Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories

Latest Episodes:

Eight Sightings in Five Days: The Ohio Bigfoot Flap of 2026 | #WeirdDarkNEWS May 13, 2026

Show notes

Between March 6 and March 10, eight witnesses across Portage County reported the same thing — an upright figure, eight feet tall, moving through the river corridors east of Akron.
SOURCES, LINKS, AND PRINT VERSION: https://weirddarkness.com/ohio-bigfoot-flap-2026
Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps 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

The Ferryman of Silvertree Lake | #RetroRadio May 13, 2026

Show notes

A curving Mississippi lake road after sundown, a wedding present on the passenger seat, and a quiet island resort across the water where the ferryman takes fifty cents — exact change only.
Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps 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 Island on Silvertree Lake” (October 19, 1977)
00:46:15.152 = Lights Out, “the Projective Mr. Drogan” (January 26, 1943)
01:15:39.621 = Lux Radio Theater, “Return of Peter Grimm” (February 13, 1939)
02:17:22.687 = Macabre, “Crystalline Man” (January 01, 1962) ***WD
02:45:43.599 = Philip Marlowe, “Bid For Freedom” (January 21, 1950)
03:14:29.567 = Results Inc, “Mummy’s Walk” (December 03, 1944)
03:42:38.776 = Black Mass, “Shidah And Kuziba” (October 16, 1973) ***WD
03:56:34.198 = Michael Shayne, “Date At Cliff House” (April 16, 1945)
04:26:13.554 = Beyond Midnight, “Marble Room” (September 26, 1969) ***WD
04:53:52.211 = 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/WDRR0657

TWO PAIRS OF EVERYTHING: True Crime Reimagined | #MurderNoir May 13, 2026

Show notes

Two pairs of everything — body parts — turn up in three southern counties before anyone thinks to ask the quiet woman on the hog farm what was buried out behind the barn.
EPISODE PAGE (includes list of sources): https://weirddarkness.com/noir-twopairsofeverything
THE REAL CASE BEHIND THIS STORY: THE VIOLA HYATT CASE (1959, ALABAMA)Viola Hyatt was a 30-year-old farm woman living with her father Martin on a hog farm near White Plains, Alabama. Raised by a cruel, sickly mother who told her daily she was a curse, Viola grew up isolated, heavy-set, and physically strong from butchering the family's hogs herself — a job she took over from her father as a teenager. When her father rented a small trailer on the property to two construction workers — brothers Emmett and Lee Harper, both WWII veterans (one a Bataan Death March survivor) — the arrangement turned ugly. The brothers sexually abused Viola, beat her father when he objected, and treated the family with contempt. Viola endured it for months. On the morning of June 27, she loaded her father's 12-gauge shotgun, walked to the trailer, and shot both men in the face. She then used the double-bit axe from the barn to dismember the bodies, loaded the parts into the brothers' own 1957 Ford, and drove all night through three Alabama counties — Calhoun, Etowah, and Cleburne — scattering arms, legs, and torsos along roadsides, in briar patches, and in the Tallapoosa River. The bodies were so disfigured that police couldn't identify them for 17 days. They called the victims "Mr. X" and "Mr. Y." The case broke when the construction foreman recognized police sketches and connected them to a phone call Viola had made claiming the brothers were tending to a sick mother. Police found blood in the trunk of the car, the buried axe, and damage to the trailer door — and after a six-hour interrogation, Viola confessed. She was evaluated at Brice Mental Hospital, found sane, and pled guilty in March of the following year to avoid the electric chair. She received a life sentence. She never explained her motive beyond saying the abuse "wasn't the main reason" — it was "worse than that." She refused interviews for the rest of her life. Paroled in 1970, she lived quietly in a trailer park until her death in 1992, taking whatever the full story was to the grave.
WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.
Originally aired: May 12, 2026

