Down the Crooked Path

In this episode, we look at the Franklin expedition, the search efforts that followed, and how both ships were finally found in the Arctic. We walk through the discoveries of Erebus and Terror, the role of Inuit knowledge, and the strange stories that kept circling long after the expedition vanished. Find us on Instagram and TikTok: @downthecrookedpath Send your stories or suggestions to: crookedp...

In this episode, we look at the Axeman of New Orleans and the panic that followed him through the city. We go through the attacks on grocery families, the letter printed in the Times Picayune, the chalk message near the Maggio home, and the suspects who were pulled into the story over the years. We also look at how newspapers shaped the case, how the investigation stalled, and why the Axeman disap...

The Nahanni Valley built its reputation on the sheer number of people who went in and never came back. Prospectors, trappers, outlaws, and travelers moved through that stretch of the Northwest Territories for decades, and many of them were later found under circumstances that didn’t match the usual hazards of the region. Enough bodies turned up without their heads that the place picked up the name...

A remote Bavarian farm. Six people who never saw spring. Footprints in the snow that led in but never led out. And an attic that seemed to breathe when no one was looking. In this episode, we walk the crooked path to Hinterkaifeck, a case that feels less like true crime and more like a folktale that refuses to settle. We trace the strange days leading up to the murders, the unsettling signs the fa...

The Hexham Heads have been blamed for hauntings, poltergeist activity, wolf‑man sightings, and a decades‑long argument between scientists, folklorists, and anyone who ever walked through that house. This episode looks at the theories people built around two small stone faces and why so many different groups became convinced they were dealing with something more than a garden find. We get into the...

In this episode, we step into one of Europe’s most baffling unsolved mysteries. In November 1970, a woman was found dead in Norway’s Isdalen Valley: burned, staged, and surrounded by clues that only raised more questions. Multiple passports. Disguises. Wigs. Cryptic travel notes. Hotel aliases. International movements that touched Paris, Basel, Geneva, and Stavanger. And a trail that may have cros...

This week, we’re heading straight into one of Canada’s strangest, smokiest, most stubborn hauntings — the Baldoon Mystery . A family farm under siege. Fires that sparked out of nowhere. Bullets that bent in mid‑air. A suspected witch who absolutely did not appreciate being accused of anything. And a curse that refused to mind its business. We’re unpacking the folklore, the eyewitness chaos, the ge...

In this episode of Down the Crooked Path, Amanda Joy walks through the 1827 murder of Maria Marten and the strange trail that followed. From the dream that sent Maria’s stepmother back to the Red Barn to the discovery that shocked the village to the trial that turned William Corder into one of the most talked about men in England, this case has all the twists you would expect from early true crime...

In this episode, we return to Point Pleasant, West Virginia, a quiet river town that became the center of one of the most unsettling waves of sightings in American history. Between 1966 and 1967, dozens of witnesses reported a winged figure with glowing red eyes moving through the abandoned TNT area, appearing on lonely roadsides, and watching from the treetops. But the creature was only part of t...

On August 20th, 1966, two Brazilian electronics technicians were found dead on a lonely hillside overlooking Niterói. Their bodies were neatly laid out. Their belongings were untouched. And over their eyes… lead masks. The kind you’d wear to shield yourself from radiation. No signs of struggle. No obvious cause of death. Just a cryptic note in one man’s pocket that read: “Take capsules. After effe...

A single bone found on Albuquerque’s West Mesa led investigators to a discovery no one was prepared for. Over the following days, the desert revealed the remains of eleven women and one unborn child. This episode traces the years before that moment, the women whose lives were taken, and the long search for clarity that has yet to bring closure. It is a story shaped by vulnerability, systemic failu...

Life has a way of throwing curveballs, and this week it definitely did. Between health, schedules, and the general chaos of being human, we weren’t able to finish our regular episode in time. But we didn’t want to leave your feed empty, so today we’re sharing a sister‑podcast crossover from Canadian Creepies : the strange little tale of Jacko the Ape . It’s weird, it’s folkloric, and it’s exactly...

