temple

Sponsor: Local Hero Press https://localheropress.com/ 

Show Credits:
Graphics -- Nathaniel Dickson: http://ndickson.com
Music -- Spencer Morelock, Ken Dickson

Ding Dong Darkness Time Media:
Twitter: @dddarknesstime
Instagram: dddarknesstime
Gmail: [email protected]

On this Ding Dong Ditch episode, Allison does short dives on three incredible heists that netted millions of dollars in stolen assets.

The robbery of the Central Bank of Forteleza Brazil in 2005 involved digging a 300 foot long tunnel from a front business into a bank vault holding the equivalent $70 million American dollars, in a case that spanned many years and left a lot of dead bodies even more questions in its wake.

Then we go back all the way to 1878 to the robbery of the Manhattan Savings Institution, with a cunning and surgical mastermind most of you have probably never heard of, but who was responsible for most of America's bank robberies over a 9 year period.

And finally, if you're going to do a large scale heist in Wisconsin, what better thing to steal than some wheels of cheese? We'll talk about all the ways it's a bad idea.

Additional Info:

The Central Bank Heist Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banco_Central_burglary_at_Fortaleza

The Great Central Bank Heist of Brazil on Netflix:
https://about.netflix.com/en/news/the-documentary-3-tonusd-the-great-robbery-of-brazils-central-bank-is-now

The High Society Bank Robber of the 1800s (George Leslie)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-high-society-bank-robber-of-the-1800s

Book: King of Heists by J. North Conway
https://www.amazon.com/King-Heists-Sensational-Robbery-Shocked/dp/B007BWD3PE

Wisconsin Cheese Heists
https://www.vice.com/en/article/8qk84v/what-went-wrong-in-wisconsins-biggest-cheese-heist

Show Credits:
Graphics -- Nathaniel Dickson: http://ndickson.com
Music -- Spencer Morelock, Ken Dickson

Ding Dong Darkness Time Media:
Twitter: @dddarknesstime
Instagram: dddarknesstime
Gmail: [email protected]

This special holiday week, let us all give thanks for the lovely Brett and Alice over on The Prosecutors, who had Allison on to talk about a particularly grisly cult that operated out of Mexico in the 1980s. Adolfo Constanzo and his followers perverted the religion of Palo Mayombe to aid in their drug dealing enterprise. Countless murders, including human sacrifice, abounded for years until they chose the wrong victim, an American college student on spring break.

Additional Info:

The Prosecutors Site: https://prosecutorspodcast.com/

Show Credits:
Graphics -- Nathaniel Dickson: http://ndickson.com
Music -- Spencer Morelock, Ken Dickson

Ding Dong Darkness Time Media:
Twitter: @dddarknesstime
Instagram: dddarknesstime
Gmail: [email protected]

If you think Reverend Sun Myoung Moon was merely interested in mass marriages in baseball stadiums, then buckle up, because there is a whole lot to learn about the  vast empire built by the now late religious figure who used anti-communist sentiment and Christianity to begin a following in South Korea in the 1950s, and then gain far-reaching influence with conservative and far-right movements in the United States starting in the 1970s and lasting well up to today, including participation in the Capitol riot of January 6th, 2021 as well as the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the summer of 2022.

This is a cult that has a firm monetary grip on media and governments across the world, and this episode only begins to scratch the surface.

Also, Allison answers a listener question on how she feels about the phrase "Drinking the Kool-Aid."

Additional Info:

Unification Church Wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unification_Church#Background_and_origins

Steven Hassan's BITE Model of Authoritarian Control:
https://freedomofmind.com/cult-mind-control/bite-model/

List of Organizations and Businesses Owned by or Affiliated with the Unification Church:
https://freedomofmind.com/exclusive-list-of-entities-closely-associated-with-sun-myung-moon/

SPLC Article on Rod of Iron Ministries (Moonie offshoot cult)
https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2021/10/08/rod-iron-antigovernment-christian-right-and-far-right-movements-join-freedom-festival

Vice Documentary on Rod of Iron Freedom Festival:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_JhtYm3-zY

