This will be the last audio version of the podcast on podcast streaming platforms due to low demand and ongoing costs.

Thank you to everyone who supported the show. Our new content will continue on YouTube please join us there:

https://www.youtube.com/@LeonsDarkStories

Listeners will hear first-hand accounts from cavers, urban explorers, construction workers, hikers, and ordinary people who stepped into old mine shafts, forgotten railway tunnels, drainage systems, and natural cave networks only to realise they weren’t alone.

These stories include:

• Unexplained creatures spotted lurking in the shadows

Every experience in this episode is based on a true scary story, told with atmospheric detail and a cinematic, documentary-style approach. Whether it's a narrow crawlspace, a flooded mineshaft, or a forgotten WWII tunnel, each location brings a new layer of fear and leaves listeners wondering what truly lives beneath us.

If you love real horror stories, underground mysteries, cryptid encounters, and creepy cave explorations, this episode delivers some of the most unsettling tales you’ll hear all year.

Prepare yourself.

The phone rings, they expect emergencies not the impossible.

In episode 14, we dive into chilling real-life 999 callouts that left police officers, firefighters, and paramedics facing things no training could prepare them for. These are encounters pulled from the shadows: voices where no one stood, figures vanishing into the dark, and scenes that defy logic even years later.

From remote roads to quiet suburban streets… every call began as routine.

If you’re drawn to true stories, strange events, and unexplained moments in the line of duty, settle in these accounts might linger with you long after the episode ends.

The Appalachian Mountains are known for some of the darkest and most mysterious encounters in America. In this episode, we explore six scary Appalachian stories from deep woods, lonely backroads, and quiet mountain towns all from real eyewitnesses.

From something calling a man by name in the night… to figures watching from between the trees… to chilling encounters that stay with people for life these true stories show why the Appalachians remain one of the most haunted regions in the world.

If you enjoy true paranormal encounters, cryptid sightings, and eerie Appalachian tales, this episode is for you.

Episode 12 — Scary Sea Stories You’ll Never Forget

The ocean hides more than shipwrecks and storms. In this chilling episode of The Layton Files, we dive into real encounters from people who’ve seen and heard things no one can explain out on the water.

From strange shapes rising beneath fishing boats, to voices echoing across empty coves, to sightings of impossible creatures near lonely coastlines… these stories will stay with you long after the waves go quiet.

Every tale is told in a documentary-style format, with immersive sound design and a focus on real eyewitness accounts. If you love eerie maritime mysteries, unexplained sightings at sea, and the darker side of the deep this one’s for you.

Featuring:

• True sea encounters from the US and UK

Listen with headphones… and maybe keep the lights on.

Episode 11 we Step into the wilderness… where the trees whisper, and the trail ahead hides more than footprints. In this episode of The Layton Files, we explore Scary Hiker Stories chilling encounters from people who ventured deep into the woods and came face to face with something they can’t explain. From eerie lights in the forest to the sense of being watched miles from civilization, these real hiker encounters blur the line between the natural and the supernatural.

If you’ve ever felt uneasy on a lonely trail, these stories will remind you why.

👁️‍🗨️ Featuring real accounts of hikers who heard what they shouldn’t have, saw what wasn’t there, and made it out to tell the tale.

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Episode 11 we Step into the wilderness… where the trees whisper, and the trail ahead hides more than footprints.In this episode of The Layton Files, we explore Scary Hiker Stories chilling encounters from people who ventured deep into the woods and came face to face with something they can’t explain. From eerie lights in the forest to the sense of being watched miles from civilization, these real hiker encounters blur the line between the natural and the supernatural.

If you’ve ever felt uneasy on a lonely trail, these stories will remind you why.

👁️‍🗨️ Featuring real accounts of hikers who heard what they shouldn’t have, saw what wasn’t there, and made it out to tell the tale.

🎧 Listen now and follow The Layton Files for more true encounters, ghost stories, and cryptid legends.

If you’re enjoying the stories and want to support the show, you can buy me a coffee and help keep the investigations going:

https://buymeacoffee.com/thelaytonfiles

📬 Got a story to share?

Submit your encounters directly through the 

website:

https://www.thelaytonfiles.com/p/submit-your-sighting/

📱 Stay connected

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheLaytonFiles

X/Twitter: https://x.com/TheLaytonFiles

Website: https://www.thelaytonfiles.com

The Cryptid Files is now The Layton Files™

the same stories and the same voice, just a name that reflects where the show is heading next.

New episodes will now be released on Saturdays, giving each story the time and attention it deserves.

Thank you for sticking with me more eerie encounters are on the way.

This Halloween, we step into the darkest corners of the world, where the things that hunt in the shadows finally come out to play.

From mist-covered woods to the cold glow of the full moon, these are the most terrifying cryptid encounters ever told.

Real stories. Real fear.

The Cryptid Files presents its Halloween Special

Featuring chilling cryptid encounters from the UK and beyond.

Episode 9 of The Layton Files takes us deep into the shadowed heart of the British countryside where the trees whisper, and the forgotten woods hide things not meant to be seen.

In this chilling instalment, Leon shares real accounts from witnesses who’ve come face to face with the unknown: dark figures moving through the mist, glowing eyes watching from the treeline, and something stalking the forest paths after nightfall.

These aren’t old legends they’re terrifying UK cryptid encounters that blur the line between myth and reality.

Step carefully. Once you enter The Forgotten Woods, you might not come back the same.

Episode 8 of The Layton Files takes you deep into one of the most chilling mysteries in paranormal history the Men in Black.

They appear without warning. Always dressed in black, emotionless, and eerily calm. Witnesses claim these mysterious men visit those who’ve seen UFOs, aliens, or other unexplained phenomena as if to silence them forever.

In this episode, we uncover terrifying true stories of Men in Black encounters. From late-night knocks at isolated homes to unmarked cars watching from the dark, each story reveals how far they’ll go to hide the truth.

Are they government agents, alien hybrids, or something far darker?

Turn down the lights, press play, and decide for yourself because once they know you’ve seen them, they never forget you.