Episoder
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Tonight, I want to take you with me across one of the most haunted islands in the world. We’re going to visit a haunted castle where apparitions of lost souls walk the grounds, a vanished manor that allegedly returns at night glowing with candlelight, an old asylum where nurses and patients are still wandering empty corridors, and a manor where a young girl is said to call for her mother centuries after her death.
Along the way, we’ll move through ruined estates, coastal paths where something is said to follow people through the dark, former hospital grounds, and a haunted lighthouse built because of lives lost at sea.
But as strange as these hauntings may be, the Isle of Wight is also home to another story — one that doesn’t sound like a traditional ghost story at all.
A story from Sandown in 1973. But we’ll come back to that at the end, because that strange little corner of the island is where Part 2 begins.
For now, we’re boarding the ferry to a place some call Ghost Island, and others know as the Isle of Fright. This is Part 1 of the very haunted Isle of Wight.
Hosted by 🎙️: Alex Kern
⸻
🖤 ABOUT DARKLY SPEAKING 🖤
Welcome to Darkly Speaking — where true crime, the paranormal and the crazy strange and unexplained converge.
Every Monday, host Alex Kern unpacks stories that challenge our understanding of what’s real — from unsolved disappearances and psychological unravellings to encounters with the unexplained.
Think: true crime, the paranormal, and everything in between. If you’re drawn to the strange, the hidden, or the stories that won’t sit quietly — you’re in the right place.
Expect immersive storytelling, a dose of dark curiosity, and the occasional rabbit hole you didn’t plan to fall into.
Because in the darkest corners of our reality… truth gets weird.
⸻
🎧 LISTEN ON: Available wherever you get your podcasts!
YouTube
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
⸻
📲 CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube
Instagram
TikTok
Website (Sources, Show Notes & More!)
Email us your stories! → [email protected]
⸻
⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This podcast explores real cases and sensitive subject matter.
Listener discretion is advised.
All research is grounded in publicly available sources and cited to the best of our ability. Opinions are those of the host unless otherwise stated.
Copyright Disclaimer:
Some audio/visual materials used may be protected under copyright law and are included under “fair use” for commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.
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In 2002, The Boston Globe published an investigation that permanently changed the way many people viewed the Catholic Church.
What began as reporting on a single priest accused of abusing children quickly unraveled into something much larger — a disturbing pattern of accused clergy being quietly reassigned, victims silenced, complaints buried, and church officials seemingly more focused on avoiding scandal than stopping the abuse itself.
And as the investigation continued, more victims began coming forward.
Not just in Boston.Everywhere.
More than 40 years before those revelations came to light, 25-year-old Irene Garza walked into Sacred Heart Catholic Church in McAllen, Texas for confession — and never came home.
Five days later, her body was discovered floating in a muddy irrigation canal. She had been brutally beaten, sexually assaulted, and suffocated.
Almost immediately, suspicion began circling around a priest — a man connected to another violent attack, whose belongings were later found near the canal where Irene’s body had been dumped, and who multiple people would later claim admitted to killing her.
And still… nothing happened.
No arrest.No justice.Not for decades.
Over time, Irene’s story would become part of something much larger — a reckoning that exposed long-buried truths about power, protection, and accountability.
In this episode, we unravel the horrifying murder of Irene Garza, the investigation that went cold, the alleged institutional protection surrounding the case, and the decades-long fight to finally bring the truth into the light.
TW: This episode contains discussion of murder, sexual assault, clergy abuse, institutional cover-up allegations, violence against women, and graphic details surrounding the discovery of a victim’s body. Listener discretion is advised.
Hosted by 🎙️: Alex Kern
⸻
🖤 ABOUT DARKLY SPEAKING 🖤
Welcome to Darkly Speaking — where true crime, the paranormal and the crazy strange and unexplained converge.
Every Monday, host Alex Kern unpacks stories that challenge our understanding of what’s real — from unsolved disappearances and psychological unravellings to encounters with the unexplained.
Think: true crime, the paranormal, and everything in between. If you’re drawn to the strange, the hidden, or the stories that won’t sit quietly — you’re in the right place.
Expect immersive storytelling, a dose of dark curiosity, and the occasional rabbit hole you didn’t plan to fall into.
Because in the darkest corners of our reality… truth gets weird.
⸻
🎧 LISTEN ON: Available wherever you get your podcasts!
YouTube
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
⸻
📲 CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube
Instagram
TikTok
Website (Sources, Show Notes & More!)
Email us your stories! → [email protected]
⸻
⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This podcast explores real cases and sensitive subject matter.
Listener discretion is advised.
All research is grounded in publicly available sources and cited to the best of our ability. Opinions are those of the host unless otherwise stated.
Copyright Disclaimer:
Some audio/visual materials used may be protected under copyright law and are included under “fair use” for commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.
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Manglende episoder?
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Parts of the Appalachian mountains have been here longer than almost anything we know — hundreds of millions of years.
Long before people… before the forests that cover them now… and they’ve seen a lot since. People have passed through, settled, disappeared… but the stories remain...
Tonight, I’m going to walk you through a series of real-life horror stories straight from Appalachia —
someone waking up to something circling their tent in the middle of the night…a voice in the woods that turns into something much worse…a haunted boarding school in Kentucky with a tragic past…and something caught on camera that no one can explain.
So get comfortable… settle in… we’re stepping back into Appalachia.
