Astonishing Legends

For children, the world is still new and full of wonder. Every day is a chance for an adventure, discovering exciting possibilities, and meeting interesting people. Sadly, today's world is a little less safe for kids to explore on their own than it was in the nostalgically idyllic year of 1973. In early May of that year, two kids would make a new friend that may have literally been out of this world. A 7-year-old girl known as "Fay" and her friend, a boy about the same age, took a walk near Lake Common, adjacent to the town of Sandown, on the Isle of Wight off the southern coast of England. Around 4:00 p.m., the pair heard a strange wailing sound coming from across the nearby golf course. They followed the noise until it ceased. The children were walking over a wooden footbridge that crossed a narrow stream when suddenly a hand wearing a blue glove appeared and out from under the bridge a most bizarre being emerged. After some initial slapstick-like fumblings, what eventually followed was an encounter and discussion with a creature whose actions and description seem beyond the imagination of even the most precocious child. Fay and her friend described its appearance as nearly seven feet tall and similar to that of a partly wooden, partly mechanical, partly flesh clown, and not like from any circus you're likely to see. It introduced itself as "...all colours, Sam." Seemingly friendly, and perhaps a little lonely and certainly misunderstood, the children began to ask "Sam" what he was, whether a man or if not that as best they could figure, a ghost. The cryptic answer they received was, " ...Well, not really, but I am in an odd sort of way." The two would spend around 30 minutes visiting with their new friend in his liminal, metal shack, which later vanished. Whether Sam was some "Ultraterrestrial" entity, a sentient cyborg from another world, or merely the "whimsy of a child," this is a story that is precisely the kind we like to talk about... nay, MUST be discussed. And that's what we're going to do in tonight's episode, with the help of our good friends Micah Hanks of the Micah Hanks Program and Rob Morphy from the Cryptonaut podcast. We may never understand what Sam indeed was, but there are enough weird and wonderful elements to this case that neither child nor adult could ever forget meeting Sam the Sandown Ghost Clown.For more information on this episode visit our website!

In the second & final part of our Question & Answer interview with the inimitable Rich Hatem, Scott & Forrest continue to babble & blather on & on about everything from UFOs & Ghosts to vampires & Yetis, and everything in-between. Because, you know, everything is connected. And if everything is indeed connected, then is anything really, a long, drawn-out, tedious tangent? Why not dare to find out?! Let's face it, if you've stuck with us this far, you might as well see it through to the end, and we'd be so glad to have you!For more information on this episode visit our website!

Believe it or not, we've always viewed this podcast as a journey. Initially, we wanted the feel of the show to embody the spirit of why we wanted to start a podcast in the first place – because we enjoyed discussing the strange and mysterious stories of this weird and wonderful world of ours with good friends. We hope that spirit of camaraderie, curiosity, and discovery remains. We're still unsure where this adventure into the unknown will take us, perhaps to some enlightenment or just more questions, but we couldn't be more grateful and honored that you've decided to travel with us. Along the way, many listeners have had questions for us or wanted to share an anecdote about their own experiences. As we've said many times before, one of our few regrets is that we haven't had the time to answer or respond to all of them directly, but perhaps these next two episodes will help a bit with that. We felt it was a good time to take a moment, well, two very long moments spread out over two episodes to address some of the most frequently asked questions and also engage in a little introspection on where we're all at since starting this show in October of 2014. And what better host and moderator to guide us and embrace that feeling mentioned above than our good friend Rich Hatem. We'll talk about our backgrounds, motivations, intentions, processes, thoughts on our topics, and how our beliefs have changed... or not. We hope you'll join us for a reflection as we continue on this journey together.For more information on this episode visit our website!

Bonus show on the Hellfire Club of Dublin, originally posted to Patreon, now being shared on our main feed during this dark week.No associated webpage for this episode, but here is a link to Part 1 of the original Loftus Hall Series.

We are sharing 2h45m uninterrupted audio file of heavy surf at high tide from February 14th, 2020 late evening at Carolina Beach. Recorded with a Zoom H4N at a high sample rate. Use it for sleep, meditation, ambience or don't use it at all. Share with anyone you'd like, but not for profit. All rights reserved by Astonishing Legends Productions, LLC

It seems Lady Wonder was much more than a "One-trick Pony." But even if you consider her one trick to be an abnormal aptitude for intuitiveness and the ability to express it, that's quite a trick for an animal. Her impressive skills were at least intriguing enough to garner a scientific study of her phenomenon by a couple of leading researchers of the day. Joseph Banks Rhine or "J.B." as he was known, and his wife Louisa E. Rhine were the founders of the branch of psychology known as parapsychology, with J.B. credited with coining the term Extrasensory Perception, or E.S.P. In a week, they conducted around 500 experiments on Lady Wonder's powers. While there was no conclusive proof that the horse had an individual and infallible psychic perception, the data collected was enough to astound the Rhines since no human trickery was detected. In the following years, J.B. Rhine would come to doubt his initial conclusions, although he never expounded on his later thinking. Still, he wondered if there wasn't instead a form of telepathy between Lady and her handler Claudia Fonda, which would be nearly as remarkable. Skeptics have claimed that this mere parlor trick was performed by having Lady move over each letter on her "typewriter," at which point Claudia would somehow signal Lady to tap the correct key. However, this would necessitate Lady having to step several feet in either direction to cover every possible letter and number, and the Rhines observed that when she was most effective, the horse was near motionless while in an almost trance-like state. It would also not explain how Claudia then could have answers to questions she would not logically know. If J.B. Rhine's rethinking of his conclusions was correct, it might be just as extraordinary if there was psychical cooperation between Lady and Claudia, one that perhaps Claudia was not even aware of herself. Whether you believe psychic ability with any living creature is real or not, at the very least, the story of Lady Wonder illustrates the profound and special bond humans have with the animals they love. For more information on this episode visit our website!

Many folks simply don't believe in psychic abilities. But those that have had a total stranger tell them something about themselves that the person couldn't possibly know have often had a change of heart. But what if that impossible information came from a horse! There have been quite a few trained animals over the years that have displayed an uncanny ability to perform human-like mental feats. From counting numbers and communicating to predicting the outcomes of sporting events, these clever animals have delighted and entertained us with their tricks. But none have come close to the prodigious prognostication of a horse named "Lady Wonder." Lady Wonder was a mare raised by Claudia and Clarence Fonda on their farm in Richmond, Virginia. From her beginnings as a weeks-old foal, it was clear to Claudia that Lady was special, as she demonstrated an almost supernatural ability for intuitiveness. Claudia soon trained Lady to recognize the alphabet with the use of toy blocks. As she grew, Clarence fabricated a sort of giant typewriter where Lady could tap out the answers to questions posed to her. But Lady's answers weren't relegated to the obvious, incredible as that act alone would seem. Lady also knew things about the inquisitor that no one else could know. As soon as this ability became known to the public, Lady was soon seeing hundreds of visitors a week, answering questions about subjects such as personal advice, business, romance, and of course, lucky gambling picks. But most mystifying of all were her predictions of future events and knowledge of missing people. Although like most human psychics, Lady was sometimes wrong about her prophesies, she was right enough throughout her life to spark public fascination and scientific study, earning her the name of "Lady Wonder." For more information on this episode visit our website!

