A foul-smelling beast covered in river slime sent an entire Illinois police force into the woods with tracking dogs in 1973, but even the German shepherd was too terrified to follow its trail.

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IN THIS EPISODE: When a German princess entered a Roman convent seeking spiritual peace in 1858, she uncovered a shocking conspiracy of fake miracles, sexual abuse, and murder orchestrated by a beautiful young nun who claimed to be a living saint. (Nuns of Sant’Ambrosio) *** The 1904 St. Louis Olympics featured a marathon where runners were given rat poison instead of water, racists created humilating displays of indigenous peoples, treating them like zoo animals, a runner tried to cheat by taking a car partway through the race, and more chaos so complete that Olympic officials considered canceling the Games forever. (The Nightmare 1904 Olympics) *** Scientists tracking impossible orbits of frozen worlds at the edge of our solar system have calculated that something with ten times Earth's mass is hiding in the darkness — and it might not be a planet. (Planet X or Something More Terrifying) *** The elite Air Force guards who protected secret technology at Area 51 are now dying from radiation exposure, but the government refuses to help them because their service at the base remains too classified to even acknowledge they were stationed there. (Invisible Enemy of Area 51) *** In 1973, a seven-foot-tall creature covered in muddy white fur terrorized the small town of Murphysboro, Illinois, leaving behind massive footprints, mysterious black slime, and police reports that turned skeptics into believers. (Bid Muddy Monster of Illinois)
ABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: Weird Darkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all thing strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold case murders, conspiracy theories, and more. On Thursdays, this scary stories podcast features horror fiction along with the occasional creepypasta. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “Best 20 Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a cross between “Coast to Coast” with Art Bell, “The Twilight Zone” with Rod Serling, “Unsolved Mysteries” with Robert Stack, and “In Search Of” with Leonard Nimoy.DISCLAIMER: Ads heard during the podcast that are not in my voice are placed by third party agencies outside of my control and should not imply an endorsement by Weird Darkness or myself. *** Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised.
CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = Lead-In
00:01:30.198 = Show Open
00:03:53.332 = Big Muddy Monster
00:18:30.210 = Planet X or Something More Terrifying
00:28:34.325 = The Nightmare 1904 Olympics
00:43:24.791 = Nuns of Sant’Abrosio
00:54:17.851 = Invisible Enemy of Area 51
01:04:54.606 = Show Close
SOURCES AND RESOURCES FROM THE EPISODE…
Big Muddy Monster of Illinois: https://weirddarkness.com/illinois-big-muddy-monster-legend/
Planet X or Something More Terrifying: https://weirddarkness.com/planet-x-warping-space-solar-system/
The Nightmare 1904 Olympics: https://weirddarkness.com/1904-olympics-tragedy/
Nuns of Sant’Ambrosio: https://weirddarkness.com/santambrogio-nun-scandal/
“Invisible Enemy of Area 51: https://weirddarkness.com/area-51-radiation-deaths/ (Also mentioned: https://theinvisibleenemy.org)
=====(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)= = = = ="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46= = = = =WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2025, Weird Darkness.=====Originally aired: August 01, 2025
NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.
EPISODE PAGE at WeirdDarkness.com (includes list of sources): https://weirddarkness.com/BigMuddyMonster
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