 This episode of Weird Darkness is dedicated to each and every doctor, nurse, and health worker putting his or her life at risk to save the lives of others. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You are the unwavering frontline soldiers, angels, and heroes in this war. Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and is intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised. Going back through the centuries and embedded within the folklore of a wide range of regions is the idea of a species of demon in female form which appears to seduce men and steal their life energy. Most commonly called the succubus, which comes from the Latin word succuba, meaning paramoor, these demons take on various appearances and are endowed with different powers depending on the tradition, but most generally follow the idea that they use sexual activity to target their prey, often in the realm of dreams, enticing and pulling the victims in to hold close and feed off of. Sex demons of this variety are represented in one form or another across geographical boundaries and religions including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, as well as the legends of myriad far-flung cultures. Considering that it is men we are talking about here, many of the legends describe the experience as rather enjoyable in the heat of the moment that is, but the aftermath often is said to bring exhaustion, stupor, hallucinations, insanity, and even death. But this must surely be just myths, right? Surely there can't be anything to the idea of sex-starved demons preying on men? Well, you might be surprised to know that there are numerous accounts throughout the centuries of supposed encounters with these demonic vixens. I'm Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness. Welcome, weirdos. This is Weird Darkness. Here you'll find stories of the paranormal, supernatural, legends, lore, crime, conspiracy, mysterious, macabre, unsolved, and unexplained. If you're new here, welcome to the podcast and be sure to subscribe so you don't miss future episodes. If you're already a weirdo, please share the podcast with others. Doing so helps make it possible for me to keep doing the podcast. Coming up in this episode, you've crawled into bed, ready for a good night's sleep. You begin to nod off, but haven't completely fallen asleep yet. That's when you sense something in the room near your bed. Despite your fright, you can't cry out, run, or scream. The thing then climbs on top of you and suddenly you realize it's grotesque, but also alluring, female, seductive, and while you can't move, your body still responds to her intimate advances. You've just become the next victim of the succubus. While listening, be sure to check out the Weird Darkness website. At WeirdDarkness.com, you can sign up for the Weird Dark News email newsletter to win monthly prizes. Get Weird Darkness merchandise in the store, where 100% of the profits are donated to organizations that help those who struggle with depression. You can visit the Hope in the Darkness page to find help if you're struggling with depression or dark thoughts yourself. You can find paranormal and horror audiobooks I've narrated, watch old horror movies and horror hosts for free 24 hours a day, and find my email address and social media links on the contact page. You can find all of that and more at WeirdDarkness.com. For those of you in the Weird Darkness Weirdos Facebook group who took tonight's poll, the fake story title was My Girlfriend is a Succubus, although it was a tough one, seeing as this entire episode is on that subject. While I already have a disclaimer at the beginning of each episode, I do feel it's necessary due to the topic at hand being a sexual one and the descriptions that I'll be using in order to tell the stories, even after cleaning them up a bit, that I give another warning. This episode is not appropriate, but the under-18 crowd in my opinion. Parental discretion is strongly advised. Now, bolt your doors, lock your windows, turn off your lights, and come with me into the Weird Darkness. Supposed encounters with real succubi go way back in time. A very early, supposedly real account comes from the 11th century, when Gerbert of Aralach, who became Pope Sylvester II from 993 to 1003, one day met a mysterious woman as a young man. The woman called herself Marudiana and offered him all of the sins of the flesh and lust-filled sex that he could ever want beyond his wildest dreams, as well as wealth, good fortune, and knowledge of the mystical arts if he would only stay faithful to her and her alone. Gerbert would purportedly agree to these terms and subsequently rose quickly up the ranks of the church, all while satisfying his every carnal desire with Marudiana, quite against his vows and all kept secret, of course. This went on until one day the woman predicted that Gerbert, who was by that time a pope, would die for his sins. He would repent and die just as predicted, and to this day it is said that his grave sweats just before the death of a pope, legend or not. Whatever it was, it is widely said that this mysterious woman was a succubus. In the 17th century, we have the tale of a man named Johann's Junius, who was the Bergameister of Bomberg and convicted of witchcraft and burned at the stake in 1628. Before his execution, though, he had confessed that in 1624 he had been seduced by a woman who revealed herself to be a succubus and demanded that he renounce God. The frightened man had then taken the name Cricks, a warlock name, and had even been provided with his own familiar, and from then on he became further and further hopelessly involved with the world of witches and their sabbots, attending black masses and often reported as riding about on a horrific flying black dog. Through all of this, he adamantly insisted that he had refused to sacrifice humans, despite being implored by his succubus lover to do so, but he paid for