 Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and is intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised. When conjuring up stories of ghostly legends and paranormal encounters, the Christmas season isn't usually what comes to mind. With its tree-filled windows and light, strewn rooftops, Christmas is typically admired as a time for being with loved ones, giving heartfelt gifts and snuggling up next to a warm fire with some hot cocoa. But what happens when something goes bump in the night and it's not Santa Claus? Christmas ghost stories are far more common than many people might expect. In fact, sharing ghost stories from years past was once a Christmas Eve tradition, so before you unwrap any presents, we'll have a few scary ghost stories in this episode to get you into the Christmas spirit. Welcome, Weirdos, I'm Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness. Here you'll find stories of the paranormal, supernatural, legends, lore, the strange and bizarre, crime, conspiracy, mysterious, macabre, unsolved and unexplained. Coming up in this episode, I'll share a few ghost stories that all center around the Christmas season. We'll look at a haunting in Rhode Island where people claim to see a mysterious light every year at Christmas and many believe it to be a ghost ship with a dark history. Even without ghosts, you can still have some terrible things take place at Christmas time, more than you might realize. You'll never hear the word Christmas the same way again after hearing some of what happened in history during the Christmas season. And what is for many their favorite paranormal Christmas movie of all time was in fact a bust at the box office. It wasn't about a ghost though, it was about a desperate man and an angel without any wings. If you're new here, welcome to the show. And if you're already a member of this Weirdo family, please take a moment and invite someone else to listen. Recommending Weird Darkness to others helps make it possible for me to keep doing the show. And while you're listening, be sure to check out WeirdDarkness.com where you can send in your own personal paranormal stories, watch horror hosts present old scary movies 24-7, shop for Weird Darkness and Weirdo merchandise, listen to free audiobooks that I've narrated, sign up for the newsletter to win free stuff I give away every month and more. And on the social contact page, you can find the show on Facebook and Twitter and you can also join the Weird Darkness Weirdo's Facebook group. Now, bolt your doors, lock your windows, turn off your lights, and come with me into the Weird Darkness. The following is a letter that was found in Spiritual Scientist magazine, February 1878, page 19. In the ancient town of Dorchester, Dorset, one Christmas tide, I cannot fix the exact date but it was not earlier than 1814 and might probably have been the following year, a rumor arose that it goes to the peered in the old church of St. Peter's to the clerk and sexton. They were both dreadfully frightened and the former, I think, insensible for a time. The spirit was said to be the Reverend Nathaniel Templeman, the late Rector who died in 1813. The story reached the ears of the then Rector, the Reverend Henry John Richmond, a learned and intelligent man, genial and kindly. I have the pleasantest recollections of him. The action he took in this affair was attributed to his eccentricity, in which he certainly gave proofs in regard to some other matters. He had an invalid wife and sister-in-law, both very nervous, so to avoid annoying them he examined the clerk and sexton both together and apart at the house of my aunt. I was quite a child then but can remember the whispering and excitement and the men being shut in with the Rector, the particulars of the story I heard afterward. It was the custom in Dorchester on Christmas Eve for the clerk and sexton to decorate the church, not in the artistic fashion of modern times but with large bunches of holly and mistletoe stuck about indiscriminately. Afterwards they gave the church a good cleaning for Christmas day. On this Christmas Eve, the clerk and the sexton, after locking the doors of the church in order to prevent the intrusion of curious persons, busied themselves, as usual, in Christmas preparations until the winter day drew to a close, when they sat down on a form in the North Isle to rest from their labors. Then it was, as they told Mr. Richmond, that the temptation came upon them to take a glass of the sacramental wine which was kept in the vestry. After obtaining wine they became aware that someone was sitting between them on the form. There had been no sound of steps and the figure passed neither but seemed to grow upon the seat. They both recognized the later Rector or Old Master as they called him. He had the old familiar look and dress. He turned with a stern countenance from one to the other, shaking his head in his peculiar way but did not speak. The sexton, Ambrose Hunt, was able to say the Lord's Prayer. Clerk Hardy was utterly unable to utter a word and shook with extreme terror. The spirit after a while rose and retreated down the Isle, turning around occasionally with the same awful look. He seemed to melt or vanish over the family vault where his body lay. I never heard any explanation