Professor Gruntsplatter's Spookatorium

In this episode, we explore the idea of the Sin Eater and look at some of the superstitions surrounding the Hangman's Rope. And there is lots of great music from the likes of Intersigno, Ourea, Belt, Swarm Intelligence, Images In Silence, Tribe Of Circle, Volunteer Coroner, Drape Excrement, Pain Teens, Shallow Waves, Dismal Thoughts, and A.M.Q.A

Episode 35 of the Spookatorium looks at Medium Helene Smith, who claimed to astral travel to Mars, and the work of macabre photographer William Mortensen. In addition, there is music from: The Handsome Family, Helge Sten, Hexvessel, IV Horsemen, Ivillion, Rituals, Second Spectre, Dark Circuitry, Coeur, Stefan Bachmeier, Stem Cell Research Project, & Council of Nine.

In this episode, we take a look at the idea of man-eating trees in remote parts of the world in the 1700 and 1800's. It occurred to me after I finished this episode how Lovecraftian some of the descriptions of these trees are prior to Lovecraft's writing. There is music from Antechamber, Black Mare, P.H.O.B.O.S., Haeretici 7o74, Ligeia, And Also The Trees, Reverence, Dreadmaul, The Chameleons, Gek...

In this episode, we look at the rise and fall of a popular patent medicine from the late 1800s called Kickapoo Oil. Beyond that, there is lots of music. from the likes of Dav Dralleon, Hexmyr, Metadevice, Mayfairgrin, Cyclic Amp, Dailiv, Grotus, Black Lung, The Criminal World, Loss, GGGOLDDD, Moss Harvest, Snaig Tharta.

An extended Halloween episode with talk about the role of fog and mist in paranormal experiences and a look at the Dark Watchers of the Santa Lucia Mountains. In addition to lots of music from the likes of... The Devil & The Universe, Electric Dragon, Aghast Manor, Splinterskin, The Hare & The Moon, Out of Hell, The Rohan Theatre Band, The Flatfield, Mordant Arrow, The Heartwood Institute,...

In this episode, we look at preserving the strange cures in medieval medical texts at Cambridge. There's a brief stop on Victorian medicine and the rise of antiseptics. We also dig into how a team in Canada built a better mental hospital by using LSD to help them understand the perceptions of the people who would be staying there. Also Features music from... A Tergo Lupi, The Northern Lighthouse B...

This episode gets a little further back on track, with consensus opinions as it relates to poltergeist activity and the mysteries of human energy fields. Beyond that, there's lots of music. From the likes of Fixions, Menace Ruine, Of The Wand & The Moon, Temple Destroyer, Ghost Actor, Sombre Lux, Cyan Revue, Imvixor, Lubricated Goat, Invercauld, Lucid Dreams, Vomito Negro, & Trust Crusher.

The first new episode in ages... This is a music episode and reintroduction, but elements of the old show will be back going forward. Featuring music from... Tear Garden, Empty Rituals, Killus, Anatomy Of, Screature, Lydia Lunch, Cuca Negra, Dark Leaves, Fvnerals, Missing Foundation, Moon Mourning Earth, Buio Mondo, The Cramps, Ritual Howls, Lebanon Hanover.

Our 4th Halloween episode, and the last of the old episodes. This time we have fiction from Orrin Grey & Ambrose Bierce. In addition we look at the life of clairvoyant Marinus B. Dykshoorn. I read a short vignette by Bierce called “John Mortonson’s Funeral,” first Published in 1906. Orrin Grey, is a rising talent in the realm of supernatural horror. Orrin reads his vignette, “The Big, Dark Hou...

In this episode, we look at Cotard’s Syndrome a psychological affliction where the sufferer believes themselves to be dead, missing organs or simple non-existent. We’ve got some publishing news from Gray Friar Press, Dark Regions Press, Tartarus Press, and the new Phantasmagoria Journal. Then it’s into the catacombs beneath Paris, and a secret workshop in the dome of the Pantheon with UX an arguab...

Welcome to the 3rd annual Halloween episode. This time around we pay tribute to Harry Houdini who left this mortal coil on Halloween back in 1926. In addition to the stupefying feats of conjuring and illusion, he was best known for, Houdini spent 30 years exhaustively researching spiritualism and the paranormal. Next, we take a look at electro-magnetic fields as they relate to investigating the pa...

Out of the gate, we discuss the bizarre affliction that has come to be known as Morgellons disease. In some medical circles, it continues to be looked at as a psychological rather than a physiological condition. Then there are those that see the condition as a result of something more nefarious. After that, we take a look at a set of core components by which hauntings might be judged in order to c...

