Lost in the Pages

R&C is back with the conclusion of our series discussing the 12 Tribes/Yellow Deli Cult! We wrap up the story of leader Gene Spriggs, talk about some of the weird rules of the cult, how they recruit, racism, sexism, child abuse and some of the worst (or best depending on your pov) podcasts you'll ever hear! Plus so much more!

We've got a cult! In part 1 of this series, Isaac and John go into the cult with the most businesses, Tennessee's own: the Twelve Tribes aka The Yellow Deli aka Vine Community Church etc etc. We go into depth on the life of leader, Gene Spriggs, the Colorado wildfire that they most likely started, and how a cult runs a successful restaurant, a brief dip into the Jesus movement and as always, so mu...

A rural Wyoming museum proudly displays 3 oddities: a death mask, a skull and a pair of shoes...made from human flesh! Join us this week in discovering how these items wound up in a museum of all places. We delve into the criminal career of the outlaw, Big Nose George Parrott (it really is a big nose), a Wyoming physician turned Governor, John Eugene Osborne, the Pacific Railroad, and gang life in...

In what will be our last monster tale for a long while, we conclude the story of Nashville's (and its surrounding area) cooky cryptids by exploring the small town of White Bluff, TN and its problematic Screamer. We talk banshees, racist newsies, how America can't name anything and so much more!

We're coming back to our home state of Kentucky with one of the deadliest cryptids in the USA, everyone's favorite goatman, The Pope Lick Monster! At the Pope Lick Trestle Bridge just outside of Lousiville, dozens of injuries and even deaths have occurred over the decades when people climb to the top of the rail tracks; are these tragedies caused by simple lack of awareness or is there something m...

Have you ever felt a dark, unearthly presence brush against your leg as you sit in a poorly lit dining room? Well, you may have encountered The Thing! We revisit the Music City with another urban legend from the 1800's. We get into the eccentric couple, Ben and Sue Allen, their subsequent seances and our theories on what "The Thing" even is. Email us your thoughts and theories at rumorsconfab@gmai...

Have you ever seen a big balloon and thought to yourself...I wonder if the Union Army had a division of balloon men in the US Civil War? This time John tells Isaac the story behind what some dismissed as fanciful, the US Army Balloon Corps. Join us and witness the rise of the mighty balloonist (spoiler alert, it only lasted 2 years)

In our first episode back Isaac and John discuss the interesting case of Nashville's very own baby toed, magical creature, the Willapus Wallapus! We also delve into the wild cryptid, the Wampus Cat. Is the Willapus Wallapus a mysterious monster cat? Is it even a cat? Is it a Bigfoot? Or something totally different? Join us and decide for yourself!

It's Winter Solstice across the world and we have some changes to announce! So Isaac and John decided to take it back to basics for our topic and talk about a mystery out of rural Kentucky. The Valley Hill Lights (as featured on Unsolved Mysteries) are seen by some locals as a miracle, but were they just fooled by the tricky lighting? Join us this week and decide for yourself!

We have an Amish adjacent episode this week with a brief discussion on the religious movements of the Quakers and the Shakers. We get into William Penn, Mother Ann Lee, and a short history of each group; plus we talk about Kentucky's very own Shaker Village that can still be visited today.

We're back with the final installment in our probing of the Amish culture! We get caught up to the 21st century and discuss groups like the New Order and Beachy Amish as well as the Bolivian congregation. Join us in talking about a man named Elmo, Amish gang life and more!

In part 2 of the Amish story, the boys confabulate on the rules that made the Amish and how they splintered into many many many different groups all across the country. Plus Isaac tells another personal Amish experience, we talk rumspringa and so much more!

The boys are doing a deep probe into an American classic, The Amish! There's a lot to be said about these rural, horse n' buggy folk, so we're diving in heard first! In the first part of this multi-episode series, we start looking at the earliest origins of the religious communities that make up the Amish. Our journey takes us to Europe as we look into figures such as Jakob Ammann and Menno Simons...