his ways nevertheless. It seems that the era was rife with accused witches blaming succubi for their actions because this account is similar to a 16th-century account recorded by author Nicholas Remy, who said that there had once been a sheepherder who had been accused of witchcraft and sentenced to die. Before he was burned, he too claimed that he had been seduced and corrupted by a succubus disguised as a milkmaid who had come to him in a dark time for him and twisted his mind and soul with her charms. In later centuries, there is an account from the 19th century when a popular French author named J.K. Heismans claimed that he had fallen under the spell of a succubus. At the time, he had purportedly been on a pilgrimage to a monastery. One night during his retreat, he apparently was visited in a dream by the foul demon who pleasure him right to the point of intense climax before he woke up to see her fading away right before his eyes. Thinking it all to be a dream, he was soon convinced it was real when he discovered the form of the woman indented into his bed next to him and could smell her scent in the air. He believed at the time that the succubus had spirited away his semen in order to use it to fertilize human women by the male form of the demon, the incubus. Reports like this have gone all the way into much more modern times, such as one in 2007 with a commenter on unexplained mysteries who says he was kept awake for three days straight by some seductive demonic force, after which things escalated quickly. He says, I felt something touch my hand, not physically but something deeper down to my soul, and it warmed me while I was lying in bed wondering what was going to happen to me. I was completely awake, but another post could describe the world I saw. I remember most of what happened so vividly. Her touch was perfect and her master in the art beyond my imagination. I couldn't see her, I just felt sensations on my body and talked with her in my mind. She bid me to take her to a quiet place where my parents wouldn't hear, so I went out to the car in the dark. Things further progressed sexually and my energies were absolutely phenomenal. She always did the perfect thing to keep me going. As things progressed, I could begin to see more of her. The one thing that caught my eyes the most were her eyes when I looked into them. I saw the stars and the heavens and thought of the atoms and matter that make each one, but all of that was still not enough to justify the eyes. They pointed me to another world and all of what I saw in them pointed to an innocent desire to make love. Her body was effervescent, it changed according to what would arouse me the most and I could not see her breasts or private parts they were numb to the eyes. It was her hair, body type, skin color, ethnicity, that all changed. She would morph seamlessly moment by moment. Another prominent feature of the experience was her scent. It was incredibly intoxicating, like a sort of indescribable flower with intimate features. It reminded me of everything that is good and beautiful in the world and it described what I saw in her eyes. All of her touch. It wasn't so much physical as it was much, much deeper. The whole nature of the experience was so innocent. I felt no guilt, no darkness, no lust whatsoever. The focus was on pleasing her and in turn she wished to please me. She would often giggle and I felt as though we were in the Garden of Eden making love for the first time in all creation and that God had given her such a magnificent gift of doing so. I didn't believe that but that's the closest way my mind could describe it. She brought me to a certain point where I felt I could go no further, never achieving climax yet during the experience. All of a sudden she broke down, crying, telling me that I would be going through a very hard time. Just then I saw a vision and felt presences around me. I was reminded of Christ at his experiences leading up to his crucifixion with visual hallucinations and I saw the spiritual side of what was happening to him. I asked her who she was and she didn't answer. I saw that she understood that she could not understand the pain that I had just witnessed. After six hours from her first touch she worked me to an incredible climax. In another report from 2010 a commenter on the same site says he was accosted by a succubus as he lay down to sleep one night. The witness says it was a night like any other. Before going to bed I usually meditate for 15 to 30 minutes. I do this to clear my mind so that I can get a good night's sleep. I had in the past tried to call a succubus but always with questionable results. Nothing that would convince me that something really came. At this particular night in February 2010 I had made no special preparations, no spells or rituals, just simple breath exercises and a blank mind. It happened suddenly and without forewarning. My chest tightened. I felt as if I was jolted by electricity, a sensation that started in my chest and spread out to my abdomen. The sensation was so strong that at first I thought I was fiercely hugged but I opened my eyes and saw nothing. I decided to lay down and relax. The next thing I felt was a gentle touch on both my legs which slid upwards, not just a breeze but a real touch. I could feel fingers below my pajamas. My legs parted and felt as if they were floating on air. The next thing I felt I could only describe as the most intense sexual feeling that I ever had. It was like a pulse vibrated throughout my own body, so strong that I actually moaned in ecstasy and it did not stop. The feeling of hands over my body, the erotic spasms and a pressure on my legs that felt as if someone was sitting on them. At the height of my pleasure, I actually saw a very hazy shape over me. Although I could not see a distinct form, I could feel that it was female in nature. I had often asked the question in the past what is your name and I would get all kinds of names in my head but I was always pretty sure that it was just my imagination. But when I asked that night, I got a clear name, so alien to the thoughts of my own mind that it was clear that it was not my own mind playing tricks. I remember going to bed at 10pm. The next thing I knew it was almost 2am. It felt like 10 minutes for me. This was my first real encounter with the succubus and I can say that my life forever changed after this first encounter. Were these just some randy and very naughty dreams or something more? In around the same time period was another report relayed on Reddit by a poster who says his mental and physical health had begun to take a turn for the worse. He was experiencing delusions of worthlessness and being driven to suicidal thoughts as a result and one evening during this dark time he says he had a rather odd encounter. He says, I was having a dream, semi-lucid or maybe just really vivid. An old friend was there, we or they were getting on a bus. For whatever reason, I focus on this lady who was trying to get on the bus, that's when I wake up. It's gross even to think about this entity, what I call the succubus, was trying to get back into my body. The dream triggered something or maybe the dream was a reflection of some subconscious action I took but the rikey weakened its grip on me and it was trying to get back in. Purely by instinct, I just concentrated on keeping this thing out and it was working and I just sat up in anger and this thing is cast away. I call it a succubus only because I feel like it was attached near my genitals, influenced or drove me sexually. It wasn't much how it's portrayed in popular media for me though in the dream I guess it was disguised as a woman. Also it was a feminine entity, whatever that means. I could draw a pick but it was about the size of a big cat. It's silly but its lower body is how they portray a ghost I guess like caspers but its upper half was more humanoid. So a ghost like tail and a humanoid head. The humanoid part always creeps me out because this thing was sentient and fairly intelligent but still behaved like a parasite. And worse it was attached in me for a long time, a humanoid like being. So this is what I think. I was more promiscuous back then so I think I caught it. I'm one of those sensitive types so I think that's why it was attracted to me. I think it was feeding on me for a long time and those leeches things were babies in a sort of way. It was all feed, reproduce, spread. I read online that these entities also feed on negative energies which is why it was driving me to kill myself like one of those parasites that affects ants and forces them to kill itself so it can feed, bloom and spread. It does seem to feed into the lure of the succubus with her feeding on negative energies and using sexual angles to do so. Is this a tall tale or what? In 2011 we have an account from a witness on the site Your Ghost Stories who says that this happened at his home in San Rafael, California. He had just broken up with his ex and he had been left alone in that empty apartment that they had once shared. One evening he says he was visited by something not holy of this earth, of which he says, I was just chilling in my room on Facebook when I felt a light tingling sensation on the back of my neck. I reached back and felt nothing there. I resumed what I was doing. About five minutes later I felt a hand closed gently on my shoulder. I felt secure. I closed my eyes. I heard a voice in my head saying that everything would get better. I asked if it really meant it. As soon as the words had come out of my mouth, it kissed the back of my neck and said that it would be there for me. I closed my computer and turned to face whoever it was. What I saw next only cannot be described with mere words. It was like a goddess and a demon in one. I was speechless. It led me to my bed and had me lie down. I did as I was told. She then proceeded to lie down next to me and curl up in my arms. I kissed her head. She ran a hand down from my cheek to my chest and slowly lifted my shirt up and off. You can probably imagine what happened next. I then woke up and she was still there next to me. She whispered in my ear that she would come back and reveal who she was when the time came. Since then I have not had any contact with her. In 2012 there is also a witness named Ethan on Thought Co. who says this happened as he was living in Bakersfield, California. He says that this bizarre encounter happened one day after he had returned from school and tried to get ready for the homework that lie ahead. He lay down for a moment and ended up crashing out, but this was not meant to last. According to the report, he fell asleep instantly but did not sleep soundly. He dreamt that an evil being was in his home and it was trying to get into his room. It finally broke in and as soon as it did Ethan jolted away with a ringing sound in his ears. Ethan felt the demon. It was on the wall behind his bed, holding Ethan's limbs down. It had something in his ears and his left ear began to vibrate violently. The strange sensation spread to his right ear as well. Ethan thought as best he could. He could not break free. He cursed at the being and tried to free his arms or legs. The demon only laughed at him, an eerie and horrific sound that was neither deep nor high pitched. The demon cried out, soon, and released Ethan. Ethan sat up rapidly leaping out of bed to turn on the lights, but when light flooded his bedroom there was nothing out of the ordinary. However, Ethan's dogs were acting abnormal, barking, leaping at the door and trying desperately to get to their owner. He went to the bathroom and was startled to see his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were bloodshot with the whites of the eyes completely red. Ethan realized he'd been visited by a succubus demon. Ethan remains terrified of the demon returning, but has not had