DiscoverMrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories
MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories

MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories

Author: Ballen Studios

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MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark and Mysterious Stories is a true crime and mystery podcast that presents strange, dark and mysterious content delivered in story format. The program is hosted by John Allen a.k.a. MrBallen.

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395 Episodes
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One afternoon in February 2007, a man walked across an icy parking lot to the front door of a police station in Merrillville, Indiana. Next to him was an officer, whose job it was to make sure the man actually went inside the station. The man was very nervous – there was a warrant out for his arrest on a drug charge, and he’d been brought here to get questioned and then processed. But he hoped he’d get to leave again right away, because he had information about a four-year-old murder case, and he intended on trading that information for his freedom. And he was sure this would work, since what he knew wasn’t just a tip – it was a bombshell. Still, his stomach was in knots as he took a deep breath and opened the station door. For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
...Who's There?

...Who's There?

2025-11-1333:135

You think you’re safe at home, but today’s 2 stories prove you’re not. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:#2 -- "Who’s Out There?" --  A woman's worst nightmare unfolds at a cabin in the woods (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFQzByJkbko)#1 -- "Denver Spiderman" -- Police discover a secret inside a locked house (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z07gs6D9E8) For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In the early hours of Thursday, February 21st, 2008, a six-year-old girl woke to a creaking noise down the hallway outside her bedroom door. It was a blustery night in rural Nevada, so she figured it was just the wind bending frozen tree branches in the yard. But then another creaking noise filled the house, this time even closer to her bedroom. She pulled her covers tight around her and stared out through the crack in the door. An uneasy feeling settled over her as the light in the hallway shifted. She could almost see the outline of a person standing outside her room. She squinted, trying to make out a face, wondering if it was one of her parents checking in on her. But as quick as the shadow appeared, it vanished into thin air. For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From Beyond Vol. II

From Beyond Vol. II

2025-11-0634:471

Today’s podcast will feature 3 spooky stories about messages from beyond. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:#3 -- "Old Souls" -- A mother in China makes a wild discovery (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7MaT5XFeoU)#2 -- "More Than A Feeling" -- A woman wakes up in the middle of the night with a strange feeling (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCdzzoB7jrQ)#1 -- "A Thousand Tortured Souls" -- A cemetery in Scotland with a dark history (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onSDRLNWCF4) For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
One morning in September 2016, a person sat in their home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, holding a business card. Like always, the sight of it made their stomach twist into knots. The card had been given to them years ago by a detective, and it was worn and faded from all the times the person had turned it over in their hands, agonizing over what to do with it. The detective had been looking for leads in a murder case, and at the time, the person said they had nothing to share. But that was a lie – they actually did have information about that murder, and had kept it a secret for years. Now, over two decades later, they’d finally decided to tell the truth. But they were scared. Because they knew when they did – nothing would ever be the same. For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
This story is a fan favorite from MrBallen's Medical Mysteries.When a woman gets sick with a mystery illness during the height of the COVID pandemic, she fears her holiday season will be ruined. But as her entire family starts getting sick one by one, a lousy Christmas is the least of her worries. For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @MrBallen Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
On a September afternoon in 2000, an FBI forensics analyst stood in her lab in Quantico, Virginia, staring into a microscope in confusion. She was looking at two strands of hair that were evidence in a murder investigation. And something wasn’t right. She checked the label on the evidence bag the sample came from, then looked back into the microscope. She definitely wasn’t imagining it. The label was wrong, which meant that the detective who had packaged the hairs and sent them over for analysis – had not understood what he was looking at. And this wasn’t a small mistake. Because if the analyst was right about what the hairs really were – then the whole investigation she was working on was about to change. For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
The Beast of Gévaudan

The Beast of Gévaudan

2025-10-2327:25

This story is about a 3-year period in France where people were going missing at an alarming rate and no one knew why. Eventually it was discovered, and let me tell you, it is absolute nightmare fuel.Story name, preview & link to original YouTube video:#1 -- "The Beast of Gévaudan" -- A small village in France is terrorized by a beast (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4Mm1tJm_Z0)For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
On the morning of July 11th, 2009, an elderly woman grabbed a coffee and sat down at her kitchen table in Pensacola, Florida, to read the local paper. The news was a big part of her day – she had lived in her neighborhood for 60 years, and liked keeping tabs on everything that was going on in her community. Which was usually a lot – Pensacola and the surrounding county had some of the highest crime rates in Florida. So she wasn’t surprised when she opened the paper that morning and saw a police bulletin about a homicide in the area. The message asked residents of Pensacola to be on the lookout for a red van. But when she saw the grainy photo of the vehicle, she gasped and almost knocked over her coffee. Because she’d seen that van. And she knew exactly who it belonged to. For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Unanswered Vol. II

