The Room Went Dark

Peace, love and freedom. That was the promise of the 1960s counterculture. But beneath the surface of that idealistic movement, something far darker was taking shape.In this episode of The Room Went Dark, Amalie & Lorraine explore Netflix's Conversations with a Killer: The Charles Manson Tapes, a three-part documentary that revisits one of America's most notorious criminal cases.Through previously unreleased prison phone recordings, archival footage and firsthand accounts, we examine the rise of Charles Manson and the group of followers who became known as the Manson Family.We look at how Manson attracted vulnerable young people, manipulated their beliefs and gradually established a disturbing level of control over their lives. But how did a group that began with promises of love, freedom and belonging become connected to some of the most horrific murders in American history?We revisit the infamous Tate-LaBianca murders of August 1969, including the brutal killings of actress Sharon Tate and four others at her home, followed the next evening by the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.We also explore the investigation, the sensational courtroom trial and the media obsession that helped turn Manson into a household name.Join us as we look beyond the headlines and explore the disturbing true events behind the Manson Family.Join the Conversation Thank you for listening and please rate and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.Let us know your thoughts by contacting us on one of the following:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theroomwentdark_Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61588033651455Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theroomwentdarkEmail - [email protected]:Track: Caverns Of Madness -Artist: Darren Curtishttps://www.darrencurtismusic.com/

In 2005, director Andrew Douglas brought a terrifying new version of one of the most infamous haunted-house stories in history to the big screen. Starring Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George, The Amityville Horror tells the story of a family who move into their dream home, only to discover that its horrific past may not be finished with them.But what makes this story so unsettling is what came before the film.In November 1974, Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered six members of his family inside their home in Amityville, Long Island. A year later, George and Kathy Lutz moved into the property with their children, claiming they experienced terrifying paranormal events that forced them to flee after just 28 days. In this episode of The Room Went Dark, Amalie & Lorraine revisit the 2005 remake, explore its disturbing imagery and supernatural terror, and look beyond the screen at the real-life events that inspired it.Join the Conversation - Do you believe the Amityville house was haunted, or was it all a hoax?Thank you for listening and please rate and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.Let us know your thoughts by contacting us on one of the following:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theroomwentdark_Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61588033651455Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theroomwentdarkEmail - [email protected]:Track: Caverns Of Madness -Artist: Darren Curtishttps://www.darrencurtismusic.com/

Behind the image of a charismatic pastor and his devoted wife was a marriage that, according to those closest to Mica Miller, became increasingly controlling and frightening.In this episode of The Room Went Dark, Amalie & Lorraine take a deep dive into Netflix's three-part true-crime documentary Death of the Pastor's Wife, which examines the life of Mica Miller, her relationship with pastor John-Paul Miller, and the events leading up to her death in April 2024.Mica's story raises difficult questions about coercive control, domestic abuse, faith, power and the people who may have seen warning signs before it was too late.The documentary features previously unseen footage and accounts from Mica's friends and family as it reconstructs the relationship and the events surrounding her death, while also examining the continuing search for answers.Join the ConversationThank you for listening and please rate and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.Let us know your thoughts by contacting us on one of the following:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theroomwentdark_Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61588033651455Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theroomwentdarkEmail - [email protected]:Track: Caverns Of Madness -Artist: Darren Curtishttps://www.darrencurtismusic.com/

In this episode of The Room Went Dark, Amalie & Lorraine take a deep dive into Barry Levinson's 1996 crime drama Sleepers, starring Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Billy Crudup, Ron Eldard, Kevin Bacon, Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman.Set between the 1960s and 1980s, the story follows four boys from New York's Hell's Kitchen whose lives are changed forever after a prank goes horribly wrong and they are sent to the fictional Wilkinson Home for Boys. Thirteen years later, their past comes back to haunt them when two of the men encounter one of the guards who abused them.But there's another story hiding behind Sleepers.The film opens by presenting itself as a true story, yet the authenticity of Carcaterra's original book was questioned almost immediately. Contemporary reporting highlighted disputes over whether the events described had actually happened, making the question of fact versus fiction an important part of the film's history.Content warning: This episode discusses child abuse, sexual abuse, violence and trauma.Sleepers isn't simply a story about revenge. It's a story about childhood, friendship, trauma and the consequences of what happens when the people meant to protect children become the source of their suffering.Sourceshttps://www.iwf.org.uk/about-us/https://safeline.org.uk/about-us/Join the ConversationThank you for listening and please rate and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.Let us know your thoughts by contacting us on one of the following:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theroomwentdark_Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61588033651455Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theroomwentdarkEmail - [email protected]:Track: Caverns Of Madness -Artist: Darren Curtishttps://www.darrencurtismusic.com/

What if the thing you're most afraid of isn't really the monster?In this episode of The Room Went Dark, Amalie & Lorraine head to Derry, Maine, for a deep dive into Andy Muschietti's 2017 adaptation of Stephen King's IT — a film about childhood, fear, friendship and the things that follow us long after we grow up.We meet the Losers' Club, return to the storm drains and come face-to-face with Pennywise, the Dancing Clown. But beneath the balloons, jump scares and supernatural horror lies something considerably darker: a town where terrible things seem to happen again and again.We'll look at how Pennywise turns childhood fears into weapons, why Derry itself may be just as frightening as the creature hiding beneath it, and how the film uses its 1980s setting to create a distorted version of childhood nostalgia.But there's another story hiding beneath IT.Stephen King's fictional Derry was inspired by his real-life home of Bangor, Maine. And while writing IT, King was affected by the 1984 murder of Charlie Howard, a young gay man who was attacked by teenagers and thrown from a bridge in Bangor. That real-life tragedy became the inspiration for Adrian Mellon's story in King's novel — a connection that would eventually make its way onto the screen in IT: Chapter Two.We'll also look at the darker cultural history surrounding the image of the killer clown and the often-repeated comparisons between Pennywise and John Wayne Gacy's infamous "Pogo the Clown" persona — separating what is documented from what has become horror folklore.Because perhaps the most disturbing thing about IT isn't the creature in the sewer.It's the reminder that sometimes the real monsters are human.One town. Seven children. One ancient nightmare.Welcome to Derry.Join the Conversation:What are your thoughts on Pennywise?Thank you for listening and please rate and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.Let us know your thoughts by contacting us on one of the following:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theroomwentdark_Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61588033651455Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theroomwentdarkEmail - [email protected]:Track: Caverns Of Madness -Artist: Darren Curtishttps://www.darrencurtismusic.com/