Ghoulish Tendencies

A shocking arrest, a trial full of contradictions, and the truth behind La Mataviejitas. In Part Two, we pick up with the investigation closing in on Juana Barraza and the moment everything finally unravels. After years of missed leads and a profile that pointed in the wrong direction, police make a stunning arrest that forces them to rethink the entire case. We break down the evidence, Barraza’s...

A grandmother. A wrestler. And a serial killer hiding in plain sight. In Part One, we begin the story of Juana Barraza, one of Mexico’s most infamous serial killers. Known as “La Mataviejitas,” or The Little Old Lady Killer, Barraza targeted elderly women across Mexico City, slipping into their homes under the guise of a government worker before murdering them. We explore her early life, the patte...

A change of pace!  ROUND TWO! You asked, and we answered. Thanks to those who are curious about the pod and what we do, this episode focuses on a Q&A posed to Kim and Gabi about the podcast, and it's our second one! Thank you to those of you who asked questions and stay curious (and spooky).  Edited by Max Holechek

In part two, we follow Ronald Cotton from his decision to talk to police through two trials, decades in prison, and his ultimate DNA exoneration after another man, Bobby Poole, was identified as the true perpetrator. We unpack how racial bias, prior records, blocked expert testimony, and juries’ overreliance on confident eyewitnesses fueled Cotton’s wrongful convictions, and how his and Jennifer T...

In part one of this two-parter topic, we tell the story of Jennifer Thompson, a 22‑year‑old college student whose courageous attempt to memorize her rapist’s face led to the wrongful conviction of Ronald Cotton. We focus closely on the crime itself and Jennifer’s immediate aftermath experience, from her escape to the hospital exam and early police interviews, to show how trauma and flawed identifi...

A rushed arrest, a collapsing case, and a sensational trial that put everyone on display. Part Two picks up immediately after the arrest of Clifford Hayes, the first man charged in the Hall Mills murders. We break down how police built a case on a coerced confession, why it quickly fell apart, and how Hayes was cleared while Raymond Schneider was convicted of perjury instead. From there, the inves...

A secret relationship. Two bodies under a crabapple tree. A century-old case that begins with a compromised crime scene. In Part One, we examine the 1922 Hall Mills murders in New Brunswick, New Jersey. A minister and a choir singer are found dead in a known lover’s lane, arranged side by side with their love letters scattered around them. Before authorities can secure the area, reporters and onlo...

This episode dives into the lonely Rosicrucian childhood of Manly P. Hall, his meteoric rise in 1920s occult Los Angeles, and the creation of his magnum opus, The Secret Teachings of All Ages , which cemented him as one of the most influential esoteric philosophers of the twentieth century. Along the way, we'll talk about his years at the Philosophical Research Society, his legendary residence in...

Tucked into rural Thurston County, Bucoda is not just another small Northwest town. It carries a chilling legacy and transforms every October into Boo Coda, Washington’s self-proclaimed haunted hotspot. In this episode, we uncover the ghost-laced story of Bucoda. From its original name, Seatco, meaning “evil spirit” or “devil” in a native language, to the dark remains of Washington’s first territo...

Sink your teeth into our second tale of one of New Orleans’ darkest vampire legends: the Carter Brothers. Dockworkers by day, blood-drinkers by night, these two anomalies still haunt the streets of the French Quarter, with their 1932 case of vampiric crime, courtroom drama, and mysterious vanishings that blurred the line between fact and folklore. From vanished bodies to mental health myths and An...

This spooky season, we dive into two of New Orleans’ most enduring vampire legends: Count St. Germain, the mysterious European aristocrat who fascinated Enlightenment courts and allegedly discovered the secret to eternal youth, and Jacques St. Germain, his 20th-century doppelgänger who hosted lavish parties and may have left more than wine stains behind. We’ll unravel the historical breadcrumbs, s...

High in the Colorado Rockies stands a hotel that has welcomed presidents, movie stars, and curious travelers, but it is the ghosts that made it famous. In this episode, we uncover the story of the Stanley Hotel, an opulent mountain retreat built in the early 1900s that became as legendary for its hauntings as its grandeur. From its origins as F.O. Stanley’s vision of luxury and health to chilling...

