MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories

Osad

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  Fan Favorite - "The Receipt" 25.09.2026 37min

  Today's story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 365. On the afternoon of March 24, 2006, an employee at a moving truck rental company in Ohio opened his desk drawer and grabbed a wad of cash. It had been a slow day, so the employee was using his downtime to organize a few recent payments. The money he’d just grabbed was from an all-cash deal that had happened a few days ago. At the time, the employee had been super busy, so he’d just taken the cash from the customer, flipped through it quickly to make sure the amount seemed right, then shoved the money in the drawer to deal with later. Now, he was actually counting it properly – and he really hoped the customer hadn’t shorted him, or he’d have to track them down to collect. But as the employee counted the bills, he paused. Not because the amount wasn’t right – but because there was something on the money that caught his attention. For a second, he wasn’t sure what it was. So, he looked closer. And then, all at once, he understood what he was seeing. He stopped counting the money and started flipping through it as quickly as he could – and he kept seeing the same thing on almost all the bills. With his heart racing, the employee dropped the money, grabbed the phone, and called the police.
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  No Way Out Vol. XII 24.09.2026 26min

  Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories that involve people who were trapped - with “no way out.” The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.
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  Warnings (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE) 23.09.2026 27min

  Today, I’m going to tell you four stories about people who thought they had a handle on the situation they were in, but found out – way too late – that they’d really misjudged things.
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  Murder In Marseilles (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE) 21.09.2026 29min

  One morning in January 1990, a man walked into a police station in Marseille, France, clutching a newspaper. He went up to the desk, and said he’d seen a sketch of a murder suspect in the paper that morning – and he knew who it was. He unrolled the newspaper... and held it up next to his own face.
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  Fan Favorite - "The Watercooler" 18.09.2026 37min

  Today's story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 361. On a morning in early 1986 in Arizona, someone sat hunched over a desk, furiously writing a letter. And almost every line of this letter included a direct threat of violence this person was going to inflict on the recipient. They kept writing, embellishing every horrible thing that they wanted to do. Finally, they finished writing and read over the letter – it was explicit and terrifying, just as they’d hoped. They put the letter down, glanced at a cardboard box sitting on the floor, and smiled. Nobody would ever suspect that the contents of that plain box would soon help them carry out the bizarre murder plot they’d had running through their head for months.
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  Death In Disguise 17.09.2026 26min

  Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories that prove the deadliest threats are often the hardest to recognize. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.
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  Meant to Be (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE) 16.09.2026 26min

  Today, I’m going to tell you four stories about people who went through incredibly strange experiences – and came out of them believing that everything that happened, had a purpose.
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  Human Resources (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE) 14.09.2026 30min

  One morning in March of 1999, a detective in Norcross, Georgia leaned in closely to his computer screen. He was reviewing video footage his team had recorded at a murder scene – and finally, he arrived at the exact frame he wanted. He zoomed in and smiled. Because the thing he was looking for... wasn't there.
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  What I Saw in My Room | Campfire Stories with MrBallen 11.09.2026 50min

  Welcome back to the Campfire! Tonight, I’m sitting down with a legend of the outdoors, Steven Rinella from MeatEater. We swap stories in the Montana wilderness, including an experience from my own life that I truly cannot explain. Be sure to WATCH this episode on my YouTube channel!
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  Origins Vol. III 10.09.2026 26min

  Today’s podcast will feature 4 stories about how a single decision changed the lives of the people in these stories, as well as millions of others’ lives around the world. The audio from all four stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.
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  A Lie to Die For (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE) 09.09.2026 28min

  Today, I'm going to tell you three stories about people who tried really hard to be something that they were not. And not only do they get caught, but they also face extreme repercussions.
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  Open Door Policy (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE) 07.09.2026 35min

  In the fall of 2009, a college student sat in a crowded lecture hall in Southern California, listening to his professor. Suddenly, the doors swung open and three campus police officers walked in, followed by a man in a suit. The officers went over and whispered something to the professor, who leaned into his microphone. And before the professor even said a word, the student’s stomach dropped – because he’d just realized what was about to happen.
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  Down the Stairs/Home Forever | Campfire Stories with MrBallen 04.09.2026 36min

  Welcome back to the Campfire! Tonight, I have two very weird and equally creep stories to share... perfect stories to be told at the fire. Be sure to WATCH this episode on my YouTube channel on Friday, September 4th!
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  The Clearing 03.09.2026 24min

  One summer day, a man named John Randolph was hiking through a remote forest in Colorado when he began to smell something terrible. Intrigued, he followed the smell until it brought him to this clearing, and in the clearing John saw what looked like an old campsite. Now, John is out in the middle of nowhere, so the idea that somebody was camping out out here, in what looked like a long term settlement, was pretty bizarre to John. John walked into the clearing to see what was going on, and when he turned the corner, he saw something in the middle of the campsite he just couldn’t even process... it was so horrible, it just looked fake. But eventually, he realized what he was looking at was real, at which point John turned around and began sprinting out of there screaming for help.
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  Demise by Design (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE) 02.09.2026 27min

  Today, I'm going to tell you three stories about people who thought they'd come up with the perfect plan, but instead, they actually planned out their own demise.
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  In An Instant 27.08.2026 26min

  Today’s podcast will feature 4 stories that prove the line between life and death can disappear in an instant. The audio from all four stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.
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  Lethal Leisure (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE) 26.08.2026 27min

  Today, we have three stories about people who found a really amazing pastime that they thought had changed their lives for the better, but ended up realizing that, actually, it was for the worse.
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  Last Call (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE) 24.08.2026 33min

  In the fall of 2010, a detective dug through a dresser in a bedroom near Paris. He was looking for evidence, and when he pulled open the last drawer, he found five cell phones hidden inside. He powered one of them on and checked the call history and messages – then he opened the photos app and froze. He swiped to the next photo, then the one after that. There were dozens of them – and they all showed the same thing.
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  The Capitol Theatre Haunting | Campfire Stories with MrBallen 21.08.2026 50min

  Welcome back to the Campfire! I have a great story to tell. It's a classic ghost story – and not only are the elements in the story quite unnerving, but it also has a high degree of believability. There are quite a few people in this story who, independently, witnessed and experienced these events.
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  Fatal Depths 20.08.2026 27min

  Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories about divers who underestimated what was waiting for them beneath the surface. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.