Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories

The classic story from sci-fi legend, H.P. Lovecraft. A surveyor sent to map a valley west of Arkham for a new reservoir walks out onto five acres of gray dust where nothing grows, and the one old man still living within sight of it is the only person in the county who will tell him why.

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

SOURCES and RESOURCES: “The Color Out of Space” by H. P. Lovecraft: http://bit.ly/2MfD40Z

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

Midnight In The Macabre (MITM), originally aired: September 21, 2026

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

The ferryman at Oliver's Ferry wouldn't carry anyone across the narrows after dark, and two centuries later that is still the first thing told about the place. | #WDRadio 

HOUR ONE: A 178-year-old mystery comes to the surface in a Philadelphia suburb. (Grandfather's Ghost Story Leads to Mass Grave) *** Recently a wrecking crew began tearing down and old building in Rhode Island. But the big burly men on the crew got so frightened they refused to continue the work. Does reconstruction of a home or building anger the souls who once lived there? (Does Remodeling Your Home Disturb The Spirits Who Died There?) *** The way life has grown on our planet requires that all living things feed off each other and must kill others in order to survive.  That’s the way of the world if you want to live for any more than a few days. But some people are now claiming they can live without food at all… indefinitely. (Life Without Food) *** Three men were in a shed selling gardening supplies when some strange powder suddenly hit the ceiling. Before they had time to react, a small jug on a shelf abruptly flew across the room. One man picked up the jug and placed it a covered box. Instantly, the jug was...somehow...back on the floor. And that was just the beginning of the strange haunting of a community’s garden shed. (The Poltergeist In The Allotment Shed) *** In the movie Salt, Angelina Jolie plays a double-agent who is mind-controlled by scary remnants of the USSR secret service. And in real life, the 1940s bombshell Candy Jones was apparently brainwashed with drugs and used as a CIA covert operative.  (The Supermodel Who Was Brainwashed Into Becoming a Spy) *** No one knows exactly when she was born. Some think, maybe, she was a gypsy. Others say she was the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter. The life of Elizabeth Barnes is a mysterious one, filled with many loves, losses, and prognostications. (The Witch of Plum Hollow) *** Some travelers, arriving late at night to board Oliver’s Ferry the next day, stayed at Oliver’s house. But they were never seen making the ferry crossing the next morning. Is it possible that the rumors are true – that they never left the house alive? (The Frights of Oliver’s Ferry)
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HOUR TWO: An eerie tombstone stands watch over one of Portland Oregon’s oldest cemeteries. And the story behind that tombstone is a strange one. (The Guardians of Lone Fir Cemetery) *** Don't take a gift from Little Gracie's grave... or her life-like statue might cry tears of blood. (The Ghost of Gracie Watson) *** When it came to her daughter’s Elsa doll, one mom was eager and ready to “Let It Go”. But the doll supernaturally refused to be let go! (Haunted Elsa Doll) *** An ancient stone cross is said by locals to be cursed, and the curse infects anyone who dares to disrespect it. (Curse of the Saxon Stone Cross) *** Christopher Slaughterford was seemingly a completely ordinary young Englishman – but he has earned an unenviable place in the legal books. (T
he Trials of Christopher Slaughterford) *** Two authors reported a very strange encounter with a mysterious entity they believed was not of this world. What did they see and why were they under the impression this being was not of this world? (An Author’s Encounter With A Not-Of-This-World Entity)==========
SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME: For Allen Taylor, January 15, 1919 was just another day on his farm near Prescott, Iowa. That is, until his 15-year-old neighbor Irene Hoskins came stumbling down the lane with a gash in the side of her head.  (The Hoskins Family Murders) *** How did someone get the job of an executioner in medieval times? We’ll find out! (To Become An Executioner)
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SOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM TONIGHT’S SHOW:
“Schoolhouse Demon Attack” from Paranormality Magazine
“Grandfather's Ghost Story Leads to Mass Grave” by Meghan Rafferty for CNN: https://tinyurl.com/ravfceh
“Does Remodeling Your Home Disturb The Spirits Who Died There?” by Kelly Roncace for NJ.com: https://tinyurl.com/sn7vpsg
“Life Without Food” by Michael Grosso for Consciousness Abound: https://tinyurl.com/r38yxh6
“The Poltergeist In The Allotment Shed” from Strange Company: https://tinyurl.com/vzlgcj9
“The Supermodel Who Was Brainwashed Into Becoming a Spy” by Annalee Newitz for Gizmodo: https://tinyurl.com/sgh73da
“The Witch of Plum Hollow” by James Morgan for North Country Public Radio: https://tinyurl.com/u3x3sxu
“The Frights of Oliver’s Ferry” by Ken Watson for Rideau-Info: https://tinyurl.com/vj96awj
==========(Over time links seen above may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for material I use whenever possible. If I have overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it immediately. Some links may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)
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"I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46
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WeirdDarkness®, WeirdDarkness© 2026
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To become a Weird Darkness Radio Show affiliate, contact Radio America at affiliates@radioamerica.com, or call 800-807-4703 (press 2 or dial ext 250).

Carl Higdon went into the Medicine Bow National Forest for elk in October 1974, and what he described afterward has been picked apart by physicians, hypnotists and skeptics ever since without anybody arriving at an explanation.

