“CRASHED SAUCERS AND DEAD ALIENS IN ENGLAND” and More! #WeirdDarkness

Long before Dickens penned A Christmas Carol, our ancestors gathered around midwinter fires to tell tales of spirits and monsters lurking in the darkness. Tonight, we explore why Christmas and ghost stories have been intertwined for thousands of years — then share true accounts that prove the tradition is very much alive. #HolidayHorrors IN THIS EPISODE: Earlier this month I shared some true reports of people seeing Kris Kringle – or what appeared to be Kris Kringle – in real life. But there are many more of those strange sightings to share! (More Real Santa Sightings) *** Christmas has been celebrated for centuries, and gift-giving has been around in America since well before the Civil War. But how we celebrate and what we give changes depending on the time. We’ll take a look at what Christmas was like for American pioneers in the 1800s. (Christmas in The Old West) *** At a Christmas party the revelers heard a horrifying scream from outside. They rushed out to hear the screams were coming from the sky, at least above the rooftops. But how could that be? It was then that they learned Oliver Lerch had disappeared – never to be seen again. (The Christmas Disappearance of Oliver Lerch) *** Nothing says Christmas like a poisonous weed! Well… you explain mistletoe! We’ll look at why we’re supposed to kiss under this deadly plant during the holidays. (A Kiss Under the Mistletoe) *** A horrible fire breaks out at an Oklahoma school during the holidays of 1924 – and the ghosts of the children still linger at the site. (Ghosts of the Babbs Switch School Christmas Fire) *** You might be celebrating Christmas like a viking and not even realize it. From the holiday ham to the evergreen in your living room, we’ll look at how the pagan celebration of Yule influenced modern Christmas traditions. (How To Celebrate Christmas Like a Viking) *** Kids in America anxiously await the arrival of Santa Claus bounding down the chimney with gifts and candy for the good little boys and girls. But that’s America. What comes down the chimney of Irish and Scottish kids may not be so jolly, plump, and loving. Some Gaelic children have to watch out for the Bodach. (Beware the Bodach at Christmas) *** It’s something we’re trying to revive here on Weird Darkness… the lost tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas. (The Lost Tradition of Telling Ghost Stories) *** (Originally aired December 16, 2021) SOURCES AND ESSENTIAL WEB LINKS… “The Lost Tradition of Christmas Ghost Stories” from Conspiracy Journal: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/36dxj4kt, Sally O’Reilly for Ancient Pages: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2mfh29mk, YourGhostStories.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p93r34c, LiveAbout.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/539cmfv6 “The Christmas Disappearance of Oliver Lerch” from AnomalyInfo.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/59t2mysv “How To Celebrate Christmas Like a Viking” by Morgan Dunn for All That’s Interesting: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p88mev7 “More Real Santa Sightings” by Rob Schwarz for Stranger Dimensions: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yvdt2ww6 “Ghosts of the Babbs Switch School Christmas Fire” by Troy Taylor:

For four years, an unseen entity tormented the Bell family of Tennessee — pulling hair, slapping faces, filling the house with phantom voices — until Christmas 1820, when it finally got what it wanted: John Bell dead and his daughter's life in ruins. #12NightmaresOfXmas  Episode 3 of 12 in the “Twelve Nightmares of Christmas” series! IN THIS EPISODE: “Merry Christmas From The Bell Witch”, “The Murder of Thelma Todd” SOURCES AND ESSENTIAL WEB LINKS… All stories in this episode are from the book, “The Spirits of Christmas: The Dark Side of the Holidays” by Sylvia Shults: https://amzn.to/3uT2vMA Weird Darkness theme by Alibi Music Library. Background music provided by Alibi Music Library, EpidemicSound and/or StoryBlocks with paid license. Music from Shadows Symphony (https://tinyurl.com/yyrv987t), Midnight Syndicate (http://amzn.to/2BYCoXZ) Kevin MacLeod (https://tinyurl.com/y2v7fgbu), Tony Longworth (https://tinyurl.com/y2nhnbt7), and Nicolas Gasparini (https://tinyurl.com/lnqpfs8) is used with permission of the artists. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = (Over time links seen above 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.) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46 = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2024, Weird Darkness. https://weirddarkness.com/BellWitchChristmas #WeirdDarkness #BellWitch #TennesseeGhostStory #TrueScaryStories #AmericanHaunting #Poltergeist #ChristmasHorror #ParanormalActivity #FamousHaunting #HauntedHistory