Unanswered Vol. II

2025-10-1630:01

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories about mysterious disappearances. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:#3 -- "Lava Tubes" -- 1100+ miles of underground lava tubes in this park... (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNpctf6WJx8)#2 -- "Stay in the Car" -- Two people go missing after a car crash (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=shared&v=eOxeX1MkcWo)#1 -- "What Just Happened?" -- Woman repeatedly calls 911 then vanishes... (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vARuVoqbQL0)For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
One afternoon in January of 1998, a prosecutor for the state of Georgia sat in the very back row of seats in a courtroom where a divorce trial was unfolding. The prosecutor was not involved in the divorce case – he handled murder trials. But he had come here today, because he had gotten a very surprising phone call about an unsolved case he had worked on a year and a half earlier. The caller had told him that the testimony in this divorce – could solve that murder. Now, in the courtroom, the prosecutor felt his heart rate pick up, as the witness he had been waiting for took the stand. And as soon as the witness started talking – the prosecutor knew: he had solved the murder.For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Cost of Adventure

Cost of Adventure

2025-10-0932:051

Today’s podcast will feature 4 stories about adventures… that go wrong. The audio from all four stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:#4 -- "Bungee" -- A couple decides to go bungee jumping, but someone panics and the result is caught on video... (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfnbgIkT_jk)#3 -- "Geocaching" -- 4 young people explore an underground tunnel (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtDAo7jS8Z4)#2 -- "127 Hours" -- Man is forced to make a horrifying decision (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kODsF75lAJY)#1 -- "Head Count" -- A group of boys go for a hike. They’re having a great time, until one of them takes a picture... (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaSQ4ou05dc)For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
On the morning of May 17th, 2014, a detective wrote furiously as she sat next to the hospital bed of a mortally-injured 77-year-old woman. The woman had been in a coma for the last ten days, and the detective had been desperately working to figure out who had tried to kill her. Now that the woman had woken up, the detective was finally getting the chance she’d been waiting for – to ask her victim directly. But the woman was afraid. She told the detective she had a lot to say, but she couldn’t say it here, at the hospital – because she was still in danger. For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
The Truth Beneath

The Truth Beneath

2025-10-0234:181

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories where things are not what they seem. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:#3 -- "Deer Crossing" -- A man's drive home from a night out turns into a nightmare (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgeDUqyCgqE)#2 -- "Ancient Beast" -- A security guard searches for a dangerous criminal at the Canadian border (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l74_VQPdxjU)#1 -- "Stay Forgetful" -- A man wakes up on the side of the road with no idea of who he is or how he got there (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcWArGuE1Os)For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Late on a June evening in 2000, a detective with the Easton PA Police Department sat in his car on a darkened neighborhood street, surveilling a house nearby and waiting patiently. After what seemed like an eternity, someone emerged from the house, carrying a couple of bulky trash bags in their hands. The detective tensed up– but he didn’t move. It wasn’t the person that he was waiting for. The detective kept watching as the person placed their trash bags on the curb for pickup in the morning, and then walked back inside the house. And that was when the detective flung open his car door. As quickly as he could, he darted across the street and grabbed the bags. He then ran back to his car and stuffed the bags in his trunk. As he drove away – he knew he was about to solve his murder case. For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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 three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:#3 -- "Mercy Road" -- A sinister secret hides in a nightly news report (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKeWsdjvnGc)#2 -- "The Woman in a Wrinkled Dress" -- A security guard searches for a dangerous criminal at the Canadian border (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miq7GLDrgVg&t=1s)#1 -- "Striking a Discord" -- The line between fantasy and reality is blurred for a group of online gamers (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcWArGuE1Os)For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
One evening in the summer of 1998, homicide detective Danny Payne sat in a dark room in a Tennessee suburb police station. He was focused on a TV screen where some surveillance footage played. The recording was bad quality, all blurry and pixelated. But it was still clear what the camera was pointed at – which was a nighttime scene of a McDonald's. On the screen, the shape of a person moved toward the restaurant door and disappeared inside. The video was too low quality to make out any identifying details... but the person wasn’t what Payne was watching. He was focused, instead, on a car parked at the far end of the McDonald's lot. Payne had watched this video probably 30 times, but he’d never noticed the car before. Now that he saw it, though, he realized that nothing in this case, was what he had thought it was.For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Prey

