The Spooky Darlings

This week, our FUF is going rogue... and early! We're releasing our Follow Up Friday on a Tuesday, in place of our usual main episode. Don't worry, we're not skipping a beat: we've got true crime updates and news, including the Siders family case out of Ohio, a story about an aunt who saved her niece from kidnapping, the tragic earthquake in Venezuela, and the Arizona toddler d...

This week, The Spooky Darlings head to Missouri, the Show-Me State.  First, we investigate the Ozark Howler, a legendary beast said to stalk the Ozarks with glowing eyes and an eerie howl. Next, we head to Nixa to discuss Paul the Nixa Hellhound— a bizarre canine cryptid that has become a local legend. Finally, we travel to Louisiana, Missouri to cover the infamous Momo (the Missouri Monster)—Miss...

One year. One hundred episodes. Infinite chills. It's The Spooky Darlings' One Year Anniversary! And this week, the trio is looking back at the episodes that haunted us most. We're each recapping our favorite cryptid encounter, our favorite case we personally covered, and — because we can't help but hype each other up — our favorite episode the other sisters brought to the tabl...

This week for Follow Up Friday, the Darlings discuss the delight of the FIFA World Cup, and everything they love about these games: the players, the fans, and watching people discovering the wonders of the U.S. They dish on their favorite scary movies, series and podcasts, plus catch up on how summer is treating them! It's fun! It's frightening! It's FUF! Message us! Thanks for list...

Three women. Three scandals. One uncomfortable truth: people rarely thank the woman who blows the whistle. This week, the sisters dive into the stories of Martha Mitchell, the outspoken wife of Nixon’s Attorney General who became public enemy number one after speaking out during Watergate; Linda Tripp, the Pentagon employee forever demonized for recording phone calls that helped expose the Clinton...

This week we’re heading deep into the Magnolia State, where swampy backroads and haunted waterways hide unsettling legends. First, we visit the grave of the infamous Witch of Yazoo, whose dying curse promised the town would burn in 20 years… and it did. Then we travel down Nash Road to encounter the terrifying tale of the Three-Legged Woman—a bizarre roadside legend that has haunted locals for gen...

In 1981, Charlotte Moriarty vanished from the shores of Hawaii, leaving behind questions that decades couldn't answer. A psychic claimed she was murdered and that her young son Marx  had met the same fate. She was half right. Charlotte was never found. But Marx? Marx was very much alive, just living under a different name, in a different family, with no idea who he really was. This week Emily...

We cover a lot of ground today! We’re diving into the latest Taylor Frankie Paul update—and it looks like the bachelors from her season are all gathering in LA. We also discuss the case of Aaron Spencer, a father arrested for murder after protecting his daughter, the recent death of Buffy the Vampire Slayer actor Anthony Stewart Head, Eli McCann’s new book, and the Proctor text messages in the Kar...

This week the Spooky Darlings cover a case of lazy, racist, and downright crooked police work. A woman is murdered at a Jacksonville hotel on a Sunday morning. Ninety minutes later, police have their suspect, a fifteen-year-old boy on his way to get a job application. His name is Brenton Butler, and his story, documented in the Oscar-winning film Murder on a Sunday Morning , is one of the most inf...

Our 23rd stop on the Cryptid Crawl is The North Star State, Minnesota! This beautiful but cold land has a reputation for being nice. The lakes? Hmmm... Maybe not all of them. Join us as we head north to dig into the cryptic legends of the Land of 10,000 lakes, and just as many mysteries.  We explore a mystery that blurs the line between hoax and horror with the Minnesota Ice Man, then lean Into a...

In the summer of 1976, school bus driver Ed Ray was making what should have been an ordinary trip home. On board were 26 children returning from a day at summer school and eager to see their families. But that routine ride took a terrifying turn when three armed men in two vans carried out one of the most shocking kidnappings in American history. Trapped underground and facing impossible odds, the...

We are headed to Brandi Carlile at the Gorge Amphitheater! We talk about J-hole Judge Nicholas Rowland, problematic prisoners Tony Carruthers and Ricky Wassenaar, and the extraordinary Erin Brockovich and her work with data centers. Don't forget the update onwhat we're watching and listening to — Catch up with us! And of course we would never skip out on essential updates on mormon wives...

Long before it was a party game, humans were obsessed with talking to the dead. This week the Darlings trace the strange history of spirit communication from Shang Dynasty oracle bones to the Fox sisters' famous knocking act, from Roman ring-and-alphabet divination to the planchette-wielding Spiritualists of the 1800s. Then there's the board itself: the 1890 Baltimore patent, outselling...

