Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories

“The Leech”: When a desperate man kills his lover's husband to finally set them free, he discovers that getting rid of a body is far easier said than done — and the dead have a terrifying way of refusing to stay gone. | #RetroRadio #WeirdDarkness | EP0632

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = Show Open
00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theater, “Return to Pompeii” (August 22, 1977)
00:45:31.192 = Mystery House, “Murder For Laughs” (November 04, 1945) ***WD
01:11:14.814 = Night Beat, “Will of Mrs. Orloff” (June 01, 1951)
01:39:32.376 = CBC Nightfall, “The Undertaker” (March 11, 1983) ***WD
02:09:07.798 = Nightmare, “The Leech” (April 07, 1954)
02:31:47.256 = Obsession, “The North Wind” (December 04, 1950) ***WD
02:54:53.372 = Origin of Superstition, “No News Is Good News” (August 11, 1933) ***WD
03:08:44.467 = Pat Novak For Hire, “Dixie Gillian” (November 24, 1946)
03:38:56.686 = Peril, “Three Hunted Men” (1953) ***WD
04:02:00.913 = The Mystery Playhouse, “Witness For The Prosecution” (May 31, 1946) ***WD (LQ)
04:27:10.238 = Philip Morris Playhouse, “Four Hours to Kill” (May 13, 1949) ***WD
04:56:12.266 = 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/WDRR0632

Wes Craven didn't invent the idea of dying in your sleep during a nightmare — he read about it in the newspaper. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, dozens of young Hmong refugees in America went to sleep and never woke up, and nobody could explain why. The CDC investigated. Doctors were baffled. And the victims themselves had seen it coming — they were afraid to sleep. The real nightmare came first. Freddy Krueger came second.

FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Children dying in their sleep while having terrible nightmares. It’s not just a movie plot from a Wes Craven film – it really happened, and inspired the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. (The Terrifying True Syndrome That Inspired A Nightmare on Elm Street) *** We’re used to seeing someone on television or in movies die from a gunshot or stabbing, knowing they were just pretending – that the gun was using blanks, or the knife was using a retractable blade. But what we don’t often hear are the times that those prop weapons end up killing someone for real. (Death By Movie Prop) *** How can a little girl disappear in a big crowd of people with no one seeing anything? Was it a case of stranger danger or did someone she know betray her trust? We’ll look at the case of Beverly Rose Potts who went missing in 1951, never to be seen again. (Peril in the Park for Beverly Potts) *** Part medicine, part honey, part cannibalism… who or what was the mellified man? (The Mellified Man) *** They say that tragedy can change a person forever… and that couldn’t be more true for one man who went from being considered lucky, to becoming deranged after a horrible accident, (The Hidden Wounds of Mr. Schultz) *** Famous last words. Humphrey Bogart said, “I should have never switched from Scotch to martinis.” Winston Churchill’s last words were simply, “I’m bored with it all.” But sometimes what a person says on their deathbed can be shocking or outlandish – even if they aren’t a celebrity. We’ll look at a few unexpected deathbed moments. (Deathbed Moments)

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding
00:00:41.179 = Show Open
00:03:18.729 = The Terrifying True Syndrome That Inspired The Creation of Freddy Krueger
00:10:01.615 = Death By Movie Prop ***
00:16:18.004 = Peril In The Park For Beverly Potts
00:30:51.396 = The Mellified Man ***
00:37:50.784 = The Hidden Wounds of Mr. Schultz
00:43:07.191 = Deathbed Moments00:53:21.541 = 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://pod.link/1078714736
*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*

SOURCES and RESOURCES:
“The Terrifying True Syndrome That Inspired The Creation of Freddy Krueger” by Thad Morgan for History.com:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/37xp3v22 (“1..2..Freddy’s Coming For You” by Remix Maniacs:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhKRXHnYqN4)
“Peril in the Park for Beverly Potts” by Crystal Dawn for LostNFoundBlogs.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/x7yuy3kh
“Death By Movie Prop” written by Juliet Bennet Rylah for Graveyard Shift: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/59rx9j2z
“The Mellified Man” by Bipin Dimri for Historic Mysteries: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yz2k5kw5
“The Hidden Wounds of Mr. Schultz” by Kathi Kresol for Haunted Rockford: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3m8mnpy2
“Deathbed Moments” by Mike Lawrence for ListVerse: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/24rppfx5
(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: September 27, 2021