For forty-one years, the halls of Martingdale echoed with unexplained footsteps and banging doors every Christmas Eve — until the night we stayed to watch, and the dead finally showed us what happened. Hello, children – it’s Santa! I ho ho ho hope you like my podcast!  If you like the stories I’m telling in my podcast, please tell your friends and family about the Spooky Santa podcast so they can listen too! Thank you very much, and Merry Christmas! STORY AND MUSIC CREDITS/SOURCES… “A Strange Christmas Game” by Mrs. J.H. Ridell: http://bit.ly/36zAo3S “The Flames of Sligachan” by Amy Brannigan and Caroline Brannigan: http://bit.ly/2LVTMAa “Clockwork Christmas” by Richard Ankers: https://adbl.co/2PMnQzh All music used with permission of the artists. Spooky Santa theme by Midnight Syndicate (http://amzn.to/2BYCoXZ). All other music by Nicolas Gasparini (http://bit.ly/2LykK0g). I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use. If I somehow overlooked doing that for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I’ll rectify it the show notes as quickly as possible.***Spooky Santa™ and Weird Darkness® are creations and trademarks of Marlar House Productions and Weird Darkness, LLC. Copyright © Weird Darkness, 2023 "I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46 https://weirddarkness.com/SpookySanta1215 #WeirdDarkness #ChristmasGhostStory #HauntedHouse #VictorianGhostStory #GothicHorror #ScaryStories #HolidayHorror #TrueScaryStories #ParanormalStory #ChristmasHorror

Get the print version of the novel: https://weirddarkness.com/AdventOfEvil Fourteen doors have been opened. Fourteen horrors have been unleashed upon Marshport. And now, for the first time, the calendar has changed its pattern.Behind door fourteen, Matthew Klein found something he hadn't encountered before — a second door. Locked. Immovable. And behind it, the unmistakable drone of flies, buzzing in the darkness, waiting for whatever comes next.The calendar has never withheld before. Every door has delivered its grim prophecy on schedule, each trinket a harbinger of tragedy to follow. But now the entity seems to be holding something back, building toward something larger. The flies from door twelve. The maggots. The sound of buzzing once again behind the locked second door. These horrors have accumulated without resolution, stacking like kindling before a flame.Pastor Hart's words echo in Matthew's mind: You have a demon. Not a haunting. Not a curse. A demon — ancient, deliberate, and patient. The pastor promised to call a friend, a priest with experience in matters most clergy never face. Demonology. The word itself feels like an admission that ordinary faith may not be enough.Ten doors remain until Christmas Eve. Ten days until the anniversary of the fire that consumed Matthew's family and birthed this nightmare. The calendar was built from the ashes of that night — from the charred remains of the spirit board that released something unspeakable into the world. Wilbur Ward's hands may have shaped the wood, but the intelligence behind it is far older and far darker than any man.Lewis Chambers is dead. Ren Nguyen is dead. Bridgett Carr, Gwen Martin — the calendar's body count grows with each passing day, and Matthew remains powerless to stop it. Compliance brings death to innocents. Defiance brings suffering to his family. The demon has engineered a perfect trap, and every door Matthew opens tightens the noose.The hooded figure continues to appear at the edges of tragedy, glimpsed in security footage, spotted by witnesses, standing motionless in the road as Lewis's patrol car swerved to its doom. Is it Wilbur Ward, still serving the entity after thirty years? Or something else entirely — something that wears human shape the way the calendar wears the facade of holiday tradition?December 15th arrives cold and gray over Marshport. The locked door waits. The flies continue to buzz.And somewhere, a priest prepares to face what dwells within. #WeirdDarkness #ChristmasHorror #HolidayHorror #SupernaturalThriller #HauntedCalendar #DarkChristmas #HorrorStory #DemonicEvil #CreepyTales #YuletideTerror

A mysterious man collapses on the steps of a church with no identification and no explanation — but when patients near him start making impossible recoveries, a nurse discovers his gift comes with a devastating price. IN THIS EPISODE: “The Healing Touch” by Keith Conrad Fully Produced Version: https://www.auditoryanthology.com/2025/01/28/tales-from-the-blue-line-the-healing-touch/  MORE Stories Like This: https://www.auditoryanthology.com =====Originally aired: December 15, 2025 EPISODE PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/TheHealingTouch ABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: Weird Darkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all thing strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold case murders, conspiracy theories, and more. On Thursdays, this scary stories podcast features horror fiction along with the occasional creepypasta. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “Best 20 Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a cross between “Coast to Coast” with Art Bell, “The Twilight Zone” with Rod Serling, “Unsolved Mysteries” with Robert Stack, and “In Search Of” with Leonard Nimoy. #WeirdDarkness #HealingPowers #HospitalHorror #ScaryStories #MedicalMystery #SupernaturalGift #TrueScaryStories #MysteriousStranger #DarkFiction #MiracleHealing