American Hauntings Podcast

Al Capone returned to Chicago in 1930, not knowing that the next year was going to be a series of one unfortunate event after another. He had no way of knowing that one of the first pieces of bad news that he received was an omen of things to come – that his brother Ralph -- who had been in charge of operations when he was at Eastern State Penitentiary – had just been indicted for income tax evasion. 

As far as Capone was concerned, this was one of the stupidest things he’d ever heard. Who gets convicted of not pay...

In August 1882, three men were found murdered on a farm near Mount Pulaski, Illinois. Charles McMahon and his two hired hands, John Carlock and Robert Matheny, had been bound, gagged, and killed. Fear spread as neighbors searched for answers.

In May of 1929, a new inmate arrived at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. Eastern State was no ordinary prison – it was the oldest in America, created by the Quakers who believed that if a lawbreaker had time to contemplate his crimes, he might become penitent for his misdeeds.  

And the new inmate was no ordinary prisoner. He was the most famous gangster in America. His name was Al Capone, and his arrival at Eastern State was widely reported in the press. But what wasn’t so widely reported was that he had brought someone else with him to the...

On August 10, 2022, Jami Hawkins was found dead inside her Decatur, Illinois, home from a gunshot wound. What followed was an investigation that left her family with more questions than answers.

Although investigators treated her death as a suicide, a coroner's jury ultimately ruled the manner of death undetermined.

Now, more than four years later, Jami's family is speaking out, hoping to bring renewed attention to the circumstances surrounding her death.

In this special episode of American Dread, we take a closer look at the investigation, examine police reports and original 911 recordings, and explore...

Chicago – in the most Chicago way possible – memorialized the SMC CARTAGE COMPANY on Clark Street. Crowds had flocked the scene of the crime in the minutes, hours, and days after the massacre took place and they hung around for a couple of weeks after the bodies had been wrapped up in sheets and had been carted away in ambulances. They snuck in the back door and walked off with souvenirs – stray bullet casings, bloody handkerchiefs, empty pop bottles, and dirty, oil-stained rags that Johnny May had tossed aside after wiping off an engine part. They wanted anything that could keep...

Looking back now, the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre seems like business as usual in Prohibition era Chicago but in 1929, a lot of people were really pissed that such a thing could happen. Sure, there had been a lot of murders in the city during the last decade, but not seven guys all at once, machine-gunned in cold blood in a garage.

The police believed they’d figured out how the massacre had occurred, but there was a lot of debate about who was involved – debate that continues today.

Police officers, crime experts, historians, gangster buffs...

On February 14, 1929, the most infamous gangland massacre in American history occurred in a dingy garage on the North Side of Chicago when five mobsters, plus a mechanic and a wanna-be gangster optometrist, were ripped apart in a hail of bullets. The events of that morning left a lasting effect on Windy City history and still reverberate today as several unsolved mysteries, strange legends, baffling tales and, of course, tales of ghosts. 

Join us as we delve into PART ONE of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre for the Halloween season – coming to you live from the American Haunt...

In the summer of 1928, Al Capone was back in Chicago and was still building his empire. Things like gambling, prostitution, and, of course, liquor, were still making up the bulk of his profits – but he knew that wasn’t going to last forever. He knew that he needed to diversify, a lesson he learned from John Torrio, who knew that Prohibition would only last for so long. Capone’s most profitable alternative to liquor was racketeering. A racketeer was defined as the boss of a supposedly legitimate business operation. Labor unions were the most common operations. Using violence and intimid...

In 1984, William Bruce Rose, the biological father of Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose, vanished in Southern Illinois. Nearly three years later, a teenager came forward with a disturbing story of murder, a body hidden in an abandoned mining area, and a knife thrown into a reservoir.

A man was eventually convicted of William’s murder, but his remains were never recovered.

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The Devil’s Music comes in a lot of forms – from rock-n-roll to the blues, to the music that spawned them both – country music, the kind that was played at the Grand Ole Opry.

You see, not all musical curses are linked to performers or the songs they sing. Some of them are connected to the places where music is played – like the Ryman Auditorium, located in downtown Nashville, which was the center of repeated tragedies for many years.

“When’s it all going to end?” one record promoter asked years ago following one Grand Ole Opry death...

Chicago mayor “Big Bill” Thompson’s first year back in office had been a disaster as far as political observers – and anyone with any integrity at all -- were concerned. Unhappiness about his incompetence and the corruption in City Hall was spreading, especially since the city of Chicago was now almost $300 million in debt. Primary elections for state and county offices were set for April, but election violence began in January, 10 weeks before anyone went to the polls. This time came to be known as Chicago’s “Pineapple Primary” since “pineapple” was a slang term for a hand grenade. 

This period be...

In 1977, seventeen-year-old Louise Betts disappeared from Loves Park, Illinois. Months later, her remains were found in a rural Boone County field, and Curtis Brownell was eventually convicted of her brutal murder.

But more than forty years after Louise was buried, her family learned something almost unimaginable: the Boone County coroner who handled her remains had kept her skull.