The Yorkshire Witch: The Cunning Crimes of Mary Bateman May 13, 2026

Show notes

A self-proclaimed witch in 1800s England used fake magic and poison to con her victims - until one murder too many brought her deadly schemes crashing down.
EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources and full transcript): https://weirddarkness.com/YorkshireWitch
FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: What if we just discovered we're sharing Earth with another intelligent species? Scientists have found something mind-blowing, and if they are right, nothing is ever going to be the same. (When They Arrive – Earth’s First Contact Playbook) *** When a young boy stumbled upon a cave ritual in rural Mexico, he uncovered a terrifying cult led by a self-proclaimed goddess who had turned village farmers into willing executioners. (Blood Priestess of Yerba Buena) *** In the case of an 1816 murder, an old security guard recognized the attacker just by voice - but when the suspect ended up on death row, he swore they got the wrong guy. (Murder At The Pottery) *** When strange noises in an old farmhouse turned out to be a mongoose who could sing, spy on neighbors, and speak multiple languages, the Irving family's quiet life on the Isle of Man would never be the same. (The Strange True Tale of Gef The Talking Mongoose) *** There's something seriously strange about Saturn - a giant hexagon storm at its north pole that's got both NASA scientists and conspiracy theorists buzzing about what it could mean, strange radio signals that are unexplainable, and the odd history of how it was seen and interpreted by humans through the years. (The Science, Secrets, Strangeness, and Songs of Saturn) *** In 1800s England, Mary Bateman posed as a powerful witch to con desperate people out of their money - until her "magical cures" turned to murder. (The Cunning Crimes of The Yorkshire Witch)
CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding
00:01:40.399 = Show Open
00:04:03.792 = The Cunning Crimes of the Yorkshire Witch
00:14:31.135 = When They Arrive: Earth’s First Contact Playbook ***
00:33:09.022 = Blood Priestess of Yerba Buena
00:43:19.864 = Murder At The Pottery ***
00:46:23.172 = The Science, Secrets, Strangeness, and Songs of Saturn
00:53:45.030 = The Strange True Tale of Gef the Talking Mongoose ***
00:59:43.434 = Show Close & Bloopers
*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad break
LISTEN ON PODCAST APPS:
Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps
*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*
SOURCES and RESOURCES:
“The Cunning Crimes of the Yorkshire Witch”: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/577601/mary-bateman-witch-yorkshire-murder, http://winsham.blogspot.com/2016/05/murder-and-lies-mary-bateman-yorkshire.html,https://murderpedia.org/female.B/b/bateman-mary.htm
“Blood Priestess of Yerba Buena”: https://the-line-up.com/magdalena-solis-high-priestess-of-mexico,https://murderpedia.org/female.S/s/solis-magdalena.htm, https://vocal.media/criminal/magdalena-solis-s-cult,https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/magdalena-sol%C3%ADs-the-high-priestess-of-blood-1278a81dea48
“Murder At The Pottery”: https://hauntedpalaceblog.com/2024/11/29/the-ouseburn-murder-and-the-macabre-afterlife-of-charles-smith/
“The Strange True Tale of Gef The Talking Mongoose”: http://gefmongoose.blogspot.com/p/the-story-of-gef.html,https://www.weirdhistorian.com/things-said-about-the-talking-mongoose-of-the-isle-of-man/,https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/gef-the-talking-mongoose-true-story-nandor-fodor,https://www.skeptic.org.uk/2024/03/the-strange-and-deeply-unlikely-tale-of-gef-the-talking-mongoose/,https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/vh35kXxrrqPRYn1mMJJb17/the-curious-case-of-the-talking-mongoose
“The Science, Secrets, Strangeness, and Songs of Saturn”: https://www.ufoinsight.com/conspiracy/historical/saturn-not-what-we-think, https://www.space.com/30608-mysterious-saturn-hexagon-explained.html,https://www.space.com/11205-saturn-strange-radio-signals-cassini.html,https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/hercolobus/esp_hercolobus_34.htm, https://www.mazzastick.com/saturn-moon-matrix/, http://www.atlanteanconspiracy.com/2008/07/saturn-satan-and-666.html, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWHLCHv4PiI (sounds of Saturn)
“When They Arrive: Earth’s First Contact Playbook”: https://anomalien.com/guide-what-to-do-if-non-human-intelligence-is-confirmed-on-earth/, https://www.aaro.mil/UAP-Cases/Official-UAP-Imagery/, https://www.cnes-geipan.fr/en/node/58792, https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/science/en/office-chief-science-advisor/sky-canada-project,https://www.congress.gov/event/118th-congress/house-event/116282/text, https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3965403/dod-examining-unidentified-anomalous-phenomena/,https://www.npr.org/2023/07/27/1190390376/ufo-hearing-non-human-biologics-uaps,https://thedebrief.org/intelligence-officials-say-u-s-has-retrieved-non-human-craft/,https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/4008836/reports-of-drone-incursions-taken-seriously-dod-spokesman-says/, https://www.congress.gov/amendment/118th-congress/senate-amendment/2610/text,https://anomalien.com/aliens-sending-three-word-nuclear-warning-claims-ex-army-official/#google_vignette,https://anomalien.com/the-ongoing-interplay-between-non-human-intelligence-and-humanity/#google_vignette,https://anomalien.com/ufos-hacked-nuclear-codes-russia-and-usa-were-near-the-brink-of-nuclear-war/,https://www.christianity.com/wiki/angels-and-demons/are-aliens-demons-what-does-the-bible-say.html,https://www.christianity.com/wiki/bible/what-does-the-bible-say-about-aliens.html, https://weirddarkness.com/if-aliens-are-real-can-i-still-be-a-christian-churchoftheundead/
(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.

