In this haunting episode of Among Monsters, we confront the brutal reality behind the killing of five-year-old Harmony Montgomery—and the man responsible for her death, her own father, Adam Montgomery.

This is not a story of a momentary lapse or tragic mistake. It is a calculated pattern of violence, abuse, and cruelty that ended in murder. From repeated beatings to the chilling concealment of Harmony’s body, Adam Montgomery’s actions reveal a cold-blooded killer hiding behind the title of “father.”

As Harmony vanished from sight, the systems meant to protect her failed one by one—courts, caseworkers, schools, and agencies all missing the warning signs while a child disappeared in plain sight. For nearly two years, no one reported her missing.

Her body has never been found.

Through courtroom testimony, witness accounts, and a relentless examination of systemic failure, this episode exposes how monsters don’t always lurk in the shadows—sometimes, they’re trusted with custody.

Listener discretion is strongly advised.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this harrowing episode of Among Monsters, host Damien Vale dives into the terrifying legacy of Loren Herzog, one half of the “Speed Freak Killers” duo that terrorized California’s Central Valley for nearly two decades. Alongside childhood friend Wesley Shermantine, Herzog participated in a drug-fueled killing spree that left victims buried in dry wells, fields, and forgotten ditches—many of whom remain unidentified to this day. Fueled by methamphetamine and bloodlust, the pair lured men and women into their orbit, then brutally murdered and discarded them like refuse. Though Herzog confessed on tape, a technicality would lead to his early release—only for him to end his life in a suicide that raised more questions than it answered. This episode explores the twisted psychology, legal chaos, and still-open wounds of a case that continues to haunt the Central Valley.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On a quiet October night in rural Wisconsin, a front door was blown apart by a shotgun—and a thirteen-year-old girl vanished into the darkness.

This episode of Among Monsters is a deep, emotionally heavy investigation into the 2018 kidnapping of Jayme Closs and the calculated brutality of Jake Patterson, the man who murdered her parents and held her captive for eighty-eight days.

Told in cinematic spoken-word style, this episode examines the psychology of a predator who didn’t stalk for years or groom online—but simply saw a child once and decided she would belong to him. We walk through the night of the murders, the terrifying reality of captivity hidden in plain sight, and the survival instincts that ultimately led to Jayme’s escape.

This is not just a story about a crime.

It’s about control.

Silence.

And the monsters who don’t look like monsters—until they decide.

Listener discretion is strongly advised.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this shocking episode of Among Monsters, host Damien Vale explores the disturbing case of Kendall Francois, the soft-spoken serial killer who murdered nine women in Poughkeepsie, New York — and kept their decomposing bodies hidden inside the home he shared with his family. For nearly two years, Francois lived a double life as a school hall monitor by day and predator by night, luring vulnerable sex workers into his home and strangling them. The smell of death filled the house, yet his parents and sister claimed they never suspected a thing. Known as The Poughkeepsie Killer, Francois treated his victims like disposable objects, hiding them in crawlspaces, closets, and beneath insulation — until a survivor escaped and unraveled the horror within. This episode pulls back the curtain on one of the most horrifying domestic crime scenes in American history.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In 2014, a chilling crime emerged from the quiet town of Waukesha, Wisconsin—one that blurred the line between childhood fantasy and real-world horror. Two twelve-year-old girls, Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, lured their best friend into the woods and stabbed her 19 times… all in the name of Slender Man.

On this episode of Among Monsters, host Myia Vale takes you deep inside the disturbing case of Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, examining how an internet-born myth evolved into a motive for attempted murder. Through court records, psychological evaluations, interrogation footage, and survivor testimony, we explore how belief, mental illness, peer influence, and adolescent vulnerability collided with devastating consequences.

This is not just a story about a crime—it’s a haunting look at how monsters don’t always hide in the shadows. Sometimes, they grow in the mind.

Listener discretion is advised.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this chilling episode of Among Monsters, host Damien Vale uncovers the horrific case of William Devin Howell, a drifter-turned-serial killer responsible for the largest homicide case in Connecticut’s history. Between spring and fall of 2003, Howell lured vulnerable women into his battered blue van — a mobile torture chamber he called the "murder mobile" — and murdered them with disturbing ritualistic cruelty. Years later, behind a strip mall in New Britain, Connecticut, police uncovered seven bodies buried face down in a mass grave — a plot Howell chillingly referred to as “his garden.” This episode explores Howell’s dark psychology, his shocking confession, and the haunting legacy he left behind in the brush.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this chilling episode of Among Monsters, host Damien Vale unearths the horrifying legacy of Juan Vallejo Corona, the Mexican-born labor contractor who orchestrated one of the deadliest killing sprees in American history. In 1971, a farmer’s quiet orchard in Yuba City, California, became a mass grave — with 25 men buried in shallow pits, all stabbed, mutilated, and left to rot in the soil they once worked. Corona, who supplied migrant workers to local farms, kept a detailed ledger of names — later dubbed “The Death List” — and used his position of trust to lure transients into his web of death. This episode explores how mental illness, rage, and control transformed a hardworking family man into a cold-blooded killer whose victims were nearly forgotten by time.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this chilling episode of Among Monsters, we examine a case that shattered a quiet Missouri community and revealed how evil can hide in the most familiar places. Cassidy Rainwater, a young woman searching for stability and safety, trusted the wrong people—never realizing she was being watched, manipulated, and ultimately hunted in plain sight.

We unravel the disturbing actions of James Phelps, exploring how isolation, secrecy, and calculated cruelty turned an ordinary rural property into the setting of an unthinkable crime. Through a careful, documentary-style narrative, this episode traces Cassidy’s final days, the warning signs that were missed, and the investigation that exposed a truth more horrifying than anyone expected.

This is not just a story about violence—it’s a story about vulnerability, exploitation, and how predators often rely on familiarity and silence to operate undetected.

Listener discretion is strongly advised.

Among Monsters — because sometimes the most terrifying monsters don’t hide in the dark… they live right next door.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.