Hosted by 🎙️: Alex Kern
⸻
🖤 ABOUT DARKLY SPEAKING 🖤
Welcome to Darkly Speaking — where true crime, the paranormal and the crazy strange and unexplained converge.
Every Monday, host Alex Kern unpacks stories that challenge our understanding of what’s real — from unsolved disappearances and psychological unravellings to encounters with the unexplained.
Think: true crime, the paranormal, and everything in between. If you’re drawn to the strange, the hidden, or the stories that won’t sit quietly — you’re in the right place.
Expect immersive storytelling, a dose of dark curiosity, and the occasional rabbit hole you didn’t plan to fall into.
Because in the darkest corners of our reality… truth gets weird.
⸻
🎧 LISTEN ON: Available wherever you get your podcasts!
YouTube
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
⸻
📲 CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube
Instagram
TikTok
Website (Sources, Show Notes & More!)
Email us your stories! → [email protected]
⸻
⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This podcast explores real cases and sensitive subject matter.
Listener discretion is advised.
All research is grounded in publicly available sources and cited to the best of our ability. Opinions are those of the host unless otherwise stated.
Copyright Disclaimer:
Some audio/visual materials used may be protected under copyright law and are included under “fair use” for commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.
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You’ve probably heard the stories—something calling your name from outside… something that looks wrong… not quite animal… not quite human.
And if you’ve spent any time on the darker side of the internet, you’ve probably heard the word Skinwalker.
It’s become one of the most talked-about—and most misunderstood—topics in paranormal spaces. Videos claiming to show proof of a shapeshifting cryptid. Dogs opening doors. Deer standing on their hind legs. Animals staring a little too long, like something behind their eyes is watching you back. Figures that move wrong. Voices calling out from the dark, trying to pull people closer.
But if it were only that simple...
The deeper you go, the more heinous it becomes—because the reality is far darker than most people realize. This being is not a creature. Not a myth in the way people think—but a human, tied to a deeply disturbing path.
Skinwalkers are rooted in Navajo belief—referred to as yee naaldlooshii. In its original context, this topic isn’t meant to be discussed openly—so what we’re covering here only scratches the surface.
TW: This episode contains discussion of disturbing encounters, cultural beliefs involving taboo practices, and unsettling themes. Listener discretion is advised.
Hosted by 🎙️: Alex Kern
⸻
🖤 ABOUT DARKLY SPEAKING 🖤
Welcome to Darkly Speaking — where true crime, the paranormal and the crazy strange and unexplained converge.
Every Monday, host Alex Kern unpacks stories that challenge our understanding of what’s real — from unsolved disappearances and psychological unravellings to encounters with the unexplained.
Think: true crime, the paranormal, and everything in between. If you’re drawn to the strange, the hidden, or the stories that won’t sit quietly — you’re in the right place.
Expect immersive storytelling, a dose of dark curiosity, and the occasional rabbit hole you didn’t plan to fall into.
Because in the darkest corners of our reality… truth gets weird.
⸻
🎧 LISTEN ON: Available wherever you get your podcasts!
YouTube
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
⸻
📲 CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube
Instagram
TikTok
Website (Sources, Show Notes & More!)
Email us your stories! → [email protected]
⸻
⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This podcast explores real cases and sensitive subject matter.
Listener discretion is advised.
All research is grounded in publicly available sources and cited to the best of our ability. Opinions are those of the host unless otherwise stated.
Copyright Disclaimer:
Some audio/visual materials used may be protected under copyright law and are included under “fair use” for commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.
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On February 24th, 1978, five young men left Yuba City in Northern California for what should have been an ordinary night — a college basketball game, a short drive home, and plans for the next morning they had been looking forward to for weeks.
But they never made it home.
Days later, their car was discovered abandoned on a remote mountain road — hours away from where they should have been and headed in the opposite direction of home.
This case is often compared to the Dyatlov Pass Incident where nine hikers vanished in the northern Ural Mountains of Soviet Russia and were later discovered scattered across a frozen mountainside under mysterious circumstances. I covered that story in Episodes 16 and 17 — and the parallels between the two cases are deeply unsettling.
Four of the men would eventually be found — one having survived for weeks in the trailer — while one was never recovered.
Their names were Gary Mathias, Bill Sterling, Jack “Jackie” Hewitt, Ted Weiher, and Jack Madruga.
Nearly five decades later, their disappearance remains one of the most disturbing and perplexing death investigations in California history — now known as The Yuba County Five.
TW: This episode contains discussion of death, exposure to extreme winter conditions, starvation, and the discovery of human remains in remote wilderness. Listener discretion is advised.
Hosted by 🎙️: Alex Kern
⸻
🖤 ABOUT DARKLY SPEAKING 🖤
Welcome to Darkly Speaking — where true crime, the paranormal and the crazy strange and unexplained converge.
Every Monday, host Alex Kern unpacks stories that challenge our understanding of what’s real — from unsolved disappearances and psychological unravellings to encounters with the unexplained.
Think: true crime, the paranormal, and everything in between. If you’re drawn to the strange, the hidden, or the stories that won’t sit quietly — you’re in the right place.
Expect immersive storytelling, a dose of dark curiosity, and the occasional rabbit hole you didn’t plan to fall into.
Because in the darkest corners of our reality… truth gets weird.
⸻
🎧 LISTEN ON: Available wherever you get your podcasts!
