 Ads heard during the podcast that are not in my voice are placed by third-party agencies outside of my control and should not imply an endorsement by Weird Darkness or myself. Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and is intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised. Gory tales of blood-sucking vampires have been around since at least the 17th century. Vampire myths have survived throughout the ages, and vampires are now a permanent fixture in modern pop culture. But why are we so obsessed with the blood-drinking creatures? One of the reasons people love vampires is because they are perceived as sexy. At the same time, they are also terrifying. The combination of these feelings is oddly compelling. Drinking blood is also very close to cannibalism. The taboo nature of these practices is part of what gives vampires their allure. Vampires are not afraid of anything and have been depicted as smart, independent and extremely powerful, making them a prime fantasy for many disaffected people. For most people, vampire movies, books and games are just harmless fun. There aren't any real vampires. Or are there? A few people take vampirism very seriously. Imagining they are real vampires, they carry out heinous deeds to satisfy their lust for blood. For these people, vampirism isn't just pop culture, but a deadly way of life. I'm Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness. Welcome, Weirdos. I'm Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness. Here you'll find stories of the paranormal, supernatural, legends, lore, the strange and bizarre, crime, conspiracy, mysterious, macabre, unsolved and unexplained. Coming up in this episode, when it comes to horror and fantasy, you'd be hard pressed to find something more dangerous or terrifying than the vampire. Skulking around at night, feeding off the blood of the living, shape-shifting into a wool for a bat, hypnotic powers, it's creepy stuff. It's just fiction. But when you discover criminals in our actual world who think they are vampires, that horror and danger becomes all too real. If you're a fan of U.S. history, you might already know that camels once roamed the American Southwest, brought to Texas by the military because they would be perfect for the desert climate. But once it was all over, a legend remained, a terrifying one. But first, just because an official government report is released about a UFO sighting or incident doesn't mean that ufologists and researchers are going to accept those findings, or the story the government tells. Thus is the case with a UFO incident in 1952 outside of Tokyo at the Haneda Air Force Base. We begin with that story. If you're new here, welcome to the show. While you're listening, be sure to check out WeirdDarkness.com for merchandise, to visit sponsors you hear about during the show, sign up for my newsletter and her contests. Connect with me on social media. Listen to my other podcasts like Retro Radio, Old Time Radio in the Dark, Church of the Undead, and a classic 1950s sci-fi-style podcast called Auditory Anthology. Listen to free audiobooks I've narrated. Plus, you can visit the Hope in the Darkness page if you're struggling with depression, dark thoughts, or addiction. 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. Although the content report would offer an explanation about the UFO incident over Haneda Air Force Base just outside Tokyo, Japan in 1952, many researchers reject it. Not least as a study of the case and the testimonies of the witnesses suggest that the explanation itself simply dismisses details of the incident. The incident over the air base is far from the only one to have occurred over Japan, especially since the late 1940s at the end of the Second World War. Might the fact that several, although not all of these sightings occurred over American-occupied bases in the country, suggest some kind of clandestine involvement of the United States military? It might prove to be the case that the incident is simply a victim of the U.S. government's attempts to distance itself from the UFO and alien question, rather than to cover up a huge secret not fit, in their opinion, for public consumption. Just before midnight, on the 5th of August, 1952, two American servicemen were on duty in the control tower of Haneda Air Force Base. It was as they were gazing outward to the night sky that they noticed a strange, bright light moving ahead. The glow appeared to be heading in their direction from Tokyo Bay. They would reach for their military binoculars and view the strange light through them. It was clear that whatever the light was, it was moving toward them. As well as the two servicemen, the two operators who were just finishing their shift also witnessed the bright light. The nearer it came, the clearer the controlled nature of its movements were, suggesting an intelligent control. It then hovered near the control tower, allowing the men to see that a distinct, dark, circular shape was behind it. From their viewpoint, it appeared this object was approximately four times the light's diameter. The closer it came, the clearer a lower section with a secondary light also became. As they