Just wanted to drop a note that you are a great investigator and storyteller. I grew up in Iowa and remember the Tammy Zawicki case and actually now live in Greenville South Carolina and did not know that she went to high school here. I am very hopeful for updates on this case, as it definitely was a very sad story. I have also listened to your other seasons and really enjoyed the work you did! Looking forward to more seasons in the future. Keep up the good work!

Thorough coverage of crimes by a thorough investigator. The final interrogation of the suspect at end of season 4 was Especially intriguing. I do recommend this podcast.

Every time you get into the story, you have to wade through 2 1/2 or three minutes of ads on the payroll payroll and then at the end. It’s only a half hour show. I don’t understand.

I liked most of the show, but the interview in “The Boogeyman” episode was deeply ethically questionable. The man sounded clearly unwell and likely with some sort of dementia. He probably wasn’t even well enough to give informed consent to the interview. Nothing in that interview can be taken as evidence of anything given the state of the old man. I’m shocked any serious journalist would even finish that job interview, let alone publish it.

As someone from Northwest Arkansas I appreciate the time and attention you and your team put into this. I was HOOKED and enjoyed it very much.

Awesome podcast!! I drive for a living so I put this on not only to pass time but each episode and series is really well put together and very interesting. All very unfortunate circumstances but definitely worth listening to! Please tell me there’s more on the way!!!

Again if you love true crime you will love these too. I listened to this first and then found Crossing the Line and have listened to all of those as well. They’re SO GOOD!!!!

Is there anything worse than a podcast host saying the crime has never been solved within the first 60 seconds of the pod?

I found this podcast way back when season 1 was being released. I’ve commented many times on MW’s instagram that he can’t get these out fast enough! Every season is a grand slam and that can’t be said for a lot of other hosts/podcasts. It takes a lot to keep my attention and interest, which is why I have not found anyone else to follow, but MW has done just that. I can’t wait for the next weeks episode, and am always sad when the season ends. MW is a master in true crime and his podcasts are evidence of that.

I am obsessed with this podcast, Paper Ghost. M. William Phelps telling of these true crimes is so amazing! I’m ordering his books now.

A masterful storyteller who truly cares about honoring the memory of the missing and murdered and making sure that the victims and their loved ones have a voice. Mr. Phelps’ work is the absolute best in the true crime genre.

I really appreciate how he responds to sexist and derogatory comments. Also how he responds to racist comments. It’s appreciated that he calls these things out and how offended he clearly is. Some investigators brush over comments like those. I’m updating my review after listening to all four seasons- and it’s a really well done podcast and the amount of work behind the scenes of years of investigation is amazing and sounds intense. Thank you for your work and I’m also so sorry to hear about Phelps’ sister-in-law 💔 (also there’s so many ads I had to just start paying for iheart- not cool iheart radio!)

This podcast introduced me to Phelps’ work, and having listened to every single episode of Paper Ghosts, I can’t wait for the next season. What a powerful storyteller and advocate for victims and their families. I’ve introduced my partner to this podcasts, as well as Phelps’ other true crime podcast, Crossing The Line, and will gladly continue to share with anyone I know.

Look, if you dont know whether the Old man did anything wrong, you really should not be bullying him that way. This episode is so full of conjecture, overdramatization and pseudo- gotcha - moments it really felt all wrong.

I’ve been reading Phelps true crime books from his beginning and now watch any tv shows he’s associated with. I rate him highly! This podcast is well put together like his books and tv shows. This was a very interesting and informative podcast series! I hope he does more…and more!

Stick to Shawna. I’d love to hear how HER story turned out, but you lost me on the the rabbit holes. Your need to deep dive and explain how two murders slightly match up became exhausting. I’m sure it all ties in, but your way to slow to point out the relevance. I was bored by the repeated introduction of an entire new person and didn’t want to hear their entire story. The fact that one girl is adopted and lit on fire at the age of 4, has nothing to do with her death as an adult. Stick to what is relevant to complete Shawna’s story. Yes, each victim could have their own podcast, I get it, but cleanup the relevance. This felt like “sales vomiting” where the salesman vomits everything they know about a line, instead of recognizing what your needs are and telling you only what is relevant to your purchase.

This is a network that can afford to put on a podcast so why do we have to listen to 1 million ads?

Good pod, way too many ads.

This host got clowned by the old man at the end.😂🤣This was a huge waste of time.

Ads galore FYI ppl

It’s not just the true story he tells but it’s the research and details behind it! He does his work!

I love this narrator and how he total gets into the story he’s telling. He’s passionate about what he telling us so you can really feel the gravity of the situation of each case. How fun would it be to travel the country and interview people about past murders and the chilling details surrounding their unfortunate demise. Keep it up M! I dig it:)

I used to feel like this guy was more objective, but listening to this last episode where he interviews the old man he thinks might be the killer was absolutely ridiculous and sensational. I lost count of the times he tries to build it up as “shocking” or “bizarre”; all it really sounded like was that he was badgering a senile older person who sounded like they were sick and might have Alzheimer’s. The responses sounded like the old man was just trying to sound like he knew what was going on and the whole “gotcha” about the memories making him sick when he was probably sick to begin with was sickening to me. I don’t normally leave reviews, but this started making me mad. He’s just as bad bullying and badgering an old man with no actual concrete proof. Don’t know if I can keep following this…

I think this is legitimate true crime. But something about the way the host narrates seems overly dramatic. Some of the audio clips sound very produced and recreated. At the end of some episodes he says these are dramatized re-enactments. The host plays himself in the dramatized re-enactments. And he play the role of a hard nose cop that is holding the suspects feet to the fire. It is super corny and at times laughable. Not quite sure what is going on here. Overall the story is good. But it’s hard to get past the narrator’s tone at times. Anybody know if everything in these episodes is legit?