Prey

2025-09-1838:01

Today’s podcast will feature 3 chilling horror stories that serve as a stark reminder – we’re not always at the top of the food chain. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode.Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:#3 -- "The Hand That Feeds" -- A man has a deadly secret in his apartment (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_jD-95RhWo)#2 -- "Modern Day Dinosaurs" -- Man sneaks into a predator’s territory (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8swB7qMU7gk)#1 -- "Cat and Mouse" -- A hunter encounters something terrifying in the Russian wilderness (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZA7BqNO-YU)For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
This story is a fan favorite from MrBallen's Medical Mysteries.During the COVID pandemic, a boy starts experiencing sudden, inexplicable bursts of pain. At first, his symptoms seem psychological – but then doctors say he may need brain surgery to fix the problem. That’s when the boy’s mother turns to a cutting edge technology to help her figure out what’s wrong with her son.Listen Now: Wondery.fm/MBMMFor 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @MrBallen Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. And today’s podcast features 3 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:#3 -- "Family Dinner" -- In 2013, a man was preparing dinner for his family, when he realized he was missing a key ingredient for the meal (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUoex49Yzng)#2 -- "Table for Two" -- A woman spots something very odd about her neighbor’s dinner party (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWOMY0JQdFs)#1 -- "Lucky Day" -- A man stumbles into two highly unlikely scenarios when he goes surfing in Africa, and it may sound made up, but it's not (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLT32AR5c68)For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Comments (696)

Ari

Edinburgh is eh-din-bruh

Nov 12th
Reply

Zoey perrin

my fav podcast

Nov 7th
Reply

L. Silvermain

Glad that last doctor could helped them and lessoned!

Nov 5th
Reply

L. Silvermain

That real sucks that it was a App that salved her sons dyanoice! Why are these doctors so lazy? That poor kid went for years having all these issues! if the doctors did there jobs then that boy could have grown up half his young life normal! Not in pain !

Nov 5th
Reply

L. Silvermain

👍🖤

Nov 5th
Reply

L. Silvermain

👍

Nov 4th
Reply

Kylie Neilson

Ok George was a major plot twist. Loved that.

Oct 30th
Reply

Kylie Neilson

This is so fucked up. I love horror and can watch a lot of true crime without being affected but this disturbed me.

Oct 30th
Reply

Kylie Neilson

This was so chilling and well told. I absolutely loved it.

Oct 25th
Reply

Ari

Aron Ralston is an ass. dude made all this money off his book, never thanked SAR, couldnt be bothered to donate to the cause.

Oct 10th
Reply

Ahmad Kazemi

The story is great 🌹🌹🌹

Oct 6th
Reply

Allouette

y'know when you dramatise the story you could at least try to be realistic. If Vladimir died before anyone saw him again, you can't possibly know why he went into the cabin.

Oct 5th
Reply

Marnee DeRider

It's "serious turn for the worse", not "serious turn for the worst"

Sep 26th
Reply

Simo plops

the last story did NOT have to be dragged out soooo long. usually greta, but please dont stretch it out

Sep 25th
Reply

Emily J

this episode made me furious! there are at least 5 points where she should have just dropped everything and disappeared. but i don't blame her - we don't know what circumstances kept her where she was. poor girl deserved better. 😢

Sep 24th
Reply

Marnee DeRider

You missed an opportunity to point out that asthma kills many people every year.

Sep 14th
Reply

L. Silvermain

👍🖤

Sep 12th
Reply

Carl Bayly

I dotn think me ballen has ever surfed

Sep 11th
Reply

Carl Bayly

or just paddle in on your board. duh

Sep 11th
Reply

L. Silvermain

🖤👍

Sep 11th
Reply
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