"Sideshow Sins" S19E07 💀 Scary Stories Told in the Dark (Horror Podcast)

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:02]Chilling Tales for Dark Knights.

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[00:00:23]Welcome, dear listeners, to Scary Stories Told in the Dark. I'm Malcolm Blackwood, your host and storyteller.

[00:00:32]And you know where I'm from, we don't do bedtime stories. So, if that's what you were expecting, you're in the wrong place. If it's terrifying tales you're after, well, then I've got just the thing. So, get comfortable, settle in, turn off the lights if you dare. Your night is about to get a whole lot darker. Besides, who needs sleep anyway?

[00:01:14]Good evening, listeners, and welcome back to Scary Stories Told in the Dark.

[00:01:19]I'm your host, Malcolm Blackwood.

[00:01:21]Tonight we step into a world of painted smiles, canvas walls, and secrets dressed up as spectacle. Because some horrors don't hide in abandoned houses or lonely roads. Sometimes they travel from town to town beneath strings of lights and faded banners, smiling for the crowd while something cruel waits just behind the stage. So, dim the lights, settle in, and steal yourself for yet another tale of terror.

[00:01:53]Before we begin, a brief word of thanks to those who support this show through our patrons area. For just $7.99 a month, our patrons gain early access to episodes, ad free listening, and entry into a growing archive of exclusive content, all while helping us continue to produce and share stories like tonight's. Our patrons also enjoy exclusive releases and bonus content throughout the year. Your support doesn't just unlock more horror, it sustains the storytellers behind it. If you'd like to join them, visit simplyscarypodcast.com or chillingtalesfornights.com and click on the patrons tab to learn more. It keeps the lights on and the shadows flickering.

[00:02:37]Thank you for your support.

[00:02:40]Tonight's tale was written by author George Larson and it comes to us as a submission to our free readalong horror fiction website creepypastastories.com.

[00:02:51]Home to thousands of chilling tales from writers just like you. If you enjoy discovering new voices in horror or if you've got a dark tale of your own waiting to be told, be sure to visit creepypasterstories.com to read, explore, and submit your story today.

[00:03:09]Tonight's feature explores what happens when murder, manipulation, and madness slip in beneath the goddy canvas of a traveling carnival, where loyalty is fragile, performance is everything, and even the puppets may be keeping score.

[00:03:26]Without further ado, I present to you Big Jim Morgan's Thrills and Chills by George Larson, performed by yours truly, Malcolm Blackwood.

[00:03:42]Drax's head had been bashed to such an extent that he was barely recognizable.

[00:03:47]He was Zach's first born and the one he adored more than any of his other children. He just turned 10 when his mutilated body was discovered lying on the floor of Zach's camper. Now the puppet's black tuxedo and redlinined cape lay in tatters, shredded beyond repair. Count Dracula was no more, and Zach was devastated by his passing.

[00:04:10]As he later explained, he'd lovingly crafted Dra's creepy paper-iermâché head out of a yellowed oid pages taken from back issues of the Chicago Tribune he'd swiped from a local library.

[00:04:22]He then reinforced the head with chicken wire to give it better form and substance. Next, he applied thin layers of vellum to finish the creature's striking, gruesome face, carefully shaping and molding the pieces into place until he was pleased with his handiwork.

[00:04:38]Paints and costumes followed until artistic perfection.

[00:04:43]Zach excelled in creating ghoulish hand puppets for his thrice daily performances at Morgan's sideshow of the weird and bizarre.

[00:04:52]Zack admitted his sense of sardonic humor was a little offbeat, but nonetheless he enjoyed the dark side of human nature. The more morbid the better. He said it suited his spooky, off-putting persona as the puppet master of the macob.

[00:05:10]Zachary Woolsey was a carne through and through. He'd spent his adult life traversing the country to places decided by Big Jim Morgan, the owner of Morgan's Thrills and Chills Amusements.

[00:05:22]As a child, Zach's father worked the midways at some of the largest carnivals of the time. His dad usually worked as a shill because he was so damn good in the role, one blessed with an uncanny knack to easily spot the marks among the townies.

[00:05:38]Like all workers, he was expected to do other jobs as well. In his father's case, this could mean operating the wheel, flying Jenny, or roller coaster as a ride jock, or working as a rousey, putting up and taking down tents and rides. His mom worked odd jobs in the towns they visited to help support the family.

[00:06:00]She homeschooled Zach, but he believed the carnival with its quirky, insightful people was the best education one could receive. Certainly in the lessons of human behavior and psychology.

[00:06:13]It was the Carnival Gypsy's life that appealed so much to him. This had been Zach's world and home. He never wanted to leave.

[00:06:23]Zach talked to his puppets more than he did with his friends and colleagues working the carney for Big Jim. That struck some people as odd. But the colony was home to many freaks and oddballs who generally got along well with each other. A high tolerance for quirkiness among the performers was the hallmark of those who made a career out of this lowbrow form of entertainment.

