 This episode is dedicated to the men and women of our armed forces and first responders. Whether you are currently serving or have served in the past, you are appreciated. It is because of your courage and sacrifice that we enjoy the freedoms and liberties we hold dear. And I, for one, appreciate every single one of you for protecting what many of us take for granted. So thank you. It is very rare that among the annals of ufology there should appear a UFO case which involved military yet is accompanied by actual photographic proof, such as the case of an event which took place over the Los Angeles area on February 25, 1942. A giant UFO would actually hover over the city and be witnessed by hundreds of observers. As America was gathering its senses after the shocking attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, there was a heightened feeling of insecurity and anxiousness. The skies were being watched as never before as a giant UFO moved through California, alerting the military and civilian watchers as well. The case is known as the Battle of Los Angeles and is one of the most important cases in ufology. I'm Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness. Welcome, Weirdos. I'm Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness Radio, where every week you'll find stories of the paranormal, supernatural, legends, lore, the strange and bizarre, crime, conspiracy, mysterious, macabre, unsolved and unexplained. Located in the middle of the historic section of Glenwood Cemetery in Mississippi is a grave surrounded by chain links which caretakers are cautious to never allow to break or come loose, but the results might be tragic to those living within the town. Annie Goodwin had been living with the family of John Traffigan for the last two years, but now she was missing and a conversation overheard by a man indicated something gruesome may have happened at the hands of her very own doctor. A very angry woman in a wedding dress terrorizes motorists in the Czech Republic. Weirdo family member Samuel Bayet tells us about his childhood home in Texas and some of the strange things that happened there. But first, in 1942 a giant UFO hovered over the city of Los Angeles and was witnessed by military and civilians alike, with hundreds of reports of the encounter afterward. We begin with that story. 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 in with you. Recommending Weird Darkness Radio to others helps make it possible for me to keep doing the show. And while you're listening, be sure to follow Weird Darkness on Facebook and Twitter and visit WeirdDarkness.com to find the daily Weird Darkness podcast. Watch streaming B horror movies and horror hosts 24-7 for free. Listen to free audiobooks I've narrated to send me your own true story of something paranormal that's happened to you or someone you know and more. You can find it all at WeirdDarkness.com. Now, bolt your doors. Lock your windows. Turn off your lights. And come with me into the Weird Darkness. It would be early morning, February 2nd, 1942, when the incoming craft sirens were first heard in the Los Angeles area. Many Americans were expecting another wave of Japanese fighter planes and thought this is what they would see as they left their homes and ventured outside. How wrong they were. The first sightings of a large UFO would be made in Culver City and Santa Monica. Air raid wardens were ready to go with the first hint of an invasion, but this invasion would be something other than Japanese planes. The giant hovering object was soon lit up by the gigantic spotlights of the Army's 37th Coast Artillery Brigade. Everyone who looked up was shocked by the sight of a giant UFO sitting above their city. Military aircraft were sent to confront the object. Because of a well-organized alert system, the whole California Southern section was searching the night skies in a matter of minutes. What they saw were beaming searchlights illuminating the night sky, all of them converging on one thing, a UFO. A similar scene would be repeated later during the Norwood searchlight incident, albeit on a smaller scale. The beams of light would soon be accompanied by a tracer fire from anti-aircraft artillery, all of the rounds aiming at the invading craft. The giant UFO would take direct hit after direct hit, yet would do so without any damage. The 37th Brigade was relentless in its attempt to bring down the large object but found no success. The barrage of spent shells would fall over the entire area. No place was safe this night. Many were injured, and there were even reports of death from the falling shells. According to newspaper reports, eyewitnesses described the sight of the UFO like a surreal hanging magic lantern. As the large UFO moved into more lighted areas, views of the object became better. It moved directly over the MGM Studios in Culver City. Fortunately, an extremely good quality photograph was taken of the object beams attached, tracer fire visible. The photo has become a classic UFO photograph. The UFO would soon move over Long Beach before disappearing altogether. A female air raid warden gave testimony saying, It was huge. It was just enormous. And it was practically right over my house. I had never seen anything like it in my life, she said. It was just hovering there in the sky and hardly moving at all. It was a lovely pale orange and about the most beautiful thing you've ever seen. I could see it perfectly because it was very close. It was big. Other witnesses reported, They sent fighter planes up and I watched them in groups approach it and then turn away. They were shooting at it but it didn't seem to matter. It was like the 4th of July but much louder. They were firing like crazy but they couldn't touch it. I'll never forget what a magnificent sight it was, just marvelous in what a gorgeous color. The giant invading airship was now gone and the citizenry of the Southern California area began to resume normal activities. It was an extremely important event, one that will not be soon forgotten. Only news of the war kept this from becoming a major news event. The case must have been in the mind of President Ronald Reagan when he warned us of an alien threat from outside of our world. In July 1890, a man came into the 126th Street police station in Harlem, New York City to report a conversation he had overheard in an elevated train. A young man and woman sitting near him were talking about the mysterious disappearance of Ms. Goodwin from the Storm King Flats on East 126th Street. They believed that she had been foully dealt with by professional malpractioners. The woman said that a friend told her that Ms. Goodwin had died and within 24 hours she was buried and another young woman was wearing her clothes and jewelry. Malpractice was the euphemism that New York papers used for abortion and at the last time a death by malpractice was considered manslaughter. The police decided to investigate. At the Storm King Flats they learned that Annie Goodwin had been living with the family of John Traffigan for the last two years, which she had been missing since July 2. 18-year-old Sadie Traffigan, a close friend of Annie Goodwin, was reluctant to talk to the police, but through her they learned that Annie had previously lived with her sister Mamie and her husband George Halliday who also lived on 126th Street. After questioning Mamie Halliday and Sadie Traffigan the police were able to piece together the story of Annie Goodwin's short life. Annie had been somewhat wild and restless while growing up and when she was 18 she left the restraints of her father's house and went to live with Mamie and her husband. Annie had a good job as rapper-cutter in a Manhattan cigarette factory and was living comfortably, but Mamie was concerned about her sister's lifestyle. She'd stay out until three in the morning and some nights she didn't come home at all. Annie Goodwin was considered a rare beauty, a bright-faced, laughing girl of medium height with a well-rounded figure, very dark eyes that sparkled with fun, a mouth that echoed the spirit of her eyes musically, a nose with just a rugish hint of an upward turn and dark hair worn in a wavy bang. She caught the eye of Augustus Gus Harrison, a young, independently wealthy man about town. Though he was not much to look at, small and thin with a wispy blonde mustache, Annie was flattered by his attention and became infatuated with Gus Harrison. He did not like Harrison and didn't believe his attentions toward Annie were honorable. The late night's out increased and when he came to call he would sneak in a bottle of wine trying to hide it from the holidays. Finally Mamie confronted Annie telling her to cease associating with Harrison. He must stop coming or she must go live somewhere else. To which Annie responded, very well, I will go somewhere else. He went to live with the family of her friend Sadie Traffigan just one block west of the holidays and stayed there until her disappearance on July 2, 1890. At first Sadie said she did not know where her friend had gone but under intense questioning she revealed that Annie had gone to a boarding house on 127th Street, kept by Mrs. John Collins. There the police learned that Annie had hired an attic bedroom for a week on July 2 but only remained there until July 4. That night, at about 10 o'clock, Mrs. Collins told them that Dr. Henry G. McGonagall drove to the house in his carriage, a two-wheeled gig, and took Annie away. The police were familiar with Dr. McGonagall. He'd been arrested several times in connection with mysterious deaths but had managed to evade punishment. They were sure Dr. McGonagall was the cause of Annie Goodwin's disappearance. They went at Sadie Traffigan again