MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories
Episode: Frozen Hell
Date: February 19, 2026
Host: MrBallen (John Allen)
Overview
In "Frozen Hell," MrBallen presents three chilling stories about people who braved the most extreme cold—and met horror or tragedy as a result. Each narrative delves into historical and recent accounts where severe cold formed a backdrop for the macabre, the mysterious, and the truly haunting. From 19th-century seafaring discoveries to modern-day religious rituals gone awry and explorers succumbing to madness in the Arctic, this episode exemplifies the podcast's commitment to "strange, dark, and mysterious" storytelling.
Story 1: Over the Horizon
[02:32–09:22]
Key Points
- Setting: Drake Passage near Antarctica, September 23, 1839. Captain Brighton and his whaling crew are stranded by ice before a storm allows their escape.
- Discovery: The crew spots a dilapidated schooner, oddly present in remote, icy waters.
- Boarding the Ship: Speculating the crew may need help, Captain Brighton leads four men onto the schooner. They see figures through the portholes but find the deck deserted.
- Silent Quarters: They enter the captain's quarters to find a man seated at a desk, unmoving.
- Unsettling Journal: The man had written in his journal, "Trapped by icebergs. Despite all efforts, the fire went out last night. No hope remains,"—dated January 17, 1823, sixteen years earlier.
- Shocking Realization: All crew members on the ship, including the captain, are discovered frozen in situ, having been preserved by the cold since 1823. The macabre scene includes:
- People frozen mid-card game
- A woman with her dog, both frozen in bed
- Others at the dinner table, still seated in their final moments
- Theme: The Antarctic cold preserved a time capsule of a doomed voyage—an entire crew lost to history, only to be discovered by chance.
Notable Quotes & Moments
- “What was the most unsettling part was actually what was written right above that journal entry. The date January 17, 1823. Sixteen years before.” — MrBallen [08:12]
- “It was like all these people had been frozen in time for nearly two decades, just floating around in Drake’s Passage, and basically nobody had found them until Captain Brighton.” — MrBallen [09:12]
Story 2: Rite of Passage
[09:35–13:55]
Key Points
- Setting: St. Petersburg, Russia, January 19, 2022. Anna Uskova records a family religious ceremony in the woods during Russian Orthodox Epiphany.
- Ritual Description: The tradition involves cutting a cross-shaped hole in ice and submerging oneself in freezing water for spiritual purification.
- Family-Only Ceremony: Unlike prior years, Anna’s family conducts the ritual alone rather than with the church, lacking safety equipment or professionals on site.
- Tragic Turn: Anna goes first, stepping into the icy river. She disappears beneath the water and does not resurface—her family panics and screams.
- Unforeseen Danger: The site, a “raging river,” had current beneath the ice, making it deadly. Anna is swept away with no way to reemerge.
- Aftermath: Despite her husband’s attempts to rescue her and a subsequent search, Anna’s body is never recovered.
Notable Quotes & Moments
- “She drew a cross on her chest. Then she stepped forward and kind of jumped feet first and then disappear. One second passed with no sign of Anna, and that was okay. But then two seconds passed… then three seconds passed and still no Anna. And at that point, her husband and her kids began to scream.” — Co-host [12:32]
- “The reason it was deserted is it was a terrible spot for this ceremony...they had chosen a raging river that, yes, it’s frozen, but underneath that river is still flowing, and it’s a very deep river.” — Co-host [13:32]
Story 3: Under the Tarp
[16:12–31:32]
Key Points
- Setting: King William Island, Arctic Canada, April 1848. Inuit hunters encounter a shocking spectacle while hunting.
- Unexpected Sight: Instead of animals, they see a group of roughly 40 white men (Kalunat), moving awkwardly, their bodies battered and skin discolored. Some are pulling a sled covered by a tarp.
- Bizarre and Horrifying Behavior: One man collapses screaming. His companions calmly add his body to the corpse-filled sled and continue as if nothing happened.
- Aftermath: The Inuit hunters retreat, then return with seal meat to offer help, assuming the men are starving.
- Tracking the Party: The following day, the coast is deserted, but tracks lead to abandoned campsites with left-behind supplies, including a pot over a fire.
- Macabre Discovery: Opening the pot, they find a human skull with signs of cannibalism.
- Historical Unraveling: Decades later, it’s revealed these were British explorers whose canned food was contaminated by lead. Lead poisoning induced insanity, causing them to abandon plentiful supplies and shelter, wander into the wild, and in desperation, resort to cannibalism.
- Cannibalism Revealed: The sled of bodies was used as a mobile food supply.
Notable Quotes & Moments
- “They were lumbering, almost like they weren’t in control of their bodies...their skin, it was like black and blue, and their clothes were tattered, and they were just kind of lumbering along, about 40 of these kalunat, these white men.” — Co-host [17:33]
- “They pulled the sled right up alongside this man who had just fallen to the ground after screaming and they just sort of nonchalantly pulled back the tarp, revealing all sorts of bodies on the sled.” — Co-host [20:24]
- “Inside of the pot was clearly a human skull. And that skull had been cracked open as if whoever was tending this pot had literally been scooping in and basically eating this person’s brain.” — Co-host [30:45]
Themes & Tone
- The episode maintains MrBallen’s signature suspenseful, respectful, and narrative-driven tone, recounting tragic events with vivid detail and a sense of empathy.
- Themes of isolation, the deadly power of nature, and the limits of human survival are present in all three stories, each punctuated by moments of horror, shock, and bleak revelation.
Key Timestamps for Important Segments
- Opening & Story Introductions: [00:00–01:08]
- Story 1: Over the Horizon: [02:32–09:22]
- Story 2: Rite of Passage: [09:35–13:55]
- Story 3: Under the Tarp: [16:12–31:32]
- Notable Quote (Cannibalism Discovery): [30:45]
Memorable Quotes (with Attribution and Timestamps)
- “What was the most unsettling part was actually what was written right above that journal entry. The date January 17, 1823. Sixteen years before.” — MrBallen [08:12]
- “She drew a cross on her chest. Then she stepped forward...and then disappear. ...her husband and her kids began to scream.” — Co-host [12:32]
- “Inside of the pot was clearly a human skull...had literally been scooping in and basically eating this person's brain.” — Co-host [30:45]
Closing Note
MrBallen emphasizes that, while all stories are based on true events, some names are changed and details dramatized for storytelling impact. The episode delivers an experience that is both haunting and thought-provoking, highlighting mankind’s vulnerability and the unfathomable outcomes that can unfold in "frozen hells" across the world.