[00:06:45]Zach was still considered by his co-workers to be at the far end of the spectrum of what might be considered normal.

[00:06:52]He was a carnival kid who was fully accepted by his peers in the community despite his aloofness and solitariness.

[00:07:00]He simply didn't mix and mingle well with others. He was just shy, some thought. Maybe he was just downright crazy, others suggested. Regardless, he was one of them to the core of his being.

[00:07:15]Zach still mourned Dra's death like a loving father should. He didn't know who or why someone killed him in such a vicious, savage way. Someone who held a grudge. Someone bent on closing his act.

[00:07:29]Someone who is jealous of his talents.

[00:07:32]Zach didn't know, but his other puppets were whispering questions that he couldn't truthfully answer. Brushius, the spawn of Satan, asked if there would be more puppet deaths and if Zach could protect them. The worry and anxiety level was high among his troop.

[00:07:49]Brussius was a favorite who scared the be Jesus out of the audiences with his demonic countenance and frightening demeanor. Hishtik was to warn humankind of the end of days coming to the plains of Megiddo, urging humans to choose wisely between the light and dark forces before the war to end all wars called Armageddon.

[00:08:11]Others expressed their concerns as well.

[00:08:14]Chira the shewolf mentioned similar worries about her safety and that of her fellow puppets. Zach did his best to reassure them they were all safe with him, but he still had doubts that he didn't bother to mention. The truth was he simply didn't know what to expect.

[00:08:31]His children's voices rumbling through his head only confused his thoughts as he tried to sort out this most puzzling event in his mind. Drax's death and its possible consequences for Zach going forward. Had someone learned of his harmless mind games involving brutal deaths?

[00:08:50]He pondered the possible answers and couldn't make sense of any of them. I signed on with Big Jim straight out of college. Morgans was encamped in a farmer's field on the far north side of Dalb, Illinois. The coal was best known for its corn seed and for being the place where barbed wire was invented.

[00:09:09]One more thing, too. It was home to my alma mater, Northern Illinois University.

[00:09:15]I had always been drawn to a carnival's shabby glitz and gritty glamour, and Morgans's didn't disappoint in those respects. I wasn't sure why, but I'd been hooked for years, attracted to them since I was a kid. I never wanted to run away from home to join the circus, but I didn't want to pass up a chance to be a carne and satisfy my wanderlust and excitement for adventure. Moreover, I wanted to wait a while before growing up in joining the dulling 9 to5 treadmill like my fellow classmates.

[00:09:48]My name is Finn Lawson, a fourth generation Swede who was raised as an only child on a small dairy farm about 20 or so miles west of Dalb.

[00:09:59]In the Swedish communities in northern Illinois, there were many Svens, and I was just one more. Lars was another popular name. Thankfully, my parents didn't name me Lars. I always thought that pairing of names would have been too scandovian, even for them.

[00:10:19]My first gig for Big Jim was a 24-hour man or jumper, traveling ahead to the next lot and posting arrow signs directing traffic to the carnival site.

[00:10:29]I'd also place posters in storefront windows and tack handills to telephone poles and the like. It was simply the carny way of advertising.

[00:10:38]The job didn't pay much, about on par with what I could earn with my BA degree in psychology, except I got free meals and a bed to boot. So, it was a better deal after all. That was my first job as an honest to goodness carney, and many more would follow over the next couple of years as I moved upward into Big Jim's eclectic family.

[00:11:02]It was showtime and Zach managed the first performance of the day as best he could under the circumstances without Dra. He had been the host for Zach's sideshow act in the puppet master of the Macob. Now Zach had to improvise by selecting Magda, the crone of Transylvania as the new MC and changing the script to integrate her new role in the telling of spooky stories. She cackled with delight and waggled her broomstick as she narrated two grims fairy tales, albeit altered, darker renderings with more gruesome details to pump up the horror a notch or two for the audience.

[00:11:39]Rumple Stillilskin was a ghoulish character, more monster than human in appearance. Snow White was still beautiful, but the dwarves resembled scarylooking trolls. Zach had chosen well, and Magda was a big hit with the children of Podunk, or whatever town the carnival might be in now. Zach didn't remember anything except for what he'd done the night before. He remembered that particular play very clearly and savored the action over and over in his mind. Those delicious memories and the fond thoughts of his beloved children were what mattered in his life.

[00:12:15]Three hots and a cot. That is what the floaters who moved from one carney to another called big Jim's profer bunk house sleeping quarters and meal chits in the backyard of the lot. It was part of the benefits package that went along with the job in addition to a little walking around money. The money could last a while if you knew the right grips, as I quickly learned. My favorite one was to put together a Michigan bankroll with a $10 bill wrapped around a wad of singles. I would go into a fast food joint and flash the bundle. so the cashier could easily see it, often laying down a tin spot on the counter in plain view. As the cashier took my order, I replaced the tin with a $1 bill in the same spot. Often, I'd get changed for a 10. Those few extra dollars helped stretch my poke. My meeting and subsequent befriending of Zachary Walsley began when I was assigned as the lecturer for the Baby Show, an auditorium located directly across from his puppet stage on Sideshow Alley. For a dollar per rube, patrons could enter the tent and view stillborn babies and aborted fetuses, some with umbilical cords still attached, displayed in large glass bottles filled with formaldahhide.

[00:13:29]We insiders called it the pickled punk show. Little did the gullible realize that most of the jars contain nothing more than bouncers, rubberized reproductions of real things. that helped keep the authorities off our backs with their annoying laws and pesky regulations.

[00:13:48]The show's main attraction was the Devil Baby, a gaft exhibit, ostensibly a freak, featuring hoofed feet, horns, fangs, and claws. It was constructed to appear mummified or otherwise aged to give it authenticity.

[00:14:04]The devil baby was the centerpiece of the show and the one the townies found most disgusting and exciting. They sometimes lost their lunch or dinner, peering at the faux creature.

[00:14:16]Unfortunately, it was up to me to clean up their messes afterward.

[00:14:21]I approached Zach after one of his shows, sincerely complimenting him on the performance and especially on the beautiful workmanship that went into his puppets. They were works of art, or so it seemed to me. His mastery of manipulating the puppets in a choreographed sequence of moves, all the while telling a story was simply amazing. I envied his ability to create the various characters from scratch and make them perform as perfectly as they did. The voices were equally impressive, switching seamlessly from falsetto to baso profundo to precisely match each puppet's lines. The range of his intonation was amazing. He was an expert puppeteer in all respects, and I told him so. Although pleased, he bemoaned his limited ability to do more with his hand puppets, as he had only two hands to operate them. I took the opening to offer my help, at least on a part-time basis. He readily accepted, and that's how I joined Zach, the puppet master of the Macob. Our relationship would only get more complicated and bizarre over time.

[00:15:33]Life at the carnival continued at a usual hectic pace. The one-day shows were particularly brutal on everyone.

[00:15:41]Bring everything down, set it up in the next town, and then do it all over again. These were 16-hour days with early morning lot calls for every member of the troop. No one was exempt from the punishing schedule. We all looked forward to a longer stand where we could settle back into a more normal routine, staying at least a week in one location before moving on once again.

[00:16:05]On those rare occasions we had some downtime, I'd draw the awnings and help Zach with his puppet show. He'd created a collection of 20 or so, and each was a work of art. He tutored me in the manipulation of the live hand puppets, saying that his hand puppets were his family and no one else could work them.

[00:16:24]Live hand puppets were larger than the hand variety and required two people to operate them. This was the type of puppeteer Zach wanted me to be since it would broaden the range of his storytelling. I found Zach's comment about his family strange, but I didn't object since I was getting a free education in this art form. I just believed he was a bit eccentric, even more so when he spoke to his children as if I wasn't present. All the carnies knew he was a loner and recluse, but never suspected he was much more than an ordinary puppeteer.

[00:16:58]Allison's body had been found a couple of days after Big Jim's carnival had torn down and jumped the coal for the next town. Reportedly, she was a beautiful 20-year-old sophomore at the same school from which I graduated. Her disappearance from her dorm room at Douglas Hall was reported to the police by her roommate. Her partially clothed body was discovered in a cornfield by the farmer who owned the patch. The location was only a quarter a mile from her dorm, and the cops theorized she'd been forcibly taken to the spot, tortured, and then strangled to death with her own panties.

[00:17:35]Burn marks from lit cigarettes dotted her face and neck. She hadn't been sexually assaulted, but the authorities were puzzled about her disfigurement, wondering about the underlying psychological motive for the vicious act.

[00:17:50]I first heard of her death from Jimbo, the ANS man. He was the age and scale operator just off the main arch, who guessed the ages and weights of the chumps. I was reading the midway with my head down, looking for a ground score of lost change or other valuables. I gotten into this habit some time ago and it occasionally paid off with a piece of jewelry or if I was really lucky a fiverr.

[00:18:15]He said the police had been asking questions around the lot about Allison's murder given that the carnival had recently shown there. I was surprised the cops hadn't questioned me since I was an NIU grad who lived in Dal before joining Big Jim. Allison's investigation went nowhere and she soon faded from my thoughts.

[00:18:36]Every trooper who worked a full season had a unique handle. Mine was Fengali, a play on my given name. It made sense to the other colonies. Zach's was Woolly Bully, a play on his surname and the popular 60s song by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. My handle was shortened to just Golly and Zach's to Woolly. That was simply how we addressed each other on the lot. No one used their real names for anonymity.

[00:19:04]Perhaps they were running from cops, creditors, and/or ex-wives.

[00:19:10]Nonetheless, it was a long-standing carnival tradition, so golly and woolly it would be until we parted ways.

