Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories

Lost in a Colorado snowstorm, a man who's fallen behind on his child support pulls into a roadside diner called The Silver Line just as it's closing, and the huge, cheerful man inside lets him in and locks the door behind him.

SOURCES and RESOURCES: “Hospitality” by Erik Peabody: https://www.creepypasta.com/hospitality-2/

WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.

Midnight In The Macabre (MITM), originally aired: October 28, 2026

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

A man who runs a plant that builds nuclear reactors calls his wife to say he'll be home in twenty minutes for their anniversary dinner, walks in a full day later with wilted flowers in his hand and sure it's still Tuesday, and the next morning a truckload of uranium whose schedule only he knew is found hijacked beside the highway.

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = Show Open
00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theater, “The Missing Day” (February 14, 1979) ***WD
00:46:41.949 = The Saint, “Case of Lonesome Slab” (January 22, 1950) ***WD
01:15:27.653 = 2000 Plus, “Giant Walks” (November 08, 1050) ***WD
01:45:11.323 = The Unexpected, “Revenge” (1948) ***WD
02:00:52.339 = Unsolved Mysteries, “Indian Fakir” (February 17, 1944) ***WD
02:15:32.547 = Dark Venture, “Elizabeth Is Frightened” (July 22, 1947)
02:46:27.292 = Weird Circle, “Knightsbridge Mystery” (October 17, 1943)
03:14:55.705 = The Whistler, “Deadly Innocent” (July 02, 1945)
03:46:26.717 = Strange Wills, “Dance Director” (November 16, 1946)
04:17:24.458 = Witch’s Tale, “Graveyard Mansion” (March 06, 1933) ***WD
04:48:29.881 = Incredible But True, “Footprints In The Sand” (1950-1951)
04:52:03.249 = Strange Adventure, “The Peace Maker” (1945)
04:55:21.485 = Tales of the Frightened, “The Vampire Sleeps” (1963)
05:00:09.335 = 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.

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

Grieving families in the Victorian era paid good money for a few minutes with their dead, and the mediums who took that money had help, from props hidden up their sleeves to assistants who gathered details about each sitter before the séance began.

EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/victorian-seance-tricks

READ or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/bdd96bh3

FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Victorian era séances – where mediums claimed to bridge the living and the dead with mysterious rituals and eerie phenomena. But they had some elaborate tricks and illusions up their sleeves, all with the intention of misleading millions with the promise of communicating beyond the grave – and lining their own pockets, of course. (Secrets of the Seance Charlatans) *** Underneath the Nevada desert a 13-year-old Marc Brooks was exploring – and encountered the unknown. A secret chamber, a mysterious artifact, and a chilling humanoid creature defies explanation. What lies underground in the desert? (Reptile Men And Underground Bases) *** From charitable beginnings to centuries of cruelty, Bedlam – England's first mental hospital – has a shocking history. It’s dark past of inhumane treatments and public spectacles are such well-known atrocities that we’ve eventually come to use the word “bedlam” to describe uproar and confusion. We’ll take a look at the chilling stories of the hospital that started it all. (Nightmare at Bedlam) *** The 1976 Chowchilla school bus kidnapping saw 26 California children abducted, buried alive, and held for ransom — then they miraculously escaped. (The Chowchilla Kidnapping) *** Spells, magic and curses have captivated the human imagination from the beginning of time. From ancient Egyptian tombs to modern-day superstitions, beliefs in the supernatural have shaped history, influenced cultures, and continue to fascinate us today. Why does magical misfortune still hold such an interest for us? (Magic, Curses and Supernatural Spells) *** A man almost crashed an entire country's economy by tricking a bank into printing real money for him? It was one of the most audacious schemes in financial history, flooding Portugal with millions in genuine but unauthorized banknotes. It was great while it lasted – but the crash was brutal! (The Man Who Almost Broke a Country) *** Urraca Mesa is a mysterious table mountain in New Mexico where compasses spin wildly, and ghostly blue lights dance in the night. It’s full of stories of vanished ancient tribes and terrifying supernatural encounters with evil spirits. It’s a hotspot for unexplained phenomena and those who seek it. We’ll learn some of the eerie secrets of the Urraca Mesa. (The Urraca Mesa Portal) *** AND MORE!

