Episodes

  • S4 Ep7: An Early End to the Macabre Museums Season

    S4 Ep7: An Early End to the Macabre Museums Season
    Mar 16 2022
    I had intended to include two more episodes in the Macabre Museums season. One about true crime Museums and a finale of paranormal museums.
    However, instead, I’ve decided to cut the season short for a couple of reasons. I won’t go into all of the nitty-gritty details but I will say that my family and I have endured a couple of health scares lately. It’s kind of pulled the world back into focus and made me reassess my priorities.
    So for now as I regroup and recalibrate, I’m putting the podcast on hold to concentrate on my family, my health, and my writing. 
    You can still jaunt with me online anytime at HauntJaunts.net, though.
    I really do appreciate you sailing the airwaves with me, whether it was during any of this season’s episodes or any of the others.
    And I do hope to catch back up with you again soon so I won’t say farewell forever but rather my usual, until our paths cross again, ciao for now.

    Host & Guide

    Courtney Mroch

    Music

    Danse Macabre - Violin Hook by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/3599-danse-macabre---violin-hook License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
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    3 mins
  • S4 Ep6: Museums Where Monsters and Mythical Creatures Roam

    S4 Ep6: Museums Where Monsters and Mythical Creatures Roam
    Mar 9 2022
    What is a monster? The Oxford Languages dictionary defines a monster as “an imaginary creature that is typically large, ugly, and frightening.”
    Which is also what makes monsters fascinating, right? Their frightening aspect. 

    But also the fact that they may not be imaginary after all. They may actually be real.

    In this episode, we visit museums where monsters roam free --in our imaginations at least. 

    Stops include:

    1. Loch Ness Centre and Exhibition in Inverness, Scotland
    2. The Icelandic Sea Monster Museum and Coffee Shop in Bildudalur, Iceland
    3. International Mermaid Museum in Aberdeen, Washington
    4. The Miyoshi Mononoke Museum in Miyoshi, Japan - which features yokai (monsters) and yurei (ghosts) from Japanese folklore
    5. The National Leprechaun Museum of Ireland in Dublin, Ireland
    6. Flatwoods Monster Museum in Baxton, West Virginia
    7. International Monster Museum in Salem, Massachusetts
    8. Tom Devlin's Monster Museum in Boulder City, Nevada
    9. Distortions Monster World in Denver, Colorado
    10. The Long Island Monster Gallery in Mineola, New York
    11. International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine - The world's only cryptozoology museum
    12. Merrilyn Cryptid Museum - a one-of-kind online-only fictional exhibit that you have to see to believe.

    Want more Haunt Jaunts?
    Jaunt with us online anytime at HauntJaunts.net.
    Host & Guide
    Courtney Mroch
    Music

    Danse Macabre - Violin Hook by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/3599-danse-macabre---violin-hook License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
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    14 mins
  • S4 Ep5: 10 Bewitching Witch Museums Around the World

    S4 Ep5: 10 Bewitching Witch Museums Around the World
    Mar 1 2022
    We embark on a whirlwind exploration of witch museums around the world in this episode. Stops include: Magicum in Berlin, GermanyHexenmuseum Schweiz in Gränichen, SwitzerlandMuseo de las Brujas in Zugarramurdi, SpainMuseum of Witchcraft and Magic in Bocastle, CornwallMuseum of Icelandic Witchcraft & Sorcery in Hólmavík, IcelandMuseum of Alchemy in Prague, Czechia.New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum in New Orleans, LouisianaBuckland Museum of Witchcraft in Cleveland, OhioSalem Witch Museum in Salem, MassachusettsSalem Witch House in Salem, Massachusetts Necropants optional. (And if you don't know what those are, we definitely talk about them and the magical staves needed to make them work.) SOURCES https://guidetoiceland.is/connect-wit... https://www.history.com/topics/folklo... https://www.statista.com/chart/19801/... https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/h... https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/w... https://www.icelandrovers.is/blog/the... WANT MORE HAUNT HAUNTS? Jaunt with us online anytime at https://www.hauntjaunts.net/. HOST & GUIDE Courtney Mroch MUSIC Danse Macabre - Violin Hook by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/3599-danse-... License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Trouble With Tribals by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/6427-troubl... License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Sweeter Vermouth by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/4450-sweete... License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
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    19 mins
  • S4 Ep4: Out-of-This-World UFO Museums

    S4 Ep4: Out-of-This-World UFO Museums
    Feb 23 2022
    There are really only two UFO museums:

    1. The Pine Bush UFO & Paranormal Museum in Pine Bush, New York, and 
    2. The International UFO Museum & Research Center in Roswell, New Mexico, a.k.a. what many consider the mecca of UFO museums.
    We explore both, as well as a couple of other museums with UFO connections, in this episode of Macabre Museums.

