¶ Welcome Back to Podcasting
I feel like I'm out of practice . You are Like . You know how they say doing things is like riding a bike . I really hope podcasting is like riding a bike .
You abandoned us last week . You need to apologize to our Wanderers .
How dare my personal life ? No , guys . I am sorry , though Sometimes we all crash out for a little bit . She needed it , but we're good . We're good , we're here . Hannah's going to take the lead , so I can hopefully regain my footing in podcasting .
I learned that when you're listening to the podcast that you're a host on and you're not on it , it's very hard , because I tried to respond during my listen through the podcast . Every time somebody mentioned anything about a cannibal , I was like thank God .
I wasn't there and so , like cousin Mark definitely was like why wasn't Courtney here we talked about cannibalism yeah , everybody knows how much I love cannibalism . Okay , Hi , I'm Hannah and I'm Courtney . Join us as we delve into true crime , paranormal encounters and all things spooky .
Grab your flashlight and get ready to wander into the darkness with us , Courtney . Join us as we delve into true crime , paranormal encounters and all things spooky . Grab your flashlight and get ready to wander into the darkness with us .
This is Wicked Wanderings . Hi Courtney , Hi Hannah , I'm so glad you're back .
I'm so glad to be back . We missed you .
You can't leave me with the guys ever again .
I missed you guys too , and honestly I really missed having a Kenzie in my lap . I did not miss the smells that come out of her , though she likes to fart guys .
I don't know why I've become her new safe place since we come out of her , though she likes to fart guys , I don't know why I've become her new safe place since we got rid of her original bed . Now all of a sudden on the podcast she's just like Courtney's lap . This is great .
So if you ever hear any weird sounds from my mic licking , sniffing , stomach noises it's either me or it's Kenzie .
Yeah , so I want to play a game , wanderers . I have
¶ Introduction to the Guessing Game
three different , not necessarily cases , but they're Ooh . The book I actually took them from was an Aaron Manke book . We love you , aaron Manke . We always say this . It's one of his lore books and it talks about humans being monsters . Yeah , well , and sometimes that happens . Some of us are With that .
I have three stories to tell , but I'm not going to tell you guys who it's about . Ooh , and I want Courtney to guess , and I also want Wanderers . I want you to guess . So if you need to pause and think , please do . I don't get to pause and think . This is a handicap for me .
And if you find out who this is before I finish , please text us and tell us , because I'm curious to know .
And at what point specifically you figured it out ?
What hint did I give that you were like I knew who this was or I knew what they were talking about .
Perfect , I'm so excited . Are you ready to go ? I am Okay .
I am going to start out with the quote that Aaron Menke leads with in his the World of Lore , his Wicked Mortals book , because I just think it's so fitting .
It's actually from john steinbeck , who's an author from his east of eden book , and it says , and here I am quoting I believe there are monsters born in the world to human parents , which I don't believe .
That it's a really eloquent way to put that . I believe so too . It's really a nice way to say people are assholes , let's set the stage for our first monster
¶ H.H. Holmes and the Murder Castle
.
I'm ready . January 17th , 1894 . Wedding bells are in the air . Georgiana was going to marry the man of her dreams . What she doesn't know yet is that this handsome stranger is already married to two women , and their witness is his mistress wow , man gets around who is this man ? let's give you some clues . You ready , I'm ready .
Born in new hampshire in 1861 , wealthy parents . His birth name is not the one he is known for , so it's a really good clue . He had no problem falsifying his identity , actually several times he showed a lot of problems as a child .
He ended up enrolling in medical school university of michigan , and with his fascination in corpses came some interesting hobbies , I don't know . He would take corpses from the medical lab , disfigure them . Then he would have them be discovered and seen as a terrible accident .
So then he would go to the insurance company with a policy to collect cash from his quote unquote deceased relatives oh God .
I can think of this guy's name , but I can't come up with it . Stop , really . Yes , I was just reading something not that long ago about him . You know , no , I'm not . I'm bad with names .
Okay , keep going his final one landed him twelve thousand five hundred dollars which back then was a lot of money it was a lot of money . He knew he was approaching getting caught so he abandoned med school and a wife and child .
