State of the Unknown | True Stories of Paranormal Encounters and American Folklore

A river at night.
A woman’s cry that chills the blood.
La Llorona — the Weeping Woman — is Mexico’s most famous ghost.

For centuries, she has haunted riversides and canals, searching for the children she drowned and lost. Some call her a grieving mother. Others, a curse born from betrayal. But all agree: her cry is an omen. If you hear it, death may follow.

In this episode of Out of State, we travel beyond American folklore i...

At midnight in the Mississippi Delta, a man stood at the crossroads—and American music was never the same.

Join host Robert Barber on the State of the Unknown Podcast as we dive into one of the most chilling and enduring tales in American folklore.

Robert Johnson, a gifted but restless bluesman, vanished for months only to return playing like a man possessed. The legend says he made a deal with the Devil at a lonely crossroads—tradin...

What happens when mystery collides with science?

In this episode, Robert Barber and returning guest Dr. Brian Parsons dig deeper into America’s strangest cryptid cases—like the Murfreesboro Mud Monster, black goo evidence, and unexplained footprints.

From haunted forests to local law enforcement transparency, we explore why paranormal stories like Bigfoot endure—and how they fill the same mythic space ancient legends once did.

Whether...

What if the monsters we tell stories about… are still out there?

In Part 1 of this special interview, Robert Barber talks with cryptozoologist Dr. Brian D. Parsons about the eastern U.S.'s most persistent legends—Bigfoot, Mothman, the Beast of Bladenboro, and the Loveland Frog.

Explore how folklore, geography, and belief collide in these paranormal stories, and why the forest isn't the only place these creatures live—they h...

In the next episode of State of the Unknown, host Robert Barber sits down with cryptozoologist and paranormal researcher Dr. Brian D. Parsons to discuss the strange creatures explored in his book, Eastern Cryptids. From the Beast of Bladenboro to the Snallygaster, we dive into the stories, sightings, and cultural roots of these persistent mysteries.

Whether you're a fan of creepy podcasts, haunted places, or eerie folklore, thi...

In this episode, Robert Barber dives into the chilling legacy of Ed and Lorraine Warren—the famed paranormal investigators behind America’s most enduring urban legends.

From the true stories that inspired The Conjuring and Annabelle to the ghostly encounters still debated today, we explore what made the Warrens infamous… and why their cases still haunt the world of paranormal stories.

🎧 If you’re drawn to haunted history, mystery, a...

Explore haunted legends and paranormal stories in this haunted places podcast episode all about Ed and Lorraine Warren. From the Amityville Horror to the case of Annabelle, we uncover the real-life investigations that inspired Hollywood's most chilling films.

Join host Robert Barber as he separates fact from fiction, examines the Warrens' controversial legacy, and discusses their role in shaping modern paranormal mythology...

Before the films, before the Warrens—there was something already waiting inside the Conjuring House.

In this episode, Robert Barber unearths the true story behind one of America’s most infamous haunted places.

From the chilling experiences of the Perron family to the real history of Bathsheba Sherman, this colonial-era home holds more than ghosts—it holds memory, tragedy, and myth.

Was the haunting real… or something stranger?

🎧 For f...

Host Robert Barber takes you deep into one of America’s most chilling haunted places—the Conjuring House. This haunted places podcast unpacks the urban legends, true crime connections, and real paranormal encounters that inspired The Conjuring film series.

From unexplained phenomena to the Warrens’ controversial investigation, discover what really happened behind the haunting—and why this case still terrifies believers and skeptics ...

In the woods outside Pittsburgh, the trees don’t forget.

Dead Man’s Hollow is a forgotten corner of American folklore—a forest woven with paranormal stories, unsolved deaths, and ghostly legends that stretch back more than a century.

Join host Robert Barber as he explores this haunted Pennsylvania hollow, tracing disappearances, strange sightings, and a silence that feels almost alive.

Part of our haunted places podcast series, this e...

Discover haunted legends in this eerie podcast preview, focusing on chilling urban myths from Dead Man’s Hollow—one of Pennsylvania’s most mysterious and infamous forests.

Host Robert Barber sets the stage for an episode that explores murders, disappearances, and ghost stories that refuse to fade.
Is the land cursed? Or simply a place where fear grows like the trees?

This is a haunted places podcast for those drawn to real legend...

In the remote hills of Washington, a story emerged—too strange to ignore, too persistent to forget. A tale of a bottomless pit, radio waves, and vanishing truths. This is American folklore at its most unexplainable.

Join Robert Barber as he unearths one of American folklore’s strangest and most unsettling paranormal stories.

Known only as Mel’s Hole, this dark mystery in Washington State has entangled late-night radio, government age...

Step into haunted folklore with host Robert Barber as he unravels the bizarre legend of Mel’s Hole—one of Washington State’s most chilling urban myths.

In this episode, we introduce the story of a bottomless pit that has defied explanation for decades. First made famous on late-night radio, Mel’s Hole is said to swallow objects without a sound, attract government surveillance, and shimmer with otherworldly power.

Is it a hoax? A cove...

Hosted by Robert Barber, State of the Unknown dives into the chilling world of the Crescent Hotel—an icon of American folklore and one of the most haunted places in the country. Hidden in the Ozark Mountains, this historic site is infamous for its paranormal stories, tragic past, and ghost sightings that continue to unnerve visitors.

In this episode, we unravel the haunted history of the Crescent Hotel’s time as a cancer hospital un...

Step inside one of America’s most haunted places.

Hosted by Robert Barber, this preview of State of the Unknown sets the stage for a chilling descent into the Crescent Hotel—where paranormal stories, ghost sightings, and urban legends have lingered for over a century.

As part of our haunted places podcast, this episode teases the eerie history, strange deaths, and spectral rumors that surround the Ozark landmark.

Follow for the full s...

Robert Barber presents a chilling deep dive into one of America’s earliest witch trials.

Before Salem, fear gripped Hartford, Connecticut.

In 1662, unexplained deaths, superstition, and hysteria sparked the nation’s first witch panic — and left a legacy history nearly forgot.

In this episode of State of the Unknown, we trace the eerie and emotional story of the Hartford Witch Trials — a dark origin point in America's haunted past...

Step into the haunted history of Hartford, Connecticut—site of America’s first witch trials and a chilling legacy that predates Salem.

This creepy preview of State of the Unknown explores one of the darkest, most overlooked chapters in colonial history.

If you love paranormal stories, forgotten tragedies, and unsettling truths, this haunted places podcast delivers something deeper.

Full episode drops this Wednesday—follow ...

In the heart of Massachusetts lies a stretch of land steeped in American folklore—a place of curses, cryptids, and encounters that defy explanation.

Known as the Bridgewater Triangle, this mysterious region has spawned decades of paranormal stories—from ghost sightings and UFOs to Bigfoot reports and unexplained disappearances.

In this premiere episode, host Robert Barber unpacks the history, horror, and legend of one of America’s mo...

In rural Wisconsin, something strange stalks the roads.
Witnesses have reported a towering, fur-covered creature with glowing eyes and canine features—a beast some believe to be a werewolf.

In this episode, host Robert Barber dives into the 1990s Bray Road sightings, local lore, and the possibility that something primal still hunts the countryside.

🐺 Listen now—and follow the show for more American legends that blur the line bet...