Episodes

  • Season 2 Episode 1: Watching for Yokai and Greek-Irish Orphans

    Season 2 Episode 1: Watching for Yokai and Greek-Irish Orphans
    Jan 18 2024
    Season 2 premier starts off with a tour of Japanese Legends and Folklore as told by Legendary author Lafcadio Hearn. Join me as I tell the sometimes creepy, sometimes heartbreaking stories of Japanese ghosts, monsters, and legendary beings.
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    42 mins
  • Episode 34: Comets, Cults, and Creatures From Outer Space

    Episode 34: Comets, Cults, and Creatures From Outer Space
    Oct 2 2023
    Comet Nishimura gave us all a once in several lifetimes chance to experience the wonders of space, and for most earthlings it was a wondrous momentous occasion. But to those who may still believe in the Comet's mysteriously ominous place in the annals of doomsday prophesies and catastrophe, perhaps things looked a little different. Come with me this week as I explore the Comet's complicated history and relationship with mankind, then sit back and enjoy a different kind of brush with green tinted extra terrestrial terror as I read When The Moon Turned Green, by Hal K. Wells.

    A History of Comets - Pt. 1: From Harbingers of Doom to Celestial Wanderers; https://sci.esa.int/s/wRMV4DA; September 14, 2023.

    A History of Comets - Pt. 2: Testing Gravity: How Comets Helped to Prove Newton Right; https://sci.esa.int/s

    The Biblical Flood, Noah's Flood, the Deluge of the Scriptual Genesis Record; www.accuracyingenesis.com

    Noah Goldman, "Comets in Ancient Cultures." deepimpact.astro.umd.edu

    Joel Schwarz, "Humans Have Feared Comets, Other Celestial Phenomen Through the Ages." www.jpl.nasa.gov; March 24, 1997.

    Claire Weintraub, Christina Ng, Acacia Nunez, and Haley Yamada, "Heaven's Gate survivor reflects on the cult's mass suicide 25 yeaers ago."

    Abigail Beall, "Last chance to see comet Nishimura before it vanishes for 400 years." New Scientist, www.newscientist.com; September 21, 2023.
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    1 hr and 16 mins
  • Episode 33: The Dark Spirit of Winter, a Cannibalistic Nightmare from Ancient Folklore; The Wendigo

    Episode 33: The Dark Spirit of Winter, a Cannibalistic Nightmare from Ancient Folklore; The Wendigo
    Sep 13 2023
    Join me for a retelling of Algernon Blackwood's Wendigo, his take on the truly terrifying Native American and First Nations folktale/modern day cryptid. The Wendigo's fearsome motivations, its disturbing appearance, and the true stories told by those who have experienced the Wendigo first hand will leave you questioning whether it's safe to go into the Winter Woods.

    References:

    J.W. Ocker, "Beware the Wendigo, the Frostbitten Flesheater of North America's Chilly Heartland." atlasobscura.com; October 12, 2022.

    Wu Mingren, "What is a Wendigo? The beast with an insatiable hunger for human flesh." ancient-origins.net/unexplained-phenomena/wendigo; December 28, 2022.

    Rene Ostberg, "Wendigo, Algonkian mythology." britannica.com/topic/wendigo

    Kathy Alexander, "Wendigo-Flesheater of the Forests." legendsofamerica.com

    Kaitlin SMith, "More than Monsters: the deeper significance of Wendigo stories." facinghistory.org/ideas-week/more-monsters-deeper-significance-wendigo-stories; November 30, 2021.
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    2 hrs and 23 mins
  • Episode 32: Interview with Tim Moon; Bigfoot, Star Trek, and the Meaning of Life

    Episode 32: Interview with Tim Moon; Bigfoot, Star Trek, and the Meaning of Life
    Aug 15 2023
    Join me as I interview a new author in the Cryptid and paranormal horror ficion genre, Tim Moon. We discuss his new book, Tomato Fields, facts and fiction about bigfoot, some personal encounters with the otherworldly, and more!

