Pew pew pew, Give us your airhorn sound effects 'cause it's our 100th episode cuties!! We have loved this wild ride so far, and wanted to do something a little different for our 2 year celebration! We've come a long way baby, and yes that's from a cigarette commercial, but I stand by it. 90's child forever. We try our hand at guessing top 10 lists, read a listener story, and reflect on the haunted things, highs and lows, and thank yous for two very great years of podcasting. Much love to our Ill...
Apr 21, 2023•2 hr 13 min
It's just a jump to the left, and then a step to the right. Put your hands on your hips, and bring your knees in tight...... This ep is brought to you by Kelsey's love of the Rocky Horror Picture Show! We revisit a fun topic with some more eerie and strange tales of people unknowingly wandering into a time slip, or time warp if you prefer. Kelsey takes a deep dive into the Ghosts of Versailles, also known as the Moberly-Jourdain Incident. Then, Alanna shares a listicle of bizarre stories and a u...
Apr 14, 2023•2 hr 13 min
Spies, intrigue and forgeries, oh my! You're gonna Juan-a hear the whole story of super-spy Juan Pujol Garcia. He worked his butt off to build a spy ring, operated as a double-agent, spied on multiple sides of multiple conflicts, and was an early example of an expert at fake news. Once called "the best actor in the world", come find out what all his secret agent names were and tell us your favorite! RIP Agent Spoon.... We stick around WWII to tell the tale of the 588th Bomber Regiment in Soviet ...
Apr 07, 2023•2 hr 2 min
Hello castle lovers everywhere, we see you and we love you. This week we earn our namesake and bring you some of the coolest and creepiest we could find. Kelsey shares three castles that she would love to visit.... during the day, not at night, because they are still haunted. Alanna takes us to Scotland, surprise, surprise, for a pair of famous castles that have very interesting histories. We hope you enjoy and we will catch up with you all next week, till then keep it cryptic everybody. Tags: H...
Mar 31, 2023•1 hr 53 min
Medical malpractice, malicious intent, negligence and straight up murder, we cover it all in this weeks episode. Alanna switches things up and goes first with a listicle of scary nightmare inducing medical accidents?? that have resulted is quite a number of lawsuits. We cut the list in two, so join our patreon to hear the rest (you know you wanna). Kelsey closes out the episode with the story of an "angel of death" nurse; btw we both hate that name. With dozens of patients killed in a little ove...
Mar 24, 2023•1 hr 33 min
Leprechauns! So much more than just a 90's movie starring Warwick Davis and Jennifer Aniston. What do you know about the mythical little men? Why the hell do they keep their gold at the end of the rainbow?? And what about some of those other little mythical dudes that are leprechaun-adjacent? Kelsey kicks it off with answers to these questions, and teaches us about the origins of St. Patrick's day too! It's edutainment at it's finest. To close it out, Alanna goes over some of the Irish folklore ...
Mar 17, 2023•2 hr 1 min
Our international true crime series continues this week as we dive into 2 ( or maybe even 3) cases of murder in Scotland. First, Kelsey shares the extremely angering World's End Murders, the tragic death of 2 girls at the hands of a man who had a shockingly long wrap sheet. We discuss what role bad character evidence and the laws of double jeopardy play at trial, and how there may always be exceptions to a rule. Alanna closes out the ep with a massacre from medieval times that will give you tota...
Mar 10, 2023•1 hr 59 min
Hi and Hej hej(hey hey)! It's time for Swedish folklore, let's gooo!! We've barely grazed the surface on any Scandinavian or Norse mythology, so for this one, we're keeping it simpler with tales straight outta Sweden. From the Aurora borealis and its associations, to the Lindworm/Lindwurm-um, yikes, to the Vittra, we've got something almost from A-Z! Kelsey takes on the Lindwurm, a fearsome beast from below that is sure to remind you of one movie or another, and all it's other incarnations. Foll...
Mar 03, 2023•2 hr 15 min
This week we explored two very different cases of arson. Kelsey covers the Pillow Pyro, who set dozens of fires in fabric stores that ultimately led to the deaths of four people. The case becomes even more complicated when the culprit attempts to profit from the fires by blurring the line between fact and fiction. Alanna shares the story of a devastating fire at The Happy Land Club. With a single staircase as the only exit, unsuspecting partiers were left fighting for their lives against the fla...
Feb 24, 2023•1 hr 58 min
We wouldn't be who we are today without cryptid stories!! This time we rounded up some kooky, weird and claw-some creatures that can be found in rather chilly climates. Kelsey brings the gnome-guys home with the Barbegazi, who give off some Hobbit vibes and are found in France and Switzerland. Then the Nisse, aka the Tomte, who are a cryptid of many names! Not to be confused with Nessie, slightly different! think more helpful on the farm....less plesiosaur. To top it off, Alanna had to highlight...