How Reverend Moon Made Sushi Big in America:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zhZnvvi_lA

Account of a Former Moonie:
https://www.insider.com/to-the-moon-and-back-lisa-kohn-what-its-like-to-be-former-moonie-2018-8

Show Credits:
Graphics -- Nathaniel Dickson: http://ndickson.com
Music -- Spencer Morelock, Ken Dickson

Ding Dong Darkness Time Media:
Twitter: @dddarknesstime
Instagram: dddarknesstime
Gmail: [email protected]

Life was hard in early human history. And around 10,000 years ago during the Neolithic Period, when our interests turned to gathering in stationary settlements and manipulating the earth and animals in our favor, it became particularly challenging to hold it all together in the face of elemental forces we take for granted these days.

This was fertile ground for the growth of cults. In this short episodes, Allison discusses three of them today and in doing so hopefully demonstrates how straight line can still be drawn between the people of prehistoric times and the people of today.

Additional Info:

Skull Cult at Gobleki Tepi
https://www.vice.com/en/article/7xp55b/gobekli-tepe-skull-cult-ancient-ruins-temple-ritual

Neolithic Cattle Cult
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/did-neolithic-cattle-cult-build-these-sprawling-structures-180977629/

Thunder and Lightning Gods
https://symbolsage.com/thunder-and-lightning-gods/

Show Credits:
Graphics -- Nathaniel Dickson: http://ndickson.com
Music -- Spencer Morelock, Ken Dickson

Ding Dong Darkness Time Media:
Twitter: @dddarknesstime
Instagram: dddarknesstime
Gmail: [email protected]

If you're a psychology nerd or always wanted to be, the premier episode of Season 3: Class of Cults is all for you. Allison gathers with two of her dearest friends, Chris from 80s High, who also happens to have a psychology degree, and Dr. Bart Abplanalp, noted forensic psychologist, to discuss what cults are, what types of cults exist, and all the ways in which every one of us is vulnerable to a cultic mindset through the manipulation of emotions and language.

In order to illustrate this, we begin with a discussion on the Stanley Milgram Obedience Study and then venture on to Philip Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment and its impacts on humanity's views of authority, before talking about cognitive dissonance,  personality disorders, and a myriad of other ways groups of humans can assemble in dysfunctional and destructive ways.

Hopefully this will set a firm foundation for the upcoming season chock full of education on all the cults and organizations that behave suspiciously like them. Arm yourself with knowledge!

Additional Info:

Sponsor: Local Hero Press: https://localheropress.com

Book Sources
Cults Inside Out by Rick Alan Ross
https://www.amazon.com/Cults-Inside-Out-How-People-ebook/dp/B00OZR1QNO

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell https://www.amazon.com/Cultish-Language-Fanaticism-Amanda-Montell/dp/0062993151

Chris's Podcast, 80s High: https://the80shigh.podbean.com/
Dr Bart's HORR-O Horror Movie Bingo Game: https://horr-o.com/
Dr Bart's YouTube Page, Ask Dr Bart: https://www.youtube.com/user/bartpsy/videos
Milgram Experiment Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment
Stanford Prison Experiment Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment

Show Credits:
Graphics -- Nathaniel Dickson: http://ndickson.com
Music -- Spencer Morelock, Ken Dickson

Ding Dong Darkness Time Media:
Twitter: @dddarknesstime
Instagram: dddarknesstime
Gmail: [email protected]

Halloween is a time of great traditions. Most are wholesome, but some are destructive. The concept of Mischief Nights, usually preceding Halloween by a day or two, go back to the late 1700s in England, but they eventually popped up in the United States. And in Detroit in particular, things got particularly fiery for a number of years until the city banded together for the power of good.

In this short episode, Allison talks about the now thankfully defunct custom of Devil's Night in Detroit, as well as how such phenomena came to be associated with Halloween in the first place. It wasn't always this way. 

Additionally, Allison wraps things up by talking about several other eerie or macabre historical events that have happened on or just before All Hallow's Eve.

