 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... In 1938, stories of a killer ghost began to be told in eastern Kentucky. Even though no one ever saw this malevolent apparition, it was said to have caused five very similar and unexplained deaths. Is it possible that in 1927 we picked up signals from an artificial satellite sent to our planet by an extraterrestrial intelligence? Some believe the evidence is overwhelming. When a great famine struck Europe in 1314, mothers abandoned their children and in some cases even ate them. Could this be the gruesome beginnings of the story we know as Hansel and Gretel? But first, I doubt there is a single person over the age of 12 living in the modernized world that hasn't at least heard of Big Foot. A large portion of them have probably heard its other name, Sasquatch. But far fewer are familiar with his even more reclusive Siberian cousin, the Russian Big Foot that we've come to know as the Yeti, or more fondly, the Abominable Snowman. We'll 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 to others helps make it possible for me to keep doing the show. And while you're listening, be sure to visit WeirdDarkness.com and click on Contact Social to follow Weird Darkness on social media. And also on the website you can find the daily Weird Darkness podcast, which comes out seven days per week. You can enter monthly contests, find Weird Darkness merchandise, and more. You can even send in your own true story of something paranormal that has happened to you or someone you know. 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. While research into the Yeti, or Abominable Snowman, often falls into the category of the Russian Big Foot. In all likelihood, the almost identical creatures from the Himalayas and mountainous regions of Asia, including parts of China and even Japan, are likely the same creature. For our purposes here, we will examine accounts from all of these regions. After all, such a creature as Big Foot is unlikely to be respectful of international boundaries. It is also worth noting that for a large chunk of the 20th century, the Soviet Union was essentially in control of much more territory than it is now. While many people dismiss claims of Big Foot encounters, there is perhaps much more to examine in them than we might think. In fact, even Sir David Attenborough, after pointing to several discoveries of fossils with huge molars, stated that he believed the Abominable Snowman may be real. And once more, he pointed to the Himalayas and the immense Rotodendron Forest that goes on for hundreds of square miles could hold the Yeti. He would continue that, if there are some alive and you walked by their habitat, you can bet these creatures may be aware of you, but you wouldn't be aware of them. It is arguably a certainty that a connection exists between the Big Foot or Sasquatch creatures of the North American continent and the Yetis of the Siberian and Asian regions. And while many Big Foot researchers concentrate on the sightings in North America, there is an abundance of encounters of strange, hairy, beast-like creatures in the mountains and woodlands on the other side of the world. And what's more, they stretch back hundreds of years at the very least. It is perhaps best that we remind ourselves briefly of how the idea of a Russian Big Foot and the connection to the Abominable Snowman first entered the public arena, at least in a widespread sense in the 1950s. You may know of the photographs of English Mountaineer Eric Shipton, who in 1951, while leading a research mission to Mount Everest, discovered a particularly large human-like footprint in the snow. And what's more, this discovery came somewhere in the region of 20,000 feet above sea level. He would not only photograph them, but would do so with his pickaxe beside them, so as to leave no debate as to the true size of them. These pictures would ignite an interest in the wider public arena after sightings until that point, as we shall discover, were largely kept within the realms of those with an interest in such matters. Further discoveries of these strange footprints would surface in various publications over the years that would follow. Perhaps one of the most intriguing was that led by John Anglo Jackson for the 1954 Daily Mail Snowman expedition. He would photograph similar footprints, as well as discovering strange depictions of the apparent Yeti from ancient times that suggested these creatures had roamed this terrain for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years. The Dyatlov Pass incident, the deaths of nine experienced mountain hikers in the most mysterious of circumstances, is also worth touching on, as there are some apparent connections to this beast-like creature and the grim fate of the unfortunate hikers. Perhaps the most compelling connection is one of the photographs discovered on one of the hikers' cameras. It has since become known as Frame 17. I'll link to the photo in the show notes. This picture shows a figure seemingly looking down on the group and watching them. While many have stated that it appears to show nothing more than a person in a hooded coat, most likely one of the hikers themselves, others point to the genuine Bigfoot-like appearance. It is easy to dismiss such claims. However, when we know that the region of the mountains the hikers were in has a long history of Bigfoot sightings, both before and after the Dyatlov Pass incident, then such assertions appear a little more credible, if only slightly. In fact, the Monsi people who have lived in the region for centuries speak of a beast-like creature almost identical to what we would recognize as a Bigfoot called a Mank. However, this creature is not merely a flesh-in-blood creature, but a supernatural being. What's interesting here is that some researchers have also pointed to a supernatural connection to the Bigfoot sightings of North America. And even more intriguing, many of the native tribes of the continent, like the Monsi people, also speak of a creature very similar to the Mank. We have Yeti more to come about the abominable snowman when Weird Darkness returns, and I apologize for that horrible pun. Although they are not as widely known, there are plenty of accounts of the Yeti that go back to at least the early 1800s, with some going back even further than that. One of these can be found in the book Yeti, Sasquatch and Harry Giants by David Hatcher Children's, which I have placed the Amazon link to in the essential web links section of the show notes. The account in question goes all the way back to the time of Alexander the Great in 326 B.C. during his invasion of India. While documenting a journey to the Indus River, the ancient writing, Anabasis Alexandri, book 8 by Arian, speaks of a battle with hairy men in a region called Tamaris. These natives were first noticed along the bank of the water living in stifling cabins. Following a battle during which several of these natives were captured, many escaped to the hills, it was noted that they were hairy, not only their heads but the rest of their bodies. Furthermore, they had nails rather like beasts claws. It was also noted that they wore skins of animals for clothing. There is also a similar description to be found in the writings of Claudius Elianus in the book De Natura and Emelium on the nature of animals, who wrote in the early 200s B.C. of a Yeti-like creature in the mountains and valleys of India. He refers to these creatures as the cedars and describes them as being covered with shaggy hair. He elaborates that when left to themselves, they stay in the forest and eat tree sprouts. However, upon hearing the approach of people, they run with incredible speed to hide in mountain caves. Perhaps of most interest is the line that they, quote, repel approaching humans by hurling stones down at them, unquote. Many accounts of Bigfoot's and Yeti's feature this particular detail. In the book, Bigfoot and other mysterious creatures by Rupert Matthews, which I'll place a link to in the essential web links section of the show notes as well, and much more recently, comparatively speaking, we can find further accounts. For example, respected hill-walker B.H. Hodgson would tell of an account that unfolded in Nepal in 1825. Although he didn't see the creature himself, his porters would report to him of seeing a tall creature covered with long, dark hair. Once this unnerving beast noticed it was being watched, it bounded off in apparent fear. Another account comes from the mountains of Sikkim in Northern India in 1889. According to Major L.A. Waddle, while on an expedition to map the region, he suddenly noticed footprints that seemed to be those of a bare-footed man with enormous feet. When he consulted with his guide of the region, he was informed that they were the footprints of the wild hairy man, and perhaps more worrying that they should cease following them and leave the area. A similar incident unfolded in the 1890s, although it remained out of the public arena for three decades when the Times received a letter telling of it in the 1920s. The letter came from one William Knight who was in Sikkim traveling from Tantok to Sadanshin. During this journey he decided to stop for a moment in order to allow his horse to rest. It was then that he heard something behind him, seemingly coming from the woodland behind where he sat. He would write in the letter that some twenty