watched, the object began to perform specific maneuvers in front of them, leaving the witnesses in awe. Perhaps of more importance while this was taking place, the anomalous object also showed up on the radar and was currently being tracked. As it moved and danced in the night sky, the object appeared to move away from the base, eventually dimming slightly. On several occasions, the object would appear close to the base once more, as if out of nowhere, before vanishing just as quickly. It was as this was happening that one of the witnesses viewed a pilot in a C-54 in the same approximate area over Tokyo Bay. He would radio to him, asking if he could see anything out of the ordinary. He radioed back that he couldn't. The operator would then check with another nearby control tower. They, however, confirmed they did indeed have the unknown craft on their screens. A short time later, First Lieutenant W.R. Holder would take to his F-94 in an attempt to intercept the bizarre craft. With him was First Lieutenant A. M. Jones in the capacity of his onboard radar operator. They would leave the runway of Johnson Air Force Base a short distance away. The jet would ultimately lock on to the object with the radar. However, they could no longer see the craft with their own eyes. The craft, however, was still moving away from the jet, seemingly in circular motions. The F-94 continued to pursue the craft, relying only on the radar and the control tower as to its whereabouts. After about 15 minutes, though, it broke away from the pursuit and returned to its base. Before the chase was over, the strange craft suddenly left the area at great speed, estimated to be around 350 miles per hour. As it did so, though, the one object became three on the respective radar screens. The radar would track the UFO in total for around 30 minutes. During this period, there were sporadic visual sightings, and what's more, these were in sympathy with the radar data, which further suggests that the object, whatever it was, was very real. There were several immediate theories tossed around as to what the strange object might have been. Some would suggest that it was a lighted balloon, however, such suggestions were soon dismissed. For a start, the object was moving far too fast to be a weather balloon, even if the wind was carrying it. And furthermore, weather balloons have a distinct yellow-type glow, which this object did not. There was also more than a hint of intelligence behind the movements and actions of the craft. Perhaps not least that it disappeared shortly after the arrival of the F-94 jet, only to reappear several times near the base following their departure. Was this a purposeful action to prompt the jet to be called off? Basically, though, the FEAF investigators at the time would offer no explanations for the sighting. They would further state it was something that they had truly never seen before. It's perhaps interesting, then, that later investigations into the incident would appear to disregard these statements and even large parts of the witness statements, essentially turning the incident into nothing more than a sighting of a faraway object. Captain Edward Ruppelt, who was head of Project Blue Book, despite what we now know of the apparent attempts to discredit the UFO and alien question through the project, would offer later that ultimately, despite the apparent explanations, the UFO could not be identified as something we knew about. He would further offer that it very well could have been an interplanetary spaceship, although this itself was just a theory among many. The incident was not the only one of 1952 to feature the United States Air Force personnel in Japan. A truly bizarre encounter would feature in the book Unexplained Mysteries of the 20th Century by Janet and Colin Board, which I'll link to in the show notes. Although the date is not certain, at some point during the year in question, Air Force Private Sinclair Taylor would witness what he described as a giant winged man. Even more bizarre, this creature was coming out of the sky in his direction. The serviceman was on guard duty at the time. He simply watched in awe as the winged man simply hovered a short distance away from him. He would later estimate that the winged figure was around seven feet tall. The height was a similar size to its wings when they were outstretched. It was at this point when the serviceman reached for his gun. He pointed it toward the winged being and without thinking, he opened fire. However, when he finally opened his eyes after squeezing off a round of shots, the figure had completely vanished. The incident does indeed remain a complete mystery. Was this some sort of strange alien creature? Or might it have been an unknown Indigenous being? Perhaps it was nothing more than a bizarre illusion. Leader UFO Military and Government Investigations of the Haneda Incident, perhaps most notably the Colorado Project, would suggest that the sighting was nothing more than a light that looked like a star, which was far from the actual reports at the time, and appeared to dismiss entire sections of the incident, specifically when the object hovered over the base. Many