and she admitted she'd been aware that Annie was in trouble. She learned that on July 4, Annie was taken from Mrs. Collins' place to the apartment of Mrs. Fanny Shaw on East 103rd Street. On July 9 or 10, Sadie received a letter from Annie asking her to call at Mrs. Shaw's. She went and found Annie sick in bed. On July 14, she went again and Mrs. Shaw told her that Annie had died and Dr. McGonagall had removed her body. Dr. McGonagall called at Sadie's house several times in the days that followed. He asked if she had any papers with the dead girl's handwriting and requested that Sadie write a note to Mamie, imitating Annie's handwriting over her forged signature saying she'd gone to New Jersey and would return in a month or two. Sadie refused. The police paid a call on Fanny Shaw. She was a 38-years-old, hideous-looking creature being treated for blood poisoning by Dr. McGonagall. Reluctantly, she told a story that mirrored what Sadie had said. The doctor was treating Annie Goodwin in her apartment until the afternoon of July 12 when the girl died. Dr. McGonagall said he would take care of it and around 2 a.m. Sunday morning he carried the body wrapped in a quilt over his shoulder downstairs and drove it away in his gig. According with the Bureau of Vital Statistics, the police found a recent death certificate bearing the name of Dr. H. G. McGonagall. The document said that Jane Wilbur had died from rheumatism of the heart on July 11, the day before Annie Goodwin's death. But at the address given on the certificate, no one knew Jane Wilbur and the police concluded it was a false name. At the undertaker shop of Cornelius Merritt, the books showed that instead of Jane Wilbur, they buried a man named John Wilbur at St. Michael Cemetery in Astoria. The police believed he'd buried Annie Goodwin under a false name. Merritt pled ignorance, saying he had taken McGonagall at his word and given the body to his workmen without examining it. This was evidence enough and the police rounded up everyone involved. They arrested Dr. McGonagall and Fanny Shaw for murder and Augustus Harrison as an accessory. Sadie Traffigan, Cornelius Merritt and several others were held as witnesses. In Dr. McGonagall's office, the police found about 30 glass jars containing evidences of malpractice preserved in alcohol, in other words, preserved fetuses. The police believed they had a nice tight narrative now where Gus Harrison, the author of Annie's Misfortune, hired Dr. McGonagall to perform the operation and when Annie died, McGonagall had her buried under a false name. The newspapers took it even further, citing the predated death certificate the New York Herald called it, evidence of a conspiracy to kill as complicated and as boldly carried out as the most fantastic scheme of murder in a French tale. The story took another turn when the police learned that Gus Harrison was not Annie's only romantic interest. Mrs. Collins told them that a young man named Drew visited Annie in the brief time she stayed at Mrs. Collins' boarding house. The newspapers tried to get in front of the police, speculating that the man was T. Oscar Drew, who had checked into the Harlem Hotel at least a dozen times accompanied by a lady. This was the wrong Drew. Sadie Traffigan told police that Drew was actually the nickname of Andrew L. Fanning, who'd been frequently calling on Annie. She said Annie was in love with Gus Harrison and when she learned that she was in trouble, she begged him to marry her. He absolutely refused. Once Annie accepted this, she was ready to marry Drew Fanning after she had gotten out of trouble. Andrew Fanning turned himself in when he learned that the police were looking for him. He said that he had met Annie Goodwin on the street about six months earlier and had fallen desperately in love with her. He had proposed marriage and she accepted. But the Annie Goodwin that Fanning knew was quite different from the one everyone else knew. He believed her to be innocent and pure, almost prudish. She would chastise him if he let slip an unrefined word and at the theater he saw her blush at an off-color remark. Fanning would frequently visit her at the Traffigans and became disconsolate when she suddenly disappeared. On July 4th, he received a note from Annie. Dear Drew, come to me at once. I am very sick at 152 East 127th Street, signed Annie. He found her in her room, suffering dreadfully and wanted to go at once for the nearest doctor. She said she would have no other physician but Dr. McGonagall and gave him the doctor's address. Fanning brought the doctor to her and left. He never saw her again. Andrew Fanning was arrested as an accessory and held on $2,500 bail. The Wilbur body in St. Michael's Cemetery was disinterred. It is unclear whether the grave was marked John or Joan. Half naked, she lay face down in the coffin as if she had been thrown in. Sadie Traffigan and Mamie Halliday both identified the body as that of Annie Goodwin. A coroner's jury heard testimony from everyone involved in charge Dr. H. G. McGonagall and Fanny Shaw with manslaughter. Augustus Harrison was charged as an accessory. The focus was on Dr. McGonagall and at his trial the following September, he was found guilty of first degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison but received a stay pending appeal. He remained in the tombs until the following April when he was released on $5,000 bail. This was the extent of his punishment for Annie Goodwin's death. It would not be his last arrest for death by malpractice. Coming up, a very angry woman in a wedding dress terrorizes motorists in the Czech Republic. Are you a business owner or marketing manager? How would you like to share your product or service with our Weirdo family of listeners? Whether your business is worldwide, nationwide or local, I would love to tell people about what you have to offer. To get your business heard in Weird Darkness or just get information about advertising in the podcast, visit WeirdDarkness.com slash Advertise. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash Advertise. Welcome back to Weird Darkness. I'm Darren Marlar. You can stay up to date on everything Weird Darkness and Weird Darkness radio and also maybe win some cool prizes at the same time by signing up for the Weird Darkness email newsletter. It's free and every other month I draw a name at random to win a cool, creepy prize. You can sign up for the Weird Darkness newsletter absolutely free at WeirdDarkness.com. We have that story about an angry woman in a wedding dress terrorizing the Czech Republic but first we hear about a chain to which in Glenwood Cemetery in Mississippi. Located in the middle of the historic section of Glenwood Cemetery of Yahoo City is a grave surrounded by chain links known as The Witch's Grave. The legend of The Witch of Yazoo became famous in Willie Morris' book Good Old Boy published in 1971. This story is an example of the unusual folklore surrounding Yazoo County. Many have pointed out that the grave and the legend were there long before Morris was born and that the chain had been broken for a long time. According to legend, the old woman lived on the Yazoo River and was caught torturing fishermen who she lured in off the river. The sheriff is said to have chased her through the swamps where she was half drowned in quicksand by the time the sheriff caught up with her. As she was sinking, she swore her revenge on Yahoo City and on the town's people. In 20 years, she said, I will return and burn this town to the ground. No one thought much of it at the time. Then came May 25, 1904. The fire of 1904 destroyed over 200 residences and nearly every business in Yazoo City, 324 buildings in total. Many theories evolved as to how the fire started, but none were conclusive. The most popular theory is that the fire started in the parlor of a young Miss Wise who was in preparation for her wedding to be held later that day. While this is quite possible and certainly innocent enough, it is the strange and fierce winds that were blowing on that fateful day, unusual for the time, that led many to blame the witch. The flames were said by witnesses to have jumped through the air as if driven by some supernaturally forceful winds. This is one of the eeriest facts of the story. Area Weather Reports from May 25, 1904 make no mention of high winds in the area. A group of citizens made their way into Glenwood on the day after the fire and found the large chains around the grave of the witch broken in two. Today, adults and children alike enjoy taking the tour of Glenwood Cemetery and hearing the story of the witch, affectionately named the Chain Lady by many in modern-day Yazoo, as well as the story of many other famous and infamous Yazooans led by costumed storytellers. Many others visit to see the grave by themselves and to enjoy the peace and serenity that can be found only in such a historic resting place as Glenwood Cemetery. Some folks have said that the truth of the witch's grave is that a man is buried there. Make no mistake, there is no evidence of this. In fact, the only record ever to have been found, to our knowledge, shows that a woman owned the plot in Glenwood where the witch's grave is located. Many years ago, the stone, now long gone, which was original to the grave, only had the letters T-W. The witch? The stone which is now in place mysteriously fell and split in two shortly after installation. No one knows why for certain. The heavy chains surrounding the grave are constantly being repaired, only to fall apart again shortly after. There is certainly some mysterious force at work here. See for yourself, hear the story and decide what you believe. Current local lore says that when all the chains are