Richard Trenton Chase, also known as the “Vampire of Sacramento,” terrorized California in the late 1970s with a spree of murders involving cannibalism and delusional blood rituals. Join us as we unpack his chilling journey from a nightmarish childhood and untreated psychosis to the city-wide panic that erupted after his gruesome crimes, as we also explore how systemic psychiatric failures and mis...

After serving time for his first murders, Arthur Shawcross was released back into society. What followed was a series of killings that left women across Rochester terrified and police desperate for answers. In Part Two, we follow Arthur Shawcross as he reinvents himself after prison, only to unleash a wave of violence even more chilling than before. Targeting women along the Genesee River, his mur...

Before he became known as the Genesee River Killer, Arthur Shawcross’s violent urges first surfaced in two brutal murders that shocked upstate New York. Long before his killing spree along the Genesee River, Arthur Shawcross’s darkness emerged in 1972, when two young victims vanished under chillingly similar circumstances. In Part One, we trace Shawcross’s early life, the disturbing patterns that...

Tucked above Pike Place Market, the Butterworth Building was once Seattle’s swankiest monument to death, complete with mahogany caskets, mourning suites, and the West Coast’s first corpse elevator. In this episode, we dig into the dark legacy of E.R. Butterworth, his creepy connection to “fasting specialist” Linda Hazzard, and the spirits that linger (not just the alcoholic kind). Special guest Ja...

In the early hours of August 31, 1961, 8-year-old Ann Marie Burr vanished from her home in Tacoma, Washington, with no forced entry. No witnesses. No trace.  More than six decades later, her disappearance remains one of the most haunting unsolved cases in the Pacific Northwest, made even more chilling by its possible connection to one of America’s most infamous serial killers. Edited by Maxwell Ho...

In 1991, high in the Ötztal Alps, a frozen body emerged from the ice, and what seemed like a mountaineering accident turned out to be Europe’s oldest natural mummy. Meet Ötzi, a 5,000-year-old Copper Age man whose remarkably preserved remains offer a chilling glimpse into prehistoric life, and possibly, death by more than just natural causes. From forensic finds to the strange and sudden deaths of...

Is it just a local legend, or something real beneath the surface? For centuries, Lake Champlain has been home to stories of a mysterious creature known as Champ. Fact, fiction, or something in between? For generations, stories have surfaced of a mysterious creature gliding through the waters of Lake Champlain, described as serpentine, elusive, and impossible to forget. Nicknamed Champ, this lake m...

In this episode, we dive into the realm of the cursed and the haunted, exploring the eerie history of Baleroy Mansion and its infamous "Chair of Death." From strange deaths linked to the cursed chair to the lingering spirits of past residents, we unravel the chilling mysteries that make this mansion one of the most haunted places in America. Is the curse real? Can a piece of furniture really hold...

In the early ’90s, the bodies of women began turning up around Dallas—murdered, and missing one chilling detail—and soon, the name “The Eyeball Killer” would haunt the headlines.   When the bodies of several women began turning up in the early ’90s, there was one eerie detail connecting them all—something missing that pointed to a far more sinister obsession. As the police followed the clues, susp...

In August 1994, Oakville, Washington, was the target of a strange, unexplained event: a shower of translucent blobs, not rain, fell from the sky. The gooey substance coated everything in sight, from windshields to grass, leaving residents and animals sick with inexplicable symptoms. Was it a freak weather anomaly or something more disturbing? Theories have swirled for years, from bombed jellyfish...

Centuries ago, on what would become Staten Island, Christopher Billopp built a house that would become notorious in history and the paranormal.  What is the true history of Billop (later Conference) house? Was a servant really murdered there? And what ghosts still hang around, waiting for their story to be told? Edited by Maxwell Holechek

Part two dives into the chilling story of Edward Rulloff, a 19th-century scholar-turned-serial criminal whose brilliance masked a deeply antisocial and violent nature. Despite multiple arrests and a murder conviction, Rulloff repeatedly evaded justice, charming intellectuals and manipulating legal systems with ease, much like Ted Bundy. His eventual execution and the postmortem study of his unusua...

Before H.H. Holmes or Jack the Ripper, there was Edward Rulloff—a Victorian-era serial killer whose intellect was as notorious as his crimes. In Part One of this two-part deep dive, we explore the early life, toxic relationships, and shocking beginnings of Rulloff’s criminal career. From his obsessive pursuit of linguistic fame to the brutal and mysterious disappearance of his wife and child, we u...