The Fringe Benefit of Dying: “Sorry To Let You Go” | #RetroRadio

Centuries ago, fear and superstition led to bizarre and cruel witch trials, where the accused faced impossible tests—from floating in water to being weighed against Bibles — that often sealed their grim fate. EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources and full transcript): https://weirddarkness.com/CondemnedAsAWitch FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: We’ve all heard of the Salem Witch Trials – but accusations of witchcraft took place everywhere, not just Massachusetts. But who were these individuals, and were they guilty of what they were convicted of and killed for? (People Killed As Witches) *** Of course, not all those charged with witchcraft died in the 1600s during the witch trial mania – some died much much later, like the 21st century. Yes, it still happens even today. (Modern Witch Killings) *** The ways witches were tested during the mass hysteria of the witch trials resulted in some bizarre and cruel ways to determine if someone was a witch. And I’d bet most all of us would be deemed witches if forced to take the tests today. (How To Test a Witch) *** But before we get into the people who were accused, the tactics used to test them or make them confess, and how many of them were killed, we’ll look at some of the misconceptions of the Salem Witch Trials that you probably think are true. (Salem Witch Trial Misconceptions) CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding 00:01:00.501 = Show Open 00:03:00.571 = Salem Witch Trial Misconceptions 00:11:28.154 = People Killed As Witches *** 00:26:21.262 = How To Test a Witch 00:35:31.660 = Modern Witch Killings *** 00:47:41.080 = 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: “Witch’s Brew” poem: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/n7p3j8us “Salem Witch Trial Misconceptions” by Tamar Altebarmakian for Weird History: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/57ah3yw5 “How To Test a Witch” by Tamar Altebarmakian for Ranker’s Witchcraft: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/34vsfs9r “People Killed As Witches” by Laura Allan for Ranker’s History: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3pejpv5c “Modern Witch Killings” by Greg Beneven for Ranker’s History: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/rafzhksz (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 04, 2023

A Louisiana father shot seven of his own children and their cousin dead inside two Shreveport homes on the morning of April 19, 2026, then drove to his former Army mentor's doorstep to die. SOURCES, LINKS, AND PRINT VERSION: https://weirddarkness.com/elkins 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 *No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast* WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness. #WeirdDarkness, #WeirdDarkNEWS

Between March 6 and March 10, eight witnesses across Portage County reported the same thing — an upright figure, eight feet tall, moving through the river corridors east of Akron. SOURCES, LINKS, AND PRINT VERSION: https://weirddarkness.com/ohio-bigfoot-flap-2026 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 *No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast* WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness. #WeirdDarkness, #WeirdDarkNEWS

A curving Mississippi lake road after sundown, a wedding present on the passenger seat, and a quiet island resort across the water where the ferryman takes fifty cents — exact change only. 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 Island on Silvertree Lake” (October 19, 1977) 00:46:15.152 = Lights Out, “the Projective Mr. Drogan” (January 26, 1943) 01:15:39.621 = Lux Radio Theater, “Return of Peter Grimm” (February 13, 1939) 02:17:22.687 = Macabre, “Crystalline Man” (January 01, 1962) ***WD 02:45:43.599 = Philip Marlowe, “Bid For Freedom” (January 21, 1950) 03:14:29.567 = Results Inc, “Mummy’s Walk” (December 03, 1944) 03:42:38.776 = Black Mass, “Shidah And Kuziba” (October 16, 1973) ***WD 03:56:34.198 = Michael Shayne, “Date At Cliff House” (April 16, 1945) 04:26:13.554 = Beyond Midnight, “Marble Room” (September 26, 1969) ***WD 04:53:52.211 = 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/WDRR0657

Two pairs of everything — body parts — turn up in three southern counties before anyone thinks to ask the quiet woman on the hog farm what was buried out behind the barn. EPISODE PAGE (includes list of sources): https://weirddarkness.com/noir-twopairsofeverything THE REAL CASE BEHIND THIS STORY: THE VIOLA HYATT CASE (1959, ALABAMA)Viola Hyatt was a 30-year-old farm woman living with her father Martin on a hog farm near White Plains, Alabama. Raised by a cruel, sickly mother who told her daily she was a curse, Viola grew up isolated, heavy-set, and physically strong from butchering the family's hogs herself — a job she took over from her father as a teenager. When her father rented a small trailer on the property to two construction workers — brothers Emmett and Lee Harper, both WWII veterans (one a Bataan Death March survivor) — the arrangement turned ugly. The brothers sexually abused Viola, beat her father when he objected, and treated the family with contempt. Viola endured it for months. On the morning of June 27, she loaded her father's 12-gauge shotgun, walked to the trailer, and shot both men in the face. She then used the double-bit axe from the barn to dismember the bodies, loaded the parts into the brothers' own 1957 Ford, and drove all night through three Alabama counties — Calhoun, Etowah, and Cleburne — scattering arms, legs, and torsos along roadsides, in briar patches, and in the Tallapoosa River. The bodies were so disfigured that police couldn't identify them for 17 days. They called the victims "Mr. X" and "Mr. Y." The case broke when the construction foreman recognized police sketches and connected them to a phone call Viola had made claiming the brothers were tending to a sick mother. Police found blood in the trunk of the car, the buried axe, and damage to the trailer door — and after a six-hour interrogation, Viola confessed. She was evaluated at Brice Mental Hospital, found sane, and pled guilty in March of the following year to avoid the electric chair. She received a life sentence. She never explained her motive beyond saying the abuse "wasn't the main reason" — it was "worse than that." She refused interviews for the rest of her life. Paroled in 1970, she lived quietly in a trailer park until her death in 1992, taking whatever the full story was to the grave. WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness. Originally aired: May 12, 2026