The Engage School "Fight Club" And The 30-Minute Video From Jonesboro | #WeirdDarkNEWS May 12, 2026

Show notes

A mother in Jonesboro called the sheriff's office on April 17, 2025, about her 13-year-old's autism school - and a search warrant pulled video the prosecutor would eventually play in open court.
SOURCES, LINKS, AND PRINT VERSION: https://weirddarkness.com/jonesboro-fight-club
Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps 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

A Kidnapped Father, a Bed-Stuy Brownstone, and a Court Standoff | #WeirdDarkNEWS May 12, 2026

Show notes

An 84-year-old Georgia man with Alzheimer's has not been produced in a Brooklyn courtroom for over two years, and a judge wants to know exactly where he is.
SOURCES, LINKS, AND PRINT VERSION: https://weirddarkness.com/charrington
Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps 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

The Pentagon Just Dropped 162 UFO Files — Pastors Were Warned First | The Coming Disclosure May 12, 2026

Show notes

In a single week of May 2026, the Pentagon posted 162 declassified UFO files online, American pastors went public about being warned in closed-door briefings that disclosure was coming, sworn congressional testimony placed non-human craft already in U.S. government hands, and a Steven Spielberg film called Disclosure Day moved toward its June release. The researchers who have spent decades on this agree on one thing — something is being revealed. They disagree sharply about what it is, whether the beings behind it are hostile, and what the public is actually being prepared to accept.
EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources and full transcript): https://weirddarkness.com/UfoDisclosure
CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = I Was One Of The Eleven
00:03:50.143 = Show Open
00:06:02.082 = Two Disclosures In Eleven Days
00:21:08.349 = The Material Witnesses ***
00:47:39.253 = From Enoch to Element 115 ***
01:05:11.617 = Where The Ladder Leads ***
01:21:24.510 = Show Close
*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad break
LISTEN ON PODCAST APPS:
Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps
*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*
WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.
Originally aired: May 12, 2026

The Vampire's Desire: Sheltered From the Storm, Trapped With the Dead | #RetroRadio May 12, 2026

Show notes

Two travelers seek refuge from a thunderstorm in a forbidding old house — where a mad woman's laughter, a warning to stay away from the bookcase, and a corpse that crumbles at a touch are only the beginning of what waits in the dark.
Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps 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, “Return Engagement” (October 17, 1977) ***WD
00:45:14.749 = Harry Lime, “Too Many Colors” (August 03, 1951)
01:10:16.188 = Haunted Tales of the Supernatural, “The Lamp” (July 07, 1984)
01:35:55.862 = The Haunting Hour, “Ptolomey’s Grave” (April 14, 1945) ***WD
02:00:46.453 = Hermit’s Cave, “The Vampire’s Desire” (July 17, 1941)
02:25:28.357 = Mystery Is My Hobby, “Death Writes An Epitaph” (January 28, 1948) ***WD
02:51:08.798 = Sherlock Holmes, “The Grand Old Man” (December 21, 1946)
03:20:24.671 = House of Mystery, “Gift From The Dead” (August 03, 1947) ***WD
03:50:07.476 = Incredible But True, “Only A Miracle” (1950-1951)
03:53:45.337 = Inner Sanctum, “The Skull That Walked” (April 15, 1944)
04:21:32.456 = The Key, “Chicken” (1956) ***WD
04:45:52.876 =
(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/WDRR0656

