Horrorwood: True Crime in Tinseltown

The Butcher of Elmendorf, The Bluebeard of South Texas, The Alligator Man...these are all nicknames for Joe Ball, a murderous man from a wealthy family who may or may not have fed his victims to his pet alligators. He also inspired the 1976 film "Eaten Alive" directed by Tobe Hooper of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" fame. As far as horror movies based on true stories go, this is perhaps one of the...

Ghosts? Check. Fires that start and stop on their own? Check. A presidential assassin? Check...and yikes. The Savannah Theatre really takes the whole "all theatres are haunted" belief to a whole new level, which isn't surprising considering it's more than 200 years old and located in a city that is literally built on the dead. Standing in Chippewa Square - the backdrop for some of Forrest Gump's m...

“You are about to enter another dimension." No, but it feels like that when it comes to safety in the film industry in the 1980's. The Twilight Zone was such a HUGE hit in popular culture, an anthology movie aptly titled Twilight Zone: The Movie started filming in 1982 and was released on June 24, 1983. “Time Out,” the first segment in the movie, was the subject of much controversy in Hollywood at...

We're back with Part 2 and these Brandos be Brandoing. We ended Part 1 with the shooting death of Dag Drollet at the hands of Christian Brando. Now we get into the he-said-she-said of it all. We're talking about Christian's arrest, his sentencing and the lives of those affected by that fateful night. Things get horrible and then they get horrible-er, and THEN...things get worse. View photos from t...

"Your life together smells of tragedy, it smells of death.” Ummm, not exactly words you want your dad saying about you and your girlfriend. The Brandos were a troubled brood, there's no doubt about it. Drugs, violence, extramarital affairs...the list goes on. While many might think having a Hollywood legend for a father is all glitz and glamour, some people might say the Brando kids never stood a...

The Cecil Hotel in downtown LA boasted 700 rooms and was originally meant for business travelers and tourists...but then came the Great Depression and things went awry. Over the years it's seen its share of murders, suicides and alleged paranormal events, not to mention it has been home to multiple (yes, MULTIPLE) serial killers. Eek. View photos from the episode   Episode Sources: “History of Ski...

Garrett Warren was at the top of his game when he was gunned down in the doorway of his home - and in front of his mother, no less. But why would anyone want to murder a man described as a kind, generous friend and focused professional? This case has some wild twists and turns involving a pizza parlor, a picture taken at a party and...Home Alone's Joe Pesci???? And how did one misspelled word put...

A Dutch Colonial house sits on the foundation at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, Long Island, New York, about 30 miles outside of New York City. It’s a house with a gruesome past and a penchant for collecting the souls of its inhabitants. This personification of evil is known as The Amityville Horror House, and this is the story of Ronald DeFeo Jr., the mass murder of the DeFeo family, and the sub...

Last week we talked all about the film The Exorcist; the horrors, tribulations, and lore that made it one of the scariest movies ever made. But there was one main piece of trivia missing: a background actor in the movie turned out to be a real life murderer and potential serial killer. It was the early morning hours of September 14, 1977 in New York City, and 36-year-old reporter for Variety, Addi...

"What an excellent day for an exorcism." William Friedkin's The Exorcist is one of the greatest horror movies in the history of cinema. The movie follows a mother trying to save her daughter from demonic possession and is based on William Peter Blatty’s immensely popular 1971 novel. The Exorcist was released in theaters on December 26, 1973 and stars Linda Blair, Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller, and M...

Jonshel Alexander wasn't even a teenager yet when she auditioned for the critically acclaimed film "Beasts of the Southern Wild." Though she was too old to play the lead, she impressed filmmakers so much that they cast her in a supporting role. Described as "ferociously creative," Jonshel exhibited undeniable talent and charisma. Tragically, when she was just 22 years old someone came along and cu...

**Kate has a special announcement at the top of this episode - don't miss it!** Angie Kukawski managed the finances of some very high-profile celebrities, including Nicki Minaj, Offset and the Kardashians, to name a few. Could her line of work have led to her murder? We might never know. There is little information about this case available to the public, and the suspect hasn't even gone to trial...

