PAZUZU: The Ancient Mesopotamian Demon That “The Exorcist” Made Famous
Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories
Darren Marlar
4.6 • 4.1K Ratings
🗓️ 16 May 2026
⏱️ 59 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources and full transcript): https://weirddarkness.com/pazuzu
FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: The Exorcist is widely regarded as one of the most influential horror movies of all time. Even now, half a century after its release, it continues to terrify audiences, in large part due to its horrifying practical effects and iconic antagonist: Pazuzu. (Pazuzu, The Demon ‘The Exorcist’ Made Famous) *** Latoya Ammons and her family claim to have experienced demonic possession that began when they moved into what became known as the “house of 200 demons” in 2011. (The Haunting on Carolina Street) *** In the eerie depths of 1920s Los Angeles, a sinister tale unfolded, shrouded in secrets and steeped in darkness. It all began with May Otis Blackburn and her daughter, Ruth, who claimed to receive divine revelations from the angels Gabriel and Michael. Thus emerged the enigmatic Blackburn Cult, a group entangled in a web of prophecies, tributes, and whispered mysteries. (The Blackburn Cult) *** 19th-century freak shows brought both the extraordinary and the macabre to captivated audiences far and wide. Among the peculiar spectacles of these exhibitions stood a man whose skeletal frame defied all norms of human anatomy… as his skeleton and skin appeared to be the only parts of his anatomy intact. (Seurat, The Living Skeleton) *** In the heat of summer in 2008, a mysterious creature washed ashore on a beach in Montauk, Long Island, sending shockwaves through the community. What began as a simple sighting by local resident soon exploded into a media frenzy, with wild theories and speculation running rampant. (Hot Montauk Summer) *** While epic Hollywood films often depict gladiators as men, the truth is far more captivating. We’ll step into the arena with the women who dared to defy convention and enter the gladiatorial games. (Gladiators Of The Fairer Sex)
CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding
00:01:04.902 = Show Open
00:03:56.963 = Pazuzu, The Demon ‘The Exorcist’ Made Famous
00:12:38.281 = The Blackburn Cult
00:18:05.924 = Haunting on Carolina Street
00:23:19.429 = Seurat, The Living Skeleton
00:29:34.090 = Gladiators of the Fairer Sex
00:44:04.311 = Hot Montauk Summer
00:52:59.948 = Show Close & Bloopers
*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad break
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*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*
SOURCES and RESOURCES:
“Pazuzu, The Demon ‘The Exorcist” Made Famous” by Austin Harvey for All That’s Interesting:https://tinyurl.com/3myts9h4
“The Blackburn Cult” by Troy Taylor from the book “Taking Up Serpents: American Cults, Messiahs and Madmen”: https://amzn.to/4ak7SUG
“The Haunting on Carolina Street” sources: https://tinyurl.com/2cvyfu46, https://tinyurl.com/bdzz467u,https://tinyurl.com/39u7b79f, https://tinyurl.com/35uvhbp6
“Seurat, The Living Skeleton” by Kaushik Patowary for Amusing Planet: https://tinyurl.com/mr4xwp9k
“Gladiators Of The Fairer Sex” by Paul Chrystal for Ancient Origins: https://tinyurl.com/ptzpv46v
“Hot Montauk Summer” by TheGhostInMyMachine.com: https://tinyurl.com/2b74wzpx
(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.)
WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.
Originally aired: March 26, 2024
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The monitor flatlines. The doctors work fast. The paddles charge. His family watches from the corner of the room. |
| 0:11.0 | And Bob Frisbee, husband, father, lifelong pilot, feels something snap. |
| 0:18.0 | He wakes in a room he doesn't recognize. |
| 0:22.1 | No windows. |
| 0:23.4 | A door with no handle. |
| 0:25.4 | Light with no source. |
| 0:27.6 | And seated across a carved antique table is a man with a file, an impossibly thick file, |
| 0:35.6 | who introduces himself only as Mr. O. You're in the waiting room, |
| 0:41.5 | he says, and we have a great deal to get through. Everything Bob has ever done is in that file. |
| 0:51.6 | Every person he wronged and never faced. Every wound he carried that quietly poisoned |
| 0:57.8 | the people around him. Every dark corner of life that looked from the outside, perfectly ordinary. |
| 1:05.5 | Above them, a golden wheel appears, and the spokes that are dark are the ones that matter most. |
| 1:12.8 | But this isn't just a life review. |
| 1:15.9 | Behind the veil of the world Bob thought he knew something has been moving, ancient, deliberate, |
| 1:22.8 | with a face that doesn't belong on anything that was ever human. |
| 1:27.5 | There are forces here that don't want Bob to finish what he has started, and the waiting |
| 1:32.1 | room has an escape tunnel, but Mr. O. won't tell him where that leads. |
| 1:38.9 | The Waiting Room, a novel by L.A. Marzuli, the researcher who has spent decades pulling |
| 1:43.9 | back the veil on the |
| 1:45.1 | supernatural world, most people pretend isn't there. Narrated by Darren Marler. You die. Then, |
| 1:53.7 | the reckoning begins. The Waiting Room by L.A. Marzuli, a new audiobook, available now on the audiobooks page at |
| 2:02.6 | Weird Darkness.com. |
... |
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