Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories

A nervous teenager at a Finley garage sale warns a new kid not to buy the five-dollar scarecrow sitting in a chair by the house, then tells the story of the Murphy family's Halloween yard display and the scarecrow Jack Murphy built with his father when he was eleven.

A NOTE FROM DARREN: As we step into the Halloween weekend, I thought it might be fun to share some Halloween-themed Creepypastas. Four fictional stories, in fact. And to add to the “Halloweenishness” of this episode, rather than spooky music in the background, as you can already tell, I’m back at the campfire to tell you these spooky stories – because it just feels more like Halloween that way. 

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = Show Open
00:00:50.027 = “The Murphy Horror House” by Kelly Foster
00:30:34.200 = “Don’t Take Your Eyes Off Your Children This Halloween” by Michael Richardson ***
00:48:31.114 = “Be Home By Midnight on Halloween Night” by SirScareMe ***
01:02:41.159 = “It Came From The Haunted House Across The Street” by SirScareMe
01:17:30.215 = Show Close

SOURCES and RESOURCES: 
“The Murphy Horror House” by Kelly Foster: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/mrhhzd8n
“Don’t Take Your Eyes Off Your Children This Halloween” by Michael Richardson: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/6mvx38yp
“Be Home By Midnight On Halloween Night” by SirScareMe: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/62ne66aa
"It Came From The Haunted House Across The Street” by SirScareMe: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/y6yffmf5

WeirdDarkness® | Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness | Midnight In The Macabre™

More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.

The 1938 radio drama of “War of the Worlds” by H.G. Wells, as performed by Mercury Radio Theater and Orson Welles.

SOURCES…
“War of the Worlds” by H.G. Wells. Radio script by Orson Welles, produced by Mercury Radio Theater
“War of the Worlds: The Greatest Halloween Prank Ever” by Troy Taylor: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p88d2d3
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"I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46
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WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.

More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.

In the glass-roofed New York of 2432, a bestselling author of caveman and cowboy adventures and his bride, a poet of birdsong and sunsets, bribe the operator of the Cosmic Express with a flask of contraband liquor to beam them one-way to the untouched jungles of Venus.

SOURCES and RESOURCES: “The Cosmic Express” by Jack Williamson (Amazing Stories December 1961)

WeirdDarkness® | Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness | Midnight In The Macabre (MITM)

More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.

Stranded on the Saskatchewan prairie with his world-famous wife, a five-time Nobel Prize winner refuses to fix their stalled car, certain that tonight he'll finally meet his equal, and a castle rises out of the mist with its drawbridge lowering over a moat full of piranhas.

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = Show Open
00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theater, “The Great Brain” (February 21, 1979) ***WD
00:46:25.997 = Casey Crime Photographer, “Box of Death” (April 17, 1947)
01:16:54.096 = CBC Mystery Theater, “Trespassers Will Be Experimented Upon” (February 11, 1981) ***WD
01:48:21.283 = Chet Chetter, “Elmer Versus The Mutant Rats” (1991-1992) ***WD
02:14:51.310 = The Clock, “Guilty As Always” (March 20, 1956) ***WD
02:42:06.586 = The Creaking Door, “Cat Woman” (December 14, 1964) ***WD
03:11:29.346 = The Crime Club, “Death at 7:10” (July 03, 1947)
03:41:32.154 = Crime Classics, “Hangman William Palmer Who Won” (October 07, 1953)
04:13:09.770 = Danger Dr. Danfield, “Snowbound No Opening Or Closing” (December 01, 1946)
04:38:39.263 = Deep Night, “Bonehouse” (August 12, 2005)
05:11:49.087 = 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.

More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.

A terrifying urban legend meant to scare children became all too real when a former janitor turned the shadows of Staten Island into his hunting ground.

READ or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/9tewa8jd

FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: A young girl is serenaded by a ghostly boy. (The Ghost of Allan) *** Strange and terrifying things begin to happen after two children play with a Ouija board in a 200-year-old house that used to be a funeral home. (My Brothers’ Strange Visitors) *** Is it possible that Dracula wasn’t a vampire after all? (Dracula – Not a Vampire) *** California diners flock to an establishment for good food, good wine, and spirits…especially the ghostly kind. (The Blue Lady of the Moss Beach Distillery) *** Once, "Cropsey" was just an urban legend, the boogeyman of Staten Island – but now, he is real. (Cropsey Comes To Life)
CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding
00:00:48.196 = Show Open
00:02:28.255 = Cropsey: The Boogeyman Comes To Life
00:06:11.705 = Dracula, Not A Vampire?
00:10:31.107 = The Ghost of Allan
00:19:02.378 = My Brother’s Strange Visitors
00:24:45.648 = The Blue Lady of the Moss Beach Distillery
00:29:55.014 = Show Close
*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad break
*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*
SOURCES and RESOURCES:
“The Ghost of Allan” by Weirdo family member Sheila Pugh: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/n6nvzdcu
“My Brother’s Strange Visitors” by Carli for MyHauntedLifeToo.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/kjb5vusk
“Dracula – Not a Vampire” by A. Sutherland for Ancient Pages: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/4y2h9mvz
“The Blue Lady of the Moss Beach Distillery” by Jim Hunt: (website no longer exists)
“Cropsey Comes to Life” posted at The LineUp: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/8rw7286w(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.

More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.