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding
00:03:21.893 = Show Open
00:06:46.207 = Secrets of the Seance Charlatans
00:17:16.895 = Nightmare At Bedlam ***
00:25:39.431 = Reptile Men and Underground Bases
00:32:21.868 = The Chowchilla Kidnapping ***
00:36:12.454 = Magic, Curses and Supernatural Spells
00:44:50.503 = The Man Who Almost Broke a Country’s Economy ***
00:51:48.689 = The Urraca Mesa Portal
00:58:06.908 = Bizarre Name Changes ***
01:05:31.975 = Show Close
*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad break

*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*

SOURCES and RESOURCES:
“Reptile Men And Underground Bases” source: Marc Lowth at UFOInsight.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/64vrrh66
“The Chowchilla Kidnapping” source: Jessica O’Connor at AllThatsInteresting.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/cxefxjks
“The Man Who Almost Broke a Country’s Economy” source: Kaushik Patowary at AmusingPlanet.com:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p94ykzw
“Magic, Curses and Supernatural Spells” source: Liz Leafloor at Ancient-Origins.com:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3yk42ksb
“The Urraca Mesa Portal” source: Zoe Mitchell at Anomalien.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/4x2t99mc
“Secrets of the Seance Charlatans” source: Liv Pasquarelli at Ranker.com’s Graveyard Shift:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p9x54v9
“Nightmare at Bedlam” source: Bipin Dimri at HistoricMysteries.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p93tt8c
“Bizarre Name Changes” source: Jeffrey Morris at ListVerse.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/29xt7j5u
(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: June 25, 2024

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

In 2025, Louisiana’s corrections secretary said Jessie Hoffman’s nitrogen execution “went flawless”, and a journalist counted more than 225 heaving breaths from Anthony Boyd under Alabama’s mask. South Carolina’s firing squad fired three rifles at Mikal Mahdi, and the autopsy found only two entrance wounds. In Tennessee, Byron Black said on the gurney, “Oh, it’s hurting so bad”, and the doctor who couldn’t place a line in Tony Carruthers was on the team again the night the state tried to execute Christa Pike in October, 2026.

From the book “BOTCHED EXECUTIONS: Four Centuries Of Failed Hangings, Electrocutions, Gassings, Injections And Firing Squads” by Darren Marlar at https://weirddarkness.com/botchedexecutions

WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.

Originally aired: October 27, 2026

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

Twelve stories, starting with a Roswell officer's sealed statement about bodies under a tarp, now sitting in the Pentagon's newest UFO files, and running through a voice on a basement recording in Cheyenne, an airliner that passed an object the pilot put at the "size of four toasters", a Hamburg murder warrant over a girl's death in Indiana, and a pest controller in France who says he mistook his wife for a rat.

SOURCES, LINKS, AND PRINT VERSION: http://weirddarkness.com/roswell-bodies

No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast

WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.

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

Twenty years after his father walked out, Josh gets a letter saying the man's dead and has left him a cabin in the Montana woods. Inside, there's a shelf full of matches and not a single light.

EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/haunted-cabin-story-scorched

SOURCES and RESOURCES: 
“Scorched” by Scott Donnelly (https://www.facebook.com/scottdonnellyauthor/), from the book “The Elements of Horror: Fire-Book Three” (https://amzn.to/3lNCmGs)

WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.

Midnight In The Macabre (MITM), originally aired: October 27, 2026

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

On her walk home from the bank, Dory hears her mother's voice in her head, throws her shoulders back, and holds her head high, then looks down to find her shadow still hunched over like a dwarf.

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = Show Open
00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theater, “The Sinister Shadow” (February 22, 1979) ***WD
00:46:41.621 = Radio City Playhouse, “Special Delivery” (August 07, 1948) ***WD
01:16:43.793 = Sam Spade, “The Lawless Caper” (August 29, 1948) ***WD
01:47:30.325 = The Sealed Book, “Man With The Stolen Face” (July 15, 1945)
02:17:50.951 = The Shadow, “The Little Man Who Wasn’t There” (April 08, 1945)
02:48:09.118 = Sleep No More, “The Storm” (December 19, 1956) ***WD
03:16:17.498 = Spinechillers, “Meatballs Are Murder” (November 08, 2006)
03:31:06.603 = The Strange Dr. Weird, “The Man Who Played Death” (May 01, 1945) ***WD
03:44:53.602 = Strange, “Flying Dutchman” (1955) ***WD
03:59:12.894 = Suspense, “Case History of Edgar Lowndes” (June 08, 1944)
04:29:35.987 = The Creaking Door, “Face To Face Music of the Spheres” (June 01,1964) ***WD
04:55:10.430 = Tales From The Tomb, “The Raven” (1960s)
05:04:35.820 = 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.

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

On the night of November 2nd, 1966, a sewing machine salesman named Woodrow Derenberger was driving home on Interstate 77 outside Parkersburg, West Virginia, when a craft shaped like an old kerosene lamp passed his van and slowed to a stop in front of it. The man who stepped out wore a dark overcoat over a glistening green uniform and an extraordinarily broad grin, and he gave his name as Indrid Cold without ever saying a word out loud.

EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/indrid-cold-grinning-man

READ or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8vmm7t

FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: We have a story of soldiers and spirits that dates back to the Battle of Antietam Creek, the bloodiest single day of the Civil War. The story of the Irish Brigade – and the ghosts left behind. (“Charge Of The Irish Brigade”) *** The fear of being buried alive has been a constant companion of mankind for as long time as anyone can remember. It’s due to this fear that we have safety coffins still in use today, more than 200 years after their invention. (“The Strange History Of Safety Coffins”) *** In one particular hospital, the staff avoid booking people into Room 228 – and for good reason. (“Haunted Hospital Room”) *** A sewing machine salesman sees a car speeding towards him – a car like none he had ever seen. When the passenger gets out, he has a terrifyingly large grin, and spoke to him – but without using any words. (“Indrid Cold: The Grinning Man”) *** Cloven footprints are found in new-fallen snow. That in itself would not be strange, except that the creature that left the prints was only walking on two legs. (“The 1855 Devil’s Footprints”) *** What is the earliest memory you have of your childhood? One girl has a memory of floating over her own body – when she was only three years old. But that was only the beginning. (“I Have This Vivid Memory”) *** John Emil List planned the murders so carefully, he almost got away with it. In fact, it took 18 years to catch him. (“John List: The Perfect Family Man Who Killed His Perfect Family”) *** Weirdo family member Kara Moore tells us about the town she grew up in – with too many ghosts and specters to count. (“The Ghost of St. Clair’s Defeat”) *** Gangsters, guns and ghosts… they’ve all resided at Kansas City’s Union Station. (“The Kansas City Massacre”) *** If you live in a house that seven generations of your family have lived and died in, you have to expect there might be a little bit of paranormal activity. (“The Spirit Of Our Grandfather Won’t Leave Us Alone”) *** Dorothy Dingley haunted a young farm boy back in the 1600’s. But now it appears she has come back… or she has never left. (“The Cornish Ghost of Dorothy Dingley”) *** Ghosts have been seen in bathroom… but do ghosts ever need to use the bathroom? It appears one did. (“The Ghost Who Used Our Bathroom”) *** AND MORE!
CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad break
*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*
SOURCES and RESOURCES:
00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding
00:01:03.088 = Show Open
00:04:13.155 = Indrid Cold, The Grinning Man
00:10:23.302 = Charge of the Irish Brigade
00:18:48.363 = Haunted Hospital Room
00:20:22.407 = The Strange History of Safety Coffins
00:28:24.190 = I Have This Vivid Memory ***
00:30:42.760 = The 1855 Devil’s Footprints Mystery
00:36:59.891 = John List: The Perfect Man Who Killed His Perfect Family
00:41:29.504 = The Kansas City Massacre ***
01:03:29.944 = Haunted Student Apartment Occupied By a Friendly Ghost ***
01:04:37.187 = Cornish Ghost of Dorothy Dingley
01:19:17.742 = The Ghost Who Used Our Bathroom ***
01:20:41.126 = The Spirit of Our Grandfather
01:22:37.460 = The Ghost of St. Clair’s Defeat
1:32:50.077 = Show Close
(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.

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

Lost in the Newfoundland fog on the way to see their daughter and baby grandson, a couple from Brampton, Ontario, picks up a hitchhiker who sends them to the Eternity Cove Hotel and Lounge, where the man behind the desk already knows their names.

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = Show Open
00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theater, “Everybody Does It” (February 07, 1979) ***WD
00:46:36.858 = Nightfall, “Last Visit” (October 24, 1980) ***WD
01:14:14.307 = Nightmare, “The Leech” (April 07, 1954)
= SONG, “The Leech” by Static Wax (based on the story from Nightmare)
01:40:32.231 = Obsession, “Shadow of Huntley House” (February 26, 1951)
02:04:55.681 = Origin of Superstition, “Crossing Your Fingers” (1935) ***WD
02:19:39.383 = Pat Novak For Hire, “Give Envelope To John St. John” (May 21, 1949)
02:50:37.999 = Peril, “The Wonderful Deception” (1953) ***WD
03:17:06.552 = Mystery Playhouse, “Leg Man” (October 19, 1945) ***WD
03:43:37.489 = Price of Fear, “Fish” (September, 1973)
04:13:37.333 = Adventures of Ellery Queen, “Vanishing Magician” (November 06, 1943) ***WD
04:44:24.135 = Quiet Please, “Tanglefoot” (June 04, 1949) ***WD
05:13:43.832 = 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.

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

Dex and Trey talk a friend into a few days of camping at a spot Dex's cousin swears by, four miles uphill from the car, and the girl he's been crushing on for almost a year is coming too. On the second day they find a paw print wider than Trey's spread hand, and that night a howl comes out of the dark so loud they have to cover their ears.

EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources):
https://weirddarkness.com/werewolf-camping-story

SOURCES and RESOURCES:“Werewolves Are A**holes” by Reddtior u/JoshuaWaggoner90: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/y6bn65be

WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.

Midnight In The Macabre (MITM), originally aired: October 26, 2026

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