Real Life Vampires, the First Serial Killer, and the Ghosts of Austin

Askia sits down with Austin ghost tour guide David to to talk haunted history, military trauma, America's first serial killer, and whether vampires are walking among us. From the Servant Girl Annihilator murders to hallucinating the devil during a 100-mile ultra run — this one goes deep.

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Book a haunted tour with David:

https://ghostcitytours.com/austin

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Go check out Warming Trends, the company that built the amazing fire centerpiece on our set! https://www.warming-trends.com

Produced by

Q6 Media

https://q6.media

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David isn't your typical ghost tour guide. He's a Marine Corps veteran, Army chaplain, ultramarathoner, and a guy who genuinely felt the presence of LBJ in a hotel lobby. This episode covers the dark corners of human nature — from Austin's first serial killer case (the Servant Girl Annihilator) and early criminal profiling, to moral injury in the military, the insanity defense, and why the scariest thing on earth isn't a monster — it's a person.

They get into the concept of ghosts as grief, what happens when trauma goes unbelieved, modern-day vampires (yes, really), and what David saw when he nearly died in a spinning helicopter over Baghdad. Plus — his 11-year-old son won't go in one room of their house. Make of that what you will. If you're into horror, history, the paranormal, military stories, or just want to hear someone talk honestly about war, death, and the afterlife — this episode delivers.

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Timestamps:

00:00 - Introducing David from Ghost City Tours

03:41 - Superstitions and ghosts in the military

04:56 - The living history of Austin

06:54 - America's first serial killer (Servant Girl Annihilator)

09:24 - What makes a murderer?

14:32 - How violence affects the soul

19:59 - The horror of disbelief

24:40 - Paranormal experiences on tours

26:44 - David's ghost encounters

27:54 - David's Satan hallucination

35:17 - Why do we love ghost stories?

37:31 - The ghosts of Austin

40:06 - The haunted Driskill Hotel

41:58 - Dark ghosts and energy on tours

46:49 - The military training you to die

53:22 - How war traumatizes you

57:06 - Being a noncombatant in the army

59:40 - The horrors of war

1:01:39 - David's helicopter near-death experience

1:03:43 - Human cruelty

1:06:28 - Real life vampires

1:12:52 - What happens when we die?