Badger Bizarre

Halloween is here and Scott and Mickey are celebrating by discussing Part 2 of the top 10 Most Haunted Wisconsin Sites, as collected by the most popular "Top 10 " lists. A compilation of haunted sites are discussed, including Summerwind Mansion, Hotel Hell, Shakers Cigar Bar, the Pfister, and more.  The history of the various places is discussed, where the legends of the hauntings derived from, an...

The Halloween season is upon us and Scott and Mickey are celebrating by discussing the top 10 Most Haunted Wisconsin Sites, as collected by the most popular "Top 10 " lists. A compilation of haunted sites are discussed, including Summerwind Mansion, Hotel Hell, Shakers Cigar Bar, the Pfister, and more.  The history of the various places is discussed, where the legends of the hauntings derived from...

Scott and Mickey have a passionate discussion about the case of Randall Woodfield, the former draft pick of the Green Bay Packers who went on to become the infamous "I-5 KIller," one of the most notorious American serail killers in history. His time in Wisconsin is examined, including his time with the Packers in 1974 as well as with the semi-pro football team, the Manitowoc Chiefs. How did somebo...

Scott and Mickey discuss the anti-war protests during the Vietnam War as they occurred on the campus of UW-Madison. During the tumultuous 1960's, anti-war protests and demonstrations rocked college campuses across the nation, none moreso than those that happened in Madison. The Dow Day Riots are discussed, along with the act of domestic terror, the bombing of Sterling Hall.   Facebook Twitter Webs...

Scott and Mickey discuss the general history of organized crime in Wisconsin's beautiful Northwoods, specifically Hurley and its link to the Chicago Crime Syndicate. Familiar names in American True Crime synonomous with the Northwoods are examined, as well as one very familiar name known throughout the world that you likely may not have known was ever thought to be in the area. Tune in to find out...

Scott and Mickey are joined by Jim Cooper from the Midwestern Paranormal Investigative Network to talk about the paranormal angle to Peshtigo, WI. Scott and Jim conducted an investigation several years ago in Peshtgo, the site of the deadliest fire in American history. Scott and Mickey also chat with Craig Nehring of the Fox Valley Ghost Hunters, who is the foremost expert of Summerwind Mansion, a...

In the 2nd of a 3 part series, Scott and Mickey discuss one of the most infamous dates in American history, October 8th, 1871. Of course, that is the date of the Great Chicago Fire, maybe the most famous fire in our nations history. Though on that very same day, and burning at the very same hour, was another fire 250 miles north, in the forests of Peshtigo, WI.  And although after the flames were...

In the first of a 3 part series, Scott and Mickey discuss one of the most infamous dates in American history, October 8th, 1871. Of course, that is the date of the Great Chicago Fire, maybe the most famous fire in our nations history. Though on that very same day, and burning at the very same hour, was another fire 250 miles north, in the forests of Peshtigo, WI.  And although after the flames wer...

Scott and Mickey talk about the urban legend of Haunchyville, a supposed secret community of little people living in the woods outside of Muskego, in Waukesha County. What begins as a discussion about a tall tale, hard to believe on its surface and embellished by generations of teenagers, turns into an emotional telling of our own state's complicity in our shortcomings in how we look at and treat...

Scott and Mickey have a longform discussion about one of the most bizarre and talked about murders in our state's history: The murder of the reclusive Kunz Family. On the night of July 4th, 1987, somebody walked into the Kunz household, killed 4 members of the family, while Helen Kunz, a 70- year-old mother and sister to the murdered, went missing. The murders, however, were only half of this stor...

For 21 years, a serial killer terrorized a north side neighborhood in Milwaukee, often times working right under the nose of the Milwaukee Police Department. Suspected of killing at least 10 women, ultimately convicted of 7, Walter E. Ellis stalked those living in the seedy underbelly of the Cream City, preying on those often most vulnerable, struggling themselves to make a life. Beginning in 1986...

Michael Lesy's 1973 book Wisconsin Death Trip examines the harsh lives of many Wisconsinites during the years leading up to, and just after the turn of the twentieth century. Murder, suicide, disease, and madness devoured the state, though the era was seemingly mysteriously forgotten until, in 1968, Lesy came across the work of former Black River Falls photographer Charles Van Schaick, and newspap...

Known since the 1970's as the "most haunted house in Wisconsin," Summerwind Mansion's ghostly legends have dominated the Badger State's folklore for decades. Built in 1914 as West Bay Lake Fishing Lodge, it was converted into a summer home by Robert Patterson Lamont and his family in 1916. Lamont was a wealthy businessman and steel industry tycoon who later became Secretary of Commerce under Presi...

On August 15th, 1914, while Frank Lloyd Wright was away on business, an unspeakably horrific event occurred at his home, Taliesin, in Spring Green, WI.  Frank's mistress, Mamah Borthwick, her 2 children, Martha (8) and John (12)  were killed, along with 4 draftsmen and laborers, in a hatchet attack by a live-in house servant, Julian Carlton.  In 1903, Frank, by then a world-renowned architect and...