Podcasts
The Terrifying Truths Behind America’s Disastrous Deinstitutionalization Movement [Radio Vampiro]
This week’s Bedtime Story on Radio Vampiro introduces a recurring theme: Walls Still Scream. It’s a descent into the forgotten corridors of America’s most terrifying institutions—insane asylums. Through documented history, survivor accounts, government cover-ups, and spiritual residue left behind, host Vampiro peels back the rusted doors and asks the question no one dares: Were these places built to heal… or to hide evil?
From 18th-century medical theories and Enlightenment experiments… to electric chairs, chemical lobotomies, and unspeakable abuse—this series explores the underworld of psychiatric history without flinching. Discover the truth behind New York’s disastrous deinstitutionalization, the screams that still echo through the walls of abandoned hospitals, and the shadowy rise of modern pharmaceutical control.
This isn’t about ghost stories.
This is about what we did to people—and how we’re still doing it.
Abandon all comfort. The truth is not safe here.
Listener discretion is not advised—it’s required.
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Linktree | Patreon
About Radio Vampiro
He was forged in blood, rebellion, and silence. For over four decades, VAMPIRO has stood at the edge of the world—fighting, falling, surviving. From the rings of Mexico to the basements of punk rock shows, through addiction, ritual, madness, and war… he became something more than a man. He became a signal. A shadow. A guardian of the ones no one speaks for.
Now, he speaks.
Sunday Nights — BEDTIME STORIES: A chilling and intimate ritual of true horror.
Monday Nights — RADIO DEADLY: No rules. No plan. Just chaos.
Wednesday Nights — RING MY BELL: Call in. Share your story. Ask a question. Or just chill.
It’s been a busy month on Murder Made Fiction podcast. In addition to introducing a new co-host (Perfectly Good Moment‘s Amanda Jane Stern), we spent Pride Month tackling a wide variety of Leopold and Loeb fictional adaptations.
In 1924 Chicago, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb plotted to commit the perfect murder when they abducted and killed 14-year-old Bobby Franks. As Amanda outlines in her primer on the case, the men were caught almost immediately and the media circus that followed was billed “the trial of the century”.
Listen to Leopold and Loeb mini primer.
The fallout has reverberated throughout the last century as countless books, plays, musicals, and films have drawn on the case for inspiration. Some are more faithful than others, such as Richard Fleischer‘s 1959 drama Compulsion, which stars a young Dean Stockwell as Leopold and Orson Welles as the boys’ lawyer, John Darrow (named Jonathan Wilk in the film).
Listen to Leopold and Loeb: Compulsion (1959).
Then there are the texts that use the idea of queer-coded killers as a jumping off point, but confuse (or flat-out disregard) the details of the real life case in favour of jumbled fiction. That’s what happens in Barbet Schroeder‘s Murder by Numbers, which awkwardly introduces a tortured backstory for lead actress (and executive producer) Sandra Bullock. The result is an uneven film that misunderstands which of its two competing storylines are actually interesting (hint: it’s the Leopold and Loeb stuff with Ryan Gosling and Michael Pitt).
Listen to Leopold and Loeb: Murder by Numbers (2002).
We ended up discussing other (often more successful) titles on Patreon, including 1992’s Swoon (a New Queer Cinema art-house take on the crime), Michael Haneke‘s 2007 Funny Games remake, and gay screenwriter Kevin Williamson‘s Scream, which proved to be a much more reverent and sly interpretation of L&L than we anticipated.
We wrapped up the month with a final summary episode about our favorite adaptations before chatting with author and archivist Erik Rebain, who literally wrote the book on Leopold (Arrested Adolescence) and maintains one of the foremost websites on the crime.
Watch our discussion on YouTube below (or listen here):
Next month: For July, we’re turning our attention to the Boston Strangler, with a look at films from 1964 and 1968, as well as the most contemporary version from 2023, starring Kiera Knightley and Carrie Coon.
Want even more true crime adaptations and Murder Made Fiction? Support the show on Patreon to listen to the aforementioned episodes, as well as a full-length primer on the case and 160+ hours of bonus content.
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