believe this was an attempt to simply wash their hands of UFO sightings in general, and this could very well be true. If they achieved this, they would perhaps dampen the enthusiasm and interest of the vast majority of the population. However, the fact that we are talking about this now over a half century after the incident took place is perhaps a testament to the failure of such attempts. Whatever the truth of the incident, the incident remains one that still intrigues researchers and enthusiasts around the world. What was witnessed that evening over Tokyo, and why were there apparent attempts to disregard and even lessen the credibility of the incident by the powers that be? What might have been so significant that years later, there was an apparent need to discredit a sighting, as intriguing as it is, that led to very little interaction? Perhaps it is these attempts to suppress the more dramatic and fascinating details of the incident that increases this interest? Or perhaps UFO investigators and researchers over the years have simply stuck with the initial statements of those involved? Seeing through the attempts to minimize this and other incidents, whether any further details come to light in the form of documents or whistleblower information remains to be seen. When Weird Darkness returns, when it comes to horror and fantasy, you'd be hard pressed to find something more dangerous or terrifying than the vampire. But when you discover criminals in the real world who believe themselves to be vampires, that becomes downright terrifying. Up next. There are very few among those with a love for the supernatural who don't also have a passion for Edgar Allen Poe. Poe wasn't simply a melancholy author who wrote about premature burials, sinister black cats and talking ravens. He was much more. If you've ever read a modern mystery or horror novel, you can thank Poe. Poe invented the modern mystery story, mostly invented science fiction, and was the first writer to take the horror stories of the gothic era and set them in modern times, starting a trend that continues today. With a lifelong interest in Poe, Troy Taylor decided to take his own look at the mysterious and macabre writer, his tragic life, unexplained death and lingering hauntings. He invites listeners along to delve into the strange and bizarre world of Edgar Allen Poe, from his early life to his tragic marriage, his insane grief, his dramatically failed career, his links to an unsolved murder and the mystery of what happened to the writer in the five days before his unexplained death. Even more than a century and a half later, no one knows what happened to Poe before he was found delirious on the streets of Baltimore, Maryland, or what killed him. Why did he disappear and then show up in an incoherent state, wearing another man's clothes? Where did he go when he vanished and who was the mysterious Reynolds that Poe whispered about in his dying breath? And perhaps strangest of all, does he haunt the mysterious graveyard where his body is buried? Nevermore, The Haunted Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allen Poe, written by Troy Taylor, narrated by Darren Marlar. Find a link to the book on the audiobooks page at WeirdDarkness.com. For most people, vampire movies, books and games are just harmless fun. They know vampires aren't real, but then there are a few of the mentally unbalanced that take vampirism seriously. Very seriously. Imagining they are real vampires, they carry out heinous deeds to satisfy their lust for blood. For these people, these vampiric villains, vampirism isn't just pop culture, but a deadly way of life. I am about to tell you about some real-life vampires who took the blood-sucking myth way too far. Those who actually think they are vampires can be scarier than any fiction, Bram Stoker, Anne Rice, Stephen King, or Stephanie Meyer could ever imagine. Daniel and Manuela Ruda of Western Germany believed Satan told them to end their friend's life. The young couple self-proclaimed Satanists and vampires married on the sixth day of the sixth month, June, to signify the number of the beast. Manuela sometimes slept in a coffin. She also had her teeth removed and animal fangs implanted in their place. Their first forays into blood drinking took place with consensual volunteers at gatherings they attended in England and Scotland, often held in cemeteries or in old ruined buildings. The couple said Satan told them they needed to end their friend, 33-year-old Frank Hagan. They picked Hagan because, according to Manuela, he was, quote, so funny and would be the perfect court jester for Satan, unquote. They invited Hagan over, telling him that they were going to a party. Daniel had Hagan in the head with a hammer, then they stabbed him 66 times, that significant number for the couple. After he passed, they carved a pentagram into his stomach, then they drank his blood, had sex in Manuela's coffin, and prayed to Satan. Manuela was disappointed that she didn't become a real vampire after enacting the order to end Hagan. When authorities came into their apartment several days later, they found Hagan's decomposing body near the coffin. At the time of