 Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and is intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised. Folklore tends to link real-life horrors with eerie paranormal occurrences. Whether it's a cold-blooded murder, a terrible fire, or a tragic suicide that features in these violent stories behind ghosts, they're all said to leave behind some spiritual mark. Even if you don't believe in paranormal activity, these true background stories are sure to send a chill down your spine. Do you know the bloody real-life events that inspired the Amityville horror? Have you ever considered what axe-wielding angry spirits might be lurking in Lizzie Borden's home? And why do homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright seem particularly prone to ghostly activity? Listen on to discover the freaky, frightening true stories behind some of the most notorious hauntings of all time. I'm Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness. Welcome, Weirdos. This is Weird Darkness. Here you'll find stories of the paranormal, supernatural, legends, lore, crime, conspiracy, mysterious, macabre, unsolved, and unexplained. Coming up in this episode, Weirdo family member Jason Miller tells us about the incident that initially piqued his curiosity about all things dark and strange. A hotshot New York advertising executive mysteriously vanished in the middle of Wyoming, leaving his car running and clothes scattered everywhere. What happened to Don Kemp? I'll tell you about the scariest movie I personally have ever seen. It's not a horror movie, nor is it a psychological thriller. It's a documentary and the reason it is so horrifying is because it has happened to me. When a famous person dies, their fans mourn the loss. The news spreads nationwide, sometimes worldwide depending on the popularity of the performer. But just because they've gone from this mortal coil doesn't mean they won't come back as ghostly entities. And in some cases their ghosts are just as famous as they were when they were still alive. And horrible hauntings are everywhere. But do you know the secret, gruesome, real life stories behind some of the most famous spooky sites? We'll begin with that story. While listening, be sure to check out the Weird Darkness website. At WeirdDarkness.com you can sign up for the newsletter, find paranormal and horror audiobooks I've narrated. Watch old horror movies, find my other podcast, The Church of the Undead. Plus, you can visit the Hope in the Darkness page if you're struggling with depression or dark thoughts. You can find all of that and more at WeirdDarkness.com. Now, bolt your doors, lock your windows, turn off your lights, and come with me into the Weird Darkness. The Amityville House Hosted a Mass Murder Immortalized in the hit Amityville horror film franchise, this house in the quiet New York village of the same name supposedly hosts frightening specters. Still standing on Ocean Avenue with its iconic I Like Windows, this home is the site of the infamous mass murder of the DeFeo family. In 1974, Ronald DeFeo in an alleged state of demonic possession shot his entire family to death as they slept. In 1976, George and Kathy Lutz along with their three children moved into the house, but they only stayed 28 days before they had enough. Aside from the typical bumps in the night, they encountered flies swarming the home, green slime oozing from the walls and crucifixes turning upside down on their own. The Catholic priest was brought in in an attempt to cleanse the house, but he was told by a disembodied voice to get out. It's impossible to say whether that message was from the spirits of the slain DeFeo's or something more sinister. Regardless, the Lutz family decided to move out immediately. Tortured slaves were imprisoned in LaLaurie House. Located in the French Quarter of New Orleans, the 19th century charm of LaLaurie House belies a grim and bloody history. The house was home to Madame Marie Delphine LaLaurie, a prominent member of New Orleans high society. Legend has it that Mrs. LaRie's home caught fire in 1834, revealing in its destruction her evil hobbies and pastimes. Local folklore says that the home's attic contained slaves held in small cages or nailed down to tables, shackled prisoners with their eyes and ears removed, fingernails ripped out and mouths sewn shut. People flayed alive with open, festering wounds and victims whose bones had been broken and reset to resemble grotesque animal-like shapes. Considering the horrible acts that took place in the LaLaurie House, it's no wonder the building is considered to be one of the most haunted places in the region. Now, remodeled as luxury apartments, occupants and visitors have reported hearing anguishing screams bouncing off the walls as well as seeing apparitions of slaves walking the balconies and yards. The Lizzie Bordenholm was the site of brutal acts murders. This one is likely not much of a surprise to anyone. There was an incredibly dark nursery rhyme that goes, Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother 40 wax. When she saw what she had done, she gave her father 41. This grim pair of couplets has been echoed by generations of children and the century-old murders they detail took place in a house that still stands in Fall River, Massachusetts. On August 4, 1892, Lizzie Borden informed her made of a grisly discovery. Her father, dead on the sofa, bludgeoned and mutilated by hatchet. Her stepmother Abby was found upstairs a victim of the same brutal fate. Since Lizzie was the only person home during the murders and she reportedly had a rocky relationship with her father and stepmother, she was immediately a suspect in the crime. Evidence however proved scant and Borden was ultimately acquitted with no one else ever being charged. The Borden House stands today as a bed and breakfast where guests can stay in the master bedroom belonging to the slain couple. But they may not be alone. Visitors have reported hearing creaking floors, seeing unexplained shadows and even smelling a faint floral scent, perhaps the lingering perfume of the late Abby Borden. The Black Dahlia murder might have happened in John Soudenhouse. In the trendy neighborhood of Los Feliz in Los Angeles looms a hulking, Mayan-inspired building created by the legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The exterior has a brooding quality to it, but it is the history of the home and what may still be in it