Many of us have seen all those ghost hunting shows on Cable Television and elsewhere. They usually feature an intrepid team of Paranormal Researchers trying to capture supernatural activity using electronic equipment like Night-vision cameras, audio recorders, and specially modified gear to aid in Instrumental Trans-Communication, or “ITC.” The evidence gathered is often compelling and entertaining, but usually frustratingly lacking in details. What we want to know is, who or what is this thing making its presence known, and most chillingly, what does it want? For those answers, some shows employ a psychic or a medium, and yes, there’s a difference. What these gifted individuals can tell us is what they can supposedly see that the cameras cannot, messages the recorders cannot hear, and sensations no device can detect. We’re fascinated by the insight because the answers lead to the more significant question, and that is, what happens to us after we die and what’s it like “beyond the veil?” And whether we believe in these claims or not, haven’t you thought how interesting it would be to speak with and ask questions of someone with these powers? So did we. Tonight’s guest is just such a conduit to the Other Side. Jim Hunt is an “Intuitive Life Coach” who uses his psychic abilities to help his clients understand their personal path. Based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Jim was the resident Psychic Medium for the ghost hunting show Knock Knock Ghost, which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video. With a respectful and comforting manner, this on-camera approach, combined with seemingly uncanny confirmations of his observations through the ITC devices, made us think he might be fun to talk to, and we were right. In our conversation with Jim, he talks about his experiences in eastern Canada’s historically haunted locations and gives us both a bit of a “reading” where we just might gain a little insight into our own stories and that of the podcast. For more information on this episode visit our website!

For nearly a month, the boys who originally discovered the "Kera Object" continued to search for and experiment with it, almost like a wild animal they hoped to tame. The tale of their exploits with the bizarre item would be more comfortable to pass off as a childish prank if not for the corroboration of its existence by at least a couple of adults. One of the boys, Yasuo, brought home the device to be examined by his father, Matsuo Fujimoto, who was then the director of the Center for Science Education in Kōchi City. The boy's father, someone with scientific training, gave the object a cursory examination. He determined that it appeared similar to an antique cast iron ashtray, but too light for the real thing. Peering through the holes in the bottom, Mr. Fujimori noticed that the internal components were similar to a radio's. However, he was unable to look any closer since it could not be opened and lost interest in the find. He would later express regret for not having studied the object more closely. Katsuoka Kojima's mother, Aiko, had also reported that the object glowed like fireflies, while Yasuo Fujimoto's mother had her own sighting of a small UFO about a month later. In contrast to these possible confirmations of authenticity, a local astronomer interested in the phenomenon, Tsutomu Seki, had interviewed the witnesses and was impressed by them and their story, but still maintained doubts about various elements of the case. To add to the mystery, at least two other reports of encounters with strikingly similar objects had occurred, one in 1976 about 25 miles to the west from Kera, and another as far away as Suonenjoki, Finland in 1979. So what are we to make of all the varying details concerning these impossible objects? If we are to believe ongoing reports, certain authorities already have extraterrestrial items in their possession, but they are strictly guarded secrets not meant for public knowledge. If we are to believe the thousands of accounts from ordinary citizens, these alien articles are egalitarian in who they choose to appear to. Perhaps one day, if one of these phenomenal objects can manage to be kept and operated by one of the "Little People," it will open up a new world of discovery and understanding for all of us. For more information on this episode visit our website!

Some of the most extraordinary and interactive encounters with UFOs or anomalous objects are surprisingly the least well-known. And yet elements of the tale once heard could seem to be quite familiar. Tonight’s subject appears to be just one of those cases. Although there are variations in the details of the incident, the general narrative goes as follows. In the afternoon or early evening of August 25, 1972, 13-year-old student Michio Seo was passing by a rice paddy in his neighborhood of Kera near Kochi City on Shikoku Island in southern Japan when something caught his eye. A small, strange hat-shaped device was flying erratically several feet above the field. With a dull silver metallic finish, and a wide brim sloping upward to a bell-shaped flat top, Michio would describe its flight pattern as like a bat zig-zagging to catch insects. Mustering his courage, Michio cautiously approached the tiny UFO until it seemed to sense his proximity and shot a bright beam of light in his direction, chasing him away. Michio Seo then did what any adventurous teenager would do, he rounded up his four best friends and returned to the scene, hoping to prove his wondrous discovery. To their surprise, the craft eventually returned, this time pulsating with multicolored light as evening fell. As one of the boys got closer, the gadget once again sensed the approach and sounded a loud pop and shone a blue glow, sending them all running. Over the next several weeks, the boys would play a cat-and-mouse game with the incredible gizmo, photographing it, even capturing and experimenting with it, only to have it mysteriously escape each time. While this account may sound like the inspiration for a Hollywood movie, there is shockingly little information about the incident outside of Japan. To add to the uniqueness of this encounter, not only is the contact unusually spirited, it’s characterized by elements of Pop Culture, Urban Legend, and Japanese folklore. However, with the tremendous research help of writers and podcasters Micah Hanks and Rob Morphy, we aim to get to the bottom of an amazing story about what’s become known as “The Kera Object.”For more information on this episode visit our website!

After a long and successful piratical career in the Gulf of Mexico, the United States government finally, and firmly, requested the Laffite brothers leave Galveston Island forever. On May 7, 1821, Jean Laffite left without protest, but not before he had his men torch his Maison Rouge headquarters and all buildings within the settlement of his Campeche compound. It’s also likely he took with him his massive hoard of ill-gotten booty, possibly loaded onto four ships, one of which was his vessel, the Pride. But the corsair life was in their blood, and Laffite could not leave it nor the Gulf. He and his men would continue to take prizes there and in the waters off Cuba and Central America until his debated end sometime between 1823 and 1826. The mysteries of his legend would continue to live on, as the search for his millions never ceased. Although no one has publicly claimed to find his treasure, our interview guest, Cody Hix, may have found tantalizing clues leading to Laffite’s lost ship. Cody, his brother Chuck, and their cousin Jay Hix-Jones appeared in an episode of Expedition Unknown with Josh Gates. During their segment, they not only outlined their theory on a family connection to Laffite’s lineage but also find evidence of a possible shipwreck in a promising location. Join us tonight as we dive deeper into the background of Cody’s family history and the details of their amazing find. We’ll also discuss the even more persistent and enduring tales than that of Laffite’s buried treasure, those of the ghost of his tormented soul. One legend has it that due to Laffite’s eternal guilt over his crimes, his spirit searches for an honorable and beneficent seeker to whom he will reveal his treasure. Perhaps he has finally found worthy heirs.For more information on this episode visit our website!

Some lost treasures are legendary because of what is hidden. Some are legendary because of who did the hiding. Both types of captivating tales are found in the book Coronado’s Children. Published in 1930 and written by Texas folklorist and author J. Frank Dobie, Coronado’s Children is an enthralling collection of stories about buried treasure, Old West capers, and the often dangerous quest for a fleeting fortune by adventurous characters. Usually a blend of documented events and dubious oral history, these stories are not merely Tall Tales but testaments of a pioneering spirit that furthered the exploration of the American southwest and was foundational to the United States as a country. One such account that stood out to us was the legend of Jean Laffite and his brother Pierre. Spelled “Laffite” by the brothers themselves, but recorded in contemporary official US documents as “Lafitte,” theirs is a chronicle that begins and ends in mystery and everything in-between became firmly entrenched in the early history of Louisiana and Texas, from the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. Arriving in New Orleans around the time of the Louisana Purchase in 1803 from debated origins, the Laffite brothers soon established a blacksmith shop in the French Quarter, which still stands today. Not long after, they realized the real profit would come from using the shop to “fence” pirated goods stolen by the privateers who preyed on Spanish merchant ships in Barataria Bay. Using their natural business acumen, the Laffites would expand their criminal enterprises enough to make themselves some of the richest and most powerful men in the region. Even when their flagrant operations had threatened the sovereignty of the US government, Jean Laffite was able to gain at least temporary pardon and acclaim by greatly aiding then General Andrew Jackson to victory over the British at the Battle of New Orleans. In a career of contradictions and double-dealings, Jean Laffite would enjoy such occupations as a prominent businessman, smuggler, military hero, spy, slave trader, and criminal mastermind, but popular opinion regards him most generally as a pirate, a moniker he detested. Whatever his actual life story is and the fate of his amassed fortune, his legacy is perhaps best described by J. Frank Dobie as, “Legend, Paradox, Mystery.”For more information on this episode visit our website!