another incident ever since. More true stories of those seduced by succubi when Weird Darkness returns. The town is standard. A small mid-western town where nothing ever happens. Quiet, peaceful, and tucked away among the cornfields and away from the dangers of the outside world. Unfortunately, there is nothing normal about standard. There has been an evil that has been awakened and now the residents are slowly going crazy. Men for no reason are coming home and murdering their families and dark forms are appearing in people's mirrors. The evil is spreading and now it's up to ex-Chicago cop Roboletto to find it. Time is running out and the neighbors are becoming quiet shadows as they watch him. He doesn't have long before it'll start to get into his mind and then he himself would be making that deadly trip home. Inside the Mirrors by Jason R. Davis, narrated by Weird Darkness host Darren Marlar, hear a free sample or purchase the title on the audiobooks page at WeirdDarkness.com. Often men report that their experiences with succubi are positive and enjoyable, but just as often they report that the pleasure had a thread of something evil running through it. According to succubus legends, sometimes these men come to bad ends after associating with demonic seductresses. Some men are not only willing marks of a succubus, they actually research, plan and summon the female demons. An anonymous online poster claims he prayed to Lilith to send a succubus to him and soon that is what happened. He describes her as slender, tall, with fair skin and flaming long red hair. He called her Alira and she stayed with the man for a number of days and nights. But after a while an evil presence also entered the man's life, pushing Alira out. How he interacted with her changed as well. Sometimes he could only see her in his head or hear her in his mind. Other times he would be out and about in public and suddenly she would appear to him. He speculated that perhaps that sort of activity was under the control of the more malevolent force. A purportedly true 16th century succubus encounter was recorded by author Nicholas Remy. Apparently a shepherd was hauled into court, tried and convicted of witchcraft. When asked how he came to be associated with witches, the young man claimed that sometime before he had been seduced by a succubus and she had most thoroughly corrupted him. The shepherd went on to say that at some time after his first encounter with a succubus, he fell in love with a milkmaid. He felt so tenderly toward her, but she wanted nothing to do with him. A rejection sent him into despair. One day he thought he saw his beloved milkmaid hiding behind a shrub. He was by her side in an instant, but she became frightened and pushed him away. Then she became extremely receptive to his advances. Encouraged the shepherd continued and the milkmaid made him promise to acknowledge her as his mistress and behaved to her as though she were God himself. Another anonymous internet poster was eager to tell of his own personal succubus experience. Though he was raised a Christian, he was also overcoming an addiction to explicit content. In other words, the timing and circumstances were ripe for a visit from a succubus. He says the experience began with the sensation of a gentle touch to his hand. At this point he was fully conscious but wondering what was going on. He claims he could not see the succubus but sensed her speaking to him. He also claimed he could smell its perfume. She continued to morph throughout the time he shared with her, transforming her hair color, her eyes, her body, even her ethnicity. Some experts argue that what humans perceive as an experience with a sensual demon is actually part of sleep paralysis. The inability to move and the sensation of being touched often go hand in hand. More and more people however are claiming that their experiences with succubi and or incubi are real. One man writing about his experiences even mentions a feeling of paralysis. He attributes it to the succubus that was hovering over him. He wrote that he was completely in her grip and could not move. She hovered over him, smiling. She asked him if he knew what succubi do and what they are for. Before he could reply, he described that her face turned demonic red and her beautiful teeth became fangs. She laughingly told him that succubi take the souls of their victims and that he would perish within three days. Then she disappeared. Apparently, the man survived at least long enough to write of his encounter and posted online. Lilith is an ancient yet still thriving archetype of a fallen woman. She takes many forms. Perhaps the most famous is Lilith, the Biblical Adam's first wife. Things didn't work out. She left him. That part is not in the Bible. But anyway, over the ensuing centuries of Judeo-Christian culture, Lilith evolved as the ultimate symbol for a succubi. Men across cultures and ages claim to have been visited by Lilith in the form of a succubus. Sometimes she is invoked or invited. Other times she sneaks in to unsuspecting males and takes what she wants from them. There are many more such reports and it leaves us asking a question. Are these just legends born of men being horny and having suggestive thoughts or dreams? Or is there something more to the whole succubus phenomenon? The main rational explanation for all of this is that it is legends based around a phenomenon known as sleep paralysis, in which we wake in a domain between sleep and wakefulness, where dreams can continue on and be perceived as being very real. Since we are kept in our paralytic sleep state, we can feel as if we cannot move, and the dream figure can take on many forms depending on what we expect to see. This explanation has been used to try to explain away everything from ghost sightings to alien abductions to, of course, succubi. Is that what we are dealing with here? Our sleepy mind playing tricks on us and invoking these