The Spy, The Witch, and the Wych Elm: An Unsolved Mystery May 12, 2026

Show notes

In the heart of Hagley Wood, a skeleton hidden inside a hollow tree sparked decades of eerie graffiti, whispered conspiracies, and chilling rumors that she may have been a WWII spy silenced forever.
EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources and full transcript): https://weirddarkness.com/SpyWitchWych
FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Was a woman found dead in a wych elm tree in wartime England actually a WWII German spy? (Bella in the Wych Elm) *** Jonathan Reed couldn’t bear to be separated from his wife ... so he moved into her tomb. (Til Death Do Us Part) *** Dr. Milton Rokeach forced three men who all believed themselves to be the Messiah to live together for two years in an effort to bring them out of their irrationality. But what Rokeach learned had little to do with the men themselves. (The Three Christs of Ypsilanti) *** A bodiless voice torments a lone beachgoer camping out. (Spirit Voice on the Beach) *** Only months after the infamous ax murders in Villisca, Iowa - the quiet farm community of Payson, Illinois was shattered by its own terrifying murder case. (The Pfanschmidt Murders) *** In an effort to test one of his theories on social behavior, psychologist Muzafer Sherif released twenty-two 12-year-old boys into a sparsely supervised wilderness camp — and then covertly provoked them to fight each other. (The Robbers Cave Experiment) *** Witch hunts and trials. They didn’t end in Salem – they live on even today in Papua New Guinea. (Papua New Guinea Witchcraft) *** A man in Japan sees small, childlike ashen white aliens. (Childlike Aliens) *** How can a holy book such as the Christian bible bring bad luck? One paranormal museum in West Virginia has the answer with an infamous display of the 666 Bible. (The 666 Bible) *** The people of Hannibal, Missouri in the late 1800s would remain appalled that one of their most prominent residents could be murdered without retribution. Even a $10,000 reward couldn’t bring justice. (The Stillwell Murder) *** A father takes his son to the ruins of an old, burned down building – and the boy sees something his father doesn’t. (The Old Factory Visit) *** “The Devil’s Advocate” - it’s a phrase that can be traced to the Roman Catholic Church that long had an actual official office for a person who was employed to be exactly that – an advocate for the devil. And he still works for the church even today. (The Devil’s Advocate)
CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding
00:00:51.758 = Show Open
00:03:56.427 = Was Bella In The Wych Elm a WWII Spy?
00:17:52.860 = Til Death Do Us Part ***
00:20:30.246 = The Three Christs of Ypsilanti
00:28:17.112 = Spirit Voice On The Beach
00:32:35.825 = The Pfanschmidt Murders of 1912 ***
00:41:38.517 = Devil’s Advocate
00:45:43.295 = The Robbers Cave Experiment
00:53:23.042 = Papua New Guinea Witchcraft ***
00:59:43.636 = Child Aliens
00:1:03:02.762 = The 666 Bible
01:08:44.469 = The Stillwell Murder ***
01:20:23.228 = The Old Factory Visit
01:25:09.988 = Show Close
*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad break
LISTEN ON PODCAST APPS:
Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps
*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*
SOURCES and RESOURCES:
“Was Bella in the Wych Elm a WWII German Spy?” posted at The UnRedacted: https://tinyurl.com/wtxqr7l
“The Pfanschmidt Murders” by Troy Taylor for American Hauntings Ink: https://tinyurl.com/uolq6b8
“Spirit Voice on the Beach” by Berggraf38, posted at YourGhostStories.com: https://tinyurl.com/qngcm6l
“The Three Christs of Ypsilanti” by Taig Spearman for All That’s Interesting: https://tinyurl.com/w9delgl
“The Robbers Cave Experiment” by Taig Spearman for All That’s Interesting: https://tinyurl.com/yx66lpob
“Papua New Guinea Witchcraft” by Caleb Strom for Ancient Origins: https://tinyurl.com/rvpyyva
“The Devil’s Advocate” by Ellen Lloyd for Ancient Pages: https://tinyurl.com/vluuhdg
“Childlike Aliens” by Terry Larch for FreakLore.com: https://tinyurl.com/snrkrbm
“The 666 Bible” by Theresa at Theresa’s Haunted History of the Tri-State: https://tinyurl.com/t8dlnez
“The Stillwell Murder” by Robert Wilhelm for Murder By Gaslight: https://tinyurl.com/yd4uupot
“The Old Factory Visit” by Mike, posted at MyHauntedLifeToo.com: (link no longer available)
“Til Death Do Us Part” by Jessica Ferri at The-Line-Up.com: https://the-line-up.com/mary-reed
(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 27, 2018

The Hattie Lane Trailer and the 14-Year-Old Who Weighed 35 Pounds | #WeirdDarkNEWS May 11, 2026

Show notes

A 911 call from a Wisconsin mobile home sent deputies to a fourteen-year-old girl who weighed thirty-five pounds and had not seen a doctor in five years.
SOURCES, LINKS, AND PRINT VERSION: https://weirddarkness.com/stepmom-starves-daughter
Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps 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

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