their sentencing, Daniel was 26 and Manuela was 23. They made a show of the trial, flashing Satanist hand signs and threatening witnesses. The pair denied all blame, saying they were simply Satan's instruments. They compared their trial to blaming a car for a vehicular collision. Manuela testified that their actions were, quote, the execution of an order. Satan ordered us to. We had to comply. It was not something bad, it simply had to be. We wanted to make sure that the victim suffered well, unquote. The jury disagreed, however. In 2002, they were both sentenced to psychiatric hospitals, Daniel for 15 years, Manuela for 13. In November 1996, Rod Ferrell was 16 years old when he used a tire iron to take the lives of Richard and Naomi Wendorf, the parents of his friend Heather Wendorf. He committed these ghastly actions as the ringleader of a teenage vampire cult. Ferrell looked the part of a high school goth, long, dyed black hair, all black clothing and a trench coat. He befriended Heather Wendorf when they both attended high school in Eustace, Florida. The following year, Ferrell moved to Kentucky but kept in contact with Heather. In Kentucky, Ferrell began collecting members for his vampire cult. Ferrell and his friend Howard Scott Anderson were charged with cruelty to animals after they broke into an animal shelter. They tormented and beat more than 40 dogs, claiming the lives of two in the process in what looked like a satanic ritual. Ferrell and other teenagers hung out at a place called The Vampire Hotel, drinking each other's blood consensually. Ferrell became obsessed with the role-playing game Vampire, The Masquerade. He claimed to be a 500-year-old vampire named Visago. Just before the targeting of the Wendorfs, Ferrell drove from Kentucky to Florida, with Howard Scott Anderson and two girls. Heather Wendorf was planning to run away from home with Ferrell and the rest of the vampire cult. She did not know, however, that Ferrell was planning to target her parents, although other cult members did know. After breaking into the Wendorf home and committing his infamous deeds, Ferrell and Anderson met up with the girls. The five teenagers went on the run for several days before getting caught. In 1998, Ferrell was sentenced to capital punishment as the youngest person on death row for two years. His sentence was then changed to life without the possibility of parole. In an interview with Investigation Discovery, Ferrell said, I was in a maelstrom of my own madness. He has since been diagnosed with Schizotypal Personality Disorder. The 2002 movie Vampire Clan was based on Ferrell's infamy. Richard Trenton Chase, dubbed the Vampire of Sacramento, is known for taking the lives of six people in 1977. Chase was affected by mental illness his whole life. He chronically used alcohol and drugs as a young man, which psychiatrists believe may have led to Chase's hypochondria. He believed terminating animals and drinking their blood would stop his own heart from shrinking. He also believed that he was being secretly poisoned by the soap in his bathroom, which was turning his blood into powder. He needed fresh blood, in his mind, to replace what was being lost. He ended many neighborhood pets, including his mother's cat and bit the heads off birds. In 1976, he tried to inject rabbit blood into his body, which landed him in a hospital. That led to him being placed in a mental institution. He was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. Soon after, he was released from the institution into his mother's care, and then his behavior escalated. Chase was looking for game larger than just neighborhood pets. He started entering people's homes, and true to vampiric lore, he would not go into a locked house. On January 23, 1978, Chase targeted Teresa Whalen, who was pregnant. After taking her life, he assaulted and mutilated the body. He ate parts of her flesh and used a yogurt container as a cup to drink her blood. Four days later, he struck again. His next claimed four people in one day, two adults and two young children. He also treated the adult female in the same manner he had with Whalen. Police found human body parts, including brains in his refrigerator. He also had a calendar that said, Today, on those dates where he struck down victims, and the word was written on the calendar 44 more times. Chase was sentenced to receive capital punishment, but he ended his own life before it could be carried out. The 1987 movie Rampage was loosely based on his life. Australian Tracy Wigginton is better known as the lesbian vampire killer. Wigginton told a jury that she didn't live on food, but on the blood of pigs and cows. Wigginton's lover, Lisa Pacinski, also said that she cut her own wrists so that Wigginton could feast on her blood. On the night of October 20, 1989, Wigginton decided to take things a step further and end a human life to satisfy her bloodlust. Wigginton was 25 years old. She and Pacinski, along with two other women, were driving around when they spotted 47-year-old Edward Baldock walking home, presumably intoxicated. The women coaxed Baldock into the car and took him to a park near the Brisbane River. They promised