Talking Strange Paranormal Show

Why does an empty office hallway feel scarier than a monster? Folklorist Dr. Lynne S. McNeill breaks down the psychology behind Backrooms, Severance, and the internet's obsession with liminal spaces. If you've ever felt unsettled walking through an abandoned mall, a fluorescent-lit office at night, or scrolling past another eerie "backrooms" photo on your feed, this episode is for you. Host Aaron...

He arrived with felt shoes, a bowl of mercury, and a hunger for fame. When ghost hunter Harry Price drove up to Borley Rectory in 1929, he was stepping into the role he'd spent his whole life rehearsing, and into one of the most controversial paranormal investigations in history. In this episode of Talking Strange, we dig into the strange, murky world of Harry Price: self-made skeptic, showman, an...

Can ghost hunting equipment actually detect paranormal activity, or are investigators sometimes using these tools the wrong way? In this special extended episode of Talking Strange, host Aaron Sagers sits down with paranormal researcher, equipment builder, and science communicator Lauren Hellekson (LaurenHaunts.com) for a deep dive into the technology behind modern paranormal investigations. Toget...

What if Steven Spielberg's latest UFO movie is closer to reality than science fiction? In this episode of Talking Strange, host Aaron Sagers welcomes author and film historian Max Evry (author of the forthcoming book Stranded on Earth: How Night Skies Became E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) to explore Spielberg's highly anticipated new film, Disclosure Day, and its connections to some of the director's...

Are demons really everywhere — or has pop culture trained us to see them that way? In this episode of Talking Strange, host Aaron Sagers speaks with two folks who could legit call themselves demonologists — occult expert Michelle Belanger and religious studies scholar Joseph Laycock to explore the shocking history behind demons, possession, and exorcism. From ancient beliefs and folklore to The Ex...

Talking Strange heads to Las Vegas for a behind-the-scenes look at Universal Horror Unleashed — the new year-round haunted attraction from Universal Studios. In this “Halfway to Halloween” episode, host Aaron Sagers sits down with Universal creatives TJ Mannarino and Nate Stevenson to break down the 110,000-square-foot immersive experience featuring haunted houses inspired by The Texas Chainsaw Ma...

Actor William Sadler joins Aaron Sagers to discuss his new survival horror film The Yeti, now on-demand, and the enduring appeal of classic monster movies. From battling a brutal creature in the Alaskan wilderness to reflecting on his roles in The Shawshank Redemption at the haunted Ohio State Reformatory, and playing Death in Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey and Bill and Ted Face the Music, Sadler co...

What is the intersection of monster lore and eyewitness testimony? In this episode of Talking Strange, host Aaron Sagers talks with with paranormal investigator, author, and TV personality Richard Estep (Haunted Hospitals, Paranormal 911) to explore his new book, Monsters: Myths, Legends and Real Encounters. From the depths of Loch Ness to the forests of North America, Estep breaks down the blurre...

Hokum (2026), directed by Damian McCarthy (Caveat, Oddity), is a new supernatural psychological horror story set in Ireland that blends grief, folklore, and isolation — and a troubled writer locked away in a haunted hotel room. Starring Adam Scott (Severance, Parks and Recreation), the film follows a novelist who retreats to a remote inn to scatter his parents’ ashes only to become entangled in a...

In the new re-imagining of Faces of Death, murder is good for the algorithm. Hitting theaters April 10, 2026, the new film is directed by Daniel Goldhaber (Cam) and produced/co-written by Isa Mazzei (Cam, How to Blow Up a Pipeline). In this episode of Talking Strange, Goldhaber and Mazzei speak with host Aaron Sagers about the plot that follows a follows a content moderator (Barbie Ferreira from E...

Starring Barbie Ferreira (Euphoria, Nope) and Dacre Montgomery (Stranger Things, Elvis), the new Faces of Death arrives in theaters April 10, 2026, reimagined for the digital age by director Daniel Goldhaber and producer/co-writer Isa Mazzei (Cam, How to Blow Up a Pipeline).The horror film follows a social media content moderator with her own inadvertent Internet fame (Ferreira) who discovers dist...

We already knew Florida was weird, but it gets much weirder in the new horror/black comedy Mermaid, starring Johnny Pemberton, and open in select theaters. April 8.Written and directed by Tyler Cornack (Butt Boy, Tiny Cinema), Mermaid follows Pemberton  (21 Jump Street, Superstore, Fallout) as a socially-awkward drug addicted Floridian who discovers a wounded mermaid, and becomes dangerously obses...