that gives passersby the creeps. Commissioned and built in the 1920s by retired artist John Souden, the house was purchased by Dr. George Hodel in 1945. Hodel was an acclaimed physician in the field of venereal disease and his practice catered to many of Hollywood's elite. The doctor was also rumored to host hedonistic sex parties in his labyrinth-like home and was said to beat his children in the basement. But that's not the most sinister act rumored to have taken place below ground in the Soudenhouse. In the early 2000s, Hodel's son Steve claimed that his father had been behind the infamous Black Dahlia murder, the unsolved death and mutilation of Elizabeth Short and that it took place in the basement of the John Soudenhouse. While under investigation for the murder of Elizabeth Short, George Hodel fled the U.S. and spent his remaining days in Asia. Subsequent residents of the Soudenhouse have reported eerie occurrences in the home, including the sound of chains rattling, disembodied voices and apparitions that appear to be Mr. Hodel himself. Tuberculosis patients haunt Waverly Hills Sanatorium. Built in Louisville, Kentucky in 1926 to treat Tuberculosis patients, the Waverly Hills Sanatorium saw thousands of deaths during its years of operation. Before medicines were developed to treat the disease, treatments ranged from crude to outright barbaric. With fresh air thought to be an effective remedy, patients were often left out in the elements regardless of the season or else placed in sun rooms where their lungs would be exposed to ultraviolet light. There were bloodier treatments as well. The muscles and ribs of some patients were removed to allow the lungs to expand or balloons were surgically implanted to expand the lungs by force, often with disastrous results. Deaths occurred at a high rate and estimated one per hour at the height of the epidemic. Waverly Hills had to develop an effective method of disposing of the bodies, which they did with a literal body shoot, a tunnel below the grounds that brought the deceased to a nearby railway out of sight of the living. This death tunnel, along with the rest of the hospital, is said to be a hotspot for paranormal activity. Since the hospital was closed in 1982, visitors have reported hearing footsteps and disembodied voices, seeing strange shadows and even encountering a young ghost named Timmy who is said to roll a ball around on the building's upper floors. A hanged woman appears in Sour Castle. With its towering Gothic architecture complete with a widow's walk, Kansas City's Sour Castle certainly conjures the image of a classic haunted house. This historic structure overlooking the Kansas River is said to be one of the state's most haunted locations. Built by New York businessman Anton Sour, the castle was home to his wife and 12 children, one of whom died in infancy and was buried on the property. Local rumors suggest the entire Sour family was buried on the property but that's just one of many bizarre tales attached to the home. It's also said that a woman hanged herself in the castle's tall tower and that it holds buried bodies in a secret tunnel that leads to the river. With a long, dark history, it's no wonder that neighbors of Sour Castle, now fenced off and crumbling, report strange lights and voices coming from the home. But perhaps the spookiest story of all is the local legend that every Halloween a man and woman can be seen dancing in the tower. The Taliesian Massacre destroyed Frank Lloyd Wright's life. Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesian is a home he built in Spring Green, Wisconsin as a personal refuge. Having been exiled professionally from Chicago after fleeing to Europe with his wife of a client, Wright retreated to Spring Green in an effort to re-establish his practice. Taliesian was built in 1909 and Wright's previously wed lover, Martha Mama Shaney, moved in in 1911. Mrs. Shaney was said to be unusually strong-willed and stubborn, and in August of 1914 she abruptly fired a loyal servant. Julie and Carlton, the disgruntled employee, entered the home and doused gasoline around two rooms where Mrs. Shaney, her children and some guests were having lunch. Surrounding the home's terrified occupants with a literal ring of fire, Carlton then ran into the flames, striking the victims with a hatchet and killing seven. Frank Lloyd Wright was said to never be the same after this terrible event. As the sight of a brutal massacre, it's no surprise that Taliesian is said to be haunted. Visitors have reported windows and doors opening and closing by themselves, along with a vision of Mrs. Shaney herself, though she does not appear angry, just restless and lost. Ghostly children appear in the Velisca Axe Murder House. On June 9, 1912, in Velisca, Iowa, one of the most heinous unsolved crimes in U.S. history unfolded. J. B. Moore, his wife Sarah and six children, four of their own and two of their friends, were brutally murdered. As the family and their guests slept that hot summer evening, an intruder or intruders crept into their home and one by one bludgeoned each victim to death with an axe. There was no shortage of suspects in the Velisca Axe Murders, ranging from a state senator to a railway transient yet nobody was ever convicted. Perhaps it's this injustice that keeps the Moore family around the house today. Now, a tourist attraction, the Velisca Axe Murder House offers guided tours of the historical crime scene. But potential visitors should be aware. Patrons have reported hearing children's voices and seeing falling lamps, moving ladders and flying objects. A mob hit happened at Chrysier Mansion. A New York Staten Island sits Chrysier Mansion, a stately gothic structure built by Brickworks Magnet Balthazar Chrysier in the 1800s. This sprawling home was actually one of two twin mansions Chrysier built atop Chrysier Hill for his sons. Its mate was torn down during the Great Depression. Balthazar Chrysier passed away just one year after the mansions were built and shortly thereafter the family's factory burned down, causing their fortune to suddenly go up in smoke. Chrysier's elder son, Edward, took his own life in the still remaining mansion with a single bullet to the temple. But the violence in Chrysier Mansion didn't end there. In 2005 a local mafia boss ordered the property's caretaker to carry out a hit at the home and he did just that. The killer then dismembered the body and burned it in