Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories

The ancients didn’t just fear death — they weaponized it, leaving behind curses in hieroglyphics meant to haunt anyone brave enough to look.

EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/CursesCarvedInStone

READ or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3cfn27cp

FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: They say grief lingers in the house where children were murdered… but so does something colder, crueler — and far more dangerous. (The Horror of Waupun, Wisconsin) *** In the haunted heart of Edinburgh, there’s a pub where the drinks are strong and the screams are stronger. (The Spirits of Banshee Labyrinth) *** The last person to see Virginia alive passed a polygraph — but his wife said he didn’t come home until hours later. (The Vanishing of Virginia Carpenter) *** Asteroids, alien civilizations, even cosmic plagues — the real terror isn’t what we can see in the sky… it’s what we can’t. (Space Threats to Earth) *** It started with flirtation, turned into an affair, and ended with a gunshot echoing through the cold night air in a Walgreen’s parking lot. (Three Shots In The Night) *** They carved their warnings into stone 4,000 years ago — and now, after centuries of silence, the hieroglyphic curses of the dead are being read aloud once again. But in doing so, are we inviting doom and destruction? (Hieroglyphic Curses)

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = Short Fictional Story, “Breath of Anubis”
00:11:21.779 = Show Open
00:13:18.068 = Hieroglyphic Curses
00:25:27.966 = The Vanishing of Virginia Carpenter ***
00:32:11.146 = Space Threats To Earth
00:36:45.704 = Spirits of the Banshee Labyrinth
00:42:07.498 = Three Shots In The Night ***
00:47:55.685 = Horror of Waupun, Wisconsin
00:58:32.140 = 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:
Haunted Rockford YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@HauntedRockfordEvents
BOOK: “Dark Skies” by Daniel Deudney: https://amzn.to/3XFWUF6
Fictional story at the beginning of this episode, “Breath of Anubis” by ChatterGhost
“Space Threats to Earth”: https://anomalien.com/threats-from-outer-space-might-be-fueling-conspiracy-theories/
“Three Shots In The Night”: https://the-line-up.com/murder-of-emmett-corrigan
“Hieroglyphic Curses”: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40000520,https://ng.opera.news/ng/en/culture/6aaa5bcd19c53ffa60ffc337d5742fce, https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/weird-news/ancient-egypt-tomb-saqqara-priest-16826821, https://www.rom.on.ca/en/learning/activities-resources/online-activities/ancient-egypt/religion/tomb-inscriptions-curses, https://www.ancient-origins.net/history/tomb-curses-ancient-egypt-magical-incantations-dead-003228, https://lethbridgenewsnow.com/2020/08/06/debunking-the-curse-of-the-pharaohs/, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Execration-Texts, https://www.businessinsider.com/egypt-saqqara-tombs-mummy-curses-2020-11, https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/the-curse-of-the-curse-of-the-pharaoh,https://blog.nms.ac.uk/2017/06/23/ancient-egyptian-tomb-warnings-curses-and-ghosts/,https://listverse.com/2023/06/08/10-creepy-curses-hidden-in-hieroglyphics
“The Horror of Waupun, Wisconsin: https://www.hauntedrockford.com/shadows-of-a-murder/
“Spirits of the Banshee Labyrinth”: https://moonmausoleum.com/haunted-spirits-at-the-banshee-labyrinth-pub/
“The Vanishing of Virginia Carpenter” by Troy Taylor (used with permission): https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/bdzcaez9
(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: April 01, 2025
Weird Darkness explores ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic curses, the 1948 disappearance of Virginia Carpenter, asteroid and alien threats from space, Edinburgh’s haunted Banshee Labyrinth, the Walgreens murder of Emmett Corrigan, and the 1865 Wisconsin ax killings linked to the restless dead of Waupun.It opens with curses carved into ancient Egyptian tombs, from the 4,000-year-old Execration Texts to warnings left by Harkhuf, Ankhtifi, Khentika Ikhekhi, Hezi, Sarenput I, Ankhmahor, Senenmut, and Pharaoh Amenhotep. These hieroglyphic threats promised strangulation, mutilation, divine judgment, destroyed families, and even attacks by crocodiles and serpents against anyone who violated the dead.From there, 21-year-old Virginia Carpenter vanishes after arriving in Denton, Texas, on June 1, 1948, to attend the Texas State College for Women. Taxi driver Edgar Ray “Jack” Zachary said he left her outside Brackenridge Hall with two unidentified men beside a cream-colored convertible, but Carpenter never checked in, and later leads—including a possible Arkansas sighting and a 1998 burial-site tip—failed to solve the case.Next, the danger moves into space with asteroid 2024 YR4, theories about weaponized asteroid-deflection technology, Cixin Liu’s “dark forest” view of hostile alien civilizations, and Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe’s idea that viruses could arrive from space. The episode also traces fears of catastrophe from the sky back to the ancient Cosmic Hunt tradition and the Sámi story of an arrow striking the pole star.The episode then descends beneath Edinburgh’s Old Town into The Banshee Labyrinth, a rock and metal pub built partly inside the South Bridge vaults. Reports include a screaming banshee in a gray dress, the ghost of a child named Molly who disappeared in 1814, the mischievous Ole Jock in the women’s restroom, and unexplained cold spots, moving glasses, and shadows inside the historic underground chambers.From Edinburgh, the story shifts to Meridian, Idaho, where attorney Emmett Corrigan’s affair with paralegal Kandi Hall ended in three gunshots outside a Walgreens on March 11, 2011. Kandi’s husband, Rob Hall, survived a gunshot wound to the head, Corrigan died from wounds to the heart and skull, and Hall was convicted of second-degree murder in 2012 and sentenced to 30 years in prison.The episode closes with the December 3, 1865 murders of three children at Anton and Amelia Koch’s farm near Burlington, Wisconsin, where hired man Peter Frahm was convicted after bloody footprints, blood on his boots, and a stolen coin pouch tied him to the ax killings. Frahm died by hanging in the Wisconsin State Penitentiary in Waupun on March 21, 1871, and reports of whispers, cold presences, apparitions of children, and a darker shadow have since attached themselves to both the old Koch property and the unmarked graves of the State Prison Cemetery.

