Castles & Cryptids

It's just a jump to the left, and then a step to the right. Put your hands on your hips, and bring your knees in tight...... This ep is brought to you by Kelsey's love of the Rocky Horror Picture Show! We revisit a fun topic with some more eerie and strange tales of people unknowingly wandering into a time slip, or time warp if you prefer. Kelsey takes a deep dive into the Ghosts of Versailles, al...

Spies, intrigue and forgeries, oh my! You're gonna Juan-a hear the whole story of super-spy Juan Pujol Garcia. He worked his butt off to build a spy ring, operated as a double-agent, spied on multiple sides of multiple conflicts, and was an early example of an expert at fake news. Once called "the best actor in the world", come find out what all his secret agent names were and tell us your favorit...

Hello castle lovers everywhere, we see you and we love you. This week we earn our namesake and bring you some of the coolest and creepiest we could find. Kelsey shares three castles that she would love to visit.... during the day, not at night, because they are still haunted. Alanna takes us to Scotland, surprise, surprise, for a pair of famous castles that have very interesting histories. We hope...

Medical malpractice, malicious intent, negligence and straight up murder, we cover it all in this weeks episode. Alanna switches things up and goes first with a listicle of scary nightmare inducing medical accidents?? that have resulted is quite a number of lawsuits. We cut the list in two, so join our patreon to hear the rest (you know you wanna). Kelsey closes out the episode with the story of a...

Leprechauns! So much more than just a 90's movie starring Warwick Davis and Jennifer Aniston. What do you know about the mythical little men? Why the hell do they keep their gold at the end of the rainbow?? And what about some of those other little mythical dudes that are leprechaun-adjacent? Kelsey kicks it off with answers to these questions, and teaches us about the origins of St. Patrick's day...

Our international true crime series continues this week as we dive into 2 ( or maybe even 3) cases of murder in Scotland. First, Kelsey shares the extremely angering World's End Murders, the tragic death of 2 girls at the hands of a man who had a shockingly long wrap sheet. We discuss what role bad character evidence and the laws of double jeopardy play at trial, and how there may always be except...

Hi and Hej hej(hey hey)! It's time for Swedish folklore, let's gooo!! We've barely grazed the surface on any Scandinavian or Norse mythology, so for this one, we're keeping it simpler with tales straight outta Sweden.  From the Aurora borealis and its associations, to the Lindworm/Lindwurm-um, yikes, to the Vittra, we've got something almost from A-Z! Kelsey takes on the Lindwurm, a fearsome...

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...