Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories

A government hunter tasked with tracking down escaped experiments begins to realize the monsters he captures may not be the only things he should fear.

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

SOURCES and RESOURCES: “I Hunt Down The Government’s Mistakes” by Devon Hoover: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/39m68p6w

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

Midnight In The Macabre (MITM), originally aired: August 27, 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

A gentleman and a veiled lady took an empty first-class compartment on the Manchester Express out of London, and by the next station they'd vanished from the moving train, leaving behind a dead young man with no ticket, no labels in his clothing, and six American watches in his pockets.

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 Cabinet of the Unsolved” (July 27, 1978) ***WD
00:45:18.840 = Suspense, “Palmer Method” (April 20, 1944)
01:14:52.189 = Tales of Tomorrow, “The Old Die Rich” (March 26, 1953) ***WD
01:46:39.153 = The Creaking Door, “Anna” (December 21, 1964) ***WD
02:13:31.289 = The Saint, “Old Man’s Car” (August 14, 1949)
02:37:57.359 = Theater 1030, “The Sandman” (October 31, 1954) ***WD(LQ)
03:04:57.439 = Two Thousand Plus, “Brooklyn Brain” (June 21, 1950) ***WD
03:33:38.132 = The Unexpected, “Mercy Killing” (1947-1948)
03:48:21.926 = Nick Carter Master Detective, “Death After Dark” (February 19, 1944) ***WD
04:17:37.622 = Dark Venture, “Chase” (August 03, 1946) ***WD(LQ)
04:45:57.158 = Beyond The Green Door, “Eddie Fox – Hobo In Oakdale” (1966)
04:49:48.810 = Tales From The Tomb, “Comfort Lies In The Dark” (1960s)
04:54:06.864 = Incredible But True, “The Man Who Saw Everything” (1950-1951)
04:57:22.155 = Strange Adventure, “John Friday Talks Fast” (1945) ***WD
05:00:37.595 = 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/WDRR0756

Nobody in the Victorian era who claimed to see a ghost described lace and corsets – that look came from the magazine trade that discovered ghost stories were cheap to print and easy to cut to length.

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

READ or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/4p69wekw

FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Victorian-era ghosts… they seem to haunt not only our imaginations, but also our Halloween wardrobes. Why were people in the mid-to-late 1800s so obsessed with the supernatural? And why are we so fascinated by Victorian ghost stories still today? (What’s The Deal With Victorian Ghosts?) *** The story of Queen Esther is chilling – full of an Iroquois warrior woman’s quest for vengeance, brutal warfare, haunting legends, ghostly wails, and a curse that many believe still has power even today. (The Curse of Queen Esther) *** No one can remember exactly when the ghost story began, but records show it dates back to at least 1926. The tale centers around the Administration Offices of Rockford School District 205 on South Madison Street, formerly Rockford High School. Built in 1885, the school gained a spooky reputation due to eerie events reported in its underground tunnels. After a tragic accident in the school’s swimming pool claimed the life of a student named Gosta Anderson, strange sightings and sounds fueled the legend of his restless spirit, haunting the very site where he died. (Gosta’s Ghost) *** Plumas County, California, holds a chilling mystery that dates back to 1978. On a winter night with a half-moon, five friends left a basketball game at California State University, Chico, and drove away, never to be seen again. Their car was found abandoned on a remote mountain road, leading to a series of eerie discoveries, unanswered questions, and clues that still baffle investigators today. (The 5 Boys Who Never Came Back)

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00.00.000 = Short fiction story “Lost Hearts” by M.R. James
00:24:29.734 = Show Open
00:27:12.649 = What’s The Deal With Victorian Ghosts?
00:36:13.257 = The Curse of Queen Esther ***
00:46:07.677 = The Five Boys Who Never Came Back
01:06:21.586 = Gosta’s Ghost
01:12:56.658 = 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:
Free Audiobook: “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, narrated by Darren Marlar:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/AChristmasCarol
Narration: “The Signalman” by Charles Dickens, narrated by Darren Marlar: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/TheSignalman
“What’s The Deal With Victorian Ghosts?” source = Dan Nosowitz at Atlas Obscura: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p94894t
“Lost Hearts” by M.R. James (public domain)
“The Curse of Queen Esther” source = Creative History Stories: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3bn9kwe8
“Gosta’s Ghost” written by Kathi Kresol for Haunted Rockford: https://www.hauntedrockford.com/gostas-ghost/
“The 5 Boys Who Never Came Back” written by Cynthia Gorney in 1978 for the Washington Post:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8hkyef
(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: May 17, 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

Deron Lewis-Payne asked a chatbot about law enforcement response times and how to get ammunition as a felon; the phone holding those questions ended up in the federal record, and he's serving 121 months.

SOURCES, LINKS, AND PRINT VERSION: https://weirddarkness.com/WDN20260826-ChatGPTBankRobber

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

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

Philadelphia police say a man in a white doll mask spent the early morning of August 12th chasing strangers around City Hall, and on the night of August 25th, U.S. Marshals took him into custody at a Las Vegas apartment complex roughly two thousand miles away.

SOURCES, LINKS, AND PRINT VERSION: https://weirddarkness.com/wdn20260826-chuckymask

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

LIKE WHAT YOU’RE HEARING? WEIRD DARKNESS posts episodes 7 DAYS A WEK! 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

This episode includes AI-generated content.