Heart Starts Pounding: Horrors, Hauntings and Mysteries
byHeart Starts Pounding
FictionDramaHistoryTrue Crime
Horrors, hauntings and mysteries! A collection of scary stories that will have you on the edge of your seat. If you’re a fan of all things spooky, creepy, and thrilling, this is the podcast for you. Want more darkly curious content? Join the Rogue Detecting Society on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/heartstartspounding) for ad-free listening, exclusive bonus content and more! Follow @heartstartspounding on: YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@heartstartspounding/) // TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@heartstartspounding) // Instagram (https://instagram.com/heartstartspounding) // Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/people/Heart-Starts-Pounding/100087903971907/) Have a horrifying tale, paranormal encounter, or unsolved mystery that you’d like t...
Episodes(40 episodes)
E142 - The Siren: Belle Gunness: Husband Luring Serial Killer // MONSTER SERIES
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Heart Starts Pounding is a Signal Awards Finalist! Go to https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2025/shows/genre/paranormal-or-horrorby October 9th to cast your vote for the Listener's Choice Award.
What would happen if you read an ad in a newspaper for your dream partner. They’re rich, they’re beautiful and they are looking for someone to share their life with. Would you answer, or is that too good to be true? Well, in 1906, doze...
Published: Oct 9, 2025Duration: 51:29
E141 - "It's Just a Game." The Timekeeper Ep. 1
Episode 1 of 4
17-year-old Charlie (JUDAH LEWIS) shows up to his job at Funland to find his co-worker, Blake, dead and the building on fire with an ominous message scratched into the break room door: Tick Tock. Believing the message may be connected to the 13 Keys video game Blake was playing, Charlie tries to learn more about Jacob Fairchild, the game’s creator. He and Gama (Arjun Athalye) discover a copy of 13 Keys on Blake’s computer. Charlie chooses to play, against Gama’s wishes, starting the clock and giving him 24 hours to find the 13 keys hidden in the ga...
Published: Oct 3, 2025Duration: 32:28
E140 - The Vampire: Peter Kurten, the Blood Sucking German Serial Killer // MONSTERS SERIES
Heart Starts Pounding is a Signal Awards Finalist! Go to https://vote.signalaward.com/ by October 9th to cast your vote for the Listener's Choice Award.
In 1929, bodies were turning up all over Dusseldorf, Germany with one horrifying thing in common. It looked like someone had bitten their necks, and in some cases, tried to drain them of blood.
Immediately word of a vampire spread throughout the city, but that did little to stop the attacks, which would eventually point back to one of the most depraved human beings that we’ve covered on this show…
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Published: Oct 2, 2025Duration: 43:52
E139 - Reddit Scary Stories: Reddit Stories That Could Be True Crime Docs (feat. Annie Elise)
Heart Starts Pounding is a Signal Awards Finalist! Go to https://vote.signalaward.com/ by October 9th to cast your vote for the Listener's Choice Award.
Go to https://kachava.com and use code HSP for 15% off your next order.
From a woman's mother in law attempting to kill her with latex gloves, a near child kidnapping where the biological parents were doubted, to having to take matters into your own hands with your stalker, these are all real Reddit Scary Stories so dark they could be True Crime Documentaries.
Find An...
Published: Sep 25, 2025Duration: 1:01:37
Introducing Simpsons Declassified with Nancy Cartwright
Simpsons fans —THE VAULT IS OPEN!
I’m Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson for 35+ years, and I’m finally taking you inside Springfield. Simpsons Declassified is your all-access pass to the world’s most iconic, animated series.
Each week, we crack open wild predictions, eerie coincidences and fan conspiracies and stories from 36 seasons (that’s 800+ episodes!) behind-the-scenes with writers, directors, the cast and celebrity superfans, PLUS…Simpsons-themed games— play along and test your Springfield IQ.
Hear exclusive stories from our guests who were there! Perhaps some scenes that almost never aired, the jokes that died, th...
Published: Sep 22, 2025Duration: 2:13
E138 - Tortured Live on Stream: The Death of Jean Pormanove
At 4:47 AM on August 18th, 2025, after 280 hours of torture streamed live to thousands of viewers, Jean Pormanove died in his sleep while on camera. The official cause of death was cardiac arrest. But what really killed him was a system perfectly designed to monetize human suffering, to turn degradation into content, to transform a vulnerable man's destruction into entertainment. The streaming continues. The algorithm watches. And somewhere, another Jean Pormanove is typing his first message to his mother: "I feel like I'm being held hostage."