gone from her grave, the witch will return again to exact her revenge on Yazoo City. To this day, the cemetery sextons are very careful to keep the chains repaired and in place, though they often are broken again very soon after being repaired. The tale of an unhappy female ghost causing havoc for motorists on the highway is almost universal. There is one in the Czech Republic but she is not the victim of a recent car crash like so many of the others. She was the bride at a 16th century wedding that ended in a massacre. The place has been called nine crosses for as long as anyone can remember and tall wooden crosses still stand by the side of the turnoff where the nine victims were buried. The site is a protected cultural monument. The spot is just off the D1 highway from Prague to Berna, the busiest road in the country. For years, tabloids have been pointing out that the fatal accident rate near Exit 168 by the village of Lesnihlubok, about 25 km west of Berna, South Moravia, is higher than average and perhaps the bride's ghost is to blame. The area just under an overpass for Exit 168 is where the white shrouded ghost is supposed to appear, frightening motorists into losing control of their cars. An old trade route for horse-drawn carts stood at the site long before Exit 168 was opened in 1973. The curse has been in place for almost five centuries according to supporters of the tale. A wedding was planned in 1540 at the village of Lesnihlubok, which means the Forest Deep. The town had existed since at least 1395 and likely is much older. The story starts a year earlier in 1539. A peasant from Forest Deep was returning from the market from a neighboring big town when he saw a wounded Hungarian horse merchant on the road. The peasant brought the merchant home and healed his wounds. The peasant had a very beautiful daughter who helped to look after the wounded merchant, the two being young, fell in love with each other. The girl's father though had different ideas. He wanted his daughter to marry a wealthy person so the family could improve its standing. This was a time when marriages were often still arranged. The father sent the merchant to Hungary to do some business deals and if he returned wealthy after a year, then he would consent to the wedding. This was just meant to get rid of the merchant though. The father hoped he would have another accident and never return, or fall in love at home like people are supposed to do. Another version says the merchant left on his own, having agreed with the daughter about a secret wedding on his return. But the tale soon takes a dark turn. The son of a rich local family became interested in the beautiful young woman just as the father had originally hoped. The parents on both sides were in favor of the marriage and the daughter was left out of the discussions. The girl's father set aside any thought of the promise to the Hungarian merchant and forced his daughter into the arranged marriage. Somehow word got to the merchant. Either the daughter managed to send a message or some other merchant sent word out as part of a code of merchant courtesy. Perhaps he simply returned because the year was up. The Hungarian merchant was not happy at being jilted, and he wasted no time in planning his revenge. At a local inn, he talked to a friend, perhaps the local gamekeeper, into helping him punish the wedding party. But the bride was to be spared. They would ambush from secret and not be seen. Perhaps he thought he could emerge as the hero, pretend to fight off the assailants and rescue his widowed loved one. Maybe he thought he would console the grieving widow and marry her after a brief morning period. Whatever his plan was, he went astray. The happy wedding procession was returning from the church without a clue that the merchant had returned and was laying in wait. At the crossroads in front of the village, the merchant and the gamekeeper opened fire. There were seven killed on the scene. The dead included the bride and bridegroom, the bride's father, the witness, and three other women including bridesmaids. Guns were not very accurate then and it was easy to hit the wrong target. When the merchant saw that his beloved was among the dead, he turned his anger against the gamekeeper, blaming him for the stray bullet. He shot the gamekeeper in anger and either the gamekeeper lived long enough to shoot back or he took his own life, knowing there was no way out. The nine dead were buried at the spot. Crosses were put up by the Benedictine monks from the nearby monastery and for a long time they were re-consecrated every 100 years to pacify the souls of the nine dead. The last re-consecration was September 18, 1887, meaning that 1987 the souls had not been appeased. The wooden crosses have been replaced several times. Tabloid newspaper accounts say the bride, dressed in white, now appears standing in the middle of the D1 highway by the exit 168 Overpass, causing drivers to swerve. Other accounts talk of a pair of black wings that swoop down on windshields, causing the driver to panic. One writer for a mainstream newspaper even talks of the DeMosev Triangle, an area that includes nine crosses which has several unexplained road accidents. The white bride appears most often to those who are planning to get married or driving to or from a wedding. One accident involved a couple on their way from Berno to Prague to catch a flight for their Caribbean honeymoon. The injured driver who swerved without reason is supposed to have told his wife, I saw her. She was there, the bride. When Weird Darkness returns, Weirdo family member Samuel Bayet tells us about his childhood home in Texas and some of the strange things that happened there. If you re looking for Weird Darkness merchandise, you can find t-shirts, buttons, hoodies, office supplies, clothes for your kids, stickers, magnets, coffee mugs, and more, all with your favorite Weird Darkness designs. You can find something for you or the Weirdo in your life by clicking on Store at WeirdDarkness.com. That s WeirdDarkness.com slash Store. Weird Darkness continues in just a moment. What kind of person does it take to build a civilization from the ground up? Astronaut Nick Burke will have to learn how to be a leader if he wants humanity to survive on a new planet, even if he himself is no longer human. Nick Burke dreams of successfully creating the first sustainable space colony in human history. After a third failed mission on Mars, Nick returns to Earth heartbroken. But during the trip home, he has an epiphany caused by a near-death experience on how to truly accomplish his dream. Nick launches a billionaire-funded startup company that solves the interstellar travel problem, transporting people in a spaceship without any people aboard. After Nick lands on his new, distant planet, he has to combat his greatest trials yet, including raising children and goats while becoming a colony-building survivalist. Fans of Andy Weir's The Martian and Dennis E. Taylor's We Are Legion, We Are Bob, will find familiar themes of innovative science fiction ideas with plenty of humor and pop culture. The Hard Science Fiction novel, Seed, by Matthew G. Dick, narrated by Darren Marlar. Here are a free sample on the audiobooks page at WeirdDarkness.com. Welcome back to Weird Darkness, I'm Darren Marlar. This is a radio show, of course, but I do have a video to share with you and you can see this video if you go to the Weird Darkness website and click on syndicated radio show and today's date. It's an incident that has taken social networks by storm. A video captured by some security cameras in Guatemala has become the subject of intense speculation and debate. The footage reveals a perplexing event that occurred moments before a motorcycle accident, an eerie, glowing, human-shaped shadow moving in the lane. The video's viral spread has ignited discussions among users with opinions ranging from claims of paranormal phenomena to arguments of an extraordinary coincidence. The municipality where this took place, which I'm not even going to try and pronounce, shared the video on its social platforms on July 9, 2023 and it was captured by a security camera in the early morning hours. The footage depicts a distinctly human-shaped shadow that emits a peculiar glow as it moves within the lane. Shortly thereafter, a motorist passes through the same location, loses control and gets into an accident. The timing of the shadow's appearance just prior to the accident has prompted many to consider the possibility of a paranormal occurrence. Some have posited that it could be the manifestation of a spirit or supernatural energy that inhabits that particular spot. Others entertain the notion of the shadow being a warning sign or a protective presence attempting to avert the accident. Nevertheless, skeptics offer a more rational perspective, suggesting that the interplay of shadows and light reflections in surveillance camera footage could sometimes lead to deceptive interpretations. While some are captivated and firmly believe in its paranormal nature, others strive to find more scientific explanations. The municipality's post has garnered numerous comments and shares further amplifying the video's reach and intensifying discussions surrounding the enigmatic event. The incident has stirred great intrigue within the local community there and authorities have expressed concerns about the motorcyclist's accident and additional investigations are expected to be conducted to determine the precise cause of the incident. Meanwhile, residents are filled with curiosity and fascination regarding the presence of the mysterious shadow, fueling increased interest and discourse within the community. The viral video of