illusions and hallucinations? Perhaps, in this case, flavored with sexual frustration? If you have ever woken up in the middle of the night, feeling as though you are being crushed by a demonic being, you may have just experienced what is called the Old Hag Syndrome. The feeling that something ominous or evil is in the room with you, be it an Old Hag, a demonic entity, an unseen stranger, or whatever. One step further is the succubus or incubus phenomenon, an attack by a female or male demon. At least that is what it feels like, that is what you believe is happening. But is it actually happening? Or could it be, as what the Old Hag Syndrome has also been classified as, simply a scary case of sleep paralysis? The succubus phenomenon is, in many ways, the quintessential nightmare. For centuries, the succubus demon has been said to haunt sleepers, inspiring tales in traditional folklore as well as works of art. Now, a new meta-analysis from the Netherlands suggests that this frightening phenomenon may be more common than previously thought, and that it should be taken more seriously by psychiatrists and psychologists who hear such accounts from their patients. The so-called attack usually occurs during an episode of sleep paralysis, a condition that is even more common than the incubus or succubus phenomenon according to the meta-analysis. Sleep paralysis is a result of the disassociation of sleep phases, said senior author Dr. Jan Dirk Blom, a professor of clinical psychopathology at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. The condition happens when a person is falling asleep or waking up. During sleep paralysis, two aspects of REM sleep or rapid eye movement sleep occur when a person is conscious. During REM sleep, which is the period when a person typically dreams, the body's muscles are relaxed to the level of paralysis, presumably to prevent the sleeper from acting out his or her dreams. But when sleep paralysis takes place, the person's mind wakes up. However, the person is still dreaming and the body is still paralyzed. Lying in bed in such a state of paralysis, the brain's threat-activated vigilance system kicks in and helps to create a compound hallucination of a creature sitting on the chest, Blom told Live Science. What the afflicted person sees is a combination of their actual surroundings and a nightmare which is projected onto the real world. The experience feels exceptionally real. In the meta-analysis published in the journal Frontiers and Psychiatry, the researchers looked at 13 studies of the incubus succubus phenomenon that included nearly 1,800 people. The different studies came from various countries including Canada, the United States, China, Japan, Italy and Mexico. The researchers found that over 1 in 10 people or 11% of the general population will experience the incubus succubus phenomenon in their lifetimes, Blom said. That means that there is an 11% chance for any given individual to experience this phenomenon at least once during their lives. But in certain groups, the odds of encountering an incubus or succubus are higher, among people with psychiatric disorders as well as among refugees and, somewhat surprisingly, students, the odds of experiencing the phenomenon are as high as 41%. The analysis also found that people sleeping on their backs are more likely to experience the phenomenon. Alcohol consumption and irregular sleeping patterns also make an incubus or succubus visit more probable. Though the frightening experience gets frequently dismissed as just a bad dream, Blom noted that the incubus succubus phenomenon can lead to additional problems including anxiety, difficulty sleeping due to fear and even delusional disorder and mental illness akin to schizophrenia. In the paper, the researchers speculated about a possible link between the incubus succubus phenomenon and sudden unexpected death syndrome, a situation in which a healthy person inexplicably dies in his or her sleep. People who have experienced the incubus succubus phenomenon often report a level of anxiety that is off the scale. Many of them have the feeling that they will actually die during an attack. Whether that ever happens is unknown. Even though for a person experiencing it, it is not hard to imagine that happening. The analysis also found that the form of the incubus or succubus figure and how people react to it can vary based on the person's cultural background. For example, patients with a Muslim background often say that they see the phenomenon as a proof that they are being haunted by a gin, an invisible spirit created by Allah out of smokeless fire. Sometimes, however, the incubus or succubus may take on a much more friendly and entertaining form. Blom once spoke to a healthy 15-year-old girl who had experienced the phenomenon. She found four miniature penguins dining at a table on her chest and had been thrilled and amused rather than scared. Cultural explanations that try to account for the terrifying experience of waking up feeling paralyzed don't stop with sex demons, old hags, and penguins at a dinner table, though. Combine the personal stories in the research and it shows how a single biological phenomenon can be interpreted differently by societies. The researchers, led by Jose F. R. Desa of the Jungian Institute of Bahá'í in Brazil, wrote in their review. The biological explanation of sleep paralysis is that two aspects of REM sleep, dreaming and paralysis, are occurring while a person is awake, said Brian Sharpless, an associate professor of clinical psychology at Argosy University in Washington, D.C., who was not involved with the review. Sleep paralysis occurs more often than most people think and it's more likely to occur when a person is waking up than during other parts of sleep, he said. During REM or rapid eye movement sleep, dreaming takes place and the brainstem paralyzes the body by inhibiting motor neurons, Sharpless told Live Science. But normally, dreaming