MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories

Defies Explanation

24 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s podcast will feature 2 stories about unexplainable phenomena. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube cha...

Death of a Salesman (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

21 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 awaken...

The Job Offer

17 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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, th...

The Good Neighbors (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

14 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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, Ch...

Stranger Than Fiction Vol. IX

10 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. And today’s podcast features 3 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from all three stories has bee...

Listen Now: Don't Cross Kat

09 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kat Torres has the insta-perfect life. She is rich, gorgeous and not ashamed to share it. Her posts about witchcraft and “alien baths” drew in ove...

You Can't Cross That Line (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

08 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 t...

Ice and Fire (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

07 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 fi...

Unsolved

03 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 pull...

The Crawlspace (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

31 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 tr...

Medical Mysteries - "Blood Feast"

27 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 si...

The Business of Death (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

24 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 m...

Open Sea

20 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Listen Now: Scam Factory

18 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

You know those messages that you get all the time, the ones that pop up out of nowhere? They could be real, but something about them seems fishy. You ...

Murder on Steroids (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

17 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Vanished

13 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 mai...

You Can't Leave That Way (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

11 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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, ...

Helium Road (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

10 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 standin...

Under the Bricks

06 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Ballen Studios Presents: Late Nights with Nexpo

05 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From Ballen Studios, welcome to Late Nights with Nexpo, the official podcast of YouTube creator, Nexpo, featuring the most bizarre and chilling true s...

The Mutant (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

03 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 mont...

The Creature

27 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 fr...

Goodbye Uncle Jack (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

24 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Something is in the Woods

20 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 stori...

Sick Day (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

17 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Stranger Than Fiction Vol. VIII

13 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. And today’s podcast features 3 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from all three stories has bee...

You Can't Run From This (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

11 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 stor...

Medical Mysteries - "A Rare Bird"

10 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 f...

Do Not Enter

06 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 o...

Texas Shootout (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

03 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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...

The Witching Hour

30 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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...

A Dead Body for Christmas (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

27 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 pol...

Diagnosis Vol. II

23 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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...

The Butcher (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

20 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 c...

For the Love of Money

16 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

You Can't Hide Here (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

14 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 su...

Trick-or Treat-or-Die (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

13 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 hous...

Pure Evil

09 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 call...

The Stranger (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

06 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 fi...

No Way Out Vol. VI

02 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s podcast features 3 stories that involve people who were trapped – with “no way out.” The audio from all three stories has been pu...

A Shot in the Dark (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

30 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 st...

Medical Mysteries - "A Change in Fortune"

26 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 sic...

One of Their Own (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

23 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 stree...

The Ingenues

19 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 u...

Head for the Hills (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

16 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 poli...

The City of Death

12 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 s...

Murder on the Answering Machine (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

09 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 answer...

Stranger Than Fiction Vol. VII

05 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. And today’s podcast features 3 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from all three stories has bee...

Square Dance of Death (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

02 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 to...

An Unforgettable Fare

28 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 mos...

The Lipstick on the Wall (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

25 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 s...

Ghost Town

21 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

In the Weeds (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

18 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 no...

Clinical Lycanthropy

14 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Listen Now - REDACTED: Declassified Mysteries with Luke Lamana

12 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Behind the closed doors of government offices and military compounds, are hidden stories and buried secrets from the darkest corners of history. Each ...

Big Bang (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

11 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 so...

From Beyond

07 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Underworld (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

04 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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, Virgi...

Diagnosis

31 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Swap Meet (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

28 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 s...

Monsters Among Us Vol. III

24 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 th...

Medical Mysteries - "Common Ground"

21 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Daydreamers

17 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

The Phantom of the Met (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

14 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 intern...

Butterfly Effect Vol. II

10 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories that all demonstrate how one seemingly small action can have massive ripple effects on the future. The a...

The Bounty Hunter (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

07 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Into the Wilderness

03 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Murder by the Slice (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

30 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 husb...

'Til Death Do Us Part

26 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s podcast will feature 3 horrifying stories about couple’s romantic vacations. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our mai...

Coach Killer (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

23 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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" com...

The Unexplained

19 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 mai...

Sophomore Obsession (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

16 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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, a...

Medical Mysteries - "The Curse of Veneto"

12 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 Figure in the Toy Store (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

09 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 sud...

Camping Horror Stories Vol. IV

05 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 be...

The Life of the Party (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

02 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 fr...

Phantom Driver

29 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 be...

The Cold, Dark Basement (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

26 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ho...

Wetsuits & Lasers

22 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

The Smell of Cyanide (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

19 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Stranger Than Fiction Vol. VI

15 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. And today’s podcast features 3 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from all three stories has bee...

Silent Screams (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

12 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 th...

Malicious

08 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

The Final Keystroke (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

05 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 mornin...

Medical Mysteries - "It Moves"

01 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 burni...

The Artist (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

29 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

No Way Out Vol. V

25 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s podcast features 3 stories that involve people who were trapped – with “no way out.” The audio from all three stories has been pu...

The Hitman (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

22 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Feint of Heart

18 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 pla...

Demons, Angels, and 70’s Soul Music (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Hero

11 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Blood on the Concrete (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

08 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 st...

Dead Ringer

04 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 pulle...

Dealing with the Devil (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

01 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 r...

Butterfly Effect

27 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s podcast will feature 4 stories that all demonstrate how one seemingly small action can have massive ripple effects on the future. The a...

Fan Favorite - "Shenandoah on Fire"

24 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 wash...

Monsters Among Us Vol. II

20 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 stori...

A Butterfly's Secret (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

17 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 abdom...

Masterwork

13 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Making Amends (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

10 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...