paces away he noticed a strange creature that he immediately assumed was one of the hairy men that the Tibetans call the Abominable Snowman. He would estimate the creature was over six feet tall and unclothed in spite of the bitter cold. Although he would describe the creature as one of the hairy men, he also claimed that this creature had pale yellow skin with significantly more hair on the head than elsewhere on the body. Knight would also state that this figure had some form of primitive bow in his hand. He would continue to watch the figure for around five minutes until it suddenly took off down the hill at tremendous speed. Whether what Knight witnessed was a bigfoot-like creature or whether, as Matthews wrote, was in fact one of the unfortunate individuals that are driven from their families and villages to live wild and solitary lives in the wilderness or not is perhaps open to debate, although in this case the latter is indeed more likely. There are further accounts from the early years of the 20th century. For example, at some time in the opening years of the 1900s an incident is on record involving the daughter of a colonial military officer, Mary MacDonald. On this particular day along with a team of porters she was walking along a mountain trail near the Tibetan border. Suddenly the serene atmosphere of the environment was interrupted by a loud cry that ended on a monstrous growl. The perplexed young woman immediately turned around to ask her guide what the noise was. However, upon doing so she saw the team of porters running in the opposite direction. The equipment they were carrying abandoned on the spot. She reached for one of the guns and then set off in the same direction as the porter team. When they felt they were sufficiently enough away the men informed MacDonald that the call belonged to Mekongmi, which translated meant bad man of the snow. This name would come up again around 20 years later, only this time the translation arrived at was slightly different and it would stick. While looking to scout out Mount Everest, Colonel Howard Burry was informed by his guide team of the same creature upon discovering huge human-like footprints in the snow. However, Howard Burry would translate the name as Abominable Snowman. By the time the name appeared in print it was almost an automatic moniker in the northern regions of India among English-speaking communities. Of course as we know several decades later upon the discovery of the footprints by Eric Shipton the name would reach a much wider audience. In his book, Yeti, The Abominable History by Graham Hoylund, which I have also linked to, Hoylund recounts another intriguing encounter that occurred in 1925 when Narek Tambazi was studying glaciers in northern Sikkim. While doing so he suddenly noticed a strange human-like figure below him around 300 yards away. However, it was completely covered in hair. It appeared to be looking for vegetation to eat, even pulling up a small bush in order to gnaw at the roots. After the creature had disappeared back into the woodland, Tambazi and members of his team went to the location where the creature was spotted. They would discover large footprints in the snow. Although Tambazi would ultimately decide that the creature must have been a wandering pilgrim, it was obvious that the more Western explorers ventured into these seemingly uninhabited terrains that sightings of the strange hairy creatures appeared to increase. In fact, as the 1920s and 30s unfolded, there was a quiet interest in the strange beast-like creatures that walked these Eurasia regions. However, the outbreak of the Second World War suddenly halted such interest. And while as we know some researchers returned as the 1950s got underway, the height of public interest did not return to the levels before the war. While we have examined some of the better known incidents and discoveries up to the 1950s, sightings of the Yeti would continue as the decades went on. For example, in 1970, while camping on an open slope at some 13,000 feet, Don Willins noticed a strange creature appear from out of the woodland nearby. As the night was a clear one, he had no trouble at all seeing the incident unfold under the moonlight, even though he used his binoculars to do so. He would state that this creature, while as tall as an average person, was much wider and heavy set and covered in fur or hair. What's more, it moved around at a considerable pace using all fours like a monkey. He continued to watch for around an hour before the creature suddenly disappeared into the woodlands from where it had first emerged. A similar incident occurred in 1972, this time in the Arun Valley. One evening in the campsite of a zoological research team, a strange, hairy creature appeared out of nowhere during the evening, roaming between the tents. Each member of the research team believed that the creature was likely a bear, so they remained still, waiting for it to lose interest and leave. When they finally emerged from the tents, though, the large footprints left in the ground were far from bear-like. Perhaps an even spookier incident occurred a little after a decade later, in 1984, when mountaineer David Shepard noticed a strange, human-like figure covered in hair, seemingly following him for some time. Of course, these sightings have continued right into the modern age, and as technology gets better, the chances to capture these strange creatures on video or photograph increases. There have been many modern incidents and sightings of yetis and bigfoot creatures throughout the Eurasia region, many of which have been captured on video. One of the most recent went particularly viral on social media when a couple on a skiing holiday accidentally filmed a tall, hairy, human-like figure emerge suddenly from a group of trees before disappearing again just as quickly. There continue to be discoveries of giant-like footprints in the snow, some of which stretch for a considerable distance before suddenly disappearing, as if the creature that made them simply vanished into thin air. Following the wealth of accounts of which we have looked at only a small handful, what should we make of the yeti? It is perhaps worth our time turning to the extensive work and research of Maya Baikova, who studied the mysterious creature for decades before her death in 1996, in particular sightings of the creature in Russia and near the Arctic Circle. According to the work of Baikova, aside from the appearance with which most of us are familiar, these strange creatures have the ability to make themselves invisible to people, something that she concluded was done as an act of defense. This is an intriguing notion and one that has led to several suggestions from researchers of a more paranormal element to Bigfoot sightings. Bigfoot and the Paranormal? We'll look into that when Weird Darkness returns. Some researchers have suggested a connection to UFO sightings, many of which especially in the North American continent occur in these same locations as Bigfoot hotspots. Might this mean there is an extraterrestrial nature to Bigfoot and Yeti creatures? And if so, what might that connection be? Other researchers suggest that these sudden disappearances or becoming invisible are due to portals or gateways that these creatures travel back and forth from, whether it is a purposeful journey or not. Might this explain why there are only ever very brief sightings of these elusive creatures? Why are they there one minute and gone the next? And if these interdimensional trips are purposeful, what does that tell us of the intelligence on the part of Bigfoot and Yetis? And why are they making such journeys from their realm of existence to ours? Further, according to Baikova's research, are the beliefs and claims of Tibetan red-headed monks. They claim that Yetis have the ability to control its own brain activity so much so that it can make itself appear invisible. They state that Bigfoot and Yeti creatures are one of the few remaining on earth who have the ability to do this, suggesting an existence that goes back thousands and thousands of years at the very least. Again, this would explain why some people claim to see these creatures almost disappear right before their eyes. If there is any truth in the notion that these strange creatures can make themselves disappear, whether through a portal unknown to us or through an ancient ability to control the mind to a point untouchable to us, then that means the research must switch somewhat from looking to study an unknown terrestrial animal to examining realms and notions seemingly on the fringes of accepted ideas. It might even prove that, as some researchers have suggested, that the Bigfoot and Yeti are connected to all strange phenomena and sightings, whether it be sea monsters, UFOs, or strange disappearances. In fact, it is perhaps also worth mentioning possible connections to the missing 411, strange disappearances and, on occasion, reappearances of people around the North American continent as documented extensively by researcher David Polites who has collected accounts going back to the late 1800s. Many people who have reappeared have spoken of a strange, monstrous-looking, hairy creature with red eyes. While not harming them, these creatures almost act as kidnappers and guards for the duration of their captivity. There are little other details known, but this is a claim that surfaces in