and paralysis occur when people are unconscious, said Sharpless, who is also the author of Sleep Paralysis, Historical Psychological and Medical Perspectives Oxford University Press 2015. I've linked to that book in the essential web links section of the show notes. While someone experiences sleep paralysis, these two things occur while a person is conscious with his or her eyes open, Sharpless said. This means that the dreams are technically hallucinations and they're just as vivid as anything you'd see when you're awake. In addition, the dreams can be multi-sensorial, meaning a person may not only see things but hear and in some cases feel them too. The sense of touch is often highlighted in explanations of sleep paralysis around the world. Many cultures refer to a weight on the chest. In certain parts of Brazil, for example, there are folkloric tales of a creature with long fingernails that lurks on people's rooftops during the night. The creature, called pisadera, comes into a person's house and tramples on the chests of those who sleep according to the review. Catalonia, a region in Spain, has the tale of the pasanta, a black animal, often a dog or a cat, that invades people's homes and sits on their chests while they are asleep, making it difficult to breathe and causing nightmares, the authors wrote. Among an ethnic group in Vietnam and Laos, a pressing spirit sits on sleeper's chests and tries to asphyxiate them the researchers found. The idea of a weight holding someone down is also reflected in the terminology used in Mexico to describe sleep paralysis according to the review. Translated from Spanish, the phrase means a dead body climbed on top of me. Some cultures use tales of spells cast by shamans or summoners to explain sleep paralysis. In Inuit culture, for example, people tell of shamans who can cast a spell when a person is sleeping, causing an experience that I won't try to pronounce during which a person can't move, talk or scream and is visited by a shapeless or faceless presence according to the review. And Japanese folklore refers to a summoner who calls upon a vengeful spirit to suffocate enemies through a phenomenon called the kanashibari, which is the state of being totally bound as if constrained by metal chains, the review found. In other cultures, ghosts or supernatural beings are the perpetrators. In a study of Cambodian refugees from the 1970s, researchers found that many patients referred to something which translated from the original language meaning the ghost that pushes you down. In Thailand, a ghost called Phi Am haunts people when they are half asleep and unable to move. And in some traditional Chinese cultures, it's not sleep paralysis that causes you to see the ghost. It's the ghost which is oppressing you, and that is what is causing your sleep paralysis. When Weird Darkness returns, do you smell something bad right before something terrible happens? That's the subject of my first message in the Chamber of Comments up next. You've bolted the doors, locked the windows, turned off the lights, and now all you need before listening to Weird Darkness is a mug of Weird Dark Roast Coffee to keep those ghostly chills at bay. Weird Dark Roast Coffee has deep notes of cocoa, caramel, and a touch of sinister sweetness. This is an exclusive coffee that I selected specifically for you, my Weirdo family. Weird Dark Roast is not available in stores, coffee houses, mad scientist labs, or even the dark web, but you can find it at WeirdDarkness.com. Use the promo code Weird and you won't even have to pay for delivery on your first order. Weird Dark Roast Coffee roasted to order by my new friends at Evansville Coffee available only through Roasters Marketplace. Find the link and grab a bag now for yourself at WeirdDarkness.com. Want to receive the commercial free version of Weird Darkness every day? For just $5 per month, you can become a patron at WeirdDarkness.com. As a patron, you get commercial free episodes of Weird Darkness every day, bonus audio, and you also receive chapters of audiobooks as I narrate them, even before the authors and publishers do. And depending on the level of your support, you also receive patron exclusive merchandise with the official Weirdo gesture skull design. A great way to start up a conversation about the podcast and show off your loyalty. But more than that, as a patron, you are also helping to reach people who are desperately hurting with depression and anxiety. You get the benefits of being a patron and you also benefit others who are hurting at the same time. Become a patron at WeirdDarkness.com. Here in the chamber of comments, I answer your emails, comments, podcast reviews, letters I get in the mail, and more. You can find all of my contact information, postal address, and social media links on the contact page at WeirdDarkness.com. While you are there, you can join the very active Weird Darkness Weirdos Facebook group and hang out with me and the rest of our Weirdo family. And you can drop me an email anytime at Darren at WeirdDarkness.com. One of our Facebook group members, Stephanie, she wrote this back in early December as a post in the group, but I just wanted to share it with you. She said, on one of the recent episodes, a Candice's email was read about smelling something bad or death on people before it happens. My daughter was just telling me about experiencing that. She said our puppy that was hit by a car two years ago had the smell she smells when someone is going to die, like people who have passed in her life. She literally mentioned it the same 24 hours as the email. She thought everyone experienced it. Anyone else aware of that? This is the same daughter who, when she was very young, would complain of the people in her room who would be bugging her to help them. She would ask me to make the dead people go away. It lasted for some time and she didn't sleep alone for years until she had finally shut