MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories

On an afternoon in December 1991, a woman in small-town Utah opened her mailbox. Inside was a credit card bill, addressed to her husband, who'd disappeared a week ago. The woman found this strange, because she didn't even know her husband had a credit card. And when she ripped open the envelope and read over the charges, she realized that her missing husband had been keeping an even bigger secret from her.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

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Tonight at the campfire, I'm going to share one of the most credible alien abduction stories ever.

Be sure to WATCH this episode on my YouTube channel on Friday, May 15th at 2:00 p.m. ET!

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Today’s podcast will feature 4 stories about how a single decision changed the lives of the people in these stories, as well as millions of others lives around the world. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #4 -- "The Debt Game" -- A man in South Korea becomes inspired by his favorite manga (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gGIgbHF51U)
• #3 -- "Hospital Rhythms" -- A young boy in a hospital finds solace in music (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0wF_-kt_bg)
• #2 -- "Storming the Castle" -- A young singer takes a huge leap of faith (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygVx6sVMqCY)
• #1 -- "Imposter Syndrome" -- An actor hits rock bottom, but then the unthinkable happens (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygVx6sVMqCY)

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

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Both of our stories today start with people who are just looking for a solution to their problem. But finding that solution… ends up being the worst thing that ever happened to them.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On an evening in August 2000, a city council candidate stood behind a podium at a high school in small-town Alabama. He was speaking about why he'd entered the race, and he said he wanted a platform to discuss an important issue – the unsolved murder of a local school district employee. Right there, in front of all the news cameras and microphones, the candidate said he knew who committed the crime – because it had been revealed to him in a dream.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

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Today's story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 392.

In the early hours of Thursday, February 21st, 2008, a six-year-old girl woke to a creaking noise down the hallway outside her bedroom door. It was a blustery night in rural Nevada, so she figured it was just the wind bending frozen tree branches in the yard. But then another creaking noise filled the house, this time even closer to her bedroom. She pulled her covers tight around her and stared out through the crack in the door. An uneasy feeling settled over her as the light in the hallway shifted. She could almost see the outline of a person standing outside her room. She squinted, trying to make out a face, wondering if it was one of her parents checking in on her. But as quick as the shadow appeared, it vanished into thin air.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories about dark secrets that were hiding in plain sight all along. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Dating Game" -- A reality show contestant isn't who he says he is... (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y156BNu3S5Y)
• #2 -- "Something Scratching" -- Two brothers make a discovery 2 decades after their mother disappears (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eklLi4LdTWk)
• #1 -- "Be Still, Their Hearts" -- A mystery at a medical center unveils a deadly secret (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcOLoqotMhs)

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

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Both of today’s stories are a reminder that even the most joyful events or celebrations can take a horrific turn, if just ONE tiny thing goes wrong.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

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On a Monday morning in February 2003, a man in suburban France got a phone call from a number he recognized. He answered it, but all he heard on the other end was static and muffled voices in the background. He could just barely make out a conversation between two women. They were talking about a murder, and one of them said they needed to come up with an alibi.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

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Tonight, I have two stories to tell you. And what makes these exceptional is that they're both just excellent stories to be told around a campfire.

Be sure to WATCH this episode on my YouTube channel!

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Today’s podcast features 3 stories that involve people who were trapped - with “no way out.” The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "A Crush on a Cruise" -- A cruise ship's unexpected catastrophe... (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaSQ4ou05dc)
• #2 -- "The Gauge" -- A critical error leads to a horrifying fate for these saturation divers (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3e5nxOx0XA)
• #1 -- "Teapot" -- A freak accident turns a vacation into a nightmare (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTrEzqm6dCE)

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On the evening of August 10, 2005, a man in New York City answered the phone at the office where he worked. A woman’s voice came over the line, and she asked to speak with one of the man’s employees. He replied that that employee actually hadn’t shown up for their shift that afternoon. That’s when he heard a shift in the woman’s tone, and she told him in a trembling voice that she needed to hang up right now and call 911.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories that sound impossible – moments so unlikely, they shouldn’t exist… yet somehow, they do. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Scooped" -- After a tragedy at sea, a truly unbelievable discovery is made (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzMwI_KMjr8)
• #2 -- "One For The Road" -- A man's drunken walk home would end in a nightmare (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7Nf7E6y8UA)
• #1 -- "Her Face" -- A woman wakes up in the middle of the night from a nightmare, but her dreams soon begin to blend with reality (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZZY_nT7KYs)

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

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Today we have two stories about people who finally got to attend an event that they’d been working toward for years. But in both cases, actually going – would turn out to be the biggest mistake of their lives. 

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One evening in April 2006, a person sat at their kitchen table, frantically cutting up the page of a newspaper with some scissors. They were working on an important project, and it was almost done. They finished cutting the final letter from the page and pasted it onto a sheet of paper. Then they leaned back to read the message they’d assembled from the scraps. It was a warning. And they were sure it would have exactly the effect they were hoping for.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today's story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 388.

On a September afternoon in 2000, an FBI forensics analyst stood in her lab in Quantico, Virginia, staring into a microscope in confusion. She was looking at two strands of hair that were evidence in a murder investigation. And something wasn’t right. She checked the label on the evidence bag the sample came from, then looked back into the microscope. She definitely wasn’t imagining it. The label was wrong, which meant that the detective who had packaged the hairs and sent them over for analysis – had not understood what he was looking at. And this wasn’t a small mistake. Because if the analyst was right about what the hairs really were – then the whole investigation she was working on was about to change.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature three stories that remind us the most dangerous threats are oftentimes the ones you can’t see. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Underwater Building" -- Friends investigate odd structure in middle of ocean (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toswhS4ehRw)
• #2 -- "A Tribe’s Feast" -- A tribe in Australia believes they've been blessed by a bounty from god, but it ends up being a curse from hell (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd0cDk9ee_o)
• #1 -- "A Stiff Drink" -- You won't believe the ending of this story until you see the photo (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3e5nxOx0XA)

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today we have two stories about people who craved attention or status – but instead of glory, they got absolute carnage.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Before dawn in March 1997, a police captain was patrolling the outskirts of a small town in North Carolina. He saw a Jeep parked on the shoulder of the highway with its headlights on. He pulled over, and as he walked closer to the Jeep, he heard the engine running. The driver's side window was rolled down, and there was no one inside. But just then... a cell phone on the passenger seat started ringing.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today's story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 384.

One afternoon in January of 1998, a prosecutor for the state of Georgia sat in the very back row of seats in a courtroom where a divorce trial was unfolding. The prosecutor was not involved in the divorce case – he handled murder trials. But he had come here today, because he had gotten a very surprising phone call about an unsolved case he had worked on a year and a half earlier. The caller had told him that the testimony in this divorce – could solve that murder. Now, in the courtroom, the prosecutor felt his heart rate pick up, as the witness he had been waiting for took the stand. And as soon as the witness started talking – the prosecutor knew: he had solved the murder.

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Today’s podcast will feature 3 horror stories with completely unexpected endings. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "After The Riot" -- A man's son goes missing during a prison riot (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eklLi4LdTWk)
• #2 -- "Falling Treasure" -- A politician in Malaysia calls upon a shaman to bestow upon him riches and power (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xBPT9pl_qA)
• #1 -- "A Son’s Nightmare" -- Police visit a small village after a man's recurring nightmare about his mother makes him question reality (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ8wjf8d8ds)

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Our two stories today are about people who believed in something so strongly, that it informed every single choice they made. And unfortunately for them – those choices led them down a very dangerous path.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In June 2005, a customer at a gas station in Derry, New Hampshire carried a prepaid cell phone to the counter. They paid for it in cash, then they went out to their car and cut open the packaging. They dialed a number to activate it, but when the customer service rep asked for their name, they hesitated. The whole reason they'd bought this prepaid phone was so that no one could trace the calls back to their real identity.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On today's Campfire episode, I have a great ghost story. 

Be sure to WATCH this episode on YouTube next Friday, April 3 at 2:00 p.m. ET.

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Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories that seemingly break reality. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "The Friend" -- Paranormal enthusiasts will enjoy this one (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSiHjKIckNM)
• #2 -- "The Midnight Man" -- A woman wakes up in the middle of the night to see a man in her room... but that's just the beginning of this spooky story (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aviVsRAnMR8)
• #1 -- "From The Field" -- A man gets into a freak accident while riding his motorcycle, but no one can explain the series of events that happens next (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ8wjf8d8ds)

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Both of these stories are about two people who do not feel safe in their homes. And authorities can't help either of them until the situation spirals out of control.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One night in March of 2016, two friends sat on a couch in Lunel, France, watching a true crime show on TV. The episode hit close to home – literally – because it was about a missing person who had vanished just miles from where they lived. Suddenly, in the middle of the show, one of the friends stood up and started pacing around the room, muttering to themselves. The other friend asked what was wrong… and they were not ready for the answer.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today's story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 359.

One September afternoon in 2003, a woman in Tucson, Arizona, heard a knock on her front door and answered it. She was surprised to see a Tucson police detective standing on her front steps, and even more surprised when the detective started asking a bunch of questions about her next door neighbor. The woman was a law-abiding citizen, and she didn’t know anything. The detective gave her his business card and asked her to call him if that changed, but as she closed the door, she was pretty sure she would never have any reason to talk to him again. That was until a few days later, when she looked out her front window and saw two sweaty men jump out of a van and walk up the steps into her neighbor’s house. She watched for a few minutes, with her heart racing, realizing that what she was watching might very well be the coverup of a murder. She let the curtain fall and ran to her purse, to dig out the detective’s business card.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories that make you realize, not everything is as it seems. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "On The Prowl" -- A local urban legend turns into a nightmare (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNbRksDBLHw)
• #2 -- "Call Your Mother" -- A mother is devastated after her son disappears one day (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwtXGiWSkQY)
• #1 -- "The Red Ghost" -- A horrifying creature terrorized people for years on the Arizona frontier (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7MaT5XFeoU)

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One day in January of 2018, a police officer walked through the woods near the town of Gray, France, following a trail of blood. It led to the body of a person who had been shot in the head. It seemed to be a suicide, but the police officer had some questions. Because this wasn’t the first body they had found here in the past few months.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I'm back by the fire, and I have an epic survival story to tell you.

Be sure to WATCH this episode on my YouTube channel.

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Both of today's stories are about just how hard it is to really know someone, and the consequences of assuming you do.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On an early morning in December 1991, a woman woke up to pounding on the door of her home in Largo, Florida. She could hear a woman outside screaming for help. She rushed out of bed and opened the door – and saw her neighbor on the doorstep, drenched in blood. Her head was covered in gashes. Her throat had been slit. But before she could say a word about what had happened to her, she fell back and collapsed on the front lawn.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today's story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 300.

On a dark fall night in 2010, two detectives stood in the street in an upscale suburban neighborhood outside of Boston, Massachusetts. In the middle of the road – lit by their flashlights – lay the body of a teenage boy. These were two veteran detectives, but neither of them had ever seen the type of brutal violence that had been inflicted on this young man. His legs look shattered, his jeans had been shredded, and his face was bruised and broken. The detectives felt sure this young man had been murdered, but because he had no ID on him, they didn’t know who he was. But when they did finally discover his identity, this case would take a totally bizarre turn. The detectives would find themselves 1,000 miles away from their crime scene, sifting through reported sightings of their victim that defied the laws of physics, and grasping at an insane theory that they hoped could somehow tie it all together.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. And today’s podcast features 3 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "What’s Wrong with Mommy?" -- Christmas day becomes a nightmare (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JPEtNglQ4o)
• #2 -- "Stealing a Slice" -- A standoff in a Domino's takes a wild turn (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6bh7mhT1Lk)
• #1 -- "Peak Experience" -- A man wakes up after an avalanche in a life and death situation (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6m1ImVG1MQ)

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

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Both of today's stories are about people who actually achieved their big career ambitions... but at an extremely high cost.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

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On June 20th, 2004 a restaurant manager stood at the host stand of a seafood spot in Orange County, California. It was the dinner rush, and he was on take-out duty. So when a customer came in to ask about their to-go order, the manager hurried off to grab it. He found the order, and carried it back out. And as he rang the customer up, he could tell they were in a hurry. They kept looking over their shoulder and tapping their fingers on the counter. So the manager tried to finish up the sale quickly, and ran their credit card. And after everything was done, the customer basically ran out – which was a little strange, but the manager quickly got distracted again with another order coming in, and shoved the signed card receipt into the register like he always did. He had no idea that he’d have to find it again in just a few days… and hand it over to the police.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

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Today's story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 281.

On a fall evening in 1996, a young detective sped through the streets of Tucson, Arizona towards an upscale country club. All he knew was that someone had reported an explosion in the area, but he didn’t know what had caused it. Minutes later, the detective pulled into the country club parking lot and as he got out of his car, it almost felt like he had stepped into a war zone. Car alarms were blaring, shattered glass covered the ground, and nearby he saw a car with its roof completely ripped off. The young detective quickly got to work searching the scene – having no idea that he would spend the next 13 years of his life trying to close this case – which would span across the United States and all the way to Europe.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

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Today’s story has a very surprising ending, and I do sort of tip off what actually happens early-ish on in the story, but I’d be very surprised if people actually pick up on it and put it together before I reveal what actually happened.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #1 -- "Do Not Disturb" -- Two sisters take a vacation to Thailand, but the strange events that happen next would turn this into a nightmare (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2Wf0qKZ5fg)

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

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Today's stories are about how sometimes doing what you think is the right thing... can actually be the most dangerous choice you can make.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On an evening in March 1974, an investigator in Salt Lake City, Utah sat across an interrogation table from a man who claimed he had psychic powers. The deputy had been skeptical… but now this self-described psychic was giving him a bunch of incredibly specific visions about the case. It was enough to make the deputy wonder… was this man really a psychic, or was he actually the killer?

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today's story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 269.

On a spring night in 2009, a middle aged married couple was closing up the local pizza place they ran in a small Virginia mountain town. The husband walked to the back of the restaurant and grabbed a large bucket of ice. He carried the bucket out the back door, and dumped the ice into the grass. He stood up and felt the cool breeze on his face – it was a nice change from the hot pizza ovens he’d been working around all night. But then, he heard screaming coming from inside the restaurant. Without thinking, he dropped the bucket, and rushed back inside. But when he discovered what was happening, all he could do was turn around and run for his life.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast features 3 stories that involve people who were trapped – with “no way out.” The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "A Friendly Wave" -- A girl on her newspaper route notices a man waving in a very peculiar position (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7BBtU-IJCE)
• #2 -- "Lookout" -- A submarine runs into some issues (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtEfMtdnjo0)
• #1 -- "Wrong Button" -- A man makes a horrifying discovery in an apartment building (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KLTog6DltQ)

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

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Today’s stories are about people who try to control fate… and end up causing historic levels of destruction.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On the morning of December 10, 1995, a detective walked into a house on a quiet street in the suburbs of Tucson, Arizona. An officer led him down the hallway to the bedroom – and when he looked inside, he froze. He'd seen a lot of crime scenes before, but this was one of the worst. There was blood all over the walls, the floors, and the mattress. It looked like this should be the scene of a murder. But there was one problem: there was no body.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today's story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 251.

On the afternoon of September 10, 2009, an art student walked inside her off-campus apartment in Dallas, Texas, and immediately began making herself a late lunch. Her roommate didn't come out of her bedroom to greet her, but to be honest, this wasn't totally unusual. The two of them, despite being roommates, were not actually very close at all. After eating their food, the student studied for a while, then watched some TV, and then went to bed. All the while, still never hearing a sound coming out of her roommate's bedroom. But again, this was normal. That is, until the next day, when the student received a call from their school telling her to go back to her apartment to check on her roommate. Because, apparently, the roommate's mother was very concerned about them. The student was annoyed, but went back to the apartment. And when they walked into their roommate's bedroom, they would see something that would haunt them for years. And it would instantly explain why their roommate would not come out of their room.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories about people who headed into the extreme cold, and never returned. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Over the Horizon" -- A morbid discovery was made on an oceanic voyage in the 1800s (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V61B4JTczJM)
• #2 -- "Rite of Passage" -- A family decides to do a famous ritual all on their own (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7Nf7E6y8UA)
• #1 -- "Under the Tarp" -- They discovered pure NIGHTMARE FUEL in the wilderness… (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GQTLCAwZpI)

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today, I’m going to tell you two stories about people who wanted to do something impressive – and came up with a really ambitious plan. But they overlooked one crucial detail that became the difference between life... and death.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Just after midnight on May 12, 2006, a man woke up in his quiet London suburb to the sound of pounding on his front door. He answered it and found his neighbor standing outside, looking shocked. The neighbor said something had happened to the man’s sister. The man immediately ran down the street, towards his sister’s house. He was afraid of what he’d find, because he was always warning her to be more careful, but she never listened. And when he arrived, he found a trail of blood running down his sister's driveway.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories that will make you wonder how many monsters you may have encountered in your life. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "The Home Gym" -- A family gets ready for a normal Friday, but little did they know their worlds were about to come tumbling down (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQMMgU2c69U)
• #2 -- "120 Times" -- This could have happened to anyone (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFV6R9GgPy4)
• #1 -- "To Save His Soul" -- What begins as a bible study in a motel, turns into one of the most disturbing cases ever (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQMMgU2c69U)

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today's story is about a fiction writer who used her own life as inspiration – until her life took a tragic twist that no one would believe if she wrote it in a book. It’s a reminder that some stories... are better left untold.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the early morning hours of March 27, 2003, a four-year-old boy was lying in bed in rural Ohio, when he suddenly heard his door open. He assumed it was just his great-grandparents checking in on him, and he pretended to be asleep. He heard the floorboards creaking as someone stepped into his room, and approached his bed. The boy peeked his eyes open just a tiny bit... and he saw a huge, green monster standing over his bed – pointing a shotgun at him.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

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In today’s episode, we are doing something a little different. For the first time ever, I’m taking the "Strange, Dark, and Mysterious" stories outside to a literal campfire to bring you a tale that is as unsettling as it is historic.