    I am not an Amazon affiliate, but I thought I'd provide you a handy link to Tim's book in case you feel inspired to crack open a book spine this weekend...

    https://www.amazon.com/Tomato-Fields-Tim-Moon-ebook/dp/B0BRNRRS6Y/ref=sr_1_1?crid=7HXKXQLMA6T2&keywords=tim+moon+tomato+fields&qid=1692072898&sprefix=tim+moon+tomato+fie%2Caps%2C647&sr=8-1
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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • Episode 31: Bigfoot or Bust; The Big Guy in Folklore and Fact

    Episode 31: Bigfoot or Bust; The Big Guy in Folklore and Fact
    Jul 21 2023
    Everyone loves Bigfoot, we may not all believe he's real, but we find his story compelling nonetheless. This week I delve into some of the science and psychology of Bigfoot research, then read you a wee little story called "The Thunder Voice, The Story of a Hairy Monster" by F. Walter Wilson, as it appeared in Weird Tales in 1923, long before Bigfoot hysteria really took hold of the United States.

    Works Cited:

    Ben Crair, "Why do so many people still want to believe in Bigfoot? The appeal of the mythical, wild man holds strong." Smithsonian Magazine; September 2018.

    Robbie Mitchell, "7 Legendary Cryptids that Turned Out to Be Real." ancient-origins.net; October 12, 2022.

    Peter Dendle, "Cryptozoology in the Medieval and Modern Worlds." Folklore; Vol. 117, August 2006.

    Ashot Margaryan, Mikkel-Holger S. Sinding, Christian Caroe, Vladimir Yamshchikov, Igor Burtsev, and M. Thomas P. Gilbert, "The genomic origin of Zana of Abkhazia." Advanced Genetics; 2021.

    Brown Lotus, "Zana's story: Did a 19th Century Russian Noble Tame a Female Yeti?" The Mystery Box; September 24, 2020.
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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • Episode 30: Kentucky Fried Cryptids: Is Kentucky a Monster Magnet?

    Episode 30: Kentucky Fried Cryptids: Is Kentucky a Monster Magnet?
    Jul 10 2023
    Join me as I delve deeper into the Folklore of my Home State. Kentucky is home to so many stories of the supernatural and strange, I mean this is the only state that has a well-documented Meat storm on the record books, as far as I know. Yeah, an actual Meat Storm...meat falling from the sky! Crazy stuff, there. This week we will be talking about the Cryptid population of the Commonwealth, then we go spelunking in Mammoth Cave before it was a National Park in the story, The Cave of Horror, by Captain S.P. Meek!

    I hope you enjoy your tour...
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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • Episode 29: Robot Apocalypses or Utopias: The Rise of Artificial Intelligence

    Episode 29: Robot Apocalypses or Utopias: The Rise of Artificial Intelligence
    Jun 28 2023
    ware robots: what u to know." IPVanish.com; March 29, 2023.

    Waken.AI, "CHatGPT's Special Self-Awareness: Insights from Waken.AI's Introspection Framework." Press Release; January 24, 2023.

    Sara Brown, "Why neural net pioneer Geoffrey Hinton is sounding the alarm of AI." MIT Management Sloan School; May 23, 2023.
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    2 hrs and 12 mins
  • Episode 28: One, Two, Dab Tsog's Coming For You, The Mystery of Hmong Immigrant Nightmare Death Syndrome

    Episode 28: One, Two, Dab Tsog's Coming For You, The Mystery of Hmong Immigrant Nightmare Death Syndrome
    Jun 17 2023
    Begining in 1977 a series of inexplicable Nightmare induced deaths took the lives of over 100 Hmong live in America. The mystery is still a source of conjecture and wonder in the medical community. I found this story positively intriguing, so I present to you my findings on this terrifying topic. Then, as usual I wind us down with a fictional story...this week we take a magical mystery tour with a tale taken from the pages of Weird Tales; a creepy detective story, sure to leave you shivering.

    www.nytimes.com/1981/05/10/us/nightmares-suspected-in-bed-deaths-of-18-laotians.html
    Wayne King, May 10, 1981

    Eric Young, Se Xioung, Laurel Finn, Terry Young, "Unique sleep disorders profile of a population-based sample of 747 Homg immigrants in Wisconsin," Social Science and Medicine, vol.79, Feb. 2013, pp. 57-65.

    Shelley R. Adler, "Refugee Stress and Folk Belief: Hmong Sudden Deaths." Social Sience and Medicine, Vol. 40, No. 12, pp. 1623-1629.

    Katie Spalding, "Can You Really Be Scared To Death?" OCt. 29, 2021, iflscience.com

    Filip K. Swirski, Jessica L. Ables, Ivan E. de Araujo, Deanna Benson, et al. "Brain-body communication in health and disease," Special adendum to Science Magazine, June 6, