Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories

Darren Marlar | Weird Darkness

Award-winning podcast of true stories of the paranormal, supernatural, legends, lore, the strange and bizarre, true crime, conspiracy, mysterious, macabre, unsolved and unexplained -- seven days a week! Hosted by professional voice actor Darren Marlar, named one of the “Best Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal.

  1. 1h ago

    SWALLOWED BY THE MOUNTAIN: The Town That Vanished Overnight | #RetroRadio

    The Fall of Gentryville: Overnight, the mountain village of Gentryville and all six hundred of its people vanish, and full-grown elm trees stand where the general store was the day before. A washed-up reporter on his last chance goes looking for the reason, and the name that keeps pulling at him is the only "Miss" in the town's telephone book. CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Show Open 00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theater, “The Fall Of Gentryville” (March 05, 1979) ***WD 00:47:07.022 = Mystery is My Hobby, “Who Killed David Austin” (1945-1951) ***WD 01:12:20.161 = Sherlock Holmes, “Island of Death” (April 28, 1947) 01:42:30.317 = Mystery House, “A Case of Homicide” (ADU) ***WD 02:08:45.890 = Inner Sanctum, ‘Dead To Rights” (May 22, 1945) ***WD 02:39:26.488 = Jeff Regan, “The Pilgrim’s Progress” (November 20, 1948) ***WD 03:09:48.557 = The Key, “The Deception” (1956) ***WD(LQ) 03:36:37.193 = Lights Out, “Execution” (April 27, 1943) 04:06:18.477 = Macabre, “Edge of Evil” (January 08, 1962) ***WD 04:38:16.117 = Philip Marlowe, “Fox’s Tail” (May 23, 1950) 05:07:45.417 = 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. More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.

    SWALLOWED BY THE MOUNTAIN: The Town That Vanished Overnight | #RetroRadio

  2. 2h ago

    CIPHER IN THE CORN: The Coded Notes Found In Ricky McCormick's Pocket

    In June 1999 a passing motorist spotted Ricky McCormick's badly decomposed body in a cornfield in West Alton, Missouri, and in the pocket of his jeans were two handwritten pages of letters and numbers that the FBI's own codebreakers still haven't been able to read. Twelve years later the Bureau announced that it believed he'd been murdered and asked the public for help cracking the code. READ or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/38wn4dy4 IN THIS EPISODE: We explore the unsolved murder of Ricky McCormick, and the mysterious pages of code found in the dead man’s pocket after his body was discovered in St. Charles County, Missouri, in 1999. The FBI’s top cryptanalysts have appealed to the public for help deciphering the enigmatic scribbles—and you may hold the key.  *No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast* SOURCES and RESOURCES: “Cipher In The Corn” written by Stu Wahlin for Weird Darkness: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/hstndhs If you have info that could help solve the Ricky McCormick case, visit https://forms.fbi.gov/code; you can also write to: FBI Laboratory Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records, Unit 2501 Investigation Parkway, Quantico VA 22135 - Attention: Ricky McCormick Case (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. More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.

    CIPHER IN THE CORN: The Coded Notes Found In Ricky McCormick's Pocket

  3. 19h ago

    THE DREAM DIVIDE: Are Your Dreams Glimpses Of A Parallel Universe?

    For thousands of years people have wondered why some dreams keep returning to a place they've never been, or show events that haven't happened yet. One theory links those dreams to the multiverse, the still-unproven idea in physics that countless universes exist side by side, and suggests they may be glimpses of another version of ourselves living a different life. READ or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/6z8chwnw FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: A calm resident spirit suddenly begins making the children in one home sick. (Resident Spirit) *** The most sensational murder in 1930 revolved around the mob in Chicago… but the murder victim wasn’t a made man, it was a reporter from the Chicago Tribune. (Who Killed Jake Lingle?) *** In 1961, Joan Risch vanished from her Massachusetts home, leaving behind two children, a distraught husband, and a kitchen streaked with blood. (Blood On The Kitchen Floor) *** Imagine receiving an email from one of your closest friends talking about what happened just yesterday… but that friend who emailed you had died several months ago. (Emails From The Dead) *** Pregnancy and the paranormal. Are the two related? I’ll share four accounts from pregnant women who might have you believing there is a connection. (Pregnancy and the Paranormal) *** Why do some people dream about future events? Why are some dreams full of hidden meaning? Can some of our dreams be glimpses of events taking place in an alternate reality, a parallel Universe? (Are Dreams Glimpses Of a Parallel Universe?)  CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Lead-In 00:00:53.591 = Show Open 00:03:00.594 = Are Dreams Glimpses Of A Parallel Universe? 00:10:05.705 = Resident Spirit Giving Me a Heads Up *** 00:15:41.359 = Emails From The Dead 00:20:06.036 = Pregnancy And The Paranormal 00:28:17.271 = Who Killed Jack Lingle *** 00:52:35.758 = Blood On The Kitchen Floor *** 01:00:18.993 = Show Close *** = Begins immediately after inserted ad break *No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast* SOURCES and RESOURCES: “Resident Spirit Giving Me a Heads Up” by SpiritWaiting for Your Ghost Stories:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/te4z639n “Who Killed Jake Lingle?” by Troy Taylor for American Hauntings: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/a7e74xy8 “Blood On The Kitchen Floor” by Gary Sweeney for The Line Up: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/4y3mhx4s “Emails From The Dead” by Les Hewitt for Paranorms: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/42f4rn6h “Pregnancy and the Paranormal” (link no longer available) “Are Dreams Glimpses Of A Parallel Universe?” by Ellen Lloyd for Message to Eagle:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/vay5md3a(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. More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.

