Highway to Hell

Thank you to our Hellions for your voted in topic! Subscribe for ad free episodes, voting topics and upcoming bonus episodes at patreon.com/highwaytohellpodcast. The Appalachian Mountains are the oldest range on Earth, and something has been living in them since before this country had a name. In this episode, we trace the full history of one of America's most distinct and haunted regions. Wal...

Few legends cut as deep as La Llorona, the Weeping Woman. This week we're trading the highway for the rainforest as we trace one of Latin America's most enduring and chilling folk stories into the heart of Costa Rica. We break down the origins of La Llorona, the grieving mother condemned to wander waterways for eternity searching for the children she lost, and how her story evolved differe...

Gordon Northcott and a trip to Canada. In the late 1920s, one of California’s most disturbing child murder cases unfolded on a remote ranch in Wineville—a place so stained by violence that it would later change its name in an attempt to escape the legacy. At the center of the case was Gordon Stewart Northcott, a sadistic rancher whose crimes against children shocked the country and exposed serious...

Don't let them in! Black-Eyed Kids (BEK) is one of the most unsettling modern urban legends to emerge from late 20th-century folklore. Described as pale children with completely black eyes, no sclera, no iris. They are most often reported appearing at night, knocking on doors or approaching cars, and asking for permission to enter. And its not just their appearance thats disturbing, its the sense...

In the summer of 1997, a cross-country killing spree gripped the United States, ending in one of the most shocking celebrity murders in modern history. At the center of it all was Andrew Cunanan—a charismatic, intelligent young man whose life of deception unraveled into violence. This episode traces Cunanan’s story from the beginning: his upbringing in San Diego, his father’s financial crimes and...

Several American roads have become famous not just for travel but for paranormal folklore, drawing visitors interested in ghost stories and unexplained sightings. The historic U.S. Route 66 stretches across eight states and is filled with haunted lore tied to abandoned mining towns, old motels, and roadside cemeteries; travelers often report shadowy figures, ghostly hitchhikers, and strange lights...

Special thanks to our Hellions on Patreon! Subscribe for ad free episodes at Patreon.com/highwaytohellpodcast Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer who murdered at least five women in the Whitechapel, London in 1888. The victims—Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly—were mostly impoverished women who worked as prostitutes. The killer...

Edit: On our second ad break I gave the wrong patreon (got my podcasts mixed up). If you'd like to support this show please sign up to be a hellion at patreon.com/highwaytohellpodcast. On November 9th, 1971, John List walked behind his wife at the breakfast table and shot her in the back of the head. After moving her to the ballroom of the families mansion, he went upstairs to his mothers private...

After his sweetheart deal in 2008, Epstein was able to reintegrate into life and maintain his trafficking ring without any loss in wealth, associations or connections. This episode tracks his life and dealings from 2008 to his death in 2019, the aftermath of his cruelty, the arrest and trial of Ghislaine Maxwell and the recent release of the Epstein files. As of now, no man involved with Epstein a...

**Please forgive some slight changes as this had to be recorded remotely* Please support the show at patreon.com/highwaytohellpodcast 3 million more Epstein files were released and yet in the US there has been no further investigation, no arrests. Files that detail the rape, murder, cannibalism of children result in no arrests. The release of the files almost extend Epsteins story- a man of decept...

A ransom note was found on the stairs of the Ramsey house on December 26, 1996. Patsy Ramsey quickly called police and reported that her daughter, JonBenét, was missing. The police treated it as a kidnapping since the three page ransom note demanded $118,000, the exact Christmas bonus, her father John had received. Police failed to secure the entire scene, failed to search the house thoroughly,but...

Andrea Yates, a Texas mother of five, drowned her children in a bathtub on June 20, 2001, shocking the nation. She immediately confessed to police and was later found not guilty by reason of insanity. Her medical history showed years of severe postpartum depression and psychosis, multiple hospitalizations, and suicide attempts. Doctors had warned her husband, Rusty Yates, that further pregnancies...