except a surmise that somebody concealed in the church and dressed like the late Rector frightened the men but the somebody was never discovered and I believe the other good Rector believed the men's story. Lucía A. Stone, Chute Hay, Waldech Bridgeport, England So many details turn this story into an M.R. James tale. No sound of steps, turning around occasionally with the same awful look, melting into the family vault. The Reverend Nathaniel Templeman who died on June 12th, 1813 and was succeeded by his curate Mr. Richmond was Rector of St. Peter's for 32 years so it is no wonder he was called Old Master. While I can't find a clerk Hardy in the online parish records, Ambrose Hunt and Thomas Hardy are listed as witnesses at a number of weddings conducted by Mr. Richmond. I wonder if there is any link to the novelist Thomas Hardy who with architect John Hicks helped restore St. Peter's in 1856 and 57. Hardy's father also named Thomas was a violinist in his village church choir and a stone mason. It would hardly be a stretch since the novelist was fascinated by the supernatural to find that his father had met the Rector's ghost. Or perhaps the name was just a common one in the area. Here are a few more Christmas time ghosts. The legend of the mistletoe bride has been retold for centuries and has taken many forms. While the story's true origin is difficult to determine, many have come to believe its roots are in the disappearance of Lord Lovell's bride at the Bramshill House in Hampshire, England. Allegedly, Lord Lovell was preparing to wed a young woman related to Sir John Cope, the owner of Bramshill House. This was around Christmas time, so mistletoe hung throughout the mansion, inspiring the wedding party to play a game. The young bride-to-be would hide somewhere in the mansion, the groom's men would all seek her out and whoever found her would get to kiss her. So the bride went to hide and the wedding party sought to find her. However, the minutes turned to hours and they still could not find her. Eventually the game turned terribly serious as no matter where they looked she remained missing. Not until fifty years later did Lord Lovell, still seeking answers to his bride's disappearance, happened upon a secret closet in an upstairs room of the Bramshill House. Inside he found a wooden chest sealed shut with a lock. Upon opening the chest he found the nearly unrecognizable remains of his bride. The brown lady of Rainham Hall has perplexed visitors and paranormal investigators for hundreds of years. Back in the 1700s, owner Charles Townsend married a young woman named Dorothy Walpole. While they lived happily together for some time in Rainham Hall, Townsend soon became paranoid that his new wife was being unfaithful to him. Eventually driving himself mad with jealousy, he decided to hide Dorothy away in the hall telling all of their friends and family that she had tragically passed away. Dorothy was forced to stay inside the mansion, allowed only to wander through its halls. Not long after, she perished, never having left Rainham Hall after her husband imprisoned her. Ever since her passing, people have witnessed the image of a woman in tattered brown dress wandering through the halls and some of these reported encounters are truly horrifying. One visitor, unaware of the brown lady's legend, approached a woman in the hall only to have her look at him with a glowing face but where her eyes should have been there were only empty sockets. Years later, after numerous other reported sightings, a photographer from Country Life magazine visited Rainham Hall to document it for an article. After snapping a photograph of the central stairwell, he saw within the image a hazy silhouette that many believe is none other than Dorothy Walpole, the brown lady. A few weeks before Christmas in 1878, Edward F. Smith was at his home in Brooklyn, New York. When the doorbell rang, he answered the door but there was no one there. This soon became a nightly occurrence. The doorbell would ring only for Smith to find no one outside and no signs that anyone had been there at all. Growing frustrated, Smith sprinkled ash and flour along the path to the door expecting to find footprints left behind. But the substances were undisturbed yet the noises continued. No matter where he and his family stood around the house, the noises remained unidentifiable. Smith and his family were growing more concerned as the doorbell ringing turned to aggressive banging on the doors. Eventually they contacted the police. The ringing and banging continued and still no one was able to identify its source. One night a brick suddenly flew through the window from outside, even though police officers were standing nearby and saw no one. Although they investigated the home for some time, police were unable to identify the cause of the disturbances. Smith and those who witnessed the strange occurrences ultimately concluded they must be paranormal in nature. Heather Castle, nestled deep in the British countryside of Kent, was once home to the Bolin family. Ann Bolin, the most well-known member of the family, lived the early part of her life there before she married King Henry VIII. Within a few short years of her marriage, however, Ann was targeted by dissent and gossip within the