him sexual favors, but instead, Wigginton stabbed him 27 times. After Wigginton drank Baldock's blood, the women left his body in the park to be found in the morning. It wasn't hard to catch Wigginton. Her ATM card was found in the victim's shoe. Wigginton pleaded guilty, and Wigginton and Pacinski were given life sentences. On January 11, 2012, Wigginton was paroled. She's not allowed to contact the victim's family or the other women involved, but she is a free woman in most aspects. It's a condition of her parole, however, that she cannot profit from her story, for example by writing a memoir about her experiences. James P. Riva is known as the Vampire Killer for two reasons. He claimed the person that he ended was a vampire, and then he later said that he was a vampire himself. He's also known as the Schizophrenic Vampire. As a teenager, Riva became obsessed with vampires. He claimed that he needed to drink blood, and that he would often consume a blood-like drink he made himself made of ketchup and oil. In 1980, Riva was 23 years old and living in Marshfield, Massachusetts. He had a history of mental illness and had been in several institutions. He had dealt with voices telling him what to do nearly all his life. On April 10, 1980, the voices told him that he needed to end his 74-year-old grandmother, Carmen Lopez, who was in a wheelchair and whom he believed to be a vampire plotting to take his life. He painted some bullets gold, which he said another vampire told him would terminate vampires. He then went to his grandmother's house and stabbed her in the heart. He also shot her before setting her house on fire to try and destroy the evidence. Riva later told his mother from prison that he was a 700-year-old vampire and that he had tried to drink his grandmother's blood, but she was too old and dried up. Riva was sentenced to life in prison and has repeatedly been denied parole. Elizabeth Bathory, called the Blood Countess, is one of the most famous female real-life vampires of all time. In fact, she may have been the inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula, even more so than Vlad Tepis or Vlad the Impaler. Between 1585 and 1609, Bathory sadistically harmed as few as 37 or as many as 650 young women. She holds the Guinness World Record for the most murders committed by a woman. A world record I hope no one tries to beat. Bathory was a Hungarian Countess who was married and had four children, but she also had a sadistic streak. She started her infamous spree by tormenting and ending young peasant girls who came to work for her. Though unsubstantiated, there are rumors that she drank and bathed in those peasants' blood in order to keep herself young. Poor testimonies mentioned Bathory using needles on her victims, burning them and biting off their flesh. Bathory, however, wasn't actually put on trial until she began targeting the daughters of nobles. At her trial in 1611, more than 300 witnesses spoke of the atrocities that she had committed. She was found guilty, but was imprisoned in her castle instead of executed. She lived there for four years before passing from an illness. The location of her body is unknown. Matthew Hardman from North Wales was described by friends as a normal, quiet boy. The 17-year-old attended art school and worked part-time as a kitchen porter. No one suspected that he would take the life of his 90-year-old neighbor, Mabel Leshawn, but that is exactly what happened in November 2001. Hardman came into his elderly neighbor's house while she was watching TV and stabbed her 22 times with a knife. After she passed, Hardman carved out her heart and wrapped it in newspaper. He drained her blood into a kitchen saucepan and drank it. He also placed candles and a makeshift crucifix at her feet. Before the incident, Hardman had become obsessed with vampires. He believed drinking blood would make him immortal. He even accused a German exchange student of being a vampire. He begged her to bite him so he would become one too. Hardman was apprehended and subsequently confessed to smoking pot at the time of Leshawn's passing. In 2002, Hardman was sentenced to life in jail. In 2003, near Edinburgh, Scotland, Alan Menzies ended the life of his best friend, drank some of his blood, and ate a piece of his skull. The reason? He said the vampire Akasha, a character from the 2002 movie Queen of the Damned, told him that he had to if he wanted to become a vampire and live forever. Menzies had known the victim, Thomas McKendrick, since he was four years old. Menzies had become obsessed with the vampire movie based on a book by Anne Rice, seeing it more than a hundred times. According to BBC News, Menzies also claimed the character Akasha visited him. Quote, I basically agreed with her, Akasha, that if I ended people, I would be rewarded in the next life, unquote. On the day of the incident, Menzies said McKendrick said something against the Queen of the Damned, sparking Menzies rage. He hit his friend with a hammer at least ten times. Menzies then stabbed McKendrick 42 times with a bowie knife, as well as a kitchen knife. After his friend passed, Menzies drank his blood and ate part of his skull. It was