Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories

Support our Halloween “Overcoming the Darkness” campaign to help people with depression: https://weirddarkness.com/HOPE On March 19, 1919, the entire city of New Orleans threw a massive jazz party to appease a serial killer who promised to spare anyone playing jazz music in their homes that night – or face the blade of his axe. IN THIS EPISODE: The axe murders of New Orleans took place over a hundred years ago, but “The Jazzman Story” remains one of the greatest mysteries and unsolved murder cases within the annals of American crime. (The Axeman’s Jazz) *** The investigation of an apparent suicide in 1953 led to an unbelievable theory… not only had the victim used LSD years earlier, but it was quite possible it was forced upon him by the Central Intelligence Agency. (The CIA and LSD) *** You don’t often hear of people being struck and killed by lightning – at least not nowadays. But pick up a paper from the early 1900s and you’d think people were doing it as a hobby. (Death By Electrical Storm) *** January 30th, 1835 was the date of the first attempt at assassinating a sitting U.S. President – Andrew Jackson. That fact itself doesn’t warrant placement in Weird Darkness, seeing as the attempt failed – but the story leading up to the attempt, and the attempt itself, certainly earn their place in this episode. (The President and the Madman) *** I’ll end the episode in the Chamber of Comments, but before that, my last story will the most disturbing one of the episode. Most ghosts are seemingly passive or even benevolent, appearing to scare people only by accident, never by intent. But then there are the stories of violent and angry ghosts – spirits that not only bring terror, but also bloodshed and even death by their own ghostly hands. We’ll look at some famous cases of violent hauntings throughout history. CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Show Open 00:02:39.659 = The Axeman’s Jazz 00:22:15.246 = ***CIA and LSD 00:29:01.021 = Death By Electrical Storm 00:34:15.324 = The President And The Madman 00:41:20.641 = ***Vicious And Violent Hauntings 01:02:01.000 = Show Close *** = Begins immediately after inserted ad break SOURCES and RESOURCES: BOOK: “A Terrible Mistake: The Murder of Frank Olson and the CIA’s Secret Cold War Experiments” by H.P. Albarelli, Jr.: https://amzn.to/35gj9Xa VIDEO: Coventry Poltergeist opens door and moves chair: https://youtu.be/SF_Rf-Jttk4 “The Axeman’s Jazz” by Kieran W. for Mystery Confidential: https://tinyurl.com/yxqsylvd “The CIA and LSD” by Phillip Messing for the New York Post: https://tinyurl.com/ycywx8bn “Death By Electrical Storm” from Pennsylvania Oddities: https://tinyurl.com/y3ngsdbq “The President And The Madman” by Dr. Romeo Vitelli for Providentia: https://tinyurl.com/yyuvu36j “Vicious and Violent Hauntings” by Robert F. Mason for Ranker: https://tinyurl.com/y5t9srwm=====(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...

