Night Owl Horrors | Scary Things That Only Happen When You're the Last One Awake

From skeletal faces in TV static to well-dressed spirits standing in hallways, these late-night witnesses share the terrifying things they saw while the rest of the house slept. | #WDRadio | WEEKEND OF JANUARY 25, 2026==========HOUR ONE: Investigators noted the hair on the alleged victim's arms was singed, and the skin burned. The grass where he claimed to have had the encounter was also scorched. Did this scoutmaster and the boys with him truly experience a real UFO sighting in 1952, or was it all a hoax? (The Scouts and the UFO) *** An atheist tells his story about being possessed by demons... or maybe he wasn’t. (I Thought I Was Possessed By The Devil) *** Is the Thunderbird real or myth?  Most would say it is myth – or if it was real, it’s now extinct. But then how do you explain sightings of the massive airborne creature as recently as 2018? (The Giant Thunderbird Lives) *** Sometimes, the darkness of night can hide frightening secrets. Especially if you are alone. (You’ll Never Guess What Happened While You Were Asleep)==========HOUR TWO: Different peoples build their identity around different facets of their culture: the Italians around their food, the Greeks around their architecture, America around expanding waistlines. The Isle of Man, however, has pinned its identity today on low tax rates, motorcycle races and, oh yes… mermaids and fairies. (Catching Mermaids on Man) *** Would you be willing to eat your meals off the chest of a corpse, in the process, taking on their sins as your own? That’s the gruesome job of a sin eater – and there were people willing to do it even into twentieth-century. (Would You Become a Sin Eater?) *** Dr Richard Gallagher is a New York psychiatrist and a psychiatric professor. He has spent twenty-five years viewing exorcisms – and he says 'fallen angels' target the devout AND those who've meddled with the occult. He says it outright – being possessed by a demon can and does happen, and he has seen it all too often. (Psychiatrist Says Demonic Possession Is Real) *** UK homeowners believe their homes are haunted and want to rid themselves of them, while Americans don’t care if a house is haunted so long as it has a swimming pool! (Ghostly Homes And Ghost-Loving Buyers)==========SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME: Robert Ressler came up against a lot of resistance, but his dedicated focus on the minds and motives of serial murderers created what we know today as criminal profiling. (The Man Who Created Criminal Profiling) *** An atheist tells his story about being possessed by demons... or maybe he wasn’t. (I Thought I Was Possessed By The Devil)==========SOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM TONIGHT’S SHOW:BOOK: “Demonic Foes: My Twenty-Five Years as a Psychiatrist Investigating Possessions, Diabolic Attacks, and the Paranormal” by Dr. Richard Gallagher: https://amzn.to/2YSlhBJBOOK: “20 Commonly Asked Questions About Demons” by Daniel C. Okapara: https://amzn.to/3fCEsFDBOOK: “Demonic Possessions Extraordinary True Life Experiences” by C. Torrington: https://amzn.to/3fEzoAx“Psychiatrist Says Demonic Possession Is Real” by Sheila Flynn for Daily Mail: https://tinyurl.com/y7yb5x26“The Man Who Created Criminal Profiling” by Fiona Guy for Crime Traveller: https://tinyurl.com/ybeh2zke“Catching Mermaids on Man” from Beachcombing’s Bizarre History Blog: https://tinyurl.com/y9uat6zq“Would You Become a Sin Eater?” by Lisa A. Flowers for Ranker: https://tinyurl.com/yco9cv44“Ghostly Homes and Ghost-Loving Buyers” by Jenn Gidman for Newser: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8tezpc; and T.K. Randall for Unexplained Mysteries: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8hvestDesVerges UFO case singed grass photo evidence: https://tinyurl.com/yax47shuBOOK: “Running From The Devil: A Memoir of a Boy Possessed” by Steve Kissing: https://amzn.to/2AfJO9ABOOK: “Unexplained!” by Jerome Clark: https://amzn.to/2YYxRj8“You’ll Never Guess What Happened While You Were Asleep” by Sarah Blumert for Graveyard Shift: https://tinyurl.com/ya2bu7gk“The Scouts and the UFO” by Colin Bertram for History: https://tinyurl.com/y9wcubpk“I Thought I Was Possessed By The Devil” by Steve Kissing for the Huffington Post: https://tinyurl.com/ybhrudzc“The Giant Thunderbird Lives” by Stephen Wagner for Live About: https://tinyurl.com/y7agyegx==========Join the Weird Darkness Syndicate: https://weirddarkness.com//syndicateWeird Darkness theme by Alibi Music Library. Background music provided by Alibi Music Library, EpidemicSound and/or StoryBlocks with paid license. Music from Shadows Symphony (https://tinyurl.com/yyrv987t), Midnight Syndicate (http://amzn.to/2BYCoXZ) Kevin MacLeod (https://tinyurl.com/y2v7fgbu), Tony Longworth (https://tinyurl.com/y2nhnbt7), and Nicolas Gasparini (https://tinyurl.com/lnqpfs8) is used with permission of the artists.==========(Over time links seen above 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.)=========="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46==========WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.