Episode 49 - Chipita's Ghost
Are curses real, or are they only coincidence and suspicion? A look at beliefs about curses and their occurrence in local and state history.
Oct 31, 2021•37 min
The Nowhere Dispatch
This is a podcast about creepy, mysterious and dark stories from across the East Texas region and from the lives of myself and my friends. Enjoy.
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Episodes
Stories for the Haunting Hours
The witching hour is upon us once again, listeners. 2020 has been a frightful year and I haven't done much work on the podcast. But if I'm going to record at all, it's going to be the annual Halloween episode. Tune in to hear a few tales of the dark, morbid and macabre...Happy Halloween!
Oct 31, 2020•26 min
Episode 48 - Lights Above The Pines - East Texas UFOs
For hundreds of years, Texans have been reporting sightings of strange crafts and alien visitors across the Lone Star State. Some of the most incredible of these encounters have taken place right here in East Texas. Tune into this episode of the Dispatch to learn about mysterious sightings, unexplained aerial phenomena and otherworldly visitors here behind the Pine Curtain.
Aug 02, 2020•30 min
Episode 47 - Stories for the Dusk and Shadows
The time of spooks and shadows has descended upon nowhere once again, listeners. In this third installment of my spooky stories episodes, tune in to hear six tales of ghosts, mysterious figures and the morbid, fascinating burial and mourning traditions of the South. Just in time for Halloween, follow me across Texas and the South with these macabre stories to get you in the mood for the eeriest (and best) season of the year.
Nov 01, 2019•44 min
Episode 46 - Blood on the Pines - Infamous East Texas Murders
Murders leave a legacy. Even out here in the middle of nowhere, they leave echoes, reaching across time and through memory to haunt us. The stories of infamous murders are shared and shared again as a way of preserving the lives of those taken too soon, as a way of warning others and as a way of making sense of sudden tragedy. In this episode, I'll share with you stories of three infamous East Texas murders and the strange circumstances surrounding them. Tune in, and remember the stories of thos...
Oct 01, 2019•41 min
Episode 45 – Strange Medicine - Folk Magic in East Texas and the South
Some magic is born of necessity. Instead of a wand or staff, folks were more likely to use a forked twig or a piece of silverware. Instead of elaborate potions and elixirs, common people would use water, herbs and river stones. Instead of an ancient, leather-bound grimoire or tome, more people than you’d expect would look to the Holy Bible for spellwork. This magic is as real to the people who practice it as making a phone call or bandaging a paper cut is to you or me. It’s been practiced since ...
Aug 03, 2019•37 min
Episode 44 - From Midnight Until Dawn - Texas Executions
For more than 200 years, Texas has used the death penalty to punish its worst criminals and to dissuade others from committing similar crimes. From hemp rope and gallows poles to lethal injection, the Lone Star State has made history in this grim practice and now executes more prisoners than any other state in the country. The practice has changed over time and the process has never been as simple or straightforward as some might think. On this episode of the Dispatch, I'll tell you about the lo...
Jun 04, 2019•1 hr 3 min
Episode 43 - John Joe Gray and the Trinidad Standoff
In 1999, a man named John Joe Gray was arrested near Trinidad, Texas. He resisted arrest and was booked but never returned for his court date. He returned to his property and fortified it into a compound. What followed was the longest armed standoff in US history. Tune in it this episode of the Dispatch to learn about the standoff, Gray's allegiance to sovereign citizen and separatist groups and the state of the country then, and now, that leads to situations like this.
Apr 08, 2019•46 min
Episode 42 - Lavender Doe
In October 2006, the burning body of a young woman was found on an oil lease road in Kilgore, Texas. For the next 12 years, investigators, internet sleuths and police searched for her name, her identity and her killer. Progress was made but never fully realized...until very recently. Tune in to this episode of the Dispatch to learn about the tragic case of Lavender Doe and the amazing technology that may lead to her identification.
Feb 01, 2019•33 min
Episode 41 - The Regulator-Moderator War, Part 2 - Texas Yell
It's the early 1840s in East Texas and a gang of gun-toting outlaws have taken over Shelby County. Led by a violent, bloodthirsty colonel, the band does as they please and punishes all who oppose them. The penalty for opposing Regulator rule is death and their only enemy, the Moderators, have been driven underground. But, as so often happens, corruption and power soon reach their limits. In a story populated by characters, both wicked and wretched, who could only be found on the bloodstained pag...