    Before we do, though, we examine how and when UFOs first entered America’s consciousness, which can really be traced back to one year: 1947.

    A lot of people credit the crash at Roswell with that, which was technically the first thing to happen in 1947, but it wasn't the first to make news. Kenneth Arnold's sighting at Mount Rainier as well as a transport plane out of Boise, Idaho, whose pilot, first officer, and stewardess observed "flying discs" were.

    Then we move on to Pine Bush's UFO history, which doesn't have one major event like Roswell did. Rather, it’s had decades-long consistent sightings. 

    After also talking about the UFO festivals and fairs in both Roswell and Pine Bush, we make a brief stop at two other museums:

    1. The Pennyroyal Area Museum in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, to check out the 1955 “Kelly Encounter” where Lucky Sutton and his family said little green men had landed on their farm and waged an attack on them. This is also where the idea of "little green men" were born.
    2. Seismique in Houston, Texas, which Houstonia Mag called a “Far-Out Journey.” 
    P.S.

    Apologies for the delay in releasing this week's episode. An unexpected, but now thankfully resolved, healthcare issue cropped up that I had to deal with first.

    Sources

    https://www.hauntjaunts.net/5-newspaper-clippings-summer-1947-ufo-sightings/
    https://www.roswellufomuseum.com/
    https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/11159
    https://pinebushmuseum.com/
    https://seismique.com/visit/
    https://www.getawaymavens.com/pine-bush-ny-ufo-capital/
    https://www.timesunion.com/hudsonvalley/outdoors/article/aliens-in-the-Hudson-Valley-ufo-museum-opens-16147894.php
    https://www.timeshudsonvalley.com/stories/paranormal-museum-opens-in-pine-bush,28421
    https://www.hauntjaunts.net/the-ufo-report-summing-up-the-9-biggest-takeaways/
    https://www.houstoniamag.com/arts-and-culture/2021/03/seismique-museum-review-2021
    Want more Haunt Jaunts?
    Jaunt with us online anytime at HauntJaunts.net.
    Host & Guide
    Courtney Mroch
    Music

    Danse Macabre - Violin Hook by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/3599-danse-macabre---violin-hook License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
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    15 mins
  • S4 Ep3: The Bizarre Realm of Oddities Museums

    S4 Ep3: The Bizarre Realm of Oddities Museums
    Feb 15 2022
    Did you know that America didn’t have an official national anthem until 1931? The same man who drew attention to that in 1929 is the same one we can pretty much credit with creating oddities museums.

    In this episode, we get to know Robert Ripley and his pioneering influence on the bizarre realm of oddities museums.

    What started as a comic strip series grew to become books, a radio show, a TV show with several revivals, and Ripley's Believe It or Not! Odditoriums around the world, a legacy which has now grown to include over 100 Ripley brand attractions worldwide.

    And as the saying goes, "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

    Whether they know it or not, Robert Ripley and his odditoriums at least indirectly inspired the existence of these oddities museums that we also explore in this episode:

    1. Museum of the Bizarre in Wilmington, North Carolina

    2. Museum of the Weird in Austin, Texas

    3. Graveface Museum in Savannah, Georgia

    4. Glitchy's Oddities in Saskatoon, Canada

    Kind of like the eclectic collection of unusual artifacts in them --including everything from FeeGee mermaids and shrunken heads, to "freaks of nature," haunted objects, and horror movies props-- oddities museums are a rare breed. Maybe that’s what makes them so much fun to visit?

    Check-In

    Have you ever visited a Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum?

    Want more Haunt Jaunts?

    Jaunt with us online anytime at HauntJaunts.net.

    Host & Guide

    Courtney Mroch

    Music

    Danse Macabre - Violin Hook by Kevin MacLeod
    Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/3599-danse-macabre---violin-hook
    License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
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    19 mins
  • S4 Ep2: Wallah! 8 Magic Museums Around the World

    S4 Ep2: Wallah! 8 Magic Museums Around the World
    Feb 7 2022
    Abracadabra. Hocus pocus. Alakazam.
    But which magicians were the first to use those now-famous, albeit stereotypical, conjuring words?
    Maybe the answer lies in the stops we’ll explore in this episode, which are magic museums around the world. 

