{"podcast":{"title":"Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories","slug":"weird-darkness-paranormal-true-crime-stories-475827","podcast_index_feed_id":475827,"rss_url":"https://www.spreaker.com/show/3655291/episodes/feed","website_url":"https://weirddarkness.com","image_url":"https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/a1570d70b941e8f0e16b68380622d72f.jpg","author":"Darren Marlar","episode_count":1000,"summary":"Award-winning podcast of true stories of the paranormal, supernatural, legends, lore, the strange and bizarre, true crime, conspiracy, mysterious, macabre, unsolved and unexplained -- seven days a week! Hosted by professional voice actor Darren Marlar, named one of the “Best Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-28T14:17:16.106491+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/weird-darkness-paranormal-true-crime-stories-475827"},"episode":{"title":"True Hitchhiking Horror Stories: Killers, Victims, and Ghosts Thumbing Rides","slug":"true-hitchhiking-horror-stories-killers-victims-and-ghosts-thumbing-rides","published_at":"2026-07-21T00:00:02+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/weird-darkness-paranormal-true-crime-stories-475827/true-hitchhiking-horror-stories-killers-victims-and-ghosts-thumbing-rides","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/weird-darkness-paranormal-true-crime-stories-475827","url":"https://weirddarkness.com/HitchhikingHorrors","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/73075554/wd20260720_hitchhikinghorrors.mp3","summary":"A serial killer who kept his victims' heads, a woman held under a waterbed for seven years, and a phantom passenger who vanishes from the back seat — the open road has taken more than its share. EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/HitchhikingHorrors READ or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/29xmnbka FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: The open road is a beautiful place where you can make friends that you’d otherwise never meet and have adventures that will change your life. But there are also extreme dangers to traveling with strangers on highways and backroads. No matter how trustworthy or well-intentioned a driver might seem, it's nearly impossible to tell if they are actually a predator or murderer, preying upon innocent hitchhikers. Creepy, true hitchhiker stories can make you think twice before picking up that stranger at the side of the road - or trying to \"thumb it\" yourself. LISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps *No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast* SOURCES and RESOURCES: “The Hitchhiker” original story at the beginning of this episode was written by HoneyBunny00: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8b53e2 “Hitchhiking Horror Stories” by Isadora Teich for Ranker.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3yj8t3ka , by Jacob Shelton for Ranker.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2s4a2wkz , Eric Redding for ThoughtCatalog.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/hk8pn8rf , and from ScaryCarries.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2aead59t “Phantom Hitchhikers” posted at Anomalien.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/y4…","meta_description":"A serial killer who kept his victims' heads, a woman held under a waterbed for seven years, and a phantom passenger who vanishes from the back seat — the…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":5351,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/weird-darkness-paranormal-true-crime-stories-475827/episodes/true-hitchhiking-horror-stories-killers-victims-and-ghosts-thumbing-rides/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/weird-darkness-paranormal-true-crime-stories-475827/true-hitchhiking-horror-stories-killers-victims-and-ghosts-thumbing-rides.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}