Feb 17, 2023•2 hr 4 min
Welcome to part 2 of our hostage crisis episodes. This week Alanna takes a deep dive into the origins of the term Stockholm Syndrome. What starts as a bizarre bank robbery transitions into a hard situation for police to handle when hostages begin to take the side of the criminals. Is it a real thing, or has the term been applied a few too many times? We discuss this and more in the exciting conclusion for one of our wildest ep topics yet. Happy listening! Tags: Stockholm, Stockholm Syndrome, Sto...
Feb 10, 2023•2 hr 6 min
Have you heard about the hostage situation that took place in 1988 in Gladbeck, Germany? If not, buckle up, you are in for a very wild ride! One that the hostages could probably never have imagined finding themselves in. The criminals attempt to rob a branch of the Deutsch bank in Gladbeck, North-Rhine Westphalia, and the resulting run from the bank turns into sort of a mashup of Speed meets Taken...only there's no Liam Neeson in sight to save them. Tragic and terrifying, the situation played ou...
Feb 03, 2023•1 hr 47 min
We are seeing double this week as we cover two cases of very strangely behaved twins. Kelsey covers the Spahalski twins, Stephen & Robert, who seem to share more than just genes with each other. Then, Alanna walks us through the bizarre story of Ursula & Sabina Eriksson, who suddenly began acting strange and caused a huge scene on a highway, before one of them eventually murdered someone. At what point does twin telepathy go too far, and can one twin's illness or murderous impulses be ca...
Jan 27, 2023•2 hr 5 min
This week we time travel back to the 1800's to bring you some vintage crimes, all in honor of Kelsey's birthday! This one goes out to all the Capricorns out there! For Kelsey's birthday wish she covered H.H. Holmes, a murderer wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in a lot of misleading media coverage. But of course, when you use names like the Murder Hotel or Holmes Horror Castle, things are bound to get blown out of proportion.. so how well do you really know Herman Webster Mudgett? We step forward in...
Jan 20, 2023•2 hr 46 min
Welcome back all our loyal listeners, and happy Friday the 13th! We are kicking this year off with a fun ep filled with numbers and different superstitions surrounding them. Kelsey takes a deep dive into the history behind friggatriskaidekaphobia, or the fear of Friday the 13th. Then, Alanna shares the good numbers and bad numbers from cultures all around the world. Which ones are good luck and which ones are a bad omen, listen to find out. Happy new year, and keep it cryptic! We have become Bir...
Jan 13, 2023•1 hr 58 min
Happy Holidays cryptic cuties! Our very special gift to you is an ep all about Christmas Traditions from around the world. We hope you have been good this year, or else the subject of Kelsey's segment might pay you a visit. If you live in Europe you may know all about this frightening figure, he brings beatings to misbehaving children, or may even take them back to his lair to eat later. Alanna closes out the last ep of 2022 with two interesting Yule Witches, Frau Perchta and Befana, neither one...
Dec 23, 2022•2 hr 4 min
Life imitates art, they say, so it's no surprise that some crimes cases actually have twist endings or red herrings. Sometimes we just really have no idea what's going on, onscreen or in our own home...Or who to suspect. Kelsey takes on the crazy case of Daniel LaPlante and his reign of terror in Massachusetts. He was an unlikely suspect for committing such a crime spree, and proved to be more evasive than anyone had guessed. To cap it off we have another brutal attack with the story of Ryan Wal...
Dec 16, 2022•2 hr 23 min
This week we revisit one of our most popular international true crime ep countries, Japan. Focusing on folklore and urban legends this time, we explore just a tiny amount of Japan's rich and very long history. Kelsey reads a small collection of popular folktales, with some of the variations slowly becoming more and more bizarre (be warned that a clam wife may pee clam juice in your bean soup). Then, Alanna shares a variety of urban legends popular with the more superstitious Japanese residents. ...
Dec 09, 2022•2 hr 15 min
If you've ever driven, well anywhere, you've probably had an experience with some form of road rage. Whether yours, or someone else's perhaps. It's okay, you can tell us! but what about the times when some driver takes it too far, from confrontational to criminal? Kenneth Noye went from a petty criminal to not-so-petty criminal pretty quickly in life, so it's not a stretch to say he probably had a quick fuse as well. One day in beautiful England, Stephen Cameron was on his way to get some snacks...
Dec 02, 2022•2 hr 22 min
This week we took a deepest deep dive into just a few of the strangest things found in the ocean (and some of them not yet found). Kelsey guides us on a tour of the Yonaguni Monument; a huge underwater sandstone structure with unknown origins. Is it man made, or a slow erosion of rock over thousands of years? It very well may be a bit of both, check out the pictures on the website and decide for yourself. Then, Alanna shares the story behind The Bloop, an extremely loud sound heard from points t...