In this episode, we step into one of the most unsettling corners of American folklore: the legend of the skinwalker. Rooted in Navajo (Diné) tradition, the skinwalker—often called yee naaldlooshii , “with it, he goes on all fours”—is not a cryptid or campfire monster, but a deeply serious and taboo figure tied to witchcraft, shapeshifting, and the deliberate misuse of spiritual power. Medicine men...

The continuation of the West Memphis 3 case with a travel itinerary in Memphis!!! Want these episodes ad free? Subscribe to be a hellion at patreon.com/highwaytohellpodcast

Occasionally there's a story with so much to it and so much nuance, that we break it up into two pieces instead of making a three hour episode. So here is part one! On May 5, 1993, three eight-year-old boys—Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers—were reported missing in West Memphis, Arkansas. Their bodies were discovered the next day in a drainage ditch in an area known as Robin...

⚠️ Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of extreme violence, sexual abuse, and the murder of minors. Listener discretion is strongly advised. This episode examines the crimes of Dean Corll who operated in early 1970s in Houston, Corll, later dubbed “The Candyman”, used manipulation, coercion, and the assistance of two teenage accomplices to abduct, torture, and murder dozens of boys a...

Welcome to our new release schedule! Midnight every Tuesday (we'll explain more next episode about the schedule change) Want ad free episodes? Bonus content? Early access to merch? Become a Hellion for $5 a month on patreon at patreon.com/highwaytohellpodcast Opened in 1829, Eastern State Penitentiary was once the most radical and influential prison in the world. Built on the belief that isola...

Christmas Eve release for a Christmas Eve crime! Thank you so much for the love and support from new Hellions who have become followers and subscribers! Follow us on IG at @highwaytohellpod Topic you want to hear? Highway@montemader.com On December 24, 2002, Laci Peterson, eight months pregnant, disappeared from her home in Modesto. Investigators uncovered inconsistencies in Scott Peterson’s state...

For more than a decade, Jersey (one of the Channel Islands off the coast of Normandy) was haunted by a figure locals came to call the Beast of Jersey. A masked man who moved through hedgerows and farm lanes at night slicing phone lines and entering homes while families slept. He abducted women and children from their beds assaulted them in their rooms or out in the fields and then returned them ho...

In this episode, we examine the rise and tragic end of Heaven’s Gate, one of the most infamous cults in modern American history. Founded by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles, the group fused New Age spirituality, Christian apocalypticism, and science-fiction belief into a rigid worldview centered on ascension to a higher evolutionary level. We trace the group’s origins in the 1970s, its recru...

Thank you for listening! Please share and subscribe! Herman Webster Mudgett — better known as H.H. Holmes — is often regarded as America’s first documented serial killer, but long before the murders came fraud, reinvention, and carefully engineered charm. A medical student with a fascination for cadavers, he began his criminal life forging documents, taking out insurance policies on stolen corpses...

And here's the Albert Fish episode! Sorry every body I uploaded them out of order on accident. But here we are. TW: Extreme child abuse and assault Albert Fish (1870–1936) was an American serial killer, cannibal, and sadomasochist whose crimes in the early 20th century remain some of the most disturbing in U.S. criminal history. Raised in an abusive orphanage and plagued throughout his life by...

Please review and subscribe to our show! Between 1976 and 1977, Oakland County, Michigan was gripped by fear as four children—Mark Stebbins, Jill Robinson, Kristine Mihelich, and Timothy King—were abducted and murdered in what became known as the Oakland County Child Killer case. This episode walks listeners through the verified timelines of each disappearance, the forensic evidence recovered, the...

Nestled in the heart of Los Angeles’ Skid Row, the Cecil Hotel was meant to be a beacon of glamour when it opened its doors in 1927. Instead, it became one of America’s most infamous landmarks—a towering witness to tragedy, violence, and urban decay. This episode dives deep into the history of the Cecil: from its grand opening during the Roaring Twenties to its rapid decline during the Great Depre...

In this episode, we delve into the life of Ed Gein — the isolated Wisconsin boy whose descent into necrophilia, murder and grave-robbing would ripple through popular culture to become the blueprint for some of horror’s most iconic monsters. We trace his roots: a domineering, religious mother whose moral fanaticism and isolation of her two sons planted the seeds of psychosis; a father whose abusive...