#FIRESIDEFRIGHTS VOLUME 32 #WeirdDarkness

A 2023 book collects accounts of shapeshifting strangers, reptilian visitors, and living doubles, arguing the aliens John Carpenter put on screen may have been walking among us all along. EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/TheyLive READ or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/ycktrfu5 FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Have you ever felt like something was off about someone you met? What if the truth was more bizarre than you could imagine - that aliens walk secretly among us, perfectly disguised? (Mimic In The Mirror) *** The short story “Eight O’Clock In The Morning” by Ray Nelson – the inspiration for the movie “They Live!” *** Left-handedness: once a mark of the devil, now a unique trait celebrated across the globe. From the Salem Witch Trials to modern-day challenges with spiral notebooks, left-handers have been forced to navigate a world designed for righties, despite the historical stigmas, surprising advantages, and the evolving recognition of left-handers in combat, culture, and commerce. (Left-Handers Are In League With The Devil) *** In the shadow of Switzerland's majestic Eiger mountain, 29-year-old Aidan Roche vanished without a trace during a solo hiking trip. Despite an unlocked camper-van and one last eerie messages sent from the trail, his disappearance remained shrouded in mystery. Months later, a grim discovery brought more questions than answers. (The Disappearance of Aidan Roche) *** In the summer of 1948, a series of inexplicable fires ravaged the Willey farm near Macomb, Illinois, destroying the family's home and barns. Despite the efforts of local authorities and the U.S. Air Force, no logical explanation could be found for the hundreds of mysterious blazes that seemed to start spontaneously. At the center of this baffling case was 13-year-old Wanet McNeil, whose alleged confession to arson left many unconvinced. Was Wanet truly responsible? Could she have been starting the fires with her mind? (The Macomb Firestarter) *** In 1991, 63-year-old Vasile Gorgos left his home in Romania to visit a cattle market and never returned, leaving his family to believe he had met a tragic fate. But 30 years later, Vasile shocked everyone when he mysteriously reappeared, wearing the same clothes as the day he vanished and carrying an unused train ticket from 1991 in his pocket. With no memory of where he'd been for three decades, Vasile's strange case has left people wondering if his disappearance could be tied to supernatural phenomena like portals, alien abduction, or shifts in time and space itself. (The Mysterious Vanishing of Vasile Gorgos) CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = “Eight O’Clock In The Morning” (short fiction) 00:12:38.092 = Show Open 00:15:46.852 = Mimic In The Mirror: Are Aliens Among Us? *** 00:26:13.246 = Left-Handers Are In League With The Devil 00:32:35.305 = The Disappearance of Aidan Roche *** 00:38:57.889 = The Macomb Firestarter 00:48:20.167 = The Mysterious Vanishing of Vasile Gorgos *** 00:55:50.605 = Show Close *** = Begins immediately after inserted ad break LISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps *No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast* SOURCES and RESOURCES: “Eight O’Clock In The Morning” by Ray Nelson: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/mu7tmynm “Mimic In The Mirror” source: Sean Casteel at Spectral Vision: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yckjpyz8 BOOK: “Mimics – The Others Among Us” by Sean Casteel and Tim R. Swartz: https://amzn.to/3Ws07IJ BOOK: “Sky Crash Throughout Time (A Cosmic Conspiracy)” by Philip Kinsella and Brenda Butler:...

A waterlogged model boat that keeps appearing wherever Professor Anders goes — dripping, shivering, impossible to be rid of — carries a name, a drowning, and a debt that refuses to stay buried. Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/OTR CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Show Open 00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theater, “The Avocado Jungle” (April 20, 1978) ***WD 00:46:14.846 = BBC Radio 4 / Radio 7, “The Boat Hook” (April 15, 1992) 01:30:17.027 = Night Beat, “Five Days Off For Christmas” (December 21, 1951) ***WD 01:58:08.526 = Beyond The Green Door, “Mr. Fritz-Hugh And Poisoned Knife Blade” (1966) 02:02:01.418 = Campbell Playhouse, “A Christmas Carol” (December 24, 1939) ***WD 03:00:24.073 = Box 13, “The Dowager And Dan Holiday” (November 16, 1949) 03:27:06.293 = Calling All Cars, “Cookie Vejar Killing” (December 27, 1933) 03:56:51.245 = Casey Crime Photographer, “Red Raincoat” (August 29, 1946) 04:26:26.709 = CBC Mystery Theater, “The Ghost Town Hermit” (May 19, 1967) ***WD 04:57:04.004 = Show Close (ADU) = Air Date Unknown (LQ) = Low Quality ***WD = Remastered, edited, or cleaned up by Weird Darkness to make the episode more listenable. Audio may not be pristine, but it will be better than the original file which may have been unusable or more difficult to hear without editing. CUSTOM WEBPAGE: https://weirddarkness.com/WDRR0722

A 2-year-old in Chambers County was found bound at the wrists, legs, and ankles and left face-down on a bed for more than half a day, and one of the two suspects was dead by his own hand before the arrest ever came. SOURCES, LINKS, AND PRINT VERSION: https://weirddarkness.com/bound-toddler-alabama Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://pod.link/1078714736 *No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast* WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.

A man climbed into the waste tank beneath a portable toilet to fish out a dropped bottle of Mountain Dew, and stayed there long enough to require power tools and a fire hose. SOURCES, LINKS, AND PRINT VERSION: https://weirddarkness.com/portadew Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://pod.link/1078714736 *No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast* WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.

A murderer insists he is perfectly sane, even as he explains in careful detail how he killed the old man and hid the body beneath the floorboards. EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/mitm-telltaleheart WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness. Midnight In The Macabre (MITM), originally aired: July 21, 2026