What is it about dolls that unnerves us so deeply?
Maybe it’s the way they watch us. Maybe it’s the fact that they look human—but aren’t. Or maybe it’s because, across every corner of the globe, people swear these lifeless toys are anything but.

This week, we’re opening the display case and peering into the glassy gaze of haunted dolls from around the world. From countless famous cases in the USA to Australia’s “Letta Me Out” doll that screams from the trunk it was found in…these aren’t just bedtime stories. They’re artifacts of fear, faith, and something darker.

We’ll explore:
🩸 Why so many haunted dolls fixate on eyes—the windows to the soul.🎭 How belief, ritual, and folklore transform toys into terrifying relics.💀 And why something designed to comfort us in childhood can become our greatest source of horror.

Join us as we travel across continents and centuries, uncovering the strange, the tragic, and the truly terrifying world of haunted dolls.

Stay strange. Be Rad.

Got a theory, creepy doll story, or cursed collectible of your own? Send it our way—we might just feature it.

If you loved this episode:🧷 Share it with your horror-loving friend (preferably one without dolls in their house).⭐️ Follow/Subscribe so you don’t miss the next chapter of our October Spooktacular.💀 Drop us a 5★ rating and a one-sentence review on Apple or Spotify—it helps more than you think.

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  SHOW INFO:

  Hosts & Producers: Woody Brown & Tyler Bence

  Recorded At: Midnight Radio Studios

  Sound Wizardry: Woody Brown (Sound Design, Editing, & Music) & Tyler Bence (Mixing, Mastering, & Art Design)

  Outro Jam: “Ghost Story” by The Modern Society

  
  

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• 
  

A knock at the door after dark should be ordinary. But what if it isn’t? For decades, people all over the world have told the same unnerving story: pale, monotone children with jet-black eyes asking to be let inside. Some call them Black Eyed Kids. Some say they vanish when refused. Others whisper that letting them in leads to sickness… or worse.

From Brian Bethel’s late-night encounter in a Texas parking lot, to a 1923 Louisiana farm where a woman was haunted nightly by a black-eyed boy, these stories blur the line between internet legend, folklore, and something far more sinister.

This week, we’ll hear:

• Brian Bethel’s infamous 1996 story that ignited the legend.

• Martin York’s strange illness after his encounter in rural West Virginia.

• The eerie 1923 “Jane” case—decades before the internet gave the kids their name.

• Modern variants: hotel window knocks, shopping mall stalkings, and Cannock Chase sightings in the UK.

• Police and military encounters that suggest this isn’t just an urban legend.

We’ll explore:

• Why the “invitation rule” runs through vampire, demon, djinn, and fairy folklore.

• How Black Eyed Kids echo changelings, shadow people, and other age-old monsters.

• And why the sight of a child—something meant to be innocent—hits our deepest fears when it’s wrong.

Join us as we open the door (carefully) to the chilling phenomenon of the Black Eyed Kids—equal parts ghost story, folklore, and modern nightmare.

Stay strange. Be Rad.
Got a theory or creepy kid story of your own? Send it our way—we’d love to feature it.

If you loved this:

• Share the episode with a friend who loves urban legends.

• Follow/Subscribe so you don’t miss next week’s October Spooktacular.

• • Drop us a 5★ rating and a one-sentence review on Apple/Spotify—huge help.

  
  

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  🎙 Share a story / send a voice message: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thatwouldberadpodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠✉️ Email: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thatwouldberadpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

  
  

  SHOW INFO:

  Hosts & Producers: Woody Brown & Tyler Bence

  Recorded At: Midnight Radio Studios

  Sound Wizardry: Woody Brown (Sound Design, Editing, & Music) & Tyler Bence (Mixing, Mastering, & Art Design)

  Outro Jam: “Ghost Story” by The Modern Society

  
  

  RAD WAYS TO SUPPORT OUR SHOW:

  🎧 JOIN OUR PATREON: Unlock exclusive content and help us keep the weirdness coming at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/thatwouldberad⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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• 
  

The air around us hums with voices we’re not meant to hear. For decades, strange radio signals have slipped through the static—buzzing tones, eerie music, and robotic voices reciting endless strings of numbers. They’re called numbers stations, and they may be the creepiest reminder that the Cold War never really ended.