YouTube
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
⸻
📲 CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube
Instagram
TikTok
Website (Sources, Show Notes & More!)
Email us your stories! → [email protected]
⸻
⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This podcast explores real cases and sensitive subject matter.
Listener discretion is advised.
All research is grounded in publicly available sources and cited to the best of our ability. Opinions are those of the host unless otherwise stated.
Copyright Disclaimer:
Some audio/visual materials used may be protected under copyright law and are included under “fair use” for commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.
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In the early morning hours of August 2nd, 1989, the Jack family packed up and left home after Ronnie Jack accepted a job offer from a mysterious stranger earlier that day.
They were last believed to be traveling along Highway 16 in northern British Columbia — a remote corridor later known as the Highway of Tears. For decades, this stretch of road has been linked to the disappearances and murders of dozens of Indigenous women and girls, many of whose cases remain unsolved.
More than 35 years later, the Jack family has never been seen again, and their disappearance remains one of Canada’s most perplexing unsolved cases.
TW: This episode contains references to violence, sexual assault, and systemic abuse against Native women and peoples. It also includes discussion of police mishandling of criminal investigations. Listener discretion is advised.
Hosted by 🎙️: Alex Kern
⸻
🖤 ABOUT DARKLY SPEAKING 🖤
Welcome to Darkly Speaking — where true crime, the paranormal and the crazy strange and unexplained converge.
Every Monday, host Alex Kern unpacks stories that challenge our understanding of what’s real — from unsolved disappearances and psychological unravellings to encounters with the unexplained.
Think: true crime, the paranormal, and everything in between. If you’re drawn to the strange, the hidden, or the stories that won’t sit quietly — you’re in the right place.
Expect immersive storytelling, a dose of dark curiosity, and the occasional rabbit hole you didn’t plan to fall into.
Because in the darkest corners of our reality… truth gets weird.
⸻
🎧 LISTEN ON: Available wherever you get your podcasts!
YouTube
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
⸻
📲 CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube
Instagram
TikTok
Website (Sources, Show Notes & More!)
Email us your stories! → [email protected]
⸻
⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This podcast explores real cases and sensitive subject matter.
Listener discretion is advised.
All research is grounded in publicly available sources and cited to the best of our ability. Opinions are those of the host unless otherwise stated.
Copyright Disclaimer:
Some audio/visual materials used may be protected under copyright law and are included under “fair use” for commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.
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Imagine waking up inside an endless maze spanning hundreds of millions of square miles, with no clear way out. The hum of fluorescent lights fills the air at full volume. Yellowing wallpaper peels from the walls. Damp, stained carpet stretches through rooms that never seem to end. Spaces once meant for people — offices, hallways, waiting rooms — now stripped of purpose and abandoned. A place where escape feels impossible, and entities are said to move just beyond your line of sight. And yet, it feels familiar. Like you’ve been here before.
In 2019, a single image of a liminal office space began circulating online, giving a name to a concept that felt instantly recognizable and spawning an entire genre of modern horror. But the idea itself didn’t begin there. Versions of it have existed in people’s subconscious for decades. Some dismiss it as fiction. Others see it as psychological. And some point to real-life experiences that feel eerily similar — moments of disorientation, repetition, and being trapped somewhere that shouldn’t exist.
Movie. Video game. Creepypasta. Fever dream. Purgatory.
Or something closer to reality than anyone wants to admit —
because some real-world stories sound disturbingly similar.
Hosted by 🎙️: Alex Kern
⸻
🖤 ABOUT DARKLY SPEAKING 🖤
Welcome to Darkly Speaking — where true crime, the paranormal and the crazy strange and unexplained converge.
Every Monday, host Alex Kern unpacks stories that challenge our understanding of what’s real — from unsolved disappearances and psychological unravellings to encounters with the unexplained.
Think: true crime, the paranormal, and everything in between. If you’re drawn to the strange, the hidden, or the stories that won’t sit quietly — you’re in the right place.
Expect immersive storytelling, a dose of dark curiosity, and the occasional rabbit hole you didn’t plan to fall into.
Because in the darkest corners of our reality… truth gets weird.
⸻
🎧 LISTEN ON: Available wherever you get your podcasts!
YouTube
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
⸻
📲 CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube
Instagram
TikTok
Website (Sources, Show Notes & More!)
Email us your stories! → [email protected]
⸻
⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This podcast explores real cases and sensitive subject matter.
Listener discretion is advised.
All research is grounded in publicly available sources and cited to the best of our ability. Opinions are those of the host unless otherwise stated.
Copyright Disclaimer:
Some audio/visual materials used may be protected under copyright law and are included under “fair use” for commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.
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In January 1996, nine-year-old Amber Hagerman was abducted in broad daylight while riding her bike near her grandparents' home in Arlington, Texas. A witness saw a man force her into a pickup truck. The vehicle was distinctive. The description was clear.
What didn’t exist was a way to alert the public—fast enough, wide enough, or urgently enough to make a difference.
Amber was held for two days before her body was discovered, and her murder remains unsolved.
In the aftermath, her family and community were left grappling with a devastating question: what if the information had reached the public in time? That question exposed deep failures in how the country handled child abductions—and became the catalyst for change, revealing the need for a coordinated, immediate response when a child is taken.
Amber’s name became the foundation of the AMBER Alert system—a nationwide tool designed to mobilize communities in real time.
But before the alert, there was Amber.
And this is her story...
