The Tales We Tell

We're getting into the Christmas spirit early, with a Tell We Tale about Kallikantzaroi (aka: Christmas goblins!) Katy takes the reigns this week and tells Hannah an amusing (and wild) Greek fairy tale, and expands on the legend of the mischievous goblins that live underground and come out to wreak havoc at Christmas! Find out why you should be breaking out your colanders and old shoes, and w...

Have you ever encountered pure evil? Unfortunately, for the people who crossed paths with Israel Keyes, they looked evil incarnate in the eyes. In this week's incredibly dark and horrifying story, Hannah tells Katy about the infamous Israel Keyes and explains why none of us are safe, why you should be afraid in your own home, and why literally anyone can fall victim to a sadistic psycho kille...

One Spring,  a small Texas town, wrought with fear and paranoia, hoarded weapons and ammunition, and called the police for anything (and anyone) suspicious. Fortunately, this is not a story about today's current political climate (what a horror story that would be!), but of a series of murders that rocked Texarkana, TX in 1946. Follow Hannah and Katy down the road of lover's lanes, missi...

What could be worse than having all your joints dislocated or being roasted alive? How about being slowly impaled through an number or orifices? Eaten alive by vermin while you poop yourself to death? Fortunately, you don't have to wonder, because we have compiled ten of the worst ways to (hopefully) die, as thought of by all the people/civilizations that came before us. Join us, as Hannah fo...

While Hannah and Jarek are celebrating their anniversary in the mountains, you get to enjoy story time with Hannah's dad. It's a happy coincidence that the stories he shares from his childhood happen to fit the macabre theme of the show.  Enjoy!  Support the show Follow us @thetaleswetellpodcast on Facebook and Instagram, or thetaleswetellpodcast.com Support us on Patreon: https://www.pa...

When a young Lutheran boy who dabbled in spiritualism and ouija boards starts speaking in Latin, growling, and moving the furniture around, his parents knew exactly what to do: call the Catholics. This week, Hannah tells Katy about the possessed teenager who inspired the 1971 horror classic, The Exorcist . In the process, they both learn a thing or two about Protestantism, how many Bishops it take...

In the middle of the night, five children vanished in a horrific house fire. A mysterious phone call, several sequences of bad luck, and the lack of any physical evidence leaves their family reeling, and searching for answers. This week, Hannah tells Katy the story of the Sodder Children, and why their family never gave up looking for them. Katy is full of conspiracy theories, and Hannah learns ab...

You know that quiet guy who is weirdly obsessed with cemeteries, collects giant dolls, and lives an a smelly apartment, but otherwise seems pretty harmless? Well, he's the subject of today's episode! Meet Anatoly Moskvin: the mild mannered intellectual who lived a quiet life with his parents, but harbored a gruesome secret. Also, why you should call Katy for all your grave robbing needs,...

Are you fond of your internal organs? More specifically, are you fond of them remaining internal? Well then 19th century London was NOT for you, and this episode may give you the heeby jeebies. This week, Hannah dives right into the notorious mystery that is Jack the Ripper--the serial killer who terrorized the Whitechapel parish of London, gutted unsuspecting women in the street, taunted the poli...

How could there NOT be stories of spirts and hauntings at a historical southern plantation? This week, Hannah tells Katy about this staple in Louisiana lore that is home to disembodied voices, children in mirrors, and Chloe, the restless spirit of a former slave who took justice into her own hands and was met by a similar fate. Also, find out how Alexander Hamilton accidentally had a hand in setti...

Who doesn't love a beautiful mountain getaway, complete with cozy cabin, bubbling brook, and restless spirits? This week, Katy grabs the mic, and tells Hannah the spooky tales of ghosts residing in the mountains of the Eastern U.S. From the horrific and tragic death of a young woman, the spirit of the Cherokee roaming their lands (and soaking in hot tubs), to the spirit of the mountain itself...

What could possibly be worse than finding out your young daughter has been kidnapped and held for ransom? Listen to this episode and immediately regret asking. The tale of 12 year-old Marion Parker is both heartbreaking and horrifyingly sick. Find out why it sometimes pays to be the overlooked twin, and why you should always always always call someone's bluff. Pour something strong, and take...