down that ability. I have people come to me in dreams that have passed to say goodbye, but I have never discussed it with her. I always put it down to wishful dreaming. And then there is another Facebook group member, Carol, who actually responded to that post. She said that she has this ability as well and she has had it her entire life. She is now 62. So this makes me wonder, are there any of you weirdos listening right now who have this ability? Do you get a strange smell just before something bad happens or before a death of a loved one occurs? If so, I would like to hear that story. Send it to Darren at WeirdDarkness.com and in the subject line, put It Smells Bad. Use that as your subject line. It smells bad. If we get enough of these, maybe I can put them together and make a single episode out of these stories. Again, send it to Darren at WeirdDarkness.com, Darren is D-A-R-R-E-N. Darren at WeirdDarkness.com and then for the subject line of that email, put in It Smells Bad. I got a YouTube comment from Rebecca S and she was commenting on an email that I read in yesterday's episode, The Demon of Theses. Here is what she said. My hypothesis on the question, can you draw a paranormal to you by listening or reading the paranormal? I have researched for 19 years and I have found studying demonology can bring them to you. Please do not study demonology. Love and God is the key to repel demons. I have no problems with researching the paranormal otherwise. Love and light, God bless you all. Well, thank you for the heads up, Rebecca. For me, I draw the line at involvement. I will read about a subject, maybe even study up on it, but I will not step over into the area of being a part of it or playing around in it. For example, you will never find me on a ghost hunt or participating in a seance, despite me telling ghost stories and reading up on true ghost tales to tell in the podcast. I have told numerous, supposedly true stories of people using Ouija boards or spirit boards, but you cannot pay me enough to try using one. So it sounds like for you, Rebecca, just reading and studying about demonology caused the switch to flip in your life. So I am guessing, like many things in life, just like our physical bodies, maybe our souls or our spirits have different reactions to external stimuli than others souls or spirits. Interesting. Got a podcast review from Fearless Nut saying, I enjoy weird and strange stories but particularly enjoy your podcast. You keep it interesting, weird and creepy, without lowering down to overly gruesome crass or crude. I am also impressed with your work with depression and mental illness, and I stick around through the end to hear you read the scripture. Many think that you can't be religious and listen or watch these types of shows, but I know it is possible. I am glad you have recognized that there may be some who seek out these types of shows who find themselves in a dark state of mind. I don't know if providing links and phone numbers for places to find help has helped anyone, but even if it is just one person, that's enough. Love the show. Thank you. Thank you for the review, Fearless Nut, and thank you for that positive attitude. I wish everybody was as mature as you. For example, I got a YouTube comment from Mentok 302 about the actual story, The Demon of Feces yesterday. He said, I am Sturculius, the Roman god of feces. You have desecrated my temple. Now you must fuel the blunt of my wrath in search fart noises here. I got an email from Robert B. He said, Good evening, sir. I hope your Christmas was wonderful. Well, it was Robert. Thank you. He continues on. He said, I do not know where to begin. I do know you are a lifesaver to me. Your podcasts have given me focus in a world of unfocus. I am not sure of depression, however, I have been deployed five times. Somehow you reach people like me. Thank you. You are a great man in life and in your profession. The best thing about you is your Christianity. Just wanted to say thank you. VA does not help at all. Thank you, Mr. Marlar. Well, thank you, Robert. Not just for the kind email, but also for your service. I appreciate that. And I feel honored that a veteran finds focus from listening to the podcast. I don't think I've ever heard that before. I love that. Maybe we can get the folks over at the VA to listen so they can find a little focus, because they could definitely use some. I'm sure they have some good people working over there, but man, I've got some people that I'm close to that deal with the VA. I have heard the nightmare stories. It is just, it's awful over there the way the bureaucracy is. I do hope things improve for you over there, and in the meantime, I'm glad that I can keep you company. Got a YouTube comment from Joyce Cook commenting on the episode, Are Shadow People Demonic Entities? She said, It's interesting. Back in the 70s, when we were experiencing poltergeist activity in our home, we all had dreams of shadow people in our main hallway. We never saw them in waking, but they were in our dreams. During the poltergeist events, many physical activities happened in the home. The shadow people dreams were all the same, them trying to drag one into their realm. They put out a feeling of doom and extreme sadness. Back in the 70s, I had never heard of shadow people. It wasn't until Art Bell came along, I heard about them, and I brought memories back of the shadow people in the hall of our home. Well, thank you for the comment, Joyce. I think you might be victim to the shadow person curse. I mentioned it in yesterday's episode in the chamber as well, I think. Some paranormal beings are known to show themselves after they are spoken of or heard about for the first time. Some people, many people actually, have reported having encounters with shadow people, the hat man, black-eyed kids, for the very first time only after hearing about them first on the radio, or on the podcast, or wherever. They didn't