Nov 25, 2022•2 hr 6 min
Hello cryptic cuties! Weee're baa-aack! This week we covered a covered a couple of cases under the loose theme of day of the dead/Mexico crimes, and we will say they turned out to be two very different crimes. Kelsey tells us the story of Digna Ochoa of Mexico, a former nun turned human rights lawyer and certified badass. She advocated all her life for those with less of a voice, all the while fighting off the threats from those who disapproved of her work. This tale highlights ongoing issues ev...
Nov 18, 2022•2 hr 12 min
Enjoy this formerly Patreon exclusive episode! We won't be releasing a new episode this week, until Kelsey is feeling well and has a voice! (Sorry for the switch!) Kelsey kicks it off with a double feature, first up is Philly's Phantom Bus to Nowhere. The bus appears to those who are a little lost in life, but once you are on it you cannot see the world outside the windows.....or who else was there.... This is followed up by the tale of the Bunnyman of Viriginia, which if you haven't heard of it...
Nov 04, 2022•2 hr
Let's take a haunted tour starting at the "Castles of the Rockies", the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. Located in Banff National Park, Alberta in a valley carved out by glaciers, this haunted hotel has a long history marred by a few unexpected deaths. Some spirits are super helpful and some seem straight out of The Shining, so take your pick! Next stop is Myrtles Plantation in Louisiana, which has a very violent past and tons of tragic deaths on site. No surprise some spirits stuck around after t...
Oct 28, 2022•1 hr 56 min
This weeks episode is sponsored by John Carpenter and Wes Craven, just kidding... For this ep we explore two cases of people who were involved in very unusual stabbings. Kelsey covers the story of the Papin sisters, who left behind a murder scene so disturbing, Alanna wishes she could erase it from her brain. Then, Alanna walks us through the mysterious stabbing of Robert Wone, a young man with a very bright future ahead of him. Why was the crime scene so strange? Why did even the first responde...
Oct 21, 2022•1 hr 53 min
The occult, cults, necromancy, necrophilia- ever wonder what these words mean that sound so similar? We've probably all heard them before but if you are like us, you might be curious to learn more- without ending up on a government watch list. Don't worry, we got you! We did all the searching for you so you never have to say necromancy when you rally mean necrophilia. Talk about a Freudian slip! Kelsey took us on a journey through the meaning of necromancy, what parts of this dark magic are misu...
Oct 14, 2022•2 hr 26 min
This week we bring two dark and creepy cases of murder which helped fuel the Satanic panic of the 1980's. Kelsey covers the Vampire Clan, run by 16 year old Rod or "Vesago" to his close friends. The Clan was responsible for the brutal killing of a couple and led to a manhunt that went across multiple state lines. Then, Alanna shares the case of the Fall River Murders, where three sex workers were killed in disturbing ways by a suspected cult. What was the true purpose of these violent and horrif...
Oct 07, 2022•2 hr 5 min
For this episode, we dive into some greek mythology, complete with a vast, complicated and incestuous family tree, full of betrayal and punishment. Kelsey shares the creation of the universe, then learn where everything came from, to how Prometheus created man and why Zeus was so pissed about it. Finishing off her segment, Kelsey tells the true story of the curse placed upon Medusa and how her violent death did not stop her powers. Then, Alanna covers some of the badass Greek goddesses; before f...
Sep 30, 2022•2 hr 12 min
This week we head across the world to India, where there are a lot of people, and thus there's bound to be quite a bit of crime. Kelsey regales us with a few fun facts about India before taking us on a dark and twisted road. It's a tale of a young man named Sharath with a love for fast bikes, a bright future, and a family who loved him. Their world would be turned upside down when he was kidnapped, and they likely never knew who to trust again after this heinous act. Trust no one..... Alanna cap...
Sep 23, 2022•2 hr 18 min
This week we invite you to join us on a journey to some cool and unique abandoned places around the world. Kelsey shares some places she would love to visit, from picturesque houses in Africa to a place of worship in Indonesia. All hail the chicken church! And a few that you may want to visit with a macabre fascination, such as a underground labyrinth of millions of bones and a disaster that left a whole city abandoned indefinitely. Alanna shares two abandoned WWll related places and their inter...
Sep 16, 2022•2 hr 49 min
This week we try to cover a lot of victims by covering the highest kill count serial killers we could find. Sound dark and also super sad? It certainly is. But it's odd how the few killers always seem to get the most coverage- Bundy, Dahmer(covered him:), Gein, etc. And of course they are horrible, but there are a few evil murderers that top them all, the ones that kill tens, or even hundreds, of innocent and undeserving victims. Canada doesn't have a ton of serial killers, we mostly have moose ...
Sep 09, 2022•3 hr 11 min
