Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories

A father’s sins often haunt the son, but in the case of Ion Rimaru—dubbed the Vampire of Bucharest—his brutal killing spree eerily mirrored his father’s unsolved crimes, leading to one of Romania’s most horrifying true crime sagas.

FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Ion Rimaru is a murderer like no other – vampirism, cannibalism, necrophilia – and why shouldn’t he? After all, he’s taking after his serial killer father. (The Disturbing Crimes of a Father and Son) *** A neural network named "Norman" is disturbingly different from other types of artificial intelligence. How? Well, for one… it’s a psychopath. (Meet Norman, The Artificially Intelligent Psychopath) *** Twenty high school students all lost consciousness and collapsed under mysterious circumstances during class on Tuesday, July 3. Was it mass hysteria? Juju in Ghana? Or did the students actually see ghosts as they claim? (Ghana Students Faint After Seeing Ghosts) *** At a young age, Edmund Kemper decapitated his sisters' dolls and even stalked his second-grade teacher with a bayonet. But he was young and just getting started. (Serial Killer Edmund Kemper) *** During the Second World War, in the gruesome world of Unit 731, the unthinkable was done on a daily basis. Prisoners, were subjected to unimaginable horrors. Today, ghostly voices are heard and anomalies frequently appear in photographs. (Unit 731) *** Top Secret CIA files have emerged from the 1950s exposing the explosive truth about alien UFOs visiting earth. (Bigger Than Roswell) *** After the wealthy and prominent Blanche Monnier fell in love with a commoner, her mother did the unthinkable in an attempt to stop it – locking her in her room for years on end. (Locked Away For Falling In Love) *** A similar story to that of Blanche Monnier, is the imprisonment of Elisabeth Fritzl. She spent 24 years in captivity, confined to a makeshift cellar and repeatedly tortured - by her own father. (The Horrifying Case of Elisabeth Fritzl) *** Despite having one husband and two boyfriends over the years, Dolly Oesterreich continued to keep her secret lover hidden in her attic. (Lover In The Attic) *** The Star Gate project. What was it, really? And did the government shut it down? (The Star Gate Project)

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding
00:01:10.410 = Show Open
00:04:08.300 = The Disturbing Crimes of Father and Son
00:16:05.365 = Ghana Students Faint After Seeing Ghosts ***
00:19:39.257 = Serial Killer Edmund Kemper
00:26:53.894 = Unit 731
00:31:10.331 = Meet Norman, The Artificially Intelligent Psychopath ***
00:36:09.488 = The Star Gate Project
00:48:00.820 = Locked Away For Falling In Love
00:53:01.433 = The Horrifying Case of Elisabeth Fritzl
01:00:50.103 = Lover In The Attic
01:08:23.753 = Bigger Than Roswell ***
01:11:51.675 = Show Close
*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad break

LISTEN 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:
“Ghana Students Faint After Seeing Ghosts” by Sequoya Kennedy for Mysterious Universe: http://bit.ly/2oqghUU
“Serial Killer Edmund Kemper” by Gabe Paoletti for All That’s Interesting: http://bit.ly/2nDRLiF
“Unit 731” posted at Ghost-Story.co.uk: http://bit.ly/2nGqXyg
“The Disturbing Crimes of a Father and Son” by Les Hewitt for Historic Mysteries: http://bit.ly/2nG8phK
“Meet Norman, The Artificially Intelligent Psychopath” by Mindy Weisberger for Live Science: http://bit.ly/2m8n2d7
“The Star Gate Project” by Arjun Walia (link no longer available)
“Locked Away For Falling In Love” by Gina Dimuro for All That’s Interesting: http://bit.ly/2nDCz57
“The Horrifying Case of Elisabeth Fritzl” by Katie Serena for All That’s Interesting: http://bit.ly/2mc4h8M
“Lover In The Attic” by Erin Kelly for All That’s Interesting: http://bit.ly/2ooCN0h
“Bigger Than Roswell” by Michael Havis for DailyStar.co.uk: http://bit.ly/2mGGePD
(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

EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources and full transcript): https://weirddarkness.com/BeastOfBucharest

More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.

A radiation-scarred inventor has built a submarine that burrows through solid bedrock, parked it beneath the city, and aimed its torpedoes at the fault line — and the planets are sliding into position to help him pull the trigger.

