Castles & Cryptids

This week we explored two very different cases of arson. Kelsey covers the Pillow Pyro, who set dozens of fires in fabric stores that ultimately led to the deaths of four people. The case becomes even more complicated when the culprit attempts to profit from the fires by blurring the line between fact and fiction. Alanna shares the story of a devastating fire at The Happy Land Club. With a single...

We wouldn't be who we are today without cryptid stories!! This time we rounded up some kooky, weird and claw-some creatures that can be found in rather chilly climates.  Kelsey brings the gnome-guys home with the Barbegazi, who give off some Hobbit vibes and are found in France and Switzerland. Then the Nisse, aka the Tomte, who are a cryptid of many names! Not to be confused with Nessie, sli...

Welcome to part 2 of our hostage crisis episodes. This week Alanna takes a deep dive into the origins of the term Stockholm Syndrome. What starts as a bizarre bank robbery transitions into a hard situation for police to handle when hostages begin to take the side of the criminals. Is it a real thing, or has the term been applied a few too many times? We discuss this and more in the exciting conclu...

Have you heard about the hostage situation that took place in 1988 in Gladbeck, Germany? If not, buckle up, you are in for a very wild ride! One that the hostages could probably never have imagined finding themselves in. The criminals attempt to rob a branch of the Deutsch bank in Gladbeck,  North-Rhine Westphalia, and the resulting run from the bank turns into sort of a mashup of Speed meets...

We are seeing double this week as we cover two cases of very strangely behaved twins. Kelsey covers the Spahalski twins, Stephen & Robert, who seem to share more than just genes with each other. Then, Alanna walks us through the bizarre story of Ursula & Sabina Eriksson, who suddenly began acting strange and caused a huge scene on a highway, before one of them eventually murdered someone....

This week we time travel back to the 1800's to bring you some vintage crimes, all in honor of Kelsey's birthday! This one goes out to all the Capricorns out there! For Kelsey's birthday wish she covered H.H. Holmes, a murderer wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in a lot of misleading media coverage. But of course, when you use names like the Murder Hotel or Holmes Horror Castle, things are bound to get...

Welcome back all our loyal listeners, and happy Friday the 13th! We are kicking this year off with a fun ep filled with numbers and different superstitions surrounding them. Kelsey takes a deep dive into the history behind friggatriskaidekaphobia, or the fear of Friday the 13th. Then, Alanna shares the good numbers and bad numbers from cultures all around the world. Which ones are good luck and wh...

Happy Holidays cryptic cuties! Our very special gift to you is an ep all about Christmas Traditions from around the world. We hope you have been good this year, or else the subject of Kelsey's segment might pay you a visit. If you live in Europe you may know all about this frightening figure, he brings beatings to misbehaving children, or may even take them back to his lair to eat later. &nbs...

Life imitates art, they say, so it's no surprise that some crimes cases actually have twist endings or red herrings. Sometimes we just really have no idea what's going on, onscreen or in our own home...Or who to suspect.  Kelsey takes on the crazy case of Daniel LaPlante and his reign of terror in Massachusetts. He was an unlikely suspect for committing such a crime spree, and proved to be mo...

This week we revisit one of our most popular international true crime ep countries, Japan. Focusing on folklore and urban legends this time, we explore just a tiny amount of Japan's rich and very long history. Kelsey reads a small collection of popular folktales, with some of the variations slowly becoming more and more bizarre (be warned that a clam wife may pee clam juice in your bean soup).&nbs...

If you've ever driven, well anywhere, you've probably had an experience with some form of road rage. Whether yours, or someone else's perhaps. It's okay, you can tell us! but what about the times when some driver takes it too far, from confrontational to criminal? Kenneth Noye went from a petty criminal to not-so-petty criminal pretty quickly in life, so it's not a stretch to say he probably had a...

This week we took a deepest deep dive into just a few of the strangest things found in the ocean (and some of them not yet found). Kelsey guides us on a tour of the Yonaguni Monument; a huge underwater sandstone structure with unknown origins. Is it man made, or a slow erosion of rock over thousands of years? It very well may be a bit of both, check out the pictures on the website and decide for y...

