The Stories We Tell in the Dark

Adam wraps up the season with  Thirteen Women (1932) - the only film of tragic actress Peg Entwistle, more secrets behind the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the real-life viewers who thought  Gilligan's Island was a documentary, and Britain's famous "Spaghetti Tree" hoax. Plus: the 1970s CIA rumors surrounding The Exorcist 's author William Peter Blatty, and a bonus field guide to the Shinto spirits of H...

Before The Exorcist terrified the world, its creator was writing comedy. This episode traces William Peter Blatty's journey from humorist to theologian of horror - his mother's influence, the real 1949 exorcism case, the film's alleged curse, and the true story of the boy who inspired it all. Show notes at https://magicalmystery.media  

Host Adam Charles unpacks the 2005 film The Exorcism of Emily Rose and the harrowing true story behind it - the 1970s case of Anneliese Michel, a young Bavarian woman whose tragic death followed dozens of sanctioned exorcisms. This is a haunting exploration of faith, suffering, and how Hollywood turns real horror into entertainment for the masses. Show notes at  https://magicalmystery.media    

Take a haunted walking tour of Hollywood with Adam. Along the way, meet spectral projectionists, Marilyn Monroe's haunted mirror, the ghosts of the Roosevelt Hotel, and Peg Entwistle, the tragic actress who walks forever beneath the famous "H." Tour Stops: El Capitan Theatre TCL Chinese Theatre Hollywood Walk of Fame Roosevelt Hotel The Magic Castle Hollywood Sign Movies mentioned: Citizen Kane (1...

A 1978 thriller accidentally supercharges a conspiracy - and a Hollywood icon's life spirals into a true-crime saga. We explore Peter Hyams' Capricorn One - why Buzz Aldrin disapproved, how it was saved by Superman, and how moon-hoax theories grew from fringe chatter to mainstream mania. Then we trace the 2001 murder of Bonny Lee Bakley - and actor Robert Blake's criminal trial. Movies mentioned:...

Adam explores several strange and chilling tales at the crossroads of movies, music, and true crime. Folk-rock singer Jim Sullivan vanished in the New Mexico desert after appearing in Easy Rider and releasing his album UFO . Iron Butterfly bassist Philip "Taylor" Kramer, a tech pioneer in video compression, disappeared after a cryptic 911 call - his story later featured on Unsolved Mysteries . And...

What do radioactive fallout, cannibal rats, and a flying turtle have in common? In this episode, Adam explores the dark origins of Japan's most iconic monsters. From the real-life 1954 Lucky Dragon incident - sometimes called the "third atomic bombing" - to the scrapped rat-horror film that accidentally gave birth to Gamera, it's a wild ride through film, folklore, and Cold War fear. Plus: just ho...

What's real, what's not, and what the Warrens never told you. Is The Conjuring: Last Rites a true story? What really happened to the Smurl family - and how involved were Ed and Lorraine Warren? What's the real story of Annabelle the Doll? And what happened to Annabelle's handler in July?  Visit https://magicalmystery.media for show notes (or to send a message). ========== For our "lost episodes" a...

Content warning: The first segment covers real-life on-air suicides and may be distressing to some listeners. This week, Adam shares a strange and tragic mix of stories: disturbing on-air deaths (one which anticipated Paddy Chayefsky's  Network by two years); the real-life pain behind Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's creation of Superman; and a buried   Michael Myers (Halloween) backstory from 1979....

Adam explores some of film's most infamous curses - from  Poltergeist and its real skeletons to the eerie disappearance of the man who may have invented cinema before Edison. Also: a FLESH EATERS resurrection, some Hollywood lore, and the show's evolving format. Movies mentioned: FLESH EATERS, POLTERGEIST, THE FIRST FILM ( Roundhay Garden Scene/Accordian Player/Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge), THE...

In this week's episode of  Magical Mystery Media , Adam takes you on a strange journey through pop culture, folklore, and forgotten history – starting with the new film  Weapons  and ending with the real-life boy who inspired  The Exorcist . Visit magicalmystery.media for show notes (or to send a message). For archived episodes of Magical Mystery Radio going back to 2016, search "Magical Mystery R...

Adam shares memories of working with Troma Films in 1980s NYC, reflects on THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, and solves two internet mysteries: the real origin of the famous time-travel ad that inspired SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED and the photo that inspired SEVERANCE by way of the eerie Backrooms phenomenon. Visit magicalmystery.media for show notes (or to send a message). For archived episodes of Magical...