many of the strange disappearances of the missing 411. What is also interesting is that many of those disappearances take place in cluster spots, which themselves are in the same locations as both Bigfoot and UFO hotspots. Is there a direct connection between these three things? Or might certain locations simply attract such strange activity? And if so, why? Might it also prove to be if a researcher or group of researchers took it upon themselves to do such things that these disappearances might be taking place through the Eurasia regions, and if so, would they correlate to UFO and Bigfoot or Yeti sighting hotspots? Indeed, the more we collectively study one area of interest, in this case Bigfoot and Yeti encounters, other seemingly unconnected areas become not only relevant but have a little more light cast on them. There are quite obviously many more questions than answers regarding the Yeti and Bigfoot, whatever it might one day prove to be. Perhaps first of all we should ask if the Bigfoot and the Yeti are the same creature or a relative to each other. It is worth noting that many of the Yeti sightings in the Eurasia regions speak of these creatures standing at around six feet tall. On the other hand, sightings of Bigfoot creatures in the North American continent tend to claim them to be slightly taller, somewhere in the region of eight feet, which might suggest a cross of the two different races. However, this aside, most of the aspects of the Bigfoot and Yeti are almost identical. Might this be a completely new creature to science? One that appears as much beast-like as it does human? Might the Yetis and Bigfoot of today share a connection to the many hairy and beast-like beings from mythology and folklore from all around the world, stretching back thousands of years? Might there even be, as we have discussed, a supernatural element to these mysterious and mostly elusive creatures? Although there is not an abundance of funds for people to conduct serious research into what these strange creatures are, where they come from and where they call home, many researchers continue their work regardless. Sightings continue to be logged and recorded, although the answers have so far proven to be as elusive as these strange beast-like entities themselves. The notorious tale of Hansel and Gretel has been translated into 160 languages since the Brothers Grimm first published the German lore in 1812. Dark as it is, the story features child abandonment, attempted cannibalism, enslavement, and murder. Unfortunately, the origins of the story are equally, if not more, horrifying. Most people are familiar with the story, but for those who aren't, it opens on a pair of children who are to be abandoned by their starving parents in the forest. The kids, Hansel and Gretel, get wind of their parents' plan and find their way home by following a trail of stones Hansel had dropped earlier. The mother, or stepmother by some tellings, then convinces the father to abandon the children a second time. This time, Hansel drops breadcrumbs to follow home, but birds eat the breadcrumbs and the children become lost in the forest. The starving pair come upon a gingerbread house that they begin to eat, ravenously. Unbeknownst to them, the home is actually a trap set by an old witch, or ogre, who enslaves Gretel and forces her to overfeed Hansel so that he can be eaten by the witch herself. The pair manage to escape when Gretel shoves the witch into an oven. They return home with the witch's treasure and find that their evil matriarch is no longer there and is presumed dead, so they live happily ever after. But the true story behind the tale of Hansel and Gretel is not so happy as this ending. Modern readers know Hansel and Gretel from the works of German brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. The brothers were inseparable scholars, medievalists who had a passion for collecting German folklore. Between 1812 and 1857, the brothers published over 200 stories in seven different editions of what has since become known in English as Grimm's fairy tales. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm never intended that their stories be for children, per se, but rather the brothers sought to preserve Germanic folklore in a region whose culture was being overrun by France during the Napoleonic Wars. In fact, the early editions of the Grimm's brother's work published as Kinder und Homsmarken, or Children's and Household Tales, lacked illustrations. Scholarly footnotes abounded. The stories were dark and filled with murder and mayhem. The stories, nonetheless, quickly caught on. Grimm's fairy tales had such universal appeal that eventually, in the United States alone, there have been over 120 different editions made. These stories featured an all-star lineup of well-known characters including Cinderella, Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, and of course, Hansel and Gretel. The true story of Hansel and Gretel goes back to a cohort of tales that originated in the Baltic regions during the Great Famine of 1314 to 1322. Volcanic activity in Southeast Asia and New Zealand ushered in a period of prolonged climate change that led to crop failures and massive starvation across the globe. In Europe, the situation was particularly dire since the food supply was already scarce. When the Great Famine struck, the results were devastating. One scholar estimated that the Great Famine impacted 400,000 square miles of Europe, 30 million people and may have killed off up to 25% of the population in certain areas. In the process, elderly people chose voluntarily to starve to death to allow the young to live. Others committed infanticide or abandoned their children. There is also evidence of cannibalism. William Rosen in his book The Third Horseman, A Story of Weather, War and the Famine History Forgot, which I'll place a link to in the essential web links section of the show notes, cites an Estonian chronicle which states that in 1315, mothers were fed their children. An Irish chronicler also wrote that the famine was so bad people were so destroyed by hunger that they extracted bodies of the dead from cemeteries and dug out the flesh from the skulls and ate it, and women ate their children out of hunger. And it was from this grim chaos that the story of Hansel and Gretel was born. The cautionary tales that preceded Hansel and Gretel all dealt directly with themes of abandonment and survival. Almost all of these stories also used the forest as a tableau for danger, magic and death. One such example comes from the Italian fairy tale collector Gian Battista Basil, who published a number of stories in his 17th century, Pinto Marrone. In his version, titled Nannillo and Nannella, a cruel stepmother forces her husband to abandon his two children in the woods. The father tries to foil the plot by leaving the children a trail of oats to follow, but these are eaten by a donkey. The grimest of these early tales, though, is the Romanian story, The Little Boy and the Wicked Stepmother. In this fairy tale, two children are abandoned and find their way home following a trail of ashes. But when they return home, the stepmother kills the little boy and forces the sister to prepare his corpse for a family meal. The horrified girl obeys, but hides the boy's heart inside a tree. The father unknowingly eats his son while the sister refuses to take part. After the meal, the girl takes the brother's bones and puts them inside the tree with his heart. The next day, a cuckoo bird emerges, singing, Cuckoo, my sister has cooked me and my father has eaten me, but I am now a cuckoo and safe from my stepmother. The terrified stepmother throws a lump of salt at the bird, but it just falls back on her head, killing her instantaneously. The direct source for the story of Hansel and Gretel as we know it came from Henrietta Dorothea Wild, a neighbor of the brother's grim who narrated many of the tales for their first edition. She ended up marrying Wilhelm. The original versions of the grim brothers Hansel and Gretel changed over time. Perhaps the brothers were aware that their stories were being read by children and so by the last edition that they published, they had sanitized the stories somewhat. Where the mother had abandoned her biological children in the first versions, by the time the last 1857 edition was printed, she had transformed into the archetypal wicked stepmother. The father's role too was softened by the 1857 edition as he showed more regret for his actions. Meanwhile, the tale of Hansel and Gretel has continued to evolve. There are versions today that are meant for preschoolers like children's author Mercy Meyers' story, which doesn't even try to touch any of the child abandonment themes. Every once in a while, the tale attempts to go back to its dark roots. In January of 2020, Orion Pictures Gretel and Hansel, a grim fairy tale, was released to theaters hedged on the side of Creepy. This version has the siblings looking through the forest for food and working to help their parents when they meet the witch. It seems that the true story of Hansel and Gretel may still be darker than even this latest version. Did we pick up the signals from an artificial satellite sent to our planet by an extraterrestrial intelligence? In December 1927, Carl Stormer, the Norwegian professor of mathematics at university in Oslo and explorer of Echo Radio, was contacted by two American