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

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

FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: In October 1974, Carl Higdon ventured into Wyoming's wilderness for a routine elk hunt, only to encounter something beyond belief: a humanoid figure and an otherworldly craft. His shocking encounter, complete with mysterious pills, a transparent cube, and a journey to an alien planet, defies explanation and continues to baffle experts to this day. (Ausso One, The Non-Human Humanoid) *** In a remote Mexican village, a young boy stumbles upon a gruesome ritual led by a self-proclaimed goddess, Magdalena Solis. As the cult's depravity spirals out of control, the authorities descend upon the village, uncovering a tale of human sacrifice, orgies, and drug-fueled madness. (High Priestess of Blood) *** In the early morning hours of August 26, 1986, the lifeless body of 18-year-old Jennifer Levin was discovered in Central Park, sparking a media frenzy that would dub her murderer, the "Preppy Killer." (Robert Chambers: The Preppy Killer) *** Small mistakes can have big consequences, especially when they happen at critical moments in history. From an unlocked gate that led to the fall of Constantinople to a forgotten login that halted background checks for gun permits, we’ll look at a few “brain farts” that changed the course of history in ways no one could have predicted (Small Mistakes, Big Consequences)

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding
00:01:00.175 = Show Open
00:03:24.124 = Ausso One: The Non-Human Humanoid
00:21:27.334 = Robert Chambers: The Preppy Killer ***
00:34:15.508 = The Elusive Holy Grail ***
00:41:38.338 = The High Priestess of Blood
00:53:11.397 = Small Mistakes, Big Consequences ***
00:59:31.589 = 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:
“The High Priestess of Blood” by Troy Taylor (used with permission): https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2w4b35w5
“Small Mistakes, Big Consequences” source: Jordan Breeding, Weird History: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p99tmau
“Ausso One, The Non-Human Humanoid” source: Marcus Lowth, UFOInsight.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/4acyve4n
“The Elusive Holy Grail” source: Austin Harvey, All That’s Interesting: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yckj9sj5
“Robert Chambers; The Preppy Killer’ source: Cat McAuliffe, Unspeakable Crimes: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8pp9kj(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 03, 2024
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
Weird Darkness covers a 1974 Wyoming abduction account, the 1986 Central Park killing of Jennifer Levin, the long search for the Holy Grail, a blood cult in the Sierra Madre, and a run of small mistakes that redirected history.
It opens with Carl Higdon, who took the afternoon of October 25th, 1974 off work and drove into the Medicine Bow National Forest in Carbon County, Wyoming, to hunt elk. He came back describing a six-foot humanoid who called himself Ausso One, a drill fused where his right hand should have been, and a transparent cube holding five paralyzed elk. Doctors who examined him afterward found the tuberculosis scarring gone from his lungs, Leo Sprinkle put him under hypnotic regression that November, and a polygraph in 1978 came back clean.
From there the episode turns to the morning of August 26th, 1986, when a cyclist found 18-year-old Jennifer Levin dead near a tree in Central Park, hours after she left Dorrian's Red Hand on the Upper East Side with Robert Chambers. He told investigators her death was rough sex gone wrong, the medical examiner determined she had been strangled, and the press named him the Preppy Killer. Chambers pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and served 15 years, drew a longer sentence in 2008 for selling cocaine and heroin out of his Manhattan apartment, and was paroled in 2023.
Next comes the Holy Grail, which the Bible never actually describes. Chrétien de Troyes made it a divine object in his unfinished Conte del Graal around 1180, Robert de Boron tied it to the Last Supper and the crucifixion in Joseph d'Arimathie two decades later, and Arthurian legend sent Perceval and Sir Galahad after it. The chalice has since been claimed by the Basilica of San Isidoro in León, the Valencia Cathedral, and roughly 200 other places across Europe.
The fourth segment moves to Yerba Buena, a communal farm of about 20 families in the eastern foothills of the Sierra Madre, where Santos and Cayetano Hernández passed themselves off as prophets of the Incan gods in 1962 and later brought Magdalena Solis back from Monterrey to play a goddess for them. On peyote and cannabis she came to believe she was Coatlicue, the Aztec mother goddess, and ordered human sacrifices in which hearts were cut from victims who were still alive. A 14-year-old named Sebastian Guerrero stumbled into one of those rituals in a cave in late May 1963, and he and Inspector Luis Martinez were both found with their hearts removed.
The episode closes on small errors that changed everything downstream: an unlocked gate that let the Turks into Constantinople in 1453, a time-zone miscalculation that put Bay of Pigs bombers over Cuba an hour ahead of their air cover, a 1631 printing of the King James Bible that dropped the word not from the commandment against adultery, and a Florida employee who forgot a login and left concealed-weapons applications running without background checks from February 2016 to March 2017.

A cartoon says I have no soul, a hair-dye company says I'm going extinct, and a folklorist in Illinois says you should rub my head. I've been a redhead for fifty-seven years, and this is what the world thinks about me… and what God thinks of me. Oh, and you too if you are a redhead, a Ginger, a copper top, or whatever other moniker you've been tagged with due to your hair color.

Look for this podcast on YouTube Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and numerous other podcast apps. Get the full list of options here: https://pod.link/1651062114

EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources and print version):
https://weirddarkness.com/cotu-gingervitis

Weird Darkness® and Church Of The Undead™ are trademarked. Copyright © 2026.

A London land agent sent to appraise two Highland fields for a wealthy client takes an interest in the crooked hill on the horizon, and learns that the village has no owner's name for it, no road left open to it, and no intention of discussing it with him.

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

SOURCES and RESOURCES: “On a Hill” by Michael Whitehouse: https://amzn.to/4ewUEGK

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

Midnight In The Macabre (MITM), originally aired: September 20, 2026

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