[00:19:17]I sometimes dated towny girls I'd met at the baby show. Surprisingly, female suckers outnumbered males about 2 to one. I wasn't sure why. Perhaps it was a maternal thing that drew them to the show. I'd hook up with him for a one night stand and maybe more if I was really lucky. Woolly let me know that he wasn't pleased with the dating because it took me away from his tutelage and my practice sessions with the puppets. He was like a jealous, petulant lover, and I resented his peevishness.

[00:19:49]But I did pair back my dating to spend more time learning his craft. I really enjoyed working the puppets, and I had to admit that Woolly was a patient, first rate teacher.

[00:20:00]One morning he mentioned I was almost ready for my first performance. I was pleased but had already performed once to my satisfaction. Hopefully there would be an encore to follow.

[00:20:12]We were operating a Sunday schooler, a toned down less runchy show in Cookamo, Indiana on an April morning when it happened. An F2 twister from the southwest popped up out of nowhere and cut a swath of destruction as it slowly moved through the city. The sky had been overcast, but otherwise the weather was calm, perhaps too calm thinking back on the event. Just before we saw it, the sky turned a weird greenish gray color.

[00:20:42]We didn't have time to secure the tents, banners, or much of anything else before we took shelter. Fortunately, we were closed to the public. It was the beginning of the tornado season and it was the one thing that frightened all of us.

[00:20:57]It was over in just a few minutes, but what the blowdown left behind on the lot was devastating.

[00:21:03]The arcade tent housing the coin operated games was a complete loss. Big Eli, the ferris wheel, had tilted to one side, and its stansions had been uprooted in the process. Tent canvases had been ripped and lifted off their anchors.

[00:21:20]The large colorful ballet cloth ones with text and drawings suffered the most. Our living lot behind the show was damaged as well. The sucker netting separating the two sites was completely gone. A stretch of lineup concession booths located close to the arch were blown apart as well. The only good news was that no one had been killed or injured. That was a miracle, and we rejoiced in our luck despite the property damage. It took us six long days working a soft lot to put the layout back together. Big Jim's commercial liability insurance covered most of the repairs, even the sunundry fees from the blank days when we were closed for business. His legal men would later go back and suck the last bit of moola out of the insurance company. That was the way Big Jim operated. A tough taskmaster in some respects, but otherwise a decent and fair boss.

[00:22:17]The show must go on, and it did. When we opened a week after the tornado, it was my night to assist Woolly with a loose adaptation of Rapunzel. We'd worked together to manipulate the oversized puppet and practice long and hard to put on a great show. I even had a small voice part, a short line spoken in my normal voice. I'd enlisted Croc, the Gator Man, to spell me at the baby show.

[00:22:43]I really liked the guy as he was an affable downto-earth human being who'd been damned at birth with ichthyosis, giving his skin a scaly reptilian appearance. Croc was just one more freaking geek in a home that warmly welcomed them.

[00:22:59]I admitted to being a little anxious since I didn't want to disappoint Woolly or myself. As I recalled, Rapunzel grew up to be the most beautiful child in the world with long golden hair. Or so the brother's grim story went. When she reaches her 12th year, the witch shuts her away in a tower with neither stairs nor door, only one room with one window.

[00:23:23]When the witch visits Rapunzel beneath the tower, she calls out, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your long hair so I may climb your stairs."

[00:23:34]Of course, Rapunzel does as commanded.

[00:23:37]So far, Woolly's story hued to the original version. Now, a handsome prince rides by the tower and hears Rapunzel's lovely ethereal singing, and he is immediately smitten. He begged her to let down her hair so he could climb her stairs and see her beautiful vis. But when he reached the room and saw Rapunzel's face, he was repulsed. She was an old, ugly hag. It was so horrible that he couldn't imagine her countenance in his worst nightmares. She then promptly pushed the prince out the window and he fell to his death. It turned out Rapunzel was a seductive siren who lured men to her room and their doom. She loved the witch who was her surrogate mother and would never leave the tower without her permission.

[00:24:24]An obedient good girl, but with a very wicked heart and a perverted sense of humor.

[00:24:31]That was Woolly's twist on the story line. He'd constructed the castle tower out of plywood and cardboard, and it was a fabulous prop. I congratulated him on his work and storytelling and thanked him for letting me participate in this most macob fairy tale. I was still amazed at his many talents and told him I could relate to his Rapunzel because I'd been raised by an evil witch as well.

[00:24:55]As I looked out across the alley, I could see the teaser curtain to the cooch show. Despite the pitchman's spiel, the woman's performances tonight would be rather tame, mundane, no real skin, just fleshcoled tights to entice the male audience. It was a tease and nothing more. But the men still loved the performance despite being short-changed on the flesh.

[00:25:20]Just perhaps in another time and place they might have seen the real thing and indulged their fantasies. But not tonight. That wouldn't happen. to their collective dismay because Big Jim had ordered the whole show to be operated on the up and up. No skin or prostitution, rigged games or other gaffs. The local cops had refused his juice, so the show couldn't operate wide open. The carnival's profits would have to suffer as a result. Big Jim would miss making his nut for a while.

[00:25:52]The Decal detectives were back and this time with a vengeance. They compiled a concise list of their potential suspects, and Woolly and I were on their radar screen. Someone at the Carney had tipped our names to the cops. I worried how Woolly would hold up under the pressure of an interrogation. He'd withdraw further into himself, or I should sayelves, since he would carry on lengthy conversations and interactions with his puppet family. Those exchanges didn't have anything to do with the plays, but rather other topics that popped into his head.

[00:26:26]Frighteningly, many of them involved violent rape scenarios where the puppets, i.e. Woolly, acted out dark, disturbing scenes.

[00:26:35]Woolly's mind was being split into unusual parts, sort of a multiple personality disorder, as I recalled from studying the DSM5 as an undergraduate.

[00:26:46]Perhaps he was suffering from post-traumatic stress from the death of Dra. My professional diagnosis was that Willie had gone bonkers. He was mentally impaired and vulnerable, a perfect psy for the cops. The note he'd received only worsened his state of mind.

[00:27:05]Bully found the note one morning taped to the back of his small stage. The letters had been cut from the car's various hand billills and pasted on a single sheet of paper. It simply read, "We know what you are."

[00:27:18]It was unsigned, which wasn't surprising. He showed it to me and asked what was going on. First Drax's murder and now this. He was confused and scared and I continued to worry about his sanity.

[00:27:32]We discussed people who may have had a grudge against Woolly for some slight or wrongdoing in the past.

[00:27:38]He thought of a couple of candidates but couldn't believe they were responsible for the acts. He mentioned Carney people were family and it would be like a brother or sister viciously turning on him.

[00:27:50]The first name he offered was Needles, the human pin cushion who operated a bed of nails joint down the alleyway.

[00:27:58]A few months back, Woolly watched his show and then chatted with him afterward. For reasons unknown, Needles badly dissed Woolly and treated him like a rube when Woolly asked how he'd done the trick. That was something very much against the unwritten Carney code of conduct. Again, it was a family thing.

[00:28:17]Sort of like saying you don't lie to a liar.

[00:28:21]Perhaps Needles still harbored a beef. A second possibility was Madame Nina, the bearded lady whom Woolly was romantically attracted to, but she didn't feel the same toward him. She finally told Woolly to quit hitting on her, and that was that. I had a tough time understanding Woolly's love interest in a bearded lady. It didn't seem to fit with the person I knew, but I didn't argue the point. I told him that needles might be the culprit, although I didn't believe it likely. A beef was usually settled by talking things out to square disputes rather than exacting revenge or resorting to violence. That was the way carnis managed the heat among themselves.

[00:29:04]Our separate interrogations with the Dal cops were held at the Cooko, Indiana police headquarters. I was asked the usual questions about my whereabouts at the time of her murder. Did I have an alibi? Did I know her? Did I attend classes with her? Had I ever visited Douglas Hall? Did I kill her? Would I consent to a polygraph exam?

[00:29:27]I agreed to take the exam. I suspected Woo was being asked comparable questions and wondered how he was holding up emotionally.

[00:29:35]I'd later learn he didn't do so well.

[00:29:38]Fortunately, I wasn't told not to leave town because our next jump was only a few days away.

[00:29:45]Woolly told me he was flustered under police questioning. He said the two detectives did a mut and Jeff routine, the good cop and the bad cop. He wasn't sure what he told them, but said he didn't kill Allison. Woolly claimed they twisted his words and on occasion outright lied to him to elicit a confession. He was frightened of them and unsure if he could get through another interrogation.

[00:30:10]He mentioned he'd taken Valium and smoked a joint before reporting to the station and said his nerves were shot to hell. Dra, the note, and now the cops.

[00:30:22]Heidi Kurthers was a lot lizard who operated a notch joint out of the back end of her beater minivan. Her burned out van was found on the outskirts of Cooko with her inside. She'd been known to the local police and had been busted a couple of times for soliciting before she turned 19. The night of her murder, she was working in the backyard lot of the show and probably bribed someone for the privilege of parking there. It was a lucrative business if you were young, blonde, pretty, and willing to take risks. By all accounts, she met all the criteria. Her autopsy disclosed that her face was dissolved by formic acid postmortem, but it was the crushing of her hyoid bone in her neck that was the presumptive cause of death. She'd been strangled. The subsequent burning of her body was an attempt to eliminate any forensic evidence left by her murderer.

[00:31:13]I learned that formic acid was used in leather production and in the dying and finishing of textiles. I'd seen a large bottle of it in Woolly's camper and now pondered reporting the fact to the cops.

[00:31:24]He'd been my friend, and I was torn about ratting him out.