several weeks before McKendrick was found in the shallow grave Menzies dug for him. After his apprehension, Menzies tried unsuccessfully to plead insanity. Two psychiatrists said that he was not suffering from mental illness when he targeted McKendrick, and Menzies received a life sentence. In 2004, Menzies took his own life in Shots Prison near Glasgow, Scotland. Kayas Weowis isn't exactly someone who can blend into a crowd, and that's the way he likes it. His face is full of piercings, tattoos, and, yes, horn implants. His mugshot has been called one of the scariest ever, but even scarier are the actions he has committed, cutting and drinking the blood of a 16-year-old girl and later terminating three Hell's Angels. Weowis' given name is Roy Govinsky Jr., but he legally changed his name in 2008. Many media outlets reported that he changed his name to Kayas after a vampire character in the Twilight books and movies, although Weowis denies this. Weowis is a long history of violence and Satanism. In 1999, he stood trial for assault. He had a former girlfriend, cut another girl who was 16 at the time, and kissed while they drank her blood. Weowis has professed to being a vampire. In 2001, Weowis, along with two other men, snatched three Hell's Angels before taking their lives. One of the Angels was said to have been about to give testimony against Weowis' friend. The dismembered Hell's Angels bodies were found in a trench in Beckett, Massachusetts. Found guilty on numerous counts, Hampton County Superior Court sentenced Weowis to three consecutive life sentences without parole. Fritz Harman is one of the most famous vampiric perps of all time. Between 1918 and 1924, he took the lives of at least 24 boys and young men in Hanover, Germany. His nicknames include The Vampire of Hanover, The Butcher of Hanover, and The Wolfman. Harman was a petty criminal and police informant. He started a life of wrongdoing at a young age. At 16, he was apprehended for inappropriately touching younger boys. He was placed in a mental institution but later escaped. Harman would lure young men and boys into his home by promising them jobs. He would then assault them, biting their Adam's apples and drinking their blood until they passed. Harman said that he didn't intend to terminate his victims, but that he was overcome by a rabid sexual passion. After claiming a victim, Harman would dismember the body, removing the skull and internal organs. The bones would be dropped into the Lina River. One of Harman's enterprises was selling meat on the black market and it has been guessed but never proven that the meat from Harman's victims was sold as mints or sausages. After the discovery of more than 500 bones in the Lina River, suspicion turned to 45-year-old Harman. He had been questioned regarding several disappearances and was a known homosexual, which at the time was considered illegal. Many items belonging to the victims were found at Harman's home and he confessed. Harman claimed to have ended between 50 and 70 men, although he was only convicted in relation to 24 of them. In 1924, he was sentenced to death. Of his conviction, Harman reportedly remarked, quote, condemn me to death. I ask only for justice. I am not mad. Make it short. Make it soon. Deliver me from this life, which is a torment. I will not petition for mercy, nor will I appeal. I want to pass just one more merry night in my cell with coffee, cheese, and cigars, after which I will curse my father and go to my execution, as if it were a wedding, unquote. Marcelo Costa de Andrade is one of Brazil's most infamous, called the Vampire of Nitroi. Andrade targeted young boys, ranging in age from 6 to 13, and he claimed the lives of at least 14 boys. Andrade grew up poor and was reportedly sexually and physically harmed as a young boy. By age 14, he was selling himself on the streets. In 1991, Andrade was 24 years old and he began luring impoverished young boys into desolate areas. There, he would assault them before strangulating or beating them. He also had relations with some of the boys' corpses after they passed and reportedly drank the blood of at least two victims. When asked why he did it, Andrade said that he wanted to, quote, become as beautiful as them, unquote. He apparently suffered from religious mania, stating that he ended the boys so they would go to heaven. Andrade was caught after one of his potential victims escaped. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a psychiatric hospital. In 1997, he escaped, but was returned to the hospital several days later. Joshua Rudiger is known as the Vampire Slasher. In 1998, he took the life of a homeless woman and injured three homeless men with a knife. When asked why he did it, he said that he was a 2600 year old vampire and that he wanted to drink the victim's blood. Rudiger was just 22 years old at the time. He had a troubled past and a history of aggression and mental illness. With over two decades of experience, Rudiger's lawyer said that Rudiger exhibited the worst case of mental illness he had ever seen. Rudiger, who also claimed to be a samurai, was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The woman he ended was 48-year-old Shirley de la Honte. He stabbed her with his knife while she was sleeping in a doorway. Rudiger later said that he didn't intend to take her life, he just wanted to make a small incision to drink her blood. The other victims did not report Rudiger trying to drink their blood. Rudiger was sentenced to 23 years to life. Coming up, if you are a fan of U.S. history, you might also know that Camels once roamed the American Southwest, brought to Texas by the military because they would be perfect for the desert climate. But once it was all over, a legend remained. A terrifying one. That story is up next on Weird Darkness. Are you a member of the Darkness Syndicate? The Darkness Syndicate is a private membership where you receive commercial-free episodes of the Weird Darkness podcast and radio show. Behind the scenes, video updates about future projects and events I am working on. You can share your own opinions on ideas to help me decide upon Weird Darkness Contests and Events. You can hear audiobooks I am narrating before even the publishers or authors get to hear them. You also receive bonus audio of other projects I am working on outside of Weird Darkness. You get all of these benefits and more, starting at only $5 per month. Join the Weird Darkness Syndicate at WeirdDarkness.com We all know tales about the Wild West. Cowboys and Native Americans fought. Adventurous settlers fanned out into the frontier. Prospectors struck gold. But where do camels fit into that chaotic American landscape? As it turns out, Arabian camels were a big, yet mostly forgotten part of the settlement of the Southwest and the foundation of a classic Arizona campfire story. The camels were initially imported to Texas for use as army pack animals, due to their suitability to the desert climate. Their story was full of twists and turns that led some to traveling circuses, some to glory as war heroes and others to become treasured riding animals long after the army's camel experiment was over. Many of those camels ended up loose in the desert, with camel sightings occasionally reported throughout the region. So why did the camels disappear from the United States? And who was the red ghost? The answers prove fact can sometimes really be stranger than fiction. In the mid-1800s, the idea of using camels to expand into the more arid regions of the Southwest was met with enthusiasm by many military officials and politicians. After they petitioned for the funds, Congress set aside $30,000 to purchase 50 camels and hire 10 camel drivers. In 1856, the first group arrived in Texas. A herd of dromedary camels was established in Camp Verde, Texas in 1857, when a second shipment brought their number to 75. In the 1830s, surveyors of the American West noticed the territory was similar to the land in the Middle East and Northern Africa, the home of the camel. The country's borders were expanding rapidly and explorers needed pack animals that were hardier than the traditional horses, burrows and mules. Camels consumed much less water and food than the other animals, and they were faster too. They were incredibly well suited to both the terrain and the climate, and soon proved their usefulness on surveying and supply trips. Haji Ali was one of the camel drivers hired by the United States Army when they first purchased the camels. He was an excellent camel driver and an invaluable part of the corps, assisting Edward Fitzgerald Beale with many missions. The soldiers reportedly had a hard time pronouncing Haji Ali though, so they just called him Hi Jolly. Ali continued to live in the Southwest after the camel experiment ended, and he died in 1902 while out looking for a stray camel. A true camel lover until the end. He was found with his arms around a camel's neck. They had both died in a sandstorm. Edward Fitzgerald Beale was already an experienced surveyor when he took on the challenge of traveling to California with a herd of camels in 1857. The odds were against him. The camels had never been used for a long surveying trip like this one from New Mexico to the Colorado River. What's more, most of the soldiers hated the camels. However, Beale completed the trip to the river along the California-Arizona border with his 25 camel herd. Although he initially shared the soldiers' opinions of the beasts in the beginning, he soon came around and realized just how useful they were. Although Edward Fitzgerald Beale sang the praises of the camel corps in the late 1850s, not everyone was as enthusiastic. Their biggest and loudest opponent was the mule lobby in Missouri. They had numerous complaints about the newcomers and may have blocked further attempts to import camels in Congress. They were angry about the camels spooking the mules and horses of most pack trains, which stampeded and shied away at the sight of camels. The lobby was likely also concerned about competition, since the camels could carry much more weight and travel longer distances than the mules. The camel corps was initially intended to survey the potential route for a transcontinental railroad. The main problem for the Southwest was the tyranny of distance, as they called it, a lack of a way to reach the outer