The Fear Archive

Zodiac vs. Zodiac | The Most Famous Killer in American History Whose Name We Still Don't Know

A note arrives at the San Francisco Chronicle in August 1969. It begins: This is the Zodiac speaking. He did not wait for the press to invent a nickname. He named himself. He branded himself. He was doing personal marketing before personal marketing was a concept — and he did it while murdering people and daring the public to catch him. The Zodiac killed five confirmed victims, possibly seven. He claimed 37. He was never identified, never arrested, never charged. He encoded his communications in ciphers that took the public 51 years to fully crack. He threatened to shoot children off school buses. He taunted detectives by name. He called radio stations. He wrote to celebrities. He turned the city of San Francisco into a stage and the San Francisco Chronicle into his personal broadcast network. In this episode of The Fear Archive, Amanda and Mike go deep into the full Zodiac case — the confirmed murders from Lake Herman Road in December 1968 through the killing of cab driver Paul Stine in October 1969, the 408-symbol cipher solved in a week by a high school teacher in Salinas, the 340-character cipher that remained unsolved for 51 years, the suspects, the letters, the phone calls, and the detective whose entire career was consumed by a case that never closed. They also cover the Zebra murders — a parallel series of killings happening on the same San Francisco streets at almost the same time, solved, largely forgotten, and in certain ways more disturbing precisely because there are answers. And they go deep on David Fincher's Zodiac, one of the greatest films of the 21st century and one of the most meticulous portraits of obsession ever committed to film. Also: the man who made an exploitation film to catch the Zodiac using a motorcycle raffle and an ice cream truck full of cops. Robert Graysmith, who started as a political cartoonist and ended as the most famous amateur investigator in American true crime history without ever being able to close the case. The New York Zodiac copycat who terrorized the city 20 years later from a room in his mother's apartment in Brooklyn using homemade zip guns. And the question this case refuses to let go of — what does uncaught evil do to a culture? What does the refusal of resolution produce? The names of the confirmed dead: David Faraday, Betty Lou Jensen, Darlene Ferrin, Cecilia Sheppard, Paul Stine. They were not ciphers. They were not mythology. They were people on ordinary nights in ordinary places. Hosted by Amanda Kagiwada and Michael Ryan Assip. Executive produced by Cassie Jozefov. A Violet Hour Media production. LISTENER WARNING: This episode contains graphic violence, descriptions of murder, discussion of threats against children, and a significant quantity of what Amanda calls epistemological horror — the specific terror of not knowing and never knowing. Popular Topics Include: Zodiac Killer, Zodiac Killer unsolved, David Fincher Zodiac film, Zodiac 2007 film, Robert Graysmith Zodiac, Zodiac ciphers, 408 cipher solved, 340 cipher solved, Lake Herman Road murders, Blue Rock Springs murders, Lake Berryessa attack, Paul Stine murder, Darlene Ferrin, Betty Lou Jensen, David Faraday, Zebra murders San Francisco, San Francisco Chronicle Zodiac letters, Zodiac suspects, Arthur Leigh Allen suspect, New York Zodiac copycat, Heriberto Seda, Sleep My Little Dead, unsolved serial killers, San Francisco 1960s, counterculture San Francisco, Fear Archive podcast, true crime horror, horror podcast, Amanda Kagiwada, Michael Ryan Assip, Violet Hour Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Dead Air | Ep. 07 | Amanda Got Scammed and Mike Is Watching a Prison Chef on YouTube