the basement's furnace. Local lore suggests this history of tragedy and bloodshed has left a mark on the mansion. Neighbors have reported strange lights and voices coming from the house, although the ghost of Robert McKelvey, the mansion's mafioso victim, has yet to appear. Lemp Mansion inhabitants committed suicide. In 1838, Johann Adam Lemp, one of the first Americans to develop German lager, settled in St. Louis, Missouri and began building his ill-fated empire. By the late 1800s his foul-staffed lager was sold all over the U.S., but then prohibition rolled around and in 1922 the brewery was sold for a fraction of its previous worth. Unspeakable tragedy seemed to follow the Lemp family and by 1950 four different lamp descendants had taken their own lives in the mansion, all succumbing to fatal gunshot wounds. By the 1970s the Lemp family had completely died out. According to some, the walls of Lemp Mansion still tell the tragic tales of the family who built it. Said to be one of the most haunted places in America, the mansion now houses a restaurant and bed and breakfast, where guests have reported hearing voices, seeing glasses break and candles light themselves and hearing a piano in the bar play on its own. The Sally House was the site of surgery gone wrong. By the Missouri River Bluffs in Atchison, Kansas sits the spectacularly haunted Sally House. The house is said to still be occupied by its namesake, a young girl named Sally who died in the home. Local legend describes a backstory that might explain her lingering presence. Accounts of Sally's death vary but the popular consensus seems to be that in the early 1900s a young girl came to the home then occupied by a doctor in his family seeking treatment for appendicitis. The girl in severe stomach pain panicked when she saw the surgical tools surrounding the operating table and the doctor was forced to hold her down and apply the either necessary for anesthesia. Sally died during surgery and her last memories would be those of sheer terror believing she was about to be subjected to grisly torture. Sally's imprint of horror is said to still stain this quaint two-story home. Full-bodied apparitions have been reported, along with objects flying through the air. The voice of a young girl thought to be Sally herself has even been recorded by several paranormal investigators. When Weird Darkness returns, weirdo family member Jason Miller tells us about the incident that initially piqued his curiosity about all things dark and strange. A hot shot New York advertising executive mysteriously vanished in the middle of Wyoming, leaving his car running and clothes scattered everywhere. What happened to Don Kemp? But first, when a famous person dies, their fans mourn the loss. The news spreads nationwide, sometimes worldwide depending on the popularity of the performer. But just because they have gone from this mortal coil doesn't mean they won't come back as ghostly entities. And in some cases, their ghosts are just as famous as they were when they were still alive. That story is up next. Attention, weirdos! We're moving the movie up another half an hour earlier to leave room for the fun, so be sure to set your reminders for 8.30pm Central Time on February 12th. It's our next Weirdo Watch Party, Saturday, February 12th, and we're bringing back Mistress Malicious for another horror-rable movie. Mistress Malicious is presenting 1965's Bloody Pit of Horror. With a name like Bloody Pit of Horror, you know it's going to be terrifyingly awful. So much paralyzing terror in this hair-raising orgy of sadism influenced by the shocking writings of the evil and depraved Marquis de Sade. In the movie, a homicidal maniac lures beautiful women to his castle's torture chamber to revel in the agony he inflicts upon them. Bloody Pit of Horror is touted as one of the most terrifying films ever made. Probably more on the terrible side. Anyway, join us Saturday, February 12th, 8.30pm Central Time. We're moving in an hour earlier for this horrific mess of a movie. Jump into the chat with us during the movie to poke fun at the acting, at the sets, make jokes as we watch the film. The Weirdo Watch Party is always free, so grab your movie popcorn, candy, and soda, and join us this coming Saturday, February 12th, as horror host Mistress Malicious and her Mistress Peace Theater brings us 1965's Bloody Bad Bloody Pit of Horror. The fun begins at 6.30pm Pacific, 7.30pm Mountain, 8.30pm Central, 9.30pm Eastern, 3.30pm for our friends in Hawaii, and 2.30am for Greenwich Beach Mean Time viewers. You can see those times again for your local area and watch a trailer for the film on the Weirdo Watch Party page at WeirdDarkness.com, and we'll see you there this coming Saturday. Celebrity Ghosts They're just like regular ghosts, and they love a good haunting. Apparently, some of these famous folks still haunt this mortal coil, appearing in mirrors and messing around with household objects, all the usual ghostly stuff. Maybe they have unfinished business, or maybe they just like their fans too much to move on. Whatever the reason, if you hold a seance in the right place at the right time, you may just get your chance encounter with one of the ghostly elite. Many people claim to have felt the presence of a famous phantom. Maybe they're liars, but what a famous ghost want with a regular old non-famous person anyhow. But the places famous ghosts regularly appear vary from hotels that they haunted during their living moments to their old houses. Some of these ghostly celebrities include those who were at the height of fame in the old Hollywood era to those who perished more recently. Marilyn Monroe was found dead due to a barbiturate overdose on August 5, 1962 at her Los Angeles home. Ruber has it that she still haunts the Brentwood home where her body was found, but she also supposedly makes the occasional ghostly appearance at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in her favorite cabana room suite. Monroe is said to haunt the full-length mirror in the hotel's lobby as well, and has been seen dancing in the hotel's ballroom. Musician John Lennon has been spotted by a lot of famous folks, including Paul McCartney, who had been recording one of Lennon's unfinished symphonies at the time, and Oasis member Liam Gallagher. Lennon was shot by Mark David Chapman on December 8, 1980, just outside of the Dakota, his New York residence. Apparently, this is the place that