A young babysitter alone in an unfamiliar house; the phone rings, and a gravelly voice asks, "Have you checked on the children?" You know that familiar thriller told to all aspiring adolescent caregivers. What if it turned out to be almost mostly true? In this episode, Hannah tells Katy two horrifying tales that intersect in one spine-chilling urban legend. Could your fears of being atta...

Are you an adventurous eater? So were the three men in this week's tale: Karl Denke, Joe Metheny, and Armin Meiwes. So eclectic was their palate that they tried their hand at preparing the ultimate taboo meal: human flesh. In this week's episode, you get not one, but three tales of horrific murder, dismemberment, and grilling (or pickling, in some cases). Find out why you should be avoid...

Have you ever seen a freshly dug gravesite and felt that creeping dread in the pit of your stomach, wondering what if? What if what lies beneath all that dirt and rock isn't at peace yet? What if they're still alive? Well, you wouldn't be alone! This week, Hannah will walk Katy through all the nightmarish things that would take place in just such a scenario, from being mistaken for...

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a humanoid moth creature with glowing red eyes foretelling imminent doom! Hannah and Katy explore the origins of the legendary Mothman, puzzle over exactly what people keep seeing flying through the air near future disasters, and try to explain a headless man from Hannah's past (spoiler alert, Katy thinks he was just pulling a pelican pose.) Brea...

What are you scared of? Snakes slithering up your pipes to nest in your toilet? Piercing your eardrum (or worse) with a Q-tip? Getting your eyes pecked out by birds? Turns out, those might not be such irrational fears after all! Join Hannah and Katy on this terrifying walk through fairly recent events that show that maybe we all do have reason to fear the irrational. From a horrifying bone-destroy...

Ever gotten an uneasy feeling when they drape a lead apron over your vital organs, and leave the room to take an x-ray? That's because the radioactive waves they're shooting at your bones are super dangerous, and very much terrifying. And, it turns out, they killed a bunch of people in really gruesome and horrifying ways.  Hannah walks Katy through some of the worst instances of death by...

This week, Hannah tells the Katy the unintentionally hilarious story of a mean-spirited, but spunky poltergeist in small town Tennessee with some very strange motives. Hear how Kate, aka: the Bell Witch, haunted the Bell family in the 1820's, driving a wedge between a young couple, plotting to kill the family patriarch, and even giving good ol' Andrew Jackson, a run for his money! This o...

Hannah and Katy are back with a grizzly unsolved murder, featuring dismembered bodies, missing heads, a bunch of tattoos, and some very questionable police work. That's right, it's the Cleveland Torso Murders! Travel back with us to the 1930's when the U.S. was clawing its way out of The Great Depression, and people who were down on their luck were called vagrants, and forced to liv...

In 2013 a young woman went missing; her last known movements were captured by surveillance in a hotel elevator. Thousands of people have tried to decipher what her strange actions--hiding, talking to someone or something that isn't there, waving her hands and arms--meant, and how it was related to the grizzly discovery of her body weeks later. On this episode, Hannah takes Katy through the la...

It's another Tell We Tale! This week, Katy is in the captain's seat, telling Hannah all about the legends of ghost ships, and what may or may not have happened to them! From mysteriously deserted decks, to horrific wrecks and goosebump-inducing hymns sung by the doomed, this one is sure to give you chills! We polished off a bottle of wine during recording and it was much needed, so open...

This week, Hannah sheds light on the fateful night that Christine and Lea Papin savagely murdered their employer and her daughter in a fit of rage. Was it classism pushed to its limit? A bizarre mental illness bred from a life of isolation and trauma? Pure and simple retaliation? All of the above? This grizzly story inspired the Academy Award winning movie, Parasite, and highlights not only the de...

This week, Hannah tells Katy the wild story of the Latoya Ammons and the demons that haunted her and her children in Gary, Indiana. Should we trust the sketchy Zak Baggins documentary Hannah used as a source? Probably not. But this story is still full of bizarre and creepy accounts of kids walking up walls, and various ways to poison the demons in your house (and probably yourself) with Clorox and...

Lucky 13! This week, Hannah tells Katy the gruesome urban legend about finding a dead body under your hotel bed, and explains why this grizzly tale is all too believable. Learn why hotels should definitely be paying their maids more, and why you should probably avoid establishments that include "travel-" or "econo-" in the name. Also, definitely check under your mattress, becau...