This is the disturbing story of Louise Betts — a missing girl, a convicted killer, decades of parole battles, and a final betrayal that remained hidden for more than four decades.

This is an episode of the podcast that could have gone in a lot of directions – it’s an episode about the Devil, cults, true crime, satanic films, witchcraft, music, mind control, murder, and more – and really, maybe all these things and not even half of them. Who knows? It’s gotten so convoluted over the last 50 years that no one can say for sure. There are so many theories, excuses, and strange claims that have been wrapped up in all that I’m going to tell you about that one theory may be right, none of them may be right...

In the fall of 1926, the best friend of Chicago gangsters returned to politics and got his name added to the Republican mayoral primary ballot. William “Big Bill” Thompson was back from political exile – he just couldn’t stay away. 

In early July, he sailed his yacht down the Chicago River and into Lake Michigan, carrying an motley crew of politicians, businessmen, beer-swilling clowns, assorted cronies, and a gangster or two. They were cheered on by thousands of people who lined the shoreline. The man was a walking punchline, but people loved him. 

He’d spent the last yea...

If there was any one thing that motivated Hymie Weiss it was revenge. 

Since the murder of his friend Dean O’Banion, he’d been the de facto boss of the North Side gang that Dean had founded, mostly because none of the rest of the guys had wanted to be in charge. They were content to have Hymie make the decisions and if they weren’t sure what to do, they voted on it.

And their lack of initiative probably came from the fact that they seemed less interested in making money and more interes...

In 1997, 13-year-old John Ushman was found dead inside Room Five of the Southern View Motel in Springfield, Illinois. Authorities ruled that he died while playing Russian roulette with a stolen revolver.

But newly obtained police records reveal changing statements, hidden guns, a motel room reportedly wiped for fingerprints, and days of silence before John was finally found.

In this episode, American Dread reconstructs John’s final days and the troubling questions that still surround Room Five.

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On August 5, 1994, Decatur Realtor Sherry Lewis left to show a home. She never came home. More than three decades later, her murder remains unsolved. In this special anniversary episode, American Dread revisits one of Central Illinois' most haunting cold cases and the ongoing search for justice. 

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

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On the same day that the corpses of the last of the men who tried to revive the “Terrible Genna’s” operation was found, the Vice President of the United States, Charles Dawes, demanded that the U.S. Congress begin a federal investigation into the lawlessness that was occurring in the streets of Chicago...

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

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When it comes to music curses – and the Devil’s Music itself – there is no musician more closely linked to the supernatural than Robert Johnson, the legendary bluesman who allegedly sold his soul to the Devil at a crossroads in the Mississippi Delta for magical playing skills and a handful of tunes. Robert would go on to become the founding member of the sinister “27 Club” but that’s not the only curse that’s been linked to the young guitar player.

There’s also the so-called CROSSROADS’ BLUES CURSE.

The legend of the curse states that Robert, with...

On April 27, 1968, five children from the Cox family were murdered near their rural home outside Mattoon, Illinois. The killer was someone they knew and trusted: 18-year-old Thomas Charles Fuller II, who was dating their older sister. This is Five Little Birds: The Cox Family Murders. 

In May 1925, Angelo and Lucille found a home they liked in suburban Oak Park and began planning to move. On the morning of May 25, Angelo set out in his Roadster coupe to pay for the new house in cash. He drove south from Belmont Harbor on Sheridan Road and then turned southwest onto Ogden Avenue, which at that time extended to Lincoln Park. 

As he approached Hudson Avenue, a large black touring car carrying four unknown assailants sped up next to Genna's car. The passengers in the other car opened fire with shotguns, spraying Angelo’s car wit...

In July of 1977, G. Ray Timmons left his Bloomington, Illinois home for a walk and never returned. Hours later, he was found murdered in a downtown alley off East Market Street, a cinder block had been placed on his neck and head. Nearly fifty years later, the most important hours of that night remain missing.

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

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The murder of Dean O’Banion – followed by the near-miss on John Torrio – became the opening battles in what would become the longest and bloodiest gang war in Chicago history. This wasn’t just gangland maneuvering, Hymie Weiss’ thirst for revenge – it went beyond all that. The control of the entire Chicago underworld was at stake. 

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

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Two days before Halloween in 1987, 13-year-old Billie Lee Boyce was found behind a garage in Springfield, Illinois.

She had left home two nights earlier and said she would be back in about an hour. She never returned. Her body was discovered near East Melrose Avenue, and her clothing was later recovered under a bridge along Fox Road.

Police investigated. A suspect was arrested and charged. DNA testing was expected to help move the case forward. But the charges were dropped before trial, no one was ever convicted, and Billie’s murder remains unsolved.

In...

Ghost stories recorded from friends and vendors at the 2026 Haunted America Conference.

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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An update from Troy Taylor about the status of AMERICAN NIGHTMARES and an explanation about why it hasn’t been in your feed lately. In mid-June suffered a series of strokes and has been on the mend ever since. But new episodes will be coming in July, so thanks for all your support and good wishes.