From Russia’s infamous UVB-76 “Buzzer” to the haunting Swedish Rhapsody music box, from Cuba’s Atención broadcast that landed spies in a U.S. courtroom, to an unplugged RAF radio that still plays Winston Churchill speeches—these transmissions blur the line between espionage, folklore, and the paranormal.

This week, we’ll tune in to:

• The relentless drone of UVB-76, the Russian “doomsday buzzer.”

• The Lincolnshire Poacher and its cheery folk song masking coded messages.

• The nightmare fuel of Swedish Rhapsody and its childlike voice.

• The bizarre Yosemite Sam broadcast from the New Mexico desert.

• Atención—a numbers station that became hard evidence in a federal espionage trial.

• Old Tape and other hijacks that feel more urban legend than spycraft.

• The haunted radio of RAF Montrose, still whispering from beyond the grave.

• The Russian Woodpecker, a Cold War radar array that spawned mind-control conspiracies.

We’ll explore:

• Why spies still use shortwave radio in the internet age.

• How secret codes become modern folklore.

• And why listeners can’t shake the feeling that someone, somewhere, is on the other end.

Join us as we dive into the secret world of numbers stations—equal parts spy story, ghost story, and conspiracy theory.

Stay strange. Be Rad.

Got a theory or spooky radio story of your own? Send it our way—we’d love to feature it.

If you loved this:

• Share the episode with a friend who loves weird history.

• Follow/Subscribe so you don’t miss next week’s October Spooktacular kickoff.

• Drop us a 5★ rating and a one-sentence review on Apple/Spotify—huge help.

  CONNECT WITH US:

  📲 Instagram: @thatwouldberad — Tag us, DM us, or share your strange stories.

  🎙 Share a story / send a voice message: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thatwouldberadpodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠✉️ Email: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thatwouldberadpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

  
  

  SHOW INFO:

  Hosts & Producers: Woody Brown & Tyler Bence

  Recorded At: Midnight Radio Studios

  Sound Wizardry: Woody Brown (Sound Design, Editing, & Music) & Tyler Bence (Mixing, Mastering, & Art Design)

  Outro Jam: “Ghost Story” by The Modern Society

  
  

  RAD WAYS TO SUPPORT OUR SHOW:

  🎧 JOIN OUR PATREON: Unlock exclusive content and help us keep the weirdness coming at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/thatwouldberad⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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• 
  

The story of Garth Brooks should be one of pure country music legend: a small-town Oklahoma kid who rose to become one of the best-selling artists of all time, breaking records and redefining stadium shows forever.
But lurking in the darker corners of the internet is a bizarre and unsettling theory: what if Garth Brooks isn’t just a country superstar… what if he’s secretly a serial killer?

From comedian Tom Segura’s offhand joke about Garth’s “serial killer smile” to internet sleuths mapping his tour dates against missing persons reports, the conspiracy has grown from a meme into a full-blown internet legend.
And with Garth himself never publicly addressing the rumors, fans are left to wonder: is the silence suspicious — or just smart PR?

This week, we dive headfirst into the strangest (and most fringe) celebrity conspiracy out there. You’ll hear about:

• The infamous “tour date overlaps” with missing person cases.

• The bizarre rise and fall of Garth’s moody alter ego, Chris Gaines.

• The offhand 1989 quote that conspiracy theorists cling to as “proof.”

• Why his giant, toothy grin has been branded as unsettling.

• The eerie internet silence that fans read as guilt.

• And how a simple comedy bit snowballed into one of the weirdest cultural rumors of the last decade.

We’ll explore:

• Why our brains are wired to find patterns — even when none exist.

