Show Notes
Step into the dark with this chilling bonus episode of Chasing the Dark. In this deeply personal interview, my dad shares his firsthand experiences living in a home where a man was brutally murdered… long before he ever moved in.
What started as subtle unease quickly turned into something far more disturbing.
He heard footsteps echoing through the hallway when no one else was home. He saw a figure, an apparition walking back and forth as if it still belonged there. But the most terrifying moment didn’t happen inside the house…
It happened outside.
One night, alone in a trailer in the backyard, he heard it: a knock at the door. Not once. Not imagined. Something deliberate. Something that felt like it knew he was inside… and wanted in.
This episode dives into real paranormal experiences, true ghost encounters, and unexplained phenomena that blur the line between the living and the dead. These aren’t stories passed down or embellished over time—this is raw, firsthand testimony from someone who lived through it.
If you’re drawn to true scary stories, haunted houses, and psychological horror rooted in reality, this is an episode you won’t forget.
Follow, rate, and leave a review, it’s the best way to help more listeners find the darkness.
Keywords: true paranormal story, real ghost encounter, haunted house true story, knocking at the door paranormal, real life haunting, apparition sighting, unexplained knocking, psychological horror, true scary stories podcast, whispers after dark, chasing the dark podcast
More from Chasing the Dark: Where True Crime Meets the Paranormal
In 1589, Peter Stumpp became infamous as the Werewolf of Bedburg, one of the most disturbing figures in European werewolf history. Accused of horrific crimes and alleged supernatural transformation, his case became a chilling intersection of true crime, werewolf legends, witchcraft accusations, and sixteenth-century German history. But who was Peter Stumpp really? Was he a brutal killer, or did fear, torture, and the beliefs of his time help create a monster whose story would survive for centuries? Welcome to Chasing the Dark, where true crime meets the paranormal. Journey back to 16th-century Germany as we investigate the infamous Bedburg werewolf trial, the sensational 1590 pamphlet that spread Stumpp’s story, the brutal justice of the era, and the line between documented history and supernatural legend. IN THIS EPISODE • Peter Stumpp and the Werewolf of Bedburg • The 1589 werewolf trial and its shocking accusations • Werewolf folklore and witchcraft fears in historical Germany • The infamous 1590 pamphlet • Interrogation, execution, and the justice system of the time • Historical evidence versus supernatural claims ⚠️ CONTENT WARNING: This episode discusses historical allegations of murder, violence, torture, and execution. ABOUT CHASING THE DARK Explore true crime, paranormal encounters, dark history, unexplained mysteries, supernatural legends, and chilling stories that refuse to stay buried. Follow the show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, YouTube, and other major podcast platforms. Find us on social media: @chasingthedark21. SPONSORED BY PHARAON https://www.pharaon.com MUSIC CREDITS Mystical Piano Atmosphere — Universfield https://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-mystical-piano-atmosphere-231511/ Emotional Piano with Violin — Universfield https://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-emotional-piano-with-violin-195365/ Dark Crime Piano Drama — Universfield https://pixabay.com/music/solo-piano-dark-crime-piano-drama-498841/ Melancholic Halloween Piano — Universfield https://pixabay.com/music/solo-piano-melancholic-halloween-piano-161524/ Horror — Leberch https://pixabay.com/music/mystery-horror-252905/ Pain — BosonBeats - No Copyright Music Music provided by: BosonBeats - No Copyright Music Listen: https://youtu.be/cZFua_m7yAg HISTORICAL SOURCES British Library — The Damnable Life and Death of Stubbe Peeter (1590): https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-damnable-life-and-death-of-stubbe-peeter-a-werewolf-1590 Berlin State Museums — Historical execution print: https://id.smb.museum/object/1058085 Utrecht University Library — Contemporary German pamphlet: https://dbc.library.uu.nl/handle/20.500.14918/9110 Bedburg Historical Society — Bedburg Castle: https://www.geschichtsverein-bedburg.de/permanent/BedburgSchloss.html Baukunst NRW — Historic Kaster town center: https://baukunst-nrw.de/index.php/objekte/3137-historischer-ortskern-bedburg-kaster Historical accounts document the accusations and trial, but supernatural transformation has not been established as fact. Follow, rate, review, and share Chasing the Dark with someone who loves true crime, werewolf legends, and dark history.
Joshua McCabe Bailey was more than a name in a murder case. He was a friend, a brother, a son, and someone whose life mattered deeply to the people who knew him. In this episode of Chasing the Dark: Where True Crime Meets the Paranormal, I sit down with Whitney, who was a friend of Josh and knew him personally before his tragic death. Whitney’s brother was also one of Josh’s close friends, giving her a unique perspective on the person Josh was and the impact his death had on those around him. We talk about who Joshua McCabe Bailey was in life, the circumstances surrounding his murder, what happened after his death, and the lasting impact on the people who knew and loved him. Josh’s case was later featured on the true-crime television series Twisted Killings, bringing his story to a wider audience. But this conversation goes beyond the television episode and the details of the case. Whitney shares her memories of Josh and helps us look beyond the murder to remember the person he was before his name became associated with a tragedy. Because behind every true-crime case is a real person. This is Joshua McCabe Bailey’s story, his life, his murder, and the people left behind. Continuing Josh’s Legacy In Josh’s memory, Josh’s Hope Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping young adults living with mental illness, like Joshua. If Josh’s story has touched you and you would like to support the work being done in his memory, donations can be made through Josh’s Hope Foundation: joshshopefoundation.org 🎙️ Chasing the Dark: Where True Crime Meets the Paranormal Content Warning: This episode discusses murder, death, grief, mental illness, and violent crime. Listener discretion is advised.
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The Villisca axe murders remain one of America’s most chilling unsolved crimes. On the night of June 9th, 1912, eight people — the Moore family and two young houseguests — were killed in their sleep in a quiet home in Villisca, Iowa. More than a hundred years later, the case is still unsolved, and the Villisca axe murder house is now considered one of the most haunted locations in the Midwest. This episode of Chasing the Dark covers the full true crime story and the paranormal activity people report inside the house today. We sit with both threads of that night: the 1912 crime that was never solved, and the darkness people say never left the house on East Second Street. We walk through the town as it was, the family as they were, and the unbearable, deliberate calm of what was done after midnight — the covered faces, the sealed windows, the locked doors. We follow the contaminated crime scene and the investigation that was lost before it began, the suspects whose names never went away — state senator Frank F. Jones, William Mansfield, and the Reverend George Kelly — and the traveling-killer theory that links Villisca to a cluster of railroad-adjacent family murders around 1912. Then we cross into the paranormal: the EVP recordings, the cold spots, the footsteps, and the reports from inside the Villisca axe murder house — alongside the honest, skeptical counter-explanations. And we sit with the detail that unsettles people most: why the haunting, if it is one, seems to retrace the exact path the killer walked. This is a story about a family. Josiah and Sarah Moore. Their children — Herman, Mary Katherine, Arthur Boyd, and Paul Vernon. And two girls who only meant to stay the night, Lena and Ina Stillinger. We tell it the way we tell every story here: carefully, honestly, and with their names kept attached to who they actually were.
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