We’re all sequestered in our respective locations these Strange Days, with many of us using teleconferencing applications to connect with co-workers, friends, and family. It’s a tool we use in our regular production of the podcast since we’ve been separated by a continent. But now we thought it was time to put it to even better use to check in with our good friends Rich Hatem and Rob Kristoffersen. We first met Rob in 2016 when he graciously helped us research UFO subjects. He has since gone on to produce his own podcast, Our Strange Skies, a captivating and in-depth program on the phenomenon. Rich was introduced to us through a mutual friend when an uncanny discovery occurred. He was not only the screenwriter of The Mothman Prophecies, a film we often discussed, but he also had a vast knowledge of, and a shared passion for the paranormal. We’ve had both fine gentlemen on past episodes separately, but never with all of us on together. Tonight’s show will be a free-wheeling, casual conversation covering such topics as Charles Hoy Fort, the namesake of paranormal phenomena dubbed “Forteana,” recent developments at Skinwalker Ranch, and even our setups for podcast recording and teleconferencing at home. We hope you’ll find tonight’s episode to be in the same spirit that our show is meant to be for all of our audience. That is, an engaging discussion and enduring camaraderie no matter how strange things get. For more information on this episode visit our website!

Astonishing Legends presents the premiere of Season 2 of our additional show, The Midnight Library. The remaining 12 episodes can be found, dropping weekly on Sundays, on The Midnight Library's own feed. Please find and subscribe to it wherever you get your podcasts!Welcome back, Dear Guests! - Goddess Tree, Witch Tree, Bearer of a Gift Tree; Tonight we gather to learn what ancient magical powers can be found in a Rowan tree. Infused with myths, imbued with luck, and sacred to this day, the Rowan tree may be just the thing to bring joy to your garden, or it may even save your life!For more information on this episode visit our website!

Valid hypotheses about the Lost Colony of 1587 on Roanoke Island have existed since the settlers' disappearance. In 1603, Bartholomew Gilbert attempted the last contemporary expedition to locate the colonists, but his search ended with the death of himself and four crewmen at the hands of Algonquian natives. John Smith, an influential leader of the Jamestown Colony of 1607, had heard stories from Native American chiefs about villages where some of the men wore European-style clothing. His search efforts would come up empty-handed, except for producing a map showing the locations of the suspected communities with walled housing. It wasn't until 1701 with John Lawson's expedition to the then Province of Carolina that a European exploration would again check the Roanoke site along with the Croatoan area, which became Hatteras Island. Lawson's examination of Roanoke yielded few clues except for the ruins of a fort and some English items. His meeting with the Hatteras natives, however, provided a curious revelation: some of the Hatteras tribal members had gray eyes and claimed a few of their ancestors were white. After Lawson's search, with inconclusive evidence and no forensic methodology at the time, interest in the Lost Colony's fate faded over the decades. In the 430 years since the colonist's disappearance, hypotheses ranging from massacre and conspiracy to assimilation have remained unprovable. Even with tantalizing finds through recent archaeology and DNA research, we are still one conclusive discovery away from declaring the story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke, a "Mystery Solved!" For more information on this episode visit our website!

Few realize or remember that the very beginnings of English colonization in North America were fraught with tremendous hardship, peril, and connected to an enduring mystery. A charter was granted to Sir Walter Raleigh by Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1584 to explore and colonize lands unclaimed by Christian kingdoms, south of Newfoundland, and north of Spanish Florida. With hopes of finding vast riches as the Spanish Empire had done in Central and South America and a possible Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean, Raleigh had initiated two attempts at establishing an English settlement along the coast of present-day North Carolina. The first colony was set up by Governor Ralph Lane in 1585 on Roanoke Island, located in the Outer Banks. This enterprise would end in failure and evacuation from scare resources and hostile relations with the local Native American tribes. A second attempt at a colony came in 1587 with Governor John White and around 115 men, women, and children who had agreed to settle in this wondrous but challenging new country. Unfortunately, a curious order left these hapless planters on Roanoke Island, which had now become dangerous from the actions of the former colony. The colonists persuaded White to return to England to plead for help, but due to a variety of unforeseen circumstances, he was not able to return to Roanoke until 1590. When White and the relief mission finally made their way to their last known location, the settlers had vanished, including White's daughter and his infant granddaughter. White's granddaughter Virginia Dare would be known as the first English child born in a New World English possession, but what happened to her remains unknown. The only clue as to their whereabouts were the letters "CRO" carved into a tree and the word "CROATOAN" carved into the fort's palisade. These enigmatic carvings and the strange disappearance of the Lost Colony at Roanoke would ensure that their fate would become one of the first and lasting mysteries of the English occupation in the New World. For more information on this episode visit our website!

On November 29, 1925, the tramp steamer SS Cotopaxi left port at Charleston, South Carolina, under the command of Captain William Meyer loaded with her usual cargo of coal, and headed for Havana, Cuba. The voyage was routine until the ship ran into a fierce tropical storm off the eastern coast of Florida near Jacksonville. On December 1, the Cotopaxi sent out a distress call saying it was taking on water and listing badly. A thorough search of the area found no trace of the vessel or its thirty-two crew members, and the Cotopaxi would become another entry in the long record of seafaring mysteries, with many believing it had also become a victim of the infamous Bermuda Triangle. Although a notable tragedy in its day, the story of the Cotopaxi would fade from the public's memory, that is until it made a surprising cameo in Steven Spielberg's 1977 motion picture, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. What would later become even more surprising was the discovery of a shipwreck matching the Cotopaxi's description sometime in the decade following the film. However, due to the sunken ship's concealment in ocean sands, no one would realize the similarity at the time. Laying in about 100 feet of water and 35 nautical miles east of the coast of the historic city of St. Augustine, Florida, the site became popularly known as the "Bear Wreck," an assumption of its association with another lost ship. It would take a nagging hunch and nearly 15 years of diving on the wreck for marine biologist and underwater explorer Michael Barnette to finally have enough of the puzzle pieces to make a solid connection to the Cotopaxi. While the wreck's dimensions, various recovered parts, and a position correlated with newly discovered insurance records make this site a strong candidate for the Cotopaxi, there is still a missing clue that could positively identify the doomed steamer. Please join us for a more casual conversation about the recent news that may be a rare occasion where the headline is earned, "Mystery Solved!" For more information on this episode visit our website!

As with any mysterious event, it’s often said that we should look to the simplest solution as being most likely the right one. The idea that when presented with competing hypotheses that make the same predictions, the solution with the fewest assumptions should be chosen is usually attributed to the principle of “Occam’s razor.” But what happens if we try to apply this cure-all of an axiom to explain a medieval legend that has few clues associated with it? In Part Two of our series on The Pied Piper of Hamelin, we’ll explore several of the leading hypotheses on this bizarre event such as the plague and Murine Typhus, forced emigration, the “Dancing Madness” and ergotism, slavery, the Crusades and even alien abduction. And if we return to applying “Occam’s razor” to this mystery from the Middle Ages and accept the contemporary accounts? Then what remains is the disturbing thought that somehow, a nefarious charmer simply used a flute to tragically persuade a large group of children to follow him into oblivion. They may be lost and their names are forgotten, but they and their Piper shall be forever remembered as one of the most famous legends of all time. For more information on this episode visit our website!

