MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories

This story is a fan favorite from MrBallen's Medical Mysteries. One night in 1944, over 300 patients at a mental hospital in Oregon become violently sick after eating dinner. Many of them die. An investigation is quickly launched to determine the source of this deadly illness. Was there something wrong with the food itself? Or could it have been the work of a deranged killer? Listen Now: Wondery.fm/MBMM [http://wondery.fm/MBMM] For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen If 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 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

In 2002, two days after Halloween, a police officer stepped out of a house in the small town of Navasota, Texas. He shielded his eyes from the early morning sunlight, then ducked under the band of yellow tape that surrounded the house. The officer had been working all night and really needed a break. So he went down to the sidewalk and lit a cigarette. And as he smoked, his eyes fell on a muddy ditch that ran alongside the street. He saw something in the ditch that looked out of place. He walked closer and crouched down to examine the object. And when he saw what it was, his heart started racing. Because lying in the ditch was a mask. Under different circumstances, finding a mask two days after Halloween wouldn’t be that strange. But this wasn’t the kind of mask you’d buy at a costume shop... and the officer had found it 25 yards from the site of a murder. For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen If 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 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

Today’s podcast will feature 2 sailing horror stories. 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 -- "Survivor’s Guilt" -- Sailors have many "customs of the sea," but there is one that is exceptionally dark and once it begins, there's no going back for that crew. (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54toJMsfg94 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54toJMsfg94]) * #1 -- "The Kaz II" -- 3 friends' trip of a lifetime turns into a nightmare (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWOMY0JQdFs [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWOMY0JQdFs]) For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen [https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen] If 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 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

You know those messages that you get all the time, the ones that pop up out of nowhere? They could be real, but something about them seems fishy. You likely dismiss these texts and emails as mere annoyances, thinking you’ve stopped some random stranger from ripping you off. But the shocking truth is, the person behind that message might be trapped inside a “scam factory” on the other side of the world and forced to scam others against their will. From Wondery, comes a new series about the brutal reality behind these operations, where one family discovers a horrifying truth: the only way out is to scam their way out. Listen Now: Wondery.fm/Scam_Factory [http://wondery.fm/Scam_Factory]  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

On a summer night In 2013, newlyweds Joe and Olga Connell walked into their condominium in Wilmington, Delaware. Joe flipped on the light and sat down on the couch, while Olga headed to the bedroom to get changed. Suddenly, Joe heard a loud scream. He got up, and ran down the hall to the bedroom. There, he found Olga sitting on the floor yelling and crying. And he saw her jewelry boxes had been completely emptied and thrown off her dresser – thousands of dollars worth of rings and necklaces were just gone. But through her tears, Olga said she didn’t care about how much money they cost. Some of those pieces were precious family heirlooms that had been passed down to Olga from hers and Joe’s mothers. Joe comforted his wife, but he didn’t tell her what he was thinking. Because Joe thought he knew who had robbed them, and he feared this might be just the first attack in an escalating family war. For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen If 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 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].