Castles & Cryptids

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...

This week we bring you two murders that were labeled cold cases for decades before finally being solved. First, Kelsey tells the frustrating murder of Irene Garza; a local beauty queen and beloved teacher. Just how did the case go unsolved for so many years when so many people knew who was responsible? Listen to find out. To close the ep, Alanna shares the seemingly random attack and death of Lee...

Welcome class! Time to broaden our minds, use our inner eye to see the future!- Hermione Granger, mocking Professor Trelawney. Time for Divination lessons! Have you ever had your tarot cards or tea leaves read? gone to see a psychic or consulted a magic 8 ball? then you're probably as fascinated by fortune-telling as we are!  We dived into the origins (older than you think!) of tarot cards and the...

Time to laugh at some more inept thieves, petty criminals and other stupid people! This is one of those episodes that have fewer than 5 murders. But less than zero, so there's that.... Kelsey covers some contraband cheese, some stolen road structures, fruity disguises and more on her segment of stupid crimes.  And when Alanna kicks her turn off, Kelsey has the inside scoop AGAIN as it happened in...

Welcome to a very special episode, this week we wanted to honour Ukraine by learning more about it and sharing it with our listeners. Kelsey kicks us off by reading three very popular stories from Cossack Fairy Tales, which was originally published in 1894. Then, Alanna covers some traditional clothing and Pysanky, all before finishing off the episode with a deep dive into Baba Yaga and the story...

We are super excited to bring you a wild, hand-picked, fan-picked episode this week! An esteemed member of our Illuminaughty Patreon group chose Australian Crimes and we got to go hog wild picking whatever case we wanted!  So they are very different cases; first up Kelsey brought the stealth and wealth by covering the Bank of Australia robbery. The names read like a cast of characters, (seriously,...

This week we decided to travel all around the world to explore some of the craziest and most interesting places we could find. Kelsey starts us off with a collection of almost all naturally occurring wonders. From some of the saltiest places of earth, to a few places with enough acid to melt your face off and everything in between. Alanna covers a number of stone circles and stone megaliths that h...

What constitutes a cult? Charismatic leader that plays or knows God, demands of undying devotion and very disgusting acts of violence?  and well, we have all those in spades in this episode of cruel cults and scary loosely religious based followings.  Kelsey covers the High Priestess of Blood and her unusual rise to goddess status in the small town of Yerba Buena, Mexico. The whole town ended up u...

Welcome to the Sanitarium, where it's easy to check in and impossible to check out.....alive.  This week we cover two of the creepiest "Hospitals" in history. Kelsey takes a deep dive into the horrible past of one of the most infamous Asylums in the world, The Bethlem Hospital. Since it first opened nearly 800 years ago a lot of bad things happened to thousands of people; including something calle...

What happens when you microdose arsenic and belladonna cocktails as part of your healthy routine? Nothing good, you guessed it! Oh sorry, they were digestive tonics, you say? old-timey medicine was straight-up bonkers y'all! As we see in Alanna's case, not all poison crimes are crystal clear; Florence Maybrick was accused of killing her husband James, but it's complicated by toxic family and secre...

Part 2 has arrived. This week Alanna continues her deep dive into the Curse of Oak Island and shares with us many of the discoveries made over its long history. To finish the ep off we explore many of the theories about what purpose Oak Island was built for, as well as things people believe may be waiting inside the money pit. Is it filled with gold and treasure unlike anything the world has...

Hoodoo you think you are anyway? Hopefully a fan of the pod! This week Kelsey takes us to Southern Alberta and a few other places, that all have hoodoos. What the heck are hoodoos you ask? She'll tell you! and gives us the legends that surround these funky rock formations. Are they really spirits that look after that land? you might be surprised! hooda hell are we to say..... Then we make our way...

When you hear Hello Kitty you think soft and snuggly but as this is true crime, Kelsey's story is anything but. She tells the tale of Fan Man-Yee, a hardworking young woman who fell prey to predators in her midst. It's a heart-wrenching, horrifically cruel case that hurts to hear. Buckle up. Alanna has another tragic tale of a woman who was failed by the system, Xiao Huamei, otherwise known as the...

For this weeks episode we revisit some strange things that human bodies are capable of. If you're like Kelsey, you grew up fascinated by the phenomena of spontaneous human combustion. What circumstances lead to this occurring, and why does it seem to only ever leave behind a pair of legs? Alanna closes out the episode on a much lighter note; introducing a group of real life "superhumans". From wit...

It's Part 2 of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer's horrific acts of violence. It kind of reminds us of that old saying from sing-alongs, you know,  same song- second verse, a little bit louder and a little bit worse! It's certainly going to be one of those things! Hopefully not too much louder, we try to keep the volume consistent :P Picking up where we left off, we go through all of his kills, close-c...

This episode is filled with shout-outs: to supportive sisters (and the rest of you beautiful May babies), Scorpios, and people named Joyce! But we shall give no shout-outs for cannibalism and lack of consent, however often they might come up this time.  That's right folks, we are covering a major serial killer today- Jeffrey Dahmer, aka the Milwaukee Cannibal, or the Milwaukee monster. How we...

Welcome to an episode filled with two plane mysteries so bizarre it's hard to believe they're real. Kelsey kicks things off by covering her favourite true crime case ever......the elusive D.B Cooper hijacking! Was he an experienced paratrooper or was he really just a guy with a grudge, some snazzy sunglasses, and a clip-on tie? Alanna closes the episode with the strange disappearance of not one, n...

This week we take a dive into some wild and random cases as we bring you the weirdest objects used to kill someone. No, Jason Bourne and John Wick will not be on this list, these are real people using whatever's on hand to commit their crimes.  First, Kelsey brings a trifecta of bizarre cases with murder weapons ranging from bread to guitar strings. No candlestick or lead pipe??  Then, A...

It's no surprise how much we love aliens, every time we get to talking about them for research  or anything, we cannot stop! First we define the levels of Close Encounters- there may be more than you think. Then, this time our stories range from sweet and rather helpful to down right creepy as shit! Kelsey case takes us to Massachusetts and then Alanna leaves us in Zimbabwe. The one theme tha...