Happy Halloween from The Darker Side of Life! Light those Jack O' Lanterns and follow me into Hoia Baciu, Romania's most haunted forest. You never know what you might see when you step into the trees. Sources: https://hoiabaciufore...

Engineers are held to a code of ethics that will "hold paramount" the safety and health of the public. But what happens when that code is forgotten? Or worse, flat out ignored? Sources: YouTube AdventureMe "What Remains of the Batt...

On April 1, 2014, Dutch friends Lisanne Froon and Kris Kremers set out to hike a popular trail in Boquete, Panama. The two friends were vacationing together in the small tourist town, finding adventures around Boquete until they would start the...

Hello there, listeners! You might have thought we dropped off the face of the earth over the last year. But The Darker Side of Life is back with an announcement and some changes going forward. 

On December 2, 2010, Phoebe Handsjuk spent a day home at the apartment she shared with her boyfriend in Melbourne, Australia. It had been a rough week for her. By the end of the day, Phoebe's body would be found in a lower level garbage room of...

You might think the only thing going on at Denver International Airport is people heading out on vacation. Think again. Because when it comes to DIA, there might be more going on than meets the eye. 

In May of 2014, Georgia couple Russell and Shirley Dermond were invited to a party at a friend's house, but failed to show up. Days later, friends became worried after no contact was made with the couple, both in their 80s, since then. When som...

It's a cold, desolate place. Not many people go there. But it's natural beauty and potential for science make it an almost haven for some people. However, for the lucky few that get to go, rigorous physical and psychological testing is often re...

On December 9, 2019, Whakaari, an active volcano off the coast of New Zealand, erupted. This was not like other eruptions from Whakaari. A popular tourist destination for adventurers, 47 people were on the volcano at the time of eruption. The a...

It was supposed to be a fun spring break trip - in 1989, Mark Kilroy and his friends from college went to South Padre Island, Texas, to party and have fun. During a short trip across the border into Mexico one night, Mark got separated from his...

Welcome to Helltown, Ohio! It's now your average ghost town from the Wild West. Boston, Ohio was once home to a thriving  community until they were told they no longer owned their homes and were forced to leave. What moved in to what becam...

As one of the first luxury apartment buildings on New York City's Upper West Side, the building now known as the Dakota has had a long history. Many know of the Dakota's most recent history, most famously the site of the murder of John Lennon, ...

It was a story that only Agatha Christie could write. But in this mystery, she was the main character. 

In the early 1930s, things were tough for many Americans. The Great Depression was underway, prohibition was going strong, and people found themselves struggling to keep jobs and desperate for money. In New York City, a group of men - later dub...

This is not your mama's dance party.  Or at least we hope not. The dancing plague of 1518 involved bloodied feet, broken ribs and even death. What started as one woman's mysterious dancing through the streets quickly escalated to something...

In 1968, college student Barbara Mackle was kidnapped from an Atlanta hotel when two armed individuals came into her room, tied her up, drugged her and forced her into a car. The kidnappers intended to get a ransom - $500,000 - from her wealthy...

Sixteen year old Karlie Guse  disappeared from her home in October 2018. She had returned to her family home the night before after being out at a house party and her behavior was frantic and erratic. Her dad and stepmom did what they coul...

In 1958, the Hermann family of Seaford, NY, began to experience strange things in their house. It began with bottle lids suddenly and collectively popping off at the same time. What began as a mild annoyance became more extreme, as small object...

Moll Dyer lived on the outskirts of Leonardtown, Maryland in the late 1600s. Maryland was said to be more tolerant than other neighboring New England states. Many people thought Moll was a witch because of her knowledge of herbalism and ability...

In summer of 1994, 13-year-old Nicholas Barclay went missing. He was playing basketball with some friends, and never returned home. Three years later, his family received a phone call that Nicholas had been finally found - in Europe, as a victi...

Mammoth Cave in Kentucky is the world's largest known cave system. It's known for many things: soaring passages, ancient artifacts left behind by its first explorers and some of the most breathtaking underground scenery you could imagine. No on...

In 1987, Ruthie Mae McCoy called 911. She told the dispatcher that someone was "trying to tear the cabinet down" and to please send help. Police came, but left. A few days later she was found dead in her apartment in one of Chicago's ABLA housi...

Hy Brasil: The mysterious island where you can have riches of gold and silver, possible immortality and hang time  with the gods and giant bunnies. All you have to do is find it! Believe us, it's harder than it sounds. 

In 1962, a routine landfill cleanup went underway in Centralia, Penn. Burning trash was a common way of clearing it out, except this time something was different - fire fell into a hole leading to an abandoned coal mine.  What proceeded wa...