melissa florio

On December 11th, 2006, in a beautiful little town in Italy, two men were out for a walk when they noticed a fire in a nearby second story apartment window. They quickly ran up the outside stairs to get to that apartment, but when they reached it and looked through the open front door, they froze, because what they saw was nothing short of a nightmare. Today's story is about the "Erba Massacre" and it is extremely graphic, upsetting, and it involves harm to a child, so listener discretion is advised.For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- ...

On March 22nd, 2003, a highly intelligent, very successful couple decided to play a strange new game. The game was very involved, and required handcuffs and blindfolds and heavy chairs, but once they were in position, they got the hang of it quickly and thought it was actually pretty fun. But after playing for a little while, something very unexpected happened, and before either of them could comprehend it, a scream filled their apartment, then there was silence. (This story is a wild ride with one of the strangest conclusions we've covered on this show, so make sure you stick around to the ...

Gary Bruce is a slacker of epic loserness. Can’t keep a job. His friends are as bad as he is. No girlfriend. No direction. Gary Bruce is also a werewolf. Desperate for any kind of success, Gary decides to out himself on YouTube. The moment this ordinary guy goes full-on fur, fangs, and claws, the world can’t get enough of him. He’s the biggest thing on social media, he’s on every talk show, book and movie deals fall in his lap, and for the first time in his life he gets invited to all the best parties. But celebrity is a special kind of voracious monster.

Mia is reluctant to go camping with her boyfriend and sister, who are graduate students working on a dissertation about American folklore. But ultimately, they convince her to help document the trip. The group sets off to Black Creek, a remote destination in the Pacific Northwest where Bigfoot has allegedly been sighted. They think they’re prepared for anything, but their sense of terror grows as they find more and more evidence to suggest the monster really is out there. Eventually, Mia realizes she’ll be lucky just to make it out of the woods alive.

The Strange, Dark & Mysterious delivered in podcast format.Follow the MrBallen Podcast on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes publish twice a week—every Monday and Thursday. Prime members can listen to new episodes 1-month early and all episodes ad-free on Amazon Music. Wondery+ subscribers can listen ad-free in the Wondery App or on Apple Podcasts.

It’s Christmas Eve, and Lara anxiously anticipates the arrival of her sister, Cleo, so she can reveal a shocking family secret that has been haunting Lara since their mother’s death. By confronting revelations about their grandfather’s shameful past, Lara is hopeful that she and Cleo can make reparations and exorcise this ghost from their lives. The ghost, however, won’t be appeased so easily....