castle, accusing her of everything from witchcraft to adultery. Eventually, her husband formally accused her of those charges and she was ultimately executed. Whether she suffers from heartbreak or homesickness, Ann Bolin's spirit is said to haunt the halls of her childhood home, Heather Castle. However, she allegedly only appears one day of the year, Christmas Eve. Rumors persist that her somber specter is seen drifting silently over the picturesque bridge that spans the River Eden and the grounds of the home where she knew much happiness. Alcatraz, the isolated penitentiary located in the middle of California's San Francisco Bay, closed down in 1963, but tales of those who were once held on the island continued to haunt generations of onlookers and visitors. Often referred to as The Rock, Alcatraz has gained a reputation for unexplainable and shocking ghost encounters and one of the most notable was recounted during Christmas. Back in the 1940s, while the facility was still in operation, the Warden at the time, Warden Johnston, decided to throw a small Christmas party at his boarding house on the island. During the gathering, a few of the guards began retelling the story of a phantom figure who appeared before them wearing a gray suit, brimmed cap and sporting mutton chop sideburns. All the guards could do was stare at the ghostly figure in shock, and before they had a chance to move, the room suddenly turned very cold and the fire in the Ben Franklin Stove was extinguished. And just as suddenly as he had appeared, the phantom man vanished. Ruse Hall, a mysterious mansion in the English countryside, is rumored to be one of the most haunted places in England. Located just outside the small town of Beckles in the county of Suffolk, the mansion has accumulated plenty of ghost stories ever since it was first built in the 16th century. One of the most horrifying stories is that of the headless horseman. Many people might be familiar with this legend, but at Ruse Hall, it takes on a life of its own. Numerous visitors to Ruse Hall have reported a man on a horse riding toward them on the road, only to discover that he has no head. Allegedly, on Christmas Eve, the headless man is often seen clattering down the driveway with his phantom coach and four horses. And this is only the beginning of Ruse Hall's ghostly existence. Other rumors claim that there are strange markings inside the hall known as Devil's Footprints, and some have even reported seeing a girl watching them from the windows. From a headless horseman to a headless pet dog. The story of Sir Jeffrey DeMandeville is brimming with political betrayals. He held the title of Earl of Essex and was a prestigious European landowner during the 1100s. Because of his title, he had great influence over royal politics at the time. However, when a debate emerged regarding the rightful heir to the throne, he chose the losing side and was promptly stripped of many of his assets and excommunicated from the church. During his excommunication, Sir Jeffrey was slain on the battlefield, but because of his exile, he was not allowed a proper Christian internment, which many believe left his spirit trapped within the earthly realm. Rumors claim that Sir Jeffrey also left a curse on the properties he owned, stating that, should they ever be taken away from him, ruin would befall his betrayer, and every six years on Christmas Eve, he and a headless dog would haunt the lands draped in a red cloak. Ever since his demise, people who have visited the properties he once owned, particularly the Pym's Brook Bridge in East Barnett, have reported hearing string sounds and witnessing the hazy image of a headless dog breaking through the fog, accompanied by a night in full armor and a red cloak. One group of ghosts from the Stark family has created quite a legacy for themselves. The Starks left behind numerous spirits that are now haunting a Victorian home in Luddington, Michigan, and visitors reported numerous sightings, particularly around Christmas. One such specter, Vera Stark, was well known in her life for her eccentricities and seems to have brought them with her into the afterlife. Those who claim to have seen her ghost say she appears in the front yard of the home wearing only a fur coat and picking flowers just as she did in life. In addition, the ghost of one of the Stark daughters, who suffered a terrible mishap in the mansion's gymnasium, can allegedly be seen walking through the halls of the home. The current owners of the home have even attempted to open it up to historical tours, but they apparently ran into problems. Quote, our spirits did not care for it being open to the public and went wild. In England, one particularly twisted ghost story harkens back to a tragic event that occurred one Christmas Eve in the late 18th century. According to legend, there was once a fearsome highwayman known only as Gilbert who would wander up and down one of the town's main roads. One evening, the night before Christmas, a man and his daughter were traveling in a horse-drawn coach when Gilbert apprehended them. The daughter was able to exit the coach, but before her father could disembark, the horses became startled and bolted down the road with the man and his coachman in tow. The two men struggled to get the