Additional Info:

Devil's Night: https://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/organized-crime/devils-night/

Devil's Night Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil%27s_Night

Strange Events on Halloween: https://www.insider.com/strange-things-happened-on-halloween

Woman Finds S.O.S. from China in Halloween Decorations: https://nypost.com/2021/02/13/us-mom-found-sos-in-decorationsand-exposed-chinas-camps/

Show Credits:
Graphics -- Nathaniel Dickson: http://ndickson.com
Music -- Spencer Morelock, Ken Dickson

Ding Dong Darkness Time Media:
Twitter: @dddarknesstime
Instagram: dddarknesstime
Gmail: [email protected]

By popular demand, Ding Dong Darkness Time strays into the spiritual realm just in time for Halloween. Brett from The Prosecutors joins Allison to talk about his time as a paranormal researcher. Yes, that's right. Among being an amazing podcast host and hot shot lawyer guy, the man hunted ghosts, and he has brought with him some incredible insights into the search for the paranormal.

Not only that, but there are some listener submitted personal ghost stories and encounters with the strange and unusual. We also talk a bit about the existential pursuit of evidence of the afterlife, as well as cursed objects and a few of our favorite ghost movies!

There's a lot to see here. But what we really want you to do is press play and enjoy.

Additional Info:
The Prosecutors Podcast: https://prosecutorspodcast.com/
The Haunted Alabama Black Belt: https://www.amazon.com/Haunted-Alabama-Black-Belt-America/dp/1609499441
Haunted Tuscaloosa: https://www.amazon.com/Haunted-Tuscaloosa-America-David-Higdon-ebook/dp/B00XQZBLZ4

Show Credits:
Graphics -- Nathaniel Dickson: http://ndickson.com
Music -- Spencer Morelock, Ken Dickson

Ding Dong Darkness Time Media:
Twitter: @dddarknesstime
Instagram: dddarknesstime
Gmail: [email protected]

In the spirit of the Halloween season, Allison and Chris join forces to talk about  their favorite subgenre of horror: found footage! And because they're a couple of oldsters, they wax about how awesome it was to experience the viral marketing campaign around The Blair Witch Project as it was coming out.

But that's far from all they cover here. The discussion dives into the origins of the genre, then onto so many of the movies it's spawned, but somehow they've only barely scratched the surface. Also tune in to see which found footage movie receives their crowning jewel.

Additional Info:
The 80s High Podcast https://the80shigh.podbean.com/

Show Credits:
Graphics -- Nathaniel Dickson: http://ndickson.com
Music -- Spencer Morelock, Ken Dickson

Ding Dong Darkness Time Media:
Twitter: @dddarknesstime
Instagram: dddarknesstime
Gmail: [email protected]

It's October, peak Ding Dong Darkness Month, and this episode gets things off with a roaring start by summoning Bloody Mary and what other toilet spirits might be lurking about. What's up with that bit of folklore anyway? Sprits in the bathroom? And can you really summon a  scary woman by speaking her name 13 times into a mirror? Maybe! Get ready for more psychology geekery.

But more than that, for most of human history, we've stared into reflective surfaces for magical purposes. What's up with that? Does it even work?

Well... kind of!

Herein also lies a quick rundown of some choice bathroom ghosts from Japan, including Hanako-san, Aka Manto, and that feisty little toilet licking goblin, Akaname.

And what's up with bathrooms being the prime location for strange hauntings, anyway?

Am I morphing into Seinfeld? Only one way to find out...

Additional Info:

Buy Hillary Monahan's Bloody Mary Books:
https://www.amazon.com/Hillary-Monahan/e/B00JALZWQW/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1

Snopes on Bloody Mary Legend
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bloody-mary-story/

Scrying
http://www.fieldsofstudy.com/scrying

Japanese Bathroom Ghosts
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/japans-bathroom-ghosts

Show Credits:
Graphics -- Nathaniel Dickson: http://ndickson.com
Music -- Spencer Morelock, Ken Dickson

Ding Dong Darkness Time Media:
Twitter: @dddarknesstime
Instagram: dddarknesstime
Gmail: [email protected]