In 1885 he settles in englewood south of chicago , marries again and he strikes up a business partnership with a woman , dr elizabeth holden , who owned a drugstore . After a couple years dr holden banishes , but not before signing over her business . Surprisingly , right when the law across from the drugstore was available , he had a bigger vision .
Hmm .
A hotel . I don't love it that they called the castle to house all the visitors for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition . Do you still think it's the same person , court ? No , the plans were only known to him .
He went through workers like crazy More than 500 carpenters and craftsmen because they would ask questions Too many questions that he just didn't want to answer .
Understandably so for the type of thing he was doing .
He moved his drugstore to the bottom floor and rented it to other businesses . He rented temporary living quarters to single young women .
Hmm , but they all went missing , huh .
If you wanted to be employed at the hotel it was required to have a $5,000 life insurance policy . A husband and wife with their daughter traveled to Chicago . The husband , ned , was a watchmaker and jeweler . He was hired right away . The wife was hired as well as a bookkeeper . So he actually ended up firing his bookkeeper just to have her .
She was a tall woman , nearly six foot , and he was fascinated by her . Ned knew that his wife was cheating with this gentleman that owned the hotel , but with the steady job job he pretended all was dandy until she was pregnant . Ned filed for divorce and left , leaving his ex and daughter , who soon got life insurance policies on them .
He informed her he would marry her if she got an abortion . She didn't want to , but she ended up complying . 18 , 1891 , julia and Pearl because Pearl was a daughter , julia was the new wife were never seen again . That same winter , a man named charles , who did odd jobs around the castle , was summoned to help with a peculiar project .
Apparently charles was skilled in articulating skeletons , which I didn't even know was a thing and how do you become skilled in that ? I don't know honestly I do not know . I had to look it up because I'm like articulating skeletons , but but I don't know . Honestly , I had more questions when I googled it than I do now .
He was brought to a second floor room where a woman's body lay skinned . He was paid $36 to strip the flesh and prepare the bones . The skeleton was sold to a Dr Pauling of Hanneman Medical medical college .
Dr pauling would look at the skeleton and marvel at how unusual it was to see a woman's skeleton almost six feet tall interesting because the wife was tall , so it was her do you still want to know . No , I don't this is so much fun . Okay . He was eventually caught in Boston , november 17th 1894 .
The castle was then named the murder house and was mysteriously gutted by fire , but not before police saw what was within , and this is only like a snapshot of what they found Trap doors , gas chambers , body shoots , crem , yikes , poisons , dissection table and a rack for stretching bodies .
May 7th 1896 , at moya mencing prison in philadelphia , he was hung by the neck , which snapped , but it took 15 minutes for him to die monster his final meal was boiled eggs , dry toast and a cup of coffee . You still don't know who this is I don't know who it is . He was then buried in an unmarked grave and holy cross cemetery per his request .
There was no autopsy and his body was buried in a coffin filled with cement . He was afraid of his body being dug up and coffin filled with cement . He was afraid of his body being dug up and used for science karma . He was afraid of exactly possible . Death toll was 200 victims .
And I'm gonna read his quote and here I am quoting I was born with the devil in me , he wrote . I could not help the fact that I was a murderer , no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing .
I was born with the evil one standing as my sponsor beside the bed where I was ushered into the world , and he has been with me since mental illness .
Who is it ? I don't know , I don't know , hh homes . Okay , I wouldn't have guessed that one . Really , I wouldn't have guessed that one .
I thought the chicago and the hotel and the trapdoors would kind of be like a big hint I wouldn't have guessed that one are we ready for the next one ? Yes , we're ready
¶ The Irish Changeling: Bridget Cleary
. This isn't a person , necessarily it is a being , no man .
I'm already confused , okay , okay . Okay , here we go .
Before modern medicine cultures . Talking about Ireland specifically Okay , believes that people would be exchanged with this . Okay , close to the fairy world . People would do superstitious acts such as holding a child over a fire Terrible or drinking brewed tea with fox glove , which is extremely poisonous .
Okay , to prove if they were this , you could put a shoe in a soup bowl or make a loaf of bread inside half an eggshell and if the baby laughed , they were this I have never heard .
I can confidently say I am sure lynn from springfield right now is yelling the answer . She probably is .
She is shouting it , I'm sure of it and if my brother listened I'm sure he does know too . To have suspicions would be to notice mood swings okay , become argumentative and losing interest in families and friends and , honestly , this that describes half a culture right . I feel like I'm all of three things .
For babies , it would be birth defects or even not wanting to breastfeed , like their inability to like latch correct okay these supposed things infants , if they lived were known as quote dim-w or , which is a Gaelic word of oof , which is where we get the word oaf , okay . So people say , oh , they're an oaf . Yeah , that's where it comes from .
Interesting . That was interesting . I didn't know that , yeah .
We are going to talk about a woman named Bridget Cleary .
Bridget Cleary .
Lived with her father and husband . She was , how they would say , unusual , a witch . A witch , a teet Fucking Putnams . She had her own business making dresses and keeping hens , so she had eggs and she provided for herself . So this is the unusual part . Yeah , everybody Terrible . She was independent , she was clever . I guess she was flirtatious .
Or was she just perceived as flirtatious ? Exactly , exactly .
She was a witch . She was a witch with a teat . One day she went to deliver eggs to her father's cousin , jack Dunn . The weather changed as it does in Ireland , right as it does anywhere , and she became ill . And on March 4th 1895 , a few days later , don the cousin , came to visit and claimed that wasn't Bridget . That's a blank .
He waited until a couple days later to claim it . So she became ill . And when he hadn't seen her for a few days he's like oh , that's not Bridget anymore .
Oh , okay . So I thought at first I was like she shows up at the house's , like here are your eggs and then he thinks something , but he waits three days .
I was like no , no , no , no , no , something wrong with that man . Sorry , I did not communicate that enough . He came to check on her because he hadn't seen her in a few days and then he thought she's still sick in bed and he's like that's not bridget huh , wheels turning , no , okay . March 9th bridget's father went to find the doctor .
Time went by , no doctor , and , as we all know , this wasn't like you just walk in a walk-in clinic . It was completely different . Then her husband went , no doctor . When her husband left again , the doctor actually came while he was out trying to find the doctor . So the doctor , he made the house call , he gave her meds , he left .
And he didn't think there was anything .
No , okay , doctor , he made the house call , he gave her meds , he left and he didn't think there was anything . No , okay , no , march 13th which , by the way I have to say , I think something like pneumonia is what's taking over this poor child .
Honestly right , right , how old was she ? She was 26 .
Okay , march 13th , the family decided to call the priest to give her her last rites , dear god .
Just in case , okay , that seems horrible for the person lying in bed hoping to get better soon , I know right Later that evening people gathered to give her fairy medicine , but she refused .
They held a red hot poker in her face till she ended up giving in . Next day that cousin done . Yeah , he comes back , we're done with him . He starts to spread rumors about Bridget being taken by the fairies and replaced with a Blank Blank . A man named Dennis Ganey was known as a quote fairy doctor and he was brought to the house .
The treatments were barbaric . Oh , she's going to quote and I'm going to quote His treatments wouldn't necessarily fit into modern medical textbooks , mind you . They included the use of the hot poker forcing the blank to drink first milk from a cow that had just given birth , dousing the person in urine and exposing them to flames .
Bridget was slapped and held in front of the fireplace while her husband demanded that she state before God and family that she was indeed Bridget Cleary . Even though she answered yes , the gathered crowd didn't believe her .
Some background on the husband Michael and this is not to excuse him because his actions are horrific , I never liked Michael right , but like just to give some background on probably where this guy's head was at .
His mother passed when he was young and his father actually died like hours prior to his mother dying , so it was just a terrible thing to go through . Right , he had no children . They lived with his father-in-law in a spare room Right In a 19th century equivalent of public housing .
So this housing apparently was done kind of after the potato famine to try to like help recuperate the area and everything . So like the equivalent of like lower income housing . Okay , His wife was rumored to be cheating which we don't know if that's true or not Like promiscuous , and she was independent financially , she did not need him for did not ?
she didn't hate him for anything .
He probably felt really unnecessary in life , right everyone started to try to leave the house because everyone had gathered to see bridget , but michael locked the door and said no one is to leave until I get my wife back . Bridget was asked to declare herself a fairy and she refused . Michael stripped her to her underwear and pushed her to the floor .
