Castles & Cryptids

Hey cryptic cuties, we have a much lighter ep this week! Revisiting something disscussed all the way back in our 1st ep about Death Omens, we have Doppelgängers.  The idea of doublewalkers, evil twins, fetch, ka, or spirit doubles, has been around for centuries from all around the world. While some stories of their appearance seem to bring illness, bad luck or even death, others seem to be mo...

Hope this finds you well, and also before we begin:  Massive Trigger Warning For Sexual Assault So, this week's focus is true crime in Egypt. Kelsey talks us through the murders of a complicated predator, Karim Salim. which is rough enough. Then, Alanna walks us through some hard truths about the safety of simply  being women protesters in Egypt. Just fighting for their rights puts many...

(Sorry the description didn't save the first go!)  Happy Friday and Happy December Cryptic Crew! So happy you could join us for another adventure, we hope you love conspiracies as much as we do. This week we bring you an oldie but a goody as it’s Government Secret Projects! And sometimes they turn out to be truth that’s stranger than fiction. It’s an early Patreon bonus ep., so be patient if...

Hope you enjoyed the last episode, and now for something completely different! Sort of, since this psychic has been known to have some spot-on visions, never took to a stage like some brothers, ahem, and may have made some other, very outlandish predictions! Meet seer, mystic, and healer Baba Vanga, the star of this story. Point-of-view, its the early 1900's, you lost your mother and went blind, b...

We've covered the Fox sisters, but have you heard of the Davenport brothers? In the days of the rise of spiritualism, people flocked to see anyone claiming to see beyond the grave. Or better yet, to interact with the spirit world.  So when Ira Erastus and William Henry Davenport came on the scene with their cabinet of curiosity, many were curious themselves. Names big and small set out to see...

We have a mega-sized episode for you that coincided nicely with Remembrance Day being this week! Hope you have some long drive or big pile of dishes, we guess?? Or maybe you listen at work, like Alanna. So sorry, but this one is NOT Safe For Work. Earbuds in, in presence of kiddos.  And as we discuss, you're never safe, not even at work, not even if you work as a trained soldier, not if someo...

We hear dead people! Haha, we promised a local hometown haunt and here it is. Alanna reads to us of the haunting encounters that happen at the McKay Avenue School, an institution established in Edmonton in 1881. You know the big old buildings that look like they could be old-timey jails or schoolhouses? That's the vibe, only now it's a museum where the spirits tease the workers like they may have...

We are sorry, but this week we get super spooky, so come along on the  spectral wild ride!  Gather round the campfire, a bevy of tales await you! First Kelsey graces us with several ghost encounters of the worst kind-knocks, sounds and sights of a poltergeist. Several tales like  The Haunted Ventriloquist make us scared to know more. Chuckie, are you listening? Next, Alanna Takes us...

Horror season is in full swing, and we have some scary stories for you, my cryptic cuties! We are so excited to be joined by special guest Lindsay Valenty of the Ye Olde Crime Podcast for some true or false tales of creeps! If you are on Patreon, you know we have done our version of 2 Truths, 1 Lie scary stories and had so much fun , so here's some more you can play along with at home! So listen i...

This week we conclude the Gainesville Student Murders, sometimes known as the Gainesville Ripper Murders.  They do make for a scary movie, targeting a young, defenseless, student population. From a triple-murder to the killing of the  Gainesvillle victims, this killer was vicious, yet cautiaus. Who's lying? But however terrifying, there were some details that the movies got wrong. We can...

Art and Life, movies and madness, do they always go hand in hand? We take a look at two cases that sit on different sides of the "inspired by"  storyline.  Kelsey covers Allan Menzies, a story that involves mental illness, an obsession with the Queen of the Damned, and a very sad loss of innocent life. Movies often get blamed for inciting violent tendencies, but how much culpability can...

Welcome to spooky season cryptic cuties, we hope you enjoyed the darkcast takeover ep last week. Join us as we take a dive into the vast world of vampire lore, for what is sure to be the first part of a series.  Kelsey has the down low on how to avoid becoming a vampire, from different things to avoid, to anti-vampire burial methods. We discuss rules from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (we are both...

