Back Away Slowly

Elizabeth/Erzébet Bathory has maintained a staggering reputation, for someone who’s been gone for centuries. But there are few bloodthirsty legacies that are more dramatic than Bathory’s - or maybe not? You know the name, you may have even heard the theories. Was she a vicious serial killer? A scapegoat by the male nobility? Or maybe something else... Happy Summerween, everybody! Here’s a special...

Time to wrap up the Babysitter & the Man Upstairs, now focusing on the symbolism within the urban legend. Who is the man upstairs, and why is he even there? We also go back to a few crimes in the 40s and 50s that certainly fanned the flames of the story, if not outright creating it.  After this, we’ll have 1 more episode in our season on urban legends. True crime #1 starts: 7:52 True crime #1...

We owe a good deal of Halloween as we know it to the babysitter and her terrifying night of phone calls. On today’s episode, we cover versions of the legend itself, track the history of babysitting, and follow the effects of a turbulent society — all to understand how we ended up with the Halloween classics that we watch today. All that and more, on the third Halloween of Back Away Slowly. The Sit...

It’s time to track down this Hookman, this Murderer of Boyfriends. Most of our explorations will take us down to the border of Texas and Arkansas, just after World War II. But this murderer has created one hell of a legacy in the horror zeitgeist. We’ll talk about all that and more, in this episode. TW: murder, sexual violence, child (teen) death Support the show Official Website (sources, artwork...

I’m not sure how popular Lover’s Lanes are these days; but even if they aren’t, these stories have immortalized the term seemingly into stone. However, these 2 legends are so close that they almost seem like alternate versions of the other. What does that mean? What exactly are we supposed to learn from a teen being hung upside down over a car? We can only find out. Support the show Official Websi...

Many shopping malls may be ghost towns now, but at one point, they were the place to be — but were they safe? And would you believe that people have been telling versions of these shopping mall legends for centuries? But without the popularity of shopping malls now, where do these stories go from here?  Well come on, then! Let’s go to the mall! TW: child harm & death, sex trafficking  Support...

We wrap up the Vanishing Hitchhiker urban legend by tracking it all over the world. We do our best to understand its impacts in these countries and on those communities, as well as how the story connects us all.  Support the show Official Website (sources, artwork, shop, etc) Follow on Instagram & TikTok Join our Discord (The entirety of the show is made without the use of AI; not to write the...

We stop the car to pick up possibly the oldest urban legend in existence. We all know that most ghosts frequent haunted houses and deteriorating estates — but this story is what happens when a spirit interferes with your transportation. And with such an old story, it’ll take an episode to go over what iterations I could find. So tell me, have any of you picked up a ghost? Support the show Official...

How many of you were warned about razor blades in candy or apples when you were a kid? While one of the more recent urban legends, it’s nonetheless managed to cling onto news reports throughout the 20th century. But how big of a threat is poisoned candy, really? I haven’t heard about reports of razor blades in apples in quite a long time; but if you look around, you can certainly find the descenda...

Welcome back to a 3rd year of Back Away Slowly! No prizes for guessing what this season’s about. Today’s episode is a crash course on urban legends in general, before we get into the meat & potatoes of individual stories.  What is an urban legend? Why do we tell them? Who tells them? How have they changed? How have we participated with urban legends, without even realizing it? We go over all t...

And we're back for the final part of the Jersey Devil saga! We turn a critical eye to the numerous hoaxes and supposed 'Jersey Devils' that have sprung up all over New Jersey for centuries. We then launch headfirst into the numerous theories about what exactly the Jersey Devil is and where it came from. Everything from historical brawls, to rare dinosaurs, to Benjamin Franklin - thi...

Merry Christmas! As a special Christmas bonus, we take a practical look at ghost hunting culture at large with parapsychologist Dylan Jones. Note: I'm aware that this audio isn't the best in the world, so I've added a transcript to this episode, and there'll be subtitles on the Youtube video. Dylan Jones Support the show Official Website (sources, artwork, shop, etc) Follow on...