It's that time again! You may have heard about Tennessee's favorite large haired diet guru in the news lately, and we're here to tell ya the full story! Gwen Shamblin leaves behind one heck of a strange legacy, is she a cult leader? A grifter? A prophet? Or just a crazy lady? We'll let you be the judge! Plus you can hear us talk a lot about televangelists, local church TV, and weird childhood chur...

In this installment of our spiritual fall we go steampunk with the story of the New Motor! Listen as we get into the life of John Murray Spear and how he became a Frankenstein-esque cult leader who's sole mission was to create a Godlike Machine that would solve the world's problems! Somehow this ends up being what Dalton describes as our kinkiest episode yet, find out why by joining us on this wei...

It's Halloween everyone! We're celebrating here at Rumors & Confabulation with a couple of completely unrelated but strange stories! One is the haunting of the Phelps Mansion in the 1850's that many refer to as the Stratford Knockings; the other is a cult sacrifice ritual with a twist out of the hills of Eastern Kentucky in 1933. Somehow or another we also get into the mean ole Grinch, the Bluerid...

The guys are back with another cult! This time we are talking about the Fountain of the World or WKFL from the 1950s and it's leader, Krishna Venta. We go into how a Jewish turned Mormon named Francis became an Indian man from another planet named Krishna, the beliefs behind WKFL, and the ultra violent event that put an end to Krishna Venta and, as always, so much more!

Introducing our new theme music from the incredibly talented Justin Miller! Find his work at http://justincrmiller.com! We're going back out west for a small time cult to continue our spiritual journey; The Home of Truth in rural Utah! We go into depth on their leader, Marie Ogden who made claims to be a messenger from God who was leading her people to a safe haven for the coming apocalypse. As we...

It's the conclusion to our series on the most racist, hate-filled mystic America has ever seen, The Star-Spangled Fascist, William Dudley Pelley! In this episode we mostly focus on the Silver Legion, a pro-Nazi group founded by Pelley in 1933. We also go into the Christian Commonwealth idea, the spiritual teachings of Soulcraft and much more. WDP may be our most hated person, which is really sayin...

Welcome to the 1st episode of Our Spiritual Fall! We are kicking things off with possibly the most hateable mystic mind to ever walk American soil; the founder of the American Nazi movement, William Dudley Pelley. In this probing series we get into all aspects of his life including his early newspaper days, career as a writer and 1920s Hollywood screenwriter, Toilet Paper maker and how he became a...

Have you ever seen a deer that looks a little different? You couldn't quite put your finger on it but it just gave you a creepy feeling and then it lurches toward you with a strange human like shriek?! Well you might've seen a Not-Deer! Sightings of this new cryptid from Appalachia have been all over the internet recently so why have 3 guys from Appalachia never heard of it? We break down what a N...

We're back from a week long hiatus! Taking a break from the dark stories this week, we are telling a heart warming story about man's best friend. The Dog Mayors of Rabbit Hash, KY! Not only does Rabbit Hash boast one of the weirder town names you'll hear but it is also the only town in the USA that has a 4 legged mayor. So join us in finding out how that came to be and the proud line of pups that...

It's time for Part 2 of the story of the Kentucky Teenage Vampires! Things get even nastier in today's episode as we take a look at the Wendorf murders; the poor couple that Roderick Ferrell took all of his rage and angst out on. So let's all make fun of these edgelords together. We also get distracted from the topic with a brief discussion about Chris Chan; this could be our cringiest and most di...

We're going true crime today! We've got the story of Rod Ferell (or Vesago to some) and the Vampire Clan, a group of teenagers in Murray, Kentucky that took a game way too seriously. The end result of these teenage shenanigans is an all too real double homicide. In Part 1 we look at the early life of Roderick, leader of the vampire cult, animal abuser and eventual murderer. A real piece of crap th...

In the remote backwoods of northeast Tennessee, there sits a Victorian village. Weird right? So how did it get there? Who made this? Why is there a faint hint of tomatoes in the air? And...is that a ghost that snores I hear? We will answer all of those questions and more on this week's episode! Welcome to Historic Rugby!