The Zodiac Killer: Serial Murderer or Elaborate Hoax? | The Case Has a Much Stranger Explanation!

The Zodiac Killer is one of America's most infamous unsolved mysteries — but what if the most chilling secret isn't who he was, but whether he ever existed at all?*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*IN THIS EPISODE: A man starts to dig a swimming pool in his backyard – and unearths numerous human corpses. The resulting story is so incredible that it inspired the film, “Grave Secrets”. The true story behind the “Black Hope Horror”. (Black Hope Horror) *** America… the home of baseball, apple pie, jazz, and… the birth of spiritualism. (Spiritualism) *** From the spirits of famous female historical figures, to the girlish ghouls of urban legend, female ghosts are some of the scariest spirits out there. (Ghoulish Ghost Girls) *** Was the legendary serial killer the Zodiac a hoax? (Zodiac: The Phantom Killer) *** A hundred years ago, the Spanish Influenza epidemic ripped through the United States, with fatalities reaching as high as 1,000 per week. We’ll look at what happened. (The Epidemic That Brought America To Its Knees) *** A young girl, dealing with the trauma of her parents getting a divorce, is traumatized even more when staying at a friend’s house that appears to be haunted. (A Haunted House, Sleep Paralysis, and Shadow People) *** Joan Crawford’s daughter exposed her sadistic behavior – but how truthful were those accusations? (The Claims of Christina Crawford) *** Along with sightings of Bigfoot, extraterrestrials, ghosts, and shadow people, there is a growing number of reports of entities which appear to be wearing futuristic armor, or high-tech suits. Could these be inter-dimensional beings? Extraterrestrial spacemen? Time-traveling soldiers? What is it people are seeing? (Armored Phantoms)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:02:51.227 = Show Open00:05:15.088 = Zodiac: The Phantom Killer00:41:15.802 = Spiritualism in America ***00:47:58.789 = Ghoulish Ghost Girls00:55:06.124 = Armored Phantoms ***01:17:07.471 = The 1900s Epidemic That Brought America To Its Knees ***01:25:33.567 = Haunted House, Sleep Paralysis, and Shadow People01:34:37.172 = The Claims of Christina Crawford ***01:40:43.596 = The Black Hope Horror01:48:39.374 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakHELPFUL LINKS & RESOURCES…https://WeirdDarkness.com/ALBUMS = Songs and Videos by our Weird Darkness punk band, #DarkWeirdnesshttps://WeirdDarkness.com/STORE = Tees, Mugs, Socks, Hoodies, Totes, Hats, Kidswear & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/HOPE = Hope For Depression or Thoughts of Self-Harmhttps://WeirdDarkness.com/NEWSLETTER = In-Depth Articles, Memes, Weird DarkNEWS, Videos & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/AUDIOBOOKS = FREE Audiobooks Narrated By Darren Marlar EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/zodiackillerSOURCES and RESOURCES:“Zodiac: The Phantom Killer”: https://tinyurl.com/s39qy65“Spiritualism in America” by Troy Taylor: https://tinyurl.com/s48kes8“Ghoulish Ghost Girls” by Carolyn Cox: http://ow.ly/AysF30mi5HS“The 1900s Epidemic That Brought America To Its Knees” by Troy Taylor: https://tinyurl.com/wpvaes2“Haunted House, Sleep Paralysis, and Shadow People” by Rachel Grace: https://tinyurl.com/talccxq“The Claims of Christina Crawford” by Gina Dimuro: https://tinyurl.com/ydcy3lmj“Black Hope Horror”: https://tinyurl.com/rvdsk2l“Armored Phantoms” by Brent Swancer: https://tinyurl.com/qusshmn(Over time links 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 12:46WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: October 19, 2018