Hundreds of years ago in what is now Richland County, Wisconsin, a search party from the Ho-Chunk Nation followed the tracks of three missing hunters deep into a remote ravine. What they found was a dark cave and a haunting sound echoing from the depths—a sound that signaled they were no longer alone.

Be sure to WATCH this episode on my YouTube channel!

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Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories about acts so strange and unsettling, they blur the line between devotion and madness. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Exit Interviews" -- One of the most infamous cult cases in history... (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw9UOmib5hE)
• #2 -- "A Family Ritual" -- A family performs a sickening ritual (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V61B4JTczJM)
• #1 -- "The Helping Hand" -- After a hand washes up on a shore in Florida, a mysterious case begins to unravel (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eHMOFfHKDw)

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today, I’m going to tell you two stories about people who unknowingly risked everything to travel to their dream locations – and didn’t realize they were in danger until it was too late. Their stories remind us that careful planning is not always enough to keep us safe when we travel far from home.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In December 2005, a young woman walked down a sidewalk in New York City. There were Christmas decorations on all the buildings she passed – but as she walked by a newspaper stand, she saw something that was so shocking, she literally stopped in her tracks. Because right there, on the front page of multiple newspapers — was a picture of the one thing in her life, that she’d hoped she would never see again. Looking at it now, she knew she had to call the police right away.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today's story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 318.

This story is about a woman who goes missing from a psychiatric hospital in 1900. Now at first, this story will seem like a pretty ordinary missing person case. That is, until you reach the very end. Lets just say, this story has one heck of a plot twist.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories of missing people that we just can’t explain. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "The Yellow Smoke" -- A bizarre series of events leaves a family without any answers (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eklLi4LdTWk)
• #2 -- "The Bennington Triangle" -- Hunters goes missing in haunted forest (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-Kvc3wbSfw)
• #1 -- "Incommunicado" -- A man staying an extremely remote cabin stops communicating with his friend (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KLTog6DltQ)

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today, I’m going to tell you two stories about people who communicated with the right intentions, but didn’t fully think through the risks of what could happen when their message was heard. These stories remind us that sometimes, our zeal can lead us down a path we can’t turn back from.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One morning in May 1993, a man living outside Chicago, Illinois, stepped out onto his front porch – and froze. There was a shoebox sitting there, with a note that said “To Sandra” – but no one named ‘Sandra’ lived at his house. The man’s heart started to race. There was a bomber on the loose, and the whole city was on edge – so he called 911. The box on his porch would turn out to be nothing, but until the bomber was found, nobody knew what the next box would contain. 

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Joining me is the amazing Rosie Grant! Rosie is the creator behind Ghostly Archive on Instagram & TikTok, where she researches and re-creates recipes found on gravestones.

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Whether it's fame, fortune, or the thrill of adventure — none of it comes without a price, and today's 3 stories demonstrate that.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Surge" -- A couple's dream vacation turns into a nightmare (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9en1PDgpAI)
• #2 -- "Stowaway" -- A runaway wants nothing more than to see the world (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHkpDWBmRO8)
• #1 -- "The Path Less Traveled" -- A discovery in a forest would have devastating consequences (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk9ijAskoRY&t=1s)

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On July 4th, 2018, a paramedic was hurrying through a hospital in England when his supervisor flagged him down, looking worried. She asked if he had been one of the paramedics on a specific call a few days ago. Surprised, he said yes. The call had been pretty typical, so he didn’t understand why she was asking. But his supervisor said she’d explain in a minute – first, he had to take off all his gear right now. Because there was a chance – that what he was wearing, could kill him.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 344.

In 1984, in a small city in northeastern China, a security guard stood outside of a warehouse, working an overnight shift. The guard heard a noise coming from some bushes nearby, but he didn’t think much about it. This was a safe town, and usually the hardest part of his job was staying awake. But suddenly, two thieves in ski masks emerged from the bushes, and rushed the guard. They grabbed him, and slammed his head against the outside wall of the warehouse, and the guard fell to the ground in a daze. One of the thieves quickly gagged the guard, bound his hands and feet, and said he needed to keep his mouth shut if he wanted to stay alive. Terrified, and struggling to keep his eyes open, the guard watched as the two thieves opened the warehouse door and ran inside. This robbery would shake the local community, but it was nothing in comparison to the horrific crimes it would set off, and the gruesome discovery the police would soon make on the outskirts of town.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories about how a single decision changed the lives of the people in these stories, as well as millions of others lives around the world. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "One Man’s Trash" -- A woman finds something in her husband's office trash can that would change their lives forever (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1qXHn2O7cY)
• #2 -- "Accidental Superstar" -- This person had a full blown "normal" career when something totally random made them an A list celebrity (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPfcCindxhg)
• #1 -- "The Shiner" -- A man gets into a fight at a McDonald's the night before his big job interview (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXUyvt2tUGQ)

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today, I’m going to tell two stories that highlight how the world around us – and even people’s own eyes – can play tricks on them. Sometimes, what people think they see isn't what's really going on at all. But once people have convinced themselves of something, it can be hard for them to change their minds... and that can lead them into deadly situations.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One night in December of 2009, a man dug through a pile of papers and photo albums inside an RV parked in Texas. This man had recently bought the trailer after its previous owner had died, and it was full of junk that he was now trying to sort. As he rifled through documents, he stumbled on a stack of old notebooks. He opened one, and started reading – and as he did, he felt his heartbeat pick up. Because the notebooks were diaries – and they were full of handwritten rantings about demons, monsters, and a deal with the devil. But that wasn’t what really scared him. What really scared the man... was the writer’s horrifying confession.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 335.

In 2011, a police officer spotted a woman on a busy street in Japan, and he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He looked at a photo on his phone, and then back at the woman, it was definitely her. He’d been tasked with finding this woman and bringing her back home, it was a pretty basic task, but he’d managed to complete it way faster than he thought he would. The officer rushed down the street, greeted the woman, and she confirmed she was the person he was looking for. He led her back to his car, drove her home, and that was that. But what the officer could not have possibly have imagined, was that locating this woman and bringing her home was about to unravel 25 years of unimaginable horrors – and lead to one of the most bizarre cases Japanese investigators had ever seen.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories that sound impossible – moments so unlikely, they shouldn’t exist… yet somehow, they do. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Just a Bit Cramped" -- A horrifying accident that has a very unlikely outcome (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN512apbI8o)
• #2 -- "Scenic Route" -- A woman gets into a car accident on her way to work (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQMMgU2c69U)
• #1 -- "Out With a Bang" -- A funeral ends with a deafening roar (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6bh7mhT1Lk)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the early morning hours on a Saturday in 2013, a man dressed all in black hid in the shadows on a side street in downtown Antwerp, Belgium. The man had lost track of how long he’d even been there, but he didn’t care. He’d hide in the shadows for as long as he had to, waiting patiently for the right moment. Finally, he heard stumbling footsteps, and he felt a jolt of energy run through his body, and he crouched down, ready to lunge.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On the afternoon of September 30th, 1991, an investigator in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania walked carefully through a college chemistry lab – that was also a potential crime scene. The room was a complete mess, with construction debris all over the place and lab equipment strewn across the countertops. It was so cluttered that the investigator hardly knew where to begin. But then he noticed something laying on a nearby counter – it was a soiled rag with a handwritten note sitting next to it. And when he read the note, he gasped. Because he realized that he could be the next to die.

You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 2 medical horror stories. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #2 -- "Injection Site" --  A man's worst nightmare begins when he experiences severe pain in his shoulder (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt5j9VFQotk)
• #1 -- "Clocked Out" -- After a man falls ill at work, doctors find that his condition is so rare that it has only been documented 3 times in the last century (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLfmex7hEQU)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a chilly evening in early February 2010, a group of friends gathered around the table at a restaurant in a French ski resort. They had been out on the slopes all day and were warming up with mulled wine by the fire. A cell phone buzzed, and one of the friends looked down and frowned. They excused themselves and stepped away from the table to talk. When they came back, they were pale and their hands were shaking. The others asked what was wrong, but they just shook their head and grabbed their coat. They had to leave, right now. Someone they cared about very much needed their help.

For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @MrBallen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In today's story, a family uncovers a secret on a laptop. And after that, everything spirals completely out of control.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #1 -- "Family Values" -- Family uncovers a secret on a laptop (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlAFCb1rBA8)
   

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A young man was watching the local news while he ate breakfast one day in 2004, when a story about a savage murder came on. At first, the young man wasn’t paying close attention – the murder happened more than 100 miles away – but then a picture of the victim flashed across the screen. And the young man froze in shock. Slowly, he put down his spoon, abandoned his breakfast, and ran to his computer. He booted it up and started frantically searching through the chat logs of an old conversation. And after a few minutes, he found it. The young man printed the logs out, and called the police. 

For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @MrBallen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. And today’s podcast features 3 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Don’t Mess With Doug" -- They picked the WRONG house (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzMwI_KMjr8)
• #2 -- "The Ring" -- Something is trapped inside the box... (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK6MIl28b-8)
• #1 -- "Strange Calls" -- A fishing trip turns into a nightmare for 4 men (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0E0Br_PY28)
   

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the early morning hours of September 21st, 2009, a man woke up in his bed in New Orleans with a start, to the sound of metal clinking in the dark corner of his room. The man’s heart raced as he peered into the shadows. And then he gasped – because there was someone standing in the corner, staring at him. As the figure stepped forward, the clinking sound got louder. And the man realized this person was wrapped in heavy, metal chains. And suddenly, he understood. What he was seeing was a ghost – and he knew exactly who had murdered them.

For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @MrBallen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 2 totally unbelievable stories from the battlefield. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #2 -- "Last Stand" -- If there is the one war story everyone needs to hear at least once, it's this one... it is both absolutely horrific and utterly inspiring (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Svkc8tA4bwU)
• #1 -- "Cloak & Dagger" -- There are many unbelievable stories that have come from WWII, but today's story might be the single-most influential event that happened in the entire war (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfc5_s5eYyQ)
   

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On April 29, 2002, in the small town of Pataskala, Ohio, a social worker sat on the floor with a two-year-old girl. The little girl's mother had been murdered in their kitchen the night before, and police thought she might have witnessed the crime. The girl clutched a stuffed animal to her chest while the social worker asked her if anyone else had been in her house the night before. The girl nodded – and uttered a name that would turn her family's lives upside down.

For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @MrBallen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast features 4 stories that involve people who were trapped – with “no way out.” The audio from all four stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #4 -- "Frozen in Fear" -- A landlord makes a grisly discovery (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-OLxaEnFJc)
• #3 -- "Runaway" -- A student runs away, then a CCTV camera locates him (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ8EGOEc7uw)
• #2 -- "Balloon" -- A fun tourist attraction turns deadly (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCAXfw9MDxg)
• #1 -- "The Package" -- A recent story about the dangers of old elevators (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=242QjjilqIE)
   

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Around 3:00 AM on September 5th, 1981, a woman drove through a housing development in Lakeland, Florida. She was with two of her friends, who had agreed to spend the night at her duplex. And this was a huge relief to the woman, because yesterday there’d been a violent murder in their neighborhood. So the woman was terrified at the thought of sleeping alone, and was really grateful that her friends were going to keep her company. As soon as she parked in front of her home, though – she froze. The front curtains were open, and through the window she could see a figure moving around inside her home. But before she could say or do anything – that figure yanked the curtains shut.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 horror stories that are just pure nightmare fuel. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Face" -- Mother & daughter want to help a lost child (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k402yukZAxE)
• #2 -- "Just Teeth" -- A gruesome discovery is made on a farm (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7BBtU-IJCE)
• #1 -- "Hell on High Water" -- This story has been told many times throughout history, but this original version is by the far the creepiest... because it really happened (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hZENhFWTmU)
   

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On December 30, 2016, a woman sat down at her computer in her New Mexico home and pulled up the video feed from her surveillance system. Everyone in her neighborhood was terrified. There was a killer on the loose, and the police didn’t seem to have any idea who it could be – or what their motivation was. She scrolled back two days, and then started going through the footage frame by frame, looking for anything suspicious. For a while, nothing interesting happened. Her neighbor came home from a trip, and then some time passed, and then he left again. The woman was starting to think that what she was doing was pointless – when all of a sudden, in the corner of the screen – a dark figure appeared.
 

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Joining me is a man you've probably seen all over the internet, the great Oz "The Mentalist" Pearlman. 

WATCH the full video here: https://youtu.be/Qx6A6rCZNKU?si=l7BaWymzcCv0kabi

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 2 stories that reveal we may not be alone in this universe. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #2 -- "Face Peelers" --  People in Peru are adamant that their government is wrong about this... (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNdH8xStQ5Y)
• #1 -- "The Window" -- This case prompted a full-scale military investigation into a subject that can only be classified as "paranormal" (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh32FcLCdv4)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One afternoon in February 2007, a man walked across an icy parking lot to the front door of a police station in Merrillville, Indiana. Next to him was an officer, whose job it was to make sure the man actually went inside the station. The man was very nervous – there was a warrant out for his arrest on a drug charge, and he’d been brought here to get questioned and then processed. But he hoped he’d get to leave again right away, because he had information about a four-year-old murder case, and he intended on trading that information for his freedom. And he was sure this would work, since what he knew wasn’t just a tip – it was a bombshell. Still, his stomach was in knots as he took a deep breath and opened the station door.
 

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You think you’re safe at home, but today’s 2 stories prove you’re not. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #2 -- "Who’s Out There?" --  A woman's worst nightmare unfolds at a cabin in the woods (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFQzByJkbko)
• #1 -- "Denver Spiderman" -- Police discover a secret inside a locked house (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z07gs6D9E8)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the early hours of Thursday, February 21st, 2008, a six-year-old girl woke to a creaking noise down the hallway outside her bedroom door. It was a blustery night in rural Nevada, so she figured it was just the wind bending frozen tree branches in the yard. But then another creaking noise filled the house, this time even closer to her bedroom. She pulled her covers tight around her and stared out through the crack in the door. An uneasy feeling settled over her as the light in the hallway shifted. She could almost see the outline of a person standing outside her room. She squinted, trying to make out a face, wondering if it was one of her parents checking in on her. But as quick as the shadow appeared, it vanished into thin air.
 

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 spooky stories about messages from beyond. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Old Souls" -- A mother in China makes a wild discovery (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7MaT5XFeoU)
• #2 -- "More Than A Feeling" -- A woman wakes up in the middle of the night with a strange feeling (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCdzzoB7jrQ)
• #1 -- "A Thousand Tortured Souls" -- A cemetery in Scotland with a dark history (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onSDRLNWCF4)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One morning in September 2016, a person sat in their home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, holding a business card. Like always, the sight of it made their stomach twist into knots. The card had been given to them years ago by a detective, and it was worn and faded from all the times the person had turned it over in their hands, agonizing over what to do with it. The detective had been looking for leads in a murder case, and at the time, the person said they had nothing to share. But that was a lie – they actually did have information about that murder, and had kept it a secret for years. Now, over two decades later, they’d finally decided to tell the truth. But they were scared. Because they knew when they did – nothing would ever be the same.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This story is a fan favorite from MrBallen's Medical Mysteries.

When a woman gets sick with a mystery illness during the height of the COVID pandemic, she fears her holiday season will be ruined. But as her entire family starts getting sick one by one, a lousy Christmas is the least of her worries.
 

For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @MrBallen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a September afternoon in 2000, an FBI forensics analyst stood in her lab in Quantico, Virginia, staring into a microscope in confusion. She was looking at two strands of hair that were evidence in a murder investigation. And something wasn’t right. She checked the label on the evidence bag the sample came from, then looked back into the microscope. She definitely wasn’t imagining it. The label was wrong, which meant that the detective who had packaged the hairs and sent them over for analysis – had not understood what he was looking at. And this wasn’t a small mistake. Because if the analyst was right about what the hairs really were – then the whole investigation she was working on was about to change.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This story is about a 3-year period in France where people were going missing at an alarming rate and no one knew why. Eventually it was discovered, and let me tell you, it is absolute nightmare fuel.