Let's take a look at a curated selection of Jersey Devil sightings throughout the years (don't worry, there's PLENTY). This will include a fascinating series of incidents, where the Jersey Devil kept people from leaving their homes for an entire week in 1909. Hundreds of sightings, numerous towns, several states - all that and more, on this episode. ANNOUNCEMENT: Between illness and...

A horse? A donkey? A crane? A kangaroo? A dog? How about all of the above? The Pine Barrens are incredibly old, with an enormous variety of wildlife (I just didn't expect all of that variety to manifest as one creature)! Time to walk through the marshes, savannahs, and swamps of the Barrens, try to disentangle where this... thing came from, and look at a few written encounters.  Happy Hallowe...

Take a seat to listen in on my discussion with Professor Brady DeSanti about the windigo, Indigenous history, his own research and more. Needless to say, a huge thanks goes out to Professor DeSanti for making the time to chat with me, as well as guiding my general path through such an intricate subject. IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE/DISCUSSION Brady DeSanti Professor of Religious Studies at the Universit...

It's time to dig into what you're all familiar with, so we'll start exploring recent creations that involve the windigo. What media was the most accurate? Where did others fall short? What are the impacts of these choices? All that & more for the final part of my deep dive into the windigo. Dead Meat | Episode 36: Indian Burial Grounds Cracked | After Hours: Four Creepy Hidden T...

It's week 2, and we're diving right back into the windigo. We'll be looking a little closer at how the indigenous communities interacted with settlers about windigo belief, both positively and negatively. We'll crack open some very old legal cases of windigos, spiritual belief and practice colliding with the beginnings of First Nation and American law. And finally, there's...

The windigo has had a death-grip on pop culture for the past decade or so, but what is it really? For the first part of this deep dive, we'll find out what this creature is, the many appearances it has, some windigo stories from Indigenous tribes, cultural context for the windigo, and what options there were/are to treat a windigo within these communities. There are a lot of terms and names i...

SURPRISE! Happy Holidays, everybody! I've got some extra stories, updates, and discoveries for you about the locations of Season 1. Thank you to story contributors (who wished to remain anonymous),  Mammoth Cave National Park , Gatekeeper Paranormal (specifically guide Alex), Bobby Mackey's Music World , and Dacota Pennycuff.  Support the show Official Website (sources, artwork, shop, et...

What does the mob have to do with Bobby Mackey's? How did the supernatural forces begin to manifest in the building? What are people experiencing in the present day? And finally, let's have a chat with a ghost hunter! (Update: Due to family emergencies, moving, & funding, the video episodes are postponed. I'll be posting updates on socials, so be sure to keep an eye on those.) E...

Before we dig into Bobby Mackey’s, we have to cover the haunting history of the Newport area itself. Then we explore the biggest true crime case in Newport-Covington history, argued to be the inciting incident that began Bobby Mackey’s legacy. What happened to Pearl Bryan? What does she have to do with Bobby Mackey’s? It’s time to find out. (Update: Due to family emergencies, moving, & funding...

Was Floyd Collins rescued from Sand Cave? This week, we learn why simple rumors and gossip put a national rescue in danger. What happened to all of those involved with the event? And what insane roller coaster transpired after the crisis was over? Welcome to the final part of the Mammoth Cave National Park marathon: the conclusion of the Floyd Collins story. (Update: Due to family emergencies, mov...

Who is Floyd Collins? What happened to him? Why was this significant for Mammoth Cave National Park? This week will be spent in the backcountry of 1925 Kentucky. We'll review an explorer's route, down into the depths of the earth for the sake of discovery - but at what cost? (Update: Due to family emergencies, moving, & funding, the video episodes are postponed. I'll be posting...

It's episode 2 and we're already at our first national park! Mammoth Cave has had centuries of haunting history, though it seems to have gone fairly undiscussed in recent years. The cave served many other purposes before it became a national park, with countless stories and sightings. (Update: Due to family emergencies, moving, & funding, the video episodes are postponed. I'll b...