Weekly Spooky | Scary Stories for Halloween

October 5-11 brings Leatherface, Marvel monsters, and Icelandic folk horror to your Halloween watchlist. This Week in Horror History revisits The Texas Chain Saw Massacre's early release history, the monster hunt of Werewolf by Night, Freddy's Nightmares on television, and Quarantine's trapped reporter. Our deep cut, Lamb, finds an impossible child on a remote farm; weekly pick Trick 'r Treat turns Halloween traditions into deadly rules. Plus birthdays for Clive Barker, Sigourney Weaver, Guillermo del Toro, and Stephen Moyer. Discover cult horror, found-footage panic, and a reason to leave the pumpkins lit.

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(00:00:00) Harry Houdini’s Final Halloween — Welcome

(00:03:03) The 1936 Houdini Seance — Setting the Test

(00:06:54) Harry Houdini: Escape Artist to Spiritualism Skeptic

(00:15:58) Arthur Conan Doyle & Houdini’s Spiritualism Dispute

(00:22:49) Margery: Mina Crandon & Houdini’s Psychic Tests

(00:28:50) Houdini’s Final Tour & Halloween Death (1926)

(00:39:37) Houdini Murder Myths — Evidence Versus Speculation

(00:41:01) Bess Houdini’s Secret Code & the Afterlife Test

(00:48:14) Houdini’s Halloween Legacy & the 2026 Centenary

(00:49:47) Bess Houdini’s Final Seance Decision (1936)

Harry Houdini died on Halloween, October 31, 1926. For the 100th anniversary in 2026, explore his secret code for testing messages from the dead—and the mediums he fought to expose. This spooky season, Terrifying & True follows the stomach-punch legend, Arthur Conan Doyle's Spiritualism, Arthur Ford's disputed message and Bess Houdini's final 1936 seance. Hear archival recordings of Houdini, Conan Doyle and Bess herself as we separate documented history from supernatural claims. Could the world's greatest escape artist expose a fake message from beyond the grave? We're telling that story tonight.

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(00:00:00) Welcome — Werewolf Tales & Old-Time Radio Horror

(00:01:05) The Night of the Wolf — CBS Radio Mystery Theater

(00:45:23) The Red Forest — Escape: Forest-Fire Suspense

(01:15:41) The Beast Must Die — Suspense

(01:46:19) The Master’s Tree — The Whistler

(02:16:57) The Werewolf — The Weird Circle

(02:46:59) W Is for Werewolf — Dark Fantasy

(03:12:47) Outro — More Classic Radio Horror

Unknown Broadcast brings werewolf stories and deadly revenge to Halloween listening. In The Beast Must Die, a grieving father hunts the driver who killed his son; in The Red Forest, a motorist faces a wildfire. This six-story collection blends supernatural horror with human danger.

Hear The Night of the Wolf, The Red Forest, The Beast Must Die, The Master's Tree, The Werewolf, and W Is for Werewolf, from CBS Radio Mystery Theater, Escape, Suspense, The Whistler, The Weird Circle, and Dark Fantasy. Turn down the lights for a night of old-time radio suspense, where the monster isn't always supernatural.

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(00:00:00) Welcome — Strickfield Halloween Horror Stories

(00:01:52) Ghost in the Graveyard — Abigail Tomlin Cemetery Horror

(00:35:23) Halloween Night at Grimm Manor — Haunted Mansion Game

(02:29:13) A New Halloween Legend — Castalia Mirren’s Occult Horror

(04:05:36) Mad as Hell — Strickfield Serial-Killer Fiction

(04:53:37) Outro — More Strickfield Scary Stories

A forbidden cemetery game from urban legends draws three boys into a ghost's path, and a dare at Grimm Manor becomes a midnight contest with its dead owners. Strickfield After Dark gathers four Halloween horror stories by Rob Fields into nearly five hours of Weekly Spooky fiction. Hear Ghost in the Graveyard, Halloween Night at Grimm Manor, A New Halloween Legend, and Mad as Hell. Haunted houses, an occult book, and a human killer's violent code turn this Ohio town's traditions into threats. Two rivals must work together inside the manor, but can they put their feud aside before the game ends?

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(00:00:00) D.L. Wainright — Folklore, Faith & Childhood Urban Legends

(00:06:40) Slender Man, the Backrooms & Internet Folklore

(00:09:49) Weekly Spooky — Scary Stories, True Crime & Folklore

(00:13:17) Halloween All Year — Horror Fans & Spooky Season

(00:18:56) The Butter Street Monster — Germantown, Ohio Folklore

(00:24:49) Preserving Dayton’s Haunted History & Local Legends

(00:28:24) Helltown & Ohio’s Haunted Places

(00:35:05) Eclipse Monsters — Wolves & Sky-Dog Folklore

(00:41:51) Romanian Strigoi — Vampire Folklore & Word Origins

(00:46:10) Vampire Movie Rules Versus Romanian Strigoi Lore

(00:52:43) Strigoi Defenses — Romanian Vampire Folklore

(00:55:47) New England Vampire Beliefs & Food for the Dead

(01:01:16) The Strigoi at the Village Party — A Romanian Folktale

(01:10:47) Vampire Warnings & Village Traditions

(01:19:45) Halloween, Holidays & Changing Traditions

(01:23:38) Strigoi Shapeshifting — Owls, Cats & Vampire Legends

(01:27:40) Werewolf Folklore, Witchcraft & Lycanthropy

(01:32:48) Satan, Demonization & Religious Folklore

(01:41:51) Trickster Folklore — Monsters, Morals & Social Rules

(01:47:10) Brotherhood of the Wolf & Folklore in Horror Films

(01:57:28) Goth Culture, Horror Fans & Finding Your People

Why do vampire legends still frighten us? Henrique Couto welcomes folklorist and author D.L. Wainright to explore Romanian strigoi, Dracula, graveyard rituals, and New England vampire beliefs. This Folklore Friday conversation follows garlic, sunlight, shapeshifting, and a party guest hiding a disturbing secret beneath the table. Along the way: Ohio's Butter Street Monster, La Llorona, Slender Man, werewolves, and Halloween traditions. Discover how familiar monsters change as we share their stories—and which old fears still follow us into spooky season.

D.L.'s books: https://thehollowsun.com/

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More scary stories: https://weeklyspooky.com/
Story submissions: WeeklySpooky@gmail.com