Cursewords and Crayons

Unhinged angels, true crime besties, and lovers of unsettling mountain nonsense, welcome ,this week we’re heading to the Khamar Daban mountains near Lake Baikal in August 1993 for the deeply unsettling case of seven experienced hikers, one lone survivor, and a tragedy that still makes absolutely no sense. We talk sudden collapse, bizarre symptoms, hypothermia that feels a little too convenient, po...

Hello and welcome back to our favorite nosy little nightmares! This week we’re heading to Greenbrier County, West Virginia, 1897, for the tale of the Greenbrier Ghost: a dead young wife, a deeply suspicious husband, a mother who refused to let it go, and a ghost story that may have helped solve a murder. We talk about shady funeral behavior, “everlasting faint” as a truly unserious cause of death,...

Side pieces, main pieces, and half pieces— this week we’re heading to Brazil, 1966, for the Lead Masks Case: two men in suits and raincoats found dead on a hill… wearing lead eye masks, with cryptic handwritten instructions, and rumors of strange lights in the sky that same night. We talk secret “scientific spiritualists,” possible psychedelic experiments, and why this case lives in that delicious...

bbbbbABBY!!! Sit down, take a load off — we’re back with an old-timey case that is pure nightmare fuel. This week we’re headed to Hinterkaifeck, a remote Bavarian farm where six people were murdered in 1922… and the creepiest part? It looks like the killer may have stayed on the property afterward. Feeding the animals. Eating the bread. Warming up by the oven like it’s a damn Airbnb. Absolutely no...

She pulled into the parking lot. They heard her car. And then… she vanished. This week on Cursewords and Crayons: TRUE CRIME, we’re diving into the haunting disappearance of Laurie Depies. This case proves you do not need a dark alley or a sketchy road trip for something terrible to happen. Sometimes it’s just… a normal Tuesday night. Laurie was 20 years old in August 1992. Responsible. Close to h...

A missing man. A missing car. A body in a family barn. And a whole lot of “wait…WHAT?” This week on Cursewords and Crayons: TRUE CRIME, we’re covering a case that feels like it was built in a lab to specifically ruin your ability to trust a timeline: the disappearance (and baffling death) of Mateusz Kawecki. Mateusz was a 30-year-old Polish construction worker living in Hanover, Germany. He seemed...

Straight to jail. No trial. No appeals. Just vibes and a tiny jury made of sticky hands and big feelings. This week, Zee and Amy are back with a Parenting Chat, and we brought backup: our friend Sam (childcare director, mom of two, and certified survivor of toddler logic). Inspired by the “Am I the Asshole: Toddler Edition” creator, we’re confessing the crimes we’ve committed so far this year—as j...

A beach. A bluff. A brutal death. And a town that’s still too quiet. This week we’re digging into the devastating and still-unsolved murder of 15-year-old Terry Sutter, whose body was found on the shores of Lake Michigan in 1973—with a cause of death so bizarre, it’s hard to believe it’s real: massive sand inhalation. At first glance? A tragic drowning. After the autopsy? A violent, horrifying dea...

A locked lab. A missing bride-to-be. A keycard trail. And a case that shook Yale to its core. This week on Cursewords and Crayons: TRUE CRIME, we’re covering the murder of Annie Le—a brilliant Yale graduate student who vanished in broad daylight just days before her wedding… after walking into her research building and never walking back out. On the morning of September 8, 2009, Annie arrived on c...

A broken window. A bloody nightgown. A canoe. And 22 years of questions. This week on Cursewords and Crayons: TRUE CRIME, we’re covering the eerie and heartbreaking disappearance of Wanda Jean Mays—a case that starts with a quiet overnight visit to her aunt and uncle’s house and ends with more questions than answers. In May of 1986, Wanda—a bright, kind, 27-year-old secretary—vanished into the Ala...

New year, same chaos—but make it a chaotic countdown. We had some rough recording issues this episode so we can't wait to hear your thoughts.  This week on Cursewords and Crayons: TRUE CRIME, we’re looking back at our top five most listened to episodes of 2025! Whether you’re a long-time weirdo or brand new here (hi, welcome!), this is the perfect refresher of the wild, the heartbreaking, and the...

New year, same chaos—but fewer parenting trends we hate. This week on Cursewords and Crayons, we're doing a Parenting Chat. We kick off 2026 by talking about what we’re absolutely not doing this year when it comes to parenting. No resolutions, no toxic positivity—just a firm line drawn in the glitter-covered sand. Because listen… we’ve tried. We’ve scrolled. We’ve watched the reels. And frankly, s...

