The Stories We Tell in the Dark

Adam wraps up the season with Thirteen Women (1932) - the only film of tragic actress Peg Entwistle, more secrets behind the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the real-life viewers who thought Gilligan's Island was a documentary, and Britain's famous "Spaghetti Tree" hoax. Plus: the 1970s CIA rumors surrounding The Exorcist's author William Peter Blatty, and a bonus field guide to the Shinto spirits of Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away.
Show notes at https://magicalmystery.media

Before The Exorcist terrified the world, its creator was writing comedy. This episode traces William Peter Blatty's journey from humorist to theologian of horror - his mother's influence, the real 1949 exorcism case, the film's alleged curse, and the true story of the boy who inspired it all.
Show notes at https://magicalmystery.media

*]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" tabindex="-1" data-turn-id= "request-WEB:e9f740cd-314f-467b-b11e-3a7e9b936809-6" data-testid= "conversation-turn-4" data-scroll-anchor="true" data-turn= "assistant"> Host Adam Charles unpacks the 2005 film The Exorcism of Emily Rose and the harrowing true story behind it - the 1970s case of Anneliese Michel, a young Bavarian woman whose tragic death followed dozens of sanctioned exorcisms. This is a haunting exploration of faith, suffering, and how Hollywood turns real horror into entertainment for the masses.
Show notes at https://magicalmystery.media

Take a haunted walking tour of Hollywood with Adam. Along the way, meet spectral projectionists, Marilyn Monroe's haunted mirror, the ghosts of the Roosevelt Hotel, and Peg Entwistle, the tragic actress who walks forever beneath the famous "H."
Tour Stops:
El Capitan Theatre
TCL Chinese Theatre
Hollywood Walk of Fame
Roosevelt Hotel
The Magic Castle
Hollywood Sign
Movies mentioned: Citizen Kane (1941); Anything Goes (1936, stage musical, later film); The Rocketeer (1991); Aladdin (1992); King of Kings (1927); Thirteen Women (1932); From Here to Eternity (1953).
Personalities mentioned: Will Rogers; Joan Fontaine; Clark Gable; Orson Welles; Sid Grauman; Mary Pickford; Douglas Fairbanks; Howard Schenck; Norma Talmadge; Victor Arthur Killian; Charles Wagenheim; Errol Flynn; Carole Lombard; Montgomery Clift; Marilyn Monroe; Suzanne Leonard (Roosevelt Hotel staff); Harry Houdini; Roland B. Lane; Catherine Lane; Peg Entwistle; Robert Keith; Brian Keith; Irene Dunne; Myrna Loy.
Other media & pop culture references: All in the Family (1971–1979); Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976–1977); The Jeffersons (1975–1985); Kojak (1973–1978); Gunsmoke (1955–1975); Planet of the Apes (TV series, 1974); The Brady Bunch (1969–1974); Family Affair (1966–1971); Hotel California (Eagles album, 1976).
Show notes at https://magicalmystery.media

A 1978 thriller accidentally supercharges a conspiracy - and a Hollywood icon's life spirals into a true-crime saga. We explore Peter Hyams' Capricorn One - why Buzz Aldrin disapproved, how it was saved by Superman, and how moon-hoax theories grew from fringe chatter to mainstream mania. Then we trace the 2001 murder of Bonny Lee Bakley - and actor Robert Blake's criminal trial.
Movies mentioned:
Capricorn One (1978); T.R. Baskin (1971); Busting (1974); 2010 The Year We Make Contact (1984); Outland (1981); Timecop (1994); Lost Highway (1997); Baretta (1975-1978); The Little Rascals & Our Gang (1922 to 1944); In Cold Blood (1967); Superman (1978).
People mentioned:
Peter Hyams; Elliot Gould; James Brolin; Sam Waterston; Brenda Vaccaro; Hal Holbrook; Karen Black; Telly Savalas; O. J. Simpson; Buzz Aldrin; Robert Blake; Bonny Lee Bakley; Christian Brando; David Lynch.
Show notes at https://magicalmystery.media