Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories
Darren Marlar | Weird Darkness
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The Mermaid's Curse On Pyramid Lake And Other Haunted Hot Spots
Legend says a mermaid driven out of a village cursed the shores of Nevada's Pyramid Lake, where locals say someone vanishes at least once a year during fishing season; on Italy's Poveglia Island, everyone who has bought land to build a home has packed up and left. READ or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3a88b2an FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: From haunted houses and cursed lakes to mysterious roads where ghostly figures appear out of thin air, our planet is home to some truly chilling locations. (Lurid Locations, Spooky Spots, and Paranormal Places) *** How could a person seemingly burst into flames without any external ignition source? We’ll look at the chilling story of Mary Reeser and others like her, that continue to baffle and intrigue both scientists and the public, leaving us to ponder the true nature of what has been termed “spontaneous human combustion.” (The Bizarre Phenomenon of Spontaneous Human Combustion) *** The remains of nearly a dozen sex workers were carelessly discarded in the New Mexico desert between the years of 2001 and 2005. And today it is still not known who is responsible. (Unsolved: The West Mesa Bone Collector) *** Have you seen the mischievous spirits of Tinker Swiss Cottage or met Galena’s Lady in Black? Perhaps you’ve had a run-in at DeKalb’s Egyptian Theatre? These are all areas within a short distance of each other, northwest of Chicago, that can give the Windy City spooks a run for their money. (Rock River’s Residual Revenants) CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Dedication To Paul Spangler 00:00:46.440 = The Foreboding 00:02:24.858 = Show Open 00:04:22.537 = Lurid Locations, Spooky Spots, and Paranormal Places *** 00:30:44.528 = The West Mesa Bone Collector *** 00:37:11.308 = Spontaneous Human Combustion 00:48:01.545 = Rock River’s Residual Revenants *** 01:07:44.813 = Show Close *** = Begins immediately after inserted ad break SOURCES and RESOURCES: ***If you have an information regarding the West Mesa murders, Albuquerque CrimeStoppers is still offering a $100,000 reward. Call (505)768-2450 or Crime Stopper at (505)843-STOP.*** “The West Mesa Bone Collector” by Kelsey Christine McConnell for The-Line-Up.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yckux8v6 “Lurid Locations, Spooky Spots, and Paranormal Places” by Marcus Lowth for UFOInsight.com,https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/mty2p4eb “The Bizarre Phenomenon of Spontaneous Human Combustion” by Rachel Elizabeth for The-Line-Up.com:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3a4vdzue “Rock River’s Residual Revenants” by Jim Taylor for the Northwest Quarterly: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/mr6k3hwm (Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.) WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness. *No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast* EPISODE SYNOPSIS: This episode of Weird Darkness runs from a cursed lake in Nevada to an unsolved string of murders in the New Mexico desert, a woman reduced to ash in a Florida apartment, and three haunted landmarks in Illinois. It opens at Nevada's Pyramid Lake, where legend says a mermaid banished from a village cursed the shoreline, then moves on to the albino creatures said to stalk Hicks Road in San Jose, the burned asylum ruins and hooded cult of Turnbull Canyon, the curse on Los Angeles's Griffith Park, the blue Firewater Ghost of Mississippi's Deer Island, Russia's Molyobka Triangle, and Italy's Poveglia Island. From there, the episode turns to the West Mesa of Albuquerque, New Mexico, where a woman walking her dog in February 2009 found the first bones of 11 women and girls buried there between 2001 and 2005. The killer known as the West Mesa Bone Collector has never been identified, and Albuquerque Crime Stoppers still offers a $100,000 reward. Next comes spontaneous human combustion and the case of Mary Reeser, found on July 2nd, 1951, as a smoldering pile of ash with part of one leg and a black slipper in her St. Petersburg, Florida, apartment. Her death is set beside those of Matilda Rooney in Seneca, Illinois, Margaret Hogan in Dublin, and Michael Faherty in Galway, the first death in Ireland a coroner ruled spontaneous human combustion, and weighed against the forensic explanation called the wick effect. The episode closes in the Rock River Valley northwest of Chicago, where staff say former mayor Robert Hall Tinker still moves the silverware around at Rockford's Tinker Swiss Cottage and tour guides place the Lady in Black in the basement of Galena's DeSoto House Hotel. At DeKalb's Egyptian Theatre, staff report shadow figures in Aisle One, where Irv Kummerfeldt, a co-founder of the group behind the theater's restoration, died of a heart attack while cleaning up after a show. More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.
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