Lennon's ghost returns to the most. Elvis Presley, the king of rock and roll, met his untimely end when he died of a heart attack August 16, 1977. Presley was found in the bathroom of his home in Graceland, Tennessee, and reportedly still haunts the property. But Elvis gets around. He's also been spotted by stagehands at the Las Vegas Hilton, wearing his famous white sequined jumpsuit, as well as the old RCA recording studios. Workers at the former musician's recording studio, which is now a TV studio, have reported instances where someone brings up Elvis in conversation and unexplained noises appear on the sound system and the studio lights begin to flicker. Singer Amy Winehouse tragically died of alcohol poisoning in 2011 at the age of 27, becoming a member of the infamous 27 Club. But it seems she hasn't quite left this plane of existence yet. Pete Doherty, a close friend of Winehouse's and the former member of the Libertines, was convinced that Winehouse was haunting his flat, so much so that he fled to Paris to get away from her ghostly presence. Another member of the 27 Club and former singer of the Doherty, Jim Morrison, died in a bathtub in Paris on July 3, 1971, from what is widely believed to have been a drug overdose. But his ghost traveled all the way from Paris to Los Angeles, where he has been seen in the bathroom of Mexico restaurant Yabara, which was built where the Doherty's preferred recording studio once was. His ghost was also apparently photographed near his grave in Paris, France, in 1997. Former Playboy Playmate Anne and Nicole Smith actually told FHM that she hooked up with a ghost in 2004, so maybe she found her former paranormal paramour once she became a ghost herself. Smith died in room 607 of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in 2007, and still haunts its halls, at least according to a guest named Stephanie Pont, who claims to have seen Smith's spirit roaming around the hotel. We're now to escape artist Harry Houdini could not escape Death's clutches, and now he is apparently shackled to this mortal coil. He died from a ruptured appendix on October 31, 1926. Halloween, what a day to go out. Houdini's ghost is said to haunt the premise of Jackie Goffin's Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, where a Houdini tribute magic show is still hosted today. Many of the hotel's staff members believe that a ghost haunts the dressing rooms and makes its presence known by moving items around, and they believe that this ghost is none other than Houdini himself and that he is hanging around to make sure their magic show tribute is up to his standards. Lucille Ball's ghost likes to party. You could even say she likes to have a ball. The I Love Lucy star died at age 77 from a ruptured aorta following open heart surgery, but nothing keeps a good ghost down. The owners of Lucille Ball's house have complained of party sounds coming from the attic, such as voices that sound as if they are talking over loud music. Sounds as if Lucy has some ghost buddies over that she is having a blast with up there. They have also mentioned supernatural happenings like furniture moving about of its own accord, and household items disappearing and reappearing in different places. The phrase Blonde bombshell was coined to describe Jean Harlow. This girl originated one of the hottest descriptors in the business, but another bombshell broke when she died of kidney failure on June 7, 1937. However, it appears that Harlow has an unfinished business to attend to, as she was reportedly beaten viciously by her then-husband Paul Byrne, an MGM studio executive. Byrne later killed himself in their home, but Harlow has stuck around. A family who lived in her home in the 1970s described hearing racking sobs, smelling mysterious perfume, and hearing a woman's voice whispering, please help me. Joan Crawford's daughter has claimed that she and her mother lived in a house that was already haunted. So when Crawford died of a heart attack, May 10, 1977, it seems as though she joined the ghost party that was already raging. Apparently Joan and the other ghosts spent their time starting fires and trying to burn the house down. An exorcist was even hired to clear the home of malevolent spirits, and she referred to Crawford's home as A Place of Conspicuous Negativity, calling it an astral central. The star of TV's original Superman, George Reeves, now flies around in a more phantasmic sense, haunting his former home where he died from a gunshot wound to the head at the age of 45. Visitors to the home claimed to have heard strange noises coming from Reeves' old bedroom, and once a film crew shooting at the house even saw him appear in full Superman regalia. Orson Welles completely changed the face of cinema and has haunted film students for decades through citizen cane film study screenings, though in a far less ghostly sense. But since he died of a heart attack at the age of 70 on October 11, 1985, he now also haunts some of his favorite dining spots as well, specifically a hotspot that used to be the Mameson Restaurant, which has since been turned into Sweet Lady Jane Bakery. Customers have reported sightings of Orson Welles at his favorite corner table, noting that he only appears for a few seconds, wearing all black and a wide-brimmed hat. Marilyn Monroe isn't the only celebrity ghost haunting the Roosevelt Hotel. She's in good company, as Montgomery Clift likes to spend his ghostly time there as well. Clift, a four-time Oscar nominee, died at the age of 45 and became a posthumous queer icon as he was revealed to be bisexual by Elizabeth Taylor at the Glad Media Awards in 2000. Clift now haunts the Roosevelt Hotel, specifically Room 928, where unexplained noises can be heard even though the room is empty. Not only that, but the phone is frequently found off the hook and the room is always cold, presumably from a ghostly chill. Now for a change of pace. This one may not be a movie star or a music icon, but he loves a good haunting as much as the next celebrity ghost. U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, April 14, 1865, at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. But some White House staff have reported the occasional appearance of the former president wandering the building. Former First Later Grace Coolidge claimed to have seen him in the Oval Office by the window, and former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill also purported