Dead Air is what happens between Fear Archive episodes — no research, no structure, no plan. Just Amanda and Mike talking until something disturbing comes up. It always does. This week opens with Amanda getting an extremely convincing bank scam call while driving — a caller who knew her address, told her a fraudulent Wells Fargo account had been opened in her name in Colorado and was being used to buy guns, and gave her two hours to withdraw all her money before Homeland Security froze every account she had. She caught on. But not before fully spiraling. She also connected the whole experience directly back to the Compliance episode — Stanley Milgram proved in 1963 that ordinary people would follow a voice of authority to extraordinary ends. Scammers are just using the same playbook. Also this week: Amanda and Mike officially launch No Return Flight — a new Dead Air segment dedicated to international horror films outside the American canon. First entry is A Swang, the 1992 Filipino horror film directed by Peque Galaga and Lori Reyes, featuring a creature that shifts between a beautiful young woman, a withered hag, and a giant snake, and who eats everything but the bones. Released by Mondo Macabro. Mike watched Twenty Eight Years Later: The Bone Temple and The Bride — Maggie Gyllenhaal's Bride of Frankenstein retelling — and has thoughts. Amanda watched Disclosure Day, the new Spielberg alien film, and loved it. Mike finally watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind for the first time at age 41 with his kids. Stanley Kubrick's complete Criterion collection just dropped for $500 including the international cut of The Shining — half an hour shorter, more disorienting, apparently the version Kubrick actually wanted. In the news: the serial squirter of Allentown, Pennsylvania has pleaded guilty. The FLDS leader currently serving 50 years is representing himself in a new Arizona child abuse trial and opened by telling the jury he is a kind and loving father who does not spank his children. Fifteen children got stuck on a new ride at Adventureland in Farmingdale, Long Island. Candace Cameron Bure announced on her podcast that horror movies are demonic portals and Liquid Death is cursed. Also: carny language, the Criterion sale at Barnes and Noble, John Waters' Desperate Living getting a 4K remaster, a prison chef on YouTube who electrified a bench to make a skillet, Jersey Mike's dentures, the Tylenol murders, and Mike choking on a burger flag at TGI Fridays fifteen years ago. Hosted by Amanda Kagiwada and Michael Ryan Assip. Executive produced by Cassie Jozefov. A Violet Hour Media production. LISTENER WARNING: This program contains strong language, discussion of true crime, and a detailed account of a very bad day at Splish Splash. Popular Topics Include: Fear Archive podcast, Dead Air podcast, horror podcast bonus episode, Amanda Kagiwada, Michael Ryan Assip, bank scam call Homeland Security, Stanley Milgram compliance, No Return Flight segment, A Swang 1992 Filipino horror, Peque Galaga, Mondo Macabro, Hellraiser Revival video game, Doug Bradley Pinhead return, The Bride 2025 Maggie Gyllenhaal, Disclosure Day Spielberg, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Stanley Kubrick Criterion collection, The Shining international cut, carny language Caesarian, serial squirter Allentown Pennsylvania, FLDS trial Arizona, Adventureland Long Island ride breakdown, Candace Cameron Bure horror portal, Liquid Death demon portal, prison chef YouTube Program Time, Jersey Mike's dentures, Tylenol murders, John Waters Desperate Living 4K, Violet Hour Media, horror podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

River's Edge vs. Marcy Conrad | 13 Teenagers Saw the Body. Nobody Called the Police.

There is a body lying on a riverbank. She has been there for two days. Somewhere between eight and thirteen teenagers have seen her. Some came back multiple times. Not one of them called the police. Her name was Marcy Renee Conrad. She was fourteen years old. Her boyfriend strangled her and then brought his friends to look. What those teenagers chose to do next — or rather, what they chose not to do — became one of the most disturbing cases ever studied in American adolescent psychology. In this episode of The Fear Archive, Amanda and Mike pair the real 1981 murder of Marcy Conrad in Milpitas, California with Tim Hunter's River's Edge — one of the bleakest, most unsettling portraits of American teenage life ever committed to film. The cast alone is extraordinary: Keanu Reeves before he was Keanu Reeves, Crispin Glover at his most unhinged, Ione Sky, Dennis Hopper. Tim Hunter went on to direct Breaking Bad, Twin Peaks, The Sopranos, and Mad Men. River's Edge is why those shows wanted him. But this episode is not really about the film. It is about the question the film refuses to let go of. What does it look like when an entire generation loses its capacity for moral feeling? And who is responsible when that happens? Amanda and Mike also go deep on the full lineage of nihilistic American teen cinema that River's Edge helped define — Stand By Me as its mirror image, Over the Edge as the invisible foundation, Kids, Gummo, Welcome to the Dollhouse, Mean Creek, Super Dark Times, George Washington, and the Greg Araki Teenage Apocalypse trilogy. This is the episode for anyone who has ever felt that the official version of American adolescence was missing something true. Anthony Jacques Broussard was convicted of first degree murder in 1983 and sentenced to 25 years to life. He was released on parole in 2023. The teenagers who saw Marcy's body and said nothing were never prosecuted — California had no statute requiring bystanders to report a death. It still does not. Marcy's mother Dolores Conrad spent decades fighting to change that. The effort largely failed. Marcy Conrad would have been sixty years old this year. Hosted by Amanda Kagiwada and Michael Ryan Assip. Executive produced by Cassie Jozefov. A Violet Hour Media production. LISTENER WARNING: This episode contains discussion of murder, intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and the moral failures of institutional systems. It is heavy in real ways. Popular Topics Include: River's Edge 1986 film, Marcy Conrad case, Milpitas California murder 1981, bystander effect teenagers, Keanu Reeves early films, Crispin Glover River's Edge, Dennis Hopper River's Edge, Ione Sky, Daniel Roebuck, Josh Peck, Neil Jimenez screenwriter, Tim Hunter director, Breaking Bad director, Twin Peaks director, Stand By Me 1986 film, Stand By Me vs River's Edge, Over the Edge 1979 film, Kids 1995 film Larry Clark, Gummo 1997 Harmony Korine, Welcome to the Dollhouse Todd Solondz, Mean Creek 2004 film, Super Dark Times film, George Washington 2000 David Gordon Green, Greg Araki Teenage Apocalypse trilogy, Totally Fucked Up 1993, The Doom Generation 1995, Nowhere 1997, nihilistic teen cinema, Reagan era film, moral collapse American teenagers, bystander law California, Anthony Broussard parole 2023, true crime California, Fear Archive podcast, horror podcast, Amanda Kagiwada, Michael Ryan Assip, Violet Hour Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Dead Air | Ep. 06 | Amanda Got 7AM Odyssey Tickets and Mike Was Part of a CIA Study