horses back under control so that they could go back and find the man's daughter who had been left behind with Gilbert. However, when they arrived back at the scene, she was nowhere to be found. Instead, they saw Gilbert hunched over on the ground with a dagger in his side. Rumor claims that once the coach took off down the road, Gilbert revealed to the girl that he was the one who took her brother's life some time before. Thrown into a rage by the revelation, she stabbed him and fled the scene. Local legends say that Gilbert was buried by the side of the road, and every Christmas Eve he can be seen wandering the same road, waiting for the coach with the man and his daughter to pass by again. On December 25, 1890, a disturbing story appeared on the front page of the Victorian newspaper, The Daily Colonist. Just as the clock was striking midnight, ushering in the joyous Christmas day, a misdeed as dark, cowardly and mysterious as ever, disfigured the history of this province was perpetrated. The target, who went by the name David Phee, was only 21 years old and had been walking to meet his parents for evening mass at the nearby church after attending a costume party. Dressed up in a white clown costume, Phee had just arrived at the corner where the cathedral sat when a man burst out from the shadows and aimed a double barrel directly at him. The man simply said, You challenged me. Before Phee could speak, the man fired, and Phee perished within moments. Apparently, the man had confused Phee for another man. Ever since that tragic night, Phee's ghost is rumored to roam the streets outside the cathedral, as well as his gravesite. The Crescent Hotel is by far one of the most notoriously haunted hotels in the U.S. Located along the northern border of Arkansas near the Ozark National Forest, the hotel has been plagued by tragedy and ghost stories since it was first erected in the 1880s. While there are different legends and ghostly sightings associated with almost every square inch of the hotel's estate, one story continues to astonish visitors to this day. Allegedly, one year during Christmas time, visitors came to view the hotel's Christmas tree, only to find that the Christmas tree and all of its packages were mysteriously moved to the other side of the room. This could have been a prank staged by the hotel staff or a visitor, however, the occurrence was accompanied by sightings of various phantom spirits dressed in Victorian-era clothing, wandering aimlessly around the hotel's dining room. Some said the spirits appeared to be playful and they moved the gifts and furniture across the room as a joke. This was seemingly confirmed when the hotel staff reportedly returned the next day only to find that everything was back exactly where it was supposed to be. In the middle of Cracow, Poland sits the Wawel Castle, which for centuries served as the home of each of Poland's kings after it was built in the early Middle Ages. Since this time, it has been associated with numerous legends and ghost stories spanning as far back as the prehistoric era. One such legend involves a large series of caves that are rumored to exist under a plot of nearby land known as Wawel Hill. These caves have been explored countless times since they were discovered centuries ago and they are rumored to hold a statue of a dragon and millennia of human record. The caves are believed to have been inhabited by humans since the prehistoric era. The legend says that in the 11th century, King Kashmir, who was just a child at the time, explored these caves and came across a strange tunnel. Inside the tunnel, he claims to have found a large stone emitting a glowing light and from this light a magical protective energy is said to be emitted throughout Cracow. To this day, local legends claim that the ghosts of all of Poland's past kings meet every Christmas Eve in that very tunnel to confer upon the fate of Cracow. Hotel Bethlehem, located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is home to a number of chilling ghost stories, not the least of which centers around a young girl named Mary Yoie. Born in 1866, Mary or Mae was raised on the stage, inspiring within her a love for singing and performing from a young age. Her talent gained her much attention and eventually she found herself performing with great success on stages in Paris and throughout Europe. She even caught the attention of a wealthy lord who quickly married her and made her a member of the British aristocracy. Tragically, her success led her down a dangerous path. Her marriage fell apart after the lord who swept her off of her feet went bankrupt and she went on to marry an American soldier who robbed her of much of her wealth. At the time of her eventual passing, reports claimed that she recalled her years in Bethlehem as the best of her life. To this day, Hotel Bethlehem's visitors claim to see apparitions of a young Mae Yoie dressed in elegant attire and either singing at the piano or pacing next to the Christmas tree. Some even claim to have heard her faint but recognizable voice singing one of her favorite songs. So you have a ghost, a girl named Mary, and it takes place in Bethlehem. Sounds like it had no choice but to be a Christmas ghost story. Up next, we'll look at a haunting in Rhode Island where