Time for some fun fiends! This week we telling you true tales that we were inspired to find by Goosebumps novels! These are not the stories RL Stein based his work on but they are similar and the exercise took us on quite the wild ride. Leslie takes on "Piano Lessons Can Be Murder" with the mysterious and multilayered case of the murder of Darlene Sitler. Holly was inspired by "Say Cheese and Die" to share with us a true ghost story from the Myrtles Plantation in St. Francis Louisiana. Holly can...
Feb 23, 2022•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 102
It's our 100th episode and you picked this absolute beast of a topic! Kurt Cobain, the iconic and ephemeral alternative rock deity meant and continues to mean a great deal to a great many people. As the front man of ground breaking nineties band Nirvana, Kurt changed the landscape of music. We have done our best to tell the emotionally complicated story of his misunderstood childhood, meteoric rise to fame and tragic death. Someone killed Kurt, whether that person existed within his own head or ...
Feb 15, 2022•1 hr 57 min•Ep. 101
It's our 100th episode and you picked this absolute beast of a topic! Kurt Cobain, the iconic and ephemeral alternative rock deity meant and continues to mean a great deal to a great many people. As the front man of ground breaking nineties band Nirvana, Kurt changed the landscape of music. We have done our best to tell the emotionally complicated story of his misunderstood childhood, meteoric rise to fame and tragic death. Someone killed Kurt, whether that person existed within his own head or ...
Feb 10, 2022•1 hr 51 min•Ep. 100
It's a Leslie Episode! In the early morning hours of December 3rd, 2016, police found an abandoned car with the keys left in the ignition on the Route 35 bridge, crossing the Shark River in Belmar, NJ. The car belonged to 19-year-old Sarah Stern, but she was no where to be found. Sarah Stern was a local, who was attending college nearby and planning to move to Canada to pursue an education and career in the arts. Unfortunately, with not much to go on, investigators feared that Sarah may have jum...
Feb 01, 2022•1 hr 47 min•Ep. 99
Once upon a time, there was a boy who lived in the rolling hills of Germany's Black Forest. For a time he had a charmed life, he lived in a huge manor house, he had many friends, a doting father and brothers who he looked up to and loved. Then one day, everything vanished, everything except the boy and the manor house, and the boy began to change. It seemed that everyone he loved wanted to leave him, and this frightened the boy, which would not do. The boy thought and thought and thought, and in...
Jan 25, 2022•1 hr 58 min•Ep. 98
R E Q U E S T! (we hope you sung that in your head to the tune of Respect by Aretha Franklin) You asked, we listened, this week we cover our first true missing persons case, the frustrating and yet unsolved disappearances of Brian Shaffer. On March 31, 2006 second year medical student at Ohio State University, Brian Shaffer, went out to celebrate the beginning of spring break with a few friends and was never seen again. In the span of just 4 minutes Brian seems to have evaporated into thin air, ...
Jan 18, 2022•1 hr 51 min•Ep. 97
On July 16th, 2011, a troubled 17 year old named Tyler Hadley managed to throw the house party of the year and every high school / college aged kid in Port St. Lucie Florida was talking about it. At this party, anything went. No rules, no restrictions, no parents, it was a teenage paradise, but one question remained, where were Tyler's parents? Tyler told anyone who asked that they had gone out of town, knowing full well that in reality, his parents had never left the house, and that nearly a hu...
Jan 11, 2022•2 hr 23 min•Ep. 96
Well fiends the Snowvid got us. To thank you for your patience while Leslie heals and we dig out from under the winter wonderland in our driveways, Holly put together this special bonus episode. Enjoy some of the best true crime shorts from "What the Friday". WWBD Merch Buy your WWBD swag here! Join the Conversation...
Jan 05, 2022•27 min
Gather 'round the fire fiends and let's bring back a time honored tradition...again! Christmastime ghost stories. Another episode perfect for a chilly and festive evening. Merry Christmas, fiends! WWBD Merch Buy your WWBD swag here! Join the Conversation...
Dec 25, 2021•1 hr 6 min
We’re back once again to ruin Christmas! This year we’ll explore the dark and fascinating origins of everyone favorite jolly gift giver, Santa Claus. We’ll explore where our modern Santa came from and meet his merry gang of elves, reindeer, monsters and ham babies. So mind your manners and be sure to watch out, Santa Claus is coming to town! Click to learn more Helpful hints for holiday family stress WWBD Merch Buy your WWBD swag here! Join the Conversation...
Dec 15, 2021•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 95
"People ask me all the time how I think of such dark stories every week. Well, I say, I just take any scenario and think of the worst possible outcome. It’s there if you want it, but you have to want it." This week we take a look at a crime that captured a nation. The murder of 6-year-old "beauty queen" (their words, not ours) JonBenét Ramsey. The murder that has dominated the covers of tabloid periodicals ever since the day it happened, all the way back in December of 1996. A beautiful, wealthy...
Dec 08, 2021•2 hr 23 min•Ep. 94
For most of us, our childhood home is a sacred place; it holds our memories, our daydreams, our secrets. It's a place where we learned and grew and discovered who we were. Your childhood home should radiate safety especially, around the holidays. It should be a place that appears in your dreams and photographs for the rest of your life. It should never be the scene of your worst nightmare come to life. That is, unfortunately, exactly what the Guy family of Knoxville, Tennessee, had to face. Just...
Nov 30, 2021•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 93
The holiday season has come upon us yet again, and to kick it off, we thought we would give you all a special treat. In Honor of this day of thanks we decided to hold the true crime and serve up a heaping helping of insanity. We hope you enjoy our recap of, what it is in our opinion, the best of the heartwarming holiday classics about a murderous turkey. Patrons have had access to this one for a whole year, but because it was so fun and so nuts we decided to give it to you all free of charge. Do...
Nov 23, 2021•45 min•Ep. 92
"The Wendigo lives in the most frightening of places, a place from which there is no escape. Once the Wendigo awakens, it tears through this place with unimaginable patience and force, creating a path of nightmares, and consuming everything it sees. It is a place so close and familiar, yet so mysterious and difficult to explore that only a fraction of it is known to humankind. " This week we explore North America's most famous folkloric monster, The Wendigo. We discuss it's human origins and the...
Nov 16, 2021•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 91
This week, Leslie gets her revenge by scaring the bejesus out of Holly with her worst fear: aliens abducting humans and probing them. On December 26th, 1985, at a secluded cabin in upstate NY, Whitley Strieber, his wife and son headed to bed early after a lovely day spent sledding and enjoying Christmas dinner leftovers. Hours later Whitley would wake up in the middle of the night and his whole life would change forever. Unfortunately, it would take weeks and months for him to remember what exac...
Nov 09, 2021•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 90
On November 13th 1974, in the quiet village on Amityville NY a horrible tragedy befell the residents of 112 Ocean Avenue. A tragedy that many would say set into action a dark presence that resides within that house to this day. In this live episode we tell the story of the DeFeo Family murders and Lutz family hauntings. We take a deep dive into the Amityville horror house and the events that inspired countless books, movies and documentaries. This is a live show so there will be noise from the c...
Nov 02, 2021•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 89
Halloween is right around the corner, and everyone is entitled to one good scare. This week we decided it was Leslie's turn, so Holly is bringing us all a tale of mysterious murder, a shadow figure, things that go bump in the night, and the most terrifying home invasion yet... all of Leslie's least favorites. We don't want to reveal any more in the description, as that would spoil the twists and turns that this story is famous for. Just listen, and maybe sleep with the light on. Happy Halloween!...
Oct 26, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 88
Hundreds of murdered girls. Bath tubs filled with blood. Torture, mutilation, cannibalism, and some of the most nightmarish imagery we have come across to date, this weeks tale has it all. Join us for a trip into war torn medieval Hungary where you will hear the story of perhaps the most prolific serial killer of all time, a woman who's obsession with youth and beauty was only outweighed by her lust for blood. Countess Erzsébet Báthory has inspired countless legends and tales including Bram Stok...
Oct 20, 2021•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 87
Time for a little spooky season fun, fiends! This week we tell you the terrifying true stories behind the classic horror films A Nightmare on Elm Street and Candyman. Hope you all sleep well tonight! Click to learn more Original Chicago Reader article WWBD Merch Buy your WWBD swag here! Join the Conversation...
Oct 12, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 86
On September 11th, 2021, 22-year-old Gabby Petito was reported missing. Photos, posters and desperate pleas to find the young blond-haired, blue-eyed traveler began to take social media by storm. Gabby had gone on a cross country road trip with her fiancé Brian Laundrie; Brian had returned from trip in her van, eleven days prior, alone. Even more confusing, he refused to speak to the police. As the whole world watched with bated breath, a strange story began to unfurl that ended in Gabby's death...