scientists, Leo C. Young, radio engineer and Dr. A. Hoyt Taylor, chief consultant of electronics at the Naval Research Laboratory. During their experiments with radio waves, Young and Taylor observed unnatural signals coming from space. On August 25, 1928, the scientists, along with Carl Stormer and the workers of Philip's company, began to send their own radio signals of various wavelengths. While sending a series of signals, the researchers received two series of echoes instead of only one, normally coming back after a delay of one-seventh of a second. Weeks passed, and on October 11, 1928, the same repeating signals with delays from three to fifteen seconds were systematically received during several sessions. On October 24, as many as forty-eight such signals were picked up. The interval from three to fifteen seconds was a real puzzle to the scientists. Could they mean a code, an intelligent coded message from an unknown extraterrestrial sender? But from whom? What was the location of the signals? The observations of incoming signals were still conducted in 1934, 1947, 1949 and 1970. At the beginning of the 70s, Duncan Lunan, a Scottish astronomer, president of the Scottish Association of Technology and Research, being interested in the phenomenon undertook a thorough research. The puzzling phenomenon required an explanation of some kind, but all attempts to solve it did not bring any satisfying results. Lunan's approach was different. Instead of to register the deceleration time in the y-axis, as the scientists usually practiced, Lunan drew the time delay on October 11, 1928 of the received indications in the x-axis. The obtained results were shocking. The signals received on October 11, 1928 originated from the constellation of Boots, the herdsman, the bear watcher in Greek, located in the northern sky, dominated by the bright orange giant star Arcturus. Arcturus of magnitude 0.04 is the fourth brightest star in the sky. The constellation of Boots is suggested to be the oldest known constellation listed by Ptolemy, circa AD 140. Not as widely known as, for example, Cassiopeia or Orion, Boots still has its impressive past recorded in history. The ancient Egyptians pictured Boots as a constellation they called the hippopotamus, both the Hindus and ancient Chinese regarded Arcturus as a pearl star, the Greeks knew Boots as the bear watcher. Based on the results, Duncan Lunan created six detailed sky maps, depicting the set of stars in the constellation of Boots. However, he came upon yet another mystery. Comparing all data available from his and earlier observations, he discovered two important though strange deviations in the view of star positions. Such deviations could not be, but they were. Looking at the first deviation, Lunan noticed that the point that should represent the star Arcturus, the brightest one in the constellation, was outside of its current position. He was surprised. He analyzed once again the star positions and found the answer. He was looking at the position of the star Arcturus as it was registered 12,500 to 13,000 BC. That was the time at the end of the last large Ice Age. A new chapter of our planet's history had just begun then. Time of the Sphinx, the Pyramids and perhaps the city of Tiawanaco, however the last could be even older. The other deviation was related to the star Isar, a yellow K1 giant star, a binary companion to Arcturus. The point which should represent the star Isar was not noted on the design, but outside of the constellation lines. This point was the exact result of radio echo of 3 seconds delay, while the other points were represented by radio echoes from 8 to 15 seconds of delay. Was the star Isar referring to the son of the unknown civilization in the constellation Boots? Perhaps a technologically advanced intelligence from there built and sent an artificial satellite to our solar system. Radio signals sent on separate occasions from the alien satellite reached the Earth's surface and bounced back to the alien satellite. After being registered and deliberately delayed, they were repeatedly sent back to Earth. Already in 1960, Professor R. N. Bracewell of Stanford University California suggested that if an extraterrestrial civilization decided to contact us, they would probably choose to do it by using delayed radio signals. No doubt, the probe was dispatched to orbit in the vicinity of Earth. The question is, for what purpose? For listening and watching our technological and social progresses? For future contact with us? Perhaps this contact has already been established? We do not know. 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-listen. Not only will you hear a copy of tonight's show, you'll also receive the sudden death overtime content I did not have time for, the true story about a ghost that killed with chains. That story is only in the podcast version of tonight's show which you can find at WeirdDarkness.com-listen or search for Weird Darkness or every listen to podcast. You can follow Weird Darkness on social media by visiting the Contact social page on the website. And please, tell others about Weird Darkness 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. 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. 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 immediately after tonight's show is ended. The grim reality behind Hansel and Gretel is by Joseph Williams for all that's interesting. Mystery of the Alien Satellite is by Ellen Lloyd for the now defunct UFO Area.com. Why they call this snowman abominable was written by Marcus Lough for UFO Insight. 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. Psalm 86 verses 6 and 7. Hear my prayer, O Lord, listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble, I will call to you, for you will answer me. And a final thought. Truth is not diminished by the number of people who choose not to believe it. I'm Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me in the Weird Darkness. So thank you. 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. Ever heard of Shadrack Ireland? No, it's not a place, it's a person, actually. A preacher and one of the most bizarre religious leaders ever to walk the soil of New England. And as strange as his religious practices and teachings were, his death was just as crazy. Lisa woke up to find her boyfriend staring at her. When she asked him what was wrong, he replied, I'm going to kill you and drink your blood. Is it possible that the film, Interview with a Vampire, made Daniel Sterlin turn into a real life bloodthirsty monster? Gerald Fuss built a secret passageway in his motel, not to smuggle drugs or store weapons, but so he could spy on his motel guests having relations. And it gets even creepier than that. But first, a family loses two children by a parent poisoning, and then the mother's death two months later under the same mysterious circumstances. Obviously, there was a murderer living amongst the family or somewhere in the town. Wasn't there? 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 to others helps make it possible for me to keep doing the show. And while you're listening, be sure to visit WeirdDarkness.com and click on Contact Social to follow Weird Darkness on social media. And also on the website you can find the daily Weird Darkness podcast, which comes out seven days per week. You can enter monthly contests, find Weird Darkness merchandise, and more. You can even send in your own true story of something paranormal that has happened to you or someone you know. 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. Newberry Township in York County was gripped in terror in February 1894 when Edwin and Tilly, two young children of Eli and Jenny Garrett, died after exhibiting signs of being poisoned. When Jenny died under the same mysterious conditions two months later, the residents of Newberry Township were convinced that a serial killer lived among them. Was this the case? Or could there be a less sinister explanation for the untimely deaths of Mrs. Garrett and her children? On Sunday, February 11, a neighborhood drunkard by the name of Silas Laird stopped by the Garrett home in Lewisbury and gave Jenny an apple to give to her children, four-year-old Edwin and six-year-old Tilly. Jenny cut the apple in two and gave a half to each child. The following afternoon, Edwin came into the house holding his sides and his mother thought he had gotten hurt while playing outside. When both children began to vomit violently a short time later, Jenny raced to the home of a neighbor, George Gross. Mrs. Gross, who surmised that the children had ingested something poisonous, gave Jenny a pitcher of milk to neutralize the poison. She then sent for Dr. J. C. Stem, who immediately diagnosed the case as strict nine poisoning. The doctor said that unfortunately the boy was already beyond any hope of recovery. He died at seven o'clock that evening. Four hours later, after suffering a violent spasm, Tilly joined her little brother in death. The diagnosis of strict nine poisoning didn't make any sense to Eli Garrett. Strict nine was used to poison rats and there were more than enough barn cats around to take care of that task. The Garrets kept no poisonous chemicals in their home, or so he insisted. After this, his children were laid to rest on Thursday at Parkville Cemetery. Eli's thoughts then turned to the apple. The following day, Eli went to York and