A terrifying horror movie followed the dark exploits of a masked serial killer — then a real-life victim disappeared near the set, transforming fiction into a chilling reality.
Dateline’s all-new podcast The Man in the Black Mask, which dropped its first episode Oct. 15, will follow the disturbing true crime murder mystery, which promises to bring listeners into a “mysterious netherworld of illusion, fantasy, deception, and death.”
What is The Man in the Black Mask podcast?
“A rising young director is shooting a frightening film about a serial killer in a hockey mask. But when a man goes missing near the set, a real-life horror story unfolds,” the podcast description reads.
In a haunting trailer, correspondent Keith Morrison brings listeners onto the set of the film just as the fictional killer is about to strike.
“OK, we’re ready for the killer stuff,” one person connected to the film can be heard in the footage.
Mark Twitchell, the young director behind the cinematic event, is clearly committed to his craft.
“I love what I do. From the first day that I stepped on the set, that was what I knew. It was just kind of like there’s no going back,” he is heard telling a detective in the trailer. “Nothing else would make me feel fulfilled in what I was doing and I love what I do, so I just chased it with everything that I had.”
But the project took a sudden shift when a 39-year-old man named Johnny Altinger disappeared near the movie set and police were brought in to try to solve the mystery, leading at least one person close to the case to wonder whether the lines between fiction and reality were beginning to blur.
“I always believed that story to be true right from the start,” a man close to the case told Morrison. “I’m thinking he’d killed him and he’d filmed the murder.”
Viewers can learn more about the surprising and twisty story when they listen to The Man in the Black Mask.
The Man in the Black Mask is just the latest podcast project for Morrison, who is also behind other hit podcast series including Morrison Mysteries, Murder in the Hollywood Hills, Murder in Apartment 12, The Girl in the Blue Mustang, and The Thing About Pam.
“Podcasts are especially effective, and in some ways more so than a movie or television show in that they’re very intimate,” he once told People of the medium. “You want to be enveloped in the story, and it’s almost a better way to do that I find if you’re listening, maybe driving along or something, but your attention is focused on the words.”
How to Listen to The Man in the Black Mask
The Man in the Black Mask is available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you regularly get your podcasts. Two new episodes will be released each week, giving fans a chance to follow along as the answers in the disturbing case are revealed. Or for ad-free listening and early access, subscribe to Dateline Premium.
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