In the year 1284 CE, a remarkable and colorfully dressed young man came to the town of Hamelin in Lower Saxony, Germany. There are two documentations of this wanderer’s visit, the originals of which have since been lost. According to the contemporary Hamelin chronicle and a depiction in a stained glass window in a local church, this handsome stranger began to play his flute through the streets. Enchanted by the notes, 130 children from the town followed him into the woods, never to be seen again. In the hundreds of years since the supposedly real event occurred, the most significant addition to the story would be the reason for the mass kidnapping. After successfully ridding the town of a plague of rats using his musical pipe, the payment the piper was promised was withheld by the mayor and the town leaders. Furious at his being cheated, the magical visitor took their children as his payment. This later variation of the narrative we have all come to know as “The Pied Piper of Hamelin.” Today, we may think of this story as a children’s Fairly Tale. But as the Brothers Grimm had noted themselves, and who are partly responsible for making it known to the world, this is a legend and not a Fairy Tale. The difference is that legends are considered to be based on actual events, people, and places. In relation, it’s also said that there is a kernel of truth to every legend. If that is accurate, then the real Pied Piper event may be far more mysterious and tragic than we could have imagined, either as children or adults. For more information on this episode visit our website!

In this episode, we revisit the Sallie House in Atchison, Kansas – by way of The Dave Glover Show, as Scott's not quite ready to return in person. ; ) Being an Astonishing Legends listener himself, Dave has graciously invited Scott and Forrest to appear on his show several times. Now it was time to repay the favor, especially since Dave and his crew had a chilling and emotional experience there themselves. The Dave Glover Show has been driving St. Louis home for 20 years. Airing regularly from 3 pm to 7 pm Monday through Friday on 97.1 Talk Radio, Dave and his co-hosts Rachel and Tony, along with their producer Ryan, get to discuss their curiosities during the "Paranormal Wednesday" segments. For their Halloween Specials, the team will investigate a regional haunt, such as the famous Lemp Mansion or the "Exorcist House." This past October 2019, had the DGS crew investigating the Sallie House, motivated partly because of the house's notoriety and our series on it. It would be safe to say that many who visit the haunted house don't report much of a paranormal encounter except for coming away with feeling a very spooky vibe and some interesting history about the place. However, it also seems that whatever unseen forces operate at the Sallie House, they will sometimes single out an individual or group and deliver to them an experience they will never forget, even if the details become mysteriously hazy. This is what happened to Dave and some of his team, as interactions appeared to tap into thoughts, target their emotions, and affect their physical senses. Of course, some might chalk this communication up to a series of coincidences. But then Dave, as well as the rest of us, must consider how many coincidences are too many? At what point does denying a formation of relevant meaning start to seem illogical or even foolish?For more information on this episode visit our website!

Most people today believe that the legendary lost continent of Atlantis is just that, an ancient legend buried by time and not the ocean. The first known mention of the fable comes from two of Plato's dialogues, Timaeus and Critias, where mighty princes ruled the massive and prosperous island. However, Atlantis' glory faded as they were conquered and eventually became undone by their evil and impious ways until earthquakes destroyed this once utopian land, submerging it under the waves. But what if the legend of Atlantis is real, and the account of an advanced civilization thriving in the expanse of the Atlantic ocean is more fantastic, bizarre, and unbelievable than one could imagine? In approximately 2500 "life readings" given by Edgar Cayce for roughly 1600 different people between 1923 and 1945, just such a narrative began to emerge. Of around 700 of the reading's recipients, nearly 50%, had been told that their past-life incarnations in Atlantis had left characteristics that were influencing their present lives. After this revelation, questions focused on an Atlantean history generated details of warring factions with incredible technologies, such as ships that could fly through the air and undersea, particle beam-like weapons, global communication, and genetic engineering, and most controversial, the origins of human life. From a practical standpoint, perhaps just as extraordinary is the fact that none of the references to Atlantis given over two decades conflicted or contradicted one another. Ultimately, the purpose of the story of Atlantis would be to serve as a cautionary tale – that we must all learn from the mistakes and negative proclivities of our past lives so that a new age of peace and enlightenment might save us from our destruction.For more information on this episode visit our website!

The second half of Edgar Cayce's story would see more extraordinary experiences layered over an ordinary and humble man's life. Even more unimaginable for his tastes was the non-medical information that would later come through him. Though mostly remaining uncertain about the medical advice he'd been dispensing while in his sleep-like state, his answers to metaphysical questions distressed him, as they conflicted with his traditional Christian beliefs. While suffering personal hardship and tragedy, Cayce was now also troubled by concepts his mediumship had introduced to him and would continue seeking philosophical reconciliation into his later years, which he would finally achieve. But what remained constant throughout was Cayce's passion for helping others, and combined with the ever-increasing requests for treatment, it ironically wore down his health and shortened his life. If we examine the Cayce phenomenon logically, there are several considerations. If you believe it's impossible for a transcendental intelligence to exist, then Cayce was able to spend decades espousing folk remedies and comments on esoteric metaphysics, which he had merely picked up from voracious reading. Some would view that as quite a trick for an average man with limited education. If you believe an intelligence outside our physical reality could exist, then what is the nature of this force that communicated through him? Who or what was it exactly, what are the mechanics of the process, and could it be trusted? If omniscient, why did it seem to work with some subjects and not as well with others? On the other hand, if Cayce was a total fraud, would he have not been found out years ago? Was it all just a fault of human nature that so many claimed relief for their ailments, growing his popularity to global levels, and why are his readings still studied to this day? While Cayce and his supporters attempted to conduct formal case studies for the treatments, the conditions for the experiments would not be rigorous or controlled enough to convince the scientific community. Harder still would be to prove any veracity for his metaphysical teachings. However, there may be one thing all sides can agree on, and that's Edgar Cayce's overall message to the world. Rather than self-aggrandizement, his message was one of encouraging love and acceptance of our fellow human beings; of spiritual and personal growth, all of us united in universal truth, regardless of creed or culture. Hopefully, that would be one "reading" of our shared condition that would be hard to argue against.For more information on this episode visit our website!

Edgar Cayce is often remembered nowadays as the "father of holistic medicine" and the rightful originator of many of the beliefs and practices of the "New Age" movement. Yet what is remarkable is that although you might naturally think Cayce was a pop-culture product of the 1960s and '70s, his mystical talents gained him worldwide attention beginning from just after the turn of the last century until his death in 1945. Even more astounding was that the valid diagnoses and cures for the ailing that he was first known for apparently came to him while in a sleep-like state and unbeknownst to his conscious mind. Yet Cayce was a hesitant and modest "medium." Born in 1877 in a farming community just south of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, he experienced interactions with the supernatural throughout his life. In his early childhood, Cayce claimed he played with invisible "little folk" and could communicate with his deceased grandfather. While in his early teens and suffering from learning disabilities, he said he was visited by an angel who told him his difficulties would be over. Cayce soon realized he could thoroughly memorize entire books merely by resting his head on one as he slept. As a young adult, Cayce's medical condition led to the discovery that if he laid down and entered his meditative state, diagnosis and treatment would relay through him from a seemingly omniscient source. And not only did this work for himself, but the source could accurately diagnose and offer a remedy to others no matter the distance, with him only needing the name and location of the patient. Even more incredible was that this intelligence could also reveal answers about great mysteries like the Egyptian Pyramids, Atlantis, reincarnation, future wars, and prophecies, to name a few. Ironically, for many years of his life, he would remain skeptical and disturbed about the information that was coming through him regarding these topics. He preferred to focus on curing the sick while reluctant to gain much profit from his abilities. Whether you believe Edgar Cayce was a gifted healer or a charlatan, there is no doubt his results made him one of the famous names in the subject of metaphysics and arguably the most documented psychic of the 20th century. His legacy lives on as "America's Sleeping Prophet." For more information on this episode visit our website!

