“POLTERGEISTS: SUPERNATURAL OR NOT?” and More True Terrors! #WeirdDarkness

IN THIS EPISODE: Los Angeles is one of the world's most famous cities. It’s known for being the home of the rich and famous, the film and music industries, theme parks, beautiful warm weather, gorgeous beaches, and an active nightlife… but it’s also known for smog, skid row, and bad traffic. But one thing most people don’t immediately think of is the almost overwhelming number of ghosts and the city’s history of the occult. In this episode we’re going to look at L.A.’s haunted locations and famous ghosts, as well as look at how prevalent the occult was and possibly still is in the City of Angels. SOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM THE EPISODE… “Hollywood’s Haunted Magic Castle” by Christina Sanza for Graveyard Shift: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/nhdf2f29 “Los Angeles’ Haunted Hotels” by Andy Miller from Weird History: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/mvbdcwac “L.A. Ghosts” by Jen Lennon for Graveyard Shift: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/39xypc6c “Los Angeles: City Of The Occult” by Christine Aprile for Weird History: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/4y9rj77r 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: April, 2021 PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT: https://weirddarkness.com/los-angeles-hauntings/

Get full-length pulp audiobooks, pulp eBooks, and old-time radio shows ABSOLUTELY FREE FOR IMMEDIATE DOWNLOAD by emailing WeirdDarkness@RadioArchives.com! When the dramatic anthology series "Suspense" premiered over CBS Radio on June 17, 1942, it did so as both a summer series and as a sustaining program. The network had no idea how well the series would perform - its only previous showcase was as an hour-long audition on the 1940 series "Forecast" - so running out and getting a sponsor didn’t seem to be important at that particular stage. Besides, in the show’s salad days, the guest stars that did appear were of considerably low wattage. But as "Suspense" grew in popularity and began to attract a more upscale acting clientele anxious to participate in “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills,” finding someone to pick up the weekly tab became a top priority for CBS. Luckily, in December 2, 1943, the series found its 'angel' in the sponsorship of Roma Wines. "Suspense’s" long association with Roma (and co-branded Cresta Blanca) was good for both the series and the company; a bigger budget attracted bigger guest stars and, as the program began to climb in the ratings, the company began to enjoy substantial profits. This fruitful arrangement came to an end on November 20, 1947. Roma had been admittedly seeing other programs behind "Suspense’s" back and the bright array of top Hollywood talent began to dim a bit as many of the stars began to tire of the program. CBS rolled the dice and took one heck of a chance in keeping "Suspense" on the air; the network still felt that the series was popular with audiences and they agreed to sustain the program until another sponsor could be found.How serious was CBS about keeping its prestige show? Beginning January 3, 1948, "Suspense" was moved to Saturday nights and was broadcast from 8:00 to 9:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. That’s right: a full hour of “Suspense.” Hour-long dramatic shows were a gamble at best; many stars tended to shun these programs - a half-hour show was grueling enough to get through - and only a few, "The Lux Radio Theater" being the best example, managed to continue on the air for very long. But Lux had a sponsor all too willing to write checks on a weekly basis...while CBS, without a sponsor to back them up, was still the sole support of "Suspense." What's more, the network learned soon enough that by doubling the show from half-hour to hour-long status, they had to double the pay of the individuals working on the show as well. (Networks, as a rule, cringe at the thought of giving money away.) To jazz up "Suspense," CBS hired actor Robert Montgomery to be the host and occasional performer, figuring that on the weeks when they had to resort to a less-than "A" list of guest stars, at least Montgomery would be around to provide a certain degree of glitter. Montgomery, at it turned out, made appearances in quite a few of the hour-long shows, including both the premiere, “The Black Curtain”, and most notably in “Night Must Fall”, which allowed him to reprise the role he had created in the 1937 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture of the same name. "Suspense’s" hour-long experiment closed up shop on May 15, 1948 and the show moved back to Thursday night in its familiar half-hour form through September 1962. 00:00:00.000 = INTRODUCTION 00:01:54.350 = You Were Wonderful (November 09, 1944) 00:31:35.737 = The Dead Of The Night (November 16, 1944) 01:01:04.638 = The Fountain Plays (November 23, 1944) 01:30:44.758 = The Black Curtain (November 30, 1944) 02:00:14.326 = The Lodger (December 14, 1944) 02:29:43.507 = The Brighton Strangler (December 21, 1944) 02:59:12.634 = A Thing of Beauty (December 28, 1944) 03:28:39.963 = I Had An Alibi (January 04, 1945) 03:57:57.876 = Drive-In (January 11, 1945) 04:27:27.459 = Death Went Along For...

