BETOBETO-SAN: The Reason Japanese People Talk To Empty Roads At Night

When phantom footsteps echo behind you on a lonely Japanese road, the only thing standing between you and an invisible stalker is knowing the right words to say.

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IN THIS EPISODE: From Puerto Rican farm animals found completely drained of blood to hairless creatures stalking Texas ranches, the chupacabra has terrorized livestock owners across the Americas for decades — but the truth behind these vampiric attacks reveals something far stranger than fiction. (The Goat Sucker) *** A Russian woman traveled 5,500 miles for love, only to end up dead on a remote Oregon logging road — while her fiancé desperately searched the internet for ways to travel back in time to save her. (The Bride, The Lover, and the Time Travel Obsession) *** From babies crying in morgue freezers to a man waking up as the autopsy blade touched his skin, there are numerous documented cases of doctors sometimes sending a body to cold storage with the dead, only to find out later they were alive the entire time. (When Death Gets It Wrong) *** On dark mountain roads across Japan, travelers report hearing phantom footsteps matching their pace — the Betobeto-san, with wooden sandals clicking against stone, always just behind, never quite catching up, and when you turn to face it there is nothing there. (Betobeto-san)ABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: Weird Darkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all thing strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold case murders, conspiracy theories, and more. On Thursdays, this scary stories podcast features horror fiction along with the occasional creepypasta. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “Best 20 Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a cross between “Coast to Coast” with Art Bell, “The Twilight Zone” with Rod Serling, “Unsolved Mysteries” with Robert Stack, and “In Search Of” with Leonard Nimoy.DISCLAIMER: Ads heard during the podcast that are not in my voice are placed by third party agencies outside of my control and should not imply an endorsement by Weird Darkness or myself. *** Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised.
CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = Lead-In, “The Dark That Follows After The Last Train To Sakaiminato”
00:04:51.668 = Show Open
00:06:56.210 = Betobeto-San
00:18:23.477 = The Bride, The Lover, and the Time Travel Obsession
00:29:22.172 = When Death Gets it Wrong
00:42:25.121 = The Goat Sucker
00:57:40.565 = Show Close
SOURCES AND RESOURCES FROM THE EPISODE…
Betobeto-san: https://weirddarkness.com/betobeto-san-japanese-footsteps-yokai/
The Bride, The Lover, and the Time Travel Obsession: https://weirddarkness.com/murder-of-anna-repkina/
When Death Gets It Wrong: https://weirddarkness.com/people-wake-up-morgue-declared-dead/
The Goat Sucker: https://weirddarkness.com/chupacabra-blood-drained-history-goat-sucker-cryptid/
=====(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)= = = = ="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46= = = = =WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2025, Weird Darkness.=====Originally aired: July 28, 2025
NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.
EPISODE PAGE at WeirdDarkness.com (includes list of sources): https://weirddarkness.com/betobetosan
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