Some time ago, we attempted a hybrid holiday special that combined a traditional episode with a call-in show. Unfortunately, it didn't really go as planned. Still, Scott seemed to think it had some value of some kind, so he talked Forrest into releasing it here and now in 2019. So tonight, the Astonishing Legends team is pleased to present a commercial-free, family-friendly Holiday episode for you to enjoy with or without your loved ones as you see fit. While it contains some fascinating background on the evolution of St. Nicholas, be warned, this is not like anything we've ever released before, but we figured now or never. Happy Holidays listeners, and thank you for your stalwart and ongoing support. We are so grateful to you.For more information on this episode visit our website!

Those skeptical of the existence of a spirit world will often cite that there is no credible evidence leading to proof, this being the basis for their disbelief. Yet what constitutes as evidence or proof seems to be a personal decision, as there is an endless supply of visual and audio recordings and environmental data which at the least appear to be genuinely anomalous and unexplainable. For the mainstream scientific community, these anomalies would need to be consistently repeatable under laboratory conditions for the implications of the data to be accepted. But for paranormal researchers attempting communication with the "Other Side," although elusive, there are enough occurrences of contextual dialogue that their practices have become meaningful. The phenomenon of contact with the unseen world via electronic devices is described generally as "Instrumental Trans-Communication" or ITC. First defined in the 1970s by Ernst Senkowksi, researchers have been refining and evolving new techniques for ITC ever since, employing new technologies and modifying established methodologies. One such creative experimentation resulted in the "Estes Method," developed by our last episode's guest, Connor J. Randall, and his investigation teammates Karl Pfeiffer and Michelle Tate. Named for the place where it was first conceived, the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, the Estes Method has not only added a layer of objectivity to Spirit Box ITC sessions but has also yielded some compelling "evidence." Join us for another conversation with Connor as he discusses this and other ITC practices used at the Stanley Hotel, which then lead to the experiments seen in the Hellier documentary series. For more information on this episode visit our website!

The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, is not so famous for its beautiful surroundings and accommodations or its famed founder as it is for its connection to a book and a movie. The Shining was Stephen King's third published novel and a bestseller. This classic of horror fiction, in turn, inspired the iconic motion picture of the same name by Stanley Kubrick. And these two works had cemented the idea in the popular imagination that the Stanley Hotel must have some dark history of troubled spirits in residence there. But as we've all learned, works of fiction often color the actual history of a person or place. So what is the real story of the Stanley Hotel? It's best to ask someone who has personal experience, and that's what we've done. Tonight's guest is Connor J. Randall, whose own childhood supernatural experience at the Stanley led not only to a passion for paranormal research but also to his work there as first a concierge and tour guide and then later as a resident investigator. Please join us tonight as we hear from someone who had come to know the real spirits of the Stanley Hotel, as they had come to know him.For more information on this episode visit our website!

At 9:20 p.m. on December 29, 1972, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar commercial airliner, designated as Eastern Airlines Flight 401, departed John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, bound for Miami, Florida. Onboard were 13 crew members and 163 passengers, 176 souls in all. It was a routine trip for Flight 401 until 11:32 p.m. when the plane began its approach to Miami International Airport, and an indicator light for the nose landing gear had not lit up. While the Flight Crew tried to troubleshoot the faulty indicator, the steering yoke was accidentally nudged, causing a function of the autopilot to begin a descent so gradually that no one had noticed. Ten minutes later, Flight 401 crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing five crew members and 96 passengers. It would be the first crash of a “Jumbo Jet” and have at the time, the highest number of fatalities from any one-plane accident in U.S. civil aviation history. But this tragic story doesn’t end there. A legend was born citing more than 20 accounts from EAL employees and passengers that they had interacted with the ghosts of Captain Bob Loft and Flight Engineer Don Repo who had perished in the crash. These stories mostly involved other Eastern Airlines L-1011s that had refitted parts salvaged from Flight 401. Whether out of guilt or an unstoppable sense of duty, these apparitions reportedly appeared to be quite lifelike and were trying to prevent further disasters. Although Eastern Airlines management vehemently denied these claims, due to the prevalence of these tales in the airline community, one must wonder if there is any truth to them. Whatever the case, whether from real testimony or a desire to entertain, the legend of the ghosts of Flight 401 helped to make sure the victims and survivors are not forgotten.For more information on this episode visit our website!

In your final visit to The Midnight Library of the season, and since we now count so many among you as our friends… we thought we might impart to you some rare and useful, magical knowledge. We’re going to tell you all about the powerful Runic alphabet. What you do with it after that is up to you… but we’ll know, so just keep that in mind...friend.For more information on this episode visit our website!

The accident that killed James Dean was the end of his life, but it was the beginning of a legendary story about the curse of his Porsche, ‘Little Bastard.’ Parts from the car salvaged by amateur racing enthusiasts caused numerous injuries and the death of at least one man on the track. The broken shell of the car traveled around the country as part of a safety exhibition curated by legendary car customizer George Barris. Along the way, several trucks that hauled it crashed, in once case, killing the driver. The car fell apart several times while on display as well and injured bystanders. In this final episode of this series, we’ll take a look at the Curse of James Dean’s Porsche, and when the show is over, you can decide whether or not you believe in it. Of course, the thing to remember about curses is that they don’t particularly care if you believe in them or not.For more information on this episode visit our website!

In 1931 a man and a machine were both created. James Byron Dean was born to a modest farming family in rural Indiana, and Ferdinand Porsche founded a company in Stuttgart, Germany, to build automobiles. These two men would never meet, but their egos would clash in a way that would redefine charisma, performance, and power that will never be forgotten. In 1955 both man and machine would die in a horrific crash. But is the legend of a curse in a story like this unavoidable? That’s easy for us to analyze in hindsight, but what’s not so easy is to understand are the machinations that caused it to happen. However, we can work towards that understanding tonight in part one of our two-part series on James Dean and Little Bastard.For more information on this episode visit our website!

What is at the heart of our fears? We may be afraid to encounter a supernatural specter or a creature from beyond our reality and understanding, or an agent of evil from a more earthly realm, but in either case, what we actually fear is the potential for harm to come to us or our loved ones. The deadly violence that visits randomly and one we are powerless to stop. Ironically, our tendency as humans is also to become fascinated by what scares us. We seek to glimpse into the darkness not only as a vicarious thrill but also as a means of coping. It is why we find fun in traditions like Halloween and for some, indulging our curiosity in the exploits of serial killers. As we put to bed the story of the Villisca ax murders, we find that it is a story that contains all the elements of our primal dread. Acts so horrible they left scars and echoes in the worlds of the living and the dead. Our guest tonight, author Troy Taylor, helps us piece together the facts and makes a strong case that the killer who committed the shocking murders in Villisca quite likely left a trail of death throughout the Midwest with as many as 30 victims or more. In the end, what we learn is that there is more to fear from a monster made of flesh and blood. This was a monster that randomly and wantonly tore flesh and spilled blood, one who was all too real, and one that was never caught.For more information on this episode visit our website!