In this episode, we dive into one of the most controversial modern possession cases ever documented: the story of Julia , the woman psychiatrist Dr. Richard Gallagher publicly claimed was genuinely possessed by a demonic entity. Gallagher, a trained medical professional and skeptic by nature, became convinced that Julia’s case defied every psychiatric explanation he knew. We explore: Who Dr. Richa...

On a rainy January night in 1982, 19‑year‑old Lisa Au left her boyfriend’ in Kailua and began the short drive home. She never arrived. What followed was one of Hawai‘i’s most haunting and consequential missing‑person cases — a story that reshaped public trust, changed policing practices, and left a family searching for answers that never came. A clear, chronological retelling of Lisa Au’s last kno...

Mount Shasta has a reputation that stretches far beyond its trails. People come here for the scenery, but the stories that surround this mountain go in every direction. In this episode, we look at the documented disappearances, the search efforts that followed, and the conditions that made those cases so difficult to resolve. We also explore the stranger accounts tied to the area: the claims of hi...

Sorry this episode was delayed. I was unwell this week. A corner of the internet once promised something unthinkable: a place where anyone could hire a killer with a few clicks. It called itself Besa Mafia , and for a brief, chaotic moment, it became one of the most infamous “hitman‑for‑hire” sites on the dark web. But behind the ominous branding and whispered rumors was something far stranger and...

In 1897, Zona Heaster Shue was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. Her death was ruled natural. Her husband insisted on a quick burial. And the case should have ended there. But it didn’t. Because Zona’s mother, Mary Jane, claimed her daughter came back from beyond the grave to tell her she’d been murdered. This episode breaks down what really happened insi...

Percy Fawcett: The Explorer Who Walked Into the Amazon and Never Returned In 1925, legendary explorer Percy Fawcett set out with his son and his son’s best friend to find a lost city he called “Z.” They walked into one of the most unforgiving regions of the Amazon rainforest and vanished without leaving a single confirmed trace behind. This episode breaks down the theories that have followed the c...

In this episode, we walk through one of the most haunting unsolved cases in American history: the 1912 Villisca Axe Murders. We explore the suspects, the theories that divided a town, the strange clues left behind, and the chilling possibility that the killer returned to the Stillinger girls’ room after the murders. If you enjoy the episode, follow along for more folklore, true crime, and the unca...

Step back onto the crooked path… if you dare. Season 2 opens the door to a deeper, stranger, more intimate exploration of the stories that cling to the edges of our communities; the hauntings we inherit, the mysteries we can’t shake, and the histories that refuse to stay buried. This season, we’re venturing into some of the most unsettling and compelling stories ever told, including: The Villisca...

As the holiday season settles in and the year winds toward its close, Down the Crooked Path is shifting its weekly rhythm. For the next few weeks, our Thursday episodes are taking a brief winter rest. In their place, we’re bringing you a special run of Canadian Creepies every Tuesday—bite‑sized explorations of the strange, the spectral, and the wonderfully weird corners of Canadian folklore. Regul...

This week, we’re revisiting one of Canada’s most infamous hauntings—the Baldoon Mystery . In the early 1800s, the McDonald family of Wallaceburg, Ontario, found themselves tormented by unexplained fires, shattered windows, and eerie phenomena that defied explanation. Local lore tells of a curse, a witch, and a desperate attempt to end the haunting with a silver bullet. This episode is pulled from...

During the holiday season Down the crooked path is taking a Canadian Detour. We are revisiting our Tuesday Segments over on our sister podcast Canadian Creepies. Don't worry! Regular episodes will resume soon! ---------------------------------------- Project Magnet — a little‑known program launched in the 1950s to investigate UFOs, magnetic anomalies, and unexplained aerial phenomena. Listeners wi...

We are visiting another Tuesday segment of Down the crooked path from out sister podcast Canadian Creepies, while Amanda tackles a busy holiday season in her personal life. In Manitoba, Canada, a prospector named Stephan had an encounter with what would become known as Canadas most well documented UFO case. This encounter would leave him sick and suffering from burns for the rest of his life! Don'...

A day late, its been a busy time of year in my personal life so I do apologies for letting the calendar get away from me. This week we are revisiting a feature from our Tuesday segments at the Canadian Creepies podcast! Tom Thomson was an artist who went missing only for his body to turn up under mysterious conditions. Was it an accident or did something more sinister happen to him? And does his s...