Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories

In June 1865, two children went into the woods for a picnic and never came home — and what was found a week later would horrify New England for nearly a decade before a wandering old man's confession turned the case into something far stranger than anyone imagined.

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

FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: It began when a teenager made a deal with the Devil in the mid 1970s. That’s when the werewolf sightings began – and some experts say there is proof of their existence. (Werewolves of Central England) *** Some think they are escaped circus freaks, others that they are strange medical experiments gone wrong. Some believe them to be ghosts or demons. What are the terrifying white animals or entities people are seeing in Pennsylvania – and could it be more than one kind of creature? (Mystery Monsters From P.A.) *** A couple moves to an old mining town with a dark past… and the darkness apparently hasn’t gone away yet. (The Old Mining Town) *** Is it any surprise that something strange might happen in a pub that used to be a church? One of our Weirdo family members tells her story. (Bandit) *** One of the best worst poets of all time has taken inspiration from a certain mountain in North Carolina – but even when there for the solitude, he wasn’t alone. (The Phantom Hiker of Grandfather Mountain) *** In 1946, a sadistic killer dressed in a white mask terrorized a small town at night. And to this day, the Moonlight Murders killer could still be at large. (The Unsolved Texarkana Murders) *** Plus, I’ll share a chapter from the audiobook, “Suffer the Children: American Horrors, Homicides and Hauntings” by Troy Taylor, a story called “The Most Monstrous and Inhuman Criminal of Modern Times”. 

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding
00:01:32.648 = Show Open
00:04:06.836 = Werewolves of Central England
00:12:36.537 = Mystery Monsters From P.A. ***
00:28:16.172 = Bandit
00:30:39.204 = The Old Mining Town
00:37:40.282 = The Phantom Hitchhiker of Grandfather Mountain ***
00:40:39.173 = The Unsolved Texarkana Murders
00:47:50.775 = The Most Monstrous And Inhuman Criminal of Modern Times, Part 1
00:53:29.952 = The Most Monstrous And Inhuman Criminal of Modern Times, Part 2 ***
01:20:10.413 = The Most Monstrous And Inhuman Criminal of Modern Times, Part 3 ***
01:40:39.633 = 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:
“Werewolves of Central England” by Hugh Landman for Ranker: https://tinyurl.com/s6h83am
“Mystery Monsters from P.A.” by Brent Swancer for Mysterious Universe: https://tinyurl.com/wps4dtr
“Bandit” by Weirdo family member Eleanor, submitted directly to https://WeirdDarkness.com/submit
“The Old Mining Town” by ADM for MyHauntedLifeToo.com: https://tinyurl.com/tg9dfby
“The Phantom Hiker of Grandfather Mountain” for North Carolina Ghosts: https://tinyurl.com/vgh3tvv
“The Unsolved Texarkana Murders” by Orrin Grey for The Line Up: http://ow.ly/2miw30mTCSo
“The Most Monstrous And Inhuman Criminal Of Modern Times” from the book “Suffer the Children: American Horrors, Homicides and Hauntings” by Troy Taylor: https://amzn.to/3J5acmx
(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

Robert Ludlum didn’t make the name up. In 1887, a Rhode Island preacher named Ansel Bourne disappeared and woke up two months later in a Pennsylvania candy store, with no idea how he got there.

EPISODE PAGE (includes sources and transcript): https://weirddarkness.com/cotu-bourneidentity/

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 for Weird Darkness: https://pod.link/1078714736. For Church of the Undead episodes specifically, you can find a list of apps here: https://pod.link/1651062114.

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

WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.
Originally aired: May 24, 2026

When a skeptical doctor is challenged to spend a midnight hour inside the abandoned mill his new patient swears is haunted, he begins a journey that will force him to question everything science has taught him about the world.

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 Haunted Mill” (November 08, 1977)
00:46:03.754 = Mysterious Traveler, “Key Witness” (January 15, 1942)
01:13:37.539 = Mystery House, “Subrosa Justice” (April 07, 1946)
01:37:33.654 = Night Beat, “Byline For Frank” (June 29, 1951)
02:06:52.463 = CBC Nightfall, “The Wedding” (April 15, 1983) ***WD
02:37:26.781 = Nightmare, “Coincidence” (November 26, 1953)
02:59:09.365 = Obsession, “Summer Evening” (January 22, 1951) ***WD
03:21:53.060 = Origin of Superstition, “Ghost Ships” (July 30, 1947) ***WD
03:36:07.573 = Pat Novak, “Death In Herald Square” (November 30, 1947)
04:06:43.354 = Peril, “Assassin” (1953) ***WD
04:32:40.665 = Mystery Playhouse, “Corpus Delicti” (January 17, 1947) ***WD
04:56:50.543 = 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/WDRR0668

From murdered brides and phantom hitchhikers to haunted ships and restless spirits, some spirits from the past refuse to stay buried.

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

FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: America is full of creepy tales about ghosts that give us chills. We’ll explore some of the most famous ones. (The Most Famous Ghosts In America) *** In 1996, in a quiet neighborhood in Austin, Texas, something terrible happened to six-year-old Katherine Korzilius. She was a sweet girl who wanted to show she could walk home alone from the mailbox. But when her family returned from shopping, Katherine was missing. What happened to her? Was it an accident, or something worse? (What Happened To Katherine Korzilius?) *** It’s October 21, 1638, and the quaint English village of Widecombe-in-the-moor is holding services at St. Pancras church. But this Sunday will be like no other. As Minister George Lyde speaks to his 300 congregants, darkness engulfs the church, followed by thunder so loud it shakes the stone walls. Then, a fiery orb crashes through a window, causing chaos and destruction. Witnesses describe terrifying scenes: a man's head bashed against a pillar, a dog thrown into the air by flames, and bodies burnt to ash while clothes remain untouched. What happened at this small town church? (The Scalding And Burning of 1638) *** Ever heard of criminals so clueless they seem straight out of a cartoon? From bungling burglars to comically misguided crooks, Some cartoon criminals will have you laughing and shaking your head at the same time.(Cartoon Criminals) *** Sin-eaters are described as people hired to assume the sins of a dead person by eating food placed near the corpse. Why did society feel the need for such a service and why would a person choose to accept a role which was viewed with such revulsion? (Sin Eaters: Saviors of the Walking Damned)

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding
00:01:13.766 = Show Open
00:03:51.839 = The Most Famous Ghosts in America
00:23:33.425 = What Happened To Katherine Korzilius? ***
00:29:13.237 = The Scalding and Burning of 1638
00:41:04.342 = Sin Eaters: Saviors of the Walking Damned ***
00:52:59.403 = Cartoonish Criminals
01:05:06.499 = 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:
My drive through Resurrection Cemetery: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/DriveThruResurrectionCemetery
“The Most Famous Ghosts in America” by Christina Chilin for Graveyard Shift: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/y9bb4u49
“What Happened To Katherine Korzilius?” by Kelsey Christine McConnell for The Line Up: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2dmvkv4a
“Cartoonish Criminals” by Jerry Aujla for ListVerse.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/24twwpay
“Sin Eaters: Saviors of the Walking Damned” by Miss Jessel for HauntedPalaceBlog.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/msusfx2n
“The Scalding And Burning of 1638” posted at Creative History Stories: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/wkvhn5jb
(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 29, 2024

Somewhere between Scott Walker and a hospital ward, a woman waits on a beach for a great white ship and a father who left her fifteen years ago — and the song she inspired asks what's really in the small glass of water beside her bed.

THE RETRO RADIO EPISODE FEATURING “SILENT SHOCK”: https://weirddarkness.com/wdrr0638/
THE MUSIC: https://weirddarkness.com/music
WEIRD DARKNESS PODCAST: https://weirddarkness.com/listen