Where's the one place in the world you'd like to feel the safest? Your bed, right? And in a secure home that surrounds that bed. We also become nostalgic for what we think was a simpler and more wholesome time. The atrocities we've become accustomed to hearing about on our current nightly news, we imagine inconceivable in bygone eras. But the truth is, we've always been vulnerable to the brutality of the waking world, no matter the times or the place. The darkest evil can come to find us wherever we lay our heads. One average family in America's Heartland at the turn of the century would experience this as their peaceful dreams turned into a nightmare. On the evening of June 9, or early morning hours of June 10, 1912, a depraved murderer had entered the home of the Moore family in Villisca, Iowa. He savagely crushed the skulls of Josiah Moore, his wife Sarah, and their four children with an ax as they slept. Also killed in the same fashion were Lena and Ina Stillinger, young sisters who just happened to be spending the night. The memories of this gruesome crime and the spirits who endured it would remain with the house. This horrific act of violence would leave its mark on the town and the Moore home, forever branding it the "Villisca Ax Murder House."For more information on this episode visit our website!

The interview you’re about to hear is one of the most compelling, fascinating, and terrifying personal accounts we’ve ever come across. We realize it may also be one of the most controversial subjects we’ve ever discussed. Our guest tonight knows these sensations all too well. The wonder, terror, decades of trauma, and the consequences from coming forward after a lifetime of these experiences are all part of his story. In June of 1977, Terry Lovelace was in the U.S. Air Force working as a medic and EMT while stationed at Whiteman AFB. He and his EMT partner and close friend felt compelled to take a weekend camping to Devil’s Den State Park in Arkansas. What started out as a carefree trip to the great outdoors would end in a night of horror and pain as they encountered a massive unknown craft about five stories tall. This experience would lead to not only nightmares and inexplicable panic attacks for Terry along with an intense investigation by the USAF Office of Special Investigations, but the tragic and premature death of his friend. Terry would go on to a successful career in law as a felony prosecutor, eventually becoming an Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Territory of American Samoa and a State’s Attorney for Vermont’s Board of Medical Practice. After retirement, a trip to the Emergency Room for a fall in 2012 would bring all those suppressed memories to the surface once again, memories that began in his childhood. The radiologist had discovered an anomalous piece of square metal about the size of a fingernail with two wires attached, just above his right knee. In the calf muscle below, a strange, flower petal-shaped object with the density of bone was also discovered. To add to the mystery, there were no incision marks anywhere to be found. This discovery and the objects’ purpose were enough to convince Terry that it was time to tell his story. He believes we all have a right to know what’s really going on. Some may find his account frightening or at least alarming, while others will dismiss it as fantasy. Many won’t know what to think about it. But consider this: if you don’t believe any of it, then you don’t have to worry, you and your rationale are safe. If you do believe his story, even just some of it, then it may provide a glimpse into one of the biggest mysteries and threats humanity has ever faced.For more information on this episode visit our website!

The Astonishing Legends podcast is proud to invite you to The Midnight Library, -Not just a show, but a place you can go-. For your listening pleasure, tonight’s reading will be about The Paris Catacombs. Once you’re inside, your Hosts, Miranda Merrick & Mr. Darling will do everything in their power to make you believe that you’re safe, so you can relax and hear the fascinating story of how 6 million skeletons made their way beneath the streets of Paris. (The Midnight Library cannot be held responsible for those who choose to visit of their own free will)For more information on this episode visit our website!

Many of us have seen all the ghost hunting shows on cable television and elsewhere, but are those accurate representations of what goes on during a paranormal investigation? After all, TV shows, have to deliver as many instances of spooky "evidence" as possible, because we, the viewing audience, demand it. In reality, like any hunting or fishing expedition, the experience is usually long stretches of waiting patiently and hopefully for brief moments of high excitement. Well, tonight we're going to find out in detail what it's like to actually go on a ghost hunt as we welcome back the previous episode's guest, author and paranormal investigator James A. Willis. We'll also be joined by our good friends Jill and Roger Pingleton, who are seasoned paranormal investigators themselves. On July 22, 2019, during a "lockdown" from 8:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. we had the privilege of following along with them as they investigated one of the most notoriously haunted buildings in the United States, if not the world, the Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, KY. From 1910 to 1961, this massive and formerly abandoned medical facility saw more than its share of misery and death as it served as a treatment hospital for those suffering from the scourge of tuberculosis as it plagued the Louisville and Jefferson County area. The building then witnessed another era of dwindling and death from 1962 to 1982 when it served as Woodhaven Medical Services, a nursing home for the elderly and those with severe mental disabilities. Fortunately, however, this historic edifice has been undergoing restoration since 2001 when it was taken over by caring and dedicated new owners. It's currently open for tours, investigations, and events. Regardless of Waverly Hills' past, the future looks bright for this special place, a special place that's also especially haunted.For more information on this episode visit our website!

The ideal qualities of a paranormal investigator should include objectivity, a grasp of the relevant history and science, and a skeptical and inquisitive nature that’s balanced with a fair and open mind. Tonight’s guest has all of those traits and more. Author and paranormal researcher James A. Willis originally hails from the Hudson Highlands of upstate New York, the stomping grounds of the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow. After spending 15 of his formative years being intrigued by macabre media and all things ghostly, strange and spooky, Willis moved to Ohio to found the nationally recognized research organization, The Ghosts of Ohio. He has since grown the organization to over 35 members, representing the regions anchored by the cities of Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati. In 2004, the founders of the popular line of Weird US books invited Willis to contribute and he has since collaborated on 6 volumes in the series. In 2012, Willis struck out on his own with the publication of Haunted Indiana. For 2013’s The Big Book Of Ohio Ghost Stories, Willis crisscrossed Ohio to bring readers over 75 of the Buckeye state’s most famous (and infamous) ghosts. In 2015, Willis released Ohio’s Historic Haunts: Investigating the Paranormal in the Buckeye State. Willis’ latest project, 2017’s Central Ohio Legends & Lore, had him chasing down some of the Buckeye State’s most legendary characters, including Johnny Appleseed, Annie Oakley, and Chief Leatherlips. Along the way, Willis took the time to explore some of central Ohio’s stranger legends, such as the Ohio Grassman and even UFOs. A sought-after public speaker, Willis has given presentations throughout the United States, during which he has educated and entertained tens of thousands of people of all ages in crowd sizes ranging from 10 to well over 600. He has also been featured in more than 75 media sources, including CNN, USA Today, Columbus Business First, Midwest Living, The Canadian Press, and even the Kuwait Times. Please join us as we hear about James’ approach to paranormal research and delve into some of his most weird and eerie cases.For more information on this episode visit our website!

Since its modern discovery, no other medieval manuscript has seen as much media attention or scholarly scrutiny as the Voynich Manuscript. No doubt this is due to the fantastical strangeness of its mystery, which is also the same reason it continually captures the imagination of the public. Because it would seem, the bigger the mystery, the bigger the reward for its solving. Like with any enduring enigma, the manuscript has attracted its share of sleuths who have claimed they've been the ones to at least gain an insight into a solution. Their confidence may be due to another mystical property of the manuscript. If one looks hard enough for evidence to make their preconceived hypothesis work, they will find some within its pages. However, why such interest and debate over this old book? Other than as a specimen of 600-year-old "folk art," what is the worth of a book no one can read? Because the Voynich Manuscript still holds the promise of revealing secret knowledge that could help humanity, and it has always been extremely satisfying to discover that which has been lost.For more information on this episode, visit our website.