TW: This episode includes discussion of crimes against children and potentially distressing circumstances. Listener discretion is advised.
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According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, as of December 2025, 1,292 children have been safely recovered as a direct result of AMBER Alerts and the public response they trigger.
But not every alert ends with a resolution. While many cases are resolved within hours, some children featured in AMBER Alerts are still missing, and their families continue searching for answers.
To learn about active alerts and view the full list of children who remain missing after an AMBER Alert, visit:
https://www.missingkids.org/gethelpnow/amber
Hosted by 🎙️: Alex Kern
⸻
🖤 ABOUT DARKLY SPEAKING 🖤
Welcome to Darkly Speaking — where true crime, the paranormal and the crazy strange and unexplained converge.
Every Monday, host Alex Kern unpacks stories that challenge our understanding of what’s real — from unsolved disappearances and psychological unravellings to encounters with the unexplained.
Think: true crime, the paranormal, and everything in between. If you’re drawn to the strange, the hidden, or the stories that won’t sit quietly — you’re in the right place.
Expect immersive storytelling, a dose of dark curiosity, and the occasional rabbit hole you didn’t plan to fall into.
Because in the darkest corners of our reality… truth gets weird.
⸻
🎧 LISTEN ON: Available wherever you get your podcasts!
YouTube
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
⸻
📲 CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube
Instagram
TikTok
Website (Sources, Show Notes & More!)
Email us your stories! → [email protected]
⸻
⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This podcast explores real cases and sensitive subject matter.
Listener discretion is advised.
All research is grounded in publicly available sources and cited to the best of our ability. Opinions are those of the host unless otherwise stated.
Copyright Disclaimer:
Some audio/visual materials used may be protected under copyright law and are included under “fair use” for commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.
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We’re back in the wilderness of Vermont’s Bennington Triangle — a stretch of land tied to murders, disappearances, and stories that refuse to stay buried. In this chilling Part Two, we step into the other side of the story. The darker side of the Appalachian Mountains.
Tonight, we dig into what surrounds the vanishings. Over the years, this region has been linked to murders, strange lights in the sky, UFO sightings, and encounters with something large moving through the woods — what became known as the Bennington Monster. Stories of time slipping. Of people losing their bearings. Of reality feeling unreliable once you cross a certain point.
This episode also returns to the disappearances from Part One, breaking them down piece by piece. The terrain. The timelines. The details that never quite line up. Trying to understand how people could vanish the way they did — and why every explanation seems to fall apart.
We end with the story of Robert Singley, an experienced hiker who became lost during his descent near Glastenbury Mountain when heavy fog rolled in. After a night spent disoriented in the woods — marked by unsettling bone discoveries and a growing sense that he wasn’t alone — he emerged miles from where he should have been. How does someone descend one mountain and wake up on top of another, miles away?
Disappearances aren’t the only thing haunting these woods. The Bennington Triangle leaves room for it all...
And the harder you try to understand this place, the less sense it makes.
Have ghost stories of your own? E-mail them to me at [email protected]
Hosted by 🎙️: Alex Kern
⸻
🖤 ABOUT DARKLY SPEAKING 🖤
Welcome to Darkly Speaking — where true crime, the paranormal and the crazy strange and unexplained converge.
Every Monday, host Alex Kern unpacks stories that challenge our understanding of what’s real — from unsolved disappearances and psychological unravellings to encounters with the unexplained.
Think: true crime, the paranormal, and everything in between. If you’re drawn to the strange, the hidden, or the stories that won’t sit quietly — you’re in the right place.
Expect immersive storytelling, a dose of dark curiosity, and the occasional rabbit hole you didn’t plan to fall into.
Because in the darkest corners of our reality… truth gets weird.
⸻
🎧 LISTEN ON: Available wherever you get your podcasts!
YouTube
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
⸻
📲 CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube
Instagram
TikTok
Website (Sources, Show Notes & More!)
Email us your stories! → [email protected]
⸻
⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This podcast explores real cases and sensitive subject matter.
Listener discretion is advised.
All research is grounded in publicly available sources and cited to the best of our ability. Opinions are those of the host unless otherwise stated.
Copyright Disclaimer:
Some audio/visual materials used may be protected under copyright law and are included under “fair use” for commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.
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There's a haunting place in the Appalachian mountains associated with unexplained vanishings, violent deaths, and phenomena that refuse easy explanation. A region tied to stories of people disappearing without a trace, of murders that left more questions than answers, and of events that seem to bend time, space, and logic itself.
Over the years, this landscape has become associated with accounts of time slips, interdimensional portals, strange lights moving across the sky, UFO sightings, and encounters with something large and humanoid moving through the forest. Some describe it as a place where reality feels unstable. Others see it as a convergence point — a stretch of land where stories accumulate because ordinary explanations fail to hold.
There is simply too much history, too many cases, and too many layers to unpack in a single episode. So this story unfolds in two parts.
In Part One, we begin where it all starts. With the land itself. We’ll look at the history of the region, the Indigenous knowledge that shaped how this place was understood long before it was named, and the series of unexplained disappearances that eventually drew national attention and gave the area its identity.
In Part Two, we cross into the other side of the story. The phenomena that gathered around this landscape over time. The theories, sightings, and explanations people reach for when conventional answers fall short — when something about this place feels fundamentally off.
So lace up your hiking boots and grab your parka. We’re heading into the vast wilderness of southwestern Vermont. Into the dense, cold forests of the Bennington Triangle.
