The Underground City That Inspired a Horror Film

Summary

Twisted Tales with Heidi Wong

Episode: The Underground City That Inspired a Horror Film

Date: March 9, 2026
Host: Heidi Wong
Theme: Reality is the real horror—uncovering the true, disturbing stories lurking beneath sensational urban legends and blockbuster horror movies.

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Episode Overview

Heidi Wong dives into two shadowy true stories from the 1930s—one about a supposed civilization of "Lizard People" and their hidden treasure beneath Los Angeles, and another about a secretive plot by powerful businessmen to overthrow the U.S. government. Heidi then explores how these tales, blending conspiracy, paranoia, and hidden powers, influenced the 2008 horror film "Midnight Meat Train," starring Bradley Cooper, which centers on monsters beneath New York City.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Lizard People and the Underground City

[05:02 – 12:08]

• George Shufelt’s Gold Quest:
  In 1933, mining engineer George Shufelt moved to Los Angeles, armed with a homemade "doodle bug"—a device meant to detect gold and jewels underground.

  • Shufelt and friends followed an old sheepskin map (purportedly 100 years old) suggesting vast treasure buried under L.A.
  • The group received a 50/50 profit-sharing permit from the city, desperate in the Great Depression, and began digging beneath the Central Library and surrounding areas.

• The Lizard People Legend:

  • Pressed for results, Shufelt spun a new tale—he claimed to have evidence of an ancient labyrinth, “packed with stones, metals, tablets, jewels, and precious metals” constructed by “the Lizard People.”
  • Allegedly told to Shufelt by “Chief Greenleaf,” the story held that these tunnels were created 5,000 years ago by a technologically advanced Native American tribe to survive after a devastating meteor shower.
  • The tunnels, shaped like a giant lizard, extended from downtown LA north to Dodgers Stadium and west to Santa Monica Bay, complete with offshoots for ventilation.

  "These lizard tunnels are still down there, full of wells and secrets that we may never discover."
  — Heidi Wong (11:51)

• Outcome:
  The dig reached 250 feet, well short of the 1,000 needed according to Shufelt, and uncovered only regular old tunnels. The city ended the project in March 1934. Shufelt insisted the treasure and city existed until his death, but the story faded—no subsequent expeditions have been attempted.

Notable Quote:

"George explained that this gold was buried by a Native American tribe called the Lizard People. They were called this because they built tunnels in the shape of a giant lizard."
— Heidi Wong (07:06)

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2. Shadowy Plot to Overthrow America: The Business Plot

[13:08 – 18:58]

• Butler and the Coup Attempt:

  • At the same time, on the East Coast, General Smedley Darlington Butler—a decorated Marine—was approached by banker Gerald C. Macguire and millionaire Robert Sterling Clark in 1933.
  • The plot: Use Butler’s reputation to raise a private army of veterans and take over the government, making FDR “a president without any real power.”

• Big Names, Big Money:

  • Backed by the likes of J.P. Morgan, Goodyear Tire, Anaconda Copper, Bethlehem Steel, and Remington Arms. Clark claimed he was ready to spend half his $30 million fortune (“about $800 million today”) for the plan.
  • Butler played along to unearth details, working with journalist Paul French.

  "After talking with Gerald Maguire and Robert Clark, he went straight to Paul French, a journalist…This kind of scoop was a journalist's dream."
  — Heidi Wong (15:48)

• Exposing the Conspiracy:

  • Butler bravely testified in Congress (Nov 20, 1934), detailing the attempted coup, but was mocked in the media (“a gigantic hoax”—The New York Times).
  • Congress confirmed the plot’s existence, but no one was prosecuted. The story was quietly filed away, and Maguire died suddenly—as the tale faded, the idea of “powerful unseen forces” endured.

  "Smedley's story was true, but nothing came of it. But this idea of something big lurking in the shadows never really left the American consciousness."
  — Heidi Wong (17:34)

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3. True Events, Urban Legends, and Horror: "Midnight Meat Train"

[21:40 – 27:23]

• Movie Plot Synopsis:
  "Midnight Meat Train" (2008) follows photographer Leon Kaufman, whose obsession with gritty city life leads him into the path of a butcher named Mahogany, who kills subway passengers to feed a race of subterranean creatures—the City Fathers.

  • Leon’s pursuit starts with him capturing a woman being assaulted, then following the suspect (Mahogany) and unraveling the conspiracy.
  • The subway system masks a horrifying secret: monstrous entities who must be fed nightly, their existence covered up by humans “doing their dirty work.”

  "Mahogany has slaughtered dozens of passengers and hung their bodies on meat hooks…In the final bloody showdown… Leon kills Mahogany. But it's not a victory."
  — Heidi Wong (24:12)

• Influence of True Stories:

  • The tale intertwines elements of both the Lizard People urban legend and the Business Plot’s themes of conspiracy and hidden power.
  • Barker's original story reimagines the 'people under the city' as literal monsters. The movie and legend both critique the notion of powerful entities—be they mythical or corporate—exerting control from the shadows.

  "Whether they're in an underground tunnel or a penthouse of a snake skyscraper, there are powerful things out there hiding just out of sight, and if you're not careful, they'll consume you without a second thought."
  — Heidi Wong (26:35)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Conspiracy and Urban Legend:

  "Some stories say creatures live in carefully crafted tunnels below the earth, hoarding history's most important secrets. Others say the real monsters aren't underground at all. They're actually above us, looking down from skyscrapers, making their fortunes from our downfall."
  — Heidi Wong (01:23)

• On the Nature of Power:

  "Both of the stories I shared with you today are about power beneath the surface."
  — Heidi Wong (18:51)

• On the Appeal of Dark Truths:

  "Reality is the real horror."
  — Heidi Wong (show description)

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Important Timestamps

• [05:02] — The story of George Shufelt and the Lizard People begins
• [13:08] — Smedley Butler and the Business Plot coup attempt
• [21:40] — Overview and analysis of "Midnight Meat Train"
• [26:35] — Reflection on how these urban legends and true stories blend into horror fiction

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Takeaways

• True tales of subterranean cities and government conspiracies echo in horror fiction, making urban legends feel all the more real.
• "Midnight Meat Train" channels genuine historical paranoia, reinforcing the idea that horror is often rooted in our reality—the shadowy, unchecked power structures, whether ancient or contemporary, beneath our feet or above our heads.
• The real monsters may not be in supernatural tunnels but in boardrooms and behind closed doors.

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Stay curious—and remember Heidi’s warning:

"There's no reason to fear the dark unless you try to hide from it." (27:15)

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For more eerie true stories, subscribe to Twisted Tales and join the next episode.

Transcript

[Heidi Wong]

Hey, it's Heidi. Looking for your next true crime podcast to listen to? There's a new crime house show for you to check out. It's called the Final Hours, hosted by Sarah Turney and Courtney Nicole. Sarah is an advocate for missing and murdered victims whose sister disappeared in 2001. And Courtney is a true crime storyteller who has seen firsthand how crime can change a family forever. Together, they bring lived experiences to every case, examining the moments just before a person disappears, the routines, the timelines, the small details that often get over overlooked because every disappearance has a moment where everything still feels normal. Until it doesn't. Listen to and follow the final hours on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes drop every Monday.

[Crime House Announcer]

This is crime house foreign.

[Heidi Wong]

It's Heidi Wong and this is Twisted Tales. Each week we uncover the true stories that inspired horror's darkest legends. Subscribe if you dare and share your own twisted tale below. This week, two shadowy conspiracy theories that may have influenced the plot of a 2008 horror movie starring Bradley Cooper. What if there was something sinister happening beneath your feet? Some stories say creatures live in carefully crafted tunnels below the earth, hoarding history's most important secrets. Others say the real monsters aren't underground at all. They're actually above us, looking down from skyscrapers, making their fortunes from our downfall. Wherever they are, they're feeding on fear, on power, and on us. Welcome to Twisted A Crime House Original. I'm Heidi Wong. Every week I'll take you deep into humanity's darkest stories and how they influence some of the world's biggest horror horror movies. If you've ever had a haunted moment or a twisted tale of your own, I want to hear about it. Drop it in the comments, the creepier the better. And for early access and ad free listening, subscribe to our Crime House plus community on Apple Podcasts. Today, we're looking at dark, unseen forces lurking beneath the surface. First, I'll tell you about one man's quest to find a legendary treasure hidden by an elusive civilization known as the Lizard People. Then, the true story of a shadowy plot to take over the United States. At first glance, these might not seem like they have anything to do with each other, but I'll finish up by telling you how these two stories came together to influence and craft the plot of a 2008 horror movie starring Bradley Cooper.

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[Heidi Wong]

So let's get into it starting in 1933 with a man named George Shufelt. In 1933, a mining engineer named George Shufelt moved from the Midwest to Los Angeles in search for gold. George had built this thing he called a doodle bug, an electric radio device that he claimed could pick up on gold underground. Sounds kind of like those metal detectors that people use to find junk on the beach. George said that his device could, quote, detect electrical similarities between matter to find precious metals and jewels. And he knew just where to look. Some of George's friends in Ohio had made a map of sheepskin. They claimed this thing was like 100 years old, because, of course, it was. According to the map, there was gold buried all over Los Angeles. So they all moved to la, ready and willing to dig deep holes in search for fortune. They started using the doodlebug to take readings all over la. And apparently they found something downtown around the Central library. The device was freaking out. They decided that this was where they would dig. Georg Shufelt and his friends told the county that they split their findings 5050 with the government. Apparently that was enough for them to get a digging permit in February of 1933. This was the Great Depression, and the city was desperate. So as long as the team left the property in its original condition, paid for all the costs of the dig, and split the profits 5050 with the city, George and his friends were allowed to do it. They dug and dug and dug, mainly in areas that their maps said were abundant in riches. Now, I know this is going to be a shock, but they kept coming up empty. George's team was getting burnt out, and the city was too. The permit was extended month by month, but patience was wearing thin. The miners kept running into issues like not digging deep enough, tunnels collapsing, and even earthquakes. And of course, no gold. George knew he'd need a good story to convince the city to let him continue. So in November, after about eight months of digging, he approached them again, claiming to have evidence of something below the surface even better than gold. An underground labyrinth. George claimed these tunnels were packed with stuff. Stones, metals, tablets, jewels and precious metals. George explained that this gold was buried by a Native American tribe called the Lizard People. They were called this because they built tunnels in the shape of a giant lizard. He said that he heard this tale from a Native American man in Arizona named Chief Greenleaf. George didn't give them any more details about this guy or how their paths crossed, but he did say that Greenleaf knew something that the rest of us didn't. Greenleaf said the lizard people created the tunnels 5,000 years ago after a massive meteor shower had threatened to destroy their tribe. After the meteors rained down on the west coast, destroying crops and killing thousands, the surviving Lizard people planned an underground refuge. As for how this was possible, their tribe had already outpaced modern society in technological advancements. They were capable of building a subterranean metropolis that could hold thousands of people and store their most valuable assets. Kind of like the lost city of Atlantis. This makeshift city stretched below modern day Los Angeles for milesthe tail of the Lizard tunnels was near the downtown library. The head was two miles north underneath what's now Dodgers Stadium in Echo Park. Offshoots of the main lizard structure spanned 20 miles west under the Santa Monica Bay, where Georg Shufeld theorized they were used to ventilate the underground city. But according to Greenleaf, it didn't really work. When another meteor shower hit shortly after the tunnels were built, the lizard people survived the impact. Sadly, they were eventually killed by gas leaks inside the bunker that couldn't be vented out. Which meant of course, that these tunnels were abandoned along with the wealth they contained. But there were also secrets buried below. That's right. According to George, Chief Greenleaf had said that inside the tunnel's so called key room were gold tablets which contained sacred writings on the origin of humanity that modern humans didn't yet know. These tablets were supposedly huge, 4ft long and 14 inches wide. And throughout the labyrinth there was gold and treasure. George would need to dig 1,000ft underground to reach these alleged tunnels. Yes, it sounds wild, but it wasn't wild enough for the city to say no. So they let George do it. For what it's worth, even today, Los Angeles does have a lot of underground tunnels. There are utility passages, abandoned mines and old infrastructure. Some of these mines were even used for smuggling alcohol during Prohibition. So in the 1930s, George and his team did run into some of those existing non mythical and non gold filled tunnels. But they couldn't find the underground city that Chief Greenleaf had described. By the end of November, their main dig was 200ft deep. But that was a far cry from the thousand feet George said that they needed to dig. By January of 1934, when the shafts were 250ft deep, the press was picking up on the story running features about this guy and his underground city of gold. Just when the team was getting some newspaper coverage, George just gave up. They hadn't been able to find these tunnels nor the answers to the origin of humanity. And before they could even get close to Deepenough, the search was called off. In February of 1934, they were like, let's go home, you guys. By March, the shafts had been filled in and the contract was canceled. George said that they hadn't found the Lizard People's city because they couldn't get deep enough. He said that around 250ft they ran into some water seepage and it wasn't safe to continue. Of course, people were skeptical. Some said that he made it all up just to have a justification for the dig. But George maintained everything he said. Up until his death in 1957, he believed the gold was there. It was just too far down. Nobody else has tried to find the Lizard People's city since George and his team stopped Nick nearly a century ago. It would probably be impossible to try now. Anyway, LA is a city of commuters. Can you imagine shutting down the freeways for months to burrow for an alleged treasure that may or may not exist? An underground city shaped like a lizard. But if we take George at his word, then these lizard tunnels are still down there, full of wells and secrets that we may never discover.

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[Heidi Wong]

In 1933, when George was searching for buried treasure under LA, a devious plan was developing on the east coast. A plot to take over the country. So let's get into it. Starting with the summer of 1933 with a man named Sarah Smedley Darlington Butler, and yes, that is his real name. All joking aside, Smedley was a real American hero. He was one of the most decorated Marines in U.S. history. A two time Medal of Honor winner who retired from the marine Corps in 1931 with the rank of major general. Smedley's post military life was totally normal. For the first couple of years after he retired, he spent most of his time on public speaking, speaking frequently donating his lecture fees to support unemployment relief efforts from the Great Depression until In July of 1933, he was approached by a smooth talking bond salesman named gerald C. Maguire. McGuire told Smedley that he represented a group of powerful businessmen and that they were terrified. The Great Depression was in full swing and war was brewing in Europe. The world was in chaos and Maguire's friends didn't think President FDR could handle it. Maguire told Smedley that they were organizing an army of half a million veterans. They wanted Smedley to use them to make himself Secretary of General affairs and demote FDR to a president without any real power. Smedley played it cool. There was no way he was going to sign up for this. But he didn't want to turn Maguire down and have him move on to someone who might actually take the deal. He wanted to find out how to stop it and who else was involved. His instincts paid off. Shortly after that meeting, Smedley was introduced to Robert Sterling Clark, the heir to the singer's sewing machine fortune. Clark was more blunt than Maguire. He basically said, I have $30 million and I'm down to spend half of it to overthrow FDR. But what's even crazier for perspective is that $30 million back then is worth about $800 million today. Clark also said that he had plenty of rich and powerful friends to help foot the bill. And a lot of people were in on this. Rich and powerful men from financial institutions like JP Morgan and industrial giants Goodyear Tire, Anaconda Copper and Bethlehem Steel. They even had a guy from Remington Arms who'd agreed to supply the weapons in exchange for power and riches beyond his wildest dreams. Smedley was asked to raise an army, take over the country and run the country as a dictator on behalf of a state secret organization of powerful businessmen. Smedley just sat there smiling and nodding, agreeing to what they were saying without really intending to do it because it was probably really terrifying to hear. After talking with Gerald Maguire and Robert Clark, he went straight to Paul French, a journalist for the Philadelphia Record newspaper. This kind of scoop was a journalist's dream. And French investigated. He went to Maguire's office on Wall street pretending to be interested in joining the plot. It was clear to Smedley and the journalists that this wasn't just some half baked idea. It was a well established network of bankers, industrialists, businessmen and former military men with real money, real influence, and a lot of confidence. Smedley could pretty easily have kept quiet about all of this. He was retired, beloved, and living a comfortable life. But he had a moral compass and he knew he had to expose this scheme. So on November 20, 1934, Smedley sat himself in front of Congress to testify under oath about this crazy plot. It was a pretty wild claim that a shadowy group of rich guys wanted him to lead a massive army to overthrow the US Government. Not surprisingly, he wasn't really taken seriously. The press and the public mocked him. The New York Times called his story a gigantic hoax and suggested it made the United States look stupid and gullible, that there was no way Congress was going to find anything to support his story. Butler became a joke. The whole thing was just too ridiculous. Even so, Congress agreed to investigate. After all, Smedley had given them names, letters, notes and witnesses, all on a silver platter. Guess what they found? Smedley was right. But even after they investigated, nobody was arrested and thrown in prison for treason. The committee disbanded, the report was quietly filed away, and headlines vanished. In March of 1935, just one month after Congress issued its report, Gerald McGuire suddenly died of natural causes. And after that, life just went back to normal. Smedley's story was true, but nothing came of it. But this idea of something big lurking in the shadows never really left the American consciousness. Because if a group of wealthy men could really plot a takeover, what else could happen in the shadows? Both of the stories I shared with you today are about power beneath the surface. Next we'll get into the plot of Midnight Meat Train with what I just told you. Is this supernatural horror movie not as crazy as it might seem?

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[Sarah Turney]

My name is Sarah Turney. I spent years fighting for justice for my missing sister, Alyssa Turney, before an arrest was finally made in her case after nearly 20 years. I know what it's like to fight for media attention, for answers, and for justice. On my podcast, Voices for Justice, I provide unique insight into these tragic cases because I know what it's like to not just listen to these stories, but to live them. Listen to Voices for Justice in your favorite podcast player. Today,

[Heidi Wong]

Midnight ME train follows Leon Kaufman, a New York City street photographer trying to get his big break. Leon's girlfriend put him in touch with a woman named Susan, the owner of a fancy gallery in the city, to show her some of his photos. He was really trying to get showcased in an upcoming art show for wider visibility. He needed to take more risks, like capturing more of New York's real sinister parts. And so Leon set out to find that dark edge. He decides that the New York City subway is the perfect place to start. Trigger warning here for mentions of physical assault. On his very first night of doing this, he comes upon a woman being assaulted at knifepoint. So he grabs some photos before stepping in to stop it. Obviously, this is not cool. He should have been trying to help her instead of using her trauma for his own content. Instead, Leon is energized because this is the kind of photography Susan is looking for. He does want to help though. The next morning, he sees in the paper that the woman he photographed was reported missing. When he goes to the police with his pictures, the cops brush him off. But of all the people to actually listen to him, the one who did was the gallery owner, Susan. In fact, she loves the photos and says that they have the exact kind of edge that she Wants for for her gallery show. She offers Leon a spot if he can bring her two more photos like the ones that he took. So he takes to the streets again and follows a creepy looking guy coming out of the subway station. As Leon snaps photos of him, he notices that the man is wearing this very distinctive ring. And that same ring was in his photos the other night on a hand holding the subway door open for that missing woman. So Leon starts following this man around all day to and from work, hiding behind walls with his camera. And this thing starts to border on obsession. He's basically stalking the guy and discovers that his name is Mahogany and he works as a butcher at a meatpacking plant. Then Leon discovers some old newspaper articles about a butcher who murdered a bunch of people. So he goes into full on conspiracy theory mode. You probably know where this is going. One night, Leon follows Mahogany onto the midnight train and sees the horrifying truth. Mahogany has slaughtered dozens of passengers and hung their bodies on meat hooks. And now you get the terribly amazing and catchy movie title, the Midnight Meat Train. As Leon is piecing it all together, Mahogany creeps up from behind him and attacks. Leon blacks out, and when he comes to, he's in a slaughterhouse with symbols carved into his chest. Meanwhile, Leon's girlfriend is worried after not hearing from him for days, so she decides to break into Mahogany's apartment. Classic horror movie logic. She finds decades of subway schedules, jars of organs, newspaper clippings, and evidence of ritual murders spanning over a century. Realizing Leon is in danger, she boards the midnight train to rescue him. In the final bloody showdown, Leon kills Mahogany. But it's not a victory. The train screeches to a halt at a secret underground station where these horrifying, monstrous creatures are feasting on the corpses of Mahogany's victims. The conductor tells Leon that this is an ancient ritual, a sacrifice to keep the city safe. And now Leon must take Mahogany's place. So he wears his suit, sits in his seat, and becomes the new butcher of the midnight Meat train. Now look, we all know that the subway can be an unnerving place, especially at night. But Midnight Meat Train is actually Adapted from a 1984 short story with the same name by writer Clive Barker. It's about a homicidal butcher lurking on the subway and hanging people's corpses by meat hooks. And it's also based on a well known urban legend. In the original story, Mahogany isn't so much a person as it is an entity. Kind of like a job title. Mahogany is the one tasked with murdering subway passengers to feed those horrible underground creatures so they never come to the surface to wreak havoc on humanity. These monsters are called the City Fathers. They're beings that control the country from the shadows, feasting on innocent victims. They can only survive by preying on human flesh, but are too weak to get it themselves, and they convince other people to do it for them. Going back to our first two stories, Gerald Maguire and his friends weren't feeding horrific monsters living in subway tunnels, and the lizard people were just looking for a safe place to live, not to control the world. But you can see how these ideas have something in common with the movie the Midnight Meat Train. Whether they're in an underground tunnel or a penthouse of a snake skyscraper, there are powerful things out there hiding just out of sight, and if you're not careful, they'll consume you without a second thought. Thanks for joining me on this episode of Twisted, a Crime House original. I'd love to hear from you. What did you think about today's stories? Anything you're dying for me to COVID Leave a comment or review wherever you're tuning in. And be sure to follow Twisted Tales so we can keep building this community together. I'll be back next week with another unbelievable true story. Until then, stay curious and remember, there's no reason to fear the dark unless you try to hide from it.

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[Heidi Wong]

Hi, it's Heidi. If you want more true crime stories, check out the new Crime House original about dis security the Final Hours hosted by Sarah Turney and Courtney Nicole. Listen and follow the final hours on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes drop every Monday.

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