MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories
Episodes
Operation Mincemeat
11 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 2 totally unbelievable stories from the battlefield. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main...
The Confession (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
08 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On April 29, 2002, in the small town of Pataskala, Ohio, a social worker sat on the floor with a two-year-old girl. The little girl's mother had been ...
No Way Out Vol. VIII
04 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast features 4 stories that involve people who were trapped – with “no way out.” The audio from all four stories has been pulled f...
The Bedroom Window (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
01 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Around 3:00 AM on September 5th, 1981, a woman drove through a housing development in Lakeland, Florida. She was with two of her friends, who had agre...
Nightmare Fuel
27 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 3 horror stories that are just pure nightmare fuel. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouT...
Watch It Again (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
24 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On December 30, 2016, a woman sat down at her computer in her New Mexico home and pulled up the video feed from her surveillance system. Everyone in ...
Storytime with MrBallen | Oz Pearlman
21 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Joining me is a man you've probably seen all over the internet, the great Oz "The Mentalist" Pearlman. WATCH the full video here: https://youtu.be/Qx...
We Are Not Alone Vol. III
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 2 stories that reveal we may not be alone in this universe. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from o...
Personal Business (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
17 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
One afternoon in February 2007, a man walked across an icy parking lot to the front door of a police station in Merrillville, Indiana. Next to him was...
...Who's There?
13 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You think you’re safe at home, but today’s 2 stories prove you’re not. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTub...
The Shadow in the Doorway (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
10 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the early hours of Thursday, February 21st, 2008, a six-year-old girl woke to a creaking noise down the hallway outside her bedroom door. It was a ...
From Beyond Vol. II
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 3 spooky stories about messages from beyond. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube cha...
Getting to Heaven (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
03 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
One morning in September 2016, a person sat in their home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, holding a business card. Like always, the sight of it made th...
Medical Mysteries - "False Alarm"
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This story is a fan favorite from MrBallen's Medical Mysteries.When a woman gets sick with a mystery illness during the height of the COVID pandemic, ...
The Knot (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
27 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On a September afternoon in 2000, an FBI forensics analyst stood in her lab in Quantico, Virginia, staring into a microscope in confusion. ...
The Beast of Gévaudan
23 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This story is about a 3-year period in France where people were going missing at an alarming rate and no one knew why. Eventually it was discovered, a...
The Full House Heist (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
20 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On the morning of July 11th, 2009, an elderly woman grabbed a coffee and sat down at her kitchen table in Pensacola, Florida, to read the local paper....
Unanswered Vol. II
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories about mysterious disappearances. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube chann...
Death Of A Ladies' Man (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
13 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
One afternoon in January of 1998, a prosecutor for the state of Georgia sat in the very back row of seats in a courtroom where a divorce trial was unf...
Cost of Adventure
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 4 stories about adventures… that go wrong. The audio from all four stories has been pulled from our main YouTube...
The Monaco Matriarch (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On the morning of May 17th, 2014, a detective wrote furiously as she sat next to the hospital bed of a mortally-injured 77-year-old woman. The wo...
The Truth Beneath
02 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories where things are not what they seem. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube c...
Three's a Crowd (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
29 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Late on a June evening in 2000, a detective with the Easton PA Police Department sat in his car on a darkened neighborhood street, surveilling a house...
Monsters Among Us Vol. IV
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories that will make you wonder how many monsters you may have encountered in your life. The audio from all three s...
Detail in the Dark (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
22 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
One evening in the summer of 1998, homicide detective Danny Payne sat in a dark room in a Tennessee suburb police station. He was focused on a TV scre...
Prey
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 3 chilling horror stories that serve as a stark reminder – we’re not always at the top of the food chain. The audio...
Medical Mysteries - "17 Doctors"
15 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This story is a fan favorite from MrBallen's Medical Mysteries.During the COVID pandemic, a boy starts experiencing sudden, inexplicable bursts of pai...
Stranger Than Fiction Vol. XI
11 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. And today’s podcast features 3 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from all three stories has bee...
Holiday Fear (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
08 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
One day in mid-December 2003, Detective Mark Kelly walked into a small kitchen at a home in Fort Worth, Texas. The house belonged to a potential suspe...
The Condition
04 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature two medical mysteries that sound like they are straight out of a horror movie. The audio from both of these stories has...
One Foot Out The Door (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
01 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Just after 7 p.m. on June 16th, 2010, an employee at the Palmdale, California Sheriff’s Department tapped his fingers on his desk and sighed. T...
Tight Squeeze
28 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature two claustrophobia inducing stories about cave explorers. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our...
The View From Above (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
25 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On a crisp fall morning in 2007, a small airplane took flight over the forested town of Graham, Washington. The pilot was a detective with the Pierce ...
The Last Trip
21 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories of journeys that promised adventure, but led somewhere far more sinister. The audio from all three stories ha...