Support our Halloween “Overcoming the Darkness” campaign to help people with depression: https://weirddarkness.com/HOPE A dying man with a fake identity spent his final days erasing every trace of his existence before walking into the Irish sea, leaving investigators with only one question: who was Peter Bergmann? | #WDRadio WEEK OF OCT 12, 2025 ========== HOUR ONE: In June of 2009 a man calling himself Peter Bergmann checked in to a hotel in Sligo Town. Five days later his body was found on Rosses Point Beach. But Peter Bergmann was not Peter Bergmann – so who was he? (The Peter Bergmann Mystery) *** Sharing stories from people who are frightened by a bump in the night or a strange shadow on the wall in their bedroom is one thing, but when you get professional ghost hunters telling of the scariest experiences they’ve had, you know it has to be some freaky stuff. (Scariest Experiences of Ghost Hunters) ========== HOUR TWO: Jeannie Saffin already had a tough life, being born with a birth defect that stunted her mental growth, leaving her with the mind of a child, never getting married and having kids, never dating… but that all pales in comparison to how she died: bursting into flames for no apparent reason. Was Jeannie Saffin the victim of spontaneous human combustion? (The Spontaneous Combustion of Jeannie Saffin) *** Sometimes it’s easy to get a girl to go out with you – just be polite and ask. Some men resort to cheesy pickup lines thinking it will help their chances. But one man chose to call upon a woman in a very unusual way… by purchasing a gravestone. (Pitching Woo With a Tombstone) *** If a man demands his girlfriend give up the baby they conceived, otherwise he would no longer be with the woman – what is that newborn’s mother to do? Sadly, Emily Dunn made the wrong decision – with tragic results. (The Durbin Baby Murder) *** The transplanting of an organ is almost a routine procedure now in the 21st century – even doing a transplant of an arm or a leg isn’t uncommon. But when you talk about transplanting a living head onto a dead body – that’s when things get tricky. But Robert White thought it could be done – and even tried doing it. (The Man Who Wanted To Do a Head Transplant) *** Imagine getting onto a plane and once in the air finding out that the pilot wasn’t qualified to fly that kind of plane – and that he was only there because the original pilot wasn’t available due to being dead. That’s what happened in 1934 on the boat, the SS Morro Castle. And it was the beginning of tragedy after tragedy. (Mystery, Mismanagement, and Mayhem on the SS Morro Castle)========== SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME: More of the scariest experiences of ghost hunters! *** I’ll tell you about that time when a dam failed – and because of it, people were legally allowed to marry the dead. And still do to this day. (That Time A Failed Dam Led to Marrying Corpses) *** Personal experiences of those who have stayed at the Wolf Creek Inn, plus some hard evidence, seems to indicate that spirits who haunt the place are not only benign in nature, but even protect the guests and owners from other malevolent spirits which roam there as well. (Haunts at Wolf Creek Inn) ========== SOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM TONIGHT’S SHOW: “Mystery, Mismanagement, and Mayhem on the SS Morro Castle” by Brent Swancer for Mysterious Universe:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/56jb9c7j “The Man Who Wanted To Do a Head Transplant” by Gary Krist for the Washington Post: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/39d2k9pw “The Durbin Baby Murder” posted at Murders In History:

Support our Halloween “Overcoming the Darkness” campaign to help people with depression: https://weirddarkness.com/HOPE When Ed Loyce emerges from his basement to find a dead stranger hanging from the town lamppost and everyone acting like it's perfectly normal, he realizes he's the only person in Pikeville who escaped the mind control of interdimensional insectoids that have secretly taken over the town. IN THIS EPISODE: “The Hanging Stranger: by Philip K. Dick – originally published in Science Fiction Adventures magazine, December 1953  =====(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.)= = = = ="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 ©2025, Weird Darkness.=====Originally aired: October 12, 2025 EPISODE PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/hangingman 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.DISCLAIMER: Ads heard during the podcast that are not in my voice are placed by third party agencies outside of my control and should not imply an endorsement by Weird Darkness or myself. *** Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised. #WeirdDarkness, #PhilipKDick, #SciFiHorror, #AlienInvasion, #ClassicSciFi, #HorrorStory, #CreepyPasta, #TheHangingStranger, #VintageHorror, #HorrorNarration

Support our Halloween “Overcoming the Darkness” campaign to help people with depression: https://weirddarkness.com/HOPE When a jaded haunted house veteran receives a mysterious black envelope inviting him to 'Labyrinth,' he enters a palatial mansion where the rooms impossibly rearrange themselves and each door presents a progressively deadlier challenge making the man wonder if he'll ever get out alive. IN THIS EPISODE: I’m sharing a story recommended to me by a fellow Weirdo family member. It’s from professional writer/screenwriter Jesse Clark – it’s called “Never Accept An Invitation To Labyrinth”. SOURCES and RESOURCES – and/or --- PRINT VERSION to READ or SHARE: “Never Accept an Invitation to Labryrinth” by Redditor u/TheJesseClark: https://tinyurl.com/ulzymuk (Author website: https://www.thejesseclark.com) =====(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.)= = = = ="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 ©2025, Weird Darkness.=====Originally aired: September 17, 2020 EPISODE PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/Labyrinth 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.DISCLAIMER: Ads heard during the podcast that are not in my voice are placed by third party agencies outside of my control and should not imply an endorsement by Weird Darkness or myself. *** Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised. #WeirdDarkness, #HorrorStory, #CreepyPasta, #HauntedHouse, #ScaryStories, #HorrorNarration, #Labyrinth, #NoSleep, #TrueHorror, #HorrorStories

Hundreds died seeking miracle cures in this luxury hotel’s rooms, and now something child-sized crawls into bed with guests at night while a murdered gangster haunts the basement pool.