Hosted by 🎙️: Alex Kern
⸻
🖤 ABOUT DARKLY SPEAKING 🖤
Welcome to Darkly Speaking — where true crime, the paranormal and the crazy strange and unexplained converge.
Every Monday, host Alex Kern unpacks stories that challenge our understanding of what’s real — from unsolved disappearances and psychological unravellings to encounters with the unexplained.
Think: true crime, the paranormal, and everything in between. If you’re drawn to the strange, the hidden, or the stories that won’t sit quietly — you’re in the right place.
Expect immersive storytelling, a dose of dark curiosity, and the occasional rabbit hole you didn’t plan to fall into.
Because in the darkest corners of our reality… truth gets weird.
⸻
🎧 LISTEN ON: Available wherever you get your podcasts!
YouTube
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
⸻
📲 CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube
Instagram
TikTok
Website (Sources, Show Notes & More!)
Email us your stories! → [email protected]
⸻
⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This podcast explores real cases and sensitive subject matter.
Listener discretion is advised.
All research is grounded in publicly available sources and cited to the best of our ability. Opinions are those of the host unless otherwise stated.
Copyright Disclaimer:
Some audio/visual materials used may be protected under copyright law and are included under “fair use” for commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.
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You know the line —
There’ll be parties for hosting
Marshmallows for toasting
And caroling out in the snow
There’ll be scary ghost stories
And tales of the glories
Of Christmases long, long ago.
This is one of those stories...
The Signalman is a gothic short story by Charles Dickens that centers on an isolated railway worker who becomes convinced he is being warned of coming disasters by a ghostly figure that appears before fatal accidents. Each warning arrives too late to prevent tragedy, and the danger no longer feels distant.
First published in 1866, the story is told through the perspective of a narrator who forms a cautious friendship with the troubled signalman, approaching his claims with rational doubt before gradually confronting the possibility that something supernatural may be at work. Shaped in part by real railway disasters of the era, The Signal-Man explores isolation, inevitability, and the fragile boundary between reason and the unknown.
Enjoy this rendition of Dickens’ classic Christmas ghost story, and happy holidays!
Hosted by 🎙️: Alex Kern
Spooky Winter Book Recs:
The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney The Family Game by Catherine Steadman Near The Bone by Christina Henry Hairpin Bridge by Taylor Adams Secret Santa by Andrew ShafferDead of Winter by Darcy Coates⸻
🖤 ABOUT DARKLY SPEAKING 🖤
Welcome to Darkly Speaking — where true crime, the paranormal and the crazy strange and unexplained converge.
Every Monday, host Alex Kern unpacks stories that challenge our understanding of what’s real — from unsolved disappearances and psychological unravellings to encounters with the unexplained.
Think: true crime, the paranormal, and everything in between. If you’re drawn to the strange, the hidden, or the stories that won’t sit quietly — you’re in the right place.
Expect immersive storytelling, a dose of dark curiosity, and the occasional rabbit hole you didn’t plan to fall into.
Because in the darkest corners of our reality… truth gets weird.
⸻
🎧 LISTEN ON: Available wherever you get your podcasts!
YouTube
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
⸻
📲 CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube
Instagram
TikTok
Website (Sources, Show Notes & More!)
Email us your stories! → [email protected]
⸻
⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This podcast explores real cases and sensitive subject matter.
Listener discretion is advised.
All research is grounded in publicly available sources and cited to the best of our ability. Opinions are those of the host unless otherwise stated.
Copyright Disclaimer:
Some audio/visual materials used may be protected under copyright law and are included under “fair use” for commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.
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Christmas has another history...
Before Santa, the season was shaped by pagan winter traditions and folklore filled with punishment and fear.
From belly-slitting witches said to roam during the winter solstice to a demonic beast who dragged sinners to hell, the season was once ruled by things far less holy.
So get cozy and settle in because because we're going back.. To the Darker version of Christmas past.
Hosted by 🎙️: Alex Kern
Spooky Winter Book Recs:
The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney The Family Game by Catherine Steadman Near The Bone by Christina Henry Hairpin Bridge by Taylor Adams Secret Santa by Andrew ShafferDead of Winter by Darcy Coates⸻
🖤 ABOUT DARKLY SPEAKING 🖤
Welcome to Darkly Speaking — where true crime, the paranormal and the crazy strange and unexplained converge.
Every Monday, host Alex Kern unpacks stories that challenge our understanding of what’s real — from unsolved disappearances and psychological unravellings to encounters with the unexplained.
Think: true crime, the paranormal, and everything in between. If you’re drawn to the strange, the hidden, or the stories that won’t sit quietly — you’re in the right place.
Expect immersive storytelling, a dose of dark curiosity, and the occasional rabbit hole you didn’t plan to fall into.
Because in the darkest corners of our reality… truth gets weird.
⸻
🎧 LISTEN ON: Available wherever you get your podcasts!
YouTube
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
⸻
📲 CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube
Instagram
TikTok
Website (Sources, Show Notes & More!)
Email us your stories! → [email protected]
⸻
⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This podcast explores real cases and sensitive subject matter.
Listener discretion is advised.
All research is grounded in publicly available sources and cited to the best of our ability. Opinions are those of the host unless otherwise stated.
Copyright Disclaimer:
Some audio/visual materials used may be protected under copyright law and are included under “fair use” for commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.