Storytime with MrBallen | Tom Segura
20 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today's episode is something completely new! But don't worry, it's in addition to the regular episodes!For the first time ever, I am interviewing...
The Fugitive (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In September of 2021, a young woman named Anna Moriah Willson – who everybody just called “Mo” – stood in front of a cheering crowd at the end...
The Scheme
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Some people will lie, cheat, and steal to get ahead, but today’s podcast features two wild stories where those so-called “master plans” fall apa...
The Receipt (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
11 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On the afternoon of March 24, 2006, an employee at a moving truck rental company in Ohio opened his desk drawer and grabbed a wad of cash. It had...
What's in the Basement?
07 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s story is one I told several years back on YouTube, but in 2024 during my live tour, I brought this one back out and gave it a complete overh...
The Late Shift (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
04 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In June of 1980, a car jolted to a stop in a parking lot on the outskirts of a small Utah suburb. The car door opened, a man stepped out into the dark...
Medical Mysteries - "No Reservations/The Bitter End"
31 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This story is a fan favorite from MrBallen's Medical Mysteries.No Reservations:A Spanish marathon runner develops a mysterious obsession with gourmet ...
The Watercooler (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
28 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On a morning in early-1986 in Arizona, someone sat hunched over a desk, furiously writing a letter. And almost every line of this letter included a di...
A Trail of Questions
24 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 3 hiking horror stories that are still shrouded in mystery. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our m...
Murder and Meditation (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
21 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
One September afternoon in 2003, a woman in Tucson, Arizona, heard a knock on her front door and answered it. She was surprised to see a Tucson police...
No Way Out Vol. VII
17 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast features 3 stories that involve people who were trapped – with “no way out.” The audio from all three stories has been pulled ...
Listen Now: Flesh and Code
15 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Travis never thought he’d meet someone like Lily Rose. She was kind, passionate, beautiful. The woman of his dreams. There was just one small detail...
Tinseltown (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
14 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In December 2007, a lab technician sat at a table covered in dozens of evidence bags. The technician wasn’t sure where to start, because the bags di...
Follow the Leader
10 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 2 horror stories about manipulative people who twisted others’ faith into fear. The audio from both of these stories ...
Bad Blood (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
07 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On a chilly night in March 2012, a wiry, 56-year old man with a patchy beard trudged through a backyard in rural Iowa with his coat pulled tight, drag...
Diagnosis Vol. III
03 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 3 medical horror stories. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just...
The Body in the Bathtub (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
30 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On the morning of January 13, 2010, two twin girls nicknamed Tas and Jas stood at the kitchen counter in their home in Conyers, Georgia, writing notes...
La Mussara
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s story is about a group of friends who travel to this supposedly haunted abandoned town up in the mountains in Spain, and when they get there...
MrBallen and the Art of Storytelling
25 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Start listening to Audible today when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at https://www.audible.com/mrballenJoin my sister and me as we dive into the...
Medical Mysteries - "She Haunts Me"
23 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This story is a fan favorite from MrBallen's Medical Mysteries.In the late 1800s, a young man in rural New England comes down with a deadly illness kn...
Forsaken Mission
19 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 3 military horror stories. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been ...
Death of a Dentist (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
16 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
One day in the spring of 2006, a detective stood next to a refrigerator in her police station, holding a little container full of evidence. She knew t...
Stranger Than Fiction Vol. X
12 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. And today’s podcast features 3 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from all three stories has bee...
You Can't Risk It (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
10 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is a special bonus episode of "You Can't"Today, I’m going to tell two stories about how an idea that might seem brilliant in the moment…...
The Dog and the Golden Gun (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
09 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On a cold winter night in 1999, a man drove down a dark street towards his house in a small Iowa town. Suddenly, he saw something glowing in his ...
The Discovery
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories about terrifying discoveries people made that would change their lives forever. The audio from all three stor...
The Red Sandals (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
02 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 1984, in a small city in northeastern China, a security guard stood outside of a warehouse, working an overnight shift. The guard heard a nois...
Deadly Catch
29 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 2 horrifying stories that both take place on the open sea. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from ou...
The Man Who Knocks At Windows (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
26 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A seven-year-old boy cowered in the closet of his family’s suburban home in Florida. He was buried beneath jackets and sports gear, listening to scr...
Closer to God
22 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Every now and again, I’ll find a story that’s just really upsetting to me. Now, obviously a lot of the stories I cover are all quite distressing. ...
Ballen Studios Presents: A Twist of History
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The course of history never follows a straight line. These are the epic stories that have shaped the world we now live in. From Ballen Studios, j...
Skin Deep (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
19 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On a summer morning in 2007, a woman was working in the printing shop she owned in a suburban strip mall. Suddenly, she heard a loud banging noise com...
We Are Not Alone Vol. II
15 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories that reveal we may not be alone in this universe. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our m...