frontier and connect it to the rest of America. Ironically, the camel's hard work was their undoing. Although people invested time and money into forming camel pack trains to send goods and travelers across the harsh desert, once the railroad was complete, there was no longer any need for these animals. If the mule lobby didn't end the camel experiment, the Civil War certainly did. When the Confederate Army seized Camp Verde, Texas in 1861, the camels remaining there were either sold as army surplus or just turned loose in the southwestern desert to fend for themselves. Confederate troops took a few camels to carry supplies, instruments, and other baggage. One camel, known as Old Douglas, served with the 43rd Mississippi Infantry of the Battle of Vicksburg. Samuel McLaughlin bought the remaining herd of camels in Los Angeles in 1864 with money that he'd made organizing a camel race. He was looking to make a profit off the animals and sold a few to a salt mine in Nevada. The rest of the camels he sold off to circuses, zoos, and other exotic entertainment venues. McLaughlin even sold some of them back to Edward Fitzgerald Beale, who used them around his homestead and for pleasure riding. While the U.S. Army imported around 75 camels by 1857, they weren't the only ones who thought the animals could be useful. Private businesses brought hundreds of camels into the United States and bred them with the former army camels. Because they were sold to traveling circuses and outfits of that nature, it became difficult to track down which camels came from the army and which didn't, and the same went for their offspring. Today we only know the fates of a selected few. Said Edward Fitzgerald Beale's prized riding camel was killed by a herdmate at Fort Taion in California. Old Douglas was killed during the Battle of Vicksburg in the Civil War and buried near the battle site. In the years following their release into the wild, the camels thrived in the American desert. The average lifespan of a camel is about 50 years but some lived much longer. One named Topsy trekked from Arizona to California. A zoo took her in where she died at the age of 81. Reports of wild camel sightings came in steadily until the 1940s, after which they dropped off significantly. People reported seeing the camels in Texas, Nevada, Arizona and California and some camels even made their way down to Mexico. The camels are generally considered long gone but people still spot them from time to time. Most likely, there just weren't enough wild camels to start a thriving population, even though the environment suited them. The last accepted sighting was in Douglas, Texas in 1941, but reported wild camel sightings happened as recently as the 1980s. The legend of the Red Ghost began in Arizona in 1883 when a woman discovered the trampled body of her neighbor after hearing a blood-curdling scream. She found a tuft of red fur near the body. Soon, other settlers claimed to have seen a red-furred, horse-like beast roaming nearby. For ten years, the Red Ghost terrorized the residents of the Arizona desert. Sightings were reported by frontier families, miners, teamsters and ranchers. At least one report claimed the creature was a camel but most people simply knew the Red Ghost as a huge beast with long red hair, cloven hooves and a skeletal rider. Perhaps the most terrifying aspect of the Red Ghost story is what people reported seeing strapped to the camel's back, a body, a headless human body. But whose body was it? Some believe it was a young soldier from the camel corps days who was afraid of the camels and strapped himself onto one so he could overcome his fear. But then the camel got loose and escaped, dooming the rider to die of dehydration in the desert without a way to cut himself down. Terrified settlers supposedly found the man's skull after startling the Red Ghost one day. The Red Ghost was finally shot and killed in 1893, so yes it was a real camel. The rider's body however was gone, but the camel still wore a saddle and it bore the scars supposedly showing where the strips of rawhide tied the man down. Thanks for listening. If you like the show please share it with someone you know who loves the paranormal or strange stories, true crime, monsters or unsolved mysteries like you do. 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All stories on 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. The Hanata Incident is by Marcus Louth for UFO Insight. Real-life vampiric villains is by Amy Roblesky for unspeakable times and The Red Ghost of Arizona was written by Rachel Sowerby for Weird History. WeirdDarkness 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 82 verses 3 and 4. Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless. Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy. Deliver them from the hand of the wicked. And a final thought. Progress is impossible without change and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. George Bernard Shaw. I'm Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me in the Weird Darkness. Thank you for watching this video. I'll see you in the next video. 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