The question isn't whether this will happen again. It's happening right now...
Published: Sep 18, 2025Duration: 39:13
E137 - Lost Media You'll Never See: The Nickelodeon Tapes, Children's Program Hijacks and more
Head to https://www.tryfum.com to start with Zero.
Go to https://kachava.com and use code HSP for 15% off on your subscription for a limited time
Lost media, TV urban legends, and the moments kids’ networks never wanted you to see. This episode investigates the rumored Nickelodeon “destroyed tape” from Legends of the Hidden Temple, real broadcast signal hijackings (including the infamous Handy Manny incident), and a haunting stop-motion short known only as “The Butcher.” From grueling game-show sets to vanished DVR recordings, we dig into how media disappears and why people...
Published: Sep 11, 2025Duration: 41:25
E136 - Reddit Scary Stories: True Camping Horror Tales (feat. National Park After Dark)
From a recent and tragic double murder in Devil's Den State Park, to a hiker entering a time warp, to unknowingly encountering a serial killer while camping, today we're talking through all the terrifying and mysterious national park stories.
Make sure to follow our guests of today's episode @NationalParkAfterDarkPodcast
Episodes Mentioned:
110. Backwoods Horror: Unexplained Disappearances in the Alaska Triangle
122. Appalachian Trail Horror: Strange Encounters, Feral People, Mysterious Lights, and More
99. Horror In The Mountains: The Khamar-Daban Incident
127. Camping Horror Stories // Dark Summer VOL. 2
NPAD: Episode 4: A Serial Killer in Yosemite
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Published: Sep 3, 2025Duration: 1:20:24
E135 - How Did This Yacht Crew Vanish Into Thin Air? The Kaz II Disappearance // DARK SUMMER VOL. 2
The idea of a “Ghost ship” -- a ship that is floating completely off course with its crew mysteriously gone or dead, has become more ridiculous over the years. Sure, maybe back in the day, with a lack of GPS tracking and communication a whole crew could vanish, but that could never happen today. Right?
The Kaz II which has been coined “The Ghost Yacht,” perhaps a more modern version of a ghost ship, and the fate of those three men—Derek Batten, James Tunstead, and Peter Tunstead—still remains a mystery to this day.
S...
Published: Aug 28, 2025Duration: 39:17
E134 - The Mysterious Disappearance of The Beaumont Children: Australia’s Most Puzzling Unsolved Mystery || DARK SUMMER VOL. 2
In 1966, three children vanished without a trace in Australia, and no one knows what happened. It’s a mystery that still plagues the country to this day, and may credit it as the reason people started locking their doors there.
But today, we have a much clearer picture of the crime, who might have been responsible, and there’s even been updates on the case as of this year.
TW: mention of child abuse
Subscribe on Patreon for bonus content and to become a member of our Rogue Detecting Society. Patrons have acces...
Published: Aug 21, 2025Duration: 52:45
E133 - What was hiding in Germany's Göhrde Forest? // DARK SUMMER VOL. 2
Match cakes, cookies, and candy in thousands of fun puzzles, when you download Cookie Jam today using the link: http://jamcity.me/HeartStartsPounding
Official Göhrde Police Investigation Website: https://www.pd-lg.polizei-nds.de/startseite/kriminalitaet/deliktsbereiche/cold_cases/ermittlungsgruppe-goehrde-113732.html
This story starts with a police officer who was investigating a suspect in a missing woman's case. When the officer went down into the man’s basement, he found a secret, locked leather door in the far back corner of the room.
Now, to understand what was in that room...
Published: Aug 14, 2025Duration: 46:19
E132 - Abandoned Amusement Parks: Hauntings, Disasters, and more // DARK SUMMER VOL. 2
Go to https://kachava.com and use code HSP for 15% off on your subscription for a limited time!
Head to https://www.tryfum.com/HEART and use promo code HEART to get your free gift with purchase and start the Good Habit today!
Summer is the perfect time to visit an amusement park, but for every park that’s open and bustling during the warmer months, there’s one that’s fallen into disrepair and sits there abandoned.
But what causes this to happen? Well, sometimes a series of horrible accidents cause the public...