You Can't Read This Book (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
13 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is a special bonus episode of "You Can't"One night in 2020, a woman named Beth Van Oss paced back and forth in a small room in the house she...
Medical Mysteries - "The Carancas Curse"
12 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This story is a fan favorite from MrBallen's Medical Mysteries.In September 2007, a meteor strike leaves a massive crater in the high Peruvian desert,...
Unbelievable
08 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 3 unbelievable true stories. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which...
The Piranha (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
05 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 2011, a police officer spotted a woman on a busy street in Japan, and he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He looked at a photo on his phone, ...
Camping Horror Stories Vol. V
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 2 camping horror stories. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has be...
The Promise Keeper (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
28 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On a night in 1984, a college freshman listened to the music blaring through a night club. She grabbed her date’s hand and rushed out onto the dance...
Defies Explanation
24 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 2 stories about unexplainable phenomena. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube cha...
Death of a Salesman (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
21 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On a June night in 1997, Kathy Peters was asleep at her home in Mirror Lake, a quiet neighborhood of Sarasota, Florida. Around 3:45 AM, she was awaken...
The Job Offer
17 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s story comes out of China, and it is a brutal story. There’s just no way to tell it without being sort of graphic, so with that in mind, th...
The Good Neighbors (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
14 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It was a frigid December day in a small logging town in Maine, roughly an hour’s drive from the US-Canadian border. And despite the falling snow, Ch...
Stranger Than Fiction Vol. IX
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. And today’s podcast features 3 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from all three stories has bee...
Listen Now: Don't Cross Kat
09 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Kat Torres has the insta-perfect life. She is rich, gorgeous and not ashamed to share it. Her posts about witchcraft and “alien baths” drew in ove...
You Can't Cross That Line (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
08 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is a special bonus episode of "You Can't"I’m going to tell two stories that prove that no matter what we think science can tell us about t...
Ice and Fire (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
07 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On a night in March of 2017, a bonfire lit up the yard at a house party in Youngstown, Ohio. A group of friends in their 20s and 30s sat around the fi...
Unsolved
03 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 2 borderline unbelievable stories that remain a mystery to this day. The audio from both of these stories has been pull...
The Crawlspace (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
31 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On a cold winter day in 2013, police officers rushed through the dense woods outside of a small town in Kentucky. They weaved their way through the tr...
Medical Mysteries - "Blood Feast"
27 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This story is a fan favorite from MrBallen's Medical Mysteries.One night in 1944, over 300 patients at a mental hospital in Oregon become violently si...
The Business of Death (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
24 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 2002, two days after Halloween, a police officer stepped out of a house in the small town of Navasota, Texas. He shielded his eyes from the early m...
Open Sea
20 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 2 sailing horror stories. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is ...
Listen Now: Scam Factory
18 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You know those messages that you get all the time, the ones that pop up out of nowhere? They could be real, but something about them seems fishy. You ...
Murder on Steroids (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
17 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On a summer night In 2013, newlyweds Joe and Olga Connell walked into their condominium in Wilmington, Delaware. Joe flipped on the light and sat...
Vanished
13 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories about people who vanished without a trace. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our mai...
You Can't Leave That Way (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
11 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is a special bonus episode of "You Can't"Today's story is about a woman who goes missing from a psychiatric hospital in 1900. Now at first, ...
Helium Road (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
10 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On a night in 2013, a woman in her 30s named Erin heard loud banging on her front door. She opened the door and saw her best friend Robin standin...
Under the Bricks
06 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s story, you very likely will at some point go, “Okay, I know where this is going." But you won’t. Because the ending to this story is ...
Ballen Studios Presents: Late Nights with Nexpo
05 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From Ballen Studios, welcome to Late Nights with Nexpo, the official podcast of YouTube creator, Nexpo, featuring the most bizarre and chilling true s...
The Mutant (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
03 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On a day in 2001, a veteran homicide detective put on his gloves and stepped into a cluttered bedroom. He’d been working a murder case for mont...
The Creature
27 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 3 horror stories about people’s run-ins with unidentified beings. The audio from all three stories has been pulled fr...
Goodbye Uncle Jack (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
24 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Late one afternoon in the summer of 2014, a pawnshop owner was updating his inventory logs when the bell above the front door jingled. A young couple ...
Something is in the Woods
20 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s podcast will feature 3 horrifying stories that will make you wonder who or what may be lurking in the forest. The audio from all three stori...
Sick Day (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
17 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On a morning in 2002, a man in Indianapolis, Indiana woke up in a cold sweat. His hands shook as he tried to block out the images he’d seen in ...
Stranger Than Fiction Vol. VIII
13 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. And today’s podcast features 3 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from all three stories has bee...
You Can't Run From This (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
11 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is a special bonus episode of "You Can't"I’m going to tell two stories about two very different haunted places. And even though these stor...