Story name, preview & link to original YouTube video:

• #1 -- "The Beast of Gévaudan" -- A small village in France is terrorized by a beast (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4Mm1tJm_Z0)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On the morning of July 11th, 2009, an elderly woman grabbed a coffee and sat down at her kitchen table in Pensacola, Florida, to read the local paper. The news was a big part of her day – she had lived in her neighborhood for 60 years, and liked keeping tabs on everything that was going on in her community. Which was usually a lot – Pensacola and the surrounding county had some of the highest crime rates in Florida. So she wasn’t surprised when she opened the paper that morning and saw a police bulletin about a homicide in the area. The message asked residents of Pensacola to be on the lookout for a red van. But when she saw the grainy photo of the vehicle, she gasped and almost knocked over her coffee. Because she’d seen that van. And she knew exactly who it belonged to.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories about mysterious disappearances. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Lava Tubes" -- 1100+ miles of underground lava tubes in this park... (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNpctf6WJx8)
• #2 -- "Stay in the Car" -- Two people go missing after a car crash (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=shared&v=eOxeX1MkcWo)
• #1 -- "What Just Happened?" -- Woman repeatedly calls 911 then vanishes... (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vARuVoqbQL0)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One afternoon in January of 1998, a prosecutor for the state of Georgia sat in the very back row of seats in a courtroom where a divorce trial was unfolding. The prosecutor was not involved in the divorce case – he handled murder trials. But he had come here today, because he had gotten a very surprising phone call about an unsolved case he had worked on a year and a half earlier. The caller had told him that the testimony in this divorce – could solve that murder. Now, in the courtroom, the prosecutor felt his heart rate pick up, as the witness he had been waiting for took the stand. And as soon as the witness started talking – the prosecutor knew: he had solved the murder.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 4 stories about adventures… that go wrong. The audio from all four stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #4 -- "Bungee" -- A couple decides to go bungee jumping, but someone panics and the result is caught on video... (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfnbgIkT_jk)
• #3 -- "Geocaching" -- 4 young people explore an underground tunnel (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtDAo7jS8Z4)
• #2 -- "127 Hours" -- Man is forced to make a horrifying decision (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kODsF75lAJY)
• #1 -- "Head Count" -- A group of boys go for a hike. They’re having a great time, until one of them takes a picture... (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaSQ4ou05dc)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On the morning of May 17th, 2014, a detective wrote furiously as she sat next to the hospital bed of a mortally-injured 77-year-old woman. The woman had been in a coma for the last ten days, and the detective had been desperately working to figure out who had tried to kill her. Now that the woman had woken up, the detective was finally getting the chance she’d been waiting for – to ask her victim directly. But the woman was afraid. She told the detective she had a lot to say, but she couldn’t say it here, at the hospital – because she was still in danger.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories where things are not what they seem. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Deer Crossing" -- A man's drive home from a night out turns into a nightmare (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgeDUqyCgqE)
• #2 -- "Ancient Beast" -- A security guard searches for a dangerous criminal at the Canadian border (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l74_VQPdxjU)
• #1 -- "Stay Forgetful" -- A man wakes up on the side of the road with no idea of who he is or how he got there (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcWArGuE1Os)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Late on a June evening in 2000, a detective with the Easton PA Police Department sat in his car on a darkened neighborhood street, surveilling a house nearby and waiting patiently. After what seemed like an eternity, someone emerged from the house, carrying a couple of bulky trash bags in their hands. The detective tensed up– but he didn’t move. It wasn’t the person that he was waiting for. The detective kept watching as the person placed their trash bags on the curb for pickup in the morning, and then walked back inside the house. And that was when the detective flung open his car door. As quickly as he could, he darted across the street and grabbed the bags. He then ran back to his car and stuffed the bags in his trunk. As he drove away – he knew he was about to solve his murder case.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories that will make you wonder how many monsters you may have encountered in your life. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Mercy Road" -- A sinister secret hides in a nightly news report (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKeWsdjvnGc)
• #2 -- "The Woman in a Wrinkled Dress" -- A security guard searches for a dangerous criminal at the Canadian border (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miq7GLDrgVg&t=1s)
• #1 -- "Striking a Discord" -- The line between fantasy and reality is blurred for a group of online gamers (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcWArGuE1Os)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One evening in the summer of 1998, homicide detective Danny Payne sat in a dark room in a Tennessee suburb police station. He was focused on a TV screen where some surveillance footage played. The recording was bad quality, all blurry and pixelated. But it was still clear what the camera was pointed at – which was a nighttime scene of a McDonald's. On the screen, the shape of a person moved toward the restaurant door and disappeared inside. The video was too low quality to make out any identifying details... but the person wasn’t what Payne was watching. He was focused, instead, on a car parked at the far end of the McDonald's lot. Payne had watched this video probably 30 times, but he’d never noticed the car before. Now that he saw it, though, he realized that nothing in this case, was what he had thought it was.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 chilling horror stories that serve as a stark reminder – we’re not always at the top of the food chain. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "The Hand That Feeds" -- A man has a deadly secret in his apartment (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_jD-95RhWo)
• #2 -- "Modern Day Dinosaurs" -- Man sneaks into a predator’s territory (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8swB7qMU7gk)
• #1 -- "Cat and Mouse" -- A hunter encounters something terrifying in the Russian wilderness (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZA7BqNO-YU)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This story is a fan favorite from MrBallen's Medical Mysteries.

During the COVID pandemic, a boy starts experiencing sudden, inexplicable bursts of pain. At first, his symptoms seem psychological – but then doctors say he may need brain surgery to fix the problem. That’s when the boy’s mother turns to a cutting edge technology to help her figure out what’s wrong with her son.

Listen Now: Wondery.fm/MBMM

For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @MrBallen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. And today’s podcast features 3 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Family Dinner" -- In 2013, a man was preparing dinner for his family, when he realized he was missing a key ingredient for the meal (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUoex49Yzng)
• #2 -- "Table for Two" -- A woman spots something very odd about her neighbor’s dinner party (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWOMY0JQdFs)
• #1 -- "Lucky Day" -- A man stumbles into two highly unlikely scenarios when he goes surfing in Africa, and it may sound made up, but it's not (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLT32AR5c68)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One day in mid-December 2003, Detective Mark Kelly walked into a small kitchen at a home in Fort Worth, Texas. The house belonged to a potential suspect in a homicide case, and while his partner was interviewing that suspect in the other room, Kelly was poking around. He wanted to hurry, because the kitchen he was in was disgusting. There was a layer of dirt on the floor, the dishwasher was open, with dirty plates and silverware still inside, dishes were stacked up in the sink, and used pots and rotting food covered the counters. Kelly could hear his partner talking in the other room as he grabbed the nearest drawer and pulled. Instantly, he regretted it. Because when he opened that drawer, about a dozen cockroaches crawled out of it. Kelly gasped and took an instinctive step back, watching the bugs skitter away. He was searching for a weapon, and it wasn’t here. But something about the filth felt like a clue. Kelly just didn’t know what it meant yet.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature two medical mysteries that sound like they are straight out of a horror movie. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #2 -- "Gasp" -- A very scary thunderstorm foreshadows a mysterious, unexplained disaster with horrific consequences (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09A7pjC3zhY)
• #1 -- "All in Their Heads" -- A mysterious disease almost wipes out an entire tribe, but where this disease comes from will make you squirm (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk_JTdngG9k)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Just after 7 p.m. on June 16th, 2010, an employee at the Palmdale, California Sheriff’s Department tapped his fingers on his desk and sighed. The department was usually pretty busy, but it had been slow that night, so the shift was dragging. As the employee aimlessly moved around some paperwork, he heard something that made him look up at the front doors of the department. The sound came from outside, and it was muffled, but it sounded like someone yelling. Seconds later, a young woman charged through the front doors. She was frantically screaming for help… and she was covered in blood.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature two claustrophobia inducing stories about cave explorers. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #2 -- "Into the Dark" -- A man faces a nightmare in a bat cave (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-OLxaEnFJc)
• #1 -- "Last Wish" -- An explorer tries to find a new undiscovered chamber in a cave (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjyZeVb8ct4)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a crisp fall morning in 2007, a small airplane took flight over the forested town of Graham, Washington. The pilot was a detective with the Pierce county sheriff’s department, and he was flying a somewhat unusual mission. He wasn’t looking for a lost person, or chasing a fleeing suspect. Instead, he was circling the sky above the scene of a double-murder case that had him – and his whole department – stumped. The detective had run out of ideas on the ground. So he’d decided to take flight. He always thought better in the air – and he figured he would literally get a new perspective on his evidence this way. He circled over the house where the homicides took place. And that’s when he noticed something – from the sky, it became obvious in a way that he never considered from the ground. With a rush of adrenaline, he turned his plane back toward the airfield. He had a hunch – and if he was right, he’d just cracked the case.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories of journeys that promised adventure, but led somewhere far more sinister. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Headlights" -- Father & son get lost in the woods during a hunting trip (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZCCCxnSMxs)
• #2 -- "Into Infinity" -- Mountaineering student in Alaska walks where he shouldn't (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32Nwh9sq7DI)
• #1 -- "The Signal" -- A man's trip into the arctic wilderness takes a turn for the worse (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQJUDgQtRNI)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today's episode is something completely new! But don't worry, it's in addition to the regular episodes!

For the first time ever, I am interviewing a guest. Joining me is superstar comedian, Tom Segura. Tom and I discuss storytelling, share some stories, and I tell Tom a brand new strange, dark & mysterious story I've never told before. It's one that defies logic and belief. You won't want to miss this story, or this discussion!

WATCH the full video here: https://youtu.be/8SEDCUaL0hY

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In September of 2021, a young woman named Anna Moriah Willson – who everybody just called “Mo” – stood in front of a cheering crowd at the end of a long outdoor bike path in Idaho. Mo had just finished a grueling gravel race, which is a cycling race on difficult terrain. And it was clear to everyone in the crowd who was cheering that not only was Mo one of the best women cyclists in the country – she was quickly becoming the face of the sport.

Like all the competitors, Mo was a highly-trained athlete and in peak physical condition. But that brute athleticism was offset by a bright smile, her long auburn hair, and a true love for talking to anybody and everybody. It was this combination of her athletic skill, outgoing personality, and her natural comfort in front of cameras and on social media that made her the perfect ambassador for the growing sport of gravel racing. And there was one particular person at the race in Idaho who just couldn’t take his eyes off her. He was already one of the most famous male gravel racers in the world, and as he made his way through the crowd to meet her, Mo’s face lit up, and she could feel her heart racing a little. Before long, the two top riders were introducing themselves to each other and having some nice small talk… not realizing the horrible chain of events this encounter would spark.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Some people will lie, cheat, and steal to get ahead, but today’s podcast features two wild stories where those so-called “master plans” fall apart in the most unexpected ways. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #2 -- "Sign Here" -- A routine trip to the bank has a sinister backstory (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNbRksDBLHw)
• #1 -- "A Carefully Laid Plan" -- An undercover cop witnesses something in a fast food restaurant that cracks his case wide open (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbGz9Ayf9Hs)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On the afternoon of March 24, 2006, an employee at a moving truck rental company in Ohio opened his desk drawer and grabbed a wad of cash. It had been a slow day, so the employee was using his downtime to organize a few recent payments. The money he’d just grabbed was from an all-cash deal that had happened a few days ago. At the time, the employee had been super busy, so he’d just taken the cash from the customer, flipped through it quickly to make sure the amount seemed right, then shoved the money in the drawer to deal with later. Now, he was actually counting it properly – and he really hoped the customer hadn’t shorted him, or he’d have to track them down to collect. But as the employee counted the bills, he paused. Not because the amount wasn’t right – but because there was something on the money that caught his attention. For a second, he wasn’t sure what it was. So, he looked closer. And then, all at once, he understood what he was seeing. He stopped counting the money and started flipping through it as quickly as he could – and he kept seeing the same thing on almost all the bills. With his heart racing, the employee dropped the money, grabbed the phone, and called the police.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s story is one I told several years back on YouTube, but in 2024 during my live tour, I brought this one back out and gave it a complete overhaul and ended up telling it live, and the audience absolutely loved it.

Story name, preview & link to the original YouTube video:

• #1 -- "What's in the Basement?" -- A family starts hearing tapping in their walls, but their horrifying story only begins there (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=shared&v=dR3ThBE7Cj4)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In June of 1980, a car jolted to a stop in a parking lot on the outskirts of a small Utah suburb. The car door opened, a man stepped out into the darkness, and he stumbled across the parking lot towards the large building where he worked. He’d been drinking, and he was feeling it. So he stood outside of the building for a minute, and tried to collect himself. He knew this might be the last moment of peace he – or anyone in his community – would have in a long time. Because he knew something that nobody else inside that building would even imagine. He knew that someone had just committed the first murder ever recorded in this safe, quiet Utah town.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This story is a fan favorite from MrBallen's Medical Mysteries.

No Reservations:

A Spanish marathon runner develops a mysterious obsession with gourmet food. But what seems like an innocent new passion may be more dangerous than he thinks.

The Game:

After going through her normal morning routine, an otherwise healthy woman finds herself at death’s door. In a mad rush to save the woman’s life, her doctors try to understand why her body is suddenly shutting down with no explanation.

Listen Now: Wondery.fm/MBMM

For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @MrBallen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a morning in early-1986 in Arizona, someone sat hunched over a desk, furiously writing a letter. And almost every line of this letter included a direct threat of violence this person was going to inflict on the recipient. They kept writing, embellishing every horrible thing that they wanted to do. Finally, they finished writing and read over the letter—it was explicit and terrifying, just as they’d hoped. They put the letter down, glanced at a cardboard box sitting on the floor, and smiled. Nobody would ever suspect that the contents of that plain box would soon help them carry out the bizarre murder plot they’d had running through their head for months.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 hiking horror stories that are still shrouded in mystery. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "The Overlook" -- He turned around and couldn't believe what he saw... (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhOpd5lJU4Y)
• #2 -- "One Sock" -- A Boy Scout walks down a populated trail, but doesn't come out the other side (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR5ZTc9ZwxU)
• #1 -- "I’m Looking For You" -- Authorities are faced with a bizarre mystery on a mountain in China (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EI_rbrVhAG0)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One September afternoon in 2003, a woman in Tucson, Arizona, heard a knock on her front door and answered it. She was surprised to see a Tucson police detective standing on her front steps, and even more surprised when the detective started asking a bunch of questions about her next door neighbor. The woman was a law-abiding citizen, and she didn’t know anything. The detective gave her his business card and asked her to call him if that changed, but as she closed the door, she was pretty sure she would never have any reason to talk to him again. That was until a few days later, when she looked out her front window and saw two sweaty men jump out of a van and walk up the steps into her neighbor’s house. She watched for a few minutes, with her heart racing, realizing that what she was watching might very well be the coverup of a murder. She let the curtain fall and ran to her purse, to dig out the detective’s business card.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast features 3 stories that involve people who were trapped – with “no way out.” The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "The 15th Floor" -- Something truly disturbing is found in an apartment in China (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xaLEHXC6Is)
• #2 -- "Rabbit Hole" -- A hunter sees something on the ground and goes in for a closer look (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bvMIHUVkVE)
• #1 -- "My Brother’s Keeper" -- A very famous street has a very dark history (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFd0mDwKc_I)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In December 2007, a lab technician sat at a table covered in dozens of evidence bags. The technician wasn’t sure where to start, because the bags didn’t contain the kind of evidence the lab normally tested. They were full of tinsel – which is a shiny, ribbon-like strip of material that’s used to decorate during the holidays. The samples had been collected from various homes in Burlington, North Carolina, and now, they had to be tested against a different, specific piece of tinsel. This specific piece of tinsel was thin and silver. And it was very important, because it had been found at a crime scene.