    THE DREAM DIVIDE: Are Your Dreams Glimpses Of A Parallel Universe?

  4. 20h ago

    BEHIND THE GRAY DOOR: The Punishment Room At Happy Sun Daycare | #MidnightInTheMacabre

    A news blogger tracks down the people who worked at an abandoned country daycare, and the kids who went there, to learn what was in the room behind the gray door, where the worst-behaved children were sent and always came out shaking. SOURCES and RESOURCES:  “Happy Sun Daycare” by Chelsea Adams: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/abw7j7xd WeirdDarkness® | Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness | Midnight In The Macabre™ More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.

    BEHIND THE GRAY DOOR: The Punishment Room At Happy Sun Daycare | #MidnightInTheMacabre

  5. 20h ago

    #WeirdDarkNEWS | Zombie Stabbing, Bodies In A Cave, Morgue Break-In, And More

    A man in zombie makeup walks out onto the back patio during comedy night at an Austin coffee bar and picks up a knife. A mother and daughter go missing from a village in eastern India, and the trail leads police up a forested hill to a cave. At 1:30 in the morning, two employees inside the Phoenix morgue call 911 because someone is smashing a window to get into the basement where the bodies are kept. In Turkey in 2007, a tenant notices rats around a block of concrete in the garden and takes a sledgehammer to it. And at a Cheyenne school, a custodian's phone keeps pausing itself the moment anything with cussing in it starts to play, but only inside that one building. SOURCES, LINKS, AND PRINT VERSION: https://weirddarkness.com/zombie-costume-stabbing-austin-weird-darknews *No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast* WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness. More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.

    #WeirdDarkNEWS | Zombie Stabbing, Bodies In A Cave, Morgue Break-In, And More

  6. 1d ago

    NO END HOUSE: Nine Rooms, $500, And Nobody Has Ever Reached The End | #MidnightInTheMacabre

    The No End House pays $500 to anyone who reaches the last of its nine rooms, and nobody ever has. David's friend Peter Terry goes silent online for five weeks after his own try, then logs on to warn him the place is unnatural, and David figures a heroin addict has just wigged out at a paper ghost. SOURCES and RESOURCES: “No End House” by Brian Russell for Creepypasta Wiki: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/4yx2nu5c WeirdDarkness® | Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness | Midnight In The Macabre™ More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.

    NO END HOUSE: Nine Rooms, $500, And Nobody Has Ever Reached The End | #MidnightInTheMacabre

