Unexplained Encounters

(Formerly the Darkness Prevails Podcast) Host Darkness Prevails brings you Unexplained Encounters, a podcast where everyday folk share their most terrifying and unexplained experiences. From mysterious creatures seen in national forests to supernatural events disrupting peoples' lives, prepare to explore the unexplained. These stories might sound bizarre, but it's up to you to decide which to believe. Submit your story to Unexplained Encounters at darkstories.org

Society & Culture
True Crime
Nature
1
577 | The Ozark Mountains Have Rules - Obey The...
One man's grandparents had a very specific set of rules every night at their place in the Missouri Ozarks. What happens when the rules are ignored? Something is hungry, and it's been waiting for just this moment.
68 min
2
576 | If You Listen to This in the Appalachian ...
Almost 5 hours of terrifying Appalachian Trail and Appalachian Mountains horror stories to keep you awake almost all night.
284 min
3
575 | If It Rains While You're Hiking in Olympi...
A group of friends go hiking in the famously rainy Olympic National Park. Instead of a good time, they stumble upon a living horror straight from indigenous legend. It changes their lives forever.
58 min
4
574 | It Wakes Up Every 17 Years (DON'T GO NEAR...
When Brood IV of the cicadas awoke in Missouri in the summer of 1998, something awoke with them. And it changed the lives of 5 friends forever.
64 min
5
573 | What Happens When a Skinwalker Breaks int...
Two Zookeepers experience the most disturbing night of their lives as something that is neither human nor animal arrives one stormy night.
55 min
6
Why Wildlife Control Won't Enter the San Rafael...
Something in Utah is VERY good at killing...
58 min
7
Something in the Appalachian Mountains TOOK My ...
A man visits his brother in the Appalachian Mountains to go hunting and catch up. But they soon discover they are not alone out there - And whatever is stalking them wants in the house.
58 min
8
When the Woods Go Silent, You Have 10 Minutes Left
A forest worker recalls the most harrowing and disturbing encounters of his life with regret and trauma. Because he learned a rule, and why the woods sometimes go very, very silent.
61 min
9
The Absolute SCARIEST Stories of 2025
Happy New Year everyone! Stay safe out there, and stay creepy <3
280 min
10
DON'T Drive Through the California Desert After...
A group of teenagers enjoying a not-so-legal driving excursion in the California desert encounters something that should not exist - And should NOT be so hungry.
54 min
11
The Police Covered Up Wendigo Killings in Wisco...
In an undisclosed year during a Wisconsin Winter, a family is eaten alive by a strange creature after being stranded in a blizzard. But as evidence is revealed, the situation is even more disturbing than first expected.
58 min
12
Why You Should NEVER Whistle in the Woods
A man and his grandfather go for a hunt near a peculiar cave in the woods near their Minnesota cabin. Little do they know, their lives may change forever, or end very soon.
56 min
13
The "Alaskan Tree God" Incident of 1989
In 1989, two friends ventured onto Dalton Road in Alaska. They would never be the same.
58 min
14
Deadly Intent
6 min
15
Doghead: The Story that will BREAK YOU
56 min
16
Marines VS Skinwalker
Four marines are stationed at a checkpoint in the Arizona desert, but no amount of training could prepare them for what they saw out there.
60 min
17
The Skinwalker that Forced a Town to Evacuate
A police officer in an unknown Arizona town recollects a terrifying series of events that led to the small town being forced to evacuate. The cause? Possibly a skinwalker.
56 min
18
What Killed 47 Sheep Overnight in the North Cas...
In 1952 in the North Cascades of the United States, a family was terrorized by strange creatures that slaughtered their sheep at night. But what were these creatures? And are they still there?
61 min
19
The Most Disturbing Appalachian Story I've Ever...
62 min
20
The Deadliest Secret of the Ozarks Hunted my Fa...
I finally tell the near-lifelong story of the thing that tormented my family and killed numerous pets and animals in the Ozark Mountains.
58 min
21
The Most Terrifying Skinwalker Story on the Int...
This skinwalker story will leave you scared to trust ANYONE for even the slightest change in behavior.
59 min
22
544 | 5 Appalachian Trail Murders and Disappear...
An Appalachian trail documentary episode featuring 5 unsettling Appalachian trail missing person cases and murders that will leave you feeling watched and alone...
57 min
23
543 | DISTURBING Monster Found in Superior Nati...
They say the beast of Caribou Lake is a dragon, others believe it to be a gigantic demon. Find out in today's scary true stories of the unknown!
57 min
24
542 | WARNING: Australian SKINWALKER Loose in t...
From the Australian outback comes a shapeshifting terror that watches from the tree line.
57 min
25
541 | What Park Rangers DON'T Want You to Know ...
These are TRUE horror stories from national and state parks that will make you think twice before your next camping trip. From unexplained disappearances to terrifying wilderness encounters, these real accounts from park rangers and visitors reveal the dark secrets lurking in America's most beautiful places. If you love true scary stories and real horror encounters, this compilation of national park horror will keep you up all night...
370 min