First, the strange case of Elisa Lam, a Canadian student whose bizarre behavior on hotel security footage went viral before she was tragically found dead in a rooftop water tank - eerily echoing plot details from the horror film  Dark Water . Adam recounts his personal visit to the infamous Cecil Hotel in L.A. and reflects on the strange coincidences and conspiracy theories that continue to swirl...

What if a dream could kill you? We revisit Wes Craven's  A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and the real-life sleep phenomena that inspired it. We explore how Freddy Krueger emerged from Craven's own childhood fears and reports of mysterious deaths among Hmong refugees. We also get into the strange science of sleep paralysis, the folklore of the "Old Hag," the phenomenon of the Hat Man, and the vira...

Blade Runner is more than a sci-fi classic — it's a meditation on memory, identity, and empathy. We explore Philip K. Dick's 2-3-74 mystical VALIS experience, the meaning of the Voight-Kampff test, and why the film still resonates today as a cinematic awakening.  Shownotes

From vodou to viral spores, zombies have always evolved with us. In this week's episode of Film on the Fringe , we uncover the real roots of the undead—myth, science, and metaphor.  🧟 Highlights & References: The Last of Us and the real-world science of Cordyceps fungus White Zombie (1932) and the colonial legacy of the Haitian undead Vodou, slavery, and the soul in Haitian cosmology Clairvius Na...

Dr. Atom takes you behind the scenes of JURASSIC PARK—literally. After a personal story of working alongside the filmmakers, we explore the science of cloning dinosaurs, the truth behind amber-trapped DNA, and modern de-extinction efforts using CRISPR and AI. Then we dig into the 19th-century Bone Wars, Victorian dinosaur mania, and Arthur Conan Doyle's THE LOST WORLD. Along the way, we follow a s...

Gremlins on the wing, goblins in the woods, and strange little beings at your window. From WWII aviation lore to Spielberg's unmade alien siege story, this episode traces the evolution of mischievous trickster creatures through folklore, pop culture, and real-life encounters—including the night something came calling in Kentucky. Featured Films: Shadow in the Cloud  (2020) Gremlins  (1984) Polterg...

Venture into the murky space between psychological manipulation and the supernatural. Today, we're talking about The Quiet Ones (2014), a Hammer Films horror throwback inspired by one of the strangest real-world experiments ever attempted: the Philip Experiment. We'll unpack how a group of researchers in 1970s Canada set out to create a ghost, explore Derren Brown's Seance as a modern reinterpreta...

Let's explore  The War of the Worlds — the iconic novel by H.G. Wells and the countless interpretations, adaptations, and conspiracy theories it inspired. We discuss: The 2005 Spielberg movie and the 1953 George Pal version The long-forgotten SEQUEL published only a year after the original The 1938 Orson Welles "panic broadcast"  Wernher von Braun's alleged warning of a staged alien invasion Proje...

Let's dissect  The Conjuring 2 and the real-life case that inspired it—the infamous Enfield Poltergeist. Was it a genuine supernatural event or an elaborate hoax that spiraled out of control? Join me as I explore how this case became one of the most documented hauntings in history. Ed and Lorraine Warren: Paranormal Pioneers or Masters of Mythmaking? Before discussing the Enfield case, I take a br...

Enter the eerie world of artificial intelligence—from the sleek and unsettling Ex Machina to real-life AI developments that feel ripped straight from science fiction. We'll explore the rapid evolution of AI, the ethical dilemmas that come with it, and some unsettling cases of chatbots behaving… strangely. Are we on the verge of creating a sentient machine? And if we were, how would we know? Showno...

Explore the wild world of werewolves, from the cult classic Ginger Snaps to real-life sightings of "dog men." We'll discover the folklore behind our moon-dappled friends, look at how pop culture molded them into the creatures we recognize today, and figure out what exactly makes a man-wolf tick. Shownotes

[8/3/2020] We discuss cancel culture, the masons, breakaway civilizations, secret moon colonies... and one fascinating, mythical "lost" film from the 80s that ties it all together!

We review the documentary CALLING ALL EARTHLINGS. And then we do it one better by actually covering the material that should have been in the movie. This is the story of George Van Tassel, eccentric, contactee, engineer... genius? Did Van Tassel channel messages from our alien brothers and sisters and use the information to construct a time machine?  Join us and find out!