JANUARY 16, 2022 #WeirdDarknessRadioShow

IN THIS EPISODE: We look at the intriguing start to the Slenderman legend, and how it evolved into not juste one real-life murder, but suicides as well. We debate whether it’s possible for an imaginary figure like Slenderman to become a reality. And we look at a possible connection between Slenderman and a real-life mystery in the 1830s.  SOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM THE EPISODE… “Slenderman: Blurring The Lines Of Reality” by Marcus Lowth for UFOInsight.com:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p9e9srj Weird Darkness theme by Alibi Music Library. = = = = = (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. = = = = = Originally aired: March, 2022 PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT: https://weirddarkness.com/slenderman-blurring-the-lines-of-reality/

From bathing in girls' blood to making homemade conjoined twins, we’ll look at a few famous psychopaths who are truly some of the most terrifying people in the history of the world. Plus, whether flamboyant, miserly, or paranoid, some of history's oddest individuals put modern-day eccentricities to shame.  SOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM THE EPISODE… “History’s Oddest Individuals” and “Sinister Psychopaths” by John Kuroski for AllThatsInteresting.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p9ca245, https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/mpvbsn6e Weird Darkness theme by Alibi Music Library. = = = = = (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. = = = = = Originally aired: March, 2022 PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT: https://weirddarkness.com/oddest-individuals-sinister-psychopaths/

Get full-length pulp audiobooks, pulp eBooks, and old-time radio shows ABSOLUTELY FREE FOR IMMEDIATE DOWNLOAD by emailing WeirdDarkness@RadioArchives.com! After September 30, 1962, commercial radio drama was as dead as the doornail described in the opening pages of Dickens' A Christmas Carol (1843), and everyone understood that television killed it. People who worked in both mediums realized that working in radio was a much better overall experience than television could ever be. Sure, TV had pictures to go along with the stories, but putting those pictures on the air involved a highly technical and expensive technology, and by the time those images reached the audience they were grainy, blurry, and sometimes nearly impossible to see. One actor could play different parts on several different radio programs, even in a single episode, but once they were seen in a TV show their face was recognizable enough that they had a hard time working on another show, and even a twenty-second appearance meant hours in makeup and wardrobe. Appearing in a radio drama required just a couple rehearsals and then remaining as quiet as possible in the studio, following along in the script until time to perform your lines, which you also read from the script. There was one important thing that television could offer over radio work; money. The accounting in TV and radio was fundamentally different. A radio program was usually paid for by a single sponsor while commercial time on TV shows was sold piecemeal, but there was still a phenomenal amount of money involved in TV production and the networks and sponsors were happy to pay it. Unable to compete with the huge amount of money being spread around by TV, after the final broadcasts of Suspense and Yours Truly Johnny Dollar on September 30, 1960, the Golden Age of Radio came to an end. Or did it? In the decade after the end of the Golden Age of Radio, TV matured artistically and technically. There had been a rejection by the networks of "rural" programming which helped launch a nostalgia craze. This craze began with the release of George Lucas's American Graffiti (1973), and suddenly everything old seemed new again. One of the genres which were best suited to radio was the horror shows which made listeners sit up in bed and pull the sheets over their heads. This sort of program had been pioneered Wyliss Cooper and Arch Oboler on Lights Out as well as The Whistler, Suspense, and Inner Sanctum Mysteries. This was the type of show creators decided upon for his radio nostalgia project, which became The CBS Radio Mystery Theater. They were convinced that there was enough interest from those who had heard similar shows growing up during the Golden Age, but the show built a following of younger fans for whom radio drama was a new and exciting experience. In many ways, CBSRMT was more like a TV program on the radio than a typical Old Time Radio show. The shows were taped rather than broadcast live, which allowed for greater post-production editing and creative control. The scripts generally ran 45 minutes, and the action was broken at points to allow for separately produced commercials and news bulletins to be inserted. The opening featured the "creaking door" effect which had been part of The Inner Sanctum. Host E.G. Marshall was never as campily creepy earlier horror hosts, but his closing, "Until next time, pleasant… dreams?" was sure to inspire nightmares. Production of CBSRMT was efficient almost to the point of cheapness. Creators drew upon radio row veterans working in New York as well as up-and-coming television personalities. The show used original stories from a wide variety of genres as well as literary classics. Writers were paid a flat $350 for each recorded script, and actors received union scale rates of $73.92 per episode. The actors would come into the studio for an initial script reading...

Adapted from the daily bible study in the YouVersion bible app on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Hear previous messages and find our social media at https://WeirdDarkness.com/Church! Please share this podcast with your friends, family, and co-workers, and post a link to this episode in your own social media! Thank you, and God bless! === Darren Marlar is a licensed minister through the Universal Life Church: https://www.themonastery.org. Find his other podcast, Weird Darkness, in your favorite podcast app at https://weirddarkness.com/listen. “Church Of The Undead” theme music by Epidemic Sound. === "I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46 === Find out how to escape eternal darkness at https://weirddarkness.com/eternaldarkness === Weird Darkness® and Church Of The Undead™ are trademarked. Copyright © 2024. === CUSTOM WEBPAGE: https://weirddarkness.com/a-victim-no-longer-churchoftheundead/

From Alexander the Great being buried alive to one man paying to watch a little girl be cannibalized, some real-life horror stories are too horrifying even for “Rated R” Hollywood. Stories in this episode are more graphic than what you usually hear from me – so listener discretion is advised, and I’d make sure the children are well out of earshot.  SOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM THE EPISODE… “Real-Life Horror Stories More Freaky Than Fiction” by Marco Margaritoff for AllThatsInteresting.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8p9c72 Weird Darkness theme by Alibi Music Library. = = = = = (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. = = = = = Originally aired: March, 2022 PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT: https://weirddarkness.com/true-horror-stories-more-freaky-than-fiction/