From red-skinned harbingers of doom to howling forest beasts, we’re diving into some of Michigan’s strangest legends. This week, The Spooky Darlings explore the  Nain Rouge of Detroit, the terrifying Michigan Dogman, the eerie tale of the Ada Witch, and the very real lumberjack P.K. Small whose bizarre appearance and behavior earned him the nickname “Slackjaw,” or “the Ogre of Seney”. Cryptids, cu...

Steven Jay Russell wasn’t just a con man — he was an escape artist, master manipulator, and one of the most unbelievable criminals Texas ever tried to contain. Join The Spooky Darlings as they unravel the bizarre true story of Steven Jay Russell: from insurance fraud and impersonation schemes to his jaw-dropping prison escapes that embarrassed law enforcement again and again. His final capture led...

Join the sisters as they catch up, and then discuss current events, and current drama!  Starting with what we're reading and watching, to what we are paying attention to in the media. Taylor Frankie Paul to the beloved Lani monk seal in Hawaii. We might even get a deplorable doppelgänger out of this!  Sources:  New Girl inspiration TikTok: @viperpilotkarathrace Message us! Thanks for listenin...

This week the Spooky Darlings are meeting you on the Astral Plane!  In 1887, a California judge built a Victorian mansion on a hilltop in Los Angeles — a house that would later appear in Spider Baby , Silent Scream , and Insidious: Chapter 2 . Some houses just have a type. But the real story isn't the house. It's 1912. A poet named Elsa Barker is alone in her Paris apartment when she fee...

This week, The Spooky Darlings head to the Bay State for a Cryptid Crawl filled with tiny demons, cursed swamps, and a shadowy blue-glowing-eyed creature with superhuman strength leaping through the fog. First, we dive into the eyewitness accounts of the Dover Demon — the bizarre, big-eyed creature spotted crawling along stone walls by terrified teens in 1977. Then we venture into the infamous Bri...

The Spooky Darlings tell of the life of the legendary Frank Lloyd Wright—a visionary who transformed American architecture. From his early days in Wisconsin to his groundbreaking innovations, Wright reimagined how people lived in their homes. But behind the genius was a life marked by scandal, ambition, and unthinkable tragedy. In 1914, Wright’s beloved Taliesin estate became the site of a brutal...

We kick things off with a full Mexico recap — the good, the chaotic, and one truly hilarious attempt at speaking Spanish that we may never recover from. Then we get into what we’ve been watching, listening to, and spiraling about lately.  From there, we check in on the ever-evolving drama of Mormon Wives (because obviously), before shifting into something much darker… A series of mysterious deaths...

Public restrooms are already unsettling enough… but what if something sinister is lurking behind the stall door? This week, we’re diving headfirst into some of the most chilling bathroom urban legends from around the world—where privacy is an illusion and knocking might be the worst thing you can do. First, we explore Japan’s infamous Aka Manto , the mysterious masked spirit who offers you a deadl...

In this episode of our Cryptid Crawl, The Spooky Darlings visit the fine state of Maryland, so grab a Natty Boh and settle in! From the famous Snallygaster, to (not as insidious as it sounds) Peeping Tom the Flickergeist, and finally a journey with the Sykesville Monster that's a whole 'nother story. Don't miss this one, I think even them O's will tune in!  Sources: https://pat...

Lucinda Huels vanished under mysterious circumstances, leaving her family desperate for answers. When she returned over 8 years later, relief quickly gave way to confusion as inconsistencies and unanswered questions began to surface. What should have been a happy reunion instead deepened the mystery, turning the case into a haunting story of disappearance, identity, and a truth that didn’t quite a...

It's Follow Up Friday!!  Settle in while we catch up on life, the media we've been devouring, and the wildly unhinged news cycle. First up: the bizarre story out of Oklahoma, where a woman was attacked by a mysterious "dog-like" creature that has everyone debating cryptid vs. coyote. Then we dive into the heartbreaking and deeply unsettling case of a young man whose remains wer...

Who killed Mildred Cotter? For decades, reclusive Mildred Cotter lived a quiet life in her Port Washington apartment in Long Island, New York. The widow of a homicide detective, she lived comfortably alone, no children and no close relatives or friends. Then, one morning her home-health aide discovered Mildred's apartment had been ransacked, and amid the chaos she discovered Mildred's ba...