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://weirddarkness.tiny.us/OTR

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = Show Open
00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theater, “The Tunnel Man” (September 20, 1977)
00:45:40.665 = CBC Mystery Theater, “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” (January 1968) ***WD
01:14:57.979 = Chet Chetter’s Tales From The Morgue, “Elmer Meets Death” (1990-1992) ***WD
01:43:03.330 = The Clock, “The Hunter and the Hunted” (November 22, 1955) ***WD
02:09:06.215 = Creeps By Night, “The Final Reckoning” (July 12, 1944) ***WD
02:37:03.067 = The Crime Club, “Sentence of Death” (October 09, 1947) ***WD
03:05:59.992 = Danger Dr. Danfield, “Case of the Counterfeit $10 Bills” (December 22, 1946) ***WD
03:31:06.412 = The Devil and Mr. O, “No Escape” (November 19, 1971) ***WD
03:56:48.974 = Diary of Fate, “Trina Crowley” (March 09, 1948) ***WD
04:25:17.920 = Dimension X, “Beyond Infinity” (July 21, 1950) ***WD
04:54:28.084 = Show Close

(ADU) = Air Date Unknown
(LQ) = Low Quality
***WD = Remastered, edited, or cleaned up by Weird Darkness to make the episode more listenable. Audio may not be pristine, but it will be better than the original file which may have been unusable or more difficult to hear without editing.
CUSTOM WEBPAGE: https://weirddarkness.com/WDRR0645

More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.

A Lee County deputy on U.S. 41 clocked a red Toyota Supra at 123 mph around 1 a.m., recognized the car from a previous stop, and pulled over a 25-year-old driver who had blown a 0.23 on the breathalyzer.


PRINT VERSION OF THIS STORY: https://weirddarkness.com/supra-123-mph

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/1078714736

*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*
WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.
#WeirdDarkness, #WeirdDarkNEWS

More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.

A Florida man allegedly shot his girlfriend in the neck, dragged her bleeding back up the street to the house, told her mother her daughter was fine, and then tried to hide from police in the backyard pool.

PRINT VERSION OF THIS STORY: https://weirddarkness.com/wildwood-pool

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/1078714736

*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*
WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.
#WeirdDarkness, #WeirdDarkNEWS

More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.

Many celebrate April 30 as “Halfway to Halloween,” but Walpurgis Night is more than just spooky fun — it’s a night when witches rise, saints blur into goddesses, and ancient fires still burn.

IN THIS EPISODE: “Walpurgis Night was when, according to the belief of millions of people, the devil was abroad—when the graves were opened and the dead came forth and walked. When all evil things of earth and air and water held revel.” – Bram Stoker, from “Dracula’s Guest”. Walpurgis Night is something most English-speaking listeners won’t know about – but it’s being celebrated at this precise moment. While others are currently celebrating “Halfway to Halloween” or “Half-o-ween” for short… in Germany, they’re celebrating a second Halloween which they call Walpurgisnacht – or “Walpurgis Night.” Plus, later in the show I’ll share a story that was intended specifically to be read on Walpurgis Night – it’s called “The Black Bargain” from PJ Hodge!

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate and Only Accurate For the Commercial Version)…
00:00:00.000 = Show Open
00:01:37.995 = Happy Walpurgisnacht, Everyone
00:32:55.468 = The Black Bargain (a Fictional Story To Be Told on Walpurgis Night) ***
00:48:10.168 = Show Close

SOURCES AND RESOURCES FROM THE EPISODE…
“Happy Walpurgisnacht, Everyone!” by Todd at GothicHorrorStories.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/a8svp23c
“The Black Bargain” by PJ Hodge, posted at FreakyFolkTales.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/j49bd4
=====
(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: April 30, 2021
EPISODE PAGE at WeirdDarkness.com (includes list of sources): https://weirddarkness.com/WalpurgisNight

More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.

A clown with balloons and carnations knocks on a Florida doorstep one May morning — and what's hiding behind the painted smile may be older and hungrier than any killer the regular dicks would ever dare investigate.

THE TRUE CRIME CASE THIS STORY IS BASED ON: On the morning of May 26, 1990, Marlene Warren was eating breakfast with her 21-year-old son Joe at their home in the Aero Club community of Wellington, Florida, when a clown carrying balloons and white carnations rang the doorbell. Marlene answered, remarked on how pretty the gifts were, and was shot in the head at point-blank range. The killer calmly walked back to a waiting white sedan and drove away. Marlene died two days later. She had warned both her son and her mother that if anything ever happened to her, her husband Mike Warren — who co-owned a used car business called Bargain Motors — would be responsible. Mike had an alibi the morning of the shooting, but investigators quickly learned he was having an affair with an employee named Sheila Keen. A novelty shop owner remembered selling a clown costume to a woman matching Keen's description days before the murder, supermarket workers recalled a brunette buying matching balloons and flowers that morning, and the abandoned getaway car contained brown hairs and orange wig fibers — but the forensic science of the era couldn't tie it all together. Mike Warren was arrested four months later on unrelated racketeering and odometer fraud charges and served eight years. After his release, he married Sheila Keen — now bottle-blonde and going by "Debbie" — and the two opened a burger restaurant called the Purple Cow in Tennessee, where Sheila once dressed as a clown for Halloween. The case remained cold for twenty-seven years until a 2014 cold-case grant allowed investigators to retest the evidence using modern DNA technology; a hair recovered from a balloon string matched Sheila Keen. She was arrested on September 26, 2017, and on April 25, 2023, she pleaded guilty in exchange for a 12-year sentence. She was released after serving just 18 months, in November 2024, with Mike still standing by her and insisting on her innocence.
ORIGINAL CASE SOURCES…
https://allthatsinteresting.com/marlene-warren
WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2025, Weird Darkness.