• How memes and modern internet culture give conspiracies new life.

• The psychology of why we want to believe outlandish stories about celebrities.

• And what this whole saga says about the way folklore, humor, and paranoia intersect in the digital age.

Join us as we unpack the Garth Brooks conspiracy — part internet joke, part urban legend, and part cautionary tale about how the weirdest ideas catch fire.
Stay strange. Be Rad.
Got a theory or story of your own? We’d love to hear it — send us your experience (anonymous is fine).

CONNECT WITH US:

📲 Instagram: @thatwouldberad — Tag us, DM us, or share your strange stories.

🎙 Share a story / send a voice message: ⁠⁠⁠⁠thatwouldberadpodcast.com⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠✉️ Email: ⁠⁠⁠⁠thatwouldberadpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

SHOW INFO:

Hosts & Producers: Woody Brown & Tyler Bence

Recorded At: Midnight Radio Studios

Sound Wizardry: Woody Brown (Sound Design, Editing, & Music) & Tyler Bence (Mixing, Mastering, & Art Design)

Outro Jam: “Ghost Story” by The Modern Society

RAD WAYS TO SUPPORT OUR SHOW:

🎧 JOIN OUR PATREON: Unlock exclusive content and help us keep the weirdness coming at ⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/thatwouldberad⁠⁠⁠⁠

☕️ BUY US A COFFEE: Fuel our late-night research at ⁠⁠⁠⁠buymeacoffee.com/thatwouldberad⁠⁠⁠⁠

🛍 CHECK OUT OUR MERCH: Snag official RAD gear at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thatwouldberad.myspreadshop.com

The Appalachian Trail is more than just a path through the mountains... it’s a living, breathing museum of history, folklore, and mystery. Beneath its sweeping vistas and quiet ridgelines, countless hikers have stumbled into something far stranger than blisters and black bears: ghostly figures, phantom lights, and encounters that leave them questioning what’s real and what belongs to another world.

From Civil War battlefields still echoing with unseen soldiers, to spectral figures wandering foggy ridges, the Appalachian Mountains are a corridor for the strange and the terrifying.

This week, we focus on the paranormal side of the Appalachian Trail. You’ll hear about:

• The fire-scorched figure that stalked a camper in Virginia, tied to a tragic house fire.

• The mysterious Brown Man, a hulking presence that seemed to control dogs with nothing but its stare.

• The hazy man by the birch tree witnessed by both a young girl and her mother in Pennsylvania.

• The unsettling phantom children, whose laughter haunted hikers for miles.

• The wide-brimmed stranger in period clothes, with piercing blue eyes, who vanished into thin air.

• The ghostly woodsman of Pierce Pond in Maine, returning night after night by the campfire glow.

• The restless child spirit of Ottie Cline Powell at Punchbowl Shelter.

• Dark Hollow Road’s cemetery, where love, betrayal, and tragedy left spirits that still linger.

• The phantom hound and little girl said to haunt Big Ridge State Park in Tennessee.

• And the blood-soaked hills of Spook Hill and Fox’s Gap, where Civil War dead still push cars uphill with ghostly hands.

We’ll explore:

• Why hikers so often encounter apparitions in the Appalachian wilderness.

• How history, tragedy, and folklore fuel the trail’s haunted reputation.

• What these stories reveal about the human connection to place — and to the unknown.

Join us as we step into the shadows of the Appalachian Trail - a place where the natural world and the supernatural blur together, and where the past is never truly gone.

Stay strange. Be Rad.
Got a ghost story? We’d love to hear it — send us your experience (anonymous is fine).

CONNECT WITH US:

📲 Instagram: @thatwouldberad — Tag us, DM us, or share your strange stories.