Oct 05, 2021•2 hr 44 min•Ep. 85
It’s a Leslie-sode and it is sure to spook ya. We are talking about hexes! On November 28th, 1928, Pennsylvania potato farmer Nelson Rehmeyer was accused of witchcraft (and wizardry) and subsequently murdered. Three men were suspected of the murder and happily confessed to the crime, believing they had broken a hex that had plagued their lives. Click to learn more Trials of Hex by J. Ross McGinnis (Amazon) Hex Hollow (Documentary on Amazon Prime) WWBD Merch Buy your WWBD swag here! Join the Conv...
Sep 28, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 84
This week's case is more like three cases in one, fiends. In 1928, Los Angeles county experienced a chilling string of disappearances. On March 10th,10 year old Walter Collins had gone to the movies with his friends and never came home. Then on May 16th the Winslow brothers aged then and twelve attended a meeting of their model boat club, they too never came home. Arriving on the heels of the grisly murder of Marion Parker, a ten year old local girl, these events sent the people of Los Angeles i...
Sep 21, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 83
On the morning of July 13th, 2011, Adam Shacknai walked across the courtyard of his brother's stately summer home in Coronado, California. Adam had been staying in the guest house and thought he might pop into the main residence in search of a cup of coffee. But before Adam could make it inside, he made a gruesome discovery. Hanging from a small second story balcony, completely nude, gagged and bound at the wrists and ankles, was his brother's girlfriend, 32 year old Rebecca Zahau. Join us as we...
Sep 14, 2021•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 82
In this campfire re-do Leslie tells the story of The Stratford Knockings, an eerie series of seemingly paranormal occurrences that happened at 1738 Elm Street in Stratford Connecticut. In 1848, the Reverend Phelps and his family move to 1738 Elm Street in the quaint New England town of Stratford, Connecticut. The Phelps family thought their biggest worry would be fitting in, but after an experimental night of holding a seance within their home, the Phelps had more than the neighbor boys to worry...
Sep 07, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 81
On December 8th, 1976, the crew of the hit televisions show The Six Million Dollar Man made a gruesome discovery. While shooting in a fun house in Long Beach, California, they accidentally broke the arm off an orange day glow dummy only to discover that is wasn't a dummy at all, it was the mummified remains of a human man. Through a fascinating forensic investigation, they would discover that this man was Elmer McCurdy, the worst train and bank robber in American history. Elmer's story is wild, ...
Aug 31, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 80
In 2016 a scandal came to light that rocked the world of elite women's gymnastics. Olympic United States National Team doctor Larry Nassar had been sexually abusing gymnasts during treatments for 29 years. What was worse, USAG was well aware of what had been going on, and had a thick file of predatory coaches they had failed to report over the years buried in a filing cabinet. This is a story of a group of extraordinary children who's safety and wellbeing was ignored for a great many years in ex...
Aug 24, 2021•2 hr 2 min•Ep. 79
Well fiends, this is an episode we sorely hoped we wouldn't have to do, but here we are. With the rise of swirling misinformation, the delta variant, back to school looming in the not so distant future and a large amount of unvaccinated citizens folded inconspicuously into the population, it's time once again, to talk about Covid-19. We brought back our doctor friends, Dr. Lisa Di Enno and Dr. Stephen McBride to answer all of your updated questions about Covid-19 and to give us some up to the mi...
Aug 18, 2021•1 hr 53 min•Ep. 78
Welcome to a sneak peek into our patrons only content, fiends! This week's episode is a bit of a diversion from our usual content. The episode starts with an opening written by all of you! We had so much fun in our Facebook group playing pass the scary story that we decided to bring our creation to life and give it the full opening treatment. Then Holly and Leslie attempt to summarize the movie Twilight in thirty heart pounding, hilarious, minutes. They both still have hives. We hope you enjoy t...
Aug 18, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 77
In the late summer of 2016, in Essex county New Jersey, women began showing up in abandoned houses, dead. These women had their faces covered eyes to chin in duct tape, they had been sexually assaulted, then strangled with an article of clothing and left to disappear into the ether. These crimes all had a direct but circumstantial trail back to a clean cut, twenty year old, orange county man named Khalil Wheeler-Weaver, but, his victims were sex workers who lived in the most depressed parts of t...
Aug 04, 2021•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 76
On Sunday June 5th 1960, at Finland's scenic Lake Bodom, the sun had risen at 4:04 AM. By 11:00 AM the heat of the day had already set in and carpenter Esko Johannson and his son were ready for a swim. While floating along happily the pair noticed something strange on the Lake's far shore. A tent appeared to be laying trampled on the ground. Esko went to investigate, and upon further inspection realized the the little campsite was soaked in blood and four bodies lay tangled in the fallen canvas ...
Jul 27, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 75