If you’re feeling generous and would be willing to donate to the GO FUND ME for Troy’s medical recovery, you can follow the link to https://gofund.me/919e3e82c 

Just as the door closed behind Capone, a long black car cruised slowly by. Inside the black car were North Siders Hymie Weiss, Vincent Drucci, and George Moran, all clutching shotguns and automatics. As they rolled up next to Capone’s car, the windows came down and they opened fire on Capone’s car. Bullets slammed into metal and windows shattered in the assault. 

A policeman was later quoted as saying: “They let it have everything but the kitchen stove.”

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

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In 1976, a quiet farm home outside Lincoln, Illinois became the scene of one of Logan County’s most horrifying crimes.

Lloyd, Phyllis, and Terri Schneider were murdered inside their own home, while two young survivors escaped into the darkness to get help. What followed was a disturbing case built around wealth, obsession, warning signs, courtroom testimony, and decades of fear every time Michael Drabing came up for parole.

This episode of American Dread goes inside the Schneider Triple Homicide — a brutal Heartland crime that still haunts Lincoln nearly fifty years later.

Check out our...

The Day the Music Died happened February 3, 1959, when a plane crash in Iowa claimed the lives of rock-n-roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. “Big Bopper” Richardson.

But the plane crash didn’t affect just those who died on that terrible morning. In the wake of their deaths, a story began about a curse that was connected to Buddy Holly and his music. Legend has it that one of those musicians was Bobby Fuller, who became famous for his outlaw anthem I FOUGHT THE LAW. He died mysteriously in 1966, leaving behind one of rock-n-roll’s greatest...

On a cold December morning in 1969, a motorist pulled into an all-night Shell station near Glenarm, Illinois, along old Route 66. Inside, the counter was empty. In the storeroom, 18-year-old David Burch Jr. was found dead.

What began as a late-night robbery became one of Sangamon County’s most haunting murder cases: a young attendant killed on the graveyard shift, a father and son accused of the crime, a death sentence, and an abandoned station left rotting beside the changing highway.

This is the story of David Burch, Tuttle’s Shell Service Station, and the dark side...

In the 1960s, Satanic Cinema took on a life of its own. Mostly left behind were the humorous portrayals and worn old tales that had already been told over and over again. New filmmakers were bringing the Devil to life onscreen through the works of Poe and H.P. Lovecraft and by way of both old curses and modern versions of witchcraft. But it would take Hammer Films – that bastion of gothic horror and vampires – to bring audiences the film that would kick off a diabolical series of movies that would soon terrify the world.

In this epis...

“To hell with them Sicilians!”

It was just an off-hand comment – a remark that was usually delivered with a smirk. Dean O’Banion and his North Siders were quick to say it. They didn’t care. The South Side mob, run by John Torrio and Al Capone, were tolerated – they weren’t pals. They were business associates and if it wasn’t for the money they made for O’Banion and his crew, they’d have nothing to do with them at all.

So, “to hell with them Sicilians” became a remark that often passed between them with a laug...

In July of 1983, 17-year-old Kimberly McClaskey vanished while hitchhiking along Route 116 near London Mills, Illinois. The next day, her clothing and personal belongings were found floating in the Spoon River — but Kimberly was gone. Decades later, her remains would finally be identified, and her death ruled a homicide. This is the story of a small-town nightmare that never truly ended.  

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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Based on the episodes that you’ve heard in this series, then you’re likely aware there are many stories of curses, superstitions, and creepy coincidences that have been interwoven into the fabric of the “Devil’s Music.” Some are silly and a bit of a stretch, some are eerie, and some – like the most famous music curse of the “27 Club” – are downright unnerving.

In this episode, we’ll dig into the infamous “Buddy Holly Curse,” which began on a fateful night in February 1959 – the “Day the Music Died.” Legend has it that this curse dogged an entire generation of rock star...

Once the smoke cleared from the Cicero elections, Eddie Vogel – the underworld mover and shaker of the town, who gave orders to the mayor and other local officials – kept his promise to Torrio and Capone about gambling. On May 1, they opened the Cicero’s first bookmaking and gambling operation, the Hawthorne Smoke Shop, right next door to their Cicero headquarters, the Hawthorne Inn. Things were running smoothly in Cicero, this small but growing town of just over 16,000 people at the time, or…. Well, for the most part.

There was still one ongoing problem that needed to be dealt wi...

Once the smoke cleared from the Cicero elections, Eddie Vogel – the underworld mover and shaker of the town, who gave orders to the mayor and other local officials – kept his promise to Torrio and Capone about gambling. On May 1, they opened the Cicero’s first bookmaking and gambling operation, the Hawthorne Smoke Shop, right next door to their Cicero headquarters, the Hawthorne Inn. Things were running smoothly in Cicero, this small but growing town of just over 16,000 people at the time, or…. Well, for the most part.

There was still one ongoing problem that needed to be dealt wi...

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 unh...

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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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...

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

New Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/troytayloroddities

Check out our updated website and sign up for our newsletter at AmericanHauntingsPodcast.com

Want an episode every week, plus other awesome perks and discounts? Check out our Patreon page

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

Follow us on Instagram @AmericanHauntingsPodcast, @TroyTaylorgram, @CodyBeckSTL