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

In January of 2015, a neighbor in Apple Valley, Minnesota glanced through a front window and saw what he thought were mannequins on the floor. They weren't. David Crowley, his wife Komel, and their five-year-old daughter Rani had been dead for nearly a month — and a black handgun lay nearby. Investigators called it a murder-suicide. But Crowley wasn't just any filmmaker — he was the man behind Gray State, an independent film depicting a government takeover of America that had already raised over $60,000 and drawn the attention of anti-government movements across the country. To his supporters, the answer was obvious: David Crowley wasn't a killer. David Crowley was silenced.

FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: A Minnesota man espousing a coming “New World Order” was found dead with his family in 2015. Was it a murder-suicide as investigators say, or could it be that the government had him silenced to keep from speaking the truth? (Death of a Conspiracy Theorist) *** A girl finds out her family all her life had hidden the fact that she grew up in a haunted house. But the secret came out when she found the photos that were taken of the evidence ghosts left behind. (We Only Knew It As The Entity) *** In the early 1900s women simply weren’t usually allowed to take part in murder investigations. But Mary E. Holland was no ordinary woman. And the case of Margaret Grippen was no ordinary murder. (A Famous Woman Detective and The Murder of Margaret Grippen) *** For your next move to a new home, do you want a little peace and quiet? Something a bit more secluded so you can get away from nosy neighbors? You might consider Garnet, Montana… population zero. It’s scenery is beautiful, but nobody wants to live there – despite the government offering to pay people to do so. Why is that? (The Montana Town No One Wants To Live In) *** In Louisiana’s Honey Island Swamp, you’re sure to find alligators, turtles, snakes, and other creepy critters. But legend has it, the swamp is home to something that is much more wild. (Swamp Monster of Honey Island)

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding
00:00:56.485 = Show Open
00:03:06.863 = Gray State: Death of a Conspiracy Theorist
00:12:52.629 = Montana Town No One Wants To Live In ***
00:24:53.651 = A Famous Woman Detective And The Murder of Margaret Grippen
00:31:02.520 = We Only Knew It As The Entity ***
00:51:37.445 = Swamp Monster of Honey Island ***
00:58:53.664 = 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://pod.link/1078714736
*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*

SOURCES and RESOURCES:
“Gray State: Death of a Conspiracy Theorist” by Pat Pheifer for the Star Tribunehttps://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yf6chbzd; and David Neiwert for SPL Center https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8anexh
“Gray State” 2013 trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igH_7EndvyM
“Gray State: The Rise” uncompleted documentary from 2015: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5651026
“A Gray State” 2021 documentary: https://amzn.to/3Xuik5A
“Gray State” Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/graystatemovie
“Justice For David Crowley” Facebook page: https://facebook.com/justicefordavidcrowley
David Crowley Speaks at Ron Paul Festival in 2012: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDqdOjfNXcU
“A Famous Woman Detective And The Murder of Margaret Grippen” by Kathi Kresol for Haunted Rockford:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/mv8fav3k
“The Montana Town No One Wants To Live In” by Brad Smith for Relatively Interesting: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/u8v636vf
“We Only Knew It As The Entity” by Jessica Moffitt for Huffington Post (INCLUDES PHOTOS): https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yc3w7zfe
“The Swamp Monster of Honey Island” by Cole Kinchen for Pelican State of Mind: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3e4dp8fn
Book: “Honey Island Swamp Monster Documentations” by Dana Holyfield: https://amzn.to/3iOKcmf
Film: “The Legend of the Honey Island Swamp Monster”: https://amzn.to/3WhwNAL
(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: January 18, 2023

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

“Let Me See Your Face”: When a writer takes a room at a quiet Rouen hotel, a mysterious woman glimpsed alone in the moonlit garden at midnight awakens in him a fascination so powerful, no warning — and no fear — can stop him from seeking her face. | #RetroRadio #WeirdDarkness | EP0631