people claim to see a mysterious light every year at Christmas and many believe it to be a ghost ship with a dark history. Plus, even without ghosts, you can still have some terrible things take place at Christmas time, more than you might realize. You'll never hear the word Christmas the same way again after hearing some of what happened in history during the Christmas season. These stories and more when Weird Darkness returns. Every year, sometime between Christmas and New Year's Eve, residents of Block Island, Rhode Island report seeing an eerie light that is believed to be the apparition of a ghost ship named Palatine. The mysterious light has haunted the island for centuries. Dr. Aaron C. Willey, a Block Island resident, said that people were so used to the light that it was not even mentioned very often. The people who have always lived here are so familiarized to the sight, he says, that they never think of giving notice to those who do not happen to be present, or even of mentioning it afterward. The light looks like a blaze of fire six or seven miles from the northern part of Block Island. Sometimes it's small, like the light from a distant window. Sometimes it's as big as a ship and waivers like a torch. Dr. Willey said that he saw the light in 1810. The legend of the Palatine light is based on true and sad events. It is a tragic story and there are several versions of what might have led to the tragedy. Some circumstances are unclear and very disturbing. In August 1738, the 220-ton British ship Princess Augusta left Rotterdam, Netherlands. Under the command of Captain George Long and 14 crew members, the ship was carrying 240 immigrants who were on their way to the English colonies in America. The passengers were German Palatines, early 18th-century immigrants from the Middle Rhine region of the Holy Roman Empire and the destination was Philadelphia. It was a doomed voyage and their fate was not to reach the New World alive. The ship carried contaminated water that caused a fever and flux, resulting in that Captain George Long, half of the crew and 200 passengers, died. First mate Andrew Brooke took over the command, but the situation on Princess Augusta was desperate and offered faint hope for survival. As if the contaminated water wasn't enough, Princess Augusta was now also pushed by severe storms and the few survivors had to struggle to remain alive while enduring extreme weather conditions. Food was running out and Brooke had no choice but to charge passengers for the remaining rations. Princess Augusta managed to stay afloat for three months. Then on December 27, 1738, Princess Augusta wrecked at Sandy Point on Block Island, Rhode Island during a snowstorm. What transpired next is not entirely clear. It's also unknown what happened to the wreck. According to some accounts, the ship was set on fire. Another possibility is that it was pushed out to sea to sink. Depositions taken from the surviving crew discovered in 1925 reveal that Brooke and his crew got into the ship's longboat and row to shore, leaving the passengers behind. When Brooke reached Block Island, he was convinced by locals to retrieve the passengers. The few survivors were taken to people's homes and nourished back to health. Locals buried those who had died in the catastrophe. There have also been claims that residents of Block Island were not so friendly at all. Joseph Pease Hazard, 1807-1892, considered himself clairvoyant and clairaudient, wrote in his letter to poet John Greenleaf-Wittier that Block Island's residents deliberately lured the ship onto the shoals with a false light. Hazard accused locals of murdering the poor, starving, freezing passengers and stealing their possessions. Whether people living on Block Island were guilty of this horrible crime or not is unknown. What is certain is that Block Island Historical Society raised a memorial marker in honor and memory of the 20 passengers who had died and were buried on the island. According to legends, one woman, Mary Vanderlein, who had gone mad, refused to leave the ship during the rescue mission. As a result, she died and it is her horrifying screams residents of Block Island hear every year. The memory of the ghost ship was kept alive by John Greenleaf-Wittier who in 1867 wrote a poem called The Wreck of the Palatine. And then, with ghostly shimmer and shine over the rocks and the seething brine, they burned the wreck of the Palatine. In their cruel hearts as they homeward sped, the sea and the rocks are dumb, they said. There will be no reckoning with dead. As far as it is known, Brooke and his crew were not found guilty of any crime and did not suffer any punishment. However, on Block Island, there is a marker on the spot where the ship is thought to have run aground. It reads, Palatine Graves, 1738 Christmas is a time for peace on earth, goodwill, presence, and of course, celebrating. And while it seems the only way Christmas can be bad is waking up to a lump of coal in your stocking or if you are spoiled finding your mom got you the wrong iPhone, some really bad stuff has happened on Christmas. Some of the worst Christmas events involve massacres, murders, and mayhem. Some terrible presents include wars, death, and the birth of a hate group. Through all the cheeriness and carol