[00:31:29]When I asked Woolly about the bottle of formic acid, he said he used it from time to time to tan leather accessories and to treat the fabrics he used to make the puppet costumes. He mentioned that he must have used more than usual since the bottle was now 2/3 empty, and he couldn't remember why he'd used such a large quantity.

[00:31:47]I knew, but he didn't have a clue why I asked him about it. Now believing Woolly was guilty of the murders of two young women. Given his mental condition, he'd likely blocked out the horrific events, self-induced, selective amnesia. I was also convinced he'd murdered Dra and written the note to himself while in an altered state of mind, or that someone was setting him up for a hard fall. I knew which, of course, but I wasn't about to tell just yet.

[00:32:19]Big Jim Morgan was understandably upset with the police attention his carnival had been getting and urged every carne to report any relevant information to the cops. This was very bad for business and only invited more scrutiny of his performers and his sketchy operations.

[00:32:35]He relied on anonymity to grease the palms of the local authorities to make an honest buck. After Heidi Kurther's murder, attendance and gate receipts had fallen off. Big Jim couldn't wait to jump to the next town and put all of this nastiness behind him. He rightly worried that his show could be embroiled in a scandal that might just might put him out of business. He'd worked too hard and long to let that happen. He was a pragmatic business person when it came down to the bottom line and his carnival's financial viability.

[00:33:07]It was all about show business and not show art. As big Jim liked to remind, I was the one who saved his carney from financial ruin, and Jim's been indebted to me ever since. I was to be his savior and woollies Judas.

[00:33:25]I contacted the Dalb detectives and the Cookamo police after receiving Big Jim's plea for cooperation. The two organizations had joined together to create a task force because of the strong similarities between the two murders and the belief that someone at the carnival was responsible. I didn't enjoy the experience, but I knew it had to be done to prevent future murders.

[00:33:48]Woolly needed to be stopped before he could kill again. It was a moral duty, as I saw it, and one I couldn't sherk no matter how much it pained me. I had no choice but to report what I knew and believed about Woolly and his crimes.

[00:34:04]My story to the cops was straightforward. Woolly was mentally unstable. He had a pinchant for the Macob. He was at the sights of the two murders. He engaged in violent role- playinging with his puppets and he had a bottle of formic acid in his little trailer with a large portion of it unaccounted for.

[00:34:23]It was all circumstantial evidence, but sufficient for an arrest warrant. Woolly was placed under arrest and again questioned, but this time more vigorously.

[00:34:34]The poor schmuck didn't bother to ask for a lawyer. It was a slam dunk situation for the cops. After relentless badgering, Woolly broke down and confessed to what he'd done. He claimed he must have blocked out the events because he couldn't remember any specifics of the acts. He acknowledged what the police already knew. He was one extremely sick pup who needed help. That was exactly my plan, to confuse the authorities.

[00:35:03]I visited Woolly in jail once before he was extradited back to Illinois to face the charge of aggravated murder in the death of Allison. He was confused and not particularly lucid, which wasn't surprising given the circumstances. He had been put through the rigger by the cops and it showed in his bloodshot eyes and haggarded face. The phrase dear in the headlights came to mind when I looked at him. Woolly said he didn't understand what was going on and simply wanted to go home to his children. I told him that wasn't possible now and maybe never. The best he could hope for was a judgment of insanity, and I thought he had an excellent shot at avoiding the death penalty.

[00:35:45]Before I left, he asked if I would adopt his family and care for his children as he would. I readily agreed. It was the least I could do for my best friend and mentor. I wished him well. Right. Sure.

[00:36:00]Woolly was no more savvy than his puppets.

[00:36:04]God, Woolly was such an easy mark to score and manipulate to my ends. Early on, I pegged him as having a borderline personality disorder given his reclusive, almost paranoid behavior. He was emotionally unstable to begin with, and my plan was to push him over the edge into madness.

[00:36:23]Looking back, the strategy worked well and was much faster than I expected. I was the one who broke into Woolly's camper and murdered Dra after learning from other carnies that he was Will Woolly's favorite puppet. I wrote the cryptic note to ratchet up the pressure on him and to keep him off balance. I anonymously tipped the police about Woolly and me as people of interest. I stole the formic acid and used it for good purposes.

[00:36:51]Oh, by the way, I murdered the two women and disfigured their faces.

[00:36:57]All in all, I'd done well, or so I thought. Woolly was simply a pawn in my scheme to avoid arrest. Give them another suspect.

[00:37:06]We sociopaths had no compunctions about killing because we lacked the so-called qualities of empathy and remorse.

[00:37:13]Pathological lying was another of our virtues. I didn't hesitate to submit to a polygraph test when asked by the cops.

[00:37:21]I knew what the outcome would be ahead of time. I passed with flying colors, as the expression goes. Most importantly, I had successfully placed the blame for my crimes squarely on the shoulders of my good friend Woolly.