At the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University, there is a book with the catalog call number, MS 408. It is one of the most examined and researched manuscripts to date because it is one of the most enigmatic documents ever discovered. It was purchased in 1912 at Villa Mondragone in Italy by an antiquities dealer named Wilfrid Voynich, and since there is no discernible title for the book, it is more commonly known as the Voynich Manuscript. The text is written on around 240 pages of vellum and is comprised of over 170,000 characters in the form of a code that no cryptographer has yet been able to decipher from a known language. Equally puzzling are the illustrations which accompany the writing. Most seem to be botanical in content but mostly show no identifiable plants. Along with the drawings of strange flora are diagrams of astrological charts and primitive caricatures of nude women in ceremonial displays. However, is the purpose of this manual merely medicinal or could its secrets be of a more magical instruction? And who could be the author of such a baffling work, one who thought its knowledge was so precious or dangerous enough that it needed to remain secret to all but the truly enlightened, or only to themselves? Until a solution to the Voynich Manuscript is found, it contends for the title of the most mysterious book in the world.For more information on this episode visit our website!

Podcasters share a special bond, and this is especially true of those engaged with the pursuit of covering stories about the paranormal and unimaginable events. It is perhaps because we know our pursuit of the truth behind these ineffable events will take us beyond the fringes of belief and acceptance. It leaves us and our subjects vulnerable. But those that manage to tell these stories well have also managed to capture and relay the vulnerability and humanity and behind them. Because without it, there is little context to our own lives and therefore little empathy or meaning, and they may well remain as nothing but improbable tales. One such storyteller is tonight’s guest, Jim Perry. Jim and his critically acclaimed audio documentary podcast Euphomet, have explored the strange and our relationship to it. The result is an intimate and fascinating look at how these encounters affect us on a personal level. Tonight we talk with Jim about the stories and his own experiences that have shaped his perspective and his show.For more information on this episode visit our website!

As we often say on the show, if you haven't had a strange, paranormal experience, it's likely someone you know has. This happens to be the case with two college friends of Forrest, Dan Povenmire and Susan Lambert. In the mid-1980s, Susan was working as a reporter for the student newspaper of The University of Southern California, The Daily Trojan. She had asked Dan if he wanted to accompany her to an interview with a movie director. They set out on a drive that should only have taken no more than 40 minutes to complete. But upon arriving at the hotel where the director was giving interviews, learned that they were somehow almost two hours late. This seeming impossibility has baffled Dan ever since and fueled a search for answers. But to add to the mystery, this wouldn't be the only unexplainable experience of missing time, as the pair would encounter another episode during a subsequent car ride together. And like with the first trip, each would remember a few odd sights during it that the other didn't recall. While unexplainable disruptions in time are rare, many people have reported experiencing a disturbing wrinkle in the fabric of time which we trust should always be smooth. Just what is going on when something so seemingly fixed and unalterable as the passage of time fluctuates? In the latter portion of the show, writer, field researcher, and podcaster Micah Hanks joins us for a discussion on some possible theories as to what might be happening scientifically with the phenomenon of Missing Time.For more information on this episode visit our website!

We love to hate our villains as much as we love to love our heroes. And many of us have a morbid fascination with some of history's most sinister characters, perhaps as a means of understanding the darkest aspects of human behavior. But as is regularly the case, the truth behind the real nature and actions of historical figures we can only glean from the reporting of others in that age and often many years after. Even official accounts are just a widely agreed upon set of assessments by a group of people, each with their own biases and personal opinions. In other words, one person's villain can be another's hero, or at least grossly misunderstood. In the case of Elizabeth Báthory, the authorities finally took action against one of their own, leveling upon her a judgment that could appear both lenient and harsh, but in either case, revealing an investigation that would forever brand her as one of the evilest people in antiquity with her name living on in infamy. Whether or not the testimony against her had any truth to it at all or what the real motivation for her incarceration was, is still debated by historians and researchers. What is clear is that misery, violence, and torture were part of the norm for her time. Some would argue that the stories about her were exaggerations, and her deeds merely accepted practice by the aristocracy of the day. But does normalcy justify a person's acts of any era? Where is the unacceptable line of behavior, regardless of the epoch or social status? History has judged Elizabeth Báthory. How will you?For more information on this episode visit our website!

Countess Elizabeth Báthory was a Hungarian noblewoman and one of the most wealthy and powerful aristocrats in eastern Europe during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Together with her husband Ferenc Nádasdy, a military hero known as the Black Knight of Hungary, Báthory held numerous estates, lands, and villages. She also currently holds the Guinness World Record for being the most prolific female serial killer and most prolific murderer of the western world. Báthory had been accused in the testimonies of over 300 witnesses and survivors of some of the most horrific tortures and murders imaginable before she was arrested, even by medieval standards. Her victims were her maidservants and lesser noble protégés, all girls, with some as young as ten years old. Years after her death, a legend had formed that Báthory had even routinely bathed in and possibly drank the blood of her virginal victims, believing that the pureblood had retained her beauty. Some claim that Báthory's story became the partial inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula, along with her more famous sanguinary neighbor, Vlad the Impaler. But were any of the accusations against Báthory true? Was she merely a victim herself of a political and gender-biased conspiracy aimed at confiscating her riches and properties? As we'll learn once again, the truth behind our legends is often shrouded in a fog of conjecture misting through a forest of unknowns. Join us tonight as we examine the case of Elizabeth Báthory who, regardless of her actual guilt or innocence, will be forever known as, "The Blood Countess."For more information on this episode visit our website!

To really study the paranormal, any good researcher will tell you one must get out in the field to investigate the sightings, and that is especially true when it comes to cryptozoology. This is precisely what our interview guest has done. Lyle Blackburn is a full-time author, musician, and cryptid researcher from Texas, whose life-long fascination with legendary creatures has led him to write several acclaimed books, including Momo: The Strange Case of the Missouri Monster, The Beast of Boggy Creek, and Lizard Man. Lyle is a frequent guest on radio programs such as Coast to Coast AM and has been featured on numerous television shows like Monsters and Mysteries in America, Finding Bigfoot, and Strange Evidence, as well as other programs airing on the Animal Planet, Destination America, Discovery Science, and A&E channels. In addition, Lyle is a regular contributor for the monthly horror magazine, Rue Morgue. Lyle can also be heard as the frontman for his rock band Ghoultown, along with narrating/producing several Small Town Monsters documentaries, including Terror in the Skies, Boggy Creek Monster, The Mothman of Point Pleasant, and Bray Road Beast. When he’s not chasing cryptids and writing about them or performing with his band, Lyle can be found speaking at various cryptozoology conferences and horror conventions around the United States. Tonight, we sit down with Lyle to discuss his books and his thoughts about some of the most chilling encounters with bizarre and frightening creatures ever reported.For more information on this episode visit our website!

Does some element of us exist after we die? Is it possible that a message in a dire time of need could reach a loved one across vast distances without the aid of electronic or mechanical means, with a form of psychic energy either just before or after death? Could our emotional spirit be so intense in a moment of crisis that it leaves an imprint or echo that can reverberate in the ether and be heard, seen or sensed again and again? There have been many reported cases where this seems to have happened, and you may have seen such stories in the news or even have one from your own family. Don't you wish scientists would study these examples in a search for answers to some of the most significant questions of all? Well, some scientists are because this type of occurrence falls under the field of parapsychology and we're fortunate enough this evening to speak with Brandon Massullo. Brandon is a clinical therapist and parapsychologist with graduate degrees in clinical counseling from the University of Toledo and psychological research methods from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, UK. His research at the University of Edinburgh centered on neurobiological correlates of ghostly encounters, and he studied within the Koestler Parapsychology Unit at the University of Edinburgh under the supervision of author and international lecturer, Dr. Caroline Watt. Brandon has been fascinated by paranormal phenomena for 20 years and has been a participant and featured speaker in numerous paranormal forums and events. Join us for a fascinating discussion of his research into the possibility that our cries, or at least some form of our being, may linger beyond our earthly existence.For more information on this episode visit our website!

