Happy (not) National Arizona Day! Oops, it actually was last week, but I had to tell you this story! Near Tombstone, Arizona, the final boom town of the US mine rush, there lies the ruins of a structure that holds the morbid title of "America's Bloodiest Cabin". Where approximately 22 men lost their lives over the course of just 30 years. Frederick Brunckow, a silver mining entrepreneur, built the adobe shack in 1858 when he found silver near the San Pedro River. After just two years of operatio...
Jun 28, 2024•29 min
Happy National Oklahoma Day! This week, Melissa tells the legends of two of Oklahoma's most elusive and mysterious cryptids. Are they merely legends or is there real evidence to prove their existence?! The Oklahoma Octopus is said to reside deep within three of Oklahoma's lakes, namely Tenkiller Lake and grasp at unsuspecting swimmers with its mega tentacles. Aren't you excited for summer water sports? In addition to the horse-sized Octopus, Oklahoma is the home of the Boggy Bottom Monster, said...
Jun 07, 2024•36 min
It's Weirdster weekend! Happy National Utah Day! You know that means Melissa has a haunted story for you coming from the Beehive state! Apparently, Salt Lake City has many haunted spots which really makes you wonder, what's going on there?! The place we're diving into today is, a very old and now very paranormally active military fort, Fort Douglas. The first volunteer troops came to Fort Douglas in 1862 to keep an eye on those troublesome Mormons that were threatening to the government. The con...
May 31, 2024•23 min
It's National Wyoming Day! Happy Weirdster weekend, Weirdsters! This week, Melissa's husband, Ryan, gets to hear all about the crazy story of the Bartlett family. Polly Bartlett and her father, Stephen travelled in their covered wagon to the booming mine town of South Pass City, Wyoming around 1867. With only a bouncing bosom, a vial of arsenic and a dream, they built the Bartlett Inn on the outskirts of town. Polly was very popular with the working and traveling men, but oddly enough, some of t...
May 24, 2024•1 hr 10 min
Billy done effed up and so did we! We recorded this together, but Stef's audio didn't save. That pretty much sums up our week. So, here's Melissa telling you the story of William aka Billy Gohl, aka the Ghoul of Gray's Harbor in a way that makes her sound like she's maniacally talking to herself and again, that pretty much checks out! Billy Ghoul, I mean Gohl, moved to Aberdeen, Washington in the early 1900's and quickly became a powerful force of the Sailor's Union on Gray's Harbor. When bodies...
May 09, 2024•42 min
The battle of Little Big Horn, otherwise known as Custer's Last Stand, was fought in the summer of 1876 in the rolling hills, and sharp bluffs of Montana. Before the fateful day of what is probably the US Army's most humiliating loss to date, tensions had risen between the Lakota Souix tribes and the government due to disagreements over land. After hastily approaching the Souix camp, Custer's cavalry was outnumbered and quickly overwhelmed, leading to 268 brutal deaths of US soldiers. Today, the...
May 02, 2024•27 min
Look out, it's the one-eyed, one-horned, swimming, orange people slayer! The Miniwashitu of North Dakota lives in the depths of the Missouri River and emerges in the spring along with the sun, breaking up the ice that clogs the waterway. But, whatever you do, do NOT look at it, for its mere ugliness will render you blind, insane and....dead. The lakes of North Dakota aren't safe either, because the serpent creature of Devils Lake is said to have killed many a man in its reign of the water. AND, ...
Apr 18, 2024•1 hr 3 min
If you're looking for some weird, mind-bending stories, listen to this! You've probably heard of Skinwalker Ranch in Utah, but have you heard of Clearview Ranch in Colorado? Some have called it, "The Close Encounter Capital of the US". There was plenty of strangeness afoot on this ranch in the mid 1970's and the activity continues to this day. Mysterious cattle mutilations, humming noises, disembodied robotic voices, flying saucers, disappearing glowing boxes, an actual encounter with extra-terr...
Apr 12, 2024•39 min
It's Weirdster Weekend! With a special guest, Melissa's husband who is delighted to hear a scary story for National Nebraska Day! We're continuing our quest to cover a story for each state in the US on their National Day. This one is a request from our friends at Roundtable Mindset Podcast to honor their home state. Seven Sisters Road near Nebraska City is known to be one of the most haunted roads in America with a sinister story. It's claimed that the spirits of seven sad sisters haunt this roa...
Apr 05, 2024•1 hr
This week, Melissa tells the chilling story of a place that some people call “the world’s most haunted amusement park”, Lake Shawnee Amusement Park in West Virginia. Unknowingly built on an ancient indigenous burial site, it also was the scene of a horrific child massacre in the 1700’s, and the tragedies piled up from there. Approximately six more tragic deaths occurred at the park during its run in the mid 20th century before finally shutting down in 1967. Many paranormal enthusiasts flock to t...
