Journey to the Fringe

After a year of covering some current events we were bound to need to come back to some of our stories. So why not end the year with it? This is a compilation of all the stories that interrupt your morning quiet contemplation while old episodes of All In the Family play in the background and your morning strudel heals from the trauma that is the oven just enough to be enjoyable in an ethical way s...

What would Christmas be if not for the jolly red suited wizard we hail as Santa Claus. Probably more religious that's for sure. Although many heard tales around the playground about a friend who "totally saw him" or had a dad who was friends with him, he's always been a pretty ellusive character. Has anybody actually seen the guy? Well what if I were to tell you there is deep lore in the subject t...

Today we look at the hidden folk working in Santa's workshop. Sure they may just be salve labour, but maybe there's more! Sit back and listen to the cultural history of elves that plays into the lore of Christmas. Where does this come from? Did we breed them for their luxurious leather used in Santa's suspenders? God I hope not but I can't confirm here, guess you'll have to listen. In the intro we...

Welcome to the strange traditions of Christmas! We are going to span the globe and see how different cultures celebrate this holiday and boy do some take it to strange ends. We look at all the poop that comes with Christmas in Catalonia, whether it be coming out of a nativity participant or beaten out of a log. We move on to witches associated with the season. To round out Europe we look at Scandi...

Today we became 18% more holly with 13% more Christmas cheer! I did not think this was possible!!!! I bet you thought Christmas was just Christmas, well maybe you should listen, cause there's just a lot we need to talk about. Taylor focuses on the Romans and their Saturnalia and Chelsie focuses on the Germanic tribes and their Yule. Can these wacky odd tribes ever come together in their celebratio...

Mothman, as made famous by John Keel, has been predominantly put forth with several known facts: It's strongly associated Point Pleasant, It's mothlike, and It's male in features. But what if we were to tell you this is all the above is a lie? In this episode we look at the lesser known but far more pervasive "mothman" sightings of the Chicago area. They span a larger time period, have far more dr...

Today we take a trip to the more mundane side of fringe topics and talk about offshore corporate tax avoidance structures... no seriously. I like to think its fun and I am the only person I polled so it has tested well! Please listen if you never learned about the Panama Papers, what happened, or just need a refresher. Lets take a trip to some place exotic where the line between us and our secret...

Today we talk about the Mandela effect, what happens when your memory just ain't pulling the weight it should but you don't want to blame it. We cover the actual idea of the Mandela effect. Next we move on to the biggest real world examples, and boy I bet you've fallen for at least one. We talk about Star Wars, Star Trek, Snow White, Scary Movie, Fruit of the Loom, Monopoly, South African Politics...

Ever wonder if weird things happen at airports? All the time, and were not just talking about the children that miss their flights and end up in New York. Welcome to the world of paranormal activities surrounding airports. Forget about Denver Airport the "try hard" of paranormals because it's got nothing on these places. Whether it be delays and cancellations due to ufos, jet pack men patrolling t...

Hat man - What's in a hat? Apparently many a spook with this wicked amorphous character. Sometimes believed to be a subset of shadow people, this creature strikes fear, dread and a sense of doom into it's victims. Although tough to describe this is definitely a fascinating character to discuss. The Popelick Monster - half man, half goat, and half bloody axe. This beast takes no prisoners, with it'...

Today we are talking about actual gates to Hell on Earth. This is a very liberal take on the subject as we are looking at historical entry points, along with literal "gates to Hell" as found on Earth. It's a wonder how many of these are out there but once you realize that many are from previous religious interpretations. We touch o Greek, Roman, Turmani, Incan, and Voodoo interpretations on the su...

This episode is all about exorcisms and particularly through the lens of Catholicism. We look at the history of the practice, where it has come from to where it is today and the changes in between. We then touch on the shortage of exorcists in the world today. We finish off with documented cases where exorcisms have been performed (whether or not they were successful you be the judge) and hot head...