singing, remember bad things can still happen. As I am about to show you, some events are pretty gruesome or at the very least pretty darn uncomfortable. The Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami Though much of this happened today after Christmas, it began on December 25, 2004. In the hours between Christmas Day and the day after, a massive earthquake, registering at least 9.1 on the Richter scale, hit just off the west coast of Sumatra. The damage from that alone was devastating as it was felt along the coast, but the tragedy didn't stop there. Aftershocks continued to roll as a tsunami of massive proportions gained strength and crashed into many countries surrounding the Indian Ocean with tragic results. In the 14 countries hit by the quake and tsunami, more than 230,000 people were killed. It was one of the worst tsunamis in history. Homes were destroyed, people went missing, and whole villages were lost, and the region is still feeling the effects of the disaster even today. The Formation of the KKK Christmas hardly seems like the perfect day to form a hate group, but sure enough that's what happened. On Christmas Eve, 1865, in Pulaski, Tennessee, a group of men who previously served in the Confederate Army got together to chat. They put together a brand new group meant to uphold white supremacy and to reverse the government's equal rights work after the Civil War. They wanted to make sure Black people didn't get rights and that the South could continue with segregation. The group was known as the Ku Klux Klan, and to this day, the hate group has members across the United States. The Congo Christmas Massacre In the early 2000s, the Lord Resistance Army was a Christian cult that was strong, terrifying, and ruthless in its pursuit of terrorism. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, they would terrorize locals by cutting off people's lips, killing children, and slaughtering entire villages. One such slaughter took place over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in 2008. The Army targeted five villages, waited until they were celebrating the holiday, then attacked them all at once, killing virtually everyone. They used axes, bats, and machetes, and often raped women before killing them. The final death toll is still uncertain, but some reports put the number at more than 600 people killed in a span of only three days. The Tyongak Hotel Fire On Christmas Day, 1971, in Seoul, things were pretty normal for the renowned Tyongak Hotel. People were celebrating, some were settling in for the night, and everything seemed peaceful. Then, suddenly, disaster struck. A fire started after a gas explosion at the hotel. In what is called the worst hotel fire in history, the hotel was quickly engulfed in flames, with the entire expanse lighting up the night. By the time the fire was finally put out, more than 10 grueling hours later, 166 people had lost their lives. Most died of smoke inhalation, and eight people, including the hotel's owner, were arrested. The USSR invades Afghanistan. On December 24, 1979, the Soviet Union was poised to invade Afghanistan. Around midnight, the Soviets sent well over 8,000 men into Kabul, and they attacked the palace. While resistance was fierce, the Soviet troops were so overwhelming that there was simply nothing that could be done. Thousands were killed. By December 27, the Soviets had formed the Marxist People's Democratic Party, the PDPA, and instilled their own rule. It would not be until 1989 until the Soviets were finally driven out. The Tangawai Train Disaster What could go wrong while taking a little train ride on Christmas Eve through scenic New Zealand? Unfortunately, one such train ride in 1953 ended in tragedy. The Auckland night train was chugging around the tracks when suddenly it slid on the wet rails and plummeted down into the Wangyao River. Out of the 285 passengers, more than half died in the crash or in the surging waters that engulfed the cars. Over the next few days, rescuers and volunteers found muddy and ruined presents throughout the wreckage from passengers trying to bring gifts to loved ones. It was heartbreaking and it remains to this day New Zealand's worst railway accident and one of the worst train accidents of all time. The Italian Hall Disaster On Christmas Eve, 1913, some miners and their families were having a massive Christmas party in an Italian cultural hall in Michigan. Everything was going fine until someone yelled fire. Panic took hold and everybody rushed for the exits at once, not caring what or who they knocked over during their mad dash. People fell and were either trampled or suffocated in the crowds. In the end, a stunning 73 people died, 59 of which were just children trying to celebrate with their family. In a cruel, ironic twist, it turned out there was no fire at all. To this day, no one is entirely sure who yelled fire or why they did it. Cyclone Tracy There is a small city in the northern territories of Australia called Darwin, and it is prone to cyclone activity. It has been hit by storms in the past, but in 1974, Darwin was pummeled by a tropical storm. From Christmas Eve to Christmas Day, Cyclone Tracy ravaged the town, killing 66 people. When, at last, the winds settled, 70% of the city's buildings were destroyed, including 80% of the houses. More than 40,000 people were left without homes and donations were set up using the slogan, Santa never made it to Darwin. While the city was later rebuilt, Australia has never forgotten that tragedy. The Christmas Flood of the Netherlands In 1717, a massive storm hit the coast of the Netherlands, Germany and Scandinavia. Floodwaters began to rise drastically, faster than anyone could compensate for, and soon whole villages and towns became engulfed. Dams and dikes were breached by the force of the water and storm, and the floods continued all throughout the usually cheery holiday. By the end of it, an estimated 13,000 people or more were drowned by the flooding, and others were killed by debris and disease that came later. Some towns were so badly destroyed that there was nothing left, they simply ceased to exist. The Sinking of the SS Patriot In 1940, on Christmas Day, about 1,800 Jewish refugees were fleeing Germany in an attempt to avoid what would prove to be one of the largest mass killings in history. They were aboard a ship called the SS Patriot, a Zionist organization had put a bomb on board set to go off in the morning of December 25th. When it exploded, the ship began to rapidly sink. It only took 16 minutes for the ship to go down, killing 267 people in the process. The Library of Congress Fire In 1851, the Library of Congress was home to more than 50,000 works of literature. It was home to the personal library of President Thomas Jefferson, and housed some of his own personal writings. Unfortunately, it would not last. On Christmas Eve, a fire began that was so strong and so devastating in size, it engulfed most of the library. When the smoke cleared, over two-thirds of the books had been completely destroyed, including the books from President Jefferson. And finally, the Lawson Family Murders. We have covered this one before, numerous times, but it is so brutal it bears repeating again. While there have been many killings on Christmas over the years of various sizes and motives, this is a specific one that is particularly gruesome. On Christmas Day in 1929, the Lawson Family went into town to have a family portrait done. The family then headed back home. When they got back to the house, Patriarch Charlie Lawson shot and killed all but one of his family members. He just took up a gun and started shooting his family. He killed his wife, his daughters, and every member of his family except for his oldest son who was out getting errands done at the time. Eventually, he even shot himself. The lack of known motives and the suddenness of it all, as well as the holiday timing, keep this massacre as one that history still remembers. Coming up, what is for many their favorite paranormal Christmas movie of all time was in fact a bust at the box office. It wasn't about a ghost, though. It was about a desperate man and an angel without any wings. That story is up next on Weird Darkness. On December 20, 1946, one of the most wonderful holiday films of all time, Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, had a preview showing for charity at New York's Globe Theater, a day before its official premiere. The film stars Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, the man who has given up his dreams in order to help others and whose imminent suicide on Christmas Eve brings about the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence. The angel shows George all the lives that he has touched and how different life in his community at Bedford Falls would have been had he never been born. Believe it or not, the film was not a success. It performed poorly at the box office due to its high production costs and stiff competition at the time of its release. In fact, it was such a flop that it killed Capra's production company Liberty Films. But in a strange twist, decades after it was released, a clerical error managed to turn It's a Wonderful Life into the Christmas classic that we know and love today. In the 1930s, Frank Capra was box office gold, directing award-winning movies like It Happened One Night and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. After Pearl Harbor, Capra wanted to contribute to the war effort, so he took a post in Washington overseeing the development of American propaganda films. After the war, Capra, along with other wartime directors William Weiler and George Stevens, helped finance Liberty Films, an independent production company poised to give filmmakers the freedom to make the movies they wanted to make. The company's first film would be an adaptation of a short story that had appeared in Good Housekeeping Magazine under the title The Man Who Was Never Born. For the screen, the name was changed to It's a Wonderful Life. It had a proposed budget of $2 million, making it a huge gamble for Liberty Films. The making of the film was a nightmare. There were script rewrites, an ever-changing crew, and budget overruns. A huge amount of the budget was spent producing fake snow for outdoor scenes in Bedford Falls. Capra bet Liberty's future on audiences looking for some comforting nostalgia after the war, but he was about to see firsthand just how much the world had been changed by it. The original plan was to release It's a Wonderful Life in January 