to have seen Abe while staying in the Lincoln bedroom. Churchill emerged from the bathtub with nothing on his person but a lit cigar, when he spotted the president's ghost smirking at him. This next story is from weirdo family member Jason Miller. Here is his story. When I was young, my family had moved to West Virginia. My parents had just bought a house, and we moved in the summer of 1989. Things were pretty normal there from the start. I met my neighbor who would become my best friend, and I was like your normal kid. At the time, we had an Atari, so I played that like crazy. You know, once a gamer, always a gamer. But I'm getting off topic. My parents had set up my room diagonally from their room. My mother wanted to be able to look across the hallway into my room to make sure I didn't roll out of my bed. And this is where things started getting interesting. One night I was asleep, and my mother felt the urge to wake up and look into my room. She had told me, not until I was about to graduate high school in 2004, that she had seen a black orb floating over my bed. When she saw it, it was like it noticed her as well and flew towards her and behind the headboard of their bed. After that, only her and I would hear and see things. Fast forward three to six years, and my grandmother and aunt had come down from Pennsylvania to visit. In a hospitable fashion, my parents offered to sleep in our family room downstairs, and my grandmother took their bedroom with my aunt taking the guest room slash den right next to my room. One night we were all asleep, and I had this urge to wake up for some reason. As I opened my eyes, I saw a tall, dark silhouette pointing what looked like a pistol at me. I freaked out. I exited the right side of my bed and ran to the farthest corner of my room. Remembering my parents were downstairs, I stomped on the floor screaming at the top of my lungs for help, but nobody came. It felt like as loud as I could scream, no one heard. After some time, I went back to bed. The next morning, I wake up and go to the door of my room. I hear my grandmother, aunt, mother, and father all in the kitchen talking. My grandmother and aunt asked my parents if they heard me last night, and they replied, yes. When my grandmother and aunt asked why they didn't check on me, my parents simply replied, it happens a lot. In the summer of 2000, we had moved out of that house and into a new one where we had the pastor of our church bless the house. We didn't hear anything or see anything the remainder of the time in West Virginia. I was curious though, ever since my experience with the shadow person, I'd gotten interested in the paranormal and researched why I would see something like that. My mother and I were talking and she said that she didn't want to tell me about the history of the house since I was too young. I said, well, I'm 17 now and can handle what you have to say. She said that a family that used to own the house had been a little abusive with their kids and had used the room I was in as a makeshift holding cell to punish their children. They'd locked their children in there. When I had researched and said that no one has to die in a place in order for it to be haunted, all a place needs is enough dark energy and boom, it's on it. After my mother told me this, it got me to thinking, was one I witnessed that night years ago, a re-enactment of an event? Did whatever was possessing that house want me to know what happened? The mystery of Don Kemp has haunted those closest to him since he vanished in 1982. Like many people who perished under bizarre circumstances, there are numerous theories about what happened to Kemp, some mundane, some supernatural. The tale of Kemp's disappearance is full of twists, turns and a few concrete explanations. Formerly an executive at an ad agency in New York City, Kemp gave up his job in pursuit of a simpler life. He planned to leave the city and write a book about Abraham Lincoln's slaying. How his body ended up off a rural Wyoming highway still remains a puzzle. Some people speculate his passing was part of a cover-up in a conspiracy theory about Abraham Lincoln. Others say aliens abducted him. Could he have been transported to another dimension? What seemed like a simple case of exposure turned into a disconcerting narrative full of inconsistencies. As is the case with many missing persons cases, we may never know the full story. A highway patrol officer found Kemp's car November 16, 1982, two months after Kemp sold his belongings and set out to conduct research for his book. Kemp parked the car on a long stretch of prairie highway in rural Wyoming, its engine still running. Kemp had packed his belongings so tightly in the vehicle there was only room for the driver. His clothes were strewn all across the road and the car's doors were left open. In the search that ensued, investigators only found traces of Kemp. They picked up his socks and a barn alongside sticks Kemp likely used to start a fire. Police also discovered a bag filled with a teapot, laundry detergent and a set of clothes, all belonging to the missing man. A blizzard delayed the search and nobody found additional clues to Kemp's disappearance for four years. Around five months after authorities discovered the vehicle, two people reported seeing Kemp in Casper, Wyoming, about 150 miles away from where he left his car. A bartender claimed he served Kemp. Another witness said he saw Kemp at a Abraham Lincoln exhibit traveling through the area. A friend of Kemp's received a series of eerie phone calls. Five months after his disappearance, Judy Aiello, Kemp's former co-worker, received five calls to her unlisted New York City number. She swore the man on the phone sounded like Kemp. In a message, he said, I'd like to speak to you again, call me. When she called the number back, she asked if the caller was Kemp. The person on the other end of the line initially said yes but then changed his answer to no. When she asked if the person could pass a message on to Kemp, the man said yes and then hung up the phone. The phone calls to Judy Aiello originated from a trailer in Casper, Wyoming, the same town where two people reported seeing Kemp. Mark Dennis was renting the trailer. He claimed he didn't make the calls and had no idea who did. He said that either somebody used his phone without permission or the phone company made an error. Though initially cooperative with the investigation, Dennis