discussed the matter with District Attorney Miller and urged him to look into the matter. Eli Garrett, accompanied by Dr. Faultscraft and Dr. LaCrone, returned to the cemetery and began exhuming the freshly buried bodies. Meanwhile, the District Attorney questioned Laird, who admitted giving the apple to Mrs. Garrett, but said that he had been given the apple by another person who had instructed him to give it to the Garrets. It certainly now seemed that this was a clear case of foul play, but the District Attorney couldn't take any action until he received the results of the autopsy. After the two bodies were exhumed, they were taken to the home of Charles Ernie, where Dr. LaCrone removed the internal organs and gave them to Dr. Faultscraft. Faultscraft then took a train to Baltimore, where a chemist, Professor Dorsey Cole of the University of Maryland, would perform an analysis. In the meantime, District Attorney Miller searched for clues, and the coroner impaneled the jury, consisting of Charles Ernie, Aaron Ziegler, William Cable, George Livingston, and Jacob Irwin. Unfortunately, no witnesses could be found who could provide any information about the mystery man who had supposedly given the apple to Silas Laird. On Thursday, March 29th, the coroner's jury convened at the Whitehall Hotel, and after calling witnesses and examining evidence, returned to verdict. But there were some on the jury who were convinced that Laird was not the culprit. It was known throughout Louisbury that Jenny Garrett had lost several children in infancy, all of them dying within the first year of their lives. While these deaths had been attributed to natural causes at the time, the deaths of her two remaining children led some to wonder if she had played a role in the deaths of Edwin and Tilly. Immediately after the tragedy, the Garrett's moved out of their house, which was an old two-story log structure about a quarter mile off the main highway, and the coroner's jury visited the log house earlier that morning to see if any clues could be found. When it was observed that rats had chewed numerous holes in the plaster, some began to doubt Eli Garrett's assurance that he did not have a problem with rodents. Things began to look even worse when the jury found hunks of hard cheese stuffed between the logs and plaster. When the coroner presented this evidence, Eli remembered that he had purchased some strict nine from Dr. Stem a few months earlier, which he sprinkled onto the cheese and placed between the logs. He insisted, however, that he had asked Tilly if she had eaten anything before she began to feel sick, and he claimed that neither Tilly nor Edwin had eaten the tainted cheese. At the hearing, Jenny Garrett spoke at great length in defense of her husband and raised the possibility that it may have been Mrs. Gross who had poisoned the children. She explained that Mrs. Gross had given her the picture of milk before she had even mentioned any of the symptoms. It was almost as if she knew what was going to happen. The testimony of Rebecca Moomert, the neighbor who had laid out Edwin's body, also shined a light of suspicion on Jenny Garrett. Mrs. Moomert said that after the boy died, she sent Jenny to get the clothes she wished to have him buried in. Jenny returned with clothes for both children, even though Tilly was still alive at the time. The next witness was Silas Laird. Laird was the local vagabond, who, at any given point in his life, appeared to be intoxicated, homeless, jobless, or a combination of all three. Just three years earlier, he had been charged by police with habitual drunkenness and placed by county authorities under the guardianship of his brother, Martin. However, Laird was also rumored to be quite rich, having inherited a large sum of money from his father. This inheritance allowed Silas to indulge in his favorite activities, many of which included glass bottles and distilled spirits. At the hearing, Silas insisted that he did not have a drinking problem and that he was completely sober when he gave Mrs. Garrett the apple. For whatever reason, he was not questioned about where or how he had obtained the apple. The final witness was Coriner Faltzgraf, who read a letter from Professor Kohl, whose analysis confirmed that the children had indeed been poisoned, but the poison in question had been arsenic, not strychnine. Eli Garrett breathed a sigh of relief, but while the professor believed that the arsenic had come from the embalming fluid used by undertaker Parks, the Coriner stated his belief that the poison had entered Edwin and Tilly's bodies in a different manner. He cited the fact that samples of brain tissue taken from the children also revealed high levels of arsenic, and the undertaker had testified previously that he had not injected embalming fluid into the veins, which would be the only possible way the embalming fluid could reach the brain. The jury agreed with Faltzgraf and rendered a verdict declaring that Edwin and Tilly Garrett came to their deaths from arsenic poisoning administered or obtained in some way or manner unknown to this jury. On Monday, May 28, 1894, as authorities under the direction of District Attorney Miller continued to investigate the deaths of the Garrett children, Jenny died suddenly at her home in Lewisbury. Newspapers attributed the passing to suspicious circumstances, but very few details were provided other than the fact that she had been ill for just 24 hours before she passed away. Coriner Faltzgraf decided against holding an inquest, and when Jenny was buried, the search for the killer of the Garrett children, if such a killer ever existed, came to an abrupt end. While the truth behind these mysterious deaths may never be known, the possibility exists that the Garrett's died from accidental arsenic poisoning. Arsenic has been used as a pesticide for centuries. Records show that arsenic sulfide was used in agriculture in China as early as 900 AD, and was a common ant bait in 17th century Europe. But the widespread use of copper acetorsanite as an insecticide didn't occur in the United States until 1867, and after it was introduced it was used for a very specific purpose, to eliminate the infestation of coddling moths in apple orchards. When Weird Darkness returns, ever heard of Shadrack Ireland? It's not a place, it's a person, a preacher, and one of the most bizarre religious leaders ever to walk the soil of New England. And as strange as his religious practices and teachings were, his death was just as crazy. But first, Lisa woke up to find her boyfriend staring at her. When she asked him what was wrong, he replied, I'm going to kill you and drink your blood. Is it possible that the film Interview with the Vampire made Daniel Sterling turn into a real life bloodthirsty monster? That story is up next. Welcome back to Weird Darkness. I'm Darren Marlar. How would you like to receive a box full of scary stuff in the mail, full of fear-inducing objects like creepy collectibles, true crime-themed accessories, frightening flair, blood-curdling books, terrifying trinkets, eerie e-downloads, and more? Absolutely free. Every other month, I'm filming an unboxing video of the newest creepy crate that I get in the mail, and then I'm boxing it all back up and giving it away by random drawing to someone subscribed to the Weird Darkness email newsletter. And before I close up the box for good, I might toss in a couple of Weird Darkness goodies as well for good measure. You can keep the creepy crate for yourself, give it away to a weirdo friend or family member, whatever you want. To watch my latest creepy crate unboxing video and a register to win a creepy crate of your own for free, visit WeirdDarkness.com slash CreepyCrate. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash CreepyCrate. The number of vampire movies created to date is incredible. From films based on the stories of Nosferatu and Dracula, to Camilla and Bathory, and let's not forget the Twilight series, as much as we would love to forget that series, vampires have enthralled audiences for years. There's something fascinating about a creature of the night, immortal, surviving only on the lifeblood of the living. Vampires are dark and sensual beings, some would even argue they are akin to gods. But movies and vampires are just stories. Vampires don't exist to most of us. In 1994, a movie was released based on a 1976 novel by author Anne Rice. The movie is Interview with the Vampire and chronicles the story of the vampire Lestat and Lewis, the man he transformed into a vampire in 1791. The film directed by Neil Jordan, the crying game The End of the Affair, was given a $70 million budget, which for a vampire movie was unprecedented at the time. It's not very often you can make a complicated, dark, dangerous movie and get a big budget for it. Vampire movies were traditionally made at the lower end of the scale, on a shoestring, on rudimentary sets. David Geffen is very powerful and he poured money into Interview, I wanted to make it on an epic scale of something like Gone with the Wind, said the director. The movie was a box office success. Opening on November 11, 1994, it grossed $36.4 million during its opening weekend and earned it the number one spot in the U.S. box office. For one viewer, the film had quite the impact. Daniel Sterlin, 25, took his girlfriend Lisa Stellwagen, 23, to see Interview with the Vampire on November 17, 1994. The next morning, at about 3 a.m., Lisa woke up to find Daniel staring at her. When she asked him what was wrong, he replied, I'm going to kill you and drink your blood. Later that day, he did, in fact, stab her with a serrated dagger, nine times in the chest and back. Lisa survived after having suffered severe blood loss and spending two weeks in the hospital. Daniel was arrested, of course. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, he claimed his innocence, but added, I was influenced by the movie. I enjoyed the movie, but I cannot sit here and blame the movie. Daniel's mental health was evaluated and was found to be highly suggestible and manic depressive. He was a troubled man since the age of 10 when his mother committed suicide, but his history of mental illness did not save him. Daniel's attorney, Teresa Caffes, argued that due to his mental state, he did not have any intent to kill or maim his girlfriend. His lack of intent would remove the possibility of him being charged for first-degree murder and aggravated mayhem. The client clearly is mentally ill. The evidence showed that he was, in fact, delusional, she said. The prosecutor, Susan Burrell, portrayed him as being calculated and controlling. She argued that Daniel had become enraged after Lisa had gone out with another man and thus stabbed her out of vengeance. The jury didn't take long to deliver a verdict. Daniel Sterling was found guilty of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated mayhem, mayhem, battery, assault and domestic violence. He knew what he was doing. He was in possession of his faculties, said Dina Demopoulos, jury forewoman. It was an obvious case of domestic violence. Regarding the vampire defense, she added, it had nothing to do with it. It might have given him more impetus to suck her blood, but it didn't have anything to do with the crime. Did interview with the vampire truly inspire Daniel Sterling to try and kill his girlfriend? Was he mentally ill and thus not in control of his actions? Or was this just another case of domestic violence? When Weird Darkness returns, have you ever heard of Shadrack Ireland? It's not a place, it's a person, a preacher, and one of the most bizarre religious leaders ever to walk the soil of New England. And as strange as his religious practices and teachings were, his death was just as if not more crazy. We'll talk about Shadrack Ireland when Weird Darkness returns. In the meantime, if you like Weird Darkness and you'd like to hear even more, you can check out the free audiobooks I've narrated at WeirdDarkness.com. I've got free audiobooks there by Stephen King, HP Lovecraft, Charles Dickens, Robert Heinlein, and more. You can listen to all of the free audiobooks I've narrated on the audiobooks page at WeirdDarkness.com. Visitors to the Harvard Shaker Historic Village District in Harvard, Massachusetts can still see many of the historically preserved buildings that mark the oldest shaker settlement in Massachusetts and the second oldest in the United States. Though the property had long since passed from the hands of the original shakers, the buildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989 because of their place in history. Of these, the historic square house, built in 1769, remains the cornerstone of the settlement due to its connection with Mother Anne Lee, founder of the shakers and many of her early followers, known as Mother's First Born. But the square house actually predates the shakers, having been built by the followers of renegade preacher Shadrack Ireland, someone who has been largely ignored by history, which seems a pity considering that Ireland was likely one of the most bizarre religious leaders in the history of the United States, quite an honor given the competition. Ireland was especially memorable for the strange circumstances of his life, the relationship he had with his followers, and what happened to his body after his death. Though little is known about Ireland's early life, one of the few facts available was that he worked as a pipe maker in Charlestown, Massachusetts, where he had a wife and six children. Described as a strange, secretive man and full of fancies, Ireland underwent a religious conversion sometime in the 1750s. Though he had been part of the first great awakening and a new light preacher, Ireland's revelations about religion put him in a class by himself. According to his own account, Ireland's spiritual journey began in the spring of 1753 when he experienced such a change both in body and in mind that he was become perfect and immortal and a number more with him. Abandoning his wife and family, he moved to Grafton, Massachusetts, where he gathered a group of followers, not least of which was Sarah Prentice, the wife of a fellow reverend Solomon Prentice. Among various teachings that upset the sensibilities of many of his neighbors was Ireland's insistence on strict abstinence from all sex for anyone not deemed to be perfect. For those who were perfect though, including Ireland, of course, they were to marry divinely chosen partners and produce sinless children. Ireland quickly became notorious both for his pretensions and his taking of spiritual wives. This began with a woman named Abigail Lugie and eventually Sarah Prentice as well. The publicity drove him out of Grafton and he eventually settled in Harvard, Massachusetts, where the largest group of his followers were located. It was there that he personally constructed the square house where he would live for the rest of his life. Despite lurid rumors of what Ireland and his followers were up to in their closed community, he continued to attract followers, many of whom visited him in Harvard for spiritual advice. Though his spiritual wife, Sarah, was second in command of the community, she still remained in contact with her original husband, even if she insisted on addressing him as her brother and denied any carnal association with him or anyone else. Solomon Prentice was certainly not happy with this state of affairs and there are reports suggesting that he beat her on several occasions. This led to his being fired from his job as preacher and being unable to find a new post. Through it all, Sarah and Solomon would remain married until his death. As for Sarah, guided by Ireland's teachings, she declared herself immortal and uncorruptible like her mentor and the rest of his strange congregation. They continued to live at the square house, though Shadrach became increasingly paranoid as he grew older. What exactly he was afraid of is open to speculation, though he kept regular vigil from a special place near the roof of the house. Not only was this safe place only reachable using a secret staircase, Ireland also had a bell that he could ring to give an alarm. When he wasn't in his bolt hole, he spent his time on a nearby hill where he preached to his followers, but still able to keep watch. As he grew older, he also provided his followers with strict instructions relating to what they should do if his spirit left his body. Since he insisted that he was immortal, any appearance of death would be strictly temporary and his followers needed to be certain not to bury the body by mistake. This odd congregation continued to function despite the political upheavals that were affecting the American colonies at the time. Though rumors kept flying about what was happening in the small community, including stories about orgies, Ireland's followers managed just fine. Until, of course, their immortal leader died in 1788. According to one account describing what occurred, the night he died, he walked the floor in great distress of mind and groaning with deep groans. He said, I feel the wrath of God. Abigail Loogie called Abigail Cooper to get up and light a light. They got a light as quickly as they could, but he was gone when they got to him, as I understand. Ireland's death marked a major crisis of faith for his small circle of followers. There was also the more basic question of what to do with the body. Would their leader stay dead or would his spirit return to it? Eventually, they decided to wait and see what would happen next. Unfortunately, in an era before embalming, this was probably not the best thing to do with a dead body. As his followers kept a constant vigil, the smell became bad enough that some of them were forced to flee the bedroom. Eventually, Ireland's body was placed in a white coffin and kept in the square house cellar for another few months of waiting. After a year, he was eventually buried in an unmarked grave nearby. With the fall of their immortal leader, Ireland's small community was left devastated. Though another disciple, David Hoare, ran things for a while, it was the arrival of Anne Lee, the founder of the Shakers, who truly put an end to Ireland's immortal dream. Lee, who had immigrated to New York along with some of her followers, became quite successful in winning over disaffected churchgoers throughout New England. This included Shadrack Ireland's group, and she converted many of them, including Ireland's spiritual wife, Abigail Loogie. To win over the perfectionists, Anne was emphatic in denouncing Shadrack Ireland and what he had promised them. As she told Ireland's followers, you are old people now, all of you, and you think you will never die. Look at yourselves, you carry about you all the marks of mortality just as other people do. Your skins are