the mysterious glowing shadow has captivated the attention of social media, triggering a profound debate about the plausibility of paranormal phenomena versus fortuitous coincidences. As the enigma persists, the question remains, is this a supernatural occurrence or merely an event that has seized the virtual community's attention? I'll let you decide after you see the video. Undoubtedly, the video has left an indelible mark on the community intensifying the mystery surrounding the presence of this enigmatic shadow. Again, you can see the video in the show notes which I'll be posting to the Weird Darkness website after tonight's show. This story is from Weirdo family member Samuel Bayet. Here's what he says. When I was younger, I was living in a house in Texas. The street was called Peavey. An older two-floor house, but from the outside didn't look any different from most houses there. We lived there for quite some time and in the years I spent there, several odd things took place. One day the sun was shining, I didn't really want to go outside because it was so hot and I just stayed indoors and played games and whatnot. That was when I heard creaking in the back rooms. The rooms that me and my sister slept in. I was in the house by myself. My uncle was outside on the porch and everyone else had left earlier that morning, so I thought I must have been hearing things. I walked over to the hallway doors and looked through the center of them suddenly wishing I hadn't because I saw this older woman with a walker leaving my sister's room and going upstairs to my room. I was so afraid at the time I didn't even go back to see if maybe it was just something hanging off of the door. That same night I was hanging out with my sister in her room when the old radio we had turned on by itself and started playing some quite creepy music. We both freaked out and I ran over and unplugged it from the wall. Rushing back over to my sister only to have the thing turn itself back on again anyway. I thought maybe it was because of the batteries that were in it, so I rushed over and flipped it upside down quickly removing the cover only to find there were no batteries in the stupid thing. In a panic I ran over to my sister and sat on the bed with her terrified when my dad and mom walked in getting angry at us for having it on. When we explained what happened they looked at each other quite seriously and then picked up the radio leaving the room with it. We never saw the radio again after that. A couple weeks later we were upstairs and as I was laying there I heard what sounded like glass sliding across something and when I looked at where the sound was coming from one of my biggest fears came true. My sister's porcelain doll was slowly moving across the room towards us the only thing touching the floor being the tips of the doll's feet. After that incident it wasn't until much later when we started hearing faint knocking sounds throughout the house mostly at the stairs headed upstairs into my room. That was when it truly started going downhill. Every time me and my sister would go up there a different group of items would be thrown across the room like someone had been looking for something got infuriated that they couldn't find it and just threw things around until one day my entire room and my sister's room were a complete disaster. Not long after this started happening we ended up moving leaving the house behind. I've never been back to it since. Thanks for listening. If you missed any part of tonight's show or if you'd like to hear it again you can subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcast app at WeirdDarkness.com. Or you can just search for Weird Darkness wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also follow the show on Facebook and Twitter at WeirdDarkness and please tell others about Weird Darkness Radio who love the paranormal or strange stories, true crime, monsters or unsolved mysteries like you do. Doing that helps make it possible for me to keep doing the show. And if you'd like to be a part of the show you can send in your own paranormal experiences by clicking on Tell Your Story at WeirdDarkness.com. You can also email me anytime at Darren at WeirdDarkness.com. Darren is D-A-R-R-E-N. All stories in Weird Darkness are purported to be true unless stated otherwise and you can find links to the stories or the authors in the show notes which I will upload to the Weird Darkness website after tonight's show has ended. 1942's Battle of Los Angeles is by Billy Booth for Live About. Ghost Causes Motorcycle Crash was written by Brandon Grimes for Paranormality Magazine. The Chained Witch was posted at VisitYazoo.org. Professional Malpractitioner is by Robert Wilhelm for Murder by Gaslight. The Ghost Bride of Nine Crosses was written by Raymond Johnston for A Magic Bohemia. And Haunting on Peavey Street is by Weirdo family member Samuel Bayet. Weird Darkness is a registered trademark. Copyright Weird Darkness. And now that we're coming out of the dark, I'll leave you with a little light. 1 Timothy 4, verse 12. Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity. At a final thought, we delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes and discomfort it has gone through to achieve that beauty. The same can be said of us. 2 Maya Angelou I'm Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me in the Weird Darkness. Hey Weirdos, keep listening. Hour 2 of the Weird Darkness radio show is coming up. Coffee. It's a necessity. Most of us can't be bothered to even be civil to our families until we've had our first cup of Joe. I could drink coffee all day and often do. And now, I've chosen an exclusive coffee just for the task. Weird Dark Roast Coffee. I love chocolate, I mean who doesn't. So I specifically asked for a blend with at least a hint of cocoa and Evansville Coffee who roasts each bag to order knocked it out of the park when they sent me a bag to taste test for approval. Weird Dark Roast Coffee has deep notes of cocoa, caramel and a touch of sinister sweetness that makes it great hot or cold. Personally, I like to put a little milk in it when I'm drinking it hot, but it is amazing black and poured over ice. But now you can drink it too. And the only place you can find Weird Dark Roast Coffee is at WeirdDarkness.com. I'm so sure you'll love it that we've even set it up for you to get free delivery on your first order if you use the promo code Weird. This episode is dedicated to the men and women of our armed forces and first responders. Whether you are currently serving or have served in the past, you are appreciated. It is because of your courage and sacrifice that we enjoy the freedoms and liberties we hold dear. And I for one, appreciate every single one of you for protecting what many of us take for granted. So thank you. It may seem as if the wastelands of the deserts are completely devoid of life with their never-ending expanses of bleak scrub and sand dunes. This all appears as if it must be a barren realm that might as well be on another planet. Yet not only does life thrum here behind the scenes, eking out a living in these badlands, but there are also quite a few reports of mysterious creatures from here of a surprisingly humanoid nature. I'm Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness. Welcome, Weirdos. I'm Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness Radio, where every week you'll find stories of the paranormal, supernatural, legends, lore, the strange and bizarre, crime, conspiracy, mysterious, macabre, unsolved, and unexplained. Coming up this hour, no other epidemic or pandemic has claimed as many lives as the Spanish flu, not even the Black Death in the 14th century or AIDS in the 20th century. A hundred years later, why have we forgotten the deadliest pandemic in history? In 1803, London was seized by pure terror as sightings of a macabre-looking ghost haunted the area of Hammersmith. It would eventually end in bloody murder and set a legal precedent for crimes committed in self-defense. If I have time, I'll share the story of the haunting of 50 Berkeley Square, where to this day, a police notice stands on the walls inside the building that proclaims the upper floors cannot be used for any purpose. May all who see it heed its warning. But first, strange creatures have been reported being seen in deserts all around the world. Creatures almost, but not quite, human-like. What are they? And how do they survive in these barren wildernesses? We begin with that story. 