1947 after the Oscar deadlines, but when RKO, the film's distributor, needed a movie to release in time for Christmas, Capra's project was the easy solution. It opened just weeks after William Weiler's major studio film The Best Years of Our Lives, a hard-hitting drama about a U.S. soldier coming home after the war to start his life again. The two films couldn't be any more different, and the critics and the public knew it. Even at nearly three hours long, The Best Years of Our Lives was an absolute hit with critics and at the box office, recouping its budget multiple times over. It's a wonderful life, on the other hand, with its inflated budget and sickly sweet story of old-fashioned values was met with silence. The film was buried by the competition in every way that mattered in Hollywood, by reviews, awards, and at the box office. Weiler's film won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, while It's a Wonderful Life received one Loan Technical Award, ironically for the fake snow that ate up Capra's budget. Liberty Films had borrowed more than $1.5 million to make the film, and with such a disappointing box office return, the production company had to be sold off to Paramount. Capra only directed five feature films afterwards, none of which ever reached the heights of its pre-war work. It's a Wonderful Life was its greatest disappointment and was destined to be forgotten. And then a clerical error changed its fate. In 1974, the movie entered the public domain after the film's copyright holder simply forgot to file for a renewal. This meant that TV stations everywhere could play It's a Wonderful Life as often as they liked and never pay a cent for the rights. It soon began playing on television stations across the country, as many as 50 to 60 times every holiday season. It's the damnedest thing I've ever seen, Capra said in an interview about the film's revival. The film has a life of its own now, when I can look at it like I had nothing to do with it. I'm like a parent whose kids grow up to be president. I'm proud, but it's the kid who did the work. I didn't even think of it as a Christmas story when I first ran across it. I just liked the idea. Legalities rewrote the history of It's a Wonderful Life yet again in 1993. The Supreme Court ruled that the film's original copyright owner, Republic Pictures, could regain its ownership of the movie. The ruling claimed that since Republic owned the copyright on the original short story, which the movie was based on, and they owned the score for the film, they in essence still owned the movie. This took the film out of public domain, and so instead of constant showings of it every season, it now only airs once on NBC each year. But that doesn't change the fact that it has become a beloved Christmas film for generations of people, including yours truly, your host for Weird Darkness, my favorite film of all time, Bar Nun. The film that killed a production company more than 70 years ago is now an annual television event and part of countless family traditions around the globe. It turns out Capra always knew what audiences wanted. He just needed to wait for the right clerical error to prove it. If you see no other film this Christmas, sit down and watch It's a Wonderful Life, the black and white version if you can find it. You won't be sorry you did. Thanks for listening. If you like the show, please share it with someone you know who loves the paranormal or strange stories, true crime, monsters or unsolved mysteries like you do. You can email me anytime with your questions or comments at Darren at WeirdDarkness.com and you can find the show on Facebook and Twitter, including the show's Weirdo's Facebook group, on the Contact social page at WeirdDarkness.com. Also on the website, you can find free audiobooks that I've narrated, watch old horror movies with horror hosts at all times of the day for free, sign up for the newsletter to win free prizes, grab your Weird Darkness and Weirdo merchandise. Plus, if you have a true paranormal or creepy tale to tell, you can click on Tell Your Story. 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. True Tales of Christmas Ghosts is from Chris Woodyard for the Victorian Book of the Dead and Kelly Crease for a Rankers Graveyard Shift. Horrible happenings at the holidays is from Laura Allen for a Ranker. The Christmas Light of Block Island is by Ellen Lloyd for ancient pages and it really is a wonderful life was written by Troy Taylor. Again, you can find a link to all of these stories in the show notes. Weird Darkness is a production and trademark of Marlar House Productions. Copyright Weird Darkness. And now that we're coming out of the dark, I'll leave you with a little light. Revelation 1 verse 18. I am the living one. I was dead and now look, I am alive forever and ever and I hold the keys of Death and Hades. And a final thought from W.T. Perkaiser. It is not what we say about our blessings but how we use them that is the true measure of our Thanksgiving. I'm Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me in the Weird Darkness. While you're at it, spread the darkness by sharing this video with someone you know who loves all things strange and macabre. If you want to listen to the podcast, you can find it at WeirdDarkness.com.