wrinkled, your hair turns white and is falling, your eyesight is failing, you are losing your teeth and your bodies are growing feeble. Shortly afterward, the Shakers purchased the square house in which Anne then took up residence. This led to a rather bizarre episode soon after she moved into the house. According to Harvard Shaker Records, Anne was reportedly awakened by Shadrack Ireland's ghost, and as she later told her followers, Shadrack Ireland is here. He began in the spirit and ended in the most total darkness of the flesh. To banish the ghost, she and her followers went into the labors or danced with the shaking dancing that earned them their name. This apparently worked, since Ireland was never heard from since. The square house became the center of the Harvard Shaker community, and Shadrack Ireland was nothing more than a troubling memory afterward. By then, most of his followers had become Shakers, and their search for immortality was apparently over. As for Shadrack Ireland, he remains virtually forgotten, except as a footnote in the history of the Shakers. Presumably, his body is still somewhere on the grounds of the Harvard Shaker village, though nobody knows where it was buried. A sad end for a perfect man. Coming up, Gerald Fuss built a secret passageway in his motel, not to smuggle drugs or store weapons, but so he could spy on his motel guests having sex. And it gets even creepier than that. That story is up next on Weird Darkness. I'm Darren Marlar. Welcome back to Weird Darkness. If you or someone you know is struggling with depression, dark thoughts, or addiction, please visit the Hope in the Darkness page at WeirdDarkness.com. There, I have gathered numerous resources to find hope and solutions. For those suffering from thoughts of suicide or self-harm, there's the Suiciding Crisis Lifeline, as well as the Crisis Text Line. Both have trained counselors at all hours to help those in need. And the page even includes text numbers for the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, and those struggling with depression can also get help through the Seven Cups website and app, and there's information for anybody 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. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash Hope. Being watched from afar can be a most unsettling feeling. But the guests at the Manor House Motel never even realized they were under observation. The now legendary hotel peeping Tom Gerald Fuss takes the prize when it comes to creepy things hotel owners do. He actually built a platform above his guests' rooms so he could spy on them while they were having sex. Though he may be one of the worst hotel managers of all time, Fuss takes pride in being a researcher and has documented many of the things that he caught a glimpse of from the attic. However, although he noted many curious observations, such as the steady increase in interracial couples over time, he never recorded any groundbreaking conclusions about human behavior. His attitude towards his own voyeurism became the subject of a book by journalist Gay Talis whose own career of observing people has since been irreversibly damaged by his connection to Fuss and the 2017 Netflix documentary, Voyeur, which chronicles their strange friendship. In order to clandestinely view the residents of his motel, Gerald Fuss built a special attic area by hand that ran above the guests' rooms. He had some help from his wife, but they had to do most of the work themselves to ensure that no one would find out about Fuss voyeurism. The attic's viewing platform spanned the length of the building, with hand-cut holes in the ceiling disguised by fake vents. The vents acted as one-way viewing portals to the rooms below and Fuss was able to spy on his guests without them knowing he was there. Surprisingly, none of the guests ever caught the lecherous manager in the act. Fuss kept very detailed notes and even compiled statistics that chronicle his observations. The stats include information on visitors' biological sex, sexual acts, their nature and frequency, and even the numbers of orgasms guests experienced. The descriptions include paragraphs about the guests, compiling their heights, weights, occupations, and whatever else Fuss could find out when they checked in. Early on in the 1980s, Fuss handed over entire notebooks of his research to journalist Gaye Talis, mailing him over 300 pages of transcriptions. While crouching in his hidden attic, Fuss claims to have witnessed a murder go down in 1977. He had moral issues with drug dealers and would often sneak into their rooms and get rid of their stashes while they were out. Allegedly one dealer who discovered his stash missing blamed his girlfriend and attacked her. He strangled her and left her lying on the floor before running off with all the money she was carrying. Fuss watched the whole thing go down without intervening. He claims that he could see her chest rising up and down and assumed she would be okay. However, the next morning the motel's cleaning staff found her dead. Fuss claims that he called the police but the Aurora Police Department has no record of a young woman being killed at the motel. Because there is no hard evidence to prove the crime occurred, the whole story is up for debate. According to Gaye Talis, Fuss truly believes that he is one of the greatest voyeurs in the world after spending the majority of his life honing his craft. He doesn't want to be seen as a peeping Tom but as a voyeur, not as a pervert but an observer of human nature. In interviews, Fuss seems proud of the research that he carried out in the years that he owned the motel. His detailed notes are further proof that he believes he was studying and documenting vital pieces of information relating to human behavior. Early on in journalist Gaye Talis' research on Fuss voyeurism, he came to visit Fuss at his motel. During the visit, Fuss actually invited Talis into the attic to join him in spying on an attractive young couple. The two men watched through the vents as the couple had sex and at one point Talis leaned in too close. The red silk tie he was wearing slipped through the vent that they were watching through, nearly blowing their cover. Fuss yanked Talis back before the couple noticed the dangling tie and they left the attic without raising suspicions. According to one of the many interviews with Fuss in the Netflix original film, Voyeur, he hated when guests would bring dogs into the motel. Since dogs possess a better sense of hearing and smell than their owners, they would constantly bark and look up at the vent as though they could tell someone was sitting behind it. As much as Fuss hated the dogs, they oddly enough never managed to blow his cover up in the attic. Fuss truly believes he was doing research, and he went the extra mile to see how far he could push his unknowing subjects. In one of the interviews from Netflix's voyeur, he claims to have baited various rooms with raunchy items like sex toys and adult magazines to see what the occupants would do with them. Not everyone was happy about it. Many guests complained to him for not cleaning out the rooms after previous guests had left. However, some of the guests did use the sex aids, which absolutely fascinated Fuss. Although Gay Talis knew what was happening at Fuss' motel, he did nothing to stop the lecherous owner and did not report him to the police. When he first visited Fuss in Aurora, he signed an agreement saying that he would not reveal Fuss' name until he had been given a waiver saying that he could do so. However, some people believe that once he learned the full extent of Fuss' operation, he should have gone to the authorities. One writer, it's late, described Talis' article about Fuss for the New York Times as a failure of journalistic ethics and a revealing window into Talis' character. Even if you're not persuaded by the argument that Talis' inaction made him complicit, there was also that time when he joined Fuss in the secret viewing attic, so he is unarguably culpable to some degree. Gay Talis first encountered Gerald Fuss via a handwritten letter in 1980. Fuss had written to Talis after hearing about the book that he'd released that year, The Neighbor's Wife. He claimed that he had some information that might interest Talis, his research from all the nights he had spent watching couples at the motel. From there, they stayed in touch until Talis began writing his book, The Voyeur's Motel. The Netflix documentary that chronicles Fuss and Talis' journalistic union paints their relationship as a rollercoaster of misunderstandings. However, they consistently apologized to each other and Fuss admits that he considers Talis to be one of his few friends. Gay Talis found out about Gerald Fuss' possible unintentional dishonesty after the book The Voyeur's Motel had been written. Once the story was out in the world, readers began poking holes in Fuss' claims, and Talis grew so frustrated with the various inaccuracies that he said he could no longer promote the book because its credibility was down the toilet. However, once he calmed down, he told his publishers that he would resume the usual promotional activities and make corrections in future editions. The mistakes found by various fact-checkers had mostly proven to be errors with the dates Fuss had provided rather than the actual content of the stories. Talis does make sure to say that Fuss