Mysteries and Monsters

California in the late 1960's became a mecca for the counterculture movement, attracting all sorts to find themselves in new concepts, beliefs and communities.  Yet, a darkness lurked in the shadows as a series of murder shocked the Bay Area and beyond and its name was Zodiac. Now considered one of America's most intriguing unsolved murder cases, it still captivates peoples from around the world a...

A series of strange sightings were reported in the 1970's and 80's in Aintree, famous of course as the home of the Grand National . Witnesses were perplexed by the sight of torch bearing figures wandering in a field.  Hushed tales of nefarious deeds, secret socities and even cults were blamed but just what was going on and could anyone find out who was responsible. Returning after too long an abse...

It's December 1991 and a new reporter on the the local Elkhorn free newspaper "The Week", gets a lead on a rather unusual story. Could it really be true that a Werewolf was running around Walworth County? What happened next has become cryptid and fortean legend as both Linda Godfrey and the Beat of Bray Road became entwined forever. Linda's incredible body of work has inspired thousands to enter i...

Linda Raedisch joins me on this weeks show to dive into some of the strange histories and traditions that she has uncovered whilst compiling her fourth Llewellyn book, The Secret History of Christmas Baking:  Recipes and Stories from Tomb Offerings to Gingerbread Boys. We discuss the strange history of mummies as medicinal cure alls, the dark secrets of sugar and gingerbread, ancient civilisations...

On a cold November night back in 1966, four teenagers would have an experience that would resonate around the world. A night time drive to the local TNT area would culminate in a terrifying chase that left them frightened out of their wits and shock all of the residents of Point Pleasant. What happened next over the next 13 months in the small town in West Virgina would become known to all lovers...

We return to the world of the paranormal as we travel the length and breadth of Britain on the hunt for more encounters with ghosts. In her brand new book, Ruth Roper Wylde has once again collated a bumper crop of paranormal encounters featuring witnesses and enounters with entities of all shapes and sizes. From crying children to poltergeists, haunted museums to ghostly footsteps, these encounter...

For many, the term UFO is synonomous with the the term Flying Saucer but for many witnesses and experiencers, they see anything but a flying saucer. From the infamous Black Triangles, Flaming Crosses, Boomerangs and even Cigars shaped craft, the sky is indeed the limit in regards to the shapes of sighted craft in the heavens above us. Joining me to discuss his new book "The Shape of Things to Come...

We head back to Australia in the company of Dylan Stewart, host of the marvellous Paranormal Thoughts podcast to look at some of the strange occurences in and above Australia. From looking at some of Australia's most famous cases including Westall and some you may not be aware of, we look at the perception of the fortean in Australia and how the discussions have changed over the years, along with...

At the beginning of the 1920's, the sleepy Warwickshire village of Burton Dassett became the epicentre of a series of strange encounters. Locals began to see strange lights in the sky that seemed to act intelligently or even mischievously as some of the witnesses thought. Former police officer and now author, Richard Rokeby takes us on a trip back 100 years in to the past to try and uncover just w...

On this episode, we welcome Tony Healy back to look into some unusual cryptid history and encounters from Australia. From Bunyip sightings going back nearly 200 hundred years, to the strange creature or creatures lurking in the Hawksbury River, Tony gives us a crash course in two of Australia's most notable water beasts. We also discuss two of the strangest cryptid accounts you'll hear as well as...

This time of year is full of high strangeness hiding in plain sight all around the world. From the acceptance of a character who can break in to any house in the world, to flying animals, from cloth hunting cats to horse skulls singing for their supper, Christmas is strange. Joining me to discuss these customs and many others is Tobias Wayland, who along with his wife Emily, has created a thoughtf...

We head back to January 1983 and the coastal area of Aberystwyth in Wales. One local farmer received quite the shock one morning whilst out inspecting his flock to discover his fields strewn with debris. On alerting the authorities, he was informed a plane had crashed, despite their being no evidence of any plane coming down and to his amazement, a large group descended on the fields to clear up t...