Mar 21, 2024•28 min
We were so lucky to be able to speak with Lashanda, the daughter of Beth Ann Ricketts. If you haven't yet listened to our episode on the case Beth Ann Ricketts, who went missing in December of 1997, we encourage you to do that first! Lashanda gives us some enlightening additional details to the case and the events that led up to her mother's disappearance, as well as the aftermath. We talk about how the case was mishandled from the beginning, how Lashanda was able to reignite interest in her mom...
Mar 14, 2024•1 hr 4 min
Happy National Oregon Day! Today, we're talking about some fascinating creatures of legend that evolved from the logging industry in Oregon. There are actually so many mysterious creatures of the dense woods that terrified loggers, Melissa had to narrow it down to only four! The Gumberoo (sounds fun right...it's not), the Splinter Cat, The Ball-Tailed Cat (Ding-Baul), and the Whirling Whimpus. Logging is a terribly dangerous job and there are so many ways the forest can kill you, but did it ever...
Mar 07, 2024•1 hr 4 min
Happy Minnesota Day! This week, Melissa tells the story of the historic Palmer House Hotel in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. The original building on the property was built in the 1800's as a hotel, saloon and brothel for the small town, but when it was destroyed by fire in 1900, a new and modern hotel was built to replace it. Over 120 years of guests, balls, parties and more have made this place a hot spot for resident spirits and ghostly passersby. Poltergeist activity, apparitions, mists, sounds of ...
Feb 29, 2024•23 min
We all know the movie trope of dastardly deeds done in the desert. The isolated areas, sparse population and harsh conditions unfortunately do make the deserts of the US a common dumping ground for murder victims. Beddie Walraven was a young woman, a "nice country girl" from Texas who went missing in 1946 after moving to California with her lover, Terrence Mabry. She was considered a missing person for 65 years until a serendipitous series of events led to the discovery of her remains that had b...
Feb 22, 2024•59 min
Happy National Wisconsin Day! Guess it's a thing now! This week we're celebrating the weirdness of Wisconsin by telling the story of Summerwind Mansion on West Bay Lake in Land O' Lakes, Wisconsin. Built in the early 1900's, some believe that the home was destined to curse those who owned it and lived in it from the time it was constructed, or even before. The apparition of a man was reported by the original owner, and it only got stranger from there. One owner seemed to become possessed and ove...
Feb 15, 2024•23 min
Happy National Iowa Day! Melissa is sharing the love for Iowa with a special short episode about one of the most haunted places in our state, Edinburgh Manor. Known worldwide for its paranormal activity, investigators and the paranormally curious flock to Scotch Grove, Iowa to experience the vibrations of Edinburgh Manor. Built in 1912 on the land of a previous 1800s poor farm, Edinburgh Manor served residents in need of housing and health care until closing its doors in 2010. Very quickly, the ...
Feb 08, 2024•22 min
Madame Delphine LaLaurie was a well-known socialite of New Orleans in the early 1800's. Wealthy, charming, a wife and mother, hostess of lavish dinner parties. But, when a fire broke out at the LaLaurie home in 1834, a horrific scene was discovered. A secret the madame had been keeping behind closed doors. A shocking secret of violence, torture, neglect, and murder. The citizens of New Orleans were horrified and turned feral with rage at what they had learned. The site of the LaLaurie mansion ha...
Feb 01, 2024•1 hr 9 min
It's National Florida Day so we're kicking off our first mini-sode...Meli-nisode? We can't decide what to call it, with the mysterious architectural enigma that is Coral Castle in Homestead, Florida. Built by Latvian immigrant, Ed Leedskalnin, the castle and its surrounding structures are made of giant slabs of limestone, each weighing several tons. It took 28 years for little ol' Ed to build each structure, completely by himself but...how? The process he used is still basically a mystery, but h...
Jan 25, 2024•21 min
The legend of the Moon-Eyed people of the southern Appalachian Mountain region is a fascinating one! Many origin tales of the moon eyed people exist, are they humans of Welsh descent? Elemental spiritual beings? Trolls? They've been described as 18-36 inches tall, having extremely white skin and hair, and perhaps the most baffling, only able to see at night during the moon's waxing and waning phases. Stories of "moon people" are also told by elders of the Cherokee Nation and have a similar descr...
Jan 18, 2024•54 min
Wow! We just want to thank our listeners, our Weirdsters, so much for listening! We've made it one year and brought you 50 episodes! Holy macaroni! Speaking of pasta, it's National Spaghetti Day so we're bringing you the story of Philly's most infamous murderous crime ring that all (sort of) began with a spaghetti salesman and ended with poisoned spaghetti. Full circle. Cousins, Herman and Paul Petrillo were Italian immigrants living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the 1930's. When the great de...