IN THIS EPISODE: Conspiracy theories, while often dark, can also be kind of humorous due to being so outlandishly unbelievable. For example… is the Earth’s moon artificial, and actually an extraterrestrial spaceship? We’ll look at the strange theory. (Could Our Moon Be An Alien Spaceship?) *** In 1912 one of the most brutal slayings in America took place in the small town of Villisca, Iowa… a murder so brutal that numerous documentaries have been made about it, books have been written, and amateur detectives have poured over the facts and suspects still trying to find out who the murderer was that swung the bloody axe. (The Unsolved Villisca Ax Murders) *** The President of the United States, no matter who is in the position at the time, is always in danger from those who would like to see someone else in office. We’ll hear on the news of the assassination attempts that came close, but we more often than not are completely unaware of the attempts and plans that have been thwarted – and some of those attempts to kill a sitting U.S. President have been extremely bizarre. (Bizarre Assassination Attempts on U.S. Presidents) *** Some Biblical accounts seem unbelievable and we tend to dismiss them as fantasies, or dreams of the person writing the events down. But what if some of the strange creatures described in the bible are actually real – but come from another dimension, or even outer space? (Are Extraterrestrials in the Bible?) *** If you are told there is a city that has been built specifically for the dead, you probably think of some ancient culture that worshipped their ancestors. Personally, I think of pyramids in Egypt… but I never would’ve thought of the suburbs in California, USA. (California’s City of the Dead) SOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM THE EPISODE… “Could Our Moon Be An Alien Spaceship?” posted at Anomalien.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/bdhz5563 “The Unsolved Villisca Ax Murders” by Joe Turner for HistoricMysteries.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8mnfp6, and from HauntedRoom.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/36b6k2h4 “California’s City of the Dead” by Hugh Landman for Ranker.com’s Graveyard Shift:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yckrxjzd “Are Extraterrestrials in the Bible?” by Ellen Lloyd for AncientPages.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/mr3d8dpk “Bizarre Assassination Attempts on U.S. Presidents” by Richard Stockton for AllThatsInteresting.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/26avtuhr 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: January, 2022 PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT:

“RATTLECLINK THE SPIDER JARS” by Tom Leveen #MicroTerrors Tell your friends about Micro Terrors – and find more family-friendly frights and creepy games to play on our website - http://MicroTerrors.com! And be sure to subscribe to the podcast at https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrors! Visit our website: https://MicroTerrors.com Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/microterrors Other stories, novels, and more from author Scott Donnelly: https://amzn.to/3LymHaU Other narrations, podcasts, and audiobooks from voice artist Darren Marlar: https://WeirdDarkness.com = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Weird Darkness®, 2023. Weird Darkness©, 2024 “Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids”™ 2024 https://weirddarkness.com/rattleclink-the-spider-jars/

We’re all familiar with the concept of werewolves – they are all over pop culture, movies, television, comic books, novels, and every other medium you could possibly imagine. And while they are considered fictional, or at least in the realm of cryptids, that doesn’t mean there aren’t true stories of reported werewolves in history. (Real Historic Accounts of Werewolves) *** Just the idea of going to prison is enough to scare people into living a squeaky-clean life, but if you’re one of the most dangerous prisoners known to exist, ordinary prison would look like a vacation as compared to life in the Florence ADX Supermax Prison. (Life In The Supermax) *** What was supposed to be a two day trip turned into a maritime mystery when the ship, the MV Joyita was discovered floating with no crew on board. What happened? (The Mysterious Abandonment of the MV Joyita) SOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM THE EPISODE… “Real Historic Accounts of Werewolves” by Miss Celania for MentalFloss.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p84ut66, Nick Redfern for Mysterious Universe: http://bit.ly/2MFFx5p, WolvesRox on Playbuzz.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p9bjcht, and Tim Flight for HistoricCollection.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p87s85s The short fable, “The Werewolf” was written by Angela Carter: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yckt8fn6 “The Mysterious Abandonment of the MV Joyita” by Marcus Lowth for UFOInsight.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8sux2j “Life In The Supermax” by Jacob Shelton for Ranker.com’s Unspeakable Times: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8u82p9 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: January, 2022 PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT: https://weirddarkness.com/real-historic-accounts-of-werewolves/