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = Show Open
00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theater, “The Instrument” (August 19, 1977)
00:45:33.056 = The Black Mass, “Oil of Dog” and “Esme” (January 13, 1970) ***WD (LQ)
01:08:35.158 = Beyond Midnight, “Let Me See Your Face” (April 14, 1969)
01:37:02.139 = MindWebs, “The Last Ghost” (August 19, 1979)
01:56:25.139 = The Croupier, “The Roman” (September 21, 1949) ***WD
02:25:25.564 = Mystery In The Air, “Beyond Good And Evil” (August 28, 1947) ***WD
02:54:15.922 = Molle Mystery Theater, “Last Night” (February 22, 1946)
03:23:41.186 = Mr. Keen, “The Woman Who Wasn’t Needed” (June 05, 1940) ***WD (LQ)
03:35:33.387 = Murder at Midnight, “Terror Out Of Space” (February 24, 1947)
04:01:39.639 = Black Museum, “A Prescription” (August 19, 1952)
04:26:43.639 = Mysterious Traveler, “Most Famous Man In The World” (November 20, 1951)
04:56:37.582 = 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/WDRR0631

On the afternoon of August 6, 1848, the HMS Daedalus was cutting through the gray waters of the south Atlantic when something surfaced alongside the ship — something enormous, something alive, and something that no man aboard had ever seen before. The officers who witnessed it were not excitable young sailors prone to ghost stories. They were Royal Navy men, educated and disciplined, with careers and reputations built on precision and credibility. Yet every one of them would go on record to describe the same thing: a massive serpentine creature moving through the open ocean as though it owned it. What followed their report would shake the British Admiralty, ignite a media firestorm across Victorian England, and launch a debate that has never been fully resolved.
FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: On August 6th, 1848 the crew of the HMS Daedalus spotted something monstrous from the deep – and it has become the most well-documented sea serpent sighting in history. (The HMS Daedalus Sea Monster) *** A notorious criminal is brought to justice, and later found to have just as notorious of a brain. (Hanging of a Notorious Brain) *** A burst of UFO activity took place on New Year’s Eve outside of New York in 1982… so many sightings and reports it was impossible to ignore, even by skeptics. (The Hudson Valley Flap) *** A social experiment initiated by Stalin’s Soviet Union ends with hundreds dead on the first day – but that was only the beginning of the horrors of what would later be known as “Cannibal Island”. (Joseph Stalin’s Cannibal Island) *** A woman is involved in an accident, and once out of the hospital everyone appears to be afraid upon looking at her face… even her. But it’s not the scars that are causing terror. (The Reflection That Drove To Death) *** One day in 1863 Doctor Joseph Rogers found himself dealing with a very distressing case. A young pregnant woman had been sent to a workhouse because her circumstances were so dire. Her name was Sarah Ann Eldridge, and her husband, Alfred Eldridge, was in prison waiting to be executed. (The Murderer’s Wife)
CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding
00:00:33.861 = Show Open
00:02:42.625 = The HMS Daedalus Sea Monster
00:12:50.838 = The Murderer’s Wife ***
00:33:28.625 = The Hudson Valley Flap ***
00:39:09.082 = Hanging of a Notorious Brain
00:43:36.092 = The Reflection That Drove to Death
00:47:38.268 = Joseph Stalin’s Cannibal Island ***
00:52:09.154 = 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://pod.link/1078714736
*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*
EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources and full transcript): https://weirddarkness.com/HMSDaedalus
SOURCES and RESOURCES:
“Hanging Of a Notorious Brain” by Traci Taylor for 981TheHawk.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/y7t456fm
“Joseph Stalin’s Cannibal Island” by Garret S. Griffin for MSN.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/4pfxptws
BOOK: “Cannibal Island: Death In a Siberian Gulag” by Nicolas Werth: https://amzn.to/3Waxw6J)
“The Reflection That Drove To Death” by Julia Njord on Medium.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3h8bwy3b
“The Hudson Valley Flap” by Jazz Shaw for The Debrief: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/mr3md848
“The HMS Daedalus Sea Monster” by Michael Kilianski for Creative History Stories: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yckzhht2
“The Murderer’s Wife” posted at London Overlooked: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2rhr8rrn,https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/5xpzksp4
(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.)
HELPFUL LINKS & RESOURCES…
https://WeirdDarkness.com/ALBUMS = Songs and Videos by our Weird Darkness punk band, #DarkWeirdness
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https://WeirdDarkness.com/AUDIOBOOKS = FREE Audiobooks Narrated By Darren Marlar

WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.
Originally aired: January 16, 2023