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 in. Recommending Weird Darkness radio to others helps make it possible for me to keep doing the show. And while you're listening, be sure to follow Weird Darkness on Facebook and Twitter and visit WeirdDarkness.com to find the daily Weird Darkness podcast. Watch streaming B horror movies and horror hosts 24-7 for free. Listen to free audiobooks I've narrated. Send me your own true story of something paranormal that's happened to you or someone you know and more. You can find it all at WeirdDarkness.com. Now, bolt your doors, lock your windows, turn off your lights and come with me into the Weird Darkness. One of the most bizarre and unsolved cases of a desert humanoid creature of some sort is an enormous beast that has come to be known as the Yucca Man. The tales seem to originate in the 1960s in the vicinity of the 29 Palms Military Base located in the Mojave Desert of Southeastern California and Southern Nevada. Here, in this remote, desolate location, there would be a series of events that has remained unexplained for decades and which hints at some sort of desert roaming humanoid entity. The first sighting that really put the phenomenon on the map allegedly occurred in 1971, when a marine from the base who was on guard duty reported hearing something out in the desert scrub, which sounded like heavy breathing from some very large creature, as well as grunts and growls seemingly circling his guard station. When he warily went out to investigate, expecting to see some wild animal, he claimed to have been confronted with a gigantic, eight-foot-tall, hairy, ape-like creature with glowing red eyes. In some versions of this account, the marine is knocked down by the beast, only to awaken hours later and find his rifle twisted and bent like a pretzel. This would be far from the last time anyone would hear of this strange creature, with frequent reports of dogs going haywire and of hikers encountering a fetid stench beginning to come in at a steady rate in the following years. And there was a spate of such odd occurrences at Joshua Tree National Park throughout the early 70s, with numerous campers telling of a large beast rummaging through their campsites and even attempting to open their tents, as well as park employees telling of sighting monstrous man-like forms prowling the desert that were estimated as being up to 12 feet tall. There were also massive footprints found and several indistinct, predictably blurry pictures of the creature or creatures were taken. Such sightings made their way into several Southern California news publications at the time, and one June 1973 report from the Antelope Valley Daily Ledger Gazette described the creature and some reports thus. The creature likes to run around houses and leave footprints, that is its MO in the East Lancaster area, where footprints were found around several houses recently. One woman reported that the creature ran around her house and scratched at the door. A small boy sent to tell his father supper was ready, was found hours later crying near the corral. When asked what happened to him, he answered that a big furry man would not let him pass. In that year, 1973, there were many sightings of the creature in the area of Lancaster and the western Mojave Desert in California, such as a sighting made by three separate marines and other disparate witnesses as well. It got to the point where in this year there was a near tragedy when two search parties were out bigfoot hunting in the wake of the mysterious reports and almost opened fire on each other. Sightings continued and in 1979 there was an account given by an elderly couple who claimed that the beast had stepped right out in front of their car to tower over the vehicle before lumbering off into the night, leaving enormous tracks behind. In that same year, there were two additional sightings from Hemat, California of a massive 10-foot-tall creature that left behind footprints a foot and a half long. Around this time there was a string of sightings of all sorts of strange phenomena near the Edwards Air Force Base, about 22 miles northeast of Lancaster. Here there were numerous reports of base personnel sighting hulking humanoid figures in the dark, which allegedly used a series of underground tunnels to move about. Oddly there were many purported UFO sightings in the area at the same time, but whether or not this has any connection is unknown. One of the more far out reports from the base was collected by Bigfoot Researcher Edwards Bobby Ann Slate and concerned one of the creatures that apparently had bright blue eyes. The report was given by a base policeman who said, Heading back to the main base, I noticed maybe 200-300 yards to my left these large blue eyes. I do a lot of night hunting and it was strange. They were larger than anything I had ever seen before. The blue eyes had to be about 4 inches apart and 7 feet off the ground. I stopped the truck and sat there watching them. It was too dark to see any body shape to the thing. The blue glows proceeded toward my truck at a right angle for about 100 yards and then stopped. The movement of the eyes was extremely fast. Another thing that bothered me was that they didn't bob up and down. It was like the two lights on a wire moving from one point to another. This particular creature, nicknamed blue eyes, has apparently been regularly seen by base police and has been widely discussed amongst them right up to the present. Several other personnel at the remote desert base at the time also came forward to anonymously report that large, bigfoot-like creatures had been routinely spotted through night vision equipment skirting the perimeter of the base, often with red glowing eyes walking through it or even venturing into the many underground tunnels in the area. The witnesses explained that the presence of the creatures was officially classified and that they had been specifically ordered not to fire upon them. There had allegedly been several instances of catching the creatures on surveillance cameras at the base, but this footage was labeled as classified and never released to the public. It is not even necessarily bigfoot-like creatures that have been seen, as there are reports of indistinct shadowmen and even shape-changing entities from the base, as well as what seem to be just disembodied glowing eyes. What's going on here? Also from Southern California are more modern reports of some sort of hair-covered, semi-bipedal creature with glowing red eyes that has been seen loping or running along at high speeds along Highway 14 and which has come to be called the Sierra Highway Devil. Another odd red-eyed humanoid monstrosity from the same area is what has come to be called the Cement Monster, named for its appearance at a concrete mine near Big Bear Lake owned by the Mitsubishi Cement Corporation. In 1988, the beast was seen by two U.S. Marines who were on their way home from a skiing trip to the area when they saw the creature looming over an abandoned strip mine in the area. One of the witnesses, Ken Cross, would tell researcher Douglas E. Trapp, thus. From the left side of the road, something very large seemed to stand up on two legs and run across the road. The bottom half looked human, covered with hair. The top half wasn't very visible but appeared monstrous, scary in other words. The headlights only got the bottom half and the damn thing ran out about 150 feet in front of us. It made it across the road in three strides. I distinctively remember seeing the arms pumping back and forth just like any of us would do if sprinting across the road in front of a car. It appeared to be eight feet tall. In a sunscorched, burning wilderness of a place called Borrego Sink, 45 miles southeast of Borrego Springs, California, there have been reported terrifying encounters between man and mystery beast. The desert may seem to be a strange place to find Bigfoot, but not only have they been reported in this savage wasteland, but they seem to be of a rather aggressive variety, especially the ones that have come to be known as the Borrego Sasquatch. One such incident occurred in 1939 when a man was camping alone in one of the many dry gulches of the area. The man was awoken in the middle of the night by a band of two-legged, hairy creatures stalking about his camp on the fringes of the camp fire's light. The beasts were described as having white or silver fur and possessed piercing red eyes that glowed in the dark. The pack of creatures circled the camp menacingly for some time, but seemed to be somewhat afraid of the fire and kept their distance until they finally slunk off back into the desert. Thirty years later, in the same region, a man by the name of Harold Lancaster had his own frightening encounter as he was camping in the sink. Lancaster described how an enormous, hair-covered bipedal creature stalked out of the wilderness and lumbered straight towards him in an intimidating manner. The man, fearing he was about to be attacked, fired his revolver into the air in an effort to scare the monster away. Whatever the creature was, the gunshots did the trick, and the thing reportedly jumped around three feet into the air before glaring at Lancaster and running off into the brush. Borgo Sink is not the only place in the desert with its share of ominous man beasts. In a place called Dead Man's Hole located seven miles from Warner Springs on Highway 79, a string of vicious, unsolved murders occurred back in the 19th century that have long been blamed on a malicious, marauding Sasquatch. In 1858, the first victim was killed under mysterious circumstances, followed by more slayings over the years, a Frenchman who was slaughtered in his cabin, a prospector named David Blair who was killed by what looked like a knife attack, and a woman named Belinda who was strangled and mutilated. The story may have just been shocked up to an insane killer on the rampage had it not been for a curious story that surfaced in 1888. Two hunters were out hunting in an area known as Dark Canyon when they came across a cave full of the scattered remains of various mutilated animals. As they investigated the cave, the hunters reported being attacked by a huge, man-like beast covered in matted black hair with huge hands and feet. According to the hunters, they opened fire on the beast and killed it, after which its body was apparently moved to San Diego and shown to police. At the time, a paper called The San Diego Union ran the story and claimed that the rampaging mystery creature had been the one responsible for the murders, causing quite a public stir in the process. Oddly, the paper ran the story the following day, dismissing the article as a mere April Fools joke. It is unknown if there was ever really a body or if the creature really existed, but what is known is that the mysterious murders still remain unsolved. Another strange case involving some sort of humanoid creature