Weirdsdale

Karyn Kupcinet was a beautiful budding Hollywood actress who had already made a name for herself in both TV and movies in the 1950's and early 1960's. Thanksgiving Eve of 1963 was the last time Karyn was seen alive, as her body was discovered in her apartment three days later with evidence of being strangled. Several persons of interest were questioned in the murder, including her recent...

Today we're discussing the event that still holds the unfortunate title of deadliest sports disaster in United States History. On Thanksgiving Day in 1900, Stanford and University of California football fans gathered for the "Big Game". Thousands of fans packed into the arena and more in, on and around the surrounding buildings to catch a glimpse of the players. The tragedy that occ...

Continuing on with our of inspo for horror movies, we're talking about the inspiration for the movie that terrified generations, The Hills Have Eyes. The legend that inspired the gruesome tale of a mutant, feral cannibal family was an old Scottish legend, the legend of Sawney Bean. Sawney and his family lived in an isolated cave in Galloway, Scotland, and lived for 25 years without seeing civ...

Bathrooms are a hell scape of portals. Toilets, drains, mirrors...it's no wonder there are so many spirits who reside there! We all know Bloody Mary but, have you heard of the Japanese bathroom ghosts? We're talking about Hanako-San, Aka-Manto, Kashima-Reiko and our favorite little scum licker, Akaname. Some of these spirits have terrifying pasts and are now hiding in restrooms, just wai...

We're deep into scary season and it's making us nostalgic for old horror movies! But, did you know some of your favorite classic horror movies were inspired by true events? Today, we're talking about the true and mysterious events that inspired the movie, Nightmare on Elm Street. It seems unbelievable but there was an actual syndrome affecting a certain population called "night...

This week, we're celebrating our teachers, past and present. We appreciate you! Of course we have to make it weird by talking about some creepy, haunted schools. Kicking it off with El Paso High School, home of Friday Night Lights and a ghost girl who makes herself known quite often. She's been seen as an apparition and in several photos which we'll post on our social media accounts...

Today we're talking about a sad and unfortunate case of the first woman to be executed by lethal injection in the United States. Her life story involves one tragedy and hardship after the other, and culminates in the untimely deaths of four people at her hands. We discuss the history of the death penalty in the US and the story of how Velma's past and actions led her to death row. Domest...

We get a little tipsy as we reminisce about Stef's wedding 10 years ago! Stef and her husband took their honeymoon in Jamaica, so obviously we had to talk about the most infamously haunted spot in Montego Bay, Jamaica! Rose Hall is most famous for the legend of one of its mistresses, Annie Palmer, aka The White Witch of Rose Hall. The stories retold of Annie's torturous, controlling, abu...

In the summer of 1995, beautiful local celebrity news anchor, Jodi Huisentruit, went missing from the parking lot of her apartment complex. The town of Mason City, Iowa was shocked and saddened by the disappearance of their beloved local TV star. All the police had to go on was a sign of a struggle, a partial palm print, one hair and a lot of stories. For 28 years, police have been following poten...

Come on down to the rootin' tootin' booty scootinest place in Skagway, Alaska! First, we'll talk about the history of the s*x work industry and brothels in the United States beginning with the first Gold Rush in 1799. No matter what your moral stance may be on the matter, there's no denying the s*x work industry played a huge role in the economics and culture of the budding pio...

It all began with Adam Lemp, who came to St. Louis from Germany with a German Lager recipe that people couldn't get enough of! His beer brewing empire grew, along with his large family. Success, wealth, fame, love...it was all a dream...until it wasn't. In the following decades, the Lemp family would experience death, heartbreak and tragedy upon tragedy. Some say the Lemp family was curs...

Something horrible happened in the beautiful, sacred grounds of Gitchie Manitou preserve on the border of Iowa and South Dakota in November of 1973. Three monsters decided to end the lives of four teenage boys, senselessly. Had it not been for the story of the lone survivor of the horrendous attack, we may never truly know what happened in the woods. Sandra Cheskey tells her survivor story in the...

This week we're exploring the bizarre stories of towns that have mysteriously disappeared into thin air (?) Urkhammer, a town that existed in Iowa before 1932 slowly faded into transparency, then disappeared completely without a trace. Did Doveland, Wisconsin really exist? Most Wisconsinites say no, but others insist they have souvenirs from Doveland before it vanished in the 1990's. The...