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Five days before Christmas in 1984, 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews returned to her home in Greely Colorado after a school concert and vanished without a trace.
No forced entry. No struggle. Just footprints in the snow behind the Matthews home.
Her disappearance quickly gained national attention, becoming one of the first cases featured in the milk carton campaign. And for nearly four decades, the investigation remained frozen, shaped by shifting stories and stalled leads. That is, until nearly 35 years later, when Jonelle’s remains were discovered more than 20 miles from her home.
And all signs pointed to a man whose involvement only grew stranger as he continued placing himself in the center of the investigation long before anyone suspected him.
TW: This episode includes discussion of crimes against children and sexual violence, and potentially distressing circumstances. Listener discretion is advised.
Hosted by 🎙️: Alex Kern
⸻
🖤 ABOUT DARKLY SPEAKING 🖤
Welcome to Darkly Speaking — where true crime, the paranormal and the crazy strange and unexplained converge.
Every Monday, host Alex Kern unpacks stories that challenge our understanding of what’s real — from unsolved disappearances and psychological unravellings to encounters with the unexplained.
Think: true crime, the paranormal, and everything in between. If you’re drawn to the strange, the hidden, or the stories that won’t sit quietly — you’re in the right place.
Expect immersive storytelling, a dose of dark curiosity, and the occasional rabbit hole you didn’t plan to fall into.
Because in the darkest corners of our reality… truth gets weird.
⸻
🎧 LISTEN ON: Available wherever you get your podcasts!
YouTube
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
⸻
📲 CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube
Instagram
TikTok
Website (Sources, Show Notes & More!)
Email us your stories! → [email protected]
⸻
⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This podcast explores real cases and sensitive subject matter.
Listener discretion is advised.
All research is grounded in publicly available sources and cited to the best of our ability. Opinions are those of the host unless otherwise stated.
Copyright Disclaimer:
Some audio/visual materials used may be protected under copyright law and are included under “fair use” for commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.
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Have a terrifying story or strange encounter? I'd love to hear it! Please send your spooky scary stories to [email protected]
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Winter has a way of hiding things — until they step out of the dark right in front of you.
In this episode, we’re walking through five chilling encounters that took place in the dead of winter. Footprints in the snow from an unwanted guest, strangers emerging out of the darkness on a frozen mountain pass, a pale ghost boy’s staring from hospital room 9, an unsettling midnight offering deep along the Appalachian Trail, and a creature on the highway that defies anything you’d expect to see on the road.
These aren’t just odd moments or tricks of the light — they’re the kind of winter encounters that leave you questioning what you saw… and who, or what, might’ve been watching you back.
Bundle up.
Because these stories are anything but a silent night.
Hosted by 🎙️: Alex Kern
Spooky Winter Book Recs:
The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney The Family Game by Catherine Steadman Near The Bone by Christina Henry Hairpin Bridge by Taylor Adams Secret Santa by Andrew ShafferDead of Winter by Darcy Coates⸻
🖤 ABOUT DARKLY SPEAKING 🖤
Welcome to Darkly Speaking — where true crime, the paranormal and the crazy strange and unexplained converge.
Every Monday, host Alex Kern unpacks stories that challenge our understanding of what’s real — from unsolved disappearances and psychological unravellings to encounters with the unexplained.
Think: true crime, the paranormal, and everything in between. If you’re drawn to the strange, the hidden, or the stories that won’t sit quietly — you’re in the right place.
Expect immersive storytelling, a dose of dark curiosity, and the occasional rabbit hole you didn’t plan to fall into.
Because in the darkest corners of our reality… truth gets weird.
⸻
🎧 LISTEN ON: Available wherever you get your podcasts!
YouTube
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
⸻
📲 CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube
Instagram
TikTok
Website (Sources, Show Notes & More!)
Email us your stories! → [email protected]
⸻
⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This podcast explores real cases and sensitive subject matter.
Listener discretion is advised.
All research is grounded in publicly available sources and cited to the best of our ability. Opinions are those of the host unless otherwise stated.
Copyright Disclaimer:
Some audio/visual materials used may be protected under copyright law and are included under “fair use” for commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.
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In February 2018, 20-year-old Ryan Shtuka left a house party in Sun Peaks and began the short walk toward home. A route that should have taken just a few minutes. Ryan never made it home. Instead, his final movements remain frozen in time.
Search crews pushed through deep snow and subzero temperatures. Volunteers returned week after week. Helicopters and ground teams covered every direction the terrain allowed. No footprints. No belongings. No confirmed trace. The trail turned cold almost immediately.
Seven years later, the case sits at a standstill — suspended between what is known and what has never surfaced.
Does someone know something… or does nobody know anything at all?
Hosted by 🎙️: Alex Kern
⸻
🖤 ABOUT DARKLY SPEAKING 🖤
Welcome to Darkly Speaking — where true crime, the paranormal and the crazy strange and unexplained converge.
Every Monday, host Alex Kern unpacks stories that challenge our understanding of what’s real — from unsolved disappearances and psychological unravellings to encounters with the unexplained.
Think: true crime, the paranormal, and everything in between. If you’re drawn to the strange, the hidden, or the stories that won’t sit quietly — you’re in the right place.
Expect immersive storytelling, a dose of dark curiosity, and the occasional rabbit hole you didn’t plan to fall into.
Because in the darkest corners of our reality… truth gets weird.
⸻
🎧 LISTEN ON: Available wherever you get your podcasts!
YouTube
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
⸻
📲 CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube
Instagram
TikTok
Website (Sources, Show Notes & More!)
Email us your stories! → [email protected]
⸻
⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This podcast explores real cases and sensitive subject matter.
Listener discretion is advised.
All research is grounded in publicly available sources and cited to the best of our ability. Opinions are those of the host unless otherwise stated.
Copyright Disclaimer:
Some audio/visual materials used may be protected under copyright law and are included under “fair use” for commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.
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Weeks after the Dyatlov group’s final journal entries, search teams reached the site. The scene didn’t line up with a simple hiking accident: a tent sliced from the inside, barefoot tracks in the snow, and bodies found under injuries and circumstances no single theory could fully explain.
In Part 2 of THE UNKNOWN: The Dyatlov Pass Tragedy, we break down the search, the recoveries, the injuries, and the theories — from avalanche to military involvement — and examine why none of them fully explain what happened on that mountain.
TW: This episode contains discussion of death, hypothermia, trauma, and graphic forensic details. Listener discretion is advised.
Hosted by 🎙️: Alex Kern
⸻
🖤 ABOUT DARKLY SPEAKING 🖤
Welcome to Darkly Speaking — where true crime, the paranormal and the crazy strange and unexplained converge.
Every Monday, host Alex Kern unpacks stories that challenge our understanding of what’s real — from unsolved disappearances and psychological unravellings to encounters with the unexplained.
Think: true crime, the paranormal, and everything in between. If you’re drawn to the strange, the hidden, or the stories that won’t sit quietly — you’re in the right place.
Expect immersive storytelling, a dose of dark curiosity, and the occasional rabbit hole you didn’t plan to fall into.
Because in the darkest corners of our reality… truth gets weird.
⸻
🎧 LISTEN ON: Available wherever you get your podcasts!
YouTube
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
⸻
📲 CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube
Instagram
TikTok
Website (Sources, Show Notes & More!)
Email us your stories! → [email protected]
⸻
⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This podcast explores real cases and sensitive subject matter.
Listener discretion is advised.
All research is grounded in publicly available sources and cited to the best of our ability. Opinions are those of the host unless otherwise stated.
Copyright Disclaimer:
Some audio/visual materials used may be protected under copyright law and are included under “fair use” for commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.
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January 1959 — nine hikers set out into the frozen Ural Mountains. Experienced, prepared, and full of life. Days later, their tent was found ripped open from the inside. Their gear abandoned. Their bodies scattered across the snow.
What happened on that mountainside has haunted investigators and historians for more than sixty years.
In Part 1 of THE UNKNOWN: The Dyatlov Pass Tragedy, we retrace the group’s final days through their recovered journals, photographs, and official reports—following their footsteps into one of the most chilling mysteries of the 20th century.
Hosted by 🎙️: Alex Kern
⸻
🖤 ABOUT DARKLY SPEAKING 🖤
Welcome to Darkly Speaking — where true crime, the paranormal and the crazy strange and unexplained converge.
Every Monday, host Alex Kern unpacks stories that challenge our understanding of what’s real — from unsolved disappearances and psychological unravellings to encounters with the unexplained.
Think: true crime, the paranormal, and everything in between. If you’re drawn to the strange, the hidden, or the stories that won’t sit quietly — you’re in the right place.
Expect immersive storytelling, a dose of dark curiosity, and the occasional rabbit hole you didn’t plan to fall into.
Because in the darkest corners of our reality… truth gets weird.
⸻
🎧 LISTEN ON: Available wherever you get your podcasts!
YouTube
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
⸻
📲 CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube
Instagram
TikTok
Website (Sources, Show Notes & More!)
Email us your stories! → [email protected]
⸻
⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This podcast explores real cases and sensitive subject matter.
Listener discretion is advised.
All research is grounded in publicly available sources and cited to the best of our ability. Opinions are those of the host unless otherwise stated.
Copyright Disclaimer:
Some audio/visual materials used may be protected under copyright law and are included under “fair use” for commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.
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In the summer of 2003, 19-year-old Sonya Ivanoff vanished from Nome, Alaska. When her body was discovered days later, the truth that surfaced would devastate the small town and force a reckoning with its own police force.
As investigators closed in, they uncovered a betrayal that went far deeper than anyone imagined — one that exposed years of neglect and mistrust between Nome’s authorities and Alaska Native women, a crisis that still haunts Alaska today.
TW: This episode contains references to violence, sexual assault, and systemic abuse against Alaska Native women. It also includes discussion of police misconduct, murder, and the mishandling of criminal investigations. Listener discretion is advised.
Hosted by 🎙️: Alex Kern
⸻
🖤 ABOUT DARKLY SPEAKING 🖤
Welcome to Darkly Speaking — where true crime, the paranormal and the crazy strange and unexplained converge.
Every Monday, host Alex Kern unpacks stories that challenge our understanding of what’s real — from unsolved disappearances and psychological unravellings to encounters with the unexplained.
Think: true crime, the paranormal, and everything in between. If you’re drawn to the strange, the hidden, or the stories that won’t sit quietly — you’re in the right place.
Expect immersive storytelling, a dose of dark curiosity, and the occasional rabbit hole you didn’t plan to fall into.
Because in the darkest corners of our reality… truth gets weird.