When the technician looked at the evidence bags, they realized they could immediately eliminate some of the samples because there were obvious differences between them and crime scene tinsel – like the color or thickness. But beyond that, the technician didn’t know how to determine if two pieces of tinsel that looked the same were actually identical. They’d never analyzed tinsel before – and they didn’t even know if it was possible to confirm a match. But the technician took a breath and started sorting through the bags anyway. Because they knew if they could figure this out… they could help solve a murder.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 2 horror stories about manipulative people who twisted others’ faith into fear. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #2 -- "The New Nanny" -- A busy family tries to bring in a new nanny for their daughter (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/o7BBtU-IJCE?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "Take My Soul" -- A man found on the side of the road leads detectives down a dark rabbit hole (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/1iZgnAIoYG0?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a chilly night in March 2012, a wiry, 56-year old man with a patchy beard trudged through a backyard in rural Iowa with his coat pulled tight, dragging something heavy behind him. He reached the fence and paused, scanning the darkness to confirm that he was alone. His gaze fell on the trailer home on the opposite side of the fence. The lights were on, and he could hear the young couple inside arguing. The sound made his jaw clench. He turned to the thing he’d been dragging – which was a days-old carcass that was starting to reek. Holding his breath and clenching a pack of zip-ties in his teeth, he lifted it against the fence post. He worked quickly, using the zip ties to string it up. And when the carcass was secure, he stepped back, shot a final look at the trailer, then turned to walk home.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 medical horror stories. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "All In Her Head" -- An infant is rushed to the ER, what they discover will leave you stunned (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtUhNYVTuLM)
• #2 -- "A Mouthful" -- A woman is walking down the street when her life suddenly changes forever (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtUhNYVTuLM)
• #1 -- "Only You Can Save Her" -- A puzzled surgeon tries one last crazy effort to save his patient's life (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qz4U3bh-eE)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On the morning of January 13, 2010, two twin girls nicknamed Tas and Jas stood at the kitchen counter in their home in Conyers, Georgia, writing notes back and forth to each other in a little notebook, and giggling. The girls were late for school, and they were writing instead of talking because they didn’t want to wake their mom up and get yelled at for missing the bus. They finished their notes and closed the notebook, then started getting ready to leave. When they would return home that afternoon, they would find their quiet home in this gated community in Georgia soaked with blood, and an unspeakable horror waiting for them in the master bathroom.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s story is about a group of friends who travel to this supposedly haunted abandoned town up in the mountains in Spain, and when they get there, the town totally lives up to the hype.

Story name, preview & link to original YouTube video:

• #1 -- "La Mussara" -- An abandoned town in Spain has a dark secret (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RakLojMzLVE)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Join my sister and me as we dive into the art of storytelling in this never-before-seen Live Podcast Recording Presented by Audible!

WATCH the full event here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW5aWKXOPAs

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This story is a fan favorite from MrBallen's Medical Mysteries.

In the late 1800s, a young man in rural New England comes down with a deadly illness known as “the White Death.” When his doctor can’t help, the man’s neighbors propose a bizarre treatment… that involves the supernatural.

Listen Now: Wondery.fm/MBMM

For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @MrBallen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 military horror stories. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Ramree Island" -- What happened on this island would go down as one of the most terrifying world records ever recorded (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiOyKVcDODo)
• #2 -- "Set Zed" -- The 2020 discovery of 24 super habitable planets (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6Gh1QNVDU8)
• #1 -- "Lighter Than Air" -- Two pilots go on a routine patrol in their blimp, what happened next is a baffling mystery (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4bUv4We_BU)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One day in the spring of 2006, a detective stood next to a refrigerator in her police station, holding a little container full of evidence. She knew that what she was about to do represented a breach of protocol – but that wasn’t going to stop her. Because she was working her first murder case ever, and she was afraid she wasn’t going to be able to catch the killer. She had decided she was going to run her case her way – no matter what. She was supposed to send the container in her hand to the state crime lab for analysis. But she wasn’t going to do that. Instead, she placed the container in the refrigerator, and then shut the door.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. And today’s podcast features 3 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Rest Stop" -- You never know who you might run into (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIvIBKiQhVM)
• #2 -- "Luggage" -- A real life James Bond is found in an impossible place (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWWWMdm9ZY4)
• #1 -- "The Bear, the Plane, and the Duffel" -- The crazy true story of the rogue bear in Georgia (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrkrdozOMoQ)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This is a special bonus episode of "You Can't"

Today, I’m going to tell two stories about how an idea that might seem brilliant in the moment… can quickly turn out to be the worst thing ever.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a cold winter night in 1999, a man drove down a dark street towards his house in a small Iowa town. Suddenly, he saw something glowing in his headlights, and he slammed on the brakes. He got out of his car. And there, in the lights, he saw a dog standing all by herself. And she was making this soft squeaking sound like she was scared. The man slowly approached, talking to the dog as he walked. He knew everyone who lived in his neighborhood, and he’d never seen this dog before. He knelt down and kept trying to calm the dog. She didn’t look hurt and she didn’t have any tags. Slowly, the man coaxed her to follow him into his house. And over the next few weeks, he would try to locate her owner. But the man had no idea that this dog hadn’t just wandered off… and that she was the key police desperately needed to solve a gruesome murder.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories about terrifying discoveries people made that would change their lives forever. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Cutting it Close" -- A stark reminder to never get into a car with a stranger (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNbRksDBLHw)
• #2 -- "The Boxxx" -- A woman receives a mysterious box from her neighbor... Would you look inside? (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsKSqWj3HpQ)
• #1 -- "What’s That Smell?" -- Dad discovers a horrifying secret in his family's apartment (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP5mWDCPQOw)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In 1984, in a small city in northeastern China, a security guard stood outside of a warehouse, working an overnight shift. The guard heard a noise coming from some bushes nearby, but he didn’t think much about it. This was a safe town, and usually the hardest part of his job was staying awake. But suddenly, two thieves in ski masks emerged from the bushes, and rushed the guard. They grabbed him, and slammed his head against the outside wall of the warehouse, and the guard fell to the ground in a daze. One of the thieves quickly gagged the guard, bound his hands and feet, and said he needed to keep his mouth shut if he wanted to stay alive. Terrified, and struggling to keep his eyes open, the guard watched as the two thieves opened the warehouse door and ran inside. This robbery would shake the local community, but it was nothing in comparison to the horrific crimes it would set off, and the gruesome discovery the police would soon make on the outskirts of town.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 2 horrifying stories that both take place on the open sea. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #2 -- "The Perfect Bait" -- Fishing trip turns into a nightmare (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocMkM1MM1A8)
• #1 -- "The Gray Blanket" -- A Japanese fisherman endures a two week long nightmare that would mark the first time in history that humans experienced a particular terrifying phenomenon (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0CgN8mvqzA)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A seven-year-old boy cowered in the closet of his family’s suburban home in Florida. He was buried beneath jackets and sports gear, listening to screams coming from down the hall. When they stopped, the silence that followed was far worse. Then heavy footsteps approached and a shadow passed beneath the door. The boy braced for it to burst open, thinking he was about to be found, but the shadow moved on. The boy held his breath until he heard the front door to his house open and shut. The boy wanted nothing more than to stay where he was, but his mother and brother were in danger. So he swallowed his fear, pushed through the coats, and stepped out. The house was silent and still, no broken furniture, no blood – at least until he reached the bedroom. There was a figure on the bed. The sight was too much to process, and he immediately looked away. His gaze fell on a phone lying on the blood-soaked sheet, its screen glowing, and then a voice rose from the speakers… Someone was on the line.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Every now and again, I’ll find a story that’s just really upsetting to me. Now, obviously a lot of the stories I cover are all quite distressing. But today’s story, which is about a missing hiker named Mike Turner – it just really upset me. It actually made it really hard to record this episode. So, consider this your warning that I personally believe this is a very upsetting story, but an important story that we would not be covering if there wasn’t some real weight behind it. And I think the moral of this story, ultimately, is you really need to treasure your family while they’re still around.

Story name, preview & link to original YouTube video:

• #1 -- "Closer to God" -- A man's hiking trip turns into a nightmare (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3doPbW2VS3Q)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a summer morning in 2007, a woman was working in the printing shop she owned in a suburban strip mall. Suddenly, she heard a loud banging noise coming from somewhere above her. She stopped the printer she was working on so she could hear better, and the sound kept coming – BANG, BANG, BANG. It was like metal drawers opening and slamming shut. She was about to go outside to see what was happening, but she stopped and just started laughing. Her friend who owned the business on the second floor right above her had a habit of rearranging his office, so the banging was probably file cabinets getting moved around. As a joke, she shouted up through the ceiling, “Keep it down, I’m working!” And then she restarted the printer. But about an hour and half later, she heard another loud noise. This time, it was the wail of sirens as police cars raced into the parking lot. The woman would soon find out that the noises she had heard earlier were not her upstairs neighbor rearranging furniture. Instead, it was the sound of one of the most violent crimes to hit this safe, quiet suburb in years.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories that reveal we may not be alone in this universe. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "The Wow Signal" -- Best evidence of alien communication ever obtained (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQF7QeyB0qM)
• #2 -- "Better Than Earth" -- The 2020 discovery of 24 super habitable planets (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQF7QeyB0qM)
• #1 -- "Don’t Sleep" -- This story is about one of the most famous potentially paranormal events of all time (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L4slE5bDUM)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This is a special bonus episode of "You Can't"

One night in 2020, a woman named Beth Van Oss paced back and forth in a small room in the house she shared with her boyfriend, Mike, in rural Colorado. She dialed Mike’s phone number again, and put her phone to her ear. But just like the last time she’d called – he didn’t answer. Now, Beth was afraid. He had left that morning, headed for the woods, promising her that when he came back – they would finally have everything they had ever dreamed of. And he had taken something with him. Something that he had become obsessed with. Something that Beth had begged him to forget about, and throw away. But he had refused. And now, he was gone. Beth dialed the phone again, but this time, she called the police.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This story is a fan favorite from MrBallen's Medical Mysteries.

In September 2007, a meteor strike leaves a massive crater in the high Peruvian desert, drawing curiosity seekers from miles around. Shortly after, people from the nearby town of Carancas start becoming violently ill. Some residents fear a curse has befallen them, but the truth might be much more frightening.

Listen Now: Wondery.fm/MBMM

For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @MrBallen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 unbelievable true stories. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Third Eye Witness" -- A woman makes a grim discovery in a remote canyon, what she found and how she was led there would change her life forever (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6m1ImVG1MQ)
• #2 -- "The Burning Question" -- A house fire leaves a mother devastated (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgeDUqyCgqE)
• #1 -- "Who Said That?" -- A car crash rescue has a truly unexplainable ending (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCdzzoB7jrQ)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In 2011, a police officer spotted a woman on a busy street in Japan, and he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He looked at a photo on his phone, and then back at the woman, it was definitely her. He’d been tasked with finding this woman and bringing her back home, it was a pretty basic task, but he’d managed to complete it way faster than he thought he would. The officer rushed down the street, greeted the woman, and she confirmed she was the person he was looking for. He led her back to his car, drove her home, and that was that. But what the officer could not have possibly have imagined, was that locating this woman and bringing her home was about to unravel 25 years of unimaginable horrors – and lead to one of the most bizarre cases Japanese investigators had ever seen.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 2 camping horror stories. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #2 -- "Kevin O’Keefe" -- A man goes camping in a totally remote park in Alaska (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODIGopvDSXA)
• #1 -- "The Broken Tent" -- Four teenage friends decide to go camping in a forest in Finland, but something the first night would pay them an unwanted visit (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi_GF9XOelw)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a night in 1984, a college freshman listened to the music blaring through a night club. She grabbed her date’s hand and rushed out onto the dance floor. Her first year of college had its ups and downs, but it was nights like these that she’d grown to love – nights when she could stay out as late as she wanted with whoever she wanted. She and her date danced for hours, and then finally headed outside to his car, exhausted and happy. But this young woman had been having so much fun at the club with the guy she was with that she didn't notice someone else had been standing in the shadows watching her dance the whole night… and now that person was following her.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 2 stories about unexplainable phenomena. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #2 -- "Voices" -- I had to put a special disclaimer on this because it's SO WEIRD (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2FVjH4WWlU)
• #1 -- "Come Back" -- This one is about a very strange young child who had been having these violent outbursts since he could move. But his reason for throwing these constant tantrums is even more unbelievable… (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJlkwZ1Gr6w)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a June night in 1997, Kathy Peters was asleep at her home in Mirror Lake, a quiet neighborhood of Sarasota, Florida. Around 3:45 AM, she was awakened by a strange noise. It was unlike anything Kathy had ever heard – a faint, eerie, rattling hiss. After a few seconds, the sound faded and Kathy tried to go back to sleep, but now she was too anxious. So she got up and crossed to the window. She opened the blinds and looked across the lake's glassy surface. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But then she nearly jumped out of her skin when a loud, metallic banging noise sounded right below her window. Someone was pounding on the screen door. Kathy hurried downstairs, wondering who could be bothering her at this time of night. She considered not answering, but Mirror Lake was a safe community. There had to be a reasonable explanation… so she opened the door. Through the screen, she could see someone standing in the darkness. Kathy asked who it was and what they wanted - but the figure didn’t respond. By now, Kathy was absolutely terrified, so she switched on the porch light. And when she saw what was in front of her, she reeled back in horror.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s story comes out of China, and it is a brutal story. There’s just no way to tell it without being sort of graphic, so with that in mind, this is definitely a mature audiences only type of story. That said, it is a fascinating story, and the ending is something that very few of you are going to see coming. It's going to feel kind of predictable throughout most of the story, and then the end completely changes your impression of the story.

Story name, preview & link to original YouTube video:

• #1 -- "The Job Offer" -- A crazy mystery unravels after people begin going missing in a small city in China (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zykdjsg1V1c)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It was a frigid December day in a small logging town in Maine, roughly an hour’s drive from the US-Canadian border. And despite the falling snow, Christmas shoppers were out in full force. While most of the shoppers hurried from store to store, a small crowd had gathered in front of the police station. The shoppers watched as an officer stapled a poster to a telephone pole. Then, when he was done, they shuffled closer for a better view. The poster contained a forensic artist’s sketch of a middle-aged woman. She had a narrow face, thin nose, glasses, and bangs. And according to the text above the image, the police were looking for this woman in connection with a recent double homicide. The murders were shocking, but they were also the most exciting thing to happen in this part of rural Maine for as long as anyone could remember. So despite the cold, the shoppers stood there studying the sketch and discussing whether it looked like anyone they knew. They were so caught up in their conversation, no one noticed a bundled-up figure hurrying past on the sidewalk. This figure slowed just long enough to glance at the poster and recognize the face in the sketch, which bore a striking resemblance to their own. Then, before anyone could notice them, the figure turned and hurried off into the falling snow.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. And today’s podcast features 3 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "The Oklahoma Problem" -- Woman discovers something buried in her past (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JPEtNglQ4o)
• #2 -- "The Dark Room" -- A man wakes up in total darkness with no memory of where he is, but his nightmare was just beginning (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7VtahvTLH4)
• #1 -- "Timothy Dexter" -- The most absurd rags to riches story ever... (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCvx4jikmsI)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This is a special bonus episode of "You Can't"

I’m going to tell two stories that prove that no matter what we think science can tell us about the natural world, the wilderness still holds secrets we cannot understand.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a night in March of 2017, a bonfire lit up the yard at a house party in Youngstown, Ohio. A group of friends in their 20s and 30s sat around the fire, drinking beer, talking, and having a good time. And as the night went on and they kept partying, they couldn’t imagine that this bonfire would soon help police solve one of the most horrific crimes the city of Youngstown had ever witnessed.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 2 borderline unbelievable stories that remain a mystery to this day. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #2 -- "The Quarterback" -- Famous college quarterback goes missing (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf9ahZB9yfY)
• #1 -- "Waking Nightmare" -- A woman deals with a violent stalker (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aD_Ot9aXy7s)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a cold winter day in 2013, police officers rushed through the dense woods outside of a small town in Kentucky. They weaved their way through the trees, keeping their eyes peeled, and finally, one of them shouted out. He saw what they were looking for in the distance. The other officers quickly followed him into a clearing, and there, they saw a man with a long gray beard sitting in a large self-made camp. It looked like the man had been living out in the woods for months. The officers stared at him, and they almost couldn’t believe it, because they had finally tracked down the man who they thought could help solve a murder that had taken place a year earlier in a town 150 miles away.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This story is a fan favorite from MrBallen's Medical Mysteries.

One night in 1944, over 300 patients at a mental hospital in Oregon become violently sick after eating dinner. Many of them die. An investigation is quickly launched to determine the source of this deadly illness. Was there something wrong with the food itself? Or could it have been the work of a deranged killer?