stopped helping police about three weeks after they questioned him for the first time. He abruptly moved away from Casper. Kemp's mother believes Dennis' behaviors a sign of his involvement in her son's passing, saying, God knows what happened to my son in that trailer. It's too horrible to contemplate. I don't know. But I think I deserve an answer. I tried in every way I knew how to contact this young man. I finally spoke with him only one time on the phone. I asked him about my son and he said he knew nothing about Don Kemp. He just paid those phone bills. He didn't look at them. I told this young man he was lying. You know what has happened to my son and he just hung up on me. Though investigators didn't find Kemp's body until years after his disappearance, police formulated several theories to explain what happened to him. A traffic accident had previously disabled Kemp and his view of the world significantly changed afterward. His family claimed his personality was different and police believe he may have been taking medication for pain or mental health reasons that impacted his behavior. Some believe his medication may have been in a brief case he forgot at the Cheyenne Museum. It's possible his lack of medication led Kemp to abandon his vehicle and venture into the prairie. About Kemp's mental state, Highway Patrol officer Randy Teeters said, I have no idea what would inspire anybody to walk through that prairie in the middle of winter. We considered possibly someone under medication that didn't know what they were doing due to the medication or being out of the medication, possibly that would affect him to the point of where they would just walk out into the middle of nowhere. When exactly Kemp went missing remains unclear, but his car was still running when authorities found it November 16, 1982. Police had a very small window of time in which to search because a blizzard rolled in three days later. By the time the weather improved, the trail had gone cold. Police found evidence that Kemp stayed in a nearby barn, but there were no tracks leading out of the structure. It seems as though Kemp vanished into thin air. Investigators speculate Kemp didn't want to be found. Deputy Ron Johnson, who was responsible for flying over the section of Highway where Kemp went missing, said, I felt the guy was disoriented and I felt that he didn't want to be found. If he would have wanted to be found, he would have heard the aircraft, could have waved his arms, got our attention, gone up to a ridge anywhere and been cited. Kemp's mother, Mary Kemp, wasn't so certain her son's passing was an accident. After police traced the mysterious phone calls Judy Aiello received to a trailer in Casper, Wyoming, Mary was convinced the man who lived there, Mark Dennis, played a role in Kemp's disappearance. Dennis says that he didn't make the calls to Aiello and that he never checked his phone bill to see whether someone else made calls from his line. Mary tried to confront Dennis in person to ask about her son's whereabouts, but Dennis moved just three weeks after police initially questioned him. Until her passing, Mary maintained that someone took her son's life and she rejected the theory that Kemp perished of exposure. The last time anyone definitively saw Kemp was at a museum in Cheyenne, Wyoming where he forgot his briefcase. The case contained his driving glasses, which means he drove without them. Kemp allegedly called the museum to tell them that he'd be back to retrieve the briefcase, but he never arrived. Kemp visited the museum November 15, 1982, just one day before authorities discovered his car on a rural stretch of highway. A blizzard on November 19 halted search efforts. No new clues appeared in the case until four years later when hunters discovered Kemp's skeletal remains a few miles from where Kemp left his vehicle. Though search teams combed the surrounding area after Kemp's disappearance, they either missed the body or Kemp wandered back towards his vehicle later on. Judy Aiella, who received the phone calls from someone in Casper, Wyoming who claimed to be Kemp, worked with Kemp for approximately 10 years. She believed the calls did come from Kemp himself. If Kemp did make those calls, however, he couldn't have perished in the blizzard. The call came five months after authorities found his car. Around the same time, there were several unconfirmed sightings of Kemp in the Casper, Wyoming area. Hunters found Kemp's body a few miles away from where his abandoned vehicle had been though, either someone dumped Kemp's body there or it couldn't have been Kemp who made the calls. The police believe Kemp had trouble with his medication, which may have led to his erratic behavior. They speculate Kemp wandered away from his vehicle and later succumbed to exposure. There have been a few more supernatural and conspiracy-based theories connected to his passing, however. Some alleged Kemp vanished due to UFO activity or fell into another dimension. Because of Kemp's interest in Abraham Lincoln's life, people also hypothesize someone took or burned his research because he discovered something important about the president. A traffic accident disabled Kemp and it took him years to recover from it. According to relatives, the accident caused a change in his behavior and attitudes. He suddenly became interested in shedding his materialistic ideals and desired a simpler life, which represented a complete 180 from his time as an advertising executive at a New York City agency. He soon sold his belongings and set out to research a book on Abraham Lincoln, which placed him on a path to Wyoming and to his disappearance. Up next, I'll tell you about the scariest movie I personally have ever seen. It's not a horror movie nor is it a psychological thriller. It's a documentary and the reason it's so horrifying is because it has happened to me. I'll tell you about it when Weird Darkness returns. Weirdos, my next email newsletter winner gets the winterized Weirdo prize back If I draw your name for my newsletter subscribers next month, you'll win a classic zip-up Weird Darkness hoodie in your choice of size and colors, a proud to be a Weirdo crew-neck sweatshirt with your size and color choice, plus a Bigfoot Aliens and UFOs ceramic coffee mug, along with a travel mug of the same design to drink your favorite hot beverage in. I'll be choosing a winner for my winterized Weirdo prize pack in March, so sign