They've been living among us since 5,000 BCE? That's what Charles James Hall claims. Charles tells of his time meeting and working with the Tall White aliens during his time on Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas, Nevada in the 1960's. This story is as wild and outrageous as they come. Even Charles thought he was hallucinating the beings for months. Chalk-white skin, very thin, bri...

In the final part of our discussion on Alexander Pichushkin, aka The Chessboard Killer, aka the Bitsa Park Maniac, we cover his descent into egotistical chaos and finally, his arrest and conviction. This story is so unbelievable, it almost reads like a movie script. But, this nightmare was occurring in real life for the citizens of Moscow for years before any real effort was put towards finding hi...

We needed to do another 2 parter for this piece of work. Alexander Pichushkin, dubbed the Chessboard Killer, or The Bitsa Park Maniac somehow went undetected for years as he murdered and dumped mostly men in Bitsa Park located in Moscow, Russia. Pichushkin had a sinister plan that involved the board of his favorite game, chess. In part 1, we cover his childhood and background, and an incident in h...

Built right at the beginning of the Civil War in Weston, West Virginia, Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum is the largest hand-cut masonry building in the US. Meant to hold 250 patients, it ended up holding 3,600 patients at its peak in the 1950's! Staff shortages and cramped quarters led to dangerous situations for patients. It's believed thousands of people died here including both patient...

We're back! This week we discuss the case of the double homicide in Newton, Iowa on Copper Dollar Ranch in 1983. Steven Fisher and Melisa Gregory were found bludgeoned to death on the morning of March 3rd, 1983. The scene was horrific and a complete shock to the town and the victim's families. Who would have a reason to do this? The police have two different paths they need to investigat...

They show up when you least expect it. Knocking on your front door, or maybe your car door, innocently asking for a ride or to use your telephone. You feel an overwhelming sense of fear and dread but they're just kids, right?! You can't quite put your finger on what's making you feel so uneasy. That's when you notice it...their eyes are nothing but completely black orbs staring...

We've been waiting months to get this one to you! We're so proud to introduce you to our home state cryptid. After Vannie (or maybe the 1903 Van Meter Business Owner's Association?) cursed our previous two recordings, we finally appeased her (them?) by assuring Vannie that we will tell the story respectfully. It worked! This mysterious cryptid, who now goes by the name of The Van Me...

On Christmas Even 1978, 35 year old Kaye Turner went for a run in Camp Sherman, Oregon and never returned home. After an agonizing 8-month search, some clues were brought to light by someone who would soon become the prime suspect in her disappearance and murder. After her case went cold, a break in the case comes when another person goes missing under similarly suspicious circumstances. This case...

Galena, Illinois is known for its long history of Civil War heroes and lead mines, but did you know it's also home to a ton of ghosts? The DeSoto House hotel in Galena is famous for its mysterious Lady in Black spirit who floats down the stairs and disappears into walls. Guests experience paranormal disturbances in their rooms and out on the town! The Hotel Blackhawk in Davenport is another h...

This week, we're bringing you a crime case from our own Weirdster home town in Iowa! Medical staff at Blank Children's Hospital started to become suspicious when Tanya  began bringing her two year old son in for repeated apneic episodes and seizures. She was then accused of inducing the terrifying symptoms herself in what professionals believed to be a case of Munchausen Syndrome by Prox...

Is it a cryptid, a ghost, a demon, a criminal? Maybe all of the above? We're not sure how to classify this other than WEIRD. The Spring Heeled Jack was a being that reigned terror on the United Kingdom beginning in 1837. A heinous face, horns, sometimes wings, and most shocking was his tendency to leap over tall walls and fences as if he had springs for feet! Come on over and listen to decide...

Between the years of 1983 - 1989, a group of four women led by Waltraud Wagner, took it upon themselves to kill possibly hundreds of innocent victims under the guise of "mercy". At the time, it was the largest and most upsetting murder trial in Vienna, Austria since World War 2. We had to bust out the Sunny D hard seltzer for a little bit of sunshine during this dark case!  Send a text F...