comes from the deserts of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. At the end of 1989 and the beginning of 1990, a group of teenagers were on a mission to explore the caves of a place called Cerro Pajarito, when they came across something that would haunt them for the rest of their lives. As the group was exploring one of the caves, they came upon the discovery of a dead deer and doe that were freshly killed and exhibited three odd perforations on their necks that formed a triangular pattern. In the surrounding area, there were footprints that looked like those of a puma, but it soon became apparent that no puma had done this. The group suddenly heard blood-curdling squealing sounds and the air became pervaded by a stench described as smelling like burning wood. The terrified group of teenagers looked and saw a hunched-over humanoid figure crouched upon a rock outcropping about 15 meters away from them. The creature apparently started bounding toward them and one from the group emptied his pistol at it, although the bullets seemed to have no effect. As the panicked group turned tail and ran for dear life, they reported passing yet another humanoid creature that was described as being metallic green in color and standing only 80 cm high. What could this have possibly been? Nobody knows. The desert is indeed a very isolated domain of intense natural beauty and solitude. Anyone who has been there can attest to that. There is just something about these places that holds to it a certain mystique and allure that is hard to pinpoint and there are vast mysteries lurking here. What are these humanoid entities that we have looked at here? How or why do they manage to remain in this forbidding landscape? Are these cryptids? Some sort of desert Sasquatch? Are they ghosts? Demons? Interdimensional travelers or something else? No one knows and they serve to add to the allure of these oft-forgotten and avoided places. When Weird Darkness returns, no other epidemic or pandemic has claimed as many lives as the Spanish flu, not even the Black Death in the 14th century or AIDS in the 20th century. A hundred years later, why have we forgotten the deadliest pandemic in history? Coming up. Remember staying up late on a Friday or Saturday night, either at home or at a friend's house and watching your local TV station's horror host presenting a terrible B movie with aliens, monsters, ghosts, alien monster ghosts, vampires, werewolves and all other kinds of crazy creepy characters? Those were fun nights, weren't they? That's what the Weirdo Watch Party page at WeirdDarkness.com has to offer. All day, every day. Thanks to our friends at the Monster Channel, you can visit WeirdDarkness.com slash Watch Party right after listening to this episode and immediately be entertained by a horror host and horrible movie. Or should I say, horror-a-bull movie. And not only can you watch the B movies and horror hosts streaming there 24-7, but once a month we all gather together to watch a movie and talk about it in the chat room on that same page. Get your frights and funnies on the Weirdo Watch Party page at WeirdDarkness.com. I'm Darren Marlar. Welcome back to Weird Darkness. If you like the show and you'd like to hear even more, you can check out the free audiobooks that I've narrated at WeirdDarkness.com. I've got free audiobooks there by Stephen King, HP Lovecraft, Charles Dickens, Robert Heinlein and many more. You can listen to all of the free audiobooks I've narrated on the audiobooks page at WeirdDarkness.com. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash audiobooks. In a single day, physician Victor Vaughn witnessed 63 soldiers die. Though it was 1918 and World War I still raged in Europe, these men had not been shot in the trenches or poisoned by mustard gas. They had died from an infection just outside of Boston at Camp Devons, and the disease was spreading. By late fall of that year, Vaughn solemnly stated, if the epidemic continues its mathematical rate of acceleration, civilization could easily disappear from the face of the earth. Humanity did not perish that year, yet it's easy to understand why Vaughn thought it could. International death toll estimates for the Spanish flu pandemic, that is a global epidemic, range between 20 to 100 million, or about 5% of the world's population, with cases on five continents. These fatalities included an estimated 675,000 Americans, or 10 times as many as who died in World War I. On the centennial of this health disaster, it's worth asking, why isn't the 1918 flu better remembered? Lost scars are family trees. The visuals of that year remain haunting with faces hidden by protective masks, and the streets left deserted as crowds became associated with death. Schools, theaters, and even churches were shuttered as people waited for the illness to pass. Schools and private homes were turned into makeshift hospitals, while a popular ski rope rhyme was ominously sung by children. I had a little bird, its name was Enza, I opened the window, and in flew Enza. Austrian painter Gustav Klimt, his protege, Egon Schuyl, and French poet Guillaume Apollinaire all died from the 1918 flu. Edward Monk painted a self-portrait after the Spanish flu in 1919, in which he is gazing haggardly at the viewer, drained but still alive. Even President Woodrow Wilson got the flu, its symptoms taking their toll as he participated in the 1919 negotiation of the Treaty of Versailles. Rich or poor, rural or city dweller, no one was safe from the Spanish flu. In Pale Rider, the Spanish flu of 1918 and how it changed the world, Laura Spinney notes that there are very few cemeteries in the world that, assuming they are older than a century, don't contain a cluster of graves from the autumn of 1918, when the second and worst wave of the pandemic struck, and people's memories reflect that. But there is no cenotaph, no monument in London, Moscow, or Washington DC. The Spanish flu is remembered personally, not collectively. There were three waves of the Spanish flu, with two in 1918 and a third in early 1919. Spanish flu is something of a misnomer. The countries involved in World War I were reluctant to publicize their own struggles with influenza, lest they be perceived as weak. Spain, however, was neutral and didn't censor this news. Scientists and researchers have theorized for years over the actual origin of the disease, from Camp Funston in Kansas to China, with no consensus, except that it was not Spain. Wartime restrictions on communication had deadly effects, including in the U.S. President Wilson's Committee on Public Information and the Sedition Act passed by Congress both limited writing or publishing anything negative about the country. Federally-issued posters asked the public to report the man who spreads pessimistic stories. John M. Berry, author of The Great Influenza, The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History, writes in an article for Smithsonian Magazine about a particularly tragic consequence of this militant protection of morale. In Philadelphia, doctors pushed for the Liberty Loan Parade on September 28 to be canceled as they were concerned the concentration of people would spur the disease. They convinced reporters to write stories about the danger, Berry writes, but editors refused to run them and refused to print letters from doctors. The largest parade in Philadelphia's history proceeded on schedule. Two days later, the epidemic had indeed spread, and over just six weeks, more than 12,000 citizens of Philadelphia died. The Spanish Flu is now identified as a form of H1N1 influenza. It still has outbreaks, but the clustering of soldiers in camps, the density of urban areas and the newly global connections of ships, railroads and other transportation meant it had prime conditions for a pandemic in 1918. This was also before flu vaccines and treatment options were limited. Eating or wearing onions, drinking whiskey and praying were some available prescriptions. Posters issued by Alberta Canada's Provincial Board warned there is no medicine which will prevent it, and instead gave instructions on how to make a mask. A U.S. public health ad declared the disease as dangerous as poison gas shells. Shaking hands, borrowing books from the library and spitting on the street were all warned against. In New York City, Boy Scouts patrolled the streets, handing spitters printed cards that read, You Are in Violation of the Sanitary Code. Many infected people got better. Many did not. In the book, Flu, the story of the great influenza pandemic of 1918 and the search for the virus that caused it, geniculata relates the grisly death by Spanish Flu. Your face turns a dark brownish-purple. You start to cough up blood. Your feet turn black. Finally, as the end nears, you frantically gasp for breath. A blood-tinged saliva bubbles out of your mouth. You die by drowning, actually, as your lungs fill with a reddish fluid. And a significant number of the dead were not young or elderly. They were in the prime of their lives, between 20 to 40 years old, and generally healthy before they caught the flu. As the sickness accelerated, there was a desperate need for doctors and nurses, many of whom were occupied by the war effort. Medical workers often contracted the flu themselves, and there was reluctance to volunteer around this contagious disease. Then another crisis emerged, how to bury the dead. Alfred W. Crosby, in America's Forgotten Pandemic, the Influenza of 1918, chronicles the burial crisis in Philadelphia, where by mid-October the problem of first priority was not a shortage of volunteers to keep the living alive, but the inadequacy of existing means to put the dead into the ground. There weren't enough