Nancy Brophy fills her novels with romantic betrayals and murder. It’s a far cry from her quiet life in the suburbs, where she and her chef husband, Dan, are living out their golden years. But when Dan is shot dead, Nancy finds herself at the center of a murder case that could be ripped from the pages of her novels.From Wondery, this is a story about what happens when the line blurs between fiction and reality. Listen to Happily Never After: Dan & Nancy on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App or on Apple Podcasts. Start your free trial by visiting Wondery.fm/HNA_DN now.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

At 6:45 AM on an ordinary Tuesday in Salt Lake City, Utah, a father and son lugged a heavy jewelry case into the lobby of a high-rise building. They ran a jewelry store together on the third floor, and had come in early to set up their new display. They heard the lobby door open behind them and turned to see a man holding a cardboard box. The man said he was making a delivery and asked where the elevator was. The father and his son were heading that way, too — so, all three got on the elevator together. As they stood, the father looked at the box the man was carrying. There was a name written on the top in black marker, but no return address, which seemed odd. And the man didn’t really look like a delivery driver, either. He was wearing a green letterman jacket, like a high school athlete would wear. But the father kept his thoughts to himself. When the elevator doors opened to the third floor, he and his son carried their jewelry case out and went on with their day. Later that morning, a firefighter pounded on the jewelry shop door and said that the building was being evacuated. The father and son rushed outside, where they saw fire trucks, police cars, and a crowd of other people who worked inside the building. As a woman in the crowd filled them in about what had just happened, a horrible realization dawned on the jewelry shop owner: That delivery man was not who he claimed to be — and the cardboard box contained something more sinister than anything the shop owner could have imagined.For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballenSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today’s podcast will feature 4 stories that all demonstrate how one seemingly small action can have massive ripple effects on the future. The audio from all four stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:#4 -- "Orange Juice" -- A bottle of orange juice changed an African man's life (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/zxmNm9vUgik?feature=shared)#3 -- "Overcoming Adversity" -- The ultimate revenge story (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/Pzm-T_btfa0?feature=shared)#2 -- "Cowboy" -- A beloved Hollywood icon has a dark past (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/OPfcCindxhg?feature=shared)#1 -- "Pick Your Poison" -- A very sick person inadvertently becomes the test subject in a highly controversial experiment (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/xn7eaj36dUY?feature=shared)For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballenSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 34.On September 6th, 1988, a middle aged woman named Cindy Borton, was washing dishes in her little house in Shenandoah, Iowa. As she did this, she heard a knock on her back door. She glanced at her watch and saw that she only had a few minutes before she had to get ready for work, and so she just hoped that whoever was there, was not expecting a long visit.… A few hours later, the police would arrive at Cindy’s house and they would discover a crime scene so gruesome, that they had to call in a special investigative unit just to process it.For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @MrBallenSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today’s podcast features 3 stories that will make you wonder how many monsters you may have encountered in your life. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:#3 -- "Granny Ripper" -- Crazy plot twist... (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/5-DiRM4CFPI?feature=shared)#2 -- "Reign of Terror" -- The implications of this story are massive and will take you down a deep rabbit hole (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/aJJmwCKgHAQ?feature=shared)#1 -- "Inside Scoop" -- One of the most unbelievable revenge stories ever, but you won't realize it's a revenge story until the very end (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/sVwIOVFdpxM?feature=shared)For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballenSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On a January afternoon in 2015, a medical examiner stood over a dead woman’s body in the county morgue. He’d already opened up the woman’s abdomen, and he was using his scalpel to cut the tissues around her stomach. The woman had been murdered, and the medical examiner had already determined her cause of death — but now, he was searching for something specific. He placed the stomach on a metal tray and sliced it open, revealing everything she’d eaten before her death. To his surprise, there was almost nothing there, which meant the woman hadn’t eaten for several hours. This struck the medical examiner as very odd, because detectives had told him that the woman bought Mexican food less than half an hour before her death, and they found the empty wrapper at the crime scene. But if the murder victim didn’t eat it, that left only one other possibility: her killer did. The medical examiner put his scalpel down and looked at the woman on his autopsy table. He tried to imagine what sort of person would want to murder