Dead Air is what happens between Fear Archive episodes — no research, no structure, no plan. Just Amanda and Mike talking until something disturbing comes up. It always does. This week: Amanda crashed an AMC app at 7AM to secure 70mm IMAX tickets to Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey on opening day. Peter put her in charge. She delivered. Mike still does not know what Tenet is about. They also cover: Amanda's review of Is God Is — the Tarantino-adjacent Southern Gothic revenge film everyone should be watching on a proper television. Mike's deep dive into Michael Jackson The Verdict on Netflix and why it completely flipped his understanding of the case. The Dead Internet Theory and whether most of what you are looking at online is AI-generated content designed to manipulate your decisions. A massive fire at the Hudson River Psychiatric Center in Poughkeepsie — a Kirkbride asylum built in 1867 that urban explorers have been documenting for decades. Amanda and Mike's separate and deeply unhinged teenage experiences breaking into King's Park and Pilgrim State. The GATE program, Soviet-era gifted education, and remote viewing. And Mike's confession that his Bank Street master's program involved being filmed by a TV news crew in behavioral simulations under a verbal NDA — and he may have been part of a study he never consented to. Also: Mother's Instinct on Netflix. Dorfan, a 1982 West German cannibal fan film getting a 4K remaster. Dirty sodas and Mormonism. Milk crate law. Purple pillows. And a murder fifteen minutes from Mike's house that he declines to fully describe on camera. Hosted by Amanda Kagiwada and Michael Ryan Assip. Executive produced by Cassie Jozefov. A Violet Hour Media production. LISTENER WARNING: This program contains strong language, discussion of violent crime, and Mike possibly being a government test subject. Popular Topics Include: Fear Archive podcast, Dead Air podcast, Christopher Nolan Odyssey film, Christopher Nolan IMAX, Dead Internet theory, AI generated content, Kirkbride asylum, Hudson River Psychiatric Center Poughkeepsie fire, King's Park Psychiatric Center, Pilgrim State Hospital, urban exploring New York, GATE program conspiracy, gifted and talented education CIA, Michael Jackson The Verdict Netflix, Is God Is film, Mother's Instinct Netflix, horror podcast behind the scenes, Amanda Kagiwada, Michael Ryan Assip, Violet Hour Media, horror podcast Philippines, Filipino horror podcast, pinoy podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Monster vs. Aileen Wuornos | The True Story Behind Charlize Theron's Oscar-Winning Role

Monster vs. Aileen Wuornos is the Fear Archive episode that asks the question true crime almost never asks: when society creates someone like this, does it have the right to destroy her? One day before her execution, Aileen Wuornos looked directly into a camera and said: we have evil in us. All of us do. And my evil just happened to come out because of the circumstances. She was not wrong. She was also completely terrifying. Those two things do not cancel each other out. Aileen Carol Pittman was born February 29th, 1956 — a leap year baby, as if the universe could not quite commit to her existing. Her father was a convicted child molester who died by suicide in prison without ever meeting her. Her mother abandoned her at four. She was pregnant at thirteen, on the streets at fifteen, trading sex for food. Not one functioning support structure at any point in her life. Then she killed seven men on the Florida highways. Then the state of Florida executed her. Patty Jenkins' 2003 film Monster gave Charlize Theron her Academy Award for Best Actress — one of the most discussed acting transformations in Hollywood history. Theron gained thirty pounds, shaved her eyebrows, wore prosthetic teeth, and built an entire inner life for a woman she clearly believed deserved more than a headline. The film was made for one and a half million dollars. It grossed sixty-four million. Aileen Wuornos was executed in October 2002. Monster opened in December 2003. She never saw it. In this episode, Amanda and Mike examine the full real case alongside the film and Nick Broomfield's two documentaries — which exposed the exploitation circus surrounding Aileen on death row — and the Karla Faye Tucker comparison that reveals exactly how American society decides which women deserve sympathy and which ones deserve the needle. Her last words referenced the 1996 Will Smith movie Independence Day. Big mother ship and all. Hosted by Amanda Kagiwada and Michael Ryan Assip. Executive produced by Cassie Jozefov. A Violet Hour Media production. LISTENER WARNING: This program includes discussion of murder, sexual violence, childhood abuse, capital punishment, and the execution of women. Please proceed with caution. Popular Topics Include: Aileen Wuornos, Monster 2003 film, Charlize Theron Monster, Charlize Theron Oscar transformation, Charlize Theron Best Actress Oscar, actors who transformed for roles, female serial killer, Aileen Wuornos true story, Patty Jenkins director, Monster film true story, Nick Broomfield documentary, Selling of a Serial Killer, Life and Death of a Serial Killer, capital punishment women, death row women, Florida serial killer, highway killer, sex worker serial killer, Karla Faye Tucker comparison, true crime horror podcast, Fear Archive, horror podcast, Amanda Kagiwada, Michael Ryan Assip, Violet Hour Media, horror podcast Philippines, Filipino horror podcast, pinoy podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]