Hello cryptic cuties! Weee're baa-aack!  This week we covered a covered a couple of cases under the loose theme of day of the dead/Mexico crimes, and we will say they turned out to be two very different crimes. Kelsey tells us the story of Digna Ochoa of Mexico, a former nun turned human rights lawyer and certified badass. She advocated all her life for those with less of a voice, all the while fi...

Enjoy this formerly Patreon exclusive episode! We won't be releasing a new episode this week, until Kelsey is feeling well and has a voice! (Sorry for the switch!)  Kelsey kicks it off with a double feature, first up is Philly's Phantom Bus to Nowhere. The bus appears to those who are a little lost in life, but once you are on it you cannot see the world outside the windows.....or who else was the...

Let's take a haunted tour starting at the "Castles of the Rockies", the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. Located in Banff National Park, Alberta in a valley carved out by glaciers, this haunted hotel has a long history marred by a few unexpected deaths.  Some spirits are super helpful and some seem straight out of The Shining, so take your pick! Next stop is Myrtles Plantation in Louisiana, which has...

This weeks episode is sponsored by John Carpenter and Wes Craven, just kidding... For this ep we explore two cases of people who were involved in very unusual stabbings. Kelsey covers the story of the Papin sisters, who left behind a murder scene so disturbing, Alanna wishes she could erase it from her brain. Then, Alanna walks us through the mysterious stabbing of Robert Wone, a young man with a...

The occult, cults, necromancy, necrophilia- ever wonder what these words mean that sound so similar? We've probably all heard them before but if you are like us, you might be curious to learn more- without ending up on a government watch list. Don't worry, we got you! We did all the searching for you so you never have to say necromancy when you rally mean necrophilia. Talk about a Freudian slip! K...

This week we bring two dark and creepy cases of murder which helped fuel the Satanic panic of the 1980's. Kelsey covers the Vampire Clan, run by 16 year old Rod or "Vesago" to his close friends. The Clan was responsible for the brutal killing of a couple and led to a manhunt that went across multiple state lines. Then, Alanna shares the case of the Fall River Murders,  where three sex wo...

For this episode, we dive into some greek mythology, complete with a vast, complicated and incestuous family tree, full of betrayal and punishment. Kelsey shares the creation of the universe, then learn where everything came from, to how Prometheus created man and why Zeus was so pissed about it. Finishing off her segment, Kelsey tells the true story of the curse placed upon Medusa and how her vio...

This week we head across the world to India, where there are a lot of people, and thus there's bound to be quite a bit of crime. Kelsey regales us with a few fun facts about India before taking us on a dark and twisted road. It's a tale of a young man named Sharath with a love for fast bikes, a bright future, and a family who loved him. Their world would be turned upside down when he was kidnapped...

This week we invite you to join us on a journey to some cool and unique abandoned places around the world. Kelsey shares some places she would love to visit, from picturesque houses in Africa to a place of worship in Indonesia. All hail the chicken church! And a few that you may want to visit with a macabre fascination, such as a underground labyrinth of millions of bones and a disaster that left...

This week we try to cover a lot of victims by covering the highest kill count serial killers we could find. Sound dark and also super sad? It certainly is. But it's odd how the few killers always seem to get the most coverage- Bundy, Dahmer(covered him:), Gein, etc. And of course they are horrible, but there are a few evil murderers that top them all, the ones that kill tens, or even hundreds, of...

We travel back in time to the weird world that was the 1970's. Kelsey shares a collection of funny and bizarre headlines that cover just a few of the strange things happening during the 70's. Everything from rat art and vibrating bras, to banning peanut butter from a school (not because of allergies). Then, Alanna does a deep dive into the UFO encounter and abduction of Travis Walton; one of the m...

We have a special episode for you this week. Kelsey stays true to her hardcore true crime roots by sharing the bizarre and consensual?? death and cannibalization of a man who found a willing victim online. Is this a case of two men who found and fulfilled each other's ultimate fantasies, or a case of a man experiencing a mental health crisis being taken advantage of by a killer? We will let you be...

Bears, Boston lemurs, battles with Hidebehinds?? What exactly is living in the large forests of North America and the rest of the continents of the world? What creatures or beings hide in the dusk, in the cover of trees, crevices, and brush? From Axe-handle hounds to Skogsra, we cover some of the funny and freaky forest dwellers that live in the legends of our world. Whether they guide you into th...