have any issues before then, had never experienced them, but once knowledge of them existed, suddenly, boom, they manifested. Yours manifested in your dreams. That's a new one, but you never know. I have to wonder if maybe that's what happened to you after listening to Art Bell. I got an email from Sad Grandma in Georgia saying, Darren, I've been listening to your podcasts for about two years and I absolutely love them. I've suffered with depression since I was a teen and I'm in my late 40s now. My youngest son was diagnosed as bipolar about a year ago and my grandson, who is only two months old, has already had one open heart surgery and spent more time in the hospital than he has at home. He has another open heart surgery scheduled for March. Right now, I can't work because of all the doctor appointments and therapist appointments for both my son and grandson. My mother has severe mobility issues and to be honest, I am drowning in the stress. I worked really hard for many years to come out of a dark place and I never want to go back. Could you please keep my family in your prayers as this is a very hard time for us. I love the fact that you quote scripture and all the work you do for depression. Keep up the good work. Warm regards, Sad Grandma in Georgia. Goodness gracious, Grandma. What a roller coaster ride you've been on. As if it's not bad enough that we're dealing with the economy and the COVID. I am so sorry to hear about your grandson's heart issues. Let's hope and pray that those are fixed early so he doesn't even have memory of those surgeries when he grows up big and strong. I know you're already praying for that, but I've already prayed for God's will in that as well when I first read your email, but I'm also asking as I read your letter in tonight's Chamber of Comments, I'm hoping that the weirdos in Christ will also be praying the same upon hearing of your grandson's heart surgeries. You say that you've suffered with depression your whole life and I can only imagine that it feels that that depression is cresting over the dam ready to spill over you right now with everything that's going on. I pray God gives you added strength to endure what you have on your plate, wisdom to make the decisions that come your way, and the patience to deal with those who are irritating the crap out of you with questions and demands. And I know that's happening to you right now. May God bring you the peace and comfort that He is known for, the peace that passes all human understanding. And may He make His presence known right there where you are, that He is in control and that nothing is too big or too hard for Him to handle. Matthew 11 verse 28, it's the first Bible verse that I ever memorized and quite frankly, as lazy as I am, it's one of the only Bible verses that I ever memorized, but I think it fits here. Matthew 11, 28, come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. God bless you, Grandma. I hope and pray your 2021 is blessed beyond measure. And I'll end with a YouTube comment from Andrew Higgins. Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper were the same person. That's it, that's what he said. Seeing as Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character, Andrew. I'm assuming that your post is a joke. Or do you think Sherlock Holmes was a real person? Because if so, then you might want to log into Wikipedia. Just saying. I've included all the previous episodes that people did mention in the Chamber of Comments in the essential web links section of the show notes so that you can find them more easily. I'll answer more of your emails, comments and letters next time. Again, you can find all of my social media and contact information on the contact page of the website or you can drop me an email anytime, darren, d-a-r-r-e-n at WeirdDarkness.com. Thanks for listening. If you want to help the podcast, be sure to subscribe if you haven't already done so and leave a review of the show in the podcast app you listen from. But more important than anything, please share the podcast. Tell someone about it. Someone who loves paranormal stories, true crime, monsters or mysteries like you do. You can also vote for Weird Darkness in the Hot 50 Countdown in Podcast Magazine. You can vote every day I upload an episode. Click the Hot 50 link in the show notes to vote or visit WeirdDarkness.com and click on Vote. And by the way, thank you for voting. We just found out that in January we bumped up a few notches and now we are at number 8, so thank you for that. While you are on our website be sure to also check out the Weird Darkness store where all profits I receive are donated to organizations that help those who battle depression. You can find resources to build hope in your own life and battle depression 24 hours a day on the Hope in the Darkness page. Sign up for the newsletter and get registered for my monthly giveaways and a whole lot more. It's all at WeirdDarkness.com. Do you have a dark tale to tell of your own? Fact or fiction, click on Tell Your Story on the website and I might use it in a future episode. All stories in Weird Darkness are purported to be true unless stated otherwise and you can find source links or links to the authors in the show notes. Sex and the Single Succubus was written by Brent Swanson for Mysterious Universe. Scary stories of seductive succubi is by Sheryl Adams Richkoff for Graveyard Shift. And is a succubus just sleep paralysis was written by Teresa Paltrova for Live Science and Stephen Wagner for Live About. Weird Darkness is a production of Marlar House Productions. Copyright Weird Darkness 2020. And now that we are coming out of the dark, I'll leave you with a little light. 2 Timothy 1, verse 7. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. And a final thought from Coco Chanel. In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different. I'm Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me in the Weird Darkness.