This former Navy SEAL with strange stories is a podcast sensation
21.02.2022 - 21:53
/ nypost.com
YouTube channel has 5.4 million subscribers, and his new podcast, Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories, has skyrocketed to the number one spot on Spotify’s true crime podcast chart. In doing so, it surpassed established hits like Crime Junkie and Murder, Mystery & Makeup. Allen, 33, was raised outside of Boston in Quincy, Massachusetts.
His dad was a journalist, but Allen wasn’t initially drawn to storytelling himself. After graduating from high school, he “didn’t really have a direction,” and decided to join the military.He went to bootcamp in December 2010 and trained to become a Navy SEAL. In 2014, he was deployed to Afghanistan, where he was nearly killed by a grenade that detonated near him.
The shrapnel hit his arms and legs, according to The Patriot Ledger.“I remember having the thought, ‘This is the end of my life,’” Allen told The Post.He continued serving in the military until 2017, then went on to work in fundraising for veterans. Allen would regularly post to social media about his military service, but when he made the TikTok video about the incident at Dyatlov Pass, he experienced an entirely new level of popularity. “People were so into it,” he said.In subsequent posts, Allen pivoted his focus from the military to mysteries and strange occurrences.
As @mrballen on TikTok, he has nearly 8 million followers, while MrBallen on Youtube has garnered millions of subscribers through short 15 to 20 minute videos on topics ranging from the “female Hannibal Lecter” to the “WORST medical screw up ever.”“I love telling stories. I love getting people’s reactions to interesting stories,” Allen said. His true crime podcast, which premiered last Monday, lets him spend even more time with a story, with episodes ranging from
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