[00:37:36]I needed to quickly get out of Dal before the police discovered Allison's body and put out a drag net to snare suspects. Joining Big Jim Morgan's Thrills and Chills amusements was the perfect opportunity to escape. It had worked well, but I expected the cops might eventually be able to place me at the scene of the crime using some forensic mumbo jumbo. I needed a plausible scapegoat, and Woolly was the perfect candidate for the job. Allison was my second victim, having killed another young woman about a year before in Sycamore, Illinois, and been questioned by the cops and released for lack of evidence. I'd bashed her face in with a Louisville slugger until it turned into a messy pulp. The ceaseless battering of her head finally dissipated my fury, and I felt normal again. It took the corner about a week to identify her. I couldn't take the chance they'd come after me again.

[00:38:33]It was always my rage that got me into trouble. When it reached the boiling point, I had to release it by killing attractive young women who reminded me of my mother.

[00:38:43]Oh, mommy, dearest, how miserable you were. I didn't even bother attending your funeral some years ago since I didn't mourn your passing in the slightest. good riddance to bad rubbish.

[00:38:55]You deserve to die a painful, horrible death. Thankfully, that happened as the cancer slowly ate away at your once beautiful body. But it was your dark, cold soul that I so well remembered as a child.

[00:39:11]My mom, Greta Lawson, was gorgeous, a classic Swedish woman with a petite body, blue eyes, and blonde hair. She was a looker, as the word was used back then. She also got around a lot, as they say. She and my dad married straight out of high school, and I was born a year or so later. I was to be their only child.

[00:39:33]My father inherited the dairy farm from his parents. His life revolved around the cows. My mom's life revolved around the Randy farm hands. Thinking back, I wasn't sure who sired me.

[00:39:48]I remember it starting when I was about 4 years old when I first witnessed her servicing the farm hands. My loving mother locked me in the bedroom closet while giving a quickie to one of the workers who lingered a while after lunch while my dad and the other hands returned to the milking barn. I could hear grunting, moans, and disgusting exclamations from their rutting even when I held my hands over my ears. I could still hear them today in my mind.

[00:40:15]At first, I thought someone was hurting my mother, but later learned the truth of the matter. I was confused and conflicted about what was happening on the other side of the door. She'd forgotten the old door had a skeleton keyhole, and I watched her sexual escapades and cuckolding of my father. I came to learn my mom wasn't being punished, but rather pleasured by the man in bed with her. After each trrist, she would beat my butt with a wire coat hanger until it welted to remind me not to tell my father about our little secret.

[00:40:47]Her duplicity and affairs continued for another couple of years until I went to kindergarten, when she would no longer have a co-conspirator or witness around to tattle on her. My dad was completely oblivious of her extracurricular activities, and just as well, because I think it would have killed him. He was truly in love with her. On the other hand, she was truly in love with young, stiff dicks, and there was no der of them on our farm.

[00:41:15]As a result of the physical scars and emotional trauma as a child, I grew up to be a bonafide, over-the-top misogynist. I hated women, especially good-looking ones with yellow hair. My rage would wax and wayne for reasons I didn't understand.

[00:41:31]something or someone acted as a trigger and I'd boil over with irrepressible anger.

[00:41:38]It was then that I felt the urge, the need to kill and obliterate the faces of my victims.

[00:41:44]With practice, I was getting better at disfiguring and killing my mother. As she'd say over and over again about my homework, "Sven, practice makes perfect." I didn't plan to disappoint her and looked forward to my next adventure.

[00:42:00]Big Jim was very appreciative of my removing a bothersome thorn from his side bully and the negative publicity for the carnival following his arrest.

[00:42:10]Ironically, the press coverage drew more patrons than it turned away. Always the showman, Jim built a new joint featuring Woolly and his murderous exploits as a serial killer of young women. It was a flashy, lurid display in every respect, and the Rubes loved it. As for me, I was rewarded with taking over Woolly's show.

[00:42:31]I'd gotten rather good with the puppets, although it would be a one-man show with Woolly gone. No matter, I was confident I could do it and do it well.

[00:42:41]Eventually, I'd have to hire and train an assistant, but there was no hurry.

[00:42:47]I was no longer Golly, but back to Svengali, the master of the Macab and puppeteer extraordinaire.

[00:42:54]I moved Woolly's operation to a larger, more prominent venue along the Alley of Freaks and Geeks. The spot was next door to the anatomical Wonder Sideshow.

[00:43:04]Performers would do stunts such as the man without a stomach act, where a freak pulled in his gut until the backbone showed, or pulling themselves through a coat hanger, a tennis racket, or other India rubber man tricks. It was a solid attraction, and I'd get the overflow of lil's for my joint. It was to be my first performance using Woolly's children. I practiced by fitting a puppet over each hand to get a feel for them. I did get a feeling, a weird tingling sensation each time I put them on. Perhaps some of Woolly's karma or spirit or whatever remained. Regardless, I was happy to be finally working with them.

