Podcast
American Hauntings Podcast
Hosted by Cody Beck and Troy Taylor · EN
History, hauntings, legends, lore, true crime, and the dark side of American History. Hosted by Cody Beck and Troy Taylor, Season 10, "Murder City" is now live.
56episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
American Dread: No Consolation: The Westlawn Slayings
May 600:24:04Tap to summarizeThe call came in as a fire. What firefighters found inside was far worse. In March of 1994, three people were discovered dead inside a Westlawn Avenue home in Decatur, Illinois. The investigation led police to James David Dyer, a man already feared by one of the victims and already named in a court order. This episode follows the threats, the violence, the chase, and the aftermath of a case that left one town shaken. Check out our new American Hauntings Podcast Network for even more spooky shows.Have a question or comment? Text us on the Haunt Line @ 217-791-7859New Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/troytaylorodditiesCheck out our updated website and sign up for our newsletter at AmericanHauntingsPodcast.comWant an episode every week, plus other awesome perks and discounts? Check out our Patreon pageFind out merch at AmericanHauntingsClothing.comFollow us on Twitter @AmerHauntsPod, @TroyTaylor13, @CodyBeckSTLFollow us on Instagram @AmericanHauntingsPodcast, @TroyTaylorgram, @CodyBeckSTLThis episode was written by Troy TaylorProduced and edited by Cody BeckAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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Episode 20: "The Devil's Music - Part Two"
May 100:32:11Tap to summarizeBefore rock-n-roll started taking America by storm in the 1950s, you wouldn’t find a minister or holy roller anywhere in the country who didn’t refer to the blues as the “Devil’s Music.” During the Middle Ages, the Church told people that any kind of music that wasn’t about God was the work of the Devil. That became a popular refrain for church leaders – then and sometimes now. By the early twentieth century, it was jazz music – linked to the blamed of Storyville – that was being blamed for lewd and lascivious behavior. Jazz seemed really bad – but then came the blues -- a form of music with an angry, wicked sound that conjures up visions of dive bars, pool halls, graveyards, and an abandoned crossroads in Mississippi where the Devil just might be waiting for the next hopeful guitar player to come along, looking for fame and fortune.Then, with the blending of blues, country, hillbilly music, and more, rock-n-roll was born. It’s evolved in many ways over the years – but it’s always been trouble.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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The Battle For Cicero
Apr 2800:36:04Tap to summarizeCheck out our new American Hauntings Podcast Network for even more spooky shows.Have a question or comment? Text us on the Haunt Line @ 217-791-7859New Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/troytaylorodditiesCheck out our updated website and sign up for our newsletter at AmericanHauntingsPodcast.comWant an episode every week, plus other awesome perks and discounts? Check out our Patreon pageFind out merch at AmericanHauntingsClothing.comFollow us on Twitter @AmerHauntsPod, @TroyTaylor13, @CodyBeckSTLFollow us on Instagram @AmericanHauntingsPodcast, @TroyTaylorgram, @CodyBeckSTLThis episode was written by Troy TaylorProduced and edited by Cody BeckAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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Episode 19: "The Devil Goes to the Movies - Part Two"
Apr 2400:35:34Tap to summarizeAfter keeping a low profile in the previous decade, the Devil made a comeback in the 1940s, when soon-to-be-war-weary audiences were both diverted and disturbed by satanic entertainment. Thanks to the darkness lurking in the world during those years, we shouldn’t be surprised to find there were a number of genuinely ominous visions of evil captured on celluloid at the time.Reflecting on those terrible years of global bloodshed, the dawning of the nuclear age, and the years of exhaustion that followed the war, we find that many of the satanic films of the 1940s present a darkly pessimistic view that leaves no doubt that humanity really doesn’t need the Devil to encourage it to do evil.Our Sponsors:* Check out Shopify: https://shopify.com/hauntingsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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American Dread: Vanished in Auburn: The Brenda Bottoms Case
Apr 2200:15:04Tap to summarizeOn 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 @ 217-791-7859New Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/troytaylorodditiesCheck out our updated website and sign up for our newsletter at AmericanHauntingsPodcast.comWant an episode every week, plus other awesome perks and discounts? Check out our Patreon pageOur Sponsors:* Check out Shopify: https://shopify.com/hauntingsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Transcribe →Trailer for Season 7 Patreon Only Show: "Holy Terror"
Apr 2100:08:07Tap to summarizeThe 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/hauntingsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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Episode 18: "The Devil's Music - Part One"
Apr 1700:58:12Tap to summarizeThere 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.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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Riddled With Bullets
Apr 1401:29:14Tap to summarizeAs 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 @ 217-791-7859New Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/troytaylorodditiesCheck out our updated website and sign up for our newsletter at AmericanHauntingsPodcast.comWant an episode every week, plus other awesome perks and discounts? Check out our Patreon pageFind out merch at AmericanHauntingsClothing.comFollow us on Twitter @AmerHauntsPod, @TroyTaylor13, @CodyBeckSTLFollow us on Instagram @AmericanHauntingsPodcast, @TroyTaylorgram, @CodyBeckSTLThis episode was written by Troy TaylorProduced and edited by Cody BeckAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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Episode 17: "The Wickedest Man in the World"
Apr 1000:50:56Tap to summarizeThere 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.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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American Dread: The Pizza in Their Stomachs: The Hendricks Family Murders
Apr 800:20:00Tap to summarizeA 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 @ 217-791-7859New Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/troytaylorodditiesCheck out our updated website and sign up for our newsletter at AmericanHauntingsPodcast.comWant an episode every week, plus other awesome perks and discounts? Check out our Patreon pageOur Sponsors:* Check out Shopify: https://shopify.com/hauntingsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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