is an inaccurate and unreliable narrator in the book. Long before he purchased the Manor House Motel, Gerald Fuss had an interest in watching people. He bought the property to satisfy his need to look in on others' private lives, his preferred pastime since he was only 9 years old. When he was growing up, his 20-year-old aunt moved in across from his family's farm in rural Colorado. In an interview in Voyeur, Fuss stated that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Allegedly, he used to watch her through her window as she walked around her house, often in the nude. By 2013, Fuss reasoned that the statute of limitations would protect him from lawsuits and or criminal charges and he decided to finally go public with his story. He made Gay Talis sign a confidentiality agreement when they first began their correspondence which he voided in order to release the full story and gain some publicity. He didn't just wait to tell the story to save himself, Talis would have also been implicated since he had been present for some of Fuss' criminal behavior. Talis' daughter Pamela was the one who discovered that the old Manor House Motel had been demolished. While working on a painting of the property in its glory days, she looked up the location on Google Maps and found an empty lot. After Talis was informed of his daughter's discovery, he apparently isn't very good with using the internet. He visited the site with Fuss, his wife Anita and the Netflix film crew, poking around in the dirt and reminiscing about the building that was once there. Thanks for listening. If you missed any part of tonight's show or if you want to hear it again, you can subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcast app at WeirdDarkness.com-slash-listen. Not only will you hear a copy of tonight's show, you'll also receive daily episodes of the Weird Darkness podcast at WeirdDarkness.com-slash-listen or search for Weird Darkness wherever you listen to podcasts. You can follow Weird Darkness on social media by visiting the Contact social page on the website. And please, tell others about Weird Darkness who loved 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. 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 immediately after tonight's show is ended. The mystery of the Garrett family's tragic deaths is from Pennsylvania oddities. The Perfect Man is by Dr. Romeo Vitelle for Providencia. Peeping Tom Motel was written by Rachel Sowerby for Ranker's graveyard shift. An interview with the wannabe vampire is from the scare chamber. 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. First Corinthians 16 verse 13. Be on your guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And a final thought, don't compare your chapter one to someone else's chapter 20. I'm Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me in the Weird Darkness. In June of 1938, in Pulaski County, Kentucky, a man named Carl Pruitt came home from work one night and found his wife in bed with another man. After her lover escaped by jumping out of a window, Pruitt strangled his wife with a small piece of chain. Immediately after, perhaps having just realized the depth of his madness, he committed suicide. He was buried in a separate cemetery from his wife. A few weeks after he was buried, visitors to the cemetery began to notice the pattern of a chain that was slowly forming on Pruitt's gravestone. The chain was caused by an unusual discoloration in the stone, and slowly it gained links until it formed the shape of a cross. At that point, it stopped growing. A number of local residents suggested that perhaps the supernaturally marked tombstone should be removed from the graveyard and destroyed, but officials scoffed and nothing was done about it. A month or so after the chain stopped growing, a group of boys were riding their bicycles past the cemetery one afternoon. One of them, a boy named James Collins, decided to throw a few stones at Pruitt's cursed gravestone, probably just to prove that he wasn't afraid and had little use for spooky stories. Whatever the reason for his actions, the hurled rocks managed to chip several spots from the stone. As the young men started home, Collins' bicycle suddenly began to pick up speed, to the point that he could no longer control it. It veered off the road and collided with a tree. Then, in some unexplained way, the sprocket chain tore loose and managed to wrap itself around the boy's neck, strangling him. Rumors quickly spread about this remarkable occurrence, especially after an examination of the Pruitt tombstone revealed that no marks or chips marred the surface of it. The other boys knew what they had seen, however, and their breathless accounts only fueled speculation about a vengeful ghost. James Collins' mother was especially heartbroken over her son's death. Less than a month after his accident, she went out to the cemetery and destroyed the Pruitt gravestone with a small hand axe. She pounded and hacked at the stone until it lay in dozens of pieces. Following day, she was hanging the family wash on the line. Ironically, the clothesline was made from small, linked chain rather than the usual rope or wire. Somehow, she slipped and fell, and her neck became entangled in the chain. She twisted and tried to get free, but it was no use, and she strangled to death. The legends say that after she died, the Pruitt tombstone showed no signs of destruction. Needless to say, news of this most recent incident spread. A short time later, a local farmer and three members of his family were driving a wagon past the cemetery. For some reason, the farmer announced that he had no fear of ghosts and fired several shots at the Pruitt stone with his revolver. Chunks flew from the marker, and immediately the horses pulling the wagon began to run. Their hooves pounded faster and faster until the wagon was out of control. The family members all jumped to safety, but the farmer hung on, frantically pulling on the reins. Just as the wagon veered around a curve in the road, the farmer was thrown from his seat and he tumbled forward. His neck snagged on one of the trace chains, and the motion of the horses snapped his neck. Once again, Pruitt's stone showed no signs of the damage that had been done to it. The local residents were now convinced of the fact that the grave marker was cursed. Things got so bad that the local congressman was contacted and two police officers were sent out to the cemetery to investigate the stories. When they arrived at the graveyard, one of the men began to laugh about the stories and made fun of the idea of so-called ghosts and curses. Regardless, they took several photos of the stone and then left to go and talk with the witnesses to the events surrounding it. As they were leaving, the doubting officer happened to look into the car's rear view mirror. In it, he saw a bright light coming from the direction of the Pruitt tombstone. At first, he assumed that it was just a reflection from the car's tail lights, but then it began to get closer to the car. Startled, he began to drive faster, but the light kept coming. He drove faster and faster, always watching his mirror. His partner pleaded with him to slow down, but it was no use. The light was still coming. Just then, the car swerved off the road and crashed between two posts. It rolled over and over again several times. The officer on the passenger side was thrown clear of the wreck and was only slightly hurt. Shaken, he climbed to his feet and went to his partner's aid. He found that his partner was dead, but he had been killed before the car had wrecked. As the car had passed between the two posts, a chain that had been hanging between them had shattered the car's windshield and had wrapped around the driver's neck. The force was so great it had nearly severed his head. After this death, residents began to avoid the cemetery altogether. Only one man, Arthur Lewis, dared to go there. He was determined to prove that the stories of a cursed tombstone were nothing but superstitious nonsense. One evening, after telling his wife what he intended to do, he went to the graveyard with a hammer and chisel and began to methodically destroy the grave marker. The sounds of the hammer and the shattering stone could be heard by all who lived near the cemetery, and they also heard the blood-curdling scream that filled the night too. Several men grabbed lanterns and went down to investigate. When they arrived, they found Lewis dead, with the long chain that had been used to close the cemetery gate wrapped about his neck. Apparently something had frightened him and he had started running, forgetting about the chain that barred the entrance gate. Oddly, even though ten or fifteen people had heard the sound of the man breaking Pruitt's gravestone, there were no marks of broken places on it. After this last death, other bodies in the cemetery were removed and buried again in other locations. People gradually moved away and the small burial plot was forgotten. Since Pruitt had no family left to care for his grave, the site became overgrown and tangled with weeds. In 1958 it was destroyed for good by a strip mining operation. The five strange deaths, all linked by chains, were never explained. Hey Weirdos, be sure to click the like button and subscribe to this channel, and click the notification bell so you don't miss future videos. 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