[00:43:45]The first and last performance of the day began well. I had a good-sized crowd in the tent and looked forward to the take. About halfway through my gig, it suddenly happened. It started with the tingling sensation, but quickly turned into something much more to my amazement and shock. Instead of following my Hansel and Gretle script, the puppets moved at their own valition, repeatedly punching me hard in the face. I tried to remove them, but couldn't since they had compressed their costume sleeves around both my arms like long blood pressure cuffs. They squeezed and squeezed some more until I lost all sensation between my wrists and elbows. They were viceike grips on my forearms, and I couldn't shake them loose. The puppets had extraordinary strength, and the more I fought them, the harder they squeezed until my blood pressure shot up and exploded through my brain. I died of a stroke on the spot. However, it wasn't all shocking news since it turned out to be one hell of a curtain call. With Big Jim, it was always about the entertainment value of an act, and I'd put on a great show. For once, the suckers got their money's worth and then some at Big Jim Morgan's Thrills and Chills amusements.

[00:45:03]I relate this story from beyond yonder, from the seventh circle of hell. I lived my life according to my upbringing, not only as an unrepentant sociopath, but as a loving son. Woolly's children believed in retribution, and they had now avenged their father's honor. As a beautiful son, I'd done the same for my father.

[00:45:35]That was Big Jim Morgan's Thrills and Chills by George Lawson, performed by yours truly, Malcolm Blackwood. You know, there's a particular kind of horror that doesn't come from what's hidden, but from what's performed right out in the open in plain sight, a smiling face, a rehearsed voice, a story told with confidence enough to make you believe the wrong person has been wearing the monster's mask all along.

[00:46:04]And perhaps that's what makes this one so unsettling. Not merely the murders, nor even the cruelty behind them, but the way spectacle, pity, and misdirection can turn every morbid bit of it into theater.

[00:46:20]If tonight's descent into carnival deceit and grim retribution left you wanting more, remember that for just $7.99 a month, you can support the show directly and enjoy early access, add-ing, and exclusive bonus content in our patrons area. Our patrons are with us every step of the way, and their support helps make each new nightmare possible. To learn more, visit simplyscaryyppodcast.com or chillingtalesford darknights.com and click the patrons tab. Your support helps us continue crafting the stories that linger long after the lights go out. And we couldn't do it without you.

[00:47:01]Thank you for helping us bring nightmares to life night after night.

[00:47:08]And before we go, don't forget that tonight's story came to us through creepypasterstories.com.

[00:47:14]our totally free readalong horror fiction website featuring thousands of terrifying tales from writers around the world. So if you're hungry for more horror, head over to creepypasterstories.com and start reading. And if you've written a nightmare of your own, submit it today. Your story could be the next one to haunt our listeners here on the show.

[00:47:39]If you enjoyed tonight's episode, be sure to subscribe to Scary Stories Told in the Dark wherever you listen. And if you're watching on YouTube, don't forget to like, subscribe, and ring that notification bell so you never miss a new episode from Chilling Tales for Dark Knights. You can also find us on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, X, and Tik Tok, where we share updates, announcements, and more tales to unsettle your evenings. I'm your host, Malcolm Blackwood, and it's been a pleasure guiding you on a journey through the dark tonight. Until next time, sleep well, listeners, if you can.

[00:48:27]Thank you for listening to Scary Stories Told in the Dark, a production of Chilling Entertainment and the creative team at Chilling Tales for Dark Knights.

[00:48:36]and a proud member of the Simplyscary Podcast Network. Visit simplyscarypodcast.com to learn more about our network and our other amazing storytelling programs.

[00:48:49]Tonight's program was hosted and its featured stories performed by yours truly, Malcolm Blackwood. Selected stories have been adapted with the kind permission of the respective authors.

[00:49:00]Original music provided by Eric Puberty, host and narrator of the Horror Hill podcast. Sound design, mixing, and mastering provided by Eron Sawiki.

[00:49:11]Program artwork and logo by Craig Grochek. Got a scary tale of your own that you'd like performed? Well, I take submissions. Email it to me today at malcolm simplyscarypodcast.com to have your terrifying tome considered for production in a future episode of this show. That's malcolm at simplyscaryypodcast.com.

[00:49:37]If you've enjoyed what you've heard on tonight's program and are joining us on your favorite podcast app, subscribe to us to be sure you never miss an episode and leave a five-star review and a comment. Your feedback means a lot to me.

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[00:50:39]Don't forget to visit us at chillingtalesford darknights.com and consider supporting the team by becoming a patron. In addition to helping us out, you'll get exclusive access to our audio archive and adree downloads of all your favorite stories, including those you've heard on this program. As for me, I'll be back next Sunday with more terrifying tales to keep you up all night. But that's all right. Who needs sleep anyway?

[00:51:19]Chilling tales for dark knights.