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IN THIS EPISODE: In June of 1975 we were exposed to one of the scariest movies ever made. For this podcaster, it’s just not Independence Day until I watch it – and you still can’t get me to swim in the ocean. We’ll look at what made ‘Jaws’ so successful… and so frightening. We’ll also look at the true story of a string of shark attacks in 1916 that inspired the novel and the film. And while 1975’s ‘Jaws’ was inspired by a series of shark attacks but greatly fictionalized, the film ‘Open Water’ from 2003 is based on a very real and terrifying story. But the truth behind the movie is a dark mystery that goes way beyond the horror of what you see in the film. We’ll look at several other real shark attacks that are almost too incredible to believe, and also try to answer the question as to why shark attacks don’t happen more often as you would expect them to, seeing as humans should be easy pickings. (Originally aired July 03, 2020)

SOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM THE EPISODE…
Facebook Post About “Jaws”: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/bpacmhz5
“The True Darkness of Open Water” by Erin McCann for Ranker: https://tinyurl.com/y8vaqgra
“The Real-Life Inspiration for ‘Jaws’” by Christopher Klein for History: https://tinyurl.com/yb5s35xc
“The Horror of ‘Jaws’” by Jackie Flynn Mogensen for Mother Jones: https://tinyurl.com/y2mxf8us, Andrew Housman for ScreenRant: https://tinyurl.com/yae8ohh6, Meagan Navarro for Bloody Disgusting: https://tinyurl.com/y7p8q9lw, Tim Donnelly for the New York Post: https://tinyurl.com/y9twrcc7, and Rachel Paige for Hello Giggles: https://tinyurl.com/ycdlb6je
“Real Shark Attacks” by Charles W. Bryant for How Stuff Works: https://tinyurl.com/y9scmg9x, and Lou Boyd for Mpora: https://tinyurl.com/y9e55t4u
“Why Sharks Attack Humans” by Richard Gray for BBC: https://tinyurl.com/ycf563up
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OTHER PODCASTS I HOST…
Paranormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/paranormalitymag
Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrors
Retro Radio – Old Time Radio In The Dark: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/retroradio
Church of the Undead: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/churchoftheundead

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(Over time links seen above 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.)

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“I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” — John 12:46

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TRANSCRIPT: https://weirddarkness.com/the-real-shark-attacks-behind-jaws-and-more-true-shark-stories/

12 Comments

  1. The most scarey part for me is where he dives down to the sunken boat then sees a hole and in the wood he sees a shark toothso he gets his knife out and while he was trying to get the tooth out a head falls out that's the part that made me jump in jaws.

  2. Thanks. Good stuff. Uh hell yes it is a horror movie! I was 10 when it came out but first saw it in the early months of 1976. It was just after my dad passed away and a neighbor took my older brother and me to see it. Initially, most scary scene was Ben Gardner's head popping out of his wrecked boat.😵‍💫 But over the years I came to feel that Robert Shaw's tour de force monologue was the most terrifying. First time I ever heard of the Indianapolis. I have always been an animal lover and many years later I was instrumental in getting a 10K grant provided to a shark preservation group. I felt good about that. I find them to be magnificent creatures. And for me, never having learned how to swim, I likely won't encounter any. But if I do, maybe they will be grateful. 😁 🦈

  3. My favorite movie.
    Favorite scene when they’re drunk at the table sharing stories & what comes after 😮❤
    PS
    Not a horror movie. That’s The Exorcist.

    Thank you ❤🎉❤

  4. "12 Days of Terror" was a great book on the 1916 Jersey shore shark attacks. Love the subject! Thanks for covering it Darren. 👍

  5. Maybe not a horror movie like others of the day, but it has something that todays "gore"er movies lack: suspense.
    Suspense is where it's at.

    I saw Jaws in the theater and it made me appreciate living far from the ocean. I still asked whether sharks could exist in freshwater, though.
    And then I saw the movie Piranha. Those are fresh water fish that are only deadly when hungry. Or if they frenzy at the scent of blood.

    I stopped swimming in lakes and rivers. To this day, I can only swim in pools with crystal clear chemically treated water, and a life guard on duty.

    I know someone who cannot even take a bath – only showers. They cannot even think about being submerged without having a panic attack.

  6. Ok, I must have a poltergeist with an affinity for Weird Darkness in my midst right now, or…..🤷🏼‍♀️💯😳

    I'm literally sitting here on my couch, playing games on my iPad and listening to Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince on the Audible app on my new Android phone with nothing else open, when the narration stopped and this video started playing…..

    My phone was about a foot from me, btw…..

    I checked and the only thing open was the Audible app, but the audio from this video was STILL PLAYING 🫣

    I closed the Audible app, and then had to open the YouTube app to stop this from playing!

    WTAF is going on!

    Someone or someTHING really wanted me to play this video, because no matter how many times I scrolled past it, it's been popping up repeatedly in the cue of videos to play next over the past few days 😵‍💫

    I am subbed and do listen to Weird Darkness at times, but I'm sometimes too spooked by much of the content, so I have to be in the right headspace in order to handle one of these…..

    Well, Mr impatient poltergeist, now you've succeeded in making the wait a lot longer, congratulations 👏💯

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