coffins, and gravediggers couldn't keep up. One manufacturer said he could dispose of 5,000 caskets in two hours if he had them. At times, the city morgue had as many as 10 times as many bodies as coffins. At Dublin Union Hospital in Ireland, coffins were stacked 18 high in the mortuary at the pandemic's peak. In Spain, the usual two to three day-long funeral ceremonies were suspended, and village church bells, which had told for the dead since the 16th century, were stopped in order to not further demoralize the population. In Oklahoma City, on the Sunday of October 13, the church bells were also eerily silent, as the city commissioners shut down the schools, churches, and any public space where the disease could spread. Just as World War I was splitting countries apart, the earth was united under a dark shadow of death. Some places were hit worse than others. In western Samoa, now part of the independent state of Samoa, an estimated 22% of the population died. Maury people in New Zealand also suffered, with a death rate of about 50 per 1,000. Maurer Elder, Weena Cooper, as quoted on the New Zealand History site, later described the horror at Pangru Hokeonja, My father was the first to die. I couldn't do anything for him. I remember we put him in a coffin like a box. There were many others. You could see them on the roads, on the sledges, the ones that are able to drag them away, dragged them away to the cemetery. No time for tanges, the maury funeral rite. These cemeteries, whether in New Zealand or Kansas, are where we can remember the Spanish Flu. There is no major Spanish Flu monument, no Spanish Flu museum. It's likely you didn't learn about the Spanish Flu at school, even while studying the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in World War I. Go for a walk in your old local cemetery. Read the tombstones. Look for dates in 1918. You might find whole families who died within days, or maybe one big monument for a large field of grass under which hundreds were interred when there was no time for individual headstones. There were unmarked mass graves dug for the pandemic's dead. One was found during 2015 road construction in Pennsylvania, but many came to rest in these cemeteries and are still there to discover and recall what popular history has forgotten. No other epidemic or pandemic has claimed as many lives as the Spanish Flu, not even the Black Death in the 14th century, or AIDS in the 20th century. Its obscurity may be an urge to move on from this massive, seemingly inexplicable catastrophe. The individual losses were mourned, not the collective toll. Yet collectively is how people can make it through these disasters in the future, whether it's getting a flu shot or supporting accessible healthcare to support a healthy whole. A flu pandemic could happen again, and unlike in wars, there are no winners in pandemics. Only survivors. When Weird Darkness Returns, in 1803 London was seized by horror as sightings of a macabre-looking ghost haunted the area of Hammersmith. It would eventually end in bloody murder and set a legal precedent for crimes committed in self-defense. That story is up next. The page even includes text numbers for those in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, and Ireland. Those struggling with depression can get help through the Seven Cups website and app, and there's information for anyone to read more about what depression truly is and how to identify it through our friends at ifred.org. There are resources for those who battle addictions, be it drugs, alcohol, or self-destructive behavior, along with help for those related to addicts. The page has links to help you find a therapist or counselor, to find help for those who have a family member with Alzheimer's or dementia, help for those in a crisis pregnancy, and more. These resources are always there when you or someone you love needs them on the Hope in the Darkness page at WeirdDarkness.com. Through November and December of 1803, London was seized by pure terror. The Hammersmith District had been plagued with sightings of a macabre-looking ghost. Every night, reports of a malevolent apparition flooded the police station. According to most accounts, the specter was determined to frighten anyone nearby. It was described as wearing a white shroud or calfskin and having large, glassy eyes. One of the most alarming encounters concerned an elderly woman and her younger pregnant friend. The two women were allegedly so scared upon seeing a ghost, they died of fright in their beds a few days later. Another sighting occurred and caused a wagoner to lose control of his horses. His 16 passengers were injured. Finally, a brewer named Thomas Groom claimed to be strangled from behind while strolling through a churchyard. After grappling with his assailant, Groom turned around in time to see the ghost vanish behind a row of tombstones. Local speculation eventually traced the ghost to the restless spirits of a man who had slashed his own throat 12 months prior. As a suicide case, his soul was unable to rest peacefully, so the theory went. But skeptics in the village believed they were being victimized by a prankster and quickly formed a vigilante group. On December 29, members of the group, including night watchman William Gurdler, spotted a shrouded figure lurking about the area. The group gave chase. Halfway into their pursuit, the figure dropped his shroud and escaped. Four days later, everything changed. Thomas Millwood, a 32-year-old plasterer, was returning home along Black Lion Lane on the evening of January 3, 1804. Having just come from his parents' home, Millwood was still wearing his white workloads, an apron, waistcoat, and trousers. One of the vigilantes named Francis Smith spotted Millwood and immediately shouted, damn you, who are you and what do you want, I'll shoot you if you don't speak. Without waiting for a response, Smith fired two gunshots, one of which hit Millwood in the face, killing him instantly. Hearing the shots from her house, Ann Millwood called out her brother's name in the street, but did not get an answer. She ran into the direction of Black Lion Lane and found him sprawled across the ground, covered in blood. Once it became evident that Millwood was the victim of a mistaken identity and that Smith had fired his gun in haste, Smith surrendered to police. Millwood's body was taken to the Black Lion Inn and examined by a local surgeon, where it was confirmed that a bullet wound to the lower left jaw and subsequent spinal damage had been the cause of his death. Two days later, a man named John Graham came forward and admitted to being the Hammersmith, Ghost. Graham stated that he'd created the ruse to scare his apprentices who had been frightening his children with ghost stories. Still, his reasoning did not explain why unrelated people had been attacked. Unsure about how to deal with him, the judges granted him bail while they deliberated. No records of further legal action against Graham exist. At a coroner's inquest, Francis Smith was deemed responsible and sent to Newgate Prison to await trial. A week later, Smith pled not guilty, despite admitting to firing the shot. Because no one had actually witnessed the shooting, there was a greater burden of proof on the prosecution. Smith compounded his plea by justifying his actions as self-defense. Several character witnesses attested to Smith's good standing. Surprisingly, Millwood's mother-in-law, Phoebe Fullbrook, testified that Millwood was aware of the Hammersmith Ghost and that she had warned him against wearing white clothing in the street at night. She further testified that he ignored her suggestion. After a lengthy analysis of the facts, the Lord Chief Barron leaned toward conviction. He reminded the jury that Smith was not acting in self-defense and that the shooting was not accidental. Taking this into account, the jury found Smith guilty of manslaughter, but the Lord Chief Barron would not accept the verdict. Instead, two additional judges, Justice Rook and Justice Lawrence, spoke to the jury and implored them to reconsider. The jury held a second meeting and subsequently found Smith guilty of murder. He was sentenced to be hanged and dissected the following Monday. Crying hysterically, Smith collapsed and had to be carried out of the courtroom. The Lord Chief Barron, either in a moment of compassion or in recognition of the public backlash that might ensue, referred Smith's punishment to King George III. That evening, the King commuted Smith's death sentence to one year of imprisonment with hard labor. On July 14th, 1804, he received a full pardon. In the years that followed, the Hammersmith-Ghost case, similar instances of mistaken identity, were brought to trial. It was determined that there was little defense for a person who committed a violent crime while actually believing they were acting in good faith. This legal haziness would not be settled until 180 years later, in 1984, when Regina versus Williams was brought to the Court of Appeal. Though the Hammersmith-Ghost and Thomas Millwood have long since disappeared from view, local legend maintains that Millwood's spirit is not at peace. Every 50 years, his ghost is said to appear in the bar that now stands on the location of his death. Ironically, the very man gunned down because he appeared as a ghost is now said to haunt the sight where he died. Thanks for listening. I don't have time tonight for the haunting of 50 Berkeley Square, so I'll include that in tonight's Sudden Death Overtime content, which you can hear in the podcast version of tonight's show that'll post later tonight. Also, I'll share a story by weirdo family member Cassie Murphy, who relates what happened when she took her young