up for the Weird Darkness email newsletter at WeirdDarkness.com and you'll automatically be in the drawing to win. No purchase necessary, see details on the contest page at WeirdDarkness.com. For some people, getting into bed at night is one of the most frightening things they'll do all day. Individuals who deal with sleep paralysis, which is the temporary inability to move or speak while falling asleep or waking up risk encountering a host of terrifying creatures and images as soon as their head touches the pillow. And for an unlucky few, this happens to be a nightly occurrence. The documentary, The Nightmare, explores exactly how a disparate group of individuals is affected by what they see playing out in front of them at night and attempts to define what sleep paralysis truly is. The following facts about the Nightmare documentary definitely contain some spoilers, so consider yourself warned. And if you're brave enough to actually watch the documentary after listening to this, you should keep in mind that it's more like a horror movie than something Ken Burns would make. It is a documentary, but the film has everything from jump scares to demons who haunt the corners of the frame, so don't be surprised if you end up with your own personal collection of night terrors haunting your dreams. The Nightmare weaves together the stories of eight individuals into a single narrative that aims to describe just what it's like to experience the hyper-realistic night terrors that often come with sleep paralysis. The film documents people from across the world who have never met one another, who have all experienced eerily similar visions when falling asleep and waking up, including seeing evil black cats with red eyes lurking near them and creatures that stand over them while they lie awake unable to move. The people whose stories are documented in The Nightmare don't know each other and one woman even goes so far as to say she doesn't want to hear anybody else's sleep paralysis stories because she has been living with one for her entire life and it's too traumatic. As each person describes what they typically see, it becomes apparent that they are all experiencing different versions of the same thing. They all recount seeing a shadow person or a group of shadow people. Some have hats, some have big eyes, but they are all unidentifiable and threatening figures who watch them sleep. On top of seeing the shadow figures, each person describes the feeling of an electric current going through their head just before they wake up, trapped in a dream in which they can't move. No one knows how all these experiences are connected and the film even discusses how researchers still can't figure out what's happening in the brains of people who experience sleep paralysis. When creating a film about nightmares, how do you actually go about illustrating the horrible things that people are seeing while they sleep? This documentary goes beyond the standard recreation model that you've seen on many paranormal shows and instead makes each dream into its own mini horror film. Sure, there are some very effective jump scares but rather than rely on those, The Nightmare tends to utilize a technique where either something truly creepy is revealed in a long shot or the camera pans through a room to suddenly reveal a shadowy thing that really shouldn't be there. As the film progresses, the audience is forced to lie in wait while these dark figures approach the camera, similar to what the people in the documentary actually describe experiencing. A few of the stories in The Nightmare describe a creature lurking outside a person's house or apartment and trying to get inside once sleep paralysis sets in. In one instance, a creature even calls a man on his phone from inside the dream to tell the man that it wants to come inside. This alone is scary enough, but then one woman goes on to describe how at one point a creature from her dream began targeting her unborn child. She explains that one night, when her sleep paralysis first began to set in, she heard tapping on her window. As the paralysis continued, she noticed that a shadowy figure was standing just outside looking in on her. The thing then came into her home and tried to remove her unborn daughter from her uterus. Whatever the creature was, it never accomplished its task and her daughter was born without complications. Straight from the opening credit sequence that takes viewers through the set where dream recreations are being filmed to the clapperboard that's used in many of the interviews, The Nightmare consistently blends reality with fantasy while being sure to remind the audience that they're watching other people at their most vulnerable moments. Throughout the film, the audience is made to feel much like a voyeur who is watching as people describe their most private intimate fears. Taking it one step further and actually watching those fears as they're acted out adds even greater depth to the surreal nature of this film. What are the strangest stories told in The Nightmare involves a man who had never dealt with sleep paralysis before he and his girlfriend moved into an apartment together. He explains how he witnessed his girlfriend go through sleep paralysis for quite a while and that after she took the time to explain to him just what was happening to her, his own paralysis began to take over in a big way. It's unclear in the documentary whether they're suggesting that simply knowing about sleep paralysis can trigger its development in those who are more susceptible or if this man's brain was just triggered by the sudden awareness of what his girlfriend was experiencing. As more has become known about sleep paralysis, the presence of shadow people has become an ever-increasing fear among those who have it. Surely, one could argue that people who read stories about shadow people are simply internalizing the imagery, but the fact that the participants in The Nightmare report having such remarkably similar creatures haunt them should make even skeptics wonder if something else might be going on here. Each participant describes their encounters with the shadow creatures differently, but they are all narratively similar. Some of the creatures bring a vibration with them, somewhere a hat, some even arrive in groups, but they all begin their haunting by watching their sleeping target from a distance before finally moving in to harm the person going through sleep