Dark House
At the crossroads of true crime, interior design, and the paranormal, Dark House explores beautiful homes that can’t seem to escape their dark histories. Hosts and House Beautiful editors Hadley Mendelsohn and Alyssa Fiorentino dig into the twisted backstories of four infamous homes, and uncover the strange stories suggesting some inhabitants never left—and that perhaps history isn't the only thing haunting them. Featuring guest interviews with authors, set designers, psychic mediums, and paranormal investigators, Dark House uncovers why these residences, and the stories they tell us, are so important.
Episodes
November 15, 2023 • 69 mins
Following their investigation into New Mount Carmel Center, Hadley and Alyssa resume their discussion of the infamous 1993 Waco siege. Hoping to better understand the actions of those embroiled in the conflict, they’re joined by author and cult scholar Daniella Mestyanek Young, who, as a cult survivor and Army veteran with a Masters in Organizational Psychology, provides valuable insight into the perspectives of each side. Speaking...
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November 8, 2023 • 86 mins
Alyssa and Hadley turn their attention to New Mount Carmel Center, an isolated ranch just outside of Waco, Texas where a 51-day standoff between the FBI and the Branch Davidians—a religious cult led by self-proclaimed prophet David Koresh—came to a disastrous end on April 19, 1993, when the group’s massive compound burned to the ground with 76 Branch Davidians still inside. Setting out to understand what led to the government’s sie...
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November 1, 2023 • 97 mins
Hadley and Alyssa investigate the Ammons House, a modest, single-story home in Gary, Indiana where, in the spring of 2011, Latoya Ammons and her three young children were reportedly possessed by demons. After unpacking the history of the region, the hosts dig into the Ammons family’s case, from the first signs of paranormal activity to the extreme behavior that eventually led Latoya to flee the home and seek medical attention for h...
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October 25, 2023 • 85 mins
Tackling the story most requested by Dark House listeners, Alyssa and Hadley come face to face with 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York, the Dutch-Colonial house that inspired The Amityville Horror. The best-selling-book-turned-hit-movie tells the dramatic tale of George and Kathy Lutz, a young newlywed couple who purchased 112 Ocean Avenue in December of 1975, just a year after previous owners Ron and Louise DeFeo and four of...
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October 18, 2023 • 87 mins
Hadley and Alyssa venture to Victoria’s Black Swan Inn, a lush, 35-acre home and wedding venue cloaked by 100-year-old oak trees in San Antonio, Texas. Built in the mid to late 1800s on a plot of land where, 50 years earlier, 60 Mexican soldiers were killed in the Battle of Salado, the Greek Revival manor has had a plethora of owners—including many who died there. Operating today as a residence and special events venue, many guests...
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October 17, 2023 • 7 mins
Follow MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge the first 8 episodes, early and ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today.
The human body is a miracle. But when it’s not working, it can be the stuff of nightmares. On this new series from master storyteller MrBallen, we’re sharing medical horror stories and diagnostic mysteries that are surgically calibrated to make your blood r...
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October 16, 2023 • 5 mins
Nothing is as terrifying as the sounds we hear in the dark. The slow creak of a door opening late at night... or a whisper in a room when you thought you were alone... or a distant scream in the wind. One noise at the wrong time or place can scare us for days.
Each episode of I Hear Fear plunges the listener into a tale inspired by real events, from a deadly dance party to a cursed film set. Join host and two-time Oscar nominee Car...
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October 13, 2023 • 62 mins
Hadley and Alyssa chat with One Tree Hill star Hilarie Burton Morgan about her new book, Grimoire Girl: A Memoir of Magic and Mischief in a special Dark House minisode. The trio discuss the inspiration behind the book and Hilarie’s encounters with haunted homes, including a meaningful connection she made with a spirit “guide” while living in Wilmington, North Carolina. Plus, Hilarie shares her empowering interior design philosophy,...
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October 11, 2023 • 78 mins
Alyssa and Hadley explore the haunting past of the Hardie-Coleman House—or, as it’s better known online, the Lucy Murder House—in Uniontown, Alabama, where the remains of 13-year-old Allan Lucy were found buried beneath the front porch in January of 1994. Allan, who lived at the home with his adoptive parents, Phillip and Margaret Lucy, disappeared without a trace in May of 1985. In the months that followed, Jason Lucy, Phillip and...