🎙 Share a story / send a voice message: ⁠⁠⁠thatwouldberadpodcast.com⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠✉️ Email: ⁠⁠⁠thatwouldberadpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠

SHOW INFO:

Hosts & Producers: Woody Brown & Tyler Bence

Recorded At: Midnight Radio Studios

Sound Wizardry: Woody Brown (Sound Design, Editing, & Music) & Tyler Bence (Mixing, Mastering, & Art Design)

Outro Jam: “Ghost Story” by The Modern Society

RAD WAYS TO SUPPORT OUR SHOW:

🎧 JOIN OUR PATREON: Unlock exclusive content and help us keep the weirdness coming at ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/thatwouldberad⁠⁠⁠

☕️ BUY US A COFFEE: Fuel our late-night research at ⁠⁠⁠buymeacoffee.com/thatwouldberad⁠⁠⁠

🛍 CHECK OUT OUR MERCH: Snag official RAD gear at ⁠⁠⁠thatwouldberad.myspreadshop.com

On a clear night along the Appalachian Trail, you might expect to hear the wind through the trees, the crunch of your boots on gravel, maybe the call of a whip-poor-will in the distance.
But for over two centuries, hikers, settlers, and locals have reported something else: strange creatures lurking just beyond the campfire glow.

From apple-snatching tricksters in Pennsylvania to headless hulks in West Virginia, the Appalachian Mountains are alive with legends of monsters that refuse to be forgotten.

This week, we dive deep into the cryptid lore of Appalachia. You’ll hear about:

• The mischievous Albatwitch, stealing apples along the Susquehanna.

• The terrifying Flatwoods Monster (“Braxie”), glowing-eyed and hooded in red.

• The ghostly White Thangs, pale cousins of Bigfoot.

• The stinking, swamp-stalking Skunk Apes of the southern Appalachians.

• Ole Slewfoot, the three-legged bear-beast of Balsam Mountain.

• Pukwudgies, magical tricksters of Wampanoag legend.

• The Loveland Frogmen, bipedal frogs on the edge of Ohio.

• The vampire-like Appalachian Chupacabra.

• Raven Mockers, shape-shifting omens of death that feast on human hearts.

• The mist-born Smoke Wolves, red-eyed predators that vanish into fog.

• Wampus Cats, half-woman, half-beast curses from Cherokee legend.

• The dragonlike Snallygaster, feared by early German settlers.

• The lumbering, headless Grafton Monster of West Virginia.

• And of course… the legendary Mothman, Appalachia’s most infamous omen.

We’ll explore:

• Eyewitness encounters that still haunt people decades later.

• How folklore blends with tragedy, history, and cultural memory.

• Why so many cryptid sightings cluster along the Appalachian Trail.

• And what these stories say about our deepest fears of the dark woods.

Join us as we trek into the shadows and unravel the monsters of the Appalachian Trail — creatures as strange, mysterious, and enduring as the mountains themselves.

Stay strange. Be Rad.
Got a cryptid story? We’d love to hear it — send us your experience (anonymous is fine).

CONNECT WITH US:

📲 Instagram: @thatwouldberad — Tag us, DM us, or share your strange stories.

🎙 Share a story / send a voice message: ⁠⁠thatwouldberadpodcast.com⁠

⁠⁠⁠✉️ Email: ⁠⁠thatwouldberadpod@gmail.com⁠⁠

SHOW INFO:

Hosts & Producers: Woody Brown & Tyler Bence

Recorded At: Midnight Radio Studios

Sound Wizardry: Woody Brown (Sound Design, Editing, & Music) & Tyler Bence (Mixing, Mastering, & Art Design)

Outro Jam: “Ghost Story” by The Modern Society

RAD WAYS TO SUPPORT OUR SHOW:

🎧 JOIN OUR PATREON: Unlock exclusive content and help us keep the weirdness coming at ⁠⁠patreon.com/thatwouldberad⁠⁠

☕️ BUY US A COFFEE: Fuel our late-night research at ⁠⁠buymeacoffee.com/thatwouldberad⁠⁠

🛍 CHECK OUT OUR MERCH: Snag official RAD gear at ⁠⁠thatwouldberad.myspreadshop.com