Campfire: Tales of the Strange and Unsettling

This week, we are joined by friend of the show and host of Our Strange Skies podcast, Rob Kristofferson. He’s been at this a long time and it shows. His knowledge of the history of ufology and cryptozoology really is something to marvel at. But this is not just a recounting of case files. We get down to business discussing our personal perspectives on the nature of any and all paranormal happening...

In the late 1940s, in the United States, priests of the Catholic Church performed a series of exorcisms on an anonymous boy, documented under the pseudonym " Roland Doe ". The 14-year-old boy was the alleged victim of demonic possession and the events were recorded by the attending priests. Subsequent supernatural claims surrounding the events were used as elements in William Peter Blatty’...

This week, we are continuing our experiment with ChatGPT’s ability to compose short horror stories. Our first story follows a young reporter as she delves into a world far darker than she could have ever imagined. A world where monsters and the shadows that hide them are one. Our second story documents the experiences of an everyday guy who begins experiencing unexplainable injuries that lead him...

On 27th October 1974 John and Alain Avis (pseudonyms) were driving home to Aveley with their three children when they ran into a green fog. They drove straight through it and their radio started to crackle and smoke, but they emerged from it further down the road. They suffered a period of missing time, and after strange dreams, poltergeist activity in their home, and near-constant bouts of sleep...

This week, we welcome back an old friend. Host of the Tracing Owls podcast and the mastermind behind the infinitely replayable Darwins Deviations, Vuk! We discuss archetypes, religion, language, podcasting, the value of fiction, and the life-affirming nature of Fortean experiences. As with every time Vuk comes around, we’re talking big ideas today! We wouldn’t have it any other way. Go subscribe t...

On June 22, 1983, 15-year-old girl and citizen of Vatican City Emanuela Orlandi vanished without a trace. Did being the daughter of chief clerk to Pope John Paul II have something to do with this terrible tragedy? As complex as this mystery appears doesn’t even come close to the reality. Organized crime, the Vatican government, international terrorism, and the fall of Soviet communism intersect in...

This week, we had the pleasure of sitting down once again with the mastermind behind Strangeology, Jeff Foran. We discussed art, business, the UAP disclosure movement, and the Ultimate Conspiracy Iceberg. Jeff is a brilliant artist and researcher, and one of the most genuinely enthusiastic Forteans we have ever had the pleasure of having on the show. Go check out everything that he does. Enjoy!  ...

In October of 2003, Jacqueline Toves and Abigail Tapia were found side-by-side on a bed at an oceanside resort in central California, and chaos ensued. Authorities dug in to determine whether this was the result of a suicide pact or the result of a horrendous double murder. While some were convinced of the former, there were undeniably bizarre aspects of the scene that suggested something more sin...

This week, we welcome a dear friend back to the podcast. Artist extraordinaire, Jonathan Dodd. We talk about 90s comic books, discovering art as a child, and inspiration. We dive into what makes Bigfoot Bigfoot, why disclosure is so boring, and the importance of recognizing the perspective of experiencers. Jon is a compassionate and wildly creative force in our scene and getting the chance to pick...

In March 1995, the first reported attack attributed to the Chupacabra occurred. Eight sheep were discovered dead in Puerto Rico, each with three puncture wounds in the chest area and reportedly completely drained of blood. A few months later, in August, an eyewitness named Madelyne Tolentino reported seeing the creature in the Puerto Rican town of Canóvanas, where as many as 150 farm animals and p...

This week, we are continuing our experiment with ChatGPT’s ability to compose short horror stories. Our first story documents the journey of four intrepid paranormal investigators as they take on the urban legend of The Shrouded Ones! What terror will they face deep in the haunted forests? Will they make it out alive? Our second story follows a classic Indiana Jones type as he attempts to locate a...

On November 5, 1975, Travis Walton was working with a timber stand improvement crew in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest near Snowflake, Arizona. While riding in a truck with six of his coworkers, they allegedly encountered a saucer-shaped object hovering over the ground just off the road. What follows is touted as one of the most compelling alien abduction stories ever told. Join us as we att...