  7. 2d ago

    THE SNALLYGASTER: Maryland's Blood-Drinking Dragon Of South Mountain

    Maryland families once painted seven-pointed stars on their barns to keep away the Snallygaster, a dragon-like bird said to drink its victims' blood, and when sightings near South Mountain filled the newspapers in 1909, the Smithsonian and Theodore Roosevelt both took an interest. READ or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p96kr8z FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Can you perform an exorcism using your smartphone? The Catholic church now says you can! (Exorcism of Demons by Phone) *** Does the ghost of a murdered child haunt East Lake Park in Birmingham, Alabama? (Child of the Lake) *** A young female college student vanished into nowhere in December of 1946 and became a mystery that would haunt the sleepy town forever. (The Disappearance of Paula Jean Weldon) *** An elderly woman requests to be buried upon her death, but the family cremates her instead. And that is when the vampire arrived. (The Wallasey Vampire) *** Orbs, late-night taps on the window, shadow figures, and more haunt a new home. (Creepy Happenings In The Middle of the Night) *** John Kraft noticed the neighbors, the Jacob Wolf family, had left their laundry on the clothesline overnight and their horses untended. He went to investigate and stumbled into what might be the most horrific crime scene in North Dakota history. (The Wolf Family Murders) *** Was the creature real? Where was it hiding? Why had only some people seen it? The Snallygaster terrorized Maryland and Washington in the 1730s – and we begin there, first! (Surprising End To Legend Of The Snallygaster) *** Mainstream journalists, the Travel Channel, the History Channel and the Discovery Channel have all investigated a certain home in Atchison, Kansas due its paranormal activities. What secrets lie within the Sallie House? (Secrets of the Sallie House) *** How can thousands of people instantly vanish without a trace? (3,000 Soldiers Vanish Into Thin Air) *** A child’s mother slowly dies of lung cancer at home – then continues to live there after her passing. (Sounds In The Night) *** Was the death of Meriwether Lewis a murder or a suicide? This early 1800s mystery continues to baffle historians and detectives alike. (The Death of Meriwether Lewis) *** No one knows the motive of a mysterious murder that took place in 1866 New York. In fact, they still have no suspects. (A Mysterious Murder) *** The gift of a cross to protect a couple from a poltergeist, ends up creating more unusual events. (Poltergeist – The Disappearing Cross) CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding 00:00:39.563 = Show Open 00:03:46.803 = Surprising End to the Legendary Snallygaster 00:08:04.778 = Exorcising Demons By Smartphone 00:10:27.513 = Child of the Lake 00:15:29.450 = The Disappearance of Paula Jean Weldon *** 00:19:46.314 = The Wallasey Vampire 00:26:15.628 = Creepy Happenings in the Middle of the Night 00:27:46.215 = The Wolf Family Murders 00:33:10.892 = Sinister Secrets of the Sallie House *** 00:40:38.592 = 3,000 Soldiers Vanish Into Thin Air 00:44:31.915 = Sounds In The Night 00:51:31.596 = The Death of Meriwether Lewis *** 00:57:15.126 = A Mysterious Murder” 00:59:26.830 = Poltergeist – The Disappearing Cross 01:05:43.551 = Show Close *** = Begins immediately after inserted ad break *No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast* SOURCES and RESOURCES: “Surprising End to the Legend of the Snallygaster” by Ellen Lloyd for Ancient Pages:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/4mfk3kdw “Exorcism of Demons by Phone” from Earth Chronicles of Life: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/4y9x7v4w “Child of the Lake” from GhostsNGhouls.com (link no longer available) “The Disappearance of Paula Jean Weldon” by Doug MacGowan for Historic Mysteries:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2b8ujh84 “The Wallasey Vampire” by Tom Slemen for Wirral Globe: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/c9p28b2u “Creepy Happenings in the Middle of the Night” by Malcolm Deanings for MyHauntedLifeToo.com:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/jzbystwy “The Wolf Family Murders” by Troy Larson for Ghosts of North Dakota: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/5xh9swyk “Sounds In The Night”: (written by an unknown author - link no longer available) “The Death of Meriwether Lewis” by Doug MacGowan for HistoricMysteries.com: http://bit.ly/30vvYZp “3,000 Soldiers Vanish Into Thin Air” by Ellen Lloyd for MessageToEagle.com: http://bit.ly/2YBUWEM “Sinister Secrets of the Sallie House”: (written by an unknown author - link no longer available) “A Mysterious Murder” by Robert Wilhelm for MurderByGaslight.com: http://bit.ly/2LXIfm8 “Poltergeist – The Disappearing Cross” by Keith Linder for MyHauntedLifeToo.com: http://bit.ly/2Jt2ZQI (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. More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.

    THE SNALLYGASTER: Maryland's Blood-Drinking Dragon Of South Mountain

  8. 2d ago

    SHADOWS FROM THE GRAVE: The Uncle Who Knew He'd Be Dead In A Week | #RetroRadio

    An uncle in Fresno tells his nephew, a Hollywood photographer, that he'll be dead within a week, then leaves him everything on one condition: he has to check the locks on the family mausoleum every single day. CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Show Open 00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theater, “Shadows From The Grave” (February 28, 1979) ***WD 00:46:46.506 = Dark Fantasy, “Curse Of Neanderthal” (January 09, 1942) (LQ) 01:11:51.129 = Fear on 4, “Mind Well The Tree” (February 28, 1988) ***WD 01:42:18.285 = Theater Five, “Bug Off” (December 07, 1964) ***WD 02:04:22.312 = Future Tense, “Born Of Man And Woman” (May 16, 1974) ***WD 02:33:19.190 = Ave Maria Hour, “St Benedict of Nursia VS Poison And Witchcraft” (1939) 02:58:01.100 = The Hall of Fantasy, “The Tell-Tale Heart” (June 01, 1953) ***WD 03:22:42.796 = Harry Lime, “Farthings Your Thoughts” (November 30, 1951) 03:48:47.742 = Haunted, Tales of the Supernatural, “Keeping His Promise” (September 13, 1980) 04:18:49.070 = The Haunting Hour, “Nocturne” (September 15, 1945) 04:44:42.637 = Hermits Cave, “Spirits Of Vengeance” (March 16, 1947) 05:09:26.379 = 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. More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.

    SHADOWS FROM THE GRAVE: The Uncle Who Knew He'd Be Dead In A Week | #RetroRadio
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4.6
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3,856 Ratings

About

Award-winning podcast of true stories of the paranormal, supernatural, legends, lore, the strange and bizarre, true crime, conspiracy, mysterious, macabre, unsolved and unexplained -- seven days a week! Hosted by professional voice actor Darren Marlar, named one of the “Best Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal.

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