Darkly Speaking

If you see something… no, you didn’t. If you hear something… no... you didn’t...   These are just a few of the unspoken rules of the Appalachian Mountains — a place where the forest doesn’t just breathe, it listens. Stretching more than two thousand miles across the eastern United States and beyond, the Appalachian Trail cuts straight through the heart of some of the oldest — and most haunted — la...

For months, Frank Bowen’s daughters were convinced something was wrong inside their Pepperell, Massachusetts home. They heard footsteps where no one should have been, objects moved on their own, and an uneasiness settled over the house that no amount of logic could shake. Frank dismissed it as imagination — until one winter night in December 1986, the unimaginable happened. An intruder emerged fro...

As October approaches, so does Domestic Violence Awareness Month — a time to remember the lives lost, the families forever changed, and the warning signs too often ignored. Few cases embody that tragedy more than the Powell family. In December 2009, Susan Powell vanished from her Utah home. Her husband, Josh, claimed she simply disappeared during a midnight camping trip with their two young boys....

In September 2006, 16-year-old Cassie Jo Stoddart was house-sitting for her aunt and uncle in Pocatello, Idaho. She was responsible, kind, and trusted — but what should have been a quiet weekend became a nightmare that no one could have imagined. Two of Cassie’s classmates were obsessed with the movie Scream — the 1996 slasher film known for its masked killer who stalks and murders teenagers in th...

Have you ever heard someone you love call your name… only to realize they couldn’t have? Or seen a familiar figure standing in the room… when you knew they weren’t home? That’s the terror of mimics — entities that steal voices, faces, and movements to pass as the people we trust most. In this episode, I uncover chilling reports and folklore of the uncanny. Voices luring people into the woods. Love...

In August 1995, six-year-old Rosie Tapia was taken from her Salt Lake City home in the middle of the night. By morning, she was found murdered in a nearby canal. This past August marked the 30th anniversary of Rosie’s death — a case that remains one of Utah’s most haunting mysteries, a story of innocence stolen and justice delayed. Over the years, the investigation has twisted through rumors, over...

Leaving San Pedro should have ended Jackie Hernandez’s nightmare. But when she relocated to Weldon, California, the haunting came with her — and soon began targeting not only Jackie, but the very investigators who tried to help her. As the phenomena spread, the case took on a darker edge. Attacks followed the team beyond Jackie’s home, and a real-life murder mystery in San Pedro raised unsettling...

In 1989, Jackie Hernandez moved into a modest bungalow in San Pedro, California — and soon found herself living inside one of America’s most violent hauntings. Cold spots and pounding in the walls gave way to something far darker: objects hurled across rooms, shadowy figures, and attacks that left Jackie and those around her shaken to the core. What began in that small house on West 11th Street wo...

On August 2, 2006, attorney Robert Wone was found dead inside a townhouse on Swann Street in Washington, D.C. What should have been a straightforward case quickly unraveled into one of the most perplexing unsolved murders in modern true crime. Robert had spent the evening with friends and colleagues before heading to the home of three men he trusted. Within hours, he was discovered with multiple s...

June 13, 1977 — the first night of summer camp at Camp Scott in Mayes County, Oklahoma should have been filled with campfire songs and laughter. Instead, the bodies of three young Girl Scouts — Lori Farmer, Michelle Guse, and Denise Milner — were discovered near their tent. The shocking crime set off one of the largest manhunts in Oklahoma history, leading to the arrest of fugitive Gene Leroy Hart...

Imagine a quiet evening at home. The TV’s on. The lights are low. Then — a knock at the door. You’re not expecting anyone. And when you check, two kids are standing outside. Heads down. No expression. Voices flat.  They ask to come in. Say they need to use the phone. Every part of you says not to open the door. Then they look up — and their eyes are completely black. That’s how these stories begin...

In the premiere episode of Darkly Speaking, we’re diving into the mysterious death of Elisa Lam — a case that captivated the internet and continues to raise questions more than a decade later. In 2013, 21-year-old Elisa checked into the Cecil Hotel in downtown Los Angeles — a building with a long, disturbing history of violence, tragedy, and unexplained events. But shortly after arriving, she vani...

Welcome to the Dark Side! Introducing a very dark true crime and paranormal podcast, Darkly Speaking. Host, Alex Kern takes you beyond headlines and horror tropes into the darkest corners of our reality—where every mystery is real to someone.  From unsolved disappearances and infamous murders to whispered legends and the paranormal, each episode unpacks the unsettling with immersive storytelling,...