First up, we revisit the legend of “Oriuagor,” a tome purported to drive insane those who dare read it. First touched upon in Episode 19. I had largely written it off, but a submitter from Denmark suggests that the legends at least are known there. Next up we look at reports of a lake monster in Minnesota’s Lake Pepin, quaintly, if not predictably, known as Pepie. Next in Pennsylvania, there have...

This time we take a peek at the life of Thomas Dyott. Dyott amassed a sizable fortune selling patent medicines under such tantalizing names as Roberton’s Infallible Worm Destroying Lozenges & Vegetable Nervous Cordial. From there we peek behind the curtain of opportunist psychiatry and look at the phenomenon of Spirit Release, the process of psychiatric exorcism. Finally, we look at the Mormon...

We examine numerous instances of buzzing and grinding sounds that build to a crescendo and have been associated with everything from Near Death Experiences, Shamanic Rituals, Old Hag Syndrome, and other forms of transcendent consciousness. Then we travel to Ohio to review the story of the Loveland Frog. While evidence is limited to eyewitness testimony and there are reports that at least some of i...

This episode we examine the Jewish ritual of Kapparot – the transfer of sins into the body of a chicken and the sacrifice of the chicken prior to Yom Kippur… I also juxtapose this with a sensational article from the Sioux City Journal regarding a reported ritual killing. We look at the hoax of the Jenny Haniver. Oddly named this crytpotaxidermy beast constructed from dried, rays, skates and cuttle...

This time we take a look at a rise in reports of possession, exorcisms, and the mark of the beast in the news. Next up we take a look at the legacy of John “Goat Gland” Brinkley. Finally, we look at George Daynor’s Palace of Depression in New Jersey. Featuring music from... Big Black, Cazzodio, Doubting Thomas, Blackhouse, Funeral Diner, Deinonychus, Echo & The Bunnymen, Impaled Nazarene, 16 V...

This time out we take a look at an alleged forbidden tome called Oriuagor, and the superstitions and warnings associated with reading the work. Next we review the life and death of Anna Goldi who was immortalized as “The Last Witch of Europe” after her execution 1782 on bogus allegations of witchery in a small Swiss town. Lastly, we look into two fabled giant serpents, the Lindorm in Scandinavia,...

This time out we look at the legacy of Mary Toft, Her story is outlined further in the book “The Girl Who Gave Birth To Rabbits: A True Medical Mystery,” Next, we take a trip down south to check in on a couple of mysterious creature sightings. In addition, LiveScience.com ran a recent article on the possibility of using hi-resolution satellite imagery to search for elusive breeding colonies of var...

A double-length Halloween episode that looks into ghostly sightings and communication with the dead through various gadgetry from Frank's Box to talking boards. Featuring music from... Louis Armstrong, The Rohan Theatre Band, Black Mayonnaise, Hadit, The Dead Brothers, Ulthar, Mercyful Fate, Goatvargr, Bauhaus, Mondblut, Schloss Tegal, Darvulia, The Handsome Family, Those Poor Bastards, Siouxsie &...

Escape artists are seeking to set the world record in a one day relay of over 80 escape performances, while a grizzled old school freak takes the law into his own hands. A pillar of the pharmaceutical industry is working on a virtual reality rig that gives the user a window into the schizophrenics world. Another team working on solving our world’s energy issues are looking at cow stomachs as the g...

You will hear the moving tale of the death of a vampire peacock struck down in one of the shadowy corners of New York City, and the citizen who would not let its passing go unnoticed. I have a haunted lighthouse to tell you about, and ladies and gentleman, you can buy it for a dollar! I also take a look at the alleged tales of haunting in a remote Michigan town. A small town in Mississippi sees a...

Featuring music from... Grave, SPK, Cranes, Geisha, Hell Militia, Fetish 69, Sabbat, Mentallo & The Fixer, Mothra, 1000 Homo DJ’s, Steve Earle, The Rohan Theatre Band, The Legendary Pink Dots, The Old Scratch Revival Singers, Dive

Featuring music from... Swartalf, Wormwood, Destructo Swarmbots, Empyrium, Death In June, Carved In Stone, Tartaros, My Dying Bride, Post Scriptvm, Voivod, Philistine, Hum Of The Druid, Maruta Kommand, Thergothon

Featuring music from... Young Gods, Cyberaktif, Pigface, Godheadsilo, Overkill, Dead Brain Cells, David E. Williams, Steve Earle, The Pogues, Hekate, Circle Takes The Square, Sine Nomine, Uranus, To What End?, Steroid Maximus, Memorandum, MZ.412, The Creatures, Guy Lafleur, Black Noise Cannon