In this episode, we travel back to the summer of 1942 in Pascagoula, Mississippi — a warm coastal town where people slept with their windows open to catch the night breeze. But that summer, something else moved in the dark.

A figure slipped into homes while families slept.

Not to steal valuables.

Not to leave a message.

But to quietly cut a single lock of hair from the heads of sleeping residents.

Newspapers called him The Phantom Barber.

What began as a disturbing curiosity soon escalated into fear, panic, and eventually violence — leaving behind a trail of rumors, false arrests, and unanswered questions that still haunt Pascagoula’s history.

In this episode, we explore:

• The eerily calm early intrusions that first brought attention to the case
• How wartime anxiety and rumor fueled public paranoia
• The escalation from hair-cutting intrusions to physical assault
• The controversial trial that may have convicted the wrong man
• Why the case remains unsolved to this day
• And what this story reveals about fear, community, and the shadows we create when answers are out of reach

This is one of the strangest unsolved cases in American true crime — part folklore, part noir mystery, part haunting.

Resources & References

• Local Pascagoula newspaper archives (1942–1943)
• “The Phantom Barber” coverage in The Jackson Clarion-Ledger
• City of Pascagoula historical crime registry
• WPA and wartime civilian fear research notes

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