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On a summer night in 1987, 22-year-old Brenda Sue Bottoms left her home in Auburn, Illinois for a short walk to a nearby tavern. Hours later, she was seen getting into a brown car with dents on the passenger side. She was never seen again. Nearly four decades later, investigators say new information has surfaced — including the possibility that more people witnessed Brenda’s final moments than originally believed. In a town where people remember everything…who is still keeping this secret? Check out our new American Hauntings Podcast Network for even more spooky shows. Have a question or comment? Text us on the Haunt Line @ 217-791-7859 New Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/troytayloroddities Check out our updated website and sign up for our newsletter at AmericanHauntingsPodcast.com Want an episode every week, plus other awesome perks and discounts? Check out our Patreon page Our Sponsors: * Check out Shopify: https://shopify.com/hauntings Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The story of the murderous priest, Hans Schmidt, is one that has been seldom told, even though he may have been one of the most depraved criminals in American history. Scmidt left a trail of mayhem behind him in Germany when he came to the United States and he left death and destruction in his wake as he was moved from parish to parish around the country, keeping him one step ahead of rumors, accusations, and embarrassment for the Church. But Catholic officials had no idea of the secrets they were keeping for Father Schmidt. They didn’t know about his pathological obsession with blood, his deranged sexual appetites, or the murders, of course. I’d like to think that if they knew just how dangerous this priest was, they would have done something to stop him. But I don’t suppose we’ll ever know.  But what I do know is that this is not a story for the nervous, the faint of heart, or those too afraid to be face the violence, sex, brutality, religious depravity, and blood-soaked murder to come. If you're brave enough, I dare you to join me for this one. HOLY TERROR: THE TRUE STORY OF AMERICA’S KILLER PRIEST will be season 7 of our new podcast that you can only get by becoming a Patreon supporter of American Hauntings.  To do that, just go to PATREON.COM/AMERICANHAUNTINGS and get signed up now in time for the first episode of the new season, coming in May 2026! Our Sponsors: * Check out Shopify: https://shopify.com/hauntings Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

There has always been something strange about music. It has captured the imaginations of people in ways that nothing else has ever been able to do. This was true during the days of traveling minstrels, when folk music emerged from the Appalachian Mountains, when the first jazz music was played in the brothels of New Orleans, and when the first bluegrass songs rattled across the American South. But when the first notes of the blues – which eventually gave birth to rock-n-roll – began to be heard from roadhouses and juke joints, the fundamentalists were convinced that the Devil himself had invented his own brand of music. And maybe they’re right. The origins of rock-n-roll are murky, at best. It is, by its nature, difficult to define, and even harder to explain. There may never be a single, clear-cut, universally accepted explanation for the origins of rock-n-roll. From its inception, it’s been twisted by myth, folklore, legend, rumor, and fact. There is no other kind of music – or even type of popular culture – that has such a rich history of depravity, untimely deaths, bizarre curses, and lives filled with excess. It’s almost as if someone sold their soul to the Devil to end up with the kind of lifestyle that music can offer. Our Sponsors: * Check out Shopify: https://shopify.com/hauntings Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

As John Torrio was dividing up Chicago into territories so that the gangs could fairly supply the city with bootleg liquor, Al Capone was coming into his own in the Windy City... Check out our new American Hauntings Podcast Network for even more spooky shows. Have a question or comment? Text us on the Haunt Line @ 217-791-7859 New Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/troytayloroddities Check out our updated website and sign up for our newsletter at AmericanHauntingsPodcast.com Want an episode every week, plus other awesome perks and discounts? Check out our Patreon page Find out merch at AmericanHauntingsClothing.com Follow us on Twitter @AmerHauntsPod, @TroyTaylor13, @CodyBeckSTL Follow us on Instagram @AmericanHauntingsPodcast, @TroyTaylorgram, @CodyBeckSTL This episode was written by Troy Taylor Produced and edited by Cody Beck Our Sponsors: * Check out Shopify: https://shopify.com/hauntings Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

There were few faces as recognizable to anyone with an interest in the occult as his was in the twentieth century. His clean-shaven head and piercing eyes got the attention of everyone from would-be disciples in the 1920s to rock stars in the 1960s. Musicians like the Beatles put him on the cover of their Sgt. Pepper album and Ozzy Osborne used his name as the title of one of his songs. Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin was an ardent collector of his books, relics, and artifacts and he even bought the man’s home on the shores of Loch Ness in Scotland – yes, that Loch Ness, where the monster lives. But the former owner of that home was a monster of another kind. His name was Aleister Crowley, and he not only was a man closely linked to the Devil and the occult, but he also helped to shape the rabid interest in the occult that exploded in America decades after his death. Our Sponsors: * Check out Shopify: https://shopify.com/hauntings Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