her and then eat her lunch, while standing right beside her body.For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballenSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today’s story is really, really weird. And just know going into this that a lot of what happened in the story has never been fully explained, so we did our best to make this make sense. But I'm sure many of you at the end of this story are going to be like, “what did I just hear?” And if that's you, I would encourage you to just Google the case yourself, because it's totally wild.Story name, preview & link to original YouTube video:#1 -- "Masterwork" -- At the end of the story, some of you may be left thinking, “what the heck did I just watch?" And if that's you, I would encourage you to google this story yourself (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/MclMKi4zDBw?feature=shared)For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballenSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In February of 1983, a young police officer arrived at what looked like a normal, residential home in Mobile, Alabama – but the officer already knew that there was more to this house than met the eye. Just a few minutes earlier, an emergency medical technician had called to tell the officer that there was something inside the home he should really see. The officer opened up the front door and walked into the living room, where first responders were huddled around a man’s dead body. The owner of the home had died by suicide, but that wasn’t what the EMT was talking about. The officer walked right past the commotion and into the homeowner’s bedroom. There, he stopped dead in his tracks. What he found was one of the strangest and most chilling things he’d seen in his entire career. But even as he stood staring at this bizarre scene, he felt a sudden rush of hope. Because he was pretty sure he had just found the answer to one of the city’s most notorious crimes.For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballenSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today’s podcast features 2 stories that will make you think twice before leaving the trail. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode.Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:#2 -- "Dinner" -- Solo hiker makes a big mistake (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/NYbUTIwWdNI?feature=shared)#1 -- "Rattlesnake Canyon" -- Two people find themselves in a totally hopeless situation. As the story unfolds, ask yourself… what would you do? (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/LC8xgfT7uoI?feature=shared)For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballenSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On an early June morning in 2012, a successful luxury car salesman slept soundly in his bed inside of his high rise apartment. The man was a heavy sleeper, so he didn’t wake up when someone walked into his room, walked across to his bed side, and then just stood there, standing over him watching him sleep. Almost two days later, the sleeping man was found still lying in his bed, but with a blood-spattered bedsheet pulled up to his mouth. His family was left in complete shock, and a young detective would spend over a year trying to figure out why the man had never woken up.For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballenSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Money doesn’t solve all problems, and today’s podcast features 2 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode.Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:#2 -- "Crocodile Tears" -- Family found murdered in Beverly Hills mansion (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/AGjdQlwzbkk?feature=shared)#1 -- "Privilege" -- This story is about a crime so notorious it has been dubbed "The Crime of the Century" - but the reason for it's notoriety has less to do with the crime itself, and more to do with who committed it (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/VxW5qmQD80M?feature=shared)For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballenSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On a hot summer night in Arizona, a man slept soundly in his second-floor bedroom with his beloved pit bull terrier curled up at his feet. Suddenly, the dog’s ears perked up. A sound came from the roof, then the bedroom window shattered and sent glass flying across the room. But no matter how much the dog barked, his owner didn't move. What happened in that bedroom would give a rookie homicide detective her first major case – a case with a series of twists that seemed to come right out of a soap opera.For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballenSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 “underwater diving” horror stories. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:#3 -- "The Nest" -- A father and son try out a new Christmas present (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/U9en1PDgpAI?feature=shared)#2 -- "Collapse" -- 2 divers can't find the exit (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/8VtvoYQzmuk?feature=shared)#1 -- "Panic" -- 5 men attempt one of the most dangerous dives in the world... (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/4rWMEiC43pM?feature=shared)For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballenSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 55.In the fall of 1994, a 52-year-old woman pulled into the driveway of her home in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and then turned her car off. As she sat there for a minute, chatting with her daughter on her car phone, she was suddenly startled by someone running up and