Filmmakers in the 1950s didn’t completely abandon the dry and dusty lore of the Devil even if it did seem audiences were now much more inclined to see threats in the form of atomic bombs, little green men in flying saucers, and giant monsters unleashed by man’s experiments with radioactivity. A new obsession with science and outer space seemed to temporarily put the Devil on hold, largely pushing the mysteries of black magic off the screen.

But the 1950s weren’t a complete loss when it came to the Devil onscreen. They not only introduced an unhinged underground filmmaker who would have a much bigger impact in the decade to come but 1957 also gave us what was, without question, one of the best satanic films of all time – one of the few truly effective films about black magic that can still give you a chill even nearly 70 years later.

The call came in as a fire. What firefighters found inside was far worse. In March of 1994, three people were discovered dead inside a Westlawn Avenue home in Decatur, Illinois. The investigation led police to James David Dyer, a man already feared by one of the victims and already named in a court order.

This episode follows the threats, the violence, the chase, and the aftermath of a case that left one town shaken.

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This episode was written by Troy Taylor

Produced and edited by Cody Beck

Before rock-n-roll started taking America by storm in the 1950s, you wouldn’t find a minister or holy roller anywhere in the country who didn’t refer to the blues as the “Devil’s Music.”

During the Middle Ages, the Church told people that any kind of music that wasn’t about God was the work of the Devil. That became a popular refrain for church leaders – then and sometimes now. By the early twentieth century, it was jazz music – linked to the blamed of Storyville – that was being blamed for lewd and lascivious behavior.

Jazz seemed really bad – but then came the blues -- a form of music with an angry, wicked sound that conjures up visions of dive bars, pool halls, graveyards, and an abandoned crossroads in Mississippi where the Devil just might be waiting for the next hopeful guitar player to come along, looking for fame and fortune.

Then, with the blending of blues, country, hillbilly music, and more, rock-n-roll was born. It’s evolved in many ways over the years – but it’s always been trouble.

Check out our new American Hauntings Podcast Network for even more spooky shows.

Have a question or comment? Text us on the Haunt Line @ 217-791-7859

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Follow us on Twitter @AmerHauntsPod, @TroyTaylor13, @CodyBeckSTL

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This episode was written by Troy Taylor

Produced and edited by Cody Beck

After keeping a low profile in the previous decade, the Devil made a comeback in the 1940s, when soon-to-be-war-weary audiences were both diverted and disturbed by satanic entertainment. Thanks to the darkness lurking in the world during those years, we shouldn’t be surprised to find there were a number of genuinely ominous visions of evil captured on celluloid at the time.

Reflecting on those terrible years of global bloodshed, the dawning of the nuclear age, and the years of exhaustion that followed the war, we find that many of the satanic films of the 1940s present a darkly pessimistic view that leaves no doubt that humanity really doesn’t need the Devil to encourage it to do evil.

On a summer night in 1987, 22-year-old Brenda Sue Bottoms left her home in Auburn, Illinois for a short walk to a nearby tavern. Hours later, she was seen getting into a brown car with dents on the passenger side.

She was never seen again.

Nearly four decades later, investigators say new information has surfaced — including the possibility that more people witnessed Brenda’s final moments than originally believed.

In a town where people remember everything…who is still keeping this secret?

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Have a question or comment? Text us on the Haunt Line @ 217-791-7859

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The story of the murderous priest, Hans Schmidt, is one that has been seldom told, even though he may have been one of the most depraved criminals in American history. Scmidt left a trail of mayhem behind him in Germany when he came to the United States and he left death and destruction in his wake as he was moved from parish to parish around the country, keeping him one step ahead of rumors, accusations, and embarrassment for the Church.

But Catholic officials had no idea of the secrets they were keeping for Father Schmidt. They didn’t know about his pathological obsession with blood, his deranged sexual appetites, or the murders, of course. I’d like to think that if they knew just how dangerous this priest was, they would have done something to stop him. But I don’t suppose we’ll ever know.

But what I do know is that this is not a story for the nervous, the faint of heart, or those too afraid to be face the violence, sex, brutality, religious depravity, and blood-soaked murder to come. If you're brave enough, I dare you to join me for this one.

HOLY TERROR: THE TRUE STORY OF AMERICA’S KILLER PRIEST will be season 7 of our new podcast that you can only get by becoming a Patreon supporter of American Hauntings.

To do that, just go to PATREON.COM/AMERICANHAUNTINGS and get signed up now in time for the first episode of the new season, coming in May 2026!

There has always been something strange about music. It has captured the imaginations of people in ways that nothing else has ever been able to do. This was true during the days of traveling minstrels, when folk music emerged from the Appalachian Mountains, when the first jazz music was played in the brothels of New Orleans, and when the first bluegrass songs rattled across the American South. But when the first notes of the blues – which eventually gave birth to rock-n-roll – began to be heard from roadhouses and juke joints, the fundamentalists were convinced that the Devil himself had invented his own brand of music.

And maybe they’re right. The origins of rock-n-roll are murky, at best. It is, by its nature, difficult to define, and even harder to explain. There may never be a single, clear-cut, universally accepted explanation for the origins of rock-n-roll. From its inception, it’s been twisted by myth, folklore, legend, rumor, and fact. There is no other kind of music – or even type of popular culture – that has such a rich history of depravity, untimely deaths, bizarre curses, and lives filled with excess.

It’s almost as if someone sold their soul to the Devil to end up with the kind of lifestyle that music can offer.