Twisted and Mysterious

We're back, baby! Two weeks in a row! And, we're hitting you hard with the mysterious death of Elisa Lam. Sarah offers up a mini history lesson of Skid Row and the Cecil Hotel before delving into the details and conspiracies surrounding Elisa's death. And, Zach Bagans teaches us that if you're going to play the Elevator Game, make sure you print out the instructions and read all of them BEFORE you...

In 1988, Tara Calico disappeared during her usual bike ride near Belen, New Mexico. A year later, a disturbing Polaroid found in a Florida parking lot made headlines across the country and turned Tara’s case into one of America’s most haunting unsolved mysteries. This week, we’re covering the disappearance of Tara Calico, the infamous Polaroid, the theories, the rumors, and the details that still...

Aileen Wuornos is often labeled America’s first female serial killer—but her story is far more complicated than that. In this episode of Twisted and Mysterious , we follow Aileen’s life from a traumatic childhood to the murders of seven men along Florida’s highways. She claimed self-defense. Prosecutors called it calculated murder. So what really happened? This is a story about survival, violence,...

You’ve heard “love is blind”… but apparently, love is also nose blind . This week on Twisted & Mysterious , Faren introduces us to “Creepy Carl”—also known as Carl Tanzler—a man whose obsession with a young woman didn’t end with her death… and, disturbingly, didn’t even slow down. In Carl’s mind, her funeral wasn’t a goodbye—it was their wedding. From elaborate delusions to full-on conversatio...

We’re back! After a brief, unplanned hiatus (unlike some people, we did not abandon ship), we’re setting sail into one of the most chaotic and talked-about maritime disasters in modern history: the Costa Concordia. On January 13, 2012, what should have been a relaxing Mediterranean cruise took a devastating turn when the ship struck rocks off the coast of Italy. What followed was a slow-moving, su...

This week on Twisted & Mysterious , we’re heading to Union, Missouri to discuss a house that allegedly did not believe in inside voices. In 2001, single dad Steven LaChance moved into the home with his three kids for a fresh start. They made it 13 days. Thirteen. Days. According to the family, the house didn’t just creak or settle — it screamed. A dark figure reportedly showed up. There were c...

In 1994, recess at Ariel School in Ruwa took a turn from playground chaos to possible alien encounter. Dozens of students reported a strange craft landing nearby — and small beings stepping out to silently watch them. These weren’t your typical smooth “grey” aliens. The children described beings with HAIR(!!!) , huge dark eyes, and movements that made no sense — appearing suddenly or running in sl...

This week on Twisted & Mysterious , we’re diving into the explosive and controversial case of Sally McNeil and Ray McNeil — a bodybuilding power couple whose marriage ended in gunfire on Valentine’s Day. On February 14, 1995, Sally shot and killed her husband, fellow bodybuilder Ray McNeil, inside their Oceanside, California home. She immediately called 911 and claimed self-defense, alleging y...

In November 1970, a woman was found dead in a remote valley near Bergen, Norway. She had no identification, no known past, and no one ever came forward to claim her. What investigators did find was far stranger: suitcases filled with wigs, labels cut from every piece of clothing, multiple aliases, a notebook written in code—and witnesses who remembered one oddly specific detail. She reportedly sme...

Greg Fleniken lived a quiet, predictable life. During the week, he worked as a landman in Beaumont, Texas, staying at the MCM Elegante hotel. On weekends, he went home to Lafayette, Louisiana, to be with his wife. He didn’t party. He didn’t socialize. His evenings followed the same routine: change into sweats, grab a snack, and watch a movie in bed. On the morning of September 16, 2010, Greg was f...

In 1612 England, you could be accused of witchcraft for being poor, annoying, related to the wrong people—or, in one unfortunate case, simply having a wonky eye. This week on Twisted & Mysterious , Faren tells the story of the Pendle Witches , one of the most infamous and absurd witch trials in English history. What started as a minor encounter quickly spiraled into full-blown hysteria, draggi...

This week on Twisted & Mysterious , we cover the murder of Brenda Powell—killed by her daughter, Sydney—in a case where nothing outwardly seemed wrong until it was. We walk through Sydney’s quiet descent into unreality, the secrets she kept, and the investigation that revealed just how disconnected her inner world had become from everyone around her. Also… yes. It’s late. Time blindness is und...