He claimed that this was not his wife and everyone will see her soon go up the chimney . He doused her in lamp oil and lit her on fire in front of everyone . She died at 26 .
Why did nobody stop him , is my immediate first thought .
A lot of superstition is what I yeah , I'm guessing he actually had to coax one of her cousins to bury her with a knife . So he has like a knife at this guy's throat and he's like we need to bury her . So they wrapped her in a sheet and buried her in a shallow grave .
Michael believed she would show up at the fairy rings in a white gown on a pale horse and he would cut her bindings with a blackened knife . Like he firmly believed , this was going to happen . March 22nd , two police find her body and the only clothes left were her black stockings . What is the word ?
I do not . I I feel very uncultured right now . But no , I don't know changeling . I would have never come up with that . But you know , what's funny is I think I remember being at your mom's house and hearing her and jonathan talking about it the changelings yeah , yeah , they believe that it wasn't her , that she was a changeling lynn from springfield .
I need you to facebook message me and tell me if you were yelling the whole time .
Come on cordy , yeah , they firmly believe that Bridget was taken by the fairies and she was living her best life in fairy land .
So fairies were not negative , or where they were . It's kind of hard because at some point they're like telling her you have to say that you are a fairy , and that's kind of like trickery . It's like it reminds me of the witch trials .
It really does . Yes , I think Bridget knew to an extent of like what was happening .
I think Bridget knew to an extent of like what was happening and , again , if you look at the witch trials , it was kind of like when you have women that are okay who they are and not counting on a patriarchal society , they're being forced to say things that they don't mean Dear God , if we have another witch trial .
I'm so fucked .
They actually were talking about , like a woman that supposedly went to the fairy lands and came back with no toes because she danced her toes off when she was in fairy land and I think that's what's interesting about like folklore and things in general is that it doesn't make any sense , but people and you have to like remind yourself , people wholeheartedly believed
this .
This was something people really believed down to their core . Was true , yeah ?
absolutely and honestly .
We've talked about stuff like I believe in bigfoot , as we all know , and like man , we are 10 minutes and 26 seconds into our fourth recording of the day , because we're a shit show and she's bringing in bigfoot .
But I'm just saying like , yeah , could there be another realm that we don't understand ?
Absolutely . It would answer some of the questions I have , like the Bermuda Triangle . Come on Right . What is going on with ?
that Right , or even the triangle that we have here in Western Mass Right .
I mean , something doesn't make sense , strange phenomenon . Are we ready for the third one ? Is there only three ?
There's only three . I tried to work on a fourth one , but the next one in the book I was like , eh , and then I started to read the next one . I was like I'm ready , I'm shooting .
Oh no , here , let's hope I can get one , okay .
I mean , if we like how I'm doing this , I can absolutely do more , because I think it'd be a lot of fun . All right , I just need to read a book occasion Stop .
I've been really down the murder rabbit hole .
Well , I have a murder for you . Okay , you ready , I am so ready . What is this case ? And I can't tell you where because he would give it away .
So location is important .
Yes , joe and his wife Sarah had four children . On June 10 , 1912 , when the children decided to have a sleepover and invited two friends , all eight ended up retiring to bed . A stranger entered the home through the back door with his axe . Your wheels are turning . I just I want to give you time to think .
He killed Joe and Sarah first , then their children , then the two guests . No sound , no warning . The killer wasn't done . He ended up going
¶ The Villisca Axe Murders
back and struck Joe's face a total of 30 times , then moved to Sarah Yikes .
He covered every victim's face , including mirrors and reflective surfaces which , for those of you that don't know , they used to cover mirrors , because when they had a death and they , you know , obviously brought the body in for the wake , they didn't want the spirits to get confused , and so they made sure that all of those coverings so they could actually leave
and pass on to the next life .
So he was thoughtful about it , I guess , yes , he really didn't want anyone to be trapped . He stayed , though .
This person stayed and he washed his hands in a bowl of water . It was actually not until like 5 am that he left , so he just kind of like hung out . He took the house keys and left . It's not who I thought it was . We have done an episode about this . Not with you .
It was me and Jess , my old co-host , so a house full of murdered people with an axe . Come on , gordy .
You got this . It was an episode . It's funny because I listen to every episode . My memory is shot .
It's 30 , damn it , 30 ruined it . I couldn't tell you the town , because the town is in the name of the murders .
No , that was the no , because the one in Colorado was a hammer , wasn't it the Colorado one ? Wasn't there one that was like the Denver ?
You're not talking about the Yosemite killer . That we just did .
No , no , no . There was an episode that was like the Denver hammer killer or something Jess would know if she was here . Probably , yeah , it's not that one . Nope , I'm pretty sure that one was a hammer .
I will tell you this it was Jess's episode . I did not do it .
I can like hear her voice . I don't know . You're going to say it and I'm going to want to punch myself directly in the nose . Probably . I'm scared to say it though .
Go ahead . The Villisca axe murders , I axe murders .
I would not have guessed that , really .
Nope , because it happened in .
Villisca , I wouldn't have guessed that . Am I not giving good enough hints ? No , I think I'm just bad at this game . Okay , let's do this again with Cousin Mark . We really should .
He'd probably be very good at it .
You would have to do serial killers with him , though I think Probably .
Or because I have three books that are done by Aaron Makey , and one of them is places and the other one is like actual creatures .
I'm also terrible with names , so I'm wondering , if it were places , if I would do better , or if I'm just telling myself that to make myself feel better well , hold on for science , for science , because we are scientists .
I'm not a teacher .
I'm not a teacher . My happy teacher appreciation week , by the way , to everybody who is a teacher . Are those books part of a series ? Yeah , he has three of them . Three series or three books , three books . They look really satisfying and I want them for my collection .
But if you're going to do , stuff with them .
I don't want to buy them until you're done they're amazing .
And he actually Holy pages marked yes and he actually reads them on Audible . So it's actually very satisfying to listen to his voice because he has a great voice .
I like to listen to authors who read their own books .
It's great to listen to him on Lore the show . Anyways , too , I didn't know he had a show In a podcast .
You've never watched a Lore show . No , hannah's looking at me like with eyes that could cut right through my skin . Girl , we need to watch .
Okay , there was Mallory , who was known to take her slaves and brutally disfigure them and cause a lot of harm . Okay , where was she from ?
I mean you said there was a woman with slaves . Were they in the United States ? Yes , why does my immediate mind go Georgia Close . I can confidently say I never heard of this one either .
Really yeah , new Orleans .
Okay .
We also did a podcast on that , jesus Christ , but that was adjusted one .
Somebody needs to get my brain checked .
I listen to all those episodes , sometimes twice .
Okay , I feel like I'm causing a lot of pressure . Hannah makes me feel like I need to have an Alzheimer's exam , so , on that note , that's fun .
Oh my god , anyways , that's fun . Oh my God , anyways , that's what I have . Wanderers , that was fun . Should we do a card or we should just leave it at that today , let's leave it at that today .
Let's leave it at that today . What I do want to know is if you like this kind of episode because it is new to us , it is different Write in , let us know . If it's something you guys are like , skip next we don't want to hear any more of , let us know . We're trying to get everybody to give us feedback . Yes , we're
¶ Feedback and Farewells
bcbas . We work in a feedback driven field , so I'm so sorry if we sound like desperate ex-girlfriends begging you to text us , but we are but we are and please text us because you're listening for a reason , right , we want to know why , and if it's a talk shit say that too . Yeah , that's fine . We're great at talking shit . We do it a great professionally .
We just cut that part out , exactly , exactly . On that note , goodbye Wanderers . It was so great to rejoin you . I've really missed you . Podcasting may not be like riding a bicycle , but I'll get back .
I promise Bye , wanderers , bye . Thanks for listening today . Wicked Wanderings is hosted by me , Hannah , and co-hosted by me , courtney , and it's produced by Rob Fitzpatrick . Music by Sasha N . If you enjoyed today's episode , don't forget to leave a rating and review and be sure to follow on all socials . You can find the links down in the show notes .
If you're looking for some really cozy t-shirts or hoodies , head over to the merch store . Thank you for being a part of the Wicked Wanderings community . We appreciate every one of you . Stay curious , keep exploring and always remember to keep on wandering . Thank you .