Originally aired: April 30, 2026


More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.

From eerie vanishings and cryptic letters to chilling disappearances that defy explanation, we explore the most baffling unsolved mysteries where people seem to fade into thin air, leaving behind nothing but questions.

FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Sometimes people disappear without a trace, while others leave behind evidence that is even stranger than the vanishing itself. (Strange Vanishings and Spooky Letters) *** In the summer of 1989 in the suburbs of Kansas City, three young women went missing – and they are still missing even now, decades later. Their killer refuses to say where they are buried. (The Missing Victims of Richard Grissom) *** Sometimes people disappear without a trace, while others leave behind On a fall evening in 2009, the Jamison family disappeared into the woods of Oklahoma, leaving behind a set of bewildering clues and a case that remains unsolved today. (His Said His House Was Haunted, Then His Family Disappeared) *** On March 19, 2004, 17-year-old Brianna Maitland left her shift at the Black Lantern Inn around 11:20 P.M. What happened next remains a mystery to this day. (The Chilling Disappearance of Brianna Maitland)

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding
00:00:55.893 = Show Open
00:02:48.146 = The Chilling Disappearance of Brianna Maitland
00:10:31.222 = The Disappearance of Sister Aimee ***
00:19:01.355 = The Missing Victims of Richard Grissom
00:26:11.221 = He Said His House Was Haunted, Then His Family Disappeared (Jamison Family)
00:31:56.617 = Strange Vanishings and Spooky Letters ***
00:49:49.276 = Show Close
*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad break

LISTEN 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:
“Strange Vanishings and Spooky Letters” by Brent Swancer for Mysterious Universe: http://bit.ly/2kUp1Bd
“The Missing Victims of Richard Grissom” posted at The Line Up: http://bit.ly/ 2m1Qq4x
“The Disappearance of Sister Aimee” by Troy Taylor: http://bit.ly/2m0bFDG
“The Chilling Disappearance of Brianna Maitland” by Orrin Grey for The Line Up: http://bit .ly/2m2cNqn
“He Said His House Was Haunted, Then His Family Disappeared” by Aimee Lamoureux for All That’s Interesting: http://bit.ly/2m5lgJg
(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

EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources and full transcript): https://weirddarkness.com/MissingPersons



More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.

A dollar at a dusty curio shop buys a mummified foot — and the thirty-century-old princess who comes with it.

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://weirddarkness.tiny.us/OTR

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = Show Open
00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theater, “The Wind And The Flame
00:46:57.579 = The Weird Circle, “Possessive Dead” (March 25, 1945)
01:14:18.931 = The Whistler, “Seascape” (January 22, 1945)
01:42:56.945 = Witch’s Tale, “Altar of Hate” (November 08, 1933) ***WD
02:08:42.316 = X Minus One, “Pictures Don’t Lie” (October 24, 1956)
02:36:06.053 = The Zero Hour, “The Violation” (May 10, 1974) ***WD
02:53:37.216 = ABC Mystery Time, “Suicide Club” (June 07, 1956) ***WD (LQ)
03:15:19.752 = Strange Adventure, “A Matter of Salvage” (1945)
03:18:35.175 = Appointment With Fear, “Speaking Clock” (April 13, 1944)
03:45:58.687 = BBC Radio 4/7 Ghost Story, “Lost Hearts” (December 28, 2007)
04:00:13.483 = Beyond The Green Door, “Dillingsworth Diamond Corp” (1966) ***WD
04:04:21.110 = The Black Book, “Vagabond Murder” (March 02, 1952) ***WD
04:18:50.973 = The Avenger, “The Subway Ghost” (March 07, 1946)
04:48:49.580 = Box 13, “Diamond In The Sky” (November 21, 1948) ***WD
05:15:38.566 = Show Close

(ADU) = Air Date Unknown
(LQ) = Low Quality
***WD = Remastered, edited, or cleaned up by Weird Darkness to make the episode more listenable. Audio may not be pristine, but it will be better than the original file which may have been unusable or more difficult to hear without editing.
CUSTOM WEBPAGE: https://weirddarkness.com/WDRR0644

More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.

New survey data shows roughly 49 million American adults believe they have psychic abilities, with Gen Z reporting twice as many flashes as boomers.

PRINT VERSION OF THIS STORY: https://weirddarkness.com/American-psychic

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/1078714736

*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*
WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.
#WeirdDarkness, #WeirdDarkNEWS

More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.

California's "Operation Bear Claw" nailed three men for staging fake bear attacks on luxury cars using a guy in a costume — and the biologists who watched the footage figured it out almost immediately.

PRINT VERSION OF THIS STORY: https://weirddarkness.com/bear-suit-scam

Look for this podcast on 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/1078714736
*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*
WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.
#WeirdDarkness, #WeirdDarkNEWS

More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.