Whether you believe in Bigfoot or not, the story of the Patterson-Gimlin film remains a superb example of the scientific investigation of an anomalous event that falls within the realm of the paranormal. Other documentation of things like UFOs, ghosts, and other cryptids have come under close examination throughout the years, but little has been of such relative quality and few examples if any have been able to provide such relatable data to examine. This relatability is due to the corporeality of the subject in the film. Whether an unknown primate or a man in a suit, it seems it is something from the world of which we know. Perhaps it’s not any data which is so troubling and debatable amongst the authorities, but the implications that data leads to if the film is authentic. In any case, it is a film and an event which deserves full reconsideration. Although of little value to scientists, another component worth considering is the personal experience, because it is that which gives the rest of us context. As we wrap up this series with our conclusions, we were fortunate to talk with one of the two men who were there, Bob Gimlin. Maybe character shouldn’t be considered when trying to determine the validity of this incident, but we can attest that Mr. Gimlin is as real and genuine a man as you’ll meet. After decades of remaining silent about his role, we’re grateful he’s finally agreed to tell his story because he deserves to be heard.For more information on this episode visit our website!

There are a few researchers for whom the Patterson-Gimlin Film has sparked a life-long quest to analyze its mystery and the possibility of Sasquatch. Concerning the preservation of the actual film itself, no one has done more to secure its integrity than William “Bill” Munns. While the original 16mm Kodachrome Color-Reversal film shot by Roger Patterson has since gone missing, Munns built a mobile High Definition digital film scanner and with exclusive permission from Patterson’s widow Patricia, has painstakingly scanned every frame of her first generation copy at 5K resolution, even discovering an additional two frames at the beginning, making the total count 954 frames in total. Bill Munns has spent most of his long career in filmmaking and creating special makeup effects, starting as a makeup artist with Universal Studios in 1969. He created full body suits for fictional creatures such as “Swamp Thing” and “The Beastmaster,” and so he brings to the PGF controversy well-established expertise in the fabrication of various creature costumes. Munns also has spent the last 22 years doing computer graphics, which positioned him well to do the image analysis of the PGF film frames. So he is uniquely well-qualified to analyze evidence consisting of 16mm film, and showing what many suspect is just a human in a fur creature costume. Tonight we sit down with Bill Munns for an interview in which he discusses his process, analysis and his conclusions which lead him to believe the film to be authentic.For more information on this episode visit our website!

It's easy for the uninformed, casual observer to make a declaration on a website's Comments Section, but what do the experts think about the Patterson-Gimlin Film? If we look to science to provide answers about the subject in the PGF, then we should consider the evaluations of physical anthropologists who specialize in primate morphology and authorities in biomechanics and bipedal locomotion. Fortunately, the academics and costume professionals who did weigh in ignored the gossip about character and focused only on the film. Unfortunately, most of the scientific community wouldn't bother giving the film any consideration and those that were asked to, dismissed it outright after limited viewing with no careful examination. What's interesting is that the few scientists who did analyze the film thoroughly and gave a favorable conclusion did so with a detailed report, while those that were doubtful about its authenticity had more superficial observations or disagreements about the other scientists' findings. This is to say there doesn't appear to be a point-by-point scientific argument disproving the creature's existence. Perhaps the most widely acceptable objective scientific review is akin to anthropologist David J. Daegling's assessment, generalized as, although the film's subject is compelling, the possibility of a hoax cannot be ruled out. But if it is a hoax, then the film must show a human in a suit, which then leads to the question, how could such a convincing costume be fabricated, especially by a layman? For that answer, who better to ask than the professionals in that field, the Film and TV Special Effects creature creators? Please join us for the fourth installment of our series on the PGF as we hear from the experts.For more information on this episode visit our website!

Tonight, we have a special bonus episode for you, a commercial-free interview with a very talented writer, director, and performer who has actually worn a sophisticated ape-like costume for a Hollywood feature film and lived to tell about it. You may know Jorma Taccone from the wildly popular comedy trio, “The Lonely Island.” Along with Andy Samberg and Akiva Shaffer, the three have gone on to produce some of the most memorable and hilarious “Digital Shorts” for Saturday Night Live and their feature films, comedy albums and live performances have garnered them millions of fans. But what you may not know about Jorma is that he portrayed the loveably goofy primate-like character “Chaka” for the 2009 film “Land of the Lost,” inspired by the original 1974 children’s television series. While you might think hopping around in a monkey suit for a movie would be fun (certainly Jorma thought so at first) it turns out the hours-long, daily application of the Special Effects makeup was mind-numbingly tedious, and the performance while wearing it was physically grueling and exhausting. We’ll hear from Jorma about his experience with a professional, expensive, skin-tight costume, some funny anecdotes about shooting the movie, and his thoughts on the appearance of the creature from the Patterson-Gimlin Film. As many experts have stated, if the subject in the PGF was actually just a man in a costume, that costume was one of the best that’s ever been made.For more information on this episode visit our website!

When indirect evidence of an extraordinary event defies conclusive debunking, then the easier route for some critics is to attack the presenter of the evidence. Naturally and unfortunately, Roger Patterson's integrity and thus his credibility came under scrutiny and assault as a means of discrediting the film itself. Another common tendency in dealing with an incredible incident is to accept outright the allegations of a purported hoaxer or associate as a way of comfortably coping with a disturbing possibility which can then be safely set aside. In the case of the Patterson-Gimlin Film, there are two central claims that suit this purpose for those who doubt the film's authenticity. Bob Heironimus claimed he was the one who wore an ape suit for the film, given to him and made by Patterson. Philip Morris of Morris Costumes claimed he sold his standard gorilla costume to Patterson, who may have modified it for the filming. These assertions were enough for many to put the matter to rest, except one must consider that there are significant discrepancies between the details of the Heironimus and Morris stories, leading to an improbability that they were describing the same outfit. So, the question remains, between these three gentlemen, who do you believe, or rather, whose story is more comfortable for you to believe?For more information on this episode visit our website!

What if you had spent years searching for something elusive, something you believe existed that most didn't, and then one day you finally happened to capture it on film? What would be your immediate next steps if you wanted to present it to the world? In the days before instant media uploads to the internet, where would you take the film and who would you show it to first if you wanted to be taken seriously? Roger Patterson had thought he and Bob Gimlin had captured irrefutable proof of Bigfoot, next to bringing the beast itself out of the woods. Little could he realize that every action and claim going forward from that moment of filming would be analyzed and criticized for the rest of his life, in addition to his integrity. Whether out to prove authenticity or a perpetrate a hoax, in either case, the reaction to the film was predictable. From the few scientists who bothered to look, to the curious public, some believed, some scoffed, some didn't know what to think. What we know now from Patterson and Gimlin's story, is that indirect evidence is not enough for most, you need to produce a body, but even then there are those who will refuse to believe. What we also know is that for Patterson, and in turn Gimlin, providing this film as evidence turned out to be much more trouble than a benefit and much more than they bargained for. Realizing what these men went through, if you were to one-day capture extraordinary evidence, would you think twice about sharing it?For more information on this episode visit our website!