Listen Now: Wondery.fm/MBMM

For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @MrBallen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In 2002, two days after Halloween, a police officer stepped out of a house in the small town of Navasota, Texas. He shielded his eyes from the early morning sunlight, then ducked under the band of yellow tape that surrounded the house. The officer had been working all night and really needed a break. So he went down to the sidewalk and lit a cigarette. And as he smoked, his eyes fell on a muddy ditch that ran alongside the street. He saw something in the ditch that looked out of place. He walked closer and crouched down to examine the object. And when he saw what it was, his heart started racing. Because lying in the ditch was a mask. Under different circumstances, finding a mask two days after Halloween wouldn’t be that strange. But this wasn’t the kind of mask you’d buy at a costume shop... and the officer had found it 25 yards from the site of a murder.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 2 sailing horror stories. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #2 -- "Survivor’s Guilt" -- Sailors have many "customs of the sea," but there is one that is exceptionally dark and once it begins, there's no going back for that crew. (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54toJMsfg94)
• #1 -- "The Kaz II" -- 3 friends' trip of a lifetime turns into a nightmare (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWOMY0JQdFs)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a summer night In 2013, newlyweds Joe and Olga Connell walked into their condominium in Wilmington, Delaware. Joe flipped on the light and sat down on the couch, while Olga headed to the bedroom to get changed. Suddenly, Joe heard a loud scream. He got up, and ran down the hall to the bedroom. There, he found Olga sitting on the floor yelling and crying. And he saw her jewelry boxes had been completely emptied and thrown off her dresser – thousands of dollars worth of rings and necklaces were just gone. But through her tears, Olga said she didn’t care about how much money they cost. Some of those pieces were precious family heirlooms that had been passed down to Olga from hers and Joe’s mothers. Joe comforted his wife, but he didn’t tell her what he was thinking. Because Joe thought he knew who had robbed them, and he feared this might be just the first attack in an escalating family war.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories about people who vanished without a trace. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Not Human" -- Child goes missing on an old logging road (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZCCCxnSMxs)
• #2 -- "M Cave" -- A vlogger goes looking for a mysterious cave near Area 51 (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lOsTCBg4fQ)
• #1 -- "Mine is Mine" -- A rugged old man heads into the wilderness to do something that many people have died trying (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FvnihQ8dJo)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This is a special bonus episode of "You Can't"

Today's story is about a woman who goes missing from a psychiatric hospital in 1900. Now at first, this story will seem like a pretty ordinary missing person case. That is, until you reach the very end. Lets just say, this story has one heck of a plot twist.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a night in 2013, a woman in her 30s named Erin heard loud banging on her front door. She opened the door and saw her best friend Robin standing there. And she could tell right away that Robin was scared. She was shaking, tears were running down her face, and she had scratches on her arms. Erin led Robin inside to the couch, and asked her what was going on. Robin said she had gone over to her ex-husband’s house to drop off their two daughters. Everything between her and her ex had seemed fine. But then her ex-husband’s new wife came into the room, and had just started yelling. And before Robin could even say anything, the woman ran across the room, lunged at her, and started fighting. Erin sat there and listened. And she wasn’t at all surprised. She knew the woman Robin had been fighting with. When Robin was finished talking, Erin told her never to be alone with that woman, because Erin said that woman was “the kind of crazy that will kill you.”

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In today’s story, you very likely will at some point go, “Okay, I know where this is going." But you won’t. Because the ending to this story is so random that it actually took 100 years to piece together what actually happened.

Story name, preview & link to original YouTube video:

• #1 -- "Under the Bricks" -- It took 100 years to piece together what actually happened (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/BlS2sI_8y5g?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a day in 2001, a veteran homicide detective put on his gloves and stepped into a cluttered bedroom. He’d been working a murder case for months, but he still had no clear evidence pointing to any of his suspects. But a tip from an informant had led him to this bedroom, and he hoped he would find something useful. The detective searched the room, but nothing stood out to him amidst the mess – until he saw a piece of notebook paper sitting on a nightstand. On the paper was someone’s list of goals they wanted to accomplish in life. The detective scanned the list. Most of the goals on the list were pretty standard stuff, but one goal immediately jumped out at the detective. Because one of the things on the list the writer wanted to achieve was to “Kill somebody and get away with it.”

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 horror stories about people’s run-ins with unidentified beings. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Saran Wrap" -- A credible paranormal event in the forest (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6kNbhD62-0)
• #2 -- "Hellhound" -- A beast terrorizes a small African village (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0STi-GnhiN4)
• #1 -- "The Swamp Stalker" -- Two brothers encounter a legendary creature in Arkansas (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0STi-GnhiN4)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Late one afternoon in the summer of 2014, a pawnshop owner was updating his inventory logs when the bell above the front door jingled. A young couple walked inside and approached the counter. The man said he had a few items to sell, then opened a drawstring bag and dumped the contents onto the counter. A collection of gold chains, rings, and watches spilled out. Many of the pieces were twisted and mangled. And instantly, the hairs on the pawnshop owner’s neck stood up. Because everything about this interaction – from the large quantity of damaged jewelry to the careless way the pieces had been thrown in a bag together – told him that these items were stolen. And this made the owner extremely nervous, because he had cash in the register and didn’t know what the thieves might be capable of. He needed to get them out of the store quickly, without revealing that he was on to them. So, he told the couple he didn’t have enough cash to buy the jewelry now, but would send some pictures to his broker to see if they were interested. The couple agreed and let him take the photos. As soon as they were gone, the owner called the police, and it soon became clear he’d stumbled onto something much bigger than theft. Because this jewelry was linked to a murder case that had rocked a small, suburban community and baffled police.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 horrifying stories that will make you wonder who or what may be lurking in the forest. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Pound Cake" -- Girl takes a "shortcut" on the Appalachian Trail (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf9ahZB9yfY)
• #2 -- "The Dream" -- 3 hikers attempt a rugged hike in bad weather (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNpctf6WJx8)
• #1 -- "Big Footprint" -- A mysterious set of footprints are found in a marsh (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZCCCxnSMxs)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a morning in 2002, a man in Indianapolis, Indiana woke up in a cold sweat. His hands shook as he tried to block out the images he’d seen in his sleep, but he knew these images would not just go away – they would keep haunting him until he did something about it. He got out of bed and walked to his phone. He dialed 9-1-1 and said he needed to talk to a detective, because he was having dreams that showed him everything that had happened during a horrific murder all the way back in 1989. The dreams this man claimed to have would help reopen an unsolved murder case that had shocked Indianapolis thirteen years earlier. But these dreams would not answer the questions police had been wrestling with for years, and it would take them another decade to finally track down the killer.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. And today’s podcast features 3 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Doctor WHO?" -- A family's dark secret is revealed in a fire (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zaa53S-8lDM)
• #2 -- "Drunk" -- Police ask a woman on the side of the road if she has been drinking. What happened next was so rare, it was documented in scientific journals. (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJJmwCKgHAQ)
• #1 -- "Identical Strangers" -- A chance encounter connects two long lost relatives, but that's only the beginning of this insane story (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIvIBKiQhVM)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This is a special bonus episode of "You Can't"

I’m going to tell two stories about two very different haunted places. And even though these stories take place decades apart – and involve wildly different people – the message of both is the same… crossing paths with ghosts can kill.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This story is a fan favorite from MrBallen's Medical Mysteries.

In 2020, a career-driven young woman in Ohio begins to hallucinate strange sounds and feels phantom sensations in her body. She believes she’s going insane. But the real reason is far more disturbing.

Listen Now: Wondery.fm/MBMM

For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @MrBallen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories about places people were never meant to venture. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "The Wail" -- Truly a place you'd never want to go (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYnAoco4Fbo)
• #2 -- "Horse Head" -- Adrenaline junkie gets swallowed up (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdDgIl1vNj4)
• #1 -- "The Fixer Upper" -- A maintenance worker calls for help after what they find behind a blue "Exit" door (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKJTrTAA_Hc)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On an early morning in 2018, a woman in her 50s stood in the doorway of her bedroom in Austin, TX – firing off shots from her .357 revolver into the dark kitchen a few yards away. Someone in the kitchen fired back, and bullets whizzed past her and crashed into the wall. The woman saw shadows moving back and forth in the kitchen, but no matter where she aimed in the darkness, she just couldn’t hit anyone. She kept firing until she heard a CLICK – her gun was empty. Terrified, she turned and ran into her bedroom closet to hide. Later that morning, when detectives arrived at the house and walked into the kitchen, the scene looked almost like something out of an old western movie – like some insane shootout had taken place in this quiet, upscale neighborhood. The dead body of a middle-aged man lay on the floor, surrounded by multiple bullet casings from what looked like several different weapons. And a handgun rested near the dead man’s out-stretched hand. The woman who lived there described the wild events of the morning to the detectives, and she claimed people had broken into her house and killed her husband, but they must have run when she opened fire on them. But the detectives had no way of knowing what had really happened, and they immediately started to wonder if this entire crime scene – this massive shootout – had just been staged to cover-up a good old-fashioned case of a wife murdering her husband.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 2 stories about people who have sinister intentions. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #2 -- "Loana the Bloodthirster" -- A horrifying ritual that led to a supposed curse (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tgiVW9mSL8)
• #1 -- "The Witching Hour" -- In 2005, a small group of people sat in a circle and devised a plan to break their curse (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMW7JjJcByg)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On Christmas morning of 2010, snow fell on a quiet suburb in South West England. But just after 9:00 a.m., the quiet was shattered by the sound of police sirens racing through town. The police cars came to a screeching stop on a wet street, and a veteran Detective Inspector stepped out into the cold. He walked towards a stone wall that separated the road from a tree-covered field on the other side. The Detective Inspector reached the wall, crouched down, and started digging through a pile of snow and leaves. And when he saw what was underneath this pile, he knew he would not be spending Christmas with his family.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 medical horror stories. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "The Shadow" -- One man's night of terror has devastating ripple effects (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qz4U3bh-eE)
• #2 -- "Night and Day" -- A pair of brothers suffer from nightly transformations (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn7eaj36dUY)
• #1 -- "Leg Pain" -- A man's leg pain would escalate into one of the most baffling medical mysteries (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRzdiHG3_eY)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

At 3:45 a.m. on a morning in 2003, police cars raced down a street in a small, sleepy English village. A Detective Inspector stepped out of his car and approached an old house that was connected to a butcher shop. The Detective Inspector was still in shock from the call he’d gotten – an 83 year-old man had been brutally murdered in his bedroom. This was just not something that ever happened in English villages like this. The inspector knocked on the door to the house, and things would only get stranger from there. Because the victim’s wife had seen the men who killed her husband, and the image of one of them was burned into her mind – it was a young man in bright white pants and a hat that looked just like the one the famous fictional English detective Sherlock Holmes wore. Soon, the inspector and his team would find themselves investigating a case where they had no idea what was real, and what was simply the imagination of a scared, 81 year-old woman.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 2 stories that prove that money is the root of all evil. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #2 -- "Loan Shark" -- Student takes drastic measures to pay off debt... (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rpQ3VP9-Mc)
• #1 -- "Western Russian Farm Animal" -- The plot of this story is so absurd it sounds like badly written fiction, but it's not fiction, and it really happened (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAHgzaFiF0Y)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This is a special bonus episode of our new format called, "You Can't"

On a dark fall night in 2010, two detectives stood in the street in an upscale suburban neighborhood outside of Boston, Massachusetts. In the middle of the road – lit by their flashlights – lay the body of a teenage boy. These were two veteran detectives, but neither of them had ever seen the type of brutal violence that had been inflicted on this young man. His legs look shattered, his jeans had been shredded, and his face was bruised and broken. The detectives felt sure this young man had been murdered, but because he had no ID on him, they didn’t know who he was. But when they did finally discover his identity, this case would take a totally bizarre turn. The detectives would find themselves 1,000 miles away from their crime scene, sifting through reported sightings of their victim that defied the laws of physics, and grasping at an insane theory that they hoped could somehow tie it all together.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On Halloween night in 1957, a group of children ran towards a brand new house in a suburban neighborhood outside of Los Angeles, California. This house had some of the best decorations on the street, and the kids all hoped the house would have the best candy, too. One of the children knocked on the front door, and a middle-aged woman in a witch hat and her husband opened the door and told the kids how great all of their costumes looked. The wife handed out a huge handful of candy to each of them, and they all said thank you – the candy really was as good as the decorations. The kids, giddy with excitement, ran towards the next house. But none of the kids saw the person in white make-up, red gloves, and a mask pulled down over half of their face quietly watching the woman in the witch hat talking to her husband in the doorway. And as the husband and wife walked back inside their house to restock their candy bowl, they had no idea this Halloween was about to turn truly horrifying.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 acts of pure evil. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Obsessed" -- A rising star is confronted by a super fan (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFV6R9GgPy4)
• #2 -- "Facebook Post" -- Although it's been deleted, there are still screenshots... (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqhmFvoSc34)
• #1 -- "Murder Mystery Murder" -- There is a cottage on the water in Maryland called "Cottage 506", and this story is about that cottage's dark secret (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH06K3kv0GY)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the fall of 2003, two detectives were in the middle of a year-long homicide case, involving the brutal murder of a 19 year-old girl. And for the first time, they finally felt like they had a viable suspect. But when they pulled up to the suspect’s house to conduct a second interview, the detectives quickly realized the house was abandoned and their suspect had just disappeared overnight. And when they tried to track this suspect down, they discovered something totally bizarre that would turn their case on its head. Their suspect – who they believed murdered an innocent teenager – had supposedly been dead for over ten years.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast features 3 stories that involve people who were trapped – with “no way out.” The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Rush" -- One of the most heart-breaking cases in the UK (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xaLEHXC6Is)
• #2 -- "Fans" -- Man is found where no one can hear you scream (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kODsF75lAJY)
• #1 -- "The Blue Door" -- A maintenance worker calls for help after what they find behind a blue "Exit" door (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKJTrTAA_Hc)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a spring morning in 2017, a mother of three in Evansville, Indiana logged onto Facebook and noticed a story in her news feed that made her heart start to race. Just a couple of hours earlier, the body of a young woman was found in a field one town over – and police had no clue who the young woman was. The physical description was vague, but it matched all three of the woman’s daughters. So right away, she picked up her phone and began trying to reach them, to make sure each of them was okay. Her two youngest girls replied within minutes, but the oldest one of them did not. And with every minute that passed without a word from her oldest daughter, the woman became more and more frantic until she reached out to a friend of hers on the police force. And what she soon would learn, before the morning became afternoon, would change her family’s life forever... and change the course of two separate police investigations.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This story is a fan favorite from MrBallen's Medical Mysteries.

On a hot September day in 1986, a family in Goiania, Brazil, suddenly begin feeling sick after a celebration. The symptoms are horrific: vomiting, diarrhea, and bleeding. But one family member suspects something far worse. Her hunch soon leads to a devastating discovery.

Listen Now: Wondery.fm/MBMM

For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @MrBallen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a fall night in 1987, a young woman was walking down the middle of a dark street in a rural Kentucky town. She heard a car turn onto the street behind her, and it sounded like it was driving fast, so she quickly got onto the sidewalk. Suddenly, the car screeched to a stop just a few feet away from her. The car doors flew open, and before the young woman knew what was happening, someone grabbed her, lifted her off the ground, and threw her into the backseat. The car sped off, and the terrified young woman would soon find herself in the middle of a horrific nightmare that would haunt her for almost 20 years…

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Several years ago, prank videos were huge on YouTube. Basically, a Prank YouTube channel would go out in public, and they would do something to some unsuspecting person and they’d film it. And that video would get tons of views on YouTube. Well, during this prank heyday, there was one YouTube channel that pulled off a prank that really stood out amongst the thousands of others that were getting pumped out around this time. And the reason this particular prank stood out was because 1) it was masterfully planned, 2) it was brilliantly executed, and 3) most memorably, it had massive intended and unintended consequences – international scandal-level consequences. And amazingly, this story has yet to be converted into a major motion picture, so I would imagine that most of you have actually never heard of it.