knocking on her window. When she turned to see who it was, she saw this big guy standing in the driveway who she didn't recognize. But when she rolled the window down just a couple of inches, and she was able to hear what this guy was saying, the woman relaxed. Then she got out of her car, shut the door behind her, and then led this guy into her home with her… That man would later be dubbed, “The Bathroom Man,” and he was there to do something horrific to that woman.For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @MrBallenSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In 1969, an adventure magazine reporter named Milt Macklin flew to New Guinea with his film crew to shoot a documentary about a missing person. Milt’s hope was that he was actually going to find this missing person and capture it on film, really pushing his documentary over the top. But, despite shooting all this footage and looking all over the place, they never found the missing person. So Milt ultimately went home and put the film in storage and never even watched it. Well, 40 years later that footage got pulled out of storage because another crew wanted to make their own documentary. And when they watched this footage, they found something totally unbelievable on it. So today, I’m going to tell you the story of what they found, and then more importantly, what it revealed about this missing person. And I will say now, it is highly disturbing.Story name, preview & link to original YouTube video:#1 -- "Deadly Revelation" -- 40 years after it was shot, unseen footage would get pulled out of storage, and when it was finally watched, a discovery was made on the tape that totally changed everything people thought they knew about a very famous missing person (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/OMBxxvd64qk?feature=shared)For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballenSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

One morning in November of 2011, a wheelchair-bound woman and her full-time caregiver were at home when there was a knock on the front door. The caregiver got up and walked over to the door and opened it up, but there was no one there. And when she looked up and down the road, she didn't see anyone walking or driving away. Then, she looked down and noticed there was what appeared to be a gift on the porch, but there was no tag on it. So, the caregiver brought it inside and put it on the kitchen table, and told the woman she was caring for that because this was not labeled, they shouldn't open it for now. However, later that day, when still they didn't know who had sent it or what it was, the woman in the wheelchair was curious, so she secretly grabbed the gift off the kitchen table and opened it up. And the second she did, absolute chaos ensued...For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballenSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. And today’s podcast features 3 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:#3 -- "Icicle" -- Happy kid leaves house but never comes home (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/kODsF75lAJY?feature=shared)#2 -- "The Ultimate Shock" -- A husband thought he experienced a miracle, but it would turn into the most horrific event of his life (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/dIcBvNbHKTs?feature=shared)#1 -- "Headache" -- A woman's headache has a sinister explanation (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/S7VtahvTLH4?feature=shared)For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballenSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On the morning of May 26, 1990, Marlene Warren was at home inside of her mansion in Florida when she heard a knock on the door. Marlene was busy and was hoping that her son might go answer the door, but when she looked over to the living room, she saw her son was watching TV and didn't seem to have even heard the knock on the door. So, Marlene just sighed and walked over to the door and opened it up herself. And to her surprise, it was a person dressed up as a clown holding flowers and balloons. Marlene loved clowns, and it had been her birthday recently, so she was thrilled – figuring this must be someone's gift to her. But after the clown handed Marlene the flowers and balloons, there was this loud popping sound inside the house... and then Marlene fell to the floor, blood pouring down her face.For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballenSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today’s podcast will feature 2 stories that show we may not be alone in this universe. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode.Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos:#2 -- "Exposed" -- A horrifying discovery in Brazil was hidden by their government, but when photos were eventually leaked, it sent people into a panic (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/BIBvkpT03iw?feature=shared)#1 -- "Jelly" -- Today's story is often cited as proof that we are not alone in the universe (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/T0C9d8anDT4?feature=shared)For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballenSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On January 17, 2001 a woman was working out at her local gym in Amityville, New York. She wiped the sweat from her face and turned towards the back of the gym. Suddenly, she pointed and screamed over the loud music. And what she saw would cause fear throughout the small town of Amityville – a place already linked to a famous mass murder and a possible demon possession.For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballenSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.