Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories

The legend of Dracula didn't spring from one man's imagination — it was forged from centuries of real blood, real terror, and monsters who actually walked the earth.

FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Where did Bram Stoker get his idea for Dracula? Hint – it was not, as many believe, Vlad the Impaler. (Bram Stoker’s Inspiration) *** Ronald Gene Simmons went on a 16 person murder spree – and 14 of them were his own family. (Serial Killer Ronald Gene Simmons) *** In the world of Harry Potter, figures like Grindewald and Voldemort meet in dark rooms to work their evil magic plans against those whom they consider enemies. But is there a real-life version of such dark magic meetings? (Grindelwald and Secret Societies) *** A dark figure appears out of nowhere to terrify a man in his own home. (Inter-Dimensional Shadow Person) *** The largest haunted place in the world isn’t a house, mansion, asylum, or even a forest or lake– it’s a giant cave in Kentucky, and not only is it haunted – it is extremely creepy. (Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave)

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding
00:00:38.520 = Show Open
00:02:30.763 = Bram Stoker’s Inspiration
00:11:56.486 = Serial Killer Ronald Gene Simmons ***
00:20:34.361 = Grindelwald and Secret Societies
00:27:26.154 = Interdimensional Shadow Person
00:32:05.477 = Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave, Part 1 ***
01:01:26.174 = Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave, Part 2 ***
01:29:18.495 = Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave, Part 3 ***
01:43:56.374 = 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:
“Serial Killer Ronald Gene Simmons” by Kara Goldfarb: https://tinyurl.com/qnvc2oo
“Grindelwald and Secret Societies”: https://tinyurl.com/wm2ka6z
“Interdimensional Shadow Person”: https://tinyurl.com/vjgdmva
“Bram Stoker’s Inspiration” by Doug MacGowan: https://tinyurl.com/y8u4m4mt
“Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave” by Troy Taylor: https://tinyurl.com/s6eojxj
(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 10, 2018

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

“Three O’Clock”: A watchmaker spends six weeks secretly building a bomb to kill his wife — but on the day he sets it to blow, two burglars tie him up in the very basement where the clock is ticking. | #RetroRadio #WeirdDarkness | EP0633

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = Show Open
00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theater, “Area 13” (August 26, 1977) ***WD
00:44:07.927 = Adventures of Ellery Queen, “Scarecrow And Snowman” (January 22, 1944) ***WD (LQ)
01:12:50.567 = Quiet Please, “Portrait Of A Character” (January 09, 1949) ***WD
01:42:07.113 = Radio City Playhouse, “Joey Was Different” (August 22, 1949)
02:10:34.531 = Isn’t It Crime, “Speaking of Murder” (December 14, 1945)
02:39:26.724 = Suspense, “Kandy Tooth Caper” (January 10, 1948)
03:40:11.194 = The Sealed Book, “You Only Die Once” (September 09, 1945) ***WD
04:09:41.616 = The Shadow, “The Ghost of Caleb Mackenzie” (January 26, 1941) ***WD
04:39:15.305 = Sleep No More, “Three O’Clock” (December 12, 1956)
05:08:21.289 = 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/WDRR0633

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

“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

“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