I liked this podcast to begin with, but the amount of ads is ungodly. I know these people are trying to make money, but the time allotted to ads feels like half of each episode. The later seasons feel stretched. 5+ minutes of each episode is a recap of what you already listened to last week, which I don’t have time for. If you don’t have enough content to make the number of episodes you want to release, just reduce the amount of episodes and make them high-quality. Episode eight of season four was cringe. Who wants to listen to the sound of somebody throwing up over the phone ??? It was beating a dead horse with that suspect anyway- we already visited this thoroughly in episode 7. If they had anything on him, he’d be arrested. We didn’t learn anything about the Dana Stidham case for that entire eight episode. Which is what the season was about. I lived in this area when it happened, so I was intrigued to hear what has happened over the past decades. I didn’t learn anything after the first three episodes. Deleting this podcast and moving on to something better researched and written.

Good show but really—do we have to hear some psycho killer old disgusting man barfing? No no no.

Crazy in the last episode of season 4 vinita and Claremore Oklahoma are brought up and those are the 2 towns I grew up in. Still live in Claremore to this day

I cannot be the only one who found it disturbing that not once, but TWICE in episode 8, Phelps emphatically thanks God that one of the murder victim’s breasts weren’t mutilated. She had a terrible life in the foster system and was murdered, but “thank GOD for small mercies” that her breasts weren’t mutilated post mortem?

First of all…WAAAAAAAAY too many ads! It’s actually ridiculous. Multiple ad breaks that are like 5 minutes long. This podcast is like half ads. Sort of a spoiler warning (you’ll thank me): there is no conclusion! What is the point of spending all this time listening to these episodes only for the ending to be “we still know nothing, but hopefully this brings awareness to the case”. It had promise in the beginning. Let this be your disclaimer. This podcast is just wanting to capitalize on the true crime genre without any ending.

Having to sign up for a subscription to hear the last episode is dirty pool!!! Too many subscriptions needed, can’t make ends-meet!!

Great show, I like the voice of the host and the interviews with those involved. However, I cannot stand the repetitive music in the background. I find it distracting and makes it hard to focus. I’m already doing something while listening to the podcast. Some people probably don’t even hear it, but it’s all I can hear! This is unnecessary and I’d bet you lose some of your listeners over it. Something to consider.

Putting the final episode of every season behind a paywall is ridiculous. Classic bait and switch.

I love the stories, but the adds take away from that a lot

I love all of Mr. Phelps shows. He delivers them full of emotion and raw anger towards the sick SOB’s that commit these horrible crimes- he would make a great detective or prosecutor ! Keep up the good work! Looking forward to season 5 🙌🏻

What happening with Season 3?? All the episodes are repeated … pretty annoying to have to skip through every other episode, but other than that it’s pretty good. 👍🏻 Was able to skipped through all the commercials, as well. ☺️

Wasted my time. Can’t hear the ending without paying?!? Why not start with that. Was good till then. Not worth it

Very annoyed that the last episode requires one to sign up for a subscription. Would not have bothered had I known.

This podcast is well-written and organized so it’s easy to follow and definitely very interesting! I’m eager to hear M. William Phelps’ other podcast (Crossing the Line) next. Hopefully he has plans for many more!

Worth listening to, even with commercials. As far as his delivery, you have to have AT LEAST 1/2 a brain to follow, so those who “can’t follow” maybe try children's shows. This is such a great show.

I’ve tried to like these seasons but they insist on using such poor quality audio that’s it’s often impossible to decipher. Here’s a tip. Don’t play a long sequence of really bad audio and then have the narrator apologize and then recap what was said. Just do the recap or read a transcript or use voice actors

The host is fantastic but the endless ads have halted me from listening to more than 2 seasons. I think I timed 12 minutes of listening to 4 minutes of ads. It’s painful.

He repeats chunks of information and pieces of interviews that have occurred in previous episodes. It’s one thing to give a brief summary of some facts covered in an earlier episode if needed for context of the new material. But if it is a longer reiteration or replay, it’s just filler and absolutely unnecessary. AND BORING! Makes the episode too long. I’ll end up doing a lot of fast forwarding then.

This is refreshing journalism in a realm where people seem to be getting all of their information from Wiki and Facebook.🙄 Really easy to listen to. Paying to get rid of the adds is definitely worth it, as other PC's on this channel are thoughtful, well written and produced.

So annoying. Thinks he knows way more about the criminal justice system than he does. Never again.

But the commercials and making us pay for the last episode??? Such a downer. This has happened before and I should have known better. It’s not worth signing up for a subscription I can’t afford and forget to cancel. Goodbye🫵🏻

Why would you think that’s a good idea

I don’t think I have ever listened to a podcast episode that has nothing to do with the prior episodes more. no tie in no explanation nothing it’s like this is a different podcast

This is about half content half commercials and into. Commercials in the middle is a no no ruins everything. Why is this chopped up into small episodes? We like long format that’s the point of podcasts. This guy obviously doesn’t get the format and is just trying to make money off these peoples tragic stories!

Just hearing the intro music is the boost I always need. Your delivery is amazing.

I usually like true crime podcasts but this one was so boring I couldn’t get through the first episode.