Jan 03, 2019•1 hr 6 min
Episode 40 - The Regulator-Moderator War, Part 1 - Neutral Ground
Land feuds are among the oldest conflict known to mankind. The right to say "I am in charge here" is not earned easily. It is often bought with blood and tears. In the 1800s, there was a piece of land in Texas called the Neutral Ground. After Texas became a state, the name faded away, but its legacy remained. A place where bandits and bad men hid out and preyed on settlers, this dark place among the pines was fierce and untamed. Some men rose up and tried to settle it but they were carried away ...
Dec 01, 2018•38 min
Episode 39 - Stories for the Waning Year
That time of year has arrived again...when time begins to slow and things get quiet. Leaves die and fall, the air gains a sharp edge and our thoughts turn to old stories, the spookier the better. Last year, my friend Ashley and I read you some eerie stories to ring in our favorite holiday, Halloween. We had so much fun we decided to do it again. As the year wanes, we feel the urge to settle our bones into a good chair and share a ghost story or two...we hope you'll join us for a tale, nowhere wa...
Oct 29, 2018•35 min
Episode 38 - Piney Woods Phenomena
There is something about the land out here. Strange things happen without explanation and then fade away, sealed by time and fading memories. But the scars on the land remain. A freak windstorm that came from nowhere. A mysterious blackout that plunged and entire town into darkness. Fires that burned vast stretches of prairie and forest alike. The phenomena of the Piney Woods are unique and strange. Listen in and learn about the way nature takes its course in this part of the world.
Oct 15, 2018•26 min
Episode 37 - The Texarkana Moonlight Murders
In 1946, a mysterious wave of serial homicides fell upon the East Texas border town of Texarkana. Violence was not unknown in the town but this was something different. Young couples enjoying the moonlight on lover's lanes were being gunned down by an unknown assailant who stalked the backroads and shadowy places in the Piney Woods. To this day, no one has ever been convicted for the Texarkana Moonlight Murders and the Phantom who committed these hideous acts has never been definitively identifi...
Sep 30, 2018•1 hr 23 min
Episode 36 - La Mala Cosa
When you look into the woods...what looks back at you?Is there something out there, stalking through the pines? Since the beginning of history, mankind has given many names to a specific kind of beast that waits in the woods. The wild man. Sasquatch. Bigfoot.But there are other names. Names you might not know. Some of them come from right here, in my part of the world.I'll tell you all about them in this episode. Consider it my own personal take on one of the most famous cryptid legends in exist...
Aug 27, 2018•27 min
Episode 35 - The Church of Wells
When people hear the word "cult", they tend to think of doomsday groups or splinters of major religions, operating off the beaten path in secrecy and at the fringes of society. In reality, a cult is just a small group of like-minded people who sometimes twist holy scriptures to suit their own vision. One such group can be found right here in East Texas. I'm not here to say if the Church of Wells is or isn't a cult. There's no mistaking the fact many others have called them such over the years. I...
Jul 30, 2018•28 min
Episode 34 - The Bragg Road Ghost Lights/The Light of Saratoga
Just at the edge of the county line, at the edge of your thoughts, awaits a legend. All legends are true, I think, and they only become more real with each telling. Stories live and grow through the ways we share them. This is the way that myths, folk tales and legends are born.I went on a trip to visit a legendary place not far from me. The famous Bragg Road, also known as the Ghost Road in Hardin County. I didn't see the ghostly lights that some claim haunt the road, but I learned a lot about ...
Jul 09, 2018•20 min
Episode 33 - Rebel McMahon
Nearly 20 years ago, a 3-year-old boy named Rebel McMahon was murdered by his mother in a small East Texas town. Although his mother was arrested and sentenced to prison, young Rebel's case never received much coverage in the media. His mother was an unstable criminal who should never have gotten the chance to do this evil deed, so why did it happen? Why did this case fade away? A reporter named Jay Arrington contacted me and I conducted an interview with him to find out just what happened to th...
Apr 18, 2018•38 min
Episode 32 - The Dalton Gang
At the close of the 19th century, things were changing in the Old West. Roving bands of outlaws were still carrying out stickup robberies and train heists, but their days were numbered. One of the last and most infamous of the Old West robber gangs to terrorize the frontier was the Dalton Gang. This infamous band of outlaws went through numerous configurations but their legacy was sure to last through the years to come, like an echo from a gun blast on the empty prairie. Tune in to learn about t...
Feb 17, 2018•37 min
Episode 31 - The Lufkin Angel Of Death
There are many types of killers and good reasons to fear them all. Some kill as the result of an obsession, some kill for revenge, others seem to have no motive at all. One of the most disturbing types of serial murderers is the angel of death, a healthcare worker who uses their medical knowledge and access to patients to carry out a murder spree. Believe it or not, just such a case happened in Lufkin, Texas only a few years ago. Tune in to this episode to find out how one woman in a small East ...
Jan 06, 2018•37 min
Episode 30 - East Texas Cannibals
Few things are as terrifying or taboo as cannibalism. What drives people to commit this unthinkable act? There are many reasons why people have resorted to cannibalism throughout history. Some were members of cultures which viewed the act as a ritual while others became focused on this act of depravity as the result of a criminal fascination. Whatever the case, there have been acts of cannibalism practiced in East Texas going back hundreds of years. Tune in to take a closer look at humanity's ol...
Nov 19, 2017•21 min
Episode 29 - Stories For The Thinning Of The Veil
As we step deeper into autumn, some say that the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead becomes thin, allowing communication with ghostly spectres and otherworldy beings. Whether or not you believe this is true, the feeling of the fall season lends itself well to stories of the macabre, the morbid and the downright spooky. Join me and my friend Ashley, nowhere wanderers, and we'll share some eerie Texas tales with you in this episode, just in time for the leaves to die an...
Nov 04, 2017•29 min
Episode 28 - Shadows In Athens
Some towns aren't quite like the others. You could say that about Athens, Texas. The tunnels beneath the streets, the monkeys that murder...there's a lot of stories about this town. Follow me into nowhere as I discuss some of the secrets of this strange little town in East Texas.
Oct 20, 2017•24 min
Episode 27 - Ken's Apparitions
Welcome back to the Nowhere Dispatch. In this episode, I sit down with my friend Ken as he tells me about some paranormal encounters he had in his past. These types of stories always fascinate me because they seem so strange, yet to those who experience them, their reality is unshakeable. Science tells us that such things are not possible but it is not so easy to hold fast to this belief in the face of a personal experience. Tune in to hear Ken relate some truly remarkable experiences with other...
Sep 22, 2017•19 min
Episode 26 - Kristiana Coignard
On January 22, 2015, Kristiana Coignard lost her life after an encounter with the Longview Police Department. This case caught international attention as it occurred in the midst of a series of high-profile shootings of civilians by police officers. In this episode, I will tell you the story of how Kristiana lost her life and how I hope we can move forward.
Sep 08, 2017•29 min
Episode 25 - The Texas Killing Fields Part 2
In this conclusion to the two-part series on the Texas Killing Fields, I try to relate some finality in these tragic cases. While many of the cases remain unsolved, a few have found a resolution of sorts. Several people confessed to multiple Killing Fields murders and some were more believable than others. Finally, arrests have been made in a few cases, bringing justice to the victims and their families. Tune in to find out about the resolution of some of these cases.
Aug 22, 2017•21 min
Episode 24 - The Texas Killing Fields Part 1
For over thirty years, bodies have been appearing in a lonely stretch of land by the side of Interstate 45. Who is responsible for these heinous murders? Follow along with this 2-part episode as I examine the facts of the Texas Killing Fields, one of the most outstanding unsolved murder cases in the state of Texas.
Aug 19, 2017•19 min
Episode 23 – The Backwoods Illuminati
On this episode of The Nowhere Dispatch, I explore a few of the allegedly Illuminati-linked conspiracy theories that have ties to East Texas. While I can't prove the veracity of these theories, as is usually the case with conspiracies, I still enjoy taking a close look at them. I hope you do as well, so tune in to find out more about traces of the Illuminati here in the Piney Woods
Aug 04, 2017•14 min
Episode 22 - The Michael Ray Phillips Cold Case
In January of 1989, a police officer found the body of a young man in a creek in Lufkin, TX. The cause of death was determined but, other than one gruesome detail, little evidence was uncovered. The most likely suspect escaped justice due to a lack of evidence and today, 28 years, later, the murder of Michael Phillips remains unsolved. Did the real killer get away with murder? Or is the culprit still at large? Follow me into nowhere as we take a look at the cold case of a young man from the midd...
Jul 21, 2017•18 min
Episode 21 - East Texas Cryptids
Have you ever heard a mysterious sound in the woods on a camping trip? Perhaps you've seen a strange animal dart across a lonely country road late at night, silhouetted by your headlights. You just may have stumbled across a cryptid, nowhere wanderer. Many people are fascinated by tales of mystical, fantastic beasts and the legends that surround them. Join me and my guest co-host as we talk about three of the most interesting cryptids from right here in the Piney Woods.
Jul 07, 2017•32 min
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