daughter sightseeing in a ghost town. That's in tonight's Sudden Death Overtime content in the podcast, which I'll upload after tonight's show. You can subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcast app at weirddarkness.com slash listen. You can follow the show on Facebook and Twitter, just look for Weird Darkness, and please tell others about Weird Darkness Radio, who love the paranormal or strange stories, true crime, monsters or unsolved mysteries like you do. Doing that helps make it possible for me to keep doing the show. And if you'd like to be a part of the show, you can send in your own paranormal experiences by clicking on tell your story at weirddarkness.com. You can also email me anytime at darren at weirddarkness.com. Darren is D-A-R-R-E-N. All stories in Weird Darkness are purported to be true unless stated otherwise, and you can find links to the stories or the authors in the show notes, which I'll upload to the Weird Darkness website immediately after tonight's show has ended. Desert Humanoids was written by Brent Swancer for Mysterious Universe. The London haunting that led to murder is from the lineup, and The Forgotten Year of Death was written by Allison C. Meyer for The Order of the Good Death. Weird Darkness is a registered trademark, copyright Weird Darkness. And now that we're coming out of the dark, I'll leave you with a little light. James 1, verse 22, Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial, because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. At a final thought, develop an attitude of gratitude. Say thank you to everyone you meet, or everything they do for you. Brian Tracey I'm Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me in the Weird Darkness. Don't go anywhere, weirdos, because sudden death over time is up next. The late Georgian façade of 50 Berkeley Square seems harmless enough, but it was once known as the most haunted home in all of London. Today is better known for being one of the oldest unaltered buildings in England's capital city. Although its reputation may have faded, this four-story townhouse was at the center of stories about a nameless horror that took the lives of the foolhardy and unlucky alike. To this day, visitors are warned away from the topmost floor and the dangers that still dwell within. The brickwork building at 50 Berkeley Square was designed and built by William Kent in the late 18th century as one of many in the well-to-do Mayfair area. Almost immediately, neighbors began telling stories about its sinister residents. The most common story was of a young woman named Adeline who jumped from the uppermost floors to escape her abusive uncle. From then on, people would see her white figure throwing herself from the top floor window before falling and disappearing. Other stories arose about a Mr. Dupre, who locked his mad brother in the attic room and kept him there, feeding him through a hole in the door. Later, residents reported seeing the spirit of a little girl in the attic as well, who'd supposedly been killed by a sadistic servant. The first long-term resident of 50 Berkeley Square was Prime Minister George Canning, who lived there until his death in 1827. Canning was the first to experience the haunting in the form of inexplicable sounds and psychic phenomena. After his death, people moved in and out of the house through the 1850s. However, at this point, the house came to life when a maid who spent the night on the top floor was found screaming the next morning, her face a mask of fear. She survived, but later passed away at a sanitarium. Rumors began to circulate around London that only the bravest of souls would dare to spend the night in the haunted house. Shortly thereafter, a young man with no fear of ghosts offered to stay the night. After setting up a bell system, one ring for fear, two rings for help, the man went to sleep. But after the bell began shaking rapidly, he was found dead of fright. Eventually, an elderly woman named Miss Curzon calmly passed away the last of her days in the sinister townhouse. But the horror at 50 Berkeley Square was merely lurking in the shadows, waiting for the discount bearstead to purchase and leased it to a young man on the verge of marriage named Mr. Myers. After his fiancé jilted Myers, the gentleman isolated himself in the home he'd furnished for her and became a recluse. On occasion, neighbors saw him taking walks at night, his lone candlelight drifting from room to room. It's unclear what happened to Myers, but soon enough the former prime minister's home had become derelict, with a reputation as the haunted house in Berkeley Square. In 1872, the aristocrat, Lord Littleton, decided to stay the night and brought his shotgun with him. He claimed to have fired at a brown mass of tendrils in the shadows, but there was no trace of it in the morning. In 1873, the local council summoned its owners over back taxes. When neither Myers nor Bearstead came forth, the townhouse's formidable reputation led to the charges being dropped, and the building lay vacant for years. In the meantime, neighbors reported unearthly moans and screams, along with the sounds of furniture being dragged, bells ringing and windows slamming. Despite its grimy brickwork and piles of waste, 50 Berkeley Square was purchased by a man and his two teenage daughters in 1879. Upon moving in, the eldest daughter noted a musty smell like zoo animals in their cages. During preparations for the arrival of her betrothed, a captain Kentfield, a maid servant was found collapsed and in hysterics in the guest room, the same haunted room on the top floor. She reportedly cried, don't let it touch me over and over before being sent to a sanitarium. Meanwhile, only a half hour after the captain's arrival, screams and a gunshot were heard before he was discovered dead afright. An article in the Mayfair magazine recounted the entire affair, and the nameless horror was soon known throughout the United Kingdom. By the late 19th century, the haunted townhouse had been long abandoned. Unfortunately, two sailors on leave from the HMS Penelope on Christmas Eve, 1887, could not have known what awaited them in its dark interiors. Edward Blunden and Robert Martin were merely looking for a place to spend the night after a night of celebration that left them bereft of money for lodging. The two stumbled upon 50 Berkeley Square and settled into one of the upper bedrooms. At some point, Blunden began hearing ghostly footsteps before Myers' menacing ghost entered their room. Martin awoke to his compatriot and snared by spectral tendrils and dashed from the room. Upon his return with the authorities, they discovered Blunden dead. Although the story has changed over time, with some claiming the sailor was dismembered in the basement or impaled on a fence, the horror had taken its last life. For now. Since the death of Robert Martin, only an elderly couple and an antiquarian book dealer have inhabited the Sinister House at 50 Berkeley Square. With the closing of Mags Bros. Antiquarian Book Dealers in 2015, though, the stories have returned of objects tossed about or of a shapeless brown mist that reaches from the shadows. To this day, a police notice stands on the wall inside the townhouse that proclaims that the upper floors cannot be used for any purpose. May all who see it heed its warning. This next story is from Weirdo family member Cassie Murphy. So this happened about 10 years ago now. I have to start by saying I am a mother of two beautiful girls, both born by C-section. I know, a strange detail, but it is important. When my eldest daughter was around three, a friend and I decided to take both girls to a ghost town near the little town we lived in, in Idaho. Everything was going great, most of the buildings were roped off, so you really couldn't get too close to anything. It hadn't been a ghost town for very long. In the window of one of the houses was a land before time VHS tape, but it was fun. We were almost done walking through the paths when my little blonde baby looked at me and said, you are not my mom. I told her I am your mom, I have the scars to prove it. She looked back at me and then said, my mom and dad were shot by bad guys. She looked so serious for a three-year-old. I picked her up and hugged her and reassured her I really am her mother. Then I got the creepy baby out of the ghost town as fast as I could. Took me another ten years before I would let her anywhere near another ghost town. This last time went by with no creepy incidents, but I will never forget hearing my baby tell me that I am not her mother. Still gives me the shivers. When Salem Roanoke took a job near his family's new home as a hired hand in the Texas Hill Country, he anticipated learning the ranchers' trade, but a series of strange events, shocking murders, and unholy revelations divert him down another path. This terrifying trajectory puts him directly into the middle of a struggle between monsters, magic, and men. Armed and backed by a militia of ranchers, Salem attempts to combat the creeping tide of evil that threatens to engulf his new home and destroy the people most important to him. Will Salem manage to save his home or have his actions condemn everyone he hopes to save? The Witch Trials, A Summer of Wolves and Season of the Witch by SR Roanoke, available in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. Look for The Witch Trials by SR Roanoke on Amazon, or find it on the audiobooks page at WeirdDarkness.com. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash audiobooks. And click the notification bell so you don't miss future videos. I post videos seven days a week, and 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 slash listen.