Story name, preview & link to original YouTube video:

• #1 -- "The Ingenues" -- A masterfully planned and brilliantly executed prank video would have massive consequences on an International scale (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roHIIpevnTE)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In January of 2012, a police truck parked on a trail in Griffith Park in Los Angeles, California. A member of the K-9 Unit opened the door, and a police dog named Indiana Bones jumped out. Indy quickly caught a scent and led his handler to a mound of dirt just off the path. Indy pawed at the dirt and revealed the top of a plastic bag. The dog’s handler reached into the dirt with her gloved hands, pulled out the bag, looked inside, and saw two dismembered human feet and a hand. Indy’s discovery would launch an investigation that would lead two L.A. detectives into the most insane case they’d ever worked – a case that would involve everything from Mexican drug cartels to a Canadian cannibal.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One of my former teammates from back when I was a Navy Seal had one of the most insane stories you will ever hear. He gave me permission to tell his story, so today I will share it with you all.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube video:

• #1 -- "The City of Death" -- A Navy SEAL buys a 1 way ticket to Iraq (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79uDkod_FIk)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a fall night in 1998, a woman walked into her kitchen after being out all day and tossed her keys onto the counter. She saw the light on her answering machine blinking, so she checked the message. At first, it just sounded like static noise, or maybe someone was breathing heavy. And she figured it was either a prank call or someone had just accidentally dialed her number. But then she heard screaming and crying and then it just went silent, and the message ended. For a moment, the woman just stood there, shocked. She tried calling the number back who had left the message, but it went straight to voicemail. Out of fear that this message she had been left potentially just captured the sound of someone being badly hurt, the woman called 911.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. And today’s podcast features 3 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "The Way" -- You'll never hear this song the same again (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsKSqWj3HpQ)
• #2 -- "High Stakes" -- Sometimes what might seem like a “harmless” dare, can have disastrous consequences (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUoex49Yzng)
• #1 -- "Baltic Fleet" -- There's failing, and then there's the Baltic Fleet... (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jDbJbCuKl4)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a cold December night in 2013, a 59-year-old widow stood on stage at a square dance club in Arkansas, watching some of her closest friends dance together. The woman had owned and run the square dance club for years, and the people out on the floor were just like family to her. But as she listened to the music and called out different square dance steps, she didn’t notice that one of the dancers had their eyes fixed right on her. And the woman did not know that this dancer had become obsessed with her. In fact, the dancer had started losing sleep just thinking about the woman. And now the dancer had decided it was time to act, because they believed they would never find peace until the object of their obsession was dead.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s story is a good old fashioned spooky story. It’s about a missing person in Taiwan, and it takes a totally bizarre turn, and I will say most of you will probably get the most thrill out of the “apartment scene.” You’ll know that scene when you get to it, and that’s towards the end of this podcast. So, make sure you stick around if you enjoy being spooked.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube video:

• #1 -- "An Unforgettable Fare" -- This story takes a wild turn, just wait for the apartment scene (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXuLJJtJp1g)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a summer morning in 2001, a woman in Alabama woke up in a cold sweat – like she’d just had a nightmare. But the woman knew what she saw while she was sleeping was not a bad dream – it was real. So she grabbed her phone and made a frantic call. Later that morning, police arrived at an old wooden house on the outskirts of a small rural town. They stepped inside, and they were absolutely shocked, because the woman really had led them to a horrifying crime scene.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 2 stories about ghost towns. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #2 -- "Portlock" -- A ghost town with a very dark history (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2u2_q4tFp8)
• #1 -- "Ghost Town" -- A place so evil, it is illegal to go there (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLxVfVdr8-g)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a Monday afternoon in 1986, medical staff at a clinic in San Antonio, Texas were starting to get worried, because their most respected nurse had not shown up for work and nobody could get a hold of her. So later that morning, two of the nurse’s colleagues drove down to her apartment. But when they got there, they found two notes taped to the door. They were messages from the nurse’s family, who had been looking for her since the day before. By the time the nurse’s family filed a missing person’s report, investigators at the sheriff’s department were tied up investigating another mystery – the death of a teenage girl found murdered earlier that morning. And after getting the description of the missing nurse, investigators started to wonder if they had a serial killer on their hands who was hunting down blonde women... or if there was some other connection between the women that they just couldn’t see.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The crime at the center of today’s story is considered one of the most disturbing and heinous of all time.

Story name, preview & link to original YouTube video:

• #1 -- "Clinical Lycanthropy" -- One of the most heinous crimes ever committed in the USA (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRzgmZiZn6U)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a fall evening in 1996, a young detective sped through the streets of Tucson, Arizona towards an upscale country club. All he knew was that someone had reported an explosion in the area, but he didn’t know what had caused it. Minutes later, the detective pulled into the country club parking lot and as he got out of his car, it almost felt like he had stepped into a war zone. Car alarms were blaring, shattered glass covered the ground, and nearby he saw a car with its roof completely ripped off. The young detective quickly got to work searching the scene – having no idea that he would spend the next 13 years of his life trying to close this case – which would span across the United States and all the way to Europe.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 2 spooky stories about messages from beyond. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #2 -- "Wrong Path Home" -- A news report about a missing woman has a frightening secret message (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCdzzoB7jrQ)
• #1 -- "Mother Knows Best" -- There are lots of paranormal stories floating around the internet, however very few are credible - today I'm going to tell you one that is (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGjdUNrXrRI)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a Monday afternoon in December 2001, a pair of police officers walked in the side door of a big old farmhouse in the woods in Loudoun County, Virginia. They had just received a frantic 9-1-1 call from a man who said he had found his neighbor horrifically injured on the kitchen floor. The police officers crept through the house, peering cautiously around corners in case the attacker was still in the house. But other than the sound of their footsteps creaking on the hardwood, the home was completely silent. When they made it to the kitchen, they stopped. There, lying on his stomach, was the body of an older man, covered in blood. One of the officers stepped forward and knelt down to check the man’s pulse, but it was obvious to both of them that he was dead. The officer was about to stand back up, when something strange on the back of the man’s neck caught his eye. Slowly, the officer reached out a hand, and pulled down the collar of the man’s shirt. When he saw what was there, he looked back at his partner with an expression of fear. Because what he had discovered would lead investigators to wonder if there were devil-worshiping occultists prowling their rural community.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 medical horror stories. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Honking Boy" -- A doctor rushes to help a boy who's having trouble breathing, what he finds is truly absurd (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRzdiHG3_eY)
• #2 -- "Magic Elixir" -- A 1900's drink had serious consequences (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MpR4k3-edc)
• #1 -- "Shiny But Deadly" -- A healthy man suddenly becomes extremely sick, and doctors only clue being the man's very unusual side job (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn7eaj36dUY)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In April 2009, in a crowded shopping center in broad daylight, a young woman was walking to her car, when suddenly a strange-looking man came out of some bushes and rushed toward her. The woman tried to get to her car and escape, but the man was too fast – he blocked her way and pulled out a gun. He put the gun to the woman’s head, and before she could even process what was happening, he fired. The woman fell to the ground and died. Then the man turned, calmly walked into the nearby woods, and disappeared. When police arrived, they found a baby in the backseat of the woman’s car – confused but unharmed. But they did not find a single piece of evidence at the scene, or any clue about the identity of the strange-looking man.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories that will make you wonder how many monsters you may have encountered in your life. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Stumble" -- 3 people take pictures near a cliff (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCAXfw9MDxg)
• #2 -- "Psychopath" -- An evil person makes a horrifying decision (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRnPwaR_CW8)
• #1 -- "1st Date" -- Man has a terrifying experience on Tinder (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk8NEkZoJWc)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This story is a fan favorite from MrBallen's Medical Mysteries.

A boy in Minnesota is rushed to the emergency room with one of the worst food poisoning cases the doctors have ever seen. A short while later, a little girl shows up with the same illness. Soon, cases are popping up throughout the state, leaving some on the brink of death as doctors scramble to figure out why.

Listen Now: Wondery.fm/MBMM

For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @MrBallen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In our lives, all of us have to make really difficult decisions from time to time. Sometimes we make the right call, and other times we don’t. Today’s story is about someone who did the latter, but really the story is about what this person did to try to fix their bad decision. Simply put, this story takes a totally unexpected turn, and unless you heard it before, there’s no way you’re going to see it coming

Story name, preview & link to original YouTube video:

• #1 -- "Daydreamers" -- This story takes a totally unexpected turn, and unless you've heard it before, you won't see it coming (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIDTHwuLwSo)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a summer night in 1980, the audience in New York’s world famous Metropolitan Opera House rose to their feet and applauded at the end of an international ballet performance. The dancers and musicians rushed backstage and congratulated each other on a great show, but one of the musicians was missing. Her prized violin sat on a chair in the orchestra pit. She had left it there during intermission of the ballet, and she had never come back. NYPD Detectives would soon descend on the Met, where they would find themselves chasing down stagehands, musicians, and one of the most famous Russian dancers in the world, desperately trying to discover what had happened to the violin player who just disappeared – while thousands of people were in the audience.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories that all demonstrate how one seemingly small action can have massive ripple effects on the future. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Skills" -- An aspiring teacher makes an emotional decision... (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPfcCindxhg)
• #2 -- "Crash" -- A college student doesn't realize the significance of photos he took (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5U1vyQr_IY)
• #1 -- "Wires Crossed" -- A pilot flying over Europe twisted around in the cockpit of his plane to look at a panel of switches behind him. He took a deep breath, flipped the switch, and then waited… (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaGJBlKT8NA)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On the day after Thanksgiving in 1998, a police officer responded to a 9-1-1 call at an apartment in a Florida beach town. But the 9-1-1 call had been vague, so the officer did not know if he was responding to an accident, a break-in, or something else. He knocked on the front door, and nobody answered. He tried the doorknob, but it was locked. So the officer walked around the outside of the apartment, and he found an open window that led into the kitchen. The officer climbed in the window, and then made his way through the apartment – everything looked totally normal. Then he came to a door that was slightly cracked open. The officer opened the door, stepped into a small bedroom, and screamed, “Oh my God!”

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 4 stories that will remind you to take caution before your next outdoor adventure. The audio from all four stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #4 -- "Livestream" -- Man climbs Mt. Fuji in the winter (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtDAo7jS8Z4)
• #3 -- "Into the Wild" -- A major motion picture made about this well-known outdoor adventurer’s story (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHkpDWBmRO8)
• #2 -- "1 Way Trip" -- How quickly things can go wrong... (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RseUuG5Kl8Q)
• #1 -- "Gates of the Arctic" -- A father & son trip turns upside down (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtEfMtdnjo0)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a spring night in 2009, a middle aged married couple was closing up the local pizza place they ran in a small Virginia mountain town. The husband walked to the back of the restaurant and grabbed a large bucket of ice. He carried the bucket out the back door, and dumped the ice into the grass. He stood up and felt the cool breeze on his face – it was a nice change from the hot pizza ovens he’d been working around all night. But then, he heard screaming coming from inside the restaurant. Without thinking, he dropped the bucket, and rushed back inside. But when he discovered what was happening, all he could do was turn around and run for his life.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 horrifying stories about couple’s romantic vacations. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Honeymoon" -- Newlyweds travel to one of the most beautiful places in the world, but don't realize how dangerous it is (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tul0S0xFzh8)
• #2 -- "The Underwater Room" -- A vacation takes a horrible turn for the worst (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR2lSI12DA8)
• #1 -- "Embrace" -- Photographer captures a picture of something terrifying (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIcBvNbHKTs)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a February night in a secluded suburban neighborhood, a man sat down to eat at his dining room table. When suddenly, he heard a "POP, POP, POP" coming from somewhere nearby. The man dropped his fork on the plate and ran to the window at the front of his house, but everything outside looked completely normal and calm. Still, the man could not shake the feeling that something bad might have just happened. So he called the police and explained what happened, and they sent an officer out to investigate. But the officer saw the same thing the man had seen – everything looked normal and calm. So the police officer went back to the station, and the man finished his dinner. And neither imagined that a dead body would lay there, undiscovered in the neighborhood, for almost two full days.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories of missing people that we just can’t explain. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Todd Geib" -- A man who goes missing after leaving a party (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/idNX6Dm6li8?feature=shared)
• #2 -- "40 Years Later…" -- Man found on a deserted Alaskan island (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/gdONLZ4EuO8?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "Acid Trip" -- The scene of a fatal crash, and one passenger goes unaccounted for... But how did he escape and where did he go? (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/RsKSqWj3HpQ?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a hot summer day in Illinois, police officers made their way through a field out in the middle of nowhere. They pushed aside the tall grass, and they could see and hear flies buzzing all around them. Suddenly, the officer at the front of the group stopped, crouched down, and called back to the others – he had finally found the body. The other officers rushed to him, and they all stared down at the dead young woman. The cops knew something like this would leave people in the small town nearby in complete shock, but they had no idea what their discovery would lead to. Because this dead young woman in the field would soon help solve a murder that had taken place across the border in Indiana, and lead police to a killer who had been on the run for two years.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This story is a fan favorite from MrBallen's Medical Mysteries.

In 1983, an Italian man finds himself completely unable to sleep, and when he looks in the mirror, his own eyes frighten him. A sense of doom washes over the man. He knows that within a year, he’ll be dead – because he’s just fallen prey to a centuries-old family curse.

Listen Now: Wondery.fm/MBMM

For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @MrBallen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Just before dawn on the last Saturday of June 2013, an employee at a Toys ‘R’ Us store in upstate New York was working in the stock room, when suddenly he heard an alarm going off somewhere inside the store. He radioed his manager to turn off that alarm, but the manager didn’t respond. Another employee went to the front office to check on the manager, and they found him unconscious and bleeding from a hole in his chest. Police and paramedics responded and rushed the man to the hospital, but sadly, he was dead on arrival. The store had been locked all morning, and the four surviving employees had been working in separate parts of the store. Each of them claimed to have seen nothing out of the ordinary that morning. And all investigators had to help them find the manager’s killer was surveillance footage of a shadowy figure moving in and out of the security camera’s view, almost like they were toying with the police.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 2 camping horror stories. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #2 -- "Pelican Valley" -- A beautiful camping spot with a dark secret (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/o-ywxRasv5s?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "Blood on the Mountain" -- A middle-aged fisherman cast his line out into the creek’s waters when he started to hear a voice from the woods. The hair on the man’s neck instantly stood up – because, to him, they didn’t sound friendly. (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/hn-sLWFe13w?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a winter morning in 2014, a woman walked through a massive two-story house in the beautiful ski town of Aspen, Colorado. She had come to see her friend, who’d just gotten back from a long vacation. The woman walked into the bedroom, but her friend wasn’t there. She called out, but there was no response. So she walked across the room and opened the door to a huge walk-in closet that her friend had transformed into a meditation room. The woman saw prayer flags hanging from the wall and candles spread out across the room. She glanced down and saw a pile of blankets and sheets on the floor. At first, she didn’t think anything about it – maybe her friend laid on the blankets and sheets when she was meditating. But as the woman turned to go, something caught her eye. She leaned down, looked closer at the blankets, and screamed. Beneath the blankets, she saw strands of her friend’s long blonde hair soaked in blood. With her hands shaking, she grabbed her phone and called the police. She told them that one of the richest and most well known women in Aspen had been murdered.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 2 stories about drivers who left their route, and then bad things happened. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #2 -- "Highway Crash" -- Police officers make a mind-blowing discovery along a forested highway in England (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/oWOMY0JQdFs?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "Rumble" -- A rumbling sound in a forest in Arizona would be the start of a strange series of events (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/E3eAMAH4QcQ?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a quiet morning in 1995, police cruisers, fire trucks, and ambulances raced down the road in a Queens, New York neighborhood toward an abandoned house that had caught on fire earlier that day. Minutes later, two homicide detectives stepped out of one of the vehicles and made their way inside the smoldering structure. After going down a hallway, they found a door that led to the basement. They descended the stairs, and when they reached the bottom, they froze, because there was something horrifying int he middle of the room. A dead body strapped to a chair. Neither man said a word. They just stared silently – praying – that this person had died before the mutilation had begun.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

At around 2 p.m. on March 23, 2015, a 911 call came in to the Vallejo, California police department from this man who sounded totally drunk or high on a drug, claiming that his girlfriend was missing and she had been kidnapped. But his story just didn't make any sense. When the officers got to this man’s house, he looked deranged, and his house looked totally off and had this weird chemical smell. And then when they asked him to give them some information, he would launch into this bizarre story about men in wetsuits with lasers on their hands. But the police would follow up and actually launch an investigation, because this guy’s girlfriend really was missing... and they would uncover a story that was even more bizarre than the 911 caller’s story had been.

Story name, preview & link to original YouTube video:

• #1 -- "Wetsuits & Lasers" -- After a man calls 911 to report that his girlfriend was kidnapped, police would have a hard time believing his wild and bizarre story - but that was just the beginning (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/DCQ6jq5mcDM?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a summer day in 1986, a medical examiner and her assistant stared down at a deceased woman lying on the metal table. Neither of them had ever seen anything like this, the woman appeared to have been completely healthy at the time of her death - she didn't have a stroke, there was no heart attack and there was no sign of a drug overdose. However, this seemingly healthy woman had suddenly collapsed on the floor and been brain dead just minutes later. Just then the assistant took a long deep breath in through her nose, and after she did she looked over at the medical examiner with wide eyes. The medical examiner did the same thing and took a long deep breath in through her nose. They both smelled a very strange odor, and it smelled almost like almonds. The medical examiner could hardly believe it, she'd only heard about something like this happening in movies and detective novels. But that smell meant one thing to her and to the assistant, this deceased woman must have been poisoned with cyanide. And this theory would soon lead to a large scale investigation by local police and the FBI, and what they would find would casue panic across the entire United States.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. And today’s podcast features 3 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Bad Blood" -- An infamous medical program in Alabama (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/RK6MIl28b-8?feature=shared)
• #2 -- "Suspended" -- Just wait for the photo... (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/vj_auGTlcLA?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "Earworm" -- Whatever you do, DON'T sing this song (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/NMQ6qTht1bo?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On the morning of July 7th, 2019, Sergeant Dan Birbeck responded to a call at the home of a 49-year-old woman in a small Texas town. Birbeck got to the house and found a bloody crime scene in the master bedroom – evidence that a violent struggle had taken place there. Three other members of the family were home that night and had been in close proximity to the master bedroom – and none of them heard a thing. The victim’s husband had been asleep on the couch just steps away from the master bedroom. The victim’s teenage daughter was asleep in the room just next door. And the victim’s son had been in an upstairs bedroom playing video games all night. It seemed inconceivable to Sergeant Birbeck that a violent attack could have taken place in one room, while members of the family slept through it or played video games without hearing anything. Birbeck believed something sinister had happened in the house that night, and the family members might be in on it. But the sergeant had a problem… the victim of this apparent crime was nowhere to be found.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

There are some truly dangerous people in this world whose intent is to mean harm to others, and today’s podcast features 2 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #2 -- "Head of the Family" -- Recently separated man decided he needed to do something really special for his estranged wife (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/pUoex49Yzng?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "The Snowball Effect" -- This story is a stark reminder that there really are truly dangerous and unstable people who walk among us (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/btzFaCuKUjg?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One Monday morning in May of 2010, a classroom full of sixth graders sat at their desks waiting for their substitute teacher to arrive. But the morning bell rang, and the substitute never showed. A passing administrator noticed the substitute’s absence, and he hurried to the front office to find out what was going on. This substitute had always been reliable, and it was not like her to just not show up for work. The administrator rushed to the office and called the substitute’s son. And he went to his mom’s house to see if everything was ok, and he found his mom sitting at her computer. But when he got closer, something terrified him – his mom’s hand had turned purple. He called 911, and police quickly arrived. And what they found inside the rest of the house would turn a small, wealthy community completely upside down.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This story is a fan favorite from MrBallen's Medical Mysteries.