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October 4, 2023 • 98 mins
With a better understanding of the victim, Elizabeth Short, Hadley and Alyssa set their sights on the Black Dahlia’s suspected killer: prominent California doctor George Hodel. Dr. Hodel lived in the John Sowden House—Frank Lloyd Wright Jr.'s surrealist magnum opus in Los Feliz—from 1945 to 1950, until he abandoned his family and fled the country after the home was bugged by the district attorney's office. Following the trail of a ...
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September 27, 2023 • 91 mins
Hadley and Alyssa dive into the life and gruesome death of Elizabeth Short—better known as the Black Dahlia—whose unsolved murder spurred Hollywood’s most persistent ghost story. Working to uncover whether or not the iconic Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles was the last place she was seen alive, the hosts retrace Elizabeth's final steps through her unmailed letters, stories from people who knew her, and eye-witness ...
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September 20, 2023 • 93 mins
Alyssa—a longtime “Swiftie”—leads us in a deep dive into the history of Holiday House, Taylor Swift’s oceanfront mansion in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. The co-hosts turn their attention to “the last great american dynasty,” a track off of Swift’s 2020 album Folklore, from which we learned that, just like us, she too enjoys digging into the history of her own home and learning about the people who lived there before her. In the song, ...
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September 13, 2023 • 100 mins
Kicking off season 3, Hadley takes us to the Winchester Mystery House (aka Llanada Villa)—a sprawling San Jose mansion built by The Winchester Repeating Arms Company heiress Sarah Winchester in the late 1800s. The hosts dig into the many legends surrounding the property and investigate rumors that the home’s creepy and bizarre architectural features were an attempt to keep out unwelcome spirits. Along the way, they uncover the true...
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May 31, 2023 • 44 mins
Actor and horror buff David Dastmalchian joins hosts Hadley and Alyssa for a special Dark House minisode to talk about his new movie, The Boogeyman (also starring Sophie Thatcher and Chris Messina), hitting theaters June 2, 2023. David dishes on how the film adaptation differs from the original short story by Stephen King, and why King himself pushed for a theatrical release over straight-to-streaming. Plus, the actor opens up abou...
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December 21, 2022 • 50 mins
In the final episode of Season 2, Hadley and Alyssa pass the mic to Dark House listeners who tell their own ghost stories. First up, Lisa takes us to her haunted childhood home in York, England. Then, Jed recalls a chilling encounter with an overprotective spirit inside an antique shop in Philadelphia. Next, Meagan shares a spectral encounter outside her family home in upstate New York. And finally, Brittany reveals the eerie baby ...
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December 7, 2022 • 62 mins
Alyssa and Hadley unravel the complicated past of 1677 Round Top Road in Burrillville, Rhode Island, the colonial farmhouse that inspired the 2013 horror film The Conjuring. After learning that a majority of the film’s plot was fictionalized, the co-hosts dig into the real story of what happened to the Perron family, who experienced non-stop paranormal activity from the day they moved into the house in January 1971. They also discu...
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November 23, 2022 • 73 mins
Hadley and Alyssa unearth the haunting past of St. Louis's infamous and foreboding Lemp Mansion, the former home of wealthy beer tycoon William J. Lemp Sr. and his family. The co-hosts trace the property’s history through its many stages: a Gilded Age family estate atop an elaborate underground cave system, bustling brewery offices, a tourist attraction, a boarding house, and finally, a restaurant and inn. The co-hosts uncover a pa...
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November 15, 2022 • 5 mins
Nothing is as terrifying as the sounds we hear in the dark. The slow creak of a door opening late at night... or a whisper in a room when you thought you were alone... or a distant scream in the wind. One noise at the wrong time or place can scare us for days.
Each episode of I HEAR FEAR plunges the listener into a tale inspired by real events, from a deadly dance party to a cursed film set. Join host and two-time Oscar nominee Ca...
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November 9, 2022 • 50 mins
Alyssa and Hadley explore the peculiar story of 328-330 Chase Street—a duplex in West Pittston, Pennsylvania—which became the subject of media frenzy in 1986 when owners Jack and Janet Smurl told a local newspaper that a demonic presence had been terrorizing their home for years. The co-hosts review the many strange occurrences that members of the Smurl family experienced in the home, what famed paranormal investigators Ed and Lorr...
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November 1, 2022 • 6 mins
For more than three and a half decades, the disappearance of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews was a mystery – a riddle neither authorities nor her family members could solve. The residents of her cloistered Colorado hometown had scoured every inch of prairie. Jonelle’s face had been on milk cartons nationwide. Even the President of the United States had appealed to the public for help. Still, every lead had fizzled. Every person of int...
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