Published: Aug 7, 2025Duration: 40:16
Introducing: Campus Files
College holds a mythic place in American culture, but behind the polished campus tours and glossy brochures lies a far more complicated reality. Each episode of Campus Files uncovers a new story that rocked a college or university. Consider this your unofficial campus tour. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Published: Aug 1, 2025Duration: 8:13
E131 - The Mysterious Disappearance of Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon // DARK SUMMER VOL. 2
In 2014, while looking for two missing hikers, Lisanne Froon and Kris Kremers, in Panama, officials came across a digital camera in the forest that they believed belonged to one of them.
The photos they found on that camera were disturbing, to say the least. And they held terrifying clues as to what happened to the missing girls.
Subscribe on Patreon for bonus content and to become a member of our Rogue Detecting Society. Patrons have access to bonus content as well as other perks. And members of our High Council on Patreon ha...
Published: Jul 31, 2025Duration: 52:15
E130 - Scary Reddit Stories: Terrifying Encounters (feat. Investigator Slater)
From dodging serial killers, to fake ride share drivers, to finding someone in your room in the middle of the night, today we're talking all about terrifying close encounters.
Find Psychopedia and Slater on Socials!
@investigatorslater @psychopediapod
Psychopedia Episodes Mentioned:
EP42: Sex Parts: Severed and Stored
EP130: Greyhound Bus Beheading
EPS 113 & 114: Pinup Predator: Serial Killer Harvey Glatman (Parts 1 and 2)
EPS 134 & 135: The Serial Killer Next Door: Joel Rifkin (Parts 1 and 2)
Heart Starts Pounding Episode Mentioned: Listener Stories: S...
Published: Jul 29, 2025Duration: 1:11:09
E129 - Unsolved Mysteries of The Great Lakes: Ghost Ships, Lost Crews & Ancient Curses // DARK SUMMER VOL. 2
Mysterious disappearances, lost shipwrecks, the Lake Michigan “Stonehenge”, strange lights above Lake Erie and more.
There’s something strange happening in the great lakes. These lakes in North America are much bigger than you would ever imagine, they hold about a fifth of the entire world’s freshwater. But they also hold some of the greatest unsolved mysteries. They are quite literally full of secrets.
Subscribe on Patreon for bonus content and to become a member of our Rogue Detecting Society. Patrons have access to bonus content as well as other perks. And membe...
Published: Jul 24, 2025Duration: 39:26
E128 - Rebecca Coriam: The Cruise Employee Who Vanished // DARK SUMMER VOL. 2
Head to https://www.tryfum.com/HEART and use promo code HEART to get your free gift with purchase and start the Good Habit today!
In 2011, a 24 year old woman vanished from a Disney Cruise that was heading back to LA. And what at first seemed like an open and shut “man overboard” case quickly started to seem like something much darker. Leaving us with the question, does Disney know more than they’re saying??
TW: Reference to Sexual Assault
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Published: Jul 17, 2025Duration: 46:19
E127 - Camping Horror Stories // DARK SUMMER VOL. 2
A young girl vanishes without a trace in the Alaskan wilderness. A camper loses 10.5 hours on his camping trip with no memory of what occurred in that time. And a young couple goes to a secluded part of a camp site, only to run into someone they’re not expecting.
Subscribe on Patreon for bonus content and to become a member of our Rogue Detecting Society. Patrons have access to bonus content as well as other perks. And members of our High Council on Patreon have access to our after-show called Footnotes, where I sha...
Published: Jul 10, 2025Duration: 41:10
E126 - Annabelle’s Tour of Terror
Dark Summer Merch is HERE! Shop now: https://shop.heartstartspounding.com/
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The internet freaked out last month when the haunted doll Annabelle was taken on tour around the country. Stories started circulating of buildings burning down in her wake, prisoners escaping, and even that she went missing at one point.
But what was really going on, and why was the Annabelle tour such a spiritually chaotic event?
Show Notes: https://www.heartstartspounding.com/episodes/a...
Published: Jun 26, 2025Duration: 36:53
E125 - Zombie Illnesses: Rabies, Parasites and Prions
What kind of illness turns deer into stumbling, soulless shells of themselves—bodies wasting away, but never truly dying? Or drives healthy young men into violent frenzies that leave them strapped to hospital beds, terrified of water? This week, we’re diving into the terrifying world of zombie illnesses—real diseases that hijack the brain and erase what makes us human.
Show Notes: https://www.heartstartspounding.com/episodes/zombie-illnesses
Subscribe on Patreon for bonus content and to become a member of our Rogue Detecting Society. Patrons have access to bonus co...
Published: Jun 19, 2025Duration: 37:37