A young woman working on a fishing vessel in Alaska begins experiencing a strange burning sensation in her eye. What she finds inside her eyelid makes her skin crawl.

Listen Now: Wondery.fm/MBMM

For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @MrBallen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On the afternoon of September 10, 2009, an art student walked inside her off-campus apartment in Dallas, Texas, and immediately began making herself a late lunch. Her roommate didn't come out of her bedroom to greet her, but to be honest, this wasn't totally unusual. The two of them, despite being roommates, were not actually very close at all. After eating their food, the student studied for a while, then watched some TV, and then went to bed. All the while, still never hearing a sound coming out of her roommate's bedroom. But again, this was normal. That is, until the next day, when the student received a call from their school telling her to go back to her apartment to check on her roommate. Because, apparently, the roommate's mother was very concerned about them. The student was annoyed, but went back to the apartment. And when they walked into their roommate's bedroom, they would see something that would haunt them for years. And it would instantly explain why their roommate would not come out of their room.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast features 3 stories that involve people who were trapped – with “no way out.” The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Behind the Partition" -- A husband wakes up and can't find his wife (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/EQFYw9sRGzc?feature=shared)
• #2 -- "Moulding Room" -- One fateful mistake has devastating consequences (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/NMQ6qTht1bo?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "Within Reach" -- This story is about an infamous caving incident, and at the end of the video we will show you the haunting picture associated with the story (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/OieeAo7l2vA?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In April of 1990, a bleary-eyed detective stepped into a townhouse in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. The detective had been on call for days, and all he wanted to do was sleep. But now, he’d been called in to investigate a double homicide. The detective opened the door to the basement, and started walking down the steps. The overhead light cast shadows on the floor below, so he couldn’t get a clear look at what he was walking into. Then the detective reached the bottom of the steps, and he suddenly felt wide awake. The scene in the basement was far more gruesome than he’d imagined – two dead bodies lay there on the floor. And there was one thing that jumped out at the detective immediately. On a cardboard box sitting between the bodies, a heart and the letter “U” was scrawled in blood. The detective had no idea if one of the victims had left the message, or if this was a scene staged by a deranged killer… and it would take him six months to get the answer he was looking for… and to discover what really happened in that basement.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s story centers around one of the dumbest criminals EVER. It will be confusing at first, but trust me... at the end, it will all fall into place, and you’ll be left wondering how in the world people like this actually exist.

Story name, preview & link to original YouTube video:

• "Feint of Heart" -- This story centers around one of the dumbest criminals EVER. It will be confusing at first, but trust me, at the end it will all fall into place, and you’ll be left wondering how in the world people like this actually exist (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/y4wnvH4gHuI?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On an evening in 2010, a driver pulled over and parked their car on a residential street, trembling with fear. The driver looked to the passenger seat and saw a six foot tall demon sitting there. And when the demon spoke, it sounded like the famous 1970s R&B and soul singer, Barry White. This demon told the driver there was no need to fear, but they had been chosen for an important mission. Suddenly, the demon disappeared, and an angel who sounded like the actress Olivia Newton-John took its place. And the angel said the demon was right – the driver was the only one who could fulfill this mission of cosmic proportions. So soon, the driver would take up the mission laid out by the angel, and that mission would end in blood, murder, and the most bizarre case local police had ever seen.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories of heroic acts. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "A Father’s Love" -- One father will stop at nothing to protect his child (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/Pzm-T_btfa0?feature=shared)
• #2 -- "Transplant" -- The ending is worth the wait (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/lG6ghojk3oQ?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "The Maneuver" -- A skydiving disaster story, however, it does not go the way you might expect it to (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/7M4etV1_iBc?feature=shared)

To donate to Dave's Go Fund Me, click this link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/david-b-hartsock-heroic-skydiver

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a cool, spring evening in Green Bay, Wisconsin, a man burst out of a bar and started running down the sidewalk, chasing a woman who had suddenly stormed outside in the middle of their conversation. The guy grabbed the woman’s arm, and she spun around to look at him with a furious expression on her face. He asked her what was going on, and she slurred her words as she said that she didn’t want to talk about it. The guy asked her to please come inside — it was dark and she shouldn’t be walking alone at night. But this just made her even more upset. She started pounding her fists into the guy’s chest and screaming at him to leave her alone. The man backed up so she would stop hitting him, and he asked her again to just calm down and come back into the bar. But she refused. She turned around and started speed-walking away from him. The guy didn’t know what else to do, so he went back into the bar by himself. But what he learned the very next day would keep him awake at night for years, wishing he had tried to chase the woman down a second time.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 horror stories that will have even you questioning your own identity. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Bamboozled" -- The odds of this ever happening again, are basically zero (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/vj_auGTlcLA?feature=shared)
• #2 -- "Lucky Shot" -- A shot in a famous episode of a hit TV show has massive ripple effects (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/M1D-WfCQ7Fs?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "Familiar Face" -- One selfie changed 2 girl's lives forever (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/XxrnuiotrN0?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

At 6:45 AM on an ordinary Tuesday in Salt Lake City, Utah, a father and son lugged a heavy jewelry case into the lobby of a high-rise building. They ran a jewelry store together on the third floor, and had come in early to set up their new display. They heard the lobby door open behind them and turned to see a man holding a cardboard box. The man said he was making a delivery and asked where the elevator was. The father and his son were heading that way, too — so, all three got on the elevator together. As they stood, the father looked at the box the man was carrying. There was a name written on the top in black marker, but no return address, which seemed odd. And the man didn’t really look like a delivery driver, either. He was wearing a green letterman jacket, like a high school athlete would wear. But the father kept his thoughts to himself. When the elevator doors opened to the third floor, he and his son carried their jewelry case out and went on with their day. Later that morning, a firefighter pounded on the jewelry shop door and said that the building was being evacuated. The father and son rushed outside, where they saw fire trucks, police cars, and a crowd of other people who worked inside the building. As a woman in the crowd filled them in about what had just happened, a horrible realization dawned on the jewelry shop owner: That delivery man was not who he claimed to be — and the cardboard box contained something more sinister than anything the shop owner could have imagined.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 4 stories that all demonstrate how one seemingly small action can have massive ripple effects on the future. The audio from all four stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #4 -- "Orange Juice" -- A bottle of orange juice changed an African man's life (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/zxmNm9vUgik?feature=shared)
• #3 -- "Overcoming Adversity" -- The ultimate revenge story (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/Pzm-T_btfa0?feature=shared)
• #2 -- "Cowboy" -- A beloved Hollywood icon has a dark past (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/OPfcCindxhg?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "Pick Your Poison" -- A very sick person inadvertently becomes the test subject in a highly controversial experiment (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/xn7eaj36dUY?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 34.

On September 6th, 1988, a middle aged woman named Cindy Borton, was washing dishes in her little house in Shenandoah, Iowa. As she did this, she heard a knock on her back door. She glanced at her watch and saw that she only had a few minutes before she had to get ready for work, and so she just hoped that whoever was there, was not expecting a long visit.… A few hours later, the police would arrive at Cindy’s house and they would discover a crime scene so gruesome, that they had to call in a special investigative unit just to process it.

For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @MrBallen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast features 3 stories that will make you wonder how many monsters you may have encountered in your life. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Granny Ripper" -- Crazy plot twist... (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/5-DiRM4CFPI?feature=shared)
• #2 -- "Reign of Terror" -- The implications of this story are massive and will take you down a deep rabbit hole (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/aJJmwCKgHAQ?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "Inside Scoop" -- One of the most unbelievable revenge stories ever, but you won't realize it's a revenge story until the very end (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/sVwIOVFdpxM?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a January afternoon in 2015, a medical examiner stood over a dead woman’s body in the county morgue. He’d already opened up the woman’s abdomen, and he was using his scalpel to cut the tissues around her stomach. The woman had been murdered, and the medical examiner had already determined her cause of death — but now, he was searching for something specific. He placed the stomach on a metal tray and sliced it open, revealing everything she’d eaten before her death. To his surprise, there was almost nothing there, which meant the woman hadn’t eaten for several hours. This struck the medical examiner as very odd, because detectives had told him that the woman bought Mexican food less than half an hour before her death, and they found the empty wrapper at the crime scene. But if the murder victim didn’t eat it, that left only one other possibility: her killer did. The medical examiner put his scalpel down and looked at the woman on his autopsy table. He tried to imagine what sort of person would want to murder her and then eat her lunch, while standing right beside her body.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s story is really, really weird. And just know going into this that a lot of what happened in the story has never been fully explained, so we did our best to make this make sense. But I'm sure many of you at the end of this story are going to be like, “what did I just hear?” And if that's you, I would encourage you to just Google the case yourself, because it's totally wild.

Story name, preview & link to original YouTube video:

• #1 -- "Masterwork" -- At the end of the story, some of you may be left thinking, “what the heck did I just watch?" And if that's you, I would encourage you to google this story yourself (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/MclMKi4zDBw?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In February of 1983, a young police officer arrived at what looked like a normal, residential home in Mobile, Alabama – but the officer already knew that there was more to this house than met the eye. Just a few minutes earlier, an emergency medical technician had called to tell the officer that there was something inside the home he should really see. The officer opened up the front door and walked into the living room, where first responders were huddled around a man’s dead body. The owner of the home had died by suicide, but that wasn’t what the EMT was talking about. The officer walked right past the commotion and into the homeowner’s bedroom. There, he stopped dead in his tracks. What he found was one of the strangest and most chilling things he’d seen in his entire career. But even as he stood staring at this bizarre scene, he felt a sudden rush of hope. Because he was pretty sure he had just found the answer to one of the city’s most notorious crimes.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast features 2 stories that will make you think twice before leaving the trail. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #2 -- "Dinner" -- Solo hiker makes a big mistake (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/NYbUTIwWdNI?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "Rattlesnake Canyon" -- Two people find themselves in a totally hopeless situation. As the story unfolds, ask yourself… what would you do? (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/LC8xgfT7uoI?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On an early June morning in 2012, a successful luxury car salesman slept soundly in his bed inside of his high rise apartment. The man was a heavy sleeper, so he didn’t wake up when someone walked into his room, walked across to his bed side, and then just stood there, standing over him watching him sleep. Almost two days later, the sleeping man was found still lying in his bed, but with a blood-spattered bedsheet pulled up to his mouth. His family was left in complete shock, and a young detective would spend over a year trying to figure out why the man had never woken up.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Money doesn’t solve all problems, and today’s podcast features 2 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #2 -- "Crocodile Tears" -- Family found murdered in Beverly Hills mansion (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/AGjdQlwzbkk?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "Privilege" -- This story is about a crime so notorious it has been dubbed "The Crime of the Century" - but the reason for it's notoriety has less to do with the crime itself, and more to do with who committed it (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/VxW5qmQD80M?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a hot summer night in Arizona, a man slept soundly in his second-floor bedroom with his beloved pit bull terrier curled up at his feet. Suddenly, the dog’s ears perked up. A sound came from the roof, then the bedroom window shattered and sent glass flying across the room. But no matter how much the dog barked, his owner didn't move. What happened in that bedroom would give a rookie homicide detective her first major case – a case with a series of twists that seemed to come right out of a soap opera.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 “underwater diving” horror stories. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "The Nest" -- A father and son try out a new Christmas present (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/U9en1PDgpAI?feature=shared)
• #2 -- "Collapse" -- 2 divers can't find the exit (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/8VtvoYQzmuk?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "Panic" -- 5 men attempt one of the most dangerous dives in the world... (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/4rWMEiC43pM?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 55.

In the fall of 1994, a 52-year-old woman pulled into the driveway of her home in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and then turned her car off. As she sat there for a minute, chatting with her daughter on her car phone, she was suddenly startled by someone running up and knocking on her window. When she turned to see who it was, she saw this big guy standing in the driveway who she didn't recognize. But when she rolled the window down just a couple of inches, and she was able to hear what this guy was saying, the woman relaxed. Then she got out of her car, shut the door behind her, and then led this guy into her home with her… That man would later be dubbed, “The Bathroom Man,” and he was there to do something horrific to that woman.

For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @MrBallen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In 1969, an adventure magazine reporter named Milt Macklin flew to New Guinea with his film crew to shoot a documentary about a missing person. Milt’s hope was that he was actually going to find this missing person and capture it on film, really pushing his documentary over the top. But, despite shooting all this footage and looking all over the place, they never found the missing person. So Milt ultimately went home and put the film in storage and never even watched it. Well, 40 years later that footage got pulled out of storage because another crew wanted to make their own documentary. And when they watched this footage, they found something totally unbelievable on it. So today, I’m going to tell you the story of what they found, and then more importantly, what it revealed about this missing person. And I will say now, it is highly disturbing.

Story name, preview & link to original YouTube video:

• #1 -- "Deadly Revelation" -- 40 years after it was shot, unseen footage would get pulled out of storage, and when it was finally watched, a discovery was made on the tape that totally changed everything people thought they knew about a very famous missing person (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/OMBxxvd64qk?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One morning in November of 2011, a wheelchair-bound woman and her full-time caregiver were at home when there was a knock on the front door. The caregiver got up and walked over to the door and opened it up, but there was no one there. And when she looked up and down the road, she didn't see anyone walking or driving away. Then, she looked down and noticed there was what appeared to be a gift on the porch, but there was no tag on it. So, the caregiver brought it inside and put it on the kitchen table, and told the woman she was caring for that because this was not labeled, they shouldn't open it for now. However, later that day, when still they didn't know who had sent it or what it was, the woman in the wheelchair was curious, so she secretly grabbed the gift off the kitchen table and opened it up. And the second she did, absolute chaos ensued...

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. And today’s podcast features 3 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Icicle" -- Happy kid leaves house but never comes home (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/kODsF75lAJY?feature=shared)
• #2 -- "The Ultimate Shock" -- A husband thought he experienced a miracle, but it would turn into the most horrific event of his life (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/dIcBvNbHKTs?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "Headache" -- A woman's headache has a sinister explanation (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/S7VtahvTLH4?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On the morning of May 26, 1990, Marlene Warren was at home inside of her mansion in Florida when she heard a knock on the door. Marlene was busy and was hoping that her son might go answer the door, but when she looked over to the living room, she saw her son was watching TV and didn't seem to have even heard the knock on the door. So, Marlene just sighed and walked over to the door and opened it up herself. And to her surprise, it was a person dressed up as a clown holding flowers and balloons. Marlene loved clowns, and it had been her birthday recently, so she was thrilled – figuring this must be someone's gift to her. But after the clown handed Marlene the flowers and balloons, there was this loud popping sound inside the house... and then Marlene fell to the floor, blood pouring down her face.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 2 stories that show we may not be alone in this universe. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #2 -- "Exposed" -- A horrifying discovery in Brazil was hidden by their government, but when photos were eventually leaked, it sent people into a panic (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/BIBvkpT03iw?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "Jelly" -- Today's story is often cited as proof that we are not alone in the universe (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/T0C9d8anDT4?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On January 17, 2001 a woman was working out at her local gym in Amityville, New York. She wiped the sweat from her face and turned towards the back of the gym. Suddenly, she pointed and screamed over the loud music. And what she saw would cause fear throughout the small town of Amityville – a place already linked to a famous mass murder and a possible demon possession.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast features 3 stories that involve people who were trapped – with “no way out.” The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Inconspicuous" -- A chilling discovery in an unassuming place (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/NMQ6qTht1bo?feature=shared)
• #2 -- "Digging Sounds" -- 2 police officers investigate a house in England that was making strange sounds (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/oon2bSZoGVs?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "The Mayor" -- A town’s mayor goes missing, where they are found is just… well, you’ll see (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/oon2bSZoGVs?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One night in October of 2001, a young woman named Amy, and her friend whose name was Eric, were at a dance club in Portland, Maine. Amy was having fun, but Eric wasn't. He seemed bored and maybe a little annoyed. Amy tried to convince him to come out onto the dance floor to dance with her, but Eric wasn't interested. So, Amy wandered off to the dance floor alone. Eric watched her for a moment, then left for the bathroom. However, when he came back, Amy was gone. And 72 hours later, just about everyone in the state of Maine was asking the same question... where did Amy go?