Jan 04, 2024•1 hr 14 min
This week we're heading to the Swiss Alps to talk about the Barbegazi! No, not the illuminati of your neighborhood Barbs, but alpine gnomes who thrive in the freezing cold of the mountain tops. With beards of ice and giant ski feet, the Barbegazi shred the snow and will even warn unsuspecting humans of impending avalanches. Then, move over Krampus, because there's a new (actually super old) bad boy in town...Schmutzli! He's Saint Nicholas' sinister sidekick who carries a whip and stuffs disobedi...
Dec 21, 2023•56 min
The morning of December 22nd, 1997 was the last time anyone in Beth Ann Ricketts' family saw her. The 31 year old mother of two went missing after going to breakfast with her then boyfriend/fiance, Bill Halterman. Despite some very suspicious circumstances and having a person of interest, police have been unable to locate Beth, or find out what may have happened to her. Beth's family believes she was met with foul play, perhaps at the hands of her boyfriend, but no evidence has been found. The c...
Dec 14, 2023•1 hr 2 min
Bundle up! We're heading to the arctic (not really) to learn of some creatures of Inuit legends that haunt and hunt way up North (def not Santa or Rudolph). These stories tell of spirits, demons and serpent creatures that you definitely don't want to meet should you find yourself on the frozen tundra. The shape-shifting Ijiraq may disorient you and steal your children, the Mahaha will be Mahaha-ing all the way through tickling you to death with its icy claws, and the Pal-Rai-Yuk's favorite thing...
Dec 07, 2023•1 hr 1 min
Stef says it's Elf season, but Melissa says it's Goblin Season! Today we talk about a very strange incident that occurred near Hopkinsville, Kentucky in 1955. "Little Green Men", actually silver, metallic creatures descended upon a farmhouse and proceeded to attack the home with its 11 inhabitants inside. The barrage of beings continued on for over four hours until the family was able to escape. Many UFO sightings were reported both before and after the alleged attack. The descriptions of the "l...
Dec 02, 2023•1 hr 11 min
We've got a special 40th birthday request! The story of the Bender Family from 1870's frontier Kansas. America's most murderous family. Four mysterious characters rode into the town of Labette, Kansas and set up their "inn" business that would end up being the last place many people ever stayed. Kate Bender, touting herself as a medium and spiritualist, was able to bring in a steady stream of customers to manipulate into handing over their money. When that wasn't enough, the whole family got inv...
Nov 23, 2023•1 hr 14 min
Karyn Kupcinet was a beautiful budding Hollywood actress who had already made a name for herself in both TV and movies in the 1950's and early 1960's. Thanksgiving Eve of 1963 was the last time Karyn was seen alive, as her body was discovered in her apartment three days later with evidence of being strangled. Several persons of interest were questioned in the murder, including her recent ex-boyfriend, fellow actor, Andrew Prine. So many questions still hang in the air in this cold case. Contradi...
Nov 16, 2023•1 hr 10 min
Today we're discussing the event that still holds the unfortunate title of deadliest sports disaster in United States History. On Thanksgiving Day in 1900, Stanford and University of California football fans gathered for the "Big Game". Thousands of fans packed into the arena and more in, on and around the surrounding buildings to catch a glimpse of the players. The tragedy that occurred just 20 minutes after kickoff was shocking, leaving 22 dead and 100 or more injured. The question after the c...
Nov 02, 2023•1 hr 1 min
Continuing on with our of inspo for horror movies, we're talking about the inspiration for the movie that terrified generations, The Hills Have Eyes. The legend that inspired the gruesome tale of a mutant, feral cannibal family was an old Scottish legend, the legend of Sawney Bean. Sawney and his family lived in an isolated cave in Galloway, Scotland, and lived for 25 years without seeing civilized society. They made it their family legacy to hunt down and kill unsuspecting passersby, but what t...
Oct 26, 2023•1 hr 5 min
Bathrooms are a hell scape of portals. Toilets, drains, mirrors...it's no wonder there are so many spirits who reside there! We all know Bloody Mary but, have you heard of the Japanese bathroom ghosts? We're talking about Hanako-San, Aka-Manto, Kashima-Reiko and our favorite little scum licker, Akaname. Some of these spirits have terrifying pasts and are now hiding in restrooms, just waiting to pull you into the underworld via the toilet...or worse! Check those stalls before entering and for eff...
Oct 19, 2023•1 hr 3 min
We're deep into scary season and it's making us nostalgic for old horror movies! But, did you know some of your favorite classic horror movies were inspired by true events? Today, we're talking about the true and mysterious events that inspired the movie, Nightmare on Elm Street. It seems unbelievable but there was an actual syndrome affecting a certain population called "nightmare death", among other names. The syndrome was so mysterious, many people, even some doctors, theorized that horrible ...
Oct 12, 2023•1 hr 7 min