A family is slaughtered in their beds. No forced entry. No warning. The only timeline comes from what three children ate for dinner. David Hendricks said he left town. Police said the clock told a different story. Convicted. Overturned. Acquitted. Four victims. No answers. Check out our new American Hauntings Podcast Network for even more spooky shows. Have a question or comment? Text us on the Haunt Line @ 217-791-7859 New Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/troytayloroddities Check out our updated website and sign up for our newsletter at AmericanHauntingsPodcast.com Want an episode every week, plus other awesome perks and discounts? Check out our Patreon page Our Sponsors: * Check out Shopify: https://shopify.com/hauntings Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

American pop culture in the 1920s and 1930s was on the verge of a new sort of entertainment. Cultural shifts and breakthroughs in technology had led to a steady stream of new kinds of books, comics, music, and magazines, but it would be film that transformed popular culture forever. The ghostly images watched with strangers in the dark proved to be powerful enough to incite as well as to entertain.  Soon after films gained popularity, Americans began to use them to frame their history and their identity, as well as to literally project their fears and anxieties.  And among those fears were the fears of the Devil.  When the Devil first began to appear in early American movies, his story was part of a heavily Christianized moral lesson. The same couldn’t be said for Europe – where filmmakers were using satanic lore to create fantastic and uncanny imagery, but American films were much tamer and much more puritanical. They steered mostly clear of explicitly supernatural subjects and used theaters as fire and brimstone pulpits instead. At first anyway… because as the imagery onscreen eventually began to reflect satanic themes, audiences responded and darker days for the cinema were soon on the way. Our Sponsors: * Check out Shopify: https://shopify.com/hauntings Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

John Torrio was finally exactly where he wanted to be.  With his uncle, Big Jim Colosimo out of the way, his business expanding across the South Side of the city and into the suburbs, and his trustworthy young right-hand man, Al Capone, at his side, he was ready to start dividing up the Chicago into territories. With all the various gangs that already existed in the city eager to jump into the liquor business, Torrio knew that it would be impossible to keep the peace without a plan... Check out our new American Hauntings Podcast Network for even more spooky shows. Have a question or comment? Text us on the Haunt Line @ 217-791-7859 New Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/troytayloroddities Check out our updated website and sign up for our newsletter at AmericanHauntingsPodcast.com Want an episode every week, plus other awesome perks and discounts? Check out our Patreon page Find out merch at AmericanHauntingsClothing.com Follow us on Twitter @AmerHauntsPod, @TroyTaylor13, @CodyBeckSTL Follow us on Instagram @AmericanHauntingsPodcast, @TroyTaylorgram, @CodyBeckSTL This episode was written by Troy Taylor Produced and edited by Cody Beck Our Sponsors: * Check out Shopify: https://shopify.com/hauntings Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

A mother. A bathtub. A death ruled suspicious. In 2012, Lisa Cutler was found drowned in her Mount Zion, Illinois home while her children slept upstairs. At first, it looked like an accident. But more than 20 bruises… a failing marriage… and over a million dollars in life insurance told a different story. Was it a tragic fall— or something far more deliberate? Check out our new American Hauntings Podcast Network for even more spooky shows. Have a question or comment? Text us on the Haunt Line @ 217-791-7859 New Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/troytayloroddities Check out our updated website and sign up for our newsletter at AmericanHauntingsPodcast.com Want an episode every week, plus other awesome perks and discounts? Check out our Patreon page Our Sponsors: * Check out Shopify: https://shopify.com/hauntings Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

John Torrio was ready when the new Prohibition law went into effect, but he seemed to be the only one. He was waiting impatiently for everyone else to catch up. He’d been predicting Prohibition to his friends and business associates for months and knew it would be how organized crime could amass untold amounts of wealth. To take something that had always been legal, and make it illegal, especially a vice like alcohol, and then expect Americans to adhere to the letter of the law was incredibly naïve. Torrio knew that by taking advantage of Prohibition, it was a way for people like himself to become millionaires.  Check out our new American Hauntings Podcast Network for even more spooky shows. Have a question or comment? Text us on the Haunt Line @ 217-791-7859 New Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/troytayloroddities Check out our updated website and sign up for our newsletter at AmericanHauntingsPodcast.com Want an episode every week, plus other awesome perks and discounts? Check out our Patreon page Find out merch at AmericanHauntingsClothing.com Follow us on Twitter @AmerHauntsPod, @TroyTaylor13, @CodyBeckSTL Follow us on Instagram @AmericanHauntingsPodcast, @TroyTaylorgram, @CodyBeckSTL This episode was written by Troy Taylor Produced and edited by Cody Beck Our Sponsors: * Check out Shopify: https://shopify.com/hauntings Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The strange and sometimes sinister world of America’s homegrown religions, faith movements, and cults is filled with bizarre characters. There are many that most listeners have undoubtedly heard of, but what about the cult leader who actually became a king? In 1847, the only man ever crowned king within the continental United States began his rule from a secluded island in Lake Michigan. James Jesse Strang was a religious leader, politician, attorney, teacher, writer, and newspaper editor, who attracted more than 2,500 followers to a place that he ruled with an iron hand. After being ejected from the Mormon Church, he created his own sect, for which he served as prophet, seer, and revelator and built an organization that he hoped would rival the church of Brigham Young in Utah. But his strange adventures as a church leader and king would eventually lead to his assassination and the fall of the only kingdom that’s ever existed within the United States. Our Sponsors: * Check out Shopify: https://shopify.com/hauntings Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