Y'ALL. Where to even begin with this one... Kate and Matt are staying overnight in what Expedia named one of the top 5 most haunted hotels in the country! Many celebrities have experienced quite the spooky ooky while staying here, and Kate and Matt want to see if they have their own ghostly encounter. Spoiler alert: THEY DO. View photos from the episode   Episode Sources: “The legend of the Pfiste...

Gavin Smith was a charismatic, successful film executive at Fox Studios. At 6' 6" the blonde, tan, athletic father of three stood out wherever he went. So when he went missing on May 1, 2012, his family and friends were baffled. Where did he go? A man of his stature should be pretty easy to find, right? That is, of course, unless someone took extreme measures to make sure he couldn't be... View ph...

Hello Misfits! Kate here. Some of you have been asking where Kail has been so I wanted to give you a quick update. We're making some changes and taking a poll. After listening, be sure to comment with your answer to the question! If you're listening on Spotify, you can leave your answer by clicking on the poll in the show notes. Or you can leave your comment on Instagram or Facebook .   Send us an...

Since spooky season is right around the corner (we know it's June, but we can dream, can't we?), Kate's got a haunted theatre for ya today. The building that houses the Huntington Theatre broke ground 100 years ago, so you KNOW the place has seen its share of spook. We've got a piano-playing ghost named Leo, a spirit that is super protective of the theatre's hats for some reason, and a multitude o...

19-year-old Maple Batalia was poised to take on the world. A talented artist, a beautiful model, an actress starting her career, and an intelligent young woman who also happened to be studying to become a doctor - she could do anything she set her mind to. Tragically, after a night of studying at Simon Fraser University's library, she walked out to the parking lot completely unaware of the evil sh...

When 26-year-old Jean Spangler left her home on the evening of Friday, October 7, 1949, she had no idea she wouldn't be returning. She told her sister-in-law she was working that night...but there was no record of her employment for that date. What was she up to? Where did she really go? This episode has Kirk Douglas, the Black Dahlia killer and "That 70s Show" star Laura Prepon. It's a doozy, fol...

Welcome to our first Misfit Monday! When Kate's friend Kevin co-hosted a couple of weeks ago, he mentioned he had some spooky stories to share. Kate's been under the weather (still, ugh) so she invited Kevin to share those stories on the Pod today. He's bringing us dead women doing dishes, a ghost cat named Jinx, and two little girls getting up to some shenanigans in the afterlife. Let's go!   Epi...

Hey Misfits, Kate here. I was working on a different episode for you this week when my body was possessed by what can only be described as a stomach demon. I've been super sick, so instead of what I had planned I'm giving you one of our Patreon episodes (Patronians - please forgive me! I have a new episode coming for you this week). This case has a bit of everything: Scientology, Katy Perry, menta...

Before it was a popular filming location for Hollywood, the Linda Vista Community Hospital was where the residents of Boyle Heights turned to for medical care. The place used to be poppin' until budget cuts forced it to cut back on services. Quality of care went down and the death rate went up, and when you have that many people dying in one location, well, a few of those spirits are bound to stic...

CW: This episode involves a child and domestic violence. Even if you don't know her name there's a good chance you've heard her voice. Judith Barsi played the role of Ducky in the animated movie "The Land Before Time." But that's just one of a long list of credits in her short career. When she wasn't acting on screen she was riding her bike, playing with her Care Bears and watching one of her favo...

Dr. Amie Harwick was one of a kind: intelligent, beautiful and a lover of all things macabre. As a famed Hollywood sex therapist she was a strong advocate for women as well as those marginalized for their sexual identities. She had an array of interesting hobbies and side gigs including modeling, go-go dancing and fire-eating. Yes, fire-eating! But someone in her life was hell-bent on bringing her...

What do you get when you combine greedy Hollywood execs with thousands of movie extras and a flood scene billed as 'the spectacle of the ages?' Tragedy. You get tragedy. Hollywood was doing things a bit differently back in the 1920s, like ignoring any and all safety practices that might be necessary for a film shoot. Such was the case on the film "Noah's Ark" - the movie that led to the creation o...

To say the Viper Room was vibing would be an understatement. The Viper Room WAS the vibe.   It’s where bands played to try out new music. It’s where celebrities went to hang out away from the flashes of cameras. It’s where Johnny Depp threw parties for his famous friends. But it also played host to a slew of tragic events, most notably the death of Academy Award nominee River Phoenix. The building...