Weekly Spooky | Scary Stories for Halloween

Autumn folklore turns a peaceful harvest into something sinister. Henrique Couto welcomes folklorist and author D.L. Wainright back to Folklore Friday to explore German and Slavic crop spirits, the child-snatching Rye Aunt, and a headless woman who stalks the fields at midday. Could warnings about these creatures reflect the dangers of heat, hunger, and a failed harvest? Along the way: Rusalka, eerie scarecrows, and the Sack Man. With dark folklore, unsettling imagery, and plenty of banter, this Weekly Spooky conversation asks why the fields that fed us also filled us with fear.

D.L.’s books: https://thehollowsun.com/

Bonus episodes & support: https://weeklyspooky.com/join
More scary stories: https://weeklyspooky.com/
Story submissions: WeeklySpooky@gmail.com

On the eve of Friday the 13th, the Thirteen Club has a place set for you. In 1882 Manhattan, Captain William Fowler set a table for thirteen. His club’s dinners challenged bad luck with ladders, spilled salt and coffin-shaped food. Henrique Couto follows their dare from New York to a London banquet, where funeral decorations and an unexpected visitor tested the hosts’ composure. What happens when you tempt a superstition that gives you a year to worry? Take the last chair for a Thursday Thrills journey into dark folklore, strange history and the people who made thirteen a reason to celebrate.

Bonus episodes & support: https://weeklyspooky.com/join
More scary stories: https://weeklyspooky.com/
Story submissions: WeeklySpooky@gmail.com

A video game nobody remembers has never let Trevor go. In 1993, he heads to the mall with his grandfather and dog for the launch of Pujkamaunka Splash. Men crowd a fountain Grandpa insists is empty. An ancient attendant with a black sack over his head lets children inside one at a time. Decades later, Trevor can find no record of the game. This retro video game horror story follows a childhood obsession into memories too disturbing to trust.

Written by Alex Grass. Narrated by Henrique Couto.

Discover Alex Grass's Infernal Tramps: Tales of Weird Terror: https://www.infernaltramps.com...

Bonus episodes & support: https://weeklyspooky.com/join
More scary stories: https://weeklyspooky.com/
Story submissions: WeeklySpooky@gmail.com

November 9–15, 2026 in horror history: Freaky turns body swapping into a slasher trap, The X-Files enters the surgical nightmare of Sanguinarium, and DOOM brings Hell to Nintendo Switch. Revisit John Carradine’s sinister puppeteer in Bluebeard and Universal’s The Mad Ghoul, where a professor turns his student into an instrument of control. Connect these film, TV and game anniversaries through stolen identities and dangerous authority, celebrate four horror birthdays, and add Bryan Bertino’s The Monster to your watchlist for a tense mother-and-daughter survival story on a dark road.

Bonus episodes & support: https://weeklyspooky.com/join
More scary stories: https://weeklyspooky.com/
Story submissions: WeeklySpooky@gmail.com

John List murdered five members of his family at Breeze Knoll in Westfield, New Jersey, on November 9, 1971—then built a second life as Robert Clark. This true crime episode follows his written confession, 17 years as a fugitive and the viewer tip that helped end the manhunt after America's Most Wanted aired his case. Archival interviews and broadcast audio bring the investigation into focus, alongside the lives of Helen, Alma, Patricia, John Jr. and Frederick.

Narrated by Henrique Couto.

How did a killer who signed his own confession stay hidden so long? We're telling that story tonight.

Bonus episodes & support: https://weeklyspooky.com/join
More scary stories: https://weeklyspooky.com/
Story submissions: WeeklySpooky@gmail.com