paralysis. Not everyone in The Nightmare documentary started out being terrified by their nocturnal experiences. One person explains how he even enjoyed the wildly vivid dreams he found himself in, that is until something in his dreams started trying to hurt him. He claims that one night he experienced what he describes as a metal claw grabbing him by the crotch, which shot very real pain through his body. From then on, his dreams began to take a strangely violent turn. At one point, he even recalls how someone on inline skates charged at him, pulled a gun from their shorts and shot at him. Many of the participants in The Nightmare report that they had been dealing with the horrific side effects of sleep paralysis for their entire lives, but they weren't able to fully understand what was occurring to them until they were older. Multiple participants even describe how some of their first memories are connected to their sleep paralysis. One man remembers his television talking to him when he was just five years old and telling him that they would be back. One of the women recalls that in her first memory, she watched as her night light became red, dousing the room in an eerie glow. These memories may not be as terrifying as what was to come, but they do show that whatever is happening began at a young age. Even though none of the participants in the film know each other, they each describe having a remarkably similar sensation occur in their heads when sleep paralysis sets in. One man describes it as a washing machine sound that rumbles through his head at the onset of paralysis, but he is not the only person who experiences it. One participant refers to the sound as being similar to Bee's buzzing, while one woman says that she hears screaming in her head when paralysis sets in. With this, the film begs the question, is it the increasingly electric current running through their heads that causes the sensation or is it something else entirely? As if having shadow people watching them sleep isn't bad enough, the participants in the nightmare also have to suffer the indignity of having doctors tell them that there is nothing wrong with the way their brains are working and nothing can be done about the dreams. It is obvious that something is happening to these people and even the participants acknowledge that it is probably all just in their heads, but what are they supposed to think when they are repeatedly told nothing is wrong? The participants describe their experiences going to various doctors and mental health experts who either don't believe them or simply suggest that a lifestyle change is all they need to stop sleep paralysis. One man even says that after he explained what was happening to a doctor, she responded, that is really messed up. Rather than adopt the archival or still footage methods that many documentaries tend to follow, the nightmare director Rodney Asher chose to give the film a more distinct look. The framing, color palette and heavy use of contrast all seem to be influenced by still photographer Gregory Crudson, an artist whose surrealist works also inspire the cinematography of the sleeper horror hit It Follows. Particularly during the recreations, you are likely to forget that you are watching a documentary as the cinematography pulls you right into the world in which these horrifying dreams exist. And now stepping away from the article, this is me, Darren Marlar speaking, and the reason that I decided to share this particular article is because sleep paralysis and what these people describe actually did happen to me once. So what I watched the nightmare for the very first time, it terrified me. It actually brought back the memory of what had happened to me. My personal experience was very similar to what these people have told their own doctors. Fortunately, mine only happened once, but I will remember it the rest of my life. I was in bed, woke up in a dark room, unable to move, unable to scream, the only thing that would move are my eyeballs. And in front of me, at the foot of my bed, leaning over me was the most evil, dark, demonic presence I have ever felt in my life. And it took forever for it to finally go away and only after calling upon Jesus to save me did it disappear. I know that many people think this is something to do with the brain, some type of chemical or whatever, maybe it is some psychological issue. But the evil that I experienced, like I said, I have never felt that before and I have a hard time believing that Satan or his minions aren't responsible for this in some way. It is just too dark. And to have that many people say that they experienced the very same sensation and the very same type of shadow person entity demon-like beast, I think it is real and it is paranormal or in this case supernatural. Thanks for listening. If you like the podcast, please tell someone about it. Recommend Weird Darkness to your friends, family and co-workers who love the paranormal, horror stories or a true crime like you do. Every time you share the podcast with someone new, it helps spread the word about the show and a growing audience makes it possible for me to keep doing the podcast. Plus, telling others about Weird Darkness also helps get the word out about resources that are available for those who suffer from depression, so please share the podcast with someone today. Do you have a dark tale to tell of your own? Fact or fiction, click on Tell Your Story on the website and I might use it in a future episode. All stories in Weird Darkness are purported to be true unless stated otherwise and you can find source links or links to the authors in the show notes. Living Dead Celebrities was written by Rebecca Schordahl. Factual Frights that Fueled Famous Phantoms is by Harrison Tenpas. What got me interested in the paranormal is by Weirdo family member Jason Miller. The mysterious disappearance of Don Kemp was written by Melissa Branks and Nightmare Documentary is by Jacob Shelton. Weird Darkness Theme by Alibi Music. And now that we are coming out of the dark, I will leave you with a little light. 1 Peter 3 verse 8 Finally, all of you live in harmony with one another. Be sympathetic. Love as brothers. Be compassionate and humble. And a final thought, God has placed you where you are at in this very moment for a reason. Remember that and trust he is working everything out. I'm Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me in the Weird Darkness.