There are more cars on the road than ever before, driving faster than was legally allowed or even possible in different parts of the past. Yet most of us don't think of roads as particularly scary in an everyday, real world sense. Still, stories of haunted or cursed roads, phantom cars, and more abound. From stories of murderous highwaymen, to beliefs and practices centered around the supernatural energy of crossroads, to urban legends of the classic urban legend of the vanishing hitchhiker, this episode covers why roads have long been seen as unsafe, often in strange or unexpected ways.

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My debut novel, THE SPITE HOUSE, is available for pre-order now through Barnes & Noble or an indie bookseller near you.

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For episode sources, scripts and more, visit healthyfears.com.

For my publication credits, visit JohnnyCompton.com

The opening theme for Healthy Fears: “Dark Game Background Loop” by Claudiu D. Moga aka NikNPhaser, licensed through Envato.

The closing theme for Healthy Fears: “Hitchcock Thriller” by JBlanks, licensed through Envato.

Other music for this episode: "Thor." by Haxxy. licensed through Shutterstock

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/healthy-fears.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On my way to looking at the Bradbury classic Something Wicked This Way Comes, I dip, dive, dart and drop through some other stories--real and imagined-- that feature frightful fairs and alarming amusement parks.

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My debut novel, THE SPITE HOUSE, is available for pre-order now through Barnes & Noble or an indie bookseller near you.

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For episode sources, scripts and more, visit healthyfears.com.

For my publication credits, visit JohnnyCompton.com

The opening theme for Healthy Fears: “Dark Game Background Loop” by Claudiu D. Moga aka NikNPhaser, licensed through Envato.

The closing theme for Healthy Fears: “Hitchcock Thriller” by JBlanks, licensed through Envato.

Other music for this episode: "Nightmare on Main St." by Sunshine Music. licensed through Shutterstock

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/healthy-fears.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beyond being and easy excuse to entertain my appeal for alliteration, this episode's title gives us two words with an unexpected history. Said history underlines the fears that we can have of staying as a guest in a strange place. From murderous hosts like Procrustes, to oppressively haunted lodgings like The Overlook, this episode is all about the haunts and horrors human beings have experienced or invented while staying at hotels.

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My debut novel, THE SPITE HOUSE, is available for pre-order now through Barnes & Noble or an indie bookseller near you.

----------------------

For episode sources, scripts and more, visit healthyfears.com.

For my publication credits, visit JohnnyCompton.com

The opening theme for Healthy Fears: “Dark Game Background Loop” by Claudiu D. Moga aka NikNPhaser, licensed through Envato.

The closing theme for Healthy Fears: “Hitchcock Thriller” by JBlanks, licensed through Envato.

Other music for this episode: "Summer House" by Mocha Music. licensed through Shutterstock

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/healthy-fears.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Despite a ton of misplaced distrust in medicine and medical staff plaguing society in recent years, there are still many valid reasons to be nervous about going to the hospital. In fact, the very nature of hospitals--what they're designed for--makes them understandably frightening. We can hope for the best when we have to visit a hospital, but we also know that it's a place where, inevitably, the worst is possible even in spite of best efforts.

In this episode I cover how hospitals have been featured in horror fiction, and also in ghostlore, with a particular focus on a lesser-known, allegedly haunted hospital I was familiar with as a kid: Mississippi's Old Biloxi Hospital.

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My debut novel, THE SPITE HOUSE, is available for pre-order now through Barnes & Noble or an indie bookseller near you.

----------------------

For episode sources, scripts and more, visit healthyfears.com.

For my publication credits, visit JohnnyCompton.com

The opening theme for Healthy Fears: “Dark Game Background Loop” by Claudiu D. Moga aka NikNPhaser, licensed through Envato.

The closing theme for Healthy Fears: “Hitchcock Thriller” by JBlanks, licensed through Envato.

Other music for this episode: "Abandoned House" by Mocha Music. licensed through Shutterstock

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/healthy-fears.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sometimes, people disappear. There is something uniquely terrifying and captivating about the prospect of vanishing, or having someone you care about vanish. Even when there is a likely answer, the lack of absolute certainty regarding the fate of the missing can produce mysteries that puzzle us for decades or even centuries. From the Roanoke colonists, to the passengers of the Mary Celeste, to the works of Ambrose Bierce, and Joan Lindsay's classic Picnic at Hanging Rock, our fascination with and fear of unexplained disappearances can be strong enough to encourage the confusion of fact with fiction.

----------------------

My debut novel, THE SPITE HOUSE, is available for pre-order now through Barnes & Noble or an indie bookseller near you.

----------------------

For episode sources, scripts and more, visit healthyfears.com.

For my publication credits, visit JohnnyCompton.com

The opening theme for Healthy Fears: “Dark Game Background Loop” by Claudiu D. Moga aka NikNPhaser, licensed through Envato.

The closing theme for Healthy Fears: “Hitchcock Thriller” by JBlanks, licensed through Envato.

Other music for this episode: "Down the Mines" by Tenacious Orchestra. licensed through Shutterstock

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/healthy-fears.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I dare say most of us have something we're hiding. For many of us it's something relatively mundane and harmless, but that may still cause us some embarrassment if exposed. For some it could be something for which you're largely blameless, but that you're still willing to lie about to keep it a secret. And for others, still, it could be a crime you've masterminded. In any case, it is rational to fear having certain truths revealed at your expense, as shown in the instant horror classic His House, and Bree Newsome's short horror film gem, Wake.

For episode sources, scripts and more, visit healthyfears.com.

For my publication credits, visit JohnnyCompton.com

The opening theme for Healthy Fears: “Dark Game Background Loop” by Claudiu D. Moga aka NikNPhaser, licensed through Envato.

The closing theme for Healthy Fears: “Hitchcock Thriller” by JBlanks, licensed through Envato.

Other music for this episode: "Indistinct" by Mocha Music, licensed through Shutterstock

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/healthy-fears.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hatred is not strictly an unproductive, seemingly unnatural emotion. Sometimes hate is understandable, and even a motivation, if directed against an injustice or imbalance. Unfortunately, we too often see it deployed in service of maintaining injustices or imbalances, by powerful people who want to keep--or grow--their wealth and influence. This episode opens with the relatable hatred felt by the character Iraxi, from Zin E. Rocklyn's novella Flowers for the Sea, and ends with prejudiced, manipulated, and ultimately violent hatred found in the 1976 film Canoa: A Shameful Memory.

For episode sources, scripts and more, visit healthyfears.com.

For my publication credits, visit JohnnyCompton.com

The opening theme for Healthy Fears: “Dark Game Background Loop” by Claudiu D. Moga aka NikNPhaser, licensed through Envato.

The closing theme for Healthy Fears: “Hitchcock Thriller” by JBlanks, licensed through Envato.

Other music for this episode: "Portland Road" by Klaus Hergersheimer, licensed through Shutterstock.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/healthy-fears.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The electric chair was once the go-to method of execution in the United States, and "the chair" still holds a unique position in America's history of capital punishment. In aftermath of more than a decade of debates about how "cruel and unusual" execution may or not be, four horror movies emerged over the course three years in the 1980's. Prison, Destroyer, The Horror Show (aka House III), and Shocker are all films about criminals who die in the chair, only to come back to life newly empowered to kill. One of those movies, however, stands apart from the others in an important way...

For episode sources, scripts and more, visit healthyfears.com.

For my publication credits, visit JohnnyCompton.com

The opening theme for Healthy Fears: “Dark Game Background Loop” by Claudiu D. Moga aka NikNPhaser, licensed through Envato.

The closing theme for Healthy Fears: “Hitchcock Thriller” by JBlanks, licensed through Envato.

Other music for this episode: "Heightened Tensions" by Zeonium, licenced through Shutterstock

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/healthy-fears.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.