The month of spooks continues as we journey into the woods and see what chills await. We are circling the globe looking for haunted forests and take detours to: Hoia Baciu forest in Romania, the suicide forest of Tokyo, Ballyboley forest in Northern Ireland, the Devil's tramping grounds in North Carolina, and Dow Hill in India. The Black forest in Germany and Witchwood forest in England also make...

Indrid Cold, as made famous by John Keel is a name in paranormal you may have heard before. Is this notoriety necessary? We take a look at this cryptid, the stories surrounding it and importantly the people around the events. You be the judge of this cryptid who can't stop smiling. Stay tuned for a theme change as we move into the spooky season! The intro today looks at wildlife loss and supply ch...

Space! The final frontier, whether it be for exploration, resource extraction, weird billionaire hobby or, you guessed it, clandestine activity. Today we are looking into what we are doing up there in them there stars and what have we been putting up there? This episode covers the gambit from first steps into the stars, heads to the first steps in spying from way up there, and finishes off with a...

This is the epic conclusion to the Drug Wars trilogy. When we last saw our hero and heroine, they were waging battle with the cunning and manipulative Harry Anslinger. But he has died and drugs will surely be treated in an equal and fair manor moving forward. Special guest appearances from Milhouse, Reaganomics, a smooth saxman, and to great apes for comedic relief. This episode contains laughs, k...

We continue the history of drugs in society. This takes a look at the beginning of criminalization to most drugs in North America spanning the time from the late 1800's to the 1960's. Particular attention is paid to Harry Anslinger and his work within the bureaucracy of the American government and the transition he concocted from alcohol prohibition to the next mania (which I'm sure you can guess)...

In this episode we discuss the history of major drugs prior to criminalization, mainly drugs derived from cannabis, poppies, and coca plants. This history spans multiple cultures and thousands of years. Were they gifts bestowed upon us by the gods? Were they plagues levied against the human race by demons? or was it the simple answer, aliens? sit back and have a listen, we are not here to judge ho...

We live in strange times with strange economic forces and decisions being made in smoky back rooms hidden from the view of you the consumer. This episode sheds light on some business practices you may not have been aware exist and are wideky used across many industries: Planned obsolescence: the practice of intentionally shortening the life of your product consumer buy your product faster. Perceiv...

If you are selling a haunted house do you have to tell the buyer that the house is haunted? Today we are looking what courts have said about the duties of a seller in this scenario. Sit back and learn all you can, lest you find yourself self in this very situation in the future ill prepared (but seriously seek legal advice then). I hope you all enjoy! Don't forget to follow and listen to any other...

Have you found your self struggling for the right language to describe the paranormal? Have you ever felt like your verbal repertoire could use more spooky vocabulary? Do you want to word better when talking of your living impaired Earthly cohabitants? Were you directed here by future Journey to the Fringe episodes? Then welcome! While my mind struggles with the concept of time please enjoy and le...

We bring you a polarizing couple held up atop the ghost hunting community, Ed and Lorraine Warren. A couple that investigate haunted houses from the 1950's into the 2000's and left there fingerprints all over what are considered some of the most iconic cases in the horror community. From The Conjuring, the Haunting in Connecticut, and Amityville Horror, this couple had a penchant for flare. Was al...

This episode is a discussion of the Drake Equation - first posed by Frank Drake to answer the question "how many communicable civilizations are in the Milkyway galaxy?" in the 1960's we go over the factors and the answers you can come to from there. We then look at the Fermi paradox, proposed by Enrico Fermi which then asks "then where are these civilizations?". Many smart people have turned there...

We take a look at the mass shooting in Nova Scotia that took place in April of 2020. This is the largest mass shooting in Canadian history and spans 13 hours in its entirety. We begin with a breakdown of the events that took place and left so many people dead. We then look at the perpetrator's past and some peculiarities about him. Finally we look at the RCMP and how it has acted both prior to, du...

This is a heavy episode. We talk with you today about animal mutilation. A long documented phenomenon whereby animals are found dead missing organs, bloodless, and surgical like incisions in the middle of a farmers field. We begin with a brief history, move onto famous cases, look at explanations for this phenomena and end with a truly depressing story of a corpse exhibiting the same characteristi...