Hey happy Friday and Happy Spooky Season!! This week we are taking time to bank some episodes, watch some Horror movies for our special Patreon Halloween Movie Mash-up (Is that a good name? lol) and catch up so we can come back next week and be ready to do that Monster Mash!! So here's a sister show from the hella good Darkcast Network, Hands Off My Podcast, a true crime podcast hosted by Jasmine...

This week we dove into two cases that bed the question, Why? and also How? whether its the classic dead body-in-a-locked-room style murder mystery, or a horrific multiple-murder with no apparent  motive, some murders are a true mystery.  Or maybe, not murders at all, in some cases.  So Kelsey hits us with the Keddie cabin murders, a malicious crime that remains mysterious to this da...

Hey, Cryptic Cuties, let's take a trip together to some abandoned places of the world. Tales of wealthy towns that prospered and grew but were ultimately left or destroyed. Sometimes we don't even really know, leaving more of an air of mystery.  Kelsey takes us to India, and the ruins of Hampi, including impressive structures like the Hemakuta Hill Temple and the Lotus Mahal. Sounds as good a...

This week we cover cases involving post-secondary education, places where young people should be able to study and live safely. Sadly, we know that's not always the case. There's always a chance for a crime to occur, accidentally, or in these cases, not.  Kelsey told us Cheri Jo Bates story, which tragically ended in the 1960s at Riverside City College. A couple of cryptic letters lend it an...

Hey cryptic cuties, thanks for sticking with us through all the wild tech problems lol, we love you all. We hope things run a little smoother from here on out.  This week we come in peace; bringing tales of alien abductions, weird encounters and murder mysteries, with a tangent or 2 along the way. Kelsey covers the Pascagoula Incident, where 2 men on a fishing trip experience more than just a...

Yo ho ho, we need a bottle of rum after these last few episodes, besties!! From recording to posting, the issues kept cropping up, so we split the Pirates theme into two episodes, and here is Part 2! Alanna dove into the history of some girl buccaneers, mainly the story of mysterious Anne Bonny, but her bestie too. That was Mary, or should we say Mark? Read. One went as a man, you see, but they we...

Ahoy, mateys, shall we step onboard this cryptic ship? We have had some rough seas on the Podcaster vessel this week, so we apologize for the delays! So let's talk Stede Bonnet, famed pirate extraordinaire. Kelsey does a deep dive off the plank into his story, and we are along for the ride! So does he live up to his infamy, worthy of still being depicted in games and tv shows like HBO's Our Flag M...

Hey Cryptic Cuties, we missed you all! Sorry, we were supposed to be back with our regular episode, but some stuff delayed us. But don't worry, we have a treat for you featuring our Darkcast Network pals at ODFM. Each week they cover a true crime that's one "D" from murder, and this one is no exception, and we've never heard of it! Let's hear it from them, and their show description:  No, Dre...

This week we traveled all the way to Africa for the latest ep in our folklore series. Kelsey covers 2 interesting legends from South Africa , first up is the Hole in the Wall. A rock formation formed over millions of years, and maybe with a little help from a sea man and a fish. Next is a creature known as the Grootslang, with stories and warnings all over Africa, it has been feared for generation...

This week it's Alanna's turn to dive into some band scandals and screw-ups (and screw-overs). From boy bands old and new struggling against shitty managers and substance abuse issues, to some very nasty room wrecking parties from the trashiest of rocks stars, this one has it all! Like who was it that  had to be tranquilized by the Thai army to get them out of their hotel room, and who did des...

Let's just assume me and my computer are possessed/cursed/a hot mess express and move on to this refurbished episode! Seriously how many planets are in retrograde, guys, cause our stuff is all falling apart. Or maybe I was stress-editing and some things got mislabeled, anything is possible! Apparently the first time around it was audio all Alanna, all the time, and Kelsey's track ghosted into the...

We have talked about the many shades of possession, at least once anyway! What makes a person go to that level of scrutiny. Explore a couple cases with us as we dive into this mystery! From Gina to good for her, this one takes the cake! BTW, whats the fave cake yall??

Hello Cryptic Cuties, hope you had a great June!!! We are so excited to be back and share some more true crime stories with you! So buckle up, it's gonna be a bumpy ride. First Kelsey introduces us, at least Alanna anyways, to  a serial murderess named Martha Marek and her tale. Which involves multiple murders, much mayhem,  sketchiness and scandal. Truly it has it all, including a botch...