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In late July of 1988, two hunters were walking up this steep mountain trail in Colorado looking for a place to set up for the day. As they were walking, they eventually left the trail and began meandering through the trees looking for a clearing. At some point, they spotted one up ahead, but in this clearing was this really bright white thing at the base of one of the trees. So the two hunters walked up to see what this white thing was, and when they saw it, they both knew immediately that this was something no one was supposed to see…

Story name, preview & link to original YouTube video:

• #1 -- "Into the Woods" -- Two hunters in Colorado stumble upon something no one was ever supposed to see (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/JsDQD4AmwQY?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On May 13, 2015, a police officer in Michigan named Gary Wilson rushed to the scene of a double suicide. When he got there, he went inside the dark house and made his way to the bedroom where the two bodies were located. Wilson took a look at one of the bodies and then turned to check on the other, and when he did, he immediately noticed something. Something that was so surprising the officer nearly fainted from shock. However, this crazy discovery was only one small aspect of one of the most bizarre cases this officer would ever investigate.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 48.

In 2004, a woman living in Nashville, Tennessee, was sitting up in her bed one night trying to get some homework done for a Bible study class. As she sat there, she started to feel tired and so she decided to call it a night. She bookmarked the page she was on, and leaned over to put her Bible on the bed side table, when she suddenly froze. The house was supposed to be empty, her family was out for the night... but now, standing at the foot of her bed was a person, just staring up at her... and this person was dead.

For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @MrBallen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The man’s cousin had been gunned down just two days earlier in a double homicide that shocked the little town of Mountain City, Tennessee. And now, on February 2, 2012, the detectives wanted his help. But the man just slouched in his chair, muttering one word answers and never even taking off his sunglasses. The detectives stared at the man for the longest time, waiting to see if he would tell them anything useful. Finally, the man started looking all around him like he was searching for a hidden camera and said something startling: “Is the CIA here?” The detectives had no idea why the American spy agency would be interested in a Tennessee murder case. But now they needed to find out.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

There are some places we just aren't meant to go, and today we have 3 stories that each give us a stark reminder to just "stay away." The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Not So Lazy River" -- A pair decides to float on a unique body of water (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/fMaWaiWRs_4?feature=shared)
• #2 -- "Out on a Limb" -- A search party stumbles onto a morbid discovery (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/XxrnuiotrN0?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "Pope Lick Monster" -- A couple goes looking for a monster in Kentucky (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/mLPGMZvqxV8?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the middle of the night on January 25, 2014, 80-year-old Peggy Nadell was sound asleep in her second-story bedroom. But then suddenly her phone began to ring. Peggy woke up startled and looked at the clock – it was after 1 a.m. – and to be getting a call at this house could only mean one thing… bad news. Nervously, Peggy answered the phone and quietly said "hello?" But that phone call would prove to be far worse than anything Peggy could have imagined, and moments after getting that phone call, Peggy would be fighting for her life.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories that all involve terrifying encounters in the wild. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "A Walk In The Woods" -- Two women head into the forest to collect sap, little did they know there was a monster waiting for them (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/S7VtahvTLH4?feature=shared)
• #2 -- "Grizzly Man" -- Bear expert pushes limits (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/AGjdQlwzbkk?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "Exposure" -- This story is about a man and his quest to get the perfect photo, he would eventually get it - but it would cost him dearly (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/JXDrZnrjzm0?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One night in November 1999, a deputy was driving along a remote mountain road in Southern California when he spotted a car pulled off to the side of the road. The car’s engine was still on, and the passenger side door was open, but there didn't appear to be anyone inside the car. Now this was a very remote road, so the deputy assumed that the driver must be having some sort of car trouble, otherwise, why stop here? So the deputy pulled over his cruiser and began walking over to the car to see if they needed help. But before he reached the car, the deputy noticed something dangling out of the passenger side door. He reflexively put his hand on his holster and walked the last few feet up to the car. And when he finally could see into the car, he just froze. It looked like a set from a horror movie. Except this was not fake.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

10,000 feet up, deep inside of the beautiful Austrian Alps, lies a very unique and not well-known tourist destination. The only way you can get to this destination is to ride a gondola, or if you’re feeling really motivated, you could in theory hike up to it, but very few people do that. Once you reach this tourist destination, you walk over to this string of buildings, and right away you start to see all these warning signs about this area. Telling you that while, of course, it’s stunning and beautiful, remember, it’s also very dangerous. Today I’m going to tell you a horror story that happened at this unique location. And make sure you stick around until the end, because there are actually two plot twists in this story. The first one you might see coming... the second one, you won’t.

Story name, preview & link to original YouTube video:

• #1 -- "Ice Man" -- Today's story involves a very unique location in the Austrian Alps, and make sure to stick around to the end for the 2 crazy plot twists. (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/BqboEgA4EgA?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On March 25, 2009, Sergeant Jimmy Edmunds responded to a robbery call at a house in a quiet suburban neighborhood in Georgia. Edmunds thought he was going to investigate a routine break-in, but inside that house, he discovered the most violent crime scene he’d ever witnessed in his law enforcement career. For the next three days, Edmunds would barely sleep, but he would eventually uncover the truth about what happened in that house. And let's just say the truth was not what anyone expected.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast will feature 2 stories about people whose disappearances are still shrouded in mystery. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #2 -- "The Jamison Family" -- A family's truck is found tucked away in a forest.. it contained their emaciated dog and $32,000 cash... but what they discover next is truly horrifying (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/PWlUUs4bKQQ?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "The Siberian Cabin" -- 4 friends stay the night in a cabin in a forest in Russia (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/h7hl1WmPbR8?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a cold day in January 2008, a woman named Judy got out of her car and hustled across the parking lot toward a church. When she reached the side door, she fumbled around in her pocket for the keys. Once she found the right one, she slid it into the lock, but discovered the door was already unlocked. The woman was immediately annoyed, because these doors were meant to stay locked, so clearly someone had forgot to do that. She pushed the door open and right away noticed the church office door on the other side of the building was open a crack. So she walked right over to see who was in there and to remind them to lock the doors. But when she walked into that office, the locked door quickly became the last of her worries...

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

There are places on this planet that people are not supposed to go… however, some people ignore that and just go anyway, and oftentimes, it doesn't end well. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Final Descent" -- 28 people were canoeing in Slovenia when they suddenly realized they had a big problem (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/K97vxBCpwx8?feature=shared)
• #2 -- "Dead Hang" -- A daredevil takes his stunts too far (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/MUyBjJciy80?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "Death Valley" -- If you don't respect the environment here, it will kill you (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/gJCY3JaCZAw?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On April 26, 2002, a man was walking to his apartment in Raleigh, North Carolina when he noticed something moving around in the bushes. The man looked closer, and to his horror, he saw a "Peeping Tom." A person was literally standing there staring in the window of this young girl's bedroom. The man yelled aggressively at the person, which sent them running for their life. When word spread about this incident, residents of the apartment complex were hopeful that the Peeping Tom was so scared from getting caught, that they would never do it again. But unfortunately, the residents would be wrong, because that Peeping Tom was not just being creepy – no, they were also planning something... something evil.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 53.

In 1996, an 18 year old college freshman named Diane, began acting strangely. She would suddenly break down and start crying hysterically, and then a second later, she'd get extremely mad, and then a second after that, she'd be fine again, as if nothing had happened. For a while, her classmates thought her erratic behavior must be tied to her just really missing her boyfriend, who went to another school. But when Diane's classmates finally approached her and asked her what was going on, she gave them an answer that at first sounded so unbelievable, they assumed it was a joke. But Diane wasn't joking, and she had the scars to prove it. Horrified, Diane’s classmates left her bedroom and ran to tell school staff.

For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @MrBallen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In February of 2000, a police officer in a small Missouri town stepped into an apartment where a man had just taken his own life. The officer felt bad for the guy, but at the same time, when he walked in there, he fully expected this to be a pretty straightforward case… man commits suicide, the end. However, after walking over to the body, the officer spotted something odd laying on the ground near the dead man's head. It was a book, and it was open to a page with writing on it. The officer knelt down and read what was on the page, and it sent shivers down his spine. Clearly this writing was meant to be found. But before the police officer could flag this to anyone at the scene, another discovery was made. A video tape was found in the dead man’s trash can, and when the police watched it, lets just say they were not prepared for what they saw.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Our stories typically have really big plot twists at the end, and today’s story is no different. However, the plot twist today is so unexpected, so abrupt, so horrifying… that it will keep you guessing until the end.

Story name, preview & link to original YouTube video:

• #1 -- "The Curse" -- The plot twist in this story is so horrifying and unexpected, it'll keep you guessing until the end (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/vs936bysimI?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Just after 11 a.m. on a fall day in 2003, a crime scene analyst named Anna Cox was standing in the middle of a horrific crime scene inside of an apartment near Tampa, Florida. At her feet was a dead body in a pool of blood, and moving all around her were dozens of police officers and other investigators taking photos and collecting evidence. But none of those things or those other people stood out to Anna, because right now, the only thing she could think about was what she saw on the wall. She had never seen anything like this before... well, except for in movies, but no, sure enough, when she walked up to the wall, she realized that the thing that was on the wall was very real. And very, very disturbing. Possibly more disturbing, at least psychologically, than the dead body nearby. And it would be this discovery on the wall that would lead police to one of the coldest killers in Florida history.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today's podcast features 3 "underwater diving" horror stories. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Leaf Blower" -- A diver is contracted to raise a sunken boat (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/242QjjilqIE?feature=shared)
• #2 -- "Swiss Cheese" -- Divers explore an underground lake (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/ZUkAkMJ9c18?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "Berth #6" -- This story is physically uncomfortable to listen to (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/RF1syl8x6kU?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One November night in 2004, in a tiny town in Alaska, a state trooper was responding to a call about a potential car accident. He eventually reached the isolated logging road where the accident supposedly happened, and sure enough, he saw a smoking vehicle that had clearly gone off the road. The trooper quickly got out of his vehicle and rushed down to the car to see if there was anyone he could help. But when he go there and looked inside the car, at first he was just confused. But then, he looked into the backseat, and he recoiled in horror. This was no car accident. This was something else...

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast features 3 crazy stories about political assassinations and professional hits. And today’s podcast features 3 stories that demonstrate that. The audio for all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Bug Bite" -- A reporter feels a pain in his leg and assumes its just a bug bite (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/ny_s07D-LT8?feature=shared)
• #2 -- "Professional Job" -- This needs to be a movie (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/phJD8mb0Tfs?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "Dispatch" -- One of Japan's darkest moments, caught on live TV (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/vj_auGTlcLA?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the summer of 2014, a man named Mark Porter sat in the small lobby of a quick service oil change garage. As he waited for his oil change to wrap up, he sipped a cup of coffee and looked out the window. But a minute later, a strange man walked into the shop and despite there being plenty of empty seats, the man sat down right next to Mark. Mark thought this was odd, but he tried not to over think it and just kept on sipping his coffee. The strange man started talking to Mark, just small talk, and Mark responded politely. But when his car was finally done, Mark was very relieved to grab his keys and get out of there. As Mark drove home, he couldn't help but feel like that strange guy was off in some way, there had to be a reason why he just randomly sat down next to Mark despite the open seats, and then why had he tried so hard to strike up a conversation? It all just seemed very odd but by the time Mark got home, he had forgotten about the guy. However, the guy had not forgotten about Mark, because Mark was right to be suspicious. That strange man had a very specific reason for doing what he did, and it was about to have massive ripple effects.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. And today’s podcast features 3 stories that demonstrate that. The audio for all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Crush Injury" -- 3 brothers discover a secret staircase in the woods (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/sx14YtiLFIM?feature=shared)
• #2 -- "Long Lost Daughter" -- An unbelievable coincidence in London (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/sj1nh-qnv0E?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "Sparks Fly" -- Even more bizarre than the event that nearly killed this man, is what happened afterwards (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/dIcBvNbHKTs?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On July 16, 2011 in Colusa County, California, 7-year-old Fabian Ayala sat in his father's truck while his dad worked on a farm nearby. Suddenly, the ground starting to shake, and the windshield inside the truck shattered, sending glass flying onto Fabian. Fabian closed his eyes and tried to protect himself with his arms, and then finally when all the shaking stopped, he leapt out of the truck and looked around to figure out what had just happened. But when he looked down the road in front of him, he saw something on the ground that at first he just couldn't believe was real. But as he got closer, he realized it was, and he knew what he was looking at would haunt him for the rest of his life.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Far and away the two scariest parts of this story are one, when Jason brings the Dybbuk Box home and he goes to bed that first night, and then two, the following night what Jason sees in his living room is just horrifying.

Story name, preview & link to original YouTube video:

• #1 -- "Dybbuk Box" -- The famous 2003 Dybbuk Box event (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/Bf_9w1vpq50?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 8.

On Christmas Eve in 1992, an 18-year-old woman named Danita Gullette stepped outside of her place of work into the freezing Dayton, Ohio night air, and began walking toward her mother's house. After a few minutes, Danita decided to call her mother to ask her something that couldn't wait until she arrived. So Danita stopped at a payphone, slipped a few coins into the phone's coin slot, then dialed the number she knew by heart. At her mother's house, the phone started to ring, but when Danita's sister picked up the receiver, the phone was silent. Around the same time, the Dayton police received a call about a disturbance at a payphone in town. This would be the start of one of the most incomprehensible crime sprees in American history.

For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @MrBallen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Have you ever had the overwhelming feeling that something or someone was watching you? Well, today’s podcast features 3 stories that will have you checking your house for intruders before you go to sleep. The audio for all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Never Alone" -- A father notices writing in his daughter's closet (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/8z07gs6D9E8?feature=shared)
• #2 -- "Awful Routine" -- Man finds something unexpected in his attic (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/vARuVoqbQL0?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "Stripes" -- One of the most popular "spooky" stories on Reddit (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/W5U1vyQr_IY?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On the night of August 22nd, 2004, in an extremely affluent neighborhood in Florida, millionaire lawyer John Sutton dragged himself across the floor of his bedroom. He couldn't see anything, and his head was in agonizing pain, but somehow, someway he still managed to pull himself up to his feet, and then he staggered his way through the house and made it out the front door to safety. However, there was still someone else in the house behind him. Moments later, a Miami SWAT team entered John's house, and they would make a horrifying discovery in the guest bedroom – one that would stun the wealthy South Florida community, where John and his family had lived and worked for over four decades.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

There are certain stories that legitimately just seem too strange to be true, and today’s story is definitely one of those. But when you get to the end of the story, you will see that a major American educational institution fact-checked this story really aggressively, and it held up... it really happened. So, go into today’s very wild story with an open mind.

Story name, preview & link to original YouTube video:

• #1 -- "Beyond the Veil" -- Some stories legitimately seem too strange to be true… and today's story is definitely one of those (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/21pIWH_Kspg?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Late one night in the spring of 1937, a young woman stumbled into her apartment building, drunk after a long night of partying with friends. She made her way up the steps, and reached her apartment door. And after she opened it up, she stepped inside, and her little dog ran up to her and she gave it a little pat, and then she walked toward her bedroom. But the moment she stepped foot into that pitch black room, something felt off. It was too quiet. But before she could figure out what was going on, something heavy came flying out of the darkness and hit her on the face. For a moment, the woman just stood there stunned. Then a second later, hands emerged from the darkness.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s podcast features 3 stories that involve people who were trapped – with “no way out.” The audio for all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode.

Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:

• #3 -- "Shattered Glass" -- One of the worst disasters in sports history (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/oon2bSZoGVs?feature=shared)
• #2 -- "Minivan" -- How quickly things can go wrong (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/WWWWMdm9ZY4?feature=shared)
• #1 -- "The Tomb" -- The worst way to die (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/7JPEtNglQ4o?feature=shared)

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One summer day in 1978, a man came home from work to his house in a nice neighborhood in Illinois. He went inside the front door and called out to his wife, but she didn't call back. The man looked around the house and was annoyed that it was so dirty. His wife had said she was going to spend the day cleaning, and it seemed like she had not. But after searching the house, he had not found his wife yet, and so he stared to wonder if she was okay. The only place left to check for her was in the basement, so he opened the door and began walking down the stairs. When he got down there, he would come face-to-face with a nightmare.

For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen

If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen

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