⸻
🎧 LISTEN ON: Available wherever you get your podcasts!
YouTube
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
⸻
📲 CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube
Instagram
TikTok
Website (Sources, Show Notes & More!)
Email us your stories! → [email protected]
⸻
⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This podcast explores real cases and sensitive subject matter.
Listener discretion is advised.
All research is grounded in publicly available sources and cited to the best of our ability. Opinions are those of the host unless otherwise stated.
Copyright Disclaimer:
Some audio/visual materials used may be protected under copyright law and are included under “fair use” for commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.
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Legend has it, if you stand in a dark room with a mirror and say her name three times… she’ll show herself. Maybe she’ll whisper. Maybe she’ll crawl right out and drag you with her.
So go on. Let’s play.
Bloody Mary.
Bloody Mary.
Bloody Mary.
The story has been passed down for generations — a sleepover dare turned ritual, stitched together from fear, history, and something much older than either.
But who — or what — are we really summoning?
Some say she was a witch.
Some say a queen bathed in blood.
Others say she was just a woman — punished, twisted, and remembered as a warning.
In this episode, we step through the mirror to uncover the truth behind the legend — the women who became her, the science that explains her reflection, and the meaning buried beneath the myth.
Because this isn’t just a story about a ghost. It’s about reflection. Transformation. Power. And what happens when we stop running from the things that terrify us — and face them head on.
The vanity. The blood. The becoming. And the moment you realize the mirror was never haunted at all. It was just waiting for you to look back.
TW: This episode contains references to folklore violence, blood, historical execution, and the persecution of women accused of witchcraft. It also includes discussion of body imagery, menstruation symbolism, and psychological horror themes. Listener discretion is advised.
Hosted by 🎙️: Alex Kern
⸻
🖤 ABOUT DARKLY SPEAKING 🖤
Welcome to Darkly Speaking — where true crime, the paranormal and the crazy strange and unexplained converge.
Every Monday, host Alex Kern unpacks stories that challenge our understanding of what’s real — from unsolved disappearances and psychological unravellings to encounters with the unexplained.
Think: true crime, the paranormal, and everything in between. If you’re drawn to the strange, the hidden, or the stories that won’t sit quietly — you’re in the right place.
Expect immersive storytelling, a dose of dark curiosity, and the occasional rabbit hole you didn’t plan to fall into.
Because in the darkest corners of our reality… truth gets weird.
⸻
🎧 LISTEN ON: Available wherever you get your podcasts!
YouTube
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
⸻
📲 CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube
Instagram
TikTok
Website (Sources, Show Notes & More!)
Email us your stories! → [email protected]
⸻
⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This podcast explores real cases and sensitive subject matter.
Listener discretion is advised.
All research is grounded in publicly available sources and cited to the best of our ability. Opinions are those of the host unless otherwise stated.
Copyright Disclaimer:
Some audio/visual materials used may be protected under copyright law and are included under “fair use” for commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.
-
Before The Conjuring Universe, there were the real stories — and the real consequences.
In 1974, the quiet town of Amityville became ground zero for one of the most infamous hauntings in the world. Six members of the DeFeo family were murdered inside their home, and when the Lutz family moved in, they claimed something inhuman remained. Voices whispered. Walls bled. Crosses turned upside down. The Warrens arrived with faith and cameras, determined to prove evil was real. But behind the fame that followed came something else — suspicion, profit, and a growing question about where belief ended and justice began.
Seven years later, another case would push them to the edge. In 1981, 19-year-old Arne Johnson stabbed his landlord to death — and claimed he was possessed by a demon that had once plagued an eleven-year-old boy. It became the first U.S. murder trial to argue demonic possession as a defense. And for the first time in American history… The Devil stood trial.
The Warrens stood by Arne, risking their credibility — and perhaps their conscience — to defend what they called the Devil’s truth. The Church refused to sanction the exorcism. The court refused to acknowledge the supernatural. And the world was left wondering whether the Warrens were fighting for salvation… or selling it.
From the haunted rooms of Amityville to the chaos of Brookfield, this episode exposes not just the stories that made the Warrens famous — but the ones that made them infamous. The moral questions, the contradictions, and the thin line between conviction and corruption.
Hosted by 🎙️: Alex Kern
⸻
🖤 ABOUT DARKLY SPEAKING 🖤
Welcome to Darkly Speaking — where true crime, the paranormal and the crazy strange and unexplained converge.
Every Monday, host Alex Kern unpacks stories that challenge our understanding of what’s real — from unsolved disappearances and psychological unravellings to encounters with the unexplained.
Think: true crime, the paranormal, and everything in between. If you’re drawn to the strange, the hidden, or the stories that won’t sit quietly — you’re in the right place.
Expect immersive storytelling, a dose of dark curiosity, and the occasional rabbit hole you didn’t plan to fall into.
Because in the darkest corners of our reality… truth gets weird.
⸻
🎧 LISTEN ON: Available wherever you get your podcasts!
YouTube
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
⸻
📲 CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube
Instagram
TikTok
Website (Sources, Show Notes & More!)
Email us your stories! → [email protected]
⸻
⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This podcast explores real cases and sensitive subject matter.
Listener discretion is advised.
All research is grounded in publicly available sources and cited to the best of our ability. Opinions are those of the host unless otherwise stated.
Copyright Disclaimer:
Some audio/visual materials used may be protected under copyright law and are included under “fair use” for commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.
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