Did the Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot film just get exposed as a hoax? New evidence in Capturing Bigfoot claims the truth has been hidden for decades. Aaron Sagers talks with filmmakers Marq Evans and Tamir Ardon about the shocking “mystery footage,” Roger Patterson’s legacy, and whether Bigfoot’s most famous evidence was staged. In this Talking Strange episode, we break down the explosive claims behin...

Did the Fox Sisters really talk to the dead, or start the biggest paranormal hoax in American history? Host Aaron Sagers is joined by author ⁠Barb Rosenstock⁠ to explore ⁠American Spirits⁠, the true story of the sisters who launched the Spiritualism movement in the lead up to the Civil War with their mysterious “spirit rappings.” In her compelling book that goes deep into the strange lives of cele...

In this episode of Talking Strange, host Aaron Sagers sits down with filmmaker Ian Tuason, writer and director of the new A24 horror film Undertone. Opening March 13, Undertone follows Evy, the co-host of a paranormal podcast who begins receiving disturbing recordings from a listener. While caring for her dying mother, Evy studies the strange audio and EVP messages. Soon the haunting appears to mo...

Filmmaker Natasha Kermani joins host Aaron Sagers on Talking Strange to discuss her haunting new medieval horror film The Dreadful, now available on demand. Starring Game of Thrones alumni Sophie Turner and Kit Harington alongside Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden, the film follows a woman and her ruthless mother-in-law struggling to survive on the margins of medieval England as a mysterious...

It's been a cold season, and the Wendigo is the master monster of winter. So Is the Wendigo just a legend, or something far darker? On this Talking Strange, host Aaron Sagers interviews researcher and author Chad Lewis about Wendigo Lore: Monsters, Myths, and Madness, co-written with Kevin Lee Nelson. For centuries, Indigenous communities in Canada and the northern United States have told stories...

On this episode of Talking Strange, host Aaron Sagers speaks with national bestselling author J.W. Ocker about his new novel Welcome to the Ghost Show and his lifelong exploration of the strange. Ocker is the Edgar and Lowell Thomas Award-winning author of The United States of Cryptids, A Season with the Witch, Cursed Objects, and more. He is also the creator of OTIS, Odd Things I’ve Seen, documen...

Did the assassination of John F. Kennedy begin in Dallas, or years earlier in the Florida Keys? On this episode of Talking Strange, host Aaron Sagers speaks with author and Key West researcher David L. Sloan about his startling new book, How Key West Killed JFK: The Island That Changed The Course of History. Drawing from declassified FBI and CIA documents, personal interviews, and never-before-see...

In this episode of Talking Strange, host Aaron Sagers is joined by author Jason Offutt to explore the strange creatures hiding in North American folklore and eyewitness reports. Offutt is the author of Chasing North American Monsters: A Guide to Over 250 Creatures from Greenland to Guatemala. The conversation takes a timely turn toward Greenland, a place suddenly dominating global headlines, but a...

In this episode of Talking Strange, host Aaron Sagers is back on the road. He visited Key West, Florida, and through a spooky fun and random coincidence, ended up connecting with local Ernest Hemingway House tour guide Amy Bebbington, who then introduced him to Andy Zyvith and Feliz Andrews of the You Two Scare Me podcast. Not one to miss out on the chance to chat about the paranormal, they sat fo...

In this episode of Talking Strange, host Aaron Sagers sits down with author and paranormal historian Marc Hartzman to explore the eerie, fascinating world of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century spirit communication. Hartzman’s latest book, The Talking Dead: A Collection of Messages from Beyond the Veil, 1850s to 1920s, invites readers to eavesdrop on the afterlife through an extraordinary anth...

Actor and filmmaker Kate Siegel (The Haunting of Hill House, Hush, Midnight Mass) joins Talking Strange host Aaron Sagers to discuss her darkly twisted short "Down the Chimney," part of Executive Producers David Dastmalchian and The Boulet Brothers' The Boulet Brothers’ Holiday of Horrors anthology, now streaming on Shudder and AMC+. Siegel dives into turning one of the most familiar holiday trope...

Writer and director Akela Cooper (M3gan, Malignant) joins Talking Strange host Aaron Sagers to discuss her chilling short "Old Acquaintance," part of David Dastmalchian and horror drag icons The Boulet Brothers' The Boulet Brothers’ Holiday of Horrors anthology now streaming on Shudder and AMC+. Set on New Year’s Eve, "Old Acquaintance" follows a woman returning home after her father’s sudden deat...

Actor, writer, and monster kid David Dastmalchian (Late Night with the Devil, Dust Bunny) joins Talking Strange host Aaron Sagers to dive deep into The Boulet Brothers’ Holiday of Horrors, the chilling four-part anthology now streaming on Shudder and AMC+. Dastmalchian discusses his close friendship and creative partnership with The Boulet Brothers, how they collaborated both on-screen and behind...