She was only a few feet from safety. On a freezing December night in 1975, Carol Ann Rofstad never made it inside her sorority house. Instead, she was found beaten and dying beside the building the next morning. Her murder shocked the Illinois State University campus — and may have been connected to a series of disturbing attacks on college women. Nearly half a century later, the case remains unsolved. This is The Girl Who Never Reached the Door. Check out our new American Hauntings Podcast Network for even more spooky shows. Have a question or comment? Text us on the Haunt Line @ 217-791-7859 New Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/troytayloroddities Check out our updated website and sign up for our newsletter at AmericanHauntingsPodcast.com Want an episode every week, plus other awesome perks and discounts? Check out our Patreon page Our Sponsors: * Check out Shopify: https://shopify.com/hauntings Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The date when a shaft of divine light came down from the heavens and transformed Franz Edmund Creffield from an obscure, backwater evangelist into Prophet Joshua the Second remains a mystery. We also don’t know the exact spot where the spiritual ordination occurred but – we do know that it occurred in 1903 in Corvallis, Oregon. History has shown us that trouble tends to follow in the wake of modern-day prophets and if the prophet come with an Old Testament beard and a desperate need to chase after the skirts of young women, then the trouble is sure to be multiplied and, of course, lurid and salacious, too. This particular backwoods prophet had both the beard and the taste for women, but it was said that he also had tremendous power. In fact, when he raised his voice in holy anger, as he did on one memorable occasion, the city of San Francisco shook horribly, then fell, trembling and smoking into ruin, becoming one of the greatest disasters America has ever known. Our Sponsors: * Check out Shopify: https://shopify.com/hauntings Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

John Torrio was 31 years old when he first came to Chicago to free his uncle by marriage – Big Jim Colosimo – from threats by Black Hand gangsters. But Torrio’s service went beyond that. He was soon reorganizing and expanding Big Jim’s vice rackets and while they continued to thrive for a short time, trouble was on the way. On the other side of the city's powerful people, William Thompson ran for mayor with the wide-openness of a champion athlete on the side of truth, justice, and the American way. He actually vowed in this first campaign that "I am going to clean up Chicago," but by this third campaign, his picture was hanging in Al Capone's office, and the gangster was donating as much as $250,000 for Thompson's re-election... Check out our new American Hauntings Podcast Network for even more spooky shows. Have a question or comment? Text us on the Haunt Line @ 217-791-7859 New Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/troytayloroddities Check out our updated website and sign up for our newsletter at AmericanHauntingsPodcast.com Want an episode every week, plus other awesome perks and discounts? Check out our Patreon page Find out merch at AmericanHauntingsClothing.com Follow us on Twitter @AmerHauntsPod, @TroyTaylor13, @CodyBeckSTL Follow us on Instagram @AmericanHauntingsPodcast, @TroyTaylorgram, @CodyBeckSTL This episode was written by Troy Taylor Produced and edited by Cody Beck Our Sponsors: * Check out Shopify: https://shopify.com/hauntings Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On Easter Sunday, April 13, 1895, parishioners at the Emmanuel Baptist Church in San Francisco were shocked when a closet was opened that contained the mutilated body of a young woman. Police detectives who were summoned to the church expected the corpse to belong to a 20-year-old woman named Blanche Lamont, a member of the church’s congregation who had gone missing 10 days earlier. But it wasn’t her. Instead, the dead woman was 21-year-old Minnie Williams, who was also a member of the church. And that wasn’t all the two young women had in common. Both had last been seen with the church’s handsome and well-liked Sunday School Superintendent, a man named Theo Durrant – who soon earned a nickname from the press. They called him “The Demon in the Belfry,” because it was almost impossible for anyone to believe that the brutal murders could be the work of an ordinary man. He had to be one of the Devil’s minions, escaped from the fiery pits of Hell.  Our Sponsors: * Check out Shopify: https://shopify.com/hauntings Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy