A father’s sins often haunt the son, but in the case of Ion Rimaru—dubbed the Vampire of Bucharest—his brutal killing spree eerily mirrored his father’s unsolved crimes, leading to one of Romania’s most horrifying true crime sagas.

FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Ion Rimaru is a murderer like no other – vampirism, cannibalism, necrophilia – and why shouldn’t he? After all, he’s taking after his serial killer father. (The Disturbing Crimes of a Father and Son) *** A neural network named "Norman" is disturbingly different from other types of artificial intelligence. How? Well, for one… it’s a psychopath. (Meet Norman, The Artificially Intelligent Psychopath) *** Twenty high school students all lost consciousness and collapsed under mysterious circumstances during class on Tuesday, July 3. Was it mass hysteria? Juju in Ghana? Or did the students actually see ghosts as they claim? (Ghana Students Faint After Seeing Ghosts) *** At a young age, Edmund Kemper decapitated his sisters' dolls and even stalked his second-grade teacher with a bayonet. But he was young and just getting started. (Serial Killer Edmund Kemper) *** During the Second World War, in the gruesome world of Unit 731, the unthinkable was done on a daily basis. Prisoners, were subjected to unimaginable horrors. Today, ghostly voices are heard and anomalies frequently appear in photographs. (Unit 731) *** Top Secret CIA files have emerged from the 1950s exposing the explosive truth about alien UFOs visiting earth. (Bigger Than Roswell) *** After the wealthy and prominent Blanche Monnier fell in love with a commoner, her mother did the unthinkable in an attempt to stop it – locking her in her room for years on end. (Locked Away For Falling In Love) *** A similar story to that of Blanche Monnier, is the imprisonment of Elisabeth Fritzl. She spent 24 years in captivity, confined to a makeshift cellar and repeatedly tortured - by her own father. (The Horrifying Case of Elisabeth Fritzl) *** Despite having one husband and two boyfriends over the years, Dolly Oesterreich continued to keep her secret lover hidden in her attic. (Lover In The Attic) *** The Star Gate project. What was it, really? And did the government shut it down? (The Star Gate Project)

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding
00:01:10.410 = Show Open
00:04:08.300 = The Disturbing Crimes of Father and Son
00:16:05.365 = Ghana Students Faint After Seeing Ghosts ***
00:19:39.257 = Serial Killer Edmund Kemper
00:26:53.894 = Unit 731
00:31:10.331 = Meet Norman, The Artificially Intelligent Psychopath ***
00:36:09.488 = The Star Gate Project
00:48:00.820 = Locked Away For Falling In Love
00:53:01.433 = The Horrifying Case of Elisabeth Fritzl
01:00:50.103 = Lover In The Attic
01:08:23.753 = Bigger Than Roswell ***
01:11:51.675 = Show Close
*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad break

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SOURCES and RESOURCES:
“Ghana Students Faint After Seeing Ghosts” by Sequoya Kennedy for Mysterious Universe: http://bit.ly/2oqghUU
“Serial Killer Edmund Kemper” by Gabe Paoletti for All That’s Interesting: http://bit.ly/2nDRLiF
“Unit 731” posted at Ghost-Story.co.uk: http://bit.ly/2nGqXyg
“The Disturbing Crimes of a Father and Son” by Les Hewitt for Historic Mysteries: http://bit.ly/2nG8phK
“Meet Norman, The Artificially Intelligent Psychopath” by Mindy Weisberger for Live Science: http://bit.ly/2m8n2d7
“The Star Gate Project” by Arjun Walia (link no longer available)
“Locked Away For Falling In Love” by Gina Dimuro for All That’s Interesting: http://bit.ly/2nDCz57
“The Horrifying Case of Elisabeth Fritzl” by Katie Serena for All That’s Interesting: http://bit.ly/2mc4h8M
“Lover In The Attic” by Erin Kelly for All That’s Interesting: http://bit.ly/2ooCN0h
“Bigger Than Roswell” by Michael Havis for DailyStar.co.uk: http://bit.ly/2mGGePD
(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)

WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.
Originally aired: November, 2018

EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources and full transcript): https://weirddarkness.com/BeastOfBucharest