    We start out with museums dedicated to one of the greatest magical showmen of all time: Harry Houdini. Then we progress from there.

    Stops include:

    1. The House of Houdini in Budapest, Hungary
    2. The Houdini Museum, Tour & Magic Show in Scranton, Pennsylvania
    3. Houdini Revealed, which was formerly known as the Houdini Museum of New York. It's actually currently closed but a note on their website says they're moving to a secret location in New Jersey. In the hopes that they reopen, I included them in this episode. 
    4. The House of Magic, or la Masion de La Magie in Blois, France
    5. The Musee de la Magie in Paris, France
    6. Magicum in Berlin, Germany
    7. The Vent Haven Museum in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, the World's Only Museum Dedicated to Ventriloquism
    8. The American Museum of Magic in Marshall, Michigan
    Honorable mentions also include the Houdini exhibit at the History Museum at the Castle in Appleton, Wisconsin, and the House of Cards magic-themed dining experience in Nashville, Tennessee. Even though it's not a museum, it does display posters from magic acts and framed historic playing cards, which sort of gives it a museum-ish feeling.
    Let’s use one more phrase to start this episode: open sesame. And wallah! Away we go!

    Links to Sites Mentioned in This Episode

    http://www.houseofhoudinibudapest.com/

    http://houdini.org/index2.html

    https://www.houdinimuseumny.com/

    https://www.maisondelamagie.fr/

    https://www.museedelamagie.com/

    https://www.magicum-berlin.de/en/

    https://www.venthaven.org/

    https://americanmuseumofmagic.com/

    https://totallyhistory.com/biography/famous-magicians/

    https://thedummyblog.com/index.php/2017/06/04/why-ventriloquism-is-actually-magic/
    https://youtu.be/bjVfhhyHeD4 - Link to the Houdini seance block falling over incident that I mentioned.

    Want more Haunt Jaunts?
    Jaunt with us online anytime at HauntJaunts.net.
    Host & Guide
    Courtney Mroch
    Music:

    Danse Macabre - Violin Hook by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/3599-danse-macabre---violin-hook License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
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    19 mins
  • S4 Ep1: Get Swept Off Your Feet at These Bigfoot Museums

    S4 Ep1: Get Swept Off Your Feet at These Bigfoot Museums
    Feb 1 2022
    In this episode we polka with the Skunk Ape in the Everglades, check out a Bigfoot butt print in Georgia, and visit the Bigfoot Handicapped Accessible Garden in Nebraska. And that's just scratching the surface of the booty-shaking fun we have getting swept off our feet in Bigfoot museums!

    Do you know which state officially declared one of its citizens their official Bigfoot Lady and issued an official proclamation designating October 20th the state’s official Bigfoot day? 

    And would you believe me if I told you there’s a Bigfoot beauty pageant where one lucky contestant is crowned Miss Skunk Ape? 

    If you answered no to any of the above, this episode has the answers! 

    All is revealed as we explore these 7 Bigfoot museums:

    1. Willow Creek-China Flat Museum in Willow Creek, CA
    2. Skunk Ape Research Headquarters in Ochopee, FL
    3. Bigfoot Discovery Museum in Felton, CA
    4. Sasquatch Outpost in Bailey, CO
    5. Expedition: Bigfoot! The Sasquatch Museum in Blue Ridge, GA
    6. Bigfoot Crossroads of America Museum and Research Center in Hastings, NE
    7. West Virginia Bigfoot Museum in Sutton, WV
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    Host & Guide
    Courtney Mroch
    Music

    Danse Macabre - Violin Hook by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/3599-danse-macabre---violin-hook License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
    No Spam Polka by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/4139-no-spam-polka License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
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    21 mins
  • S4: Macabre Museums

    S4: Macabre Museums
    Jan 25 2022
    In our third themed season on the Haunt Jaunts podcast, we explore the places where you can learn more about everything from witches, ghosts, and death to leprechauns, mermaids, and magic.

    Join us starting January 31 for the premiere of Macabre Museums.

    Listen to Haunt Jaunts on whatever podcast platform you prefer most.

    Want more Haunt Jaunts?
    Jaunt with us online anytime at HauntJaunts.net.
    Host & Guide
    Courtney Mroch
    Music

    Danse Macabre - Violin Hook by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/3599-danse-macabre---violin-hook License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
    Show More Show Less
    1 min