This week, we sat down with someone who is without a doubt one of the most fascinating human beings that we have ever encountered. Dasos Crowsong is a parent, writer, fiber artist, wand maker, jewelry maker, and a full-blown honest-to-goodness Druid. We talk about Druidry and how it fits into the modern world. We talk about what it means to him and how it has helped him make sense of his world. A...

Edmund Emil Kemper III , known as the co-ed killer, is an American serial killer who murdered 10 people. From May 1972 to April 1973, Kemper murdered eight people in the vicinity of Santa Cruz County, California.  including a 15-year-old girl and his own mother. This was after Kemper's parole for murdering his paternal grandparents at 15 years old. Can we make any sense of this horrendous seri...

This week, we sat down with illustrator, cartoonist, host of the Create Magic Podcast, and  dear friend of the show , Todd Purse. We discuss approaches to interviewing, punk rock and reality tunnels, psychedelics and enlightenment, spirituality and faith, imagination and novelty. Stories about Grant Morrison and Robert Anton Wilson. Lessons from Ram Dass and Jacque Valley. The experiences of Dougl...

In 1904, the grandfather of an eccentric Florida artist, Robert Eugene Otto, purchased a doll at a caravan in Germany. He brought the doll home with him to Key West and gifted it to the young boy. It wasn't long before young Gene's parents began observing bizarre incidents with their son and the doll. Overheard conversations with two participants, and strange small footsteps coming from th...

This week, we’re sitting down with one of the 38 hosts of Spooks, Creeps, and Assorted Devilry; Rick Belcher. We got together for one reason and one reason only: religion. We talk faith in forteana, the adoption of the paranormal as a religion, the nature of ghosts, a little of our personal histories with religion, and we bond over a shared hatred of tv evangelists. Go and support Rick in everythi...

This week, we’re diving into one of the most enduring mysteries in American history. On Christmas Eve, 1945, a fire tore through the home of George and Jennie Sodder. They managed to escape along with four of the nine children that still lived at home. But what became of the five children sleeping on the top floor? The family and the authorities assumed the worst, but when no remains were found, d...

This week, we are continuing our experiment with ChatGPT’s ability to compose short horror stories. With the theme of zombie apocalypse in mind, we set out to get the most interesting stories we could. Join us as we face the AI-generated hordes of undead armed only with a coat hanger, an ice cube tray, and sarcasm!  These stories are works of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places,...

The Franklin Expedition was a failed British voyage of Arctic exploration led by Captain Sir John Franklin in May 1845. The expedition consisted of 24 officers and 110 men and was assigned to traverse the last unnavigated sections of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic and to record magnetic data to help determine whether a better understanding could aid navigation. In May 1847, the exped...

This week, we have none other than the host of the Bigfoot Society podcast, Jeremiah Byron. He’s an absolutely brilliant and sweet dude who is without a doubt one of the most passionate Bigfoot enthusiasts alive. It is so evident in his show; in the safe space that he provides for experiencers all over the country. This guy is just awesome. Go support him in all endeavors. Enjoy!   Campfire: Tales...

This week, we’re exploring a famously haunted area in Southern California, the Lake Morena Campground. Just an hour outside San Diego, in Campo, California, Lake Morena is absolutely rife with urban legend and has been a hot spot for paranormal experiences for nearly as long as it has been populated. From phantom footsteps and disembodied laughter to full body apparitions of shadow men and women i...

This week is very special. We had the absolute pleasure of catching up with life-long friend and fellow podcaster, Camalon Xavier. He is one of the hosts of the thrilling and wildly funny, Monster Mashers Podcast. This is unlike any chat that we have had before. Camalon has been a dear friend since childhood, so we let the pretenses of a show fall away and just spent two hours together. It was a b...

This week, we’re diving into another insane story about another insane ranch in the American west. For nine years, Jeff Sailors managed 15,000 acres and 1,200 buffalo in eastern Colorado. A true dream job for him, but it wouldn’t be long before the arrangement took on a tone that he would never have expected. From unexplained music and cryptically arranged cutlery to rampant cattle mutilation and...

This week, we have one of our best friends back for a third appearance on the show. Fresh off the whirlwind experience that was Monster Fest, he talks through some of the incredible success that he has found this year. The release of his book, its accompanying documentary film, and some personal changes that have supported his ability to be more active in the field. We talk Dogman, classic UFO cas...