This week, we head to the Pacific North West with author Luke Phillips to discuss his brilliant new book "ROGUE". A thriling, horrifying and cryptid filled joy ride, ROGUE sees the Washington state under attack from something that has developed a taste for human flesh and it seems nothing and no-one can stop it. Luke and I discuss some of our favourite Bigfoot films from Boggy Creek to Exists, som...

Dogmen. Werewolves. Skinwalkers. Shapeshifters. Many believe the Dogman phenomena began with the revalations surrounding Bray Road in Wisconsin and Linda Godfrey's amazing work. Yet as Linda and others discovered, stories about encounters with strange creatures have plagued the North American continent since records began. In her latest book, Werewolves, Dogmen and other Shapeshifters stalking Nor...

This week, I'm joined by author and researcher Andy McGrath. We discuss a number of notable cryptids from around the world and hear about his recent visit up to Loch Ness. From Bigfoot to the Yeren, Megaliths to the paranormal, we dive in to several subjects and chew the fat about reasearch, exploration and the percieved rules for exploration. We also touch on his series currently being filmed, We...

In his latest book, "Humanoids and High Strangeness", Preston Dennett has collected 20 incredible encounters that show us that the subject of alien contact can often be even stranger than we imagine. From a child encountering a Grey riding a bike, to a werewolf playing peek a boo and hiding in closets to families being taken on board, there seems to be nothing too far out there that experiencers e...

We head out to discover a cryptid we've never covered before in the company of our good friend Richard Freeman. The Gul of Tajikistan is a hairy bipedal hominid that has been seen for centuries across this mountainous land locked central Asian republic and has a reputation for violent encounters across the region. Richard tells us about the two expeditions he's undertaken with colleagues from the...

In her seventh book, Ruth has once again collated a bumper crop of modern day ghostly encounters from across the British Isles in These Haunted Times volume III. Ruth is fascinated particularly by finding correlations - where more than one person has seen the same or similar thing in the same location, or where multiple people experience different things but again in the same place. We visit a sel...

Every paranormal investigator has one location that brings out the goosebumps whenever they think of it. For Daryl Marston it was the notorious House of Wills, a former funeral home in Cleveland, Ohio. What occured during his investigation stayed with him for far longer than he imagined and made him re-evaluate everything he thought he knew about himself and the paranormal. Daryl takes us through...

We take a journey in to the other side on this episode as we look into some notable characters from the golden age of spiritualism, a haunted cemetery or two and the strange wourld of seances contacting departed celebrities. Joining us to act as our guide in to the other side is writer, paranormal historian, lecturer and lover of all things gothic, Dr Kate Cherrell! From spirit cupboards to vampir...

We head beneath the waves to uncover the reality of one of the most fearsome predators to swim in the ocean, the Megalodon.  Yet is it the swift, surface breaching killing machine we often see potrayed on screen? Not so says Max Hawthorne and he's built a compelling case to show that most of what we think we know about these incredible creatures is nothing more than speculation and fantasy.  From...

John Olsen is the creative force and author behind the marvellous Stranger Bridgerland series of books that will send a shiver down your spine, whatever your paranormal poison is. The series has collected hundreds of first hand accounts of encounters with Ghosts, UFO's, cryptids, time slips and much, much more. In the latest book, Stranger World, John includes stories from around the world for the...

We head to the state known as the Land of Enchantment in the company of John Lemay to discuss his magnum opus focusing on the incredibly rich history of witchcraft in New Mexico. A book full to the brim with historical accounts from the arrival of the Spanish in the early 17th century to the area, newspaper reports, tribal lore and indigenous legends, John has created a work for anyone who loves h...

On October 11th 1973, two friends were planning on spending a warm autumn evening with a spot of fishing near their workplace. Neither of them could imagine what would occur that night, when rather than catching fish, it seems something decided to catch them. Over the last few years, Philip Mantle along with his co-author Dr Irena Scott have discovered a realm of supporting information that has ma...

I welcome back author Insha Fitzpatrick to discuss the second book in the Totally Supernatural series, Chilling with Ghosts. We talk about the paranoraml elephants in the room when dealing ghosts - grief and death - and how Insha approached discussing these aspects of the paranormal for a young adult audience. There's haunted houses, classic scary movies and Insha's favourite cases before we dive...