This week on Cursewords and Crayons, we’re rounding out our festive episodes with a case that starts with a love affair and ends in a shallow grave: the heartbreaking murder of Sameena Imam. Sameena was a bright, successful woman looking forward to a fresh start—holiday snacks in hand, hotel booked, expecting a proposal and a new beginning. What she got instead was a calculated betrayal by the man...

Five children. One house fire. Zero answers. This week on Cursewords and Crayons, we’re diving into one of the most maddening and mysterious cases in true crime history: The Sodder Family Fire. It’s Christmas Eve, 1945. The Sodder family is fast asleep in their West Virginia home… and by morning, five of their ten children have vanished in a fire that leaves behind no remains, no explanation, and...

We’ve got an update—and it’s about time. This week on Cursewords and Crayons, we’re revisiting a case that has haunted us (and so many of you) for years: the disappearance of Crystal Rogers. Crystal was a devoted mom of five who vanished from Bardstown, Kentucky in 2015. Since then, it’s been a slow burn of heartbreak, suspicion, and zero justice. But finally, things are moving—and we’re here to b...

We’re revisiting one of the wildest and most frustrating cases we’ve ever covered — the disappearance of Crystal Rogers. This is our re-release of the original episode from summer 2023 — before the new arrests, new evidence, and all the shocking updates that came to light this year. We’ll be back next week with a brand-new follow-up episode covering everything that’s happened since — including the...

Baby’s First Exorcism! (It only took us forever.) 😈 This week, we’re diving into the dark, disturbing, and deeply debated case of Anna Michel—a young woman whose life ended in a horrifying blend of mental illness, religious fervor, and over sixty exorcisms. That’s right, folks. 67 exorcism sessions. Ten months. Starvation. Stigmata. And a courtroom showdown that made international headlines. This...

Some monsters don’t need masks—they just need a master key. This week on Cursewords and Crayons: True Crime, we’re covering the horrific and heartbreaking murder of Lauren Giddings—a bright, compassionate young woman with her entire future ahead of her. Lauren was on the verge of becoming a defense attorney when she suddenly disappeared in the summer of 2011. What began as a missing persons case q...

Yeehaw and hell naw, friends—this one’s for the ghost-loving cowpokes. 🤠👻 This week on Cursewords and Crayons, we’re trading crime scene tape for tumbleweeds and heading straight into the haunted heart of the Old West. That’s right—we’re saddling up for a round-up of Old West scary stories: haunted saloons, ghostly miners, outlaw curses, and dusty towns where things still go bump in the night. I...

Grab your coffee, your to-do list, and maybe a protective charm or two — because this week, Zee’s taking us deep into Appalachian cryptid country! From the heart-stealing Raven Mocker, to the tentacled terror known as the Snallygaster, to the apple-chucking menace called the Albatwitch, we’re ranking these winged (and wing-adjacent) nightmares and deciding which one we’d least want to meet in the...

Real-life true crime is horrifying. Fictional mom-assassins? Surprisingly relatable. This week on Cursewords and Crayons, we're covering a case that's equal parts gruesome, infuriating, and absolutely stomach-turning: the murder of Dawn Marie Viens, a vibrant and hardworking woman whose life was stolen in the most horrific way imaginable—by her own husband, David Viens, who then tried to cover it...

Mushrooms should be sautéed… not suspicious. 🍄 This week on Cursewords and Crayons, we’re heading Down Under for a case that’s got death, drama, and deadly dishes. We’re talking about Erin Patterson and the now-infamous mushroom lunch that shocked all of Australia. What starts as a quaint family gathering turns into a full-blown homicide investigation involving beef wellington, alleged death caps...

Rich girl. Mysterious disappearance. Zero answers. Yeah, we’re in. This week on Cursewords and Crayons, we’re throwing it all the way back to 1910—before cell phones, before Dateline, before anyone gave women a shred of independence without a fight. We're talking about the baffling vanishing act of Dorothy Harriet Camille Arnold, a New York socialite who went out for a stroll... and was never seen...

We’re digging into the archives for a special re-release this week! Join us as we revisit our episode all about the Beast of Bray Road—Wisconsin’s infamous wolf-like cryptid said to stalk the woods. Is it a mythical monster? A sick animal? A shaved bear having a really bad day? We go full-on speculation mode in this fun, spooky true-crime-adjacent episode. If you enjoyed this re-release, let us kn...

Hitchhiking in the mountains? What could possibly go wrong? Literally everything. This week on Cursewords and Crayons, we’re headed to the snowy slopes of Breckenridge, Colorado. A picture perfect ski town hiding a deeply disturbing secret. We're talking about the Breckenridge Hitchhiking Murders, a case full of tragedy, unanswered questions, and danger hiding in plain sight. In the late 1970s and...