LIKE WHAT YOU’RE HEARING? WEIRD DARKNESS posts episodes 7 DAYS A WEEK! Listen FREE wherever you get podcasts or visit https://weirddarkness.com/listen. • Paranormal • True Crime • Ghosts • UFOs • Cryptids • Unexplained • Want even more? Become an OFFICIAL WEIRDO for commercial-free episodes, bonus episodes, weeknight live chats, audiobooks & more at https://weirddarkness.com/OFFICIAL

In a fog-bound London mansion emptied of its furniture and its servants, a young man lives alone beneath a wax-sealed black door at the top of the stairs that his father's instructions forbid him to open until his twenty-first birthday.

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 Black Door” (June 23, 1978) ***WD
00:46:40.716 = Hollywood Mystery Time, “Murder By Coincidence” (August 19, 1945) ***WD
01:16:35.766 = Sam Spade, “The Bail Bond Caper” (June 27, 1948) ***WD
01:48:13.618 = The Sealed Book, “I’ll Die Laughing” (May 27, 1945)
02:17:42.604 = The Shadow, “The Juggernaut” (December 26, 1943) ***WD
02:46:11.413 = Sleep No More, “Passengers To Bali” (April 10, 1957) ***WD
03:13:40.831 = BBC Spine Chillers’ Fresh Blood, “Absolute Silence” (March 28, 2006)
03:27:38.003 = Stay Tuned For Terror, “The Bogey Man Will Get You” (October 01, 1945) ***WD
03:42:10.420 = The Strange Dr. Weird, “Two Faces of Death” (March 13, 1945) ***WD
03:54:15.205 = Suspense, “Marvelous Barastro” (April 13, 1944)
04:23:48.161 = Tales of Tomorrow, “The Other Now” (January 22, 1953)
04:53:42.470 = Incredible But True, “Mr. Watt’s Awakening” (1950-1951)
04:57:14.439 = 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/WDRR0746

Nothing will grow in his fields — but the old man next door drives home at midnight with his headlights off, and whatever he unloads makes his crops thrive.

EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/mitm-fertilizer

SOURCES and RESOURCES: “Fertilizer” by RehnWriter: https://www.creepypasta.com/fertilizer/

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

Midnight In The Macabre (MITM), originally aired: August 16, 2026

LIKE WHAT YOU’RE HEARING? WEIRD DARKNESS has new episodes 7 DAYS A WEEK! Listen FREE wherever you get podcasts or visit https://weirddarkness.com/listen. • Paranormal • True Crime • Ghosts • UFOs • Cryptids • Unexplained • Want even more? Become an OFFICIAL WEIRDO for commercial-free episodes, bonus episodes, weeknight live chats, audiobooks & more at https://WeirdDarkness.com/OFFICIAL

Something lifted out of Horseshoe Lagoon on a north Queensland banana farm in January 1966, and what it left floating on the surface was still there days later when the reporters, the air force, and ufologists arrived to investigate it.

EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/TullyNestAffair

READ or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2tuf57re

FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Something strange happened in 1966 Australia. Lights in the skies, sightings of saucer shaped objects, and the start of what eventually came to be known as crop circles. It’s a mystery that still lingers today, and it appears to be a kind of catalyst for so many similar oddities to follow. (The Tully Nests Affair) *** When you think of the most deadly, man-killing animals in existence, you might think of the big cats, or alligators, or sharks… but don’t be too quick to dismiss birds as dealers of death. (Death-Dealing Fowl) *** It’s one of the world’s most haunted places… it is a ship that you can now book a room in as a hotel. We’ll look at the very haunted Queen Mary. (The Haunted Queen Mary) *** The result of an accidental pregnancy finds out later in life he might be the son of a demon. (Son of the Demon) *** Most every item I bring to you here in Weird Darkness is going to have taken place in history – and most all of them you hear are going to be unnerving, or even horrifying… but there are some particularly macabre moments in history that stand out among the others. Most of which you’ve probably never heard of. (Macabre Moments in History)

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00.00.000 = The Foreboding
00:01:36.609 = Show Open
00:03:39.710 = The Tully Nest Affair
00:25:34.561 = Death Dealing Fowl
00:37:53.394 = The Haunted Queen Mary
00:46:17.396 = Macabre Moments in History
01:02:36.511 = Son Of The Demon
01:06:32.900 = 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:
Book a room on the Queen Mary: https://queenmary.com/tours/tours-exhibits/
“Delphine LaLaurie” episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8vr5wj
“Mellification” episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/4km5fa57
“The Tully Nests Affair” by Marcus Lowth for UFO Insight: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2jm2bujx
“Death-Dealing Fowl” by Darci Heikkinen for ListVerse: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yckrdrea
“The Haunted Queen Mary” from The Scare Chamber: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p98rr3z
“Son of the Demon” by HauntedJurist, posted at YourGhostStories.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/5n954sur
“Macabre Moments in History” by Lauren Glen for Ranker: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/y69r65ft
(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: March, 2022

Speciality of the House: Sbirro's has no menu, no sign and no interest in new customers, and the handful of men who eat there have taken a solemn oath never to speak of the one dish that keeps them coming back.

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, “A Matter of Faith” (June 21, 1978) ***WD
00:45:51.326 = Obsession, “Ebb Tide” (October 01, 1951) ***WD
01:14:46.759 = Origin of Superstition, “Black Cat” (1935) ***WD
01:28:25.308 = Pat Novak For Hire, “Father Leahy Joe Feldman” (April 02, 1949)
01:57:11.365 = Peril, “Mask of Hate” (1953) ***WD
02:21:19.624 = Mystery Playhouse, “Letter” (December 26, 1944) ***WD(LQ)
02:43:57.936 = Philip Morris Playhouse, “Four Hours to Kill” (May 13, 1949) ***WD(LQ)
03:12:47.766 = The Price of Fear, “Speciality Of The House” (April 13, 1974) ***WD
03:41:18.848 = Adventures of Ellery Queen, “One Diamond” (May 06, 1948)
04:10:28.639 = Quiet Please, “Dialogue For A Tragedy” (April 10, 1949) ***WD
04:40:22.415 = Radio City Playhouse, “Sibling” (December 11, 1949) ***WD
05:08:43.222 = 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/WDRR0745