Jackalope Carnival: A Sideshow of Stories

Send us Fan Mail Enter a terrifying world of mysterious mirrors, haunted reflections, occult spies and...school kids' slumber parties?  C'mon who hasn't levitated a friend, called forth the scourge of faithful through chanting or put their friend's hand a bowl of warm water?  Bekah and Eric reminisce about their misspent youths in this latest episode of Jackalope Carnival.  Sup...

Send us Fan Mail Thesis: History in general, and the 19th in specific, was weirder than you told. Evidence: Jackalope Carnival submits for you approval Georg Rapp, a capitalist commune cult leader, alchemist and home brewer who founded three towns in America that still exist today.  Happy New Year from Jackalope Carnival!  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail What does Oliver Cromwell, Calvinist Lord Protector of England (and infamous prig), British garage rockers The Kinks and the Insane Clown Posse have in common?  Come for Christmas list of song goodies, stay for how Ghost Riders in the Sky is a now a Christmas song. Happy Holidays from Jackalope Carnival!  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail It's that time again folks, our annual holiday episode. This year Christmas brings fond memories of tube socks and hard candy. Enjoy this candy dish of musically inspired Christmas trivia and then listen to our playlist just for you! Happy Holidays from Jackalope Carnival!  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Whatever you do, don't put your recently deceased cult leader in a bathtub in Florida for a week to see if he'll make good on his promise to come back to life.  Is it occult? Sure.  Is it a cult? Sure?  Do they run a convenience store and a trailer park? Yes. Absolutely yes.  P.S.: the former cult compound is now a state park and historic site. Also, Bekah had a really b...

Send us Fan Mail What is this hollow Earth business?  What, is it the 1820s again? Or how about the 1920s? Fire up he blimp, we're heading for the North Pole in the latest episode of Jackalope Carnival where we spin another yarn that will make you wonder: "Is this really what happened?!?" Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Think you know everything about this well studied trope? Think again. Jackalope Carnival will join folklorists of the past as they try to track down what is one of the oldest urban legends of them all! Along the way, will they pick up a strange wayward soul just looking for ride home? Probably not. But check out this extra packed episode! Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Legends tell of a terrifying figure: half-man, half-goat, and fully armed with an axe. But is the Goatman a single creature wandering across America, or do multiple horned horrors haunt the land? From eerie folklore to strange encounters, we dive into one of the wildest cryptid tales around in this goat-monster-themed episode.  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail -Is there a connection between sightings of "wild man" in the Southern US, the Civil War and Sasquatch-like creatures? Why would anyone "buy a box of bats"? What made Bekah exclaim, "I just want a cryptid that wears pants!"  Find out in this episode of Jackalope Carnival.  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail At what point does legend become fact? Is there any evidence that the legend of the Bell Witch was concocted to cover for something more nefarious?  We don’t know what strange girls in green dresses hanging about in trees showing off her ankles has to do with two headed dogs, but boy howdy there were some strange goings on in central Tennessee in the 19th century. Witch or no witc...

Send us Fan Mail In our 4th Christmas episode, which may or may not have been done under the influence of holiday cheer, we take a look at some of the dark and devilish company that Saint Nicholas keeps in France, Belgium  and regions of Germany. They say you can judge someone by their friends, but we'll give Saint Nick a pass.  We have to, you don't want to get on his bad side.  Support...

Send us Fan Mail Where did all the stories of mermen go? When merpeople are so popular in fiction, why are they not talked about so much in cryptozoology circles? Was a merman sighted in Redondo Beach, California? Discover the  answers to these questions and more in this episode of Jackalope Carnival.  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Ghosts a plenty. Ghost-o-rama, Plethora of hauntings here. Boooooy Howdy.  Also:  Eric talks about his connections to the Civil War. Bekah wonders if her cold is making her manifest ectoplasm.  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail A new (mini) season of Jackalope Carnival!  In this episode there's Ouija boards, automatic writing, earnest but (probably) poorly pronounced Mandarin and voices from the spirit world telling a famous poet to get over his ex. And no we didn't mean profit.  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail The final episode of Season Three speaks of DOOOM! DOOOOOOOOOM! Were Chernobyl and the eruption of Mt Saint Helens prophesied  by winged  har-binge-rs? Or is it Har-bing-ers? Find out on this episode of Jackalope Carnival where we look into the Black Bird of Chernobyl and Batsquatch.  Wado to  all for a great season and we'll be back with more in a few months!  Support the sh...

Send us Fan Mail In this pretty inappropriate,  and not particularly family friendly episode, we look to Sylvester Graham and John Harvey Kellogg to talk about past diets that were intended to keep one's vision 20/20 and palms bald as cue ball.   Hey, Whitney Houston called it the Greatest Love of All. Happy Valentine's Day from Jackalope Carnival.   Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Jackalope Carnival again takes to the high seas in search of abandoned ghost vessels, ghosts on ships and ships that are ghosts.  Also: phantom ships, missing crews and ruddy men who leave their shoes lying about in strange places shouting with Scandinavian accents through megaphones.  Don't worry, we have it all under control and ship shape.  As much as a Jackalope Carnival...

Send us Fan Mail Did the government open doors it couldn't close? Do dangerous aliens wear hot pants in the produce aisle? Why do they wave artichokes about? Good thing the Men in Black got there just in time!  We will literally mention all of this, but why exactly did the U.S. government spend tens of millions of dollars to hire psychic spies at a suburban Maryland army base?  1950s Yogis in...

Send us Fan Mail Our second helping of international Christmas folklore and fun  At one point, Bekah tries to convince Eric that if you beat a log with a stick while screaming at it, it will poop candy into your bed.  So far the results are inconclusive... Happy holidays everyone!! Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Are werewolves and ghosts only for Halloween? What are the "stretchy pants days of December" and why do mischievous little  men crawl from underground to sour my milk?  A very merry Christmas and happy holidays from Jackalope Carnival to you!!! Support the show

Send us Fan Mail This all totally happened to my friend's cousin back in the 80s... In this episode we talk about stories that sound way too unbelievable to be true. But of course, this is Jackalope Carnival, nothing is ever that simple... Lederhosen bars in downtown Baltimore, a real life murderer who came through the bathroom mirror, a man in a bunny suit who takes the problem of suburban s...

Send us Fan Mail Join us as we look into two  monster sightings that are often blamed on owls, talk about  some owl lore and ask the question:  owl or not owl? Owlman, Hopkinsville Goblins, Eurasian Eagle Owls, Barred Owls, Barn Owls & carnies- you can't tell the players apart without a program!  Who?  Jackalope Carnival- that's who!  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail If you came looking for Zeppelin or The Beatles... um, wellllll... It's more sandstone and quartz. But while we  may not have The Rolling Stones,  we do have the Stone of Destiny, and a troop of monkeys tasked with keeping the Empire intact. Take that Jagger.  We tell you the tale of a rocky heist and Eric dons a pith helmet while to countdown legends of rocks in no particula...

Send us Fan Mail Don't you just hate it when you're taking an elevator from the office to go home and you accidentally end up in one of the bloodiest battles in American History?  Or how about when you put in a full day's work, go to clock out and find that you've only been at work for ten minutes?  Eric refuses to besmirch thrice, Bekah makes a shocking confession!!!  Time ano...

Send us Fan Mail Jackalope Carnival is excited to be back in the studio for you! This week we're going to get deep, like subterranean and dig up the secrets of hidden tunnels and passageways in Norwich and elsewhere.  We missed you, it's good to be back- IT'S A JACKALOPE CARNIVAL!  Support the show