Buying your dream home usually involves paint swatches and Pinterest boards—not anonymous letters signed “The Watcher.” But that’s exactly what happened to one family in Westfield, New Jersey. In this episode of Twisted & Mysterious , we dive into the bizarre true story of the Watcher House. Before the family ever spent a night in their new home, they began receiving unsettling letters from so...

On Christmas Eve 1945, a house fire in Fayetteville, West Virginia destroyed the Sodder family home. By morning, five of the ten Sodder children were missing — and no bodies were ever found. Officials ruled that the children died in the fire, but almost nothing about the investigation made sense. No remains were recovered from the ashes. A ladder vanished. The family’s trucks mysteriously wouldn’t...

This week on Twisted & Mysterious , Faren tells the unforgettable reincarnation story of Shanti Devi, a young girl in 1930s India who insisted she was not a child at all—but a grown, married woman with three children, a past life, and some very strong opinions about how things used to be done in the kitchen. Her claims were so detailed and consistent that they eventually caught the attention o...

In this week’s episode, Sarah tells the heartbreaking story of Molly McLaren—a bright, driven 23-year-old whose life was stolen by a man who refused to take “no” for an answer. What began as an online romance quickly spiraled into obsessive control, violent threats, and stalking so severe that Molly did everything she could to protect herself… yet the system failed to protect her in return. We div...

It’s our 1-year podiversary, so naturally we threw a full-on rager … and by “rager,” we mean we raged nonstop about the infuriating disappearance of Bryce Laspisa. In true Twisted & Mysterious fashion, we celebrate twelve months of chaos by diving into a case that feels like it could have — should have — been prevented. Bryce’s strange behavior, the endless red flags, the baffling choices made...

In this week’s episode, Sarah unpacks the infamous Waukesha, Wisconsin Slender Man stabbing—a case where internet horror, childhood delusion, and the absolute chaos of being 12 all merged into one of the most bizarre true crime stories of the last decade. We break down the origins of Slender Man, how he crawled out of the “spooky noodles” world of creepypasta, and why two middle-schoolers genuinel...

This week on Twisted and Mysterious , Faren takes us to Santa Fe, New Mexico, for the shocking murder of Grace Jennings — a young woman whose story spirals into chaos the moment her killers start talking. Between the bizarre interviews, unbelievable text messages, and outrageous claims of “multiple personalities,” this case is as frustrating as it is disturbing. Sarah and Faren talk through the ev...

Two Brazilian technicians climb a hill wearing suits, raincoats, and lead eye masks . They carry towels, a cryptic note, and possibly… big cult energy? In this episode of Twisted & Mysterious , Sarah and Faren try to decode one of Brazil’s strangest unsolved cases — the 1966 Lead Masks Mystery — while somehow turning it into a low-budget Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy crossover. Sarah absolu...

This week on Twisted and Mysterious , Faren takes us deep into the eerie woods of Denton, Texas, to uncover the legend of Goatman’s Bridge — where horns meet horror. 👀 Locals say something dark haunts the Old Alton Bridge, but we met a new legend along the way: Steve Goatman. Let’s just say…he’s got anger issues, boundary problems, and possibly hooves. We dig into the tragic backstory of Oscar Wa...

Before The Conjuring made us all afraid of antique furniture, the Perron family actually lived that horror movie. Their "dream farmhouse" in Harrisville, Rhode Island, came with creaky floors, creepy ghosts, and (allegedly) a witch named Bathsheba who did not come with the deed. This week, we dig into what really went down at the Perron home, from ghostly pranks and paranormal investigators to the...

Step inside one of America’s most haunted asylums — the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, West Virginia. Once a monument to compassionate mental health care, it became a nightmare of overcrowding, lobotomies, and lives lost within its echoing halls. This week, Sarah uncovers the asylum’s chilling history, the wild “diagnoses” that could get you locked up (spoiler: having opinions was appar...

In May 2005, Natalee Holloway vanished during her senior trip to Aruba—a vacation that was supposed to be all beaches, pina coladas, and flip-flops, not one of the most infamous missing persons cases in modern history. What followed was a media circus complete with suspects changing their stories more often than tourists reapply sunscreen, wild theories, and years of unanswered questions. In this...

This week on Twisted and Mysterious , Faren takes us through the heartbreaking case of Timothy Wiltsey, a 5-year-old boy whose 1991 disappearance and murder devastated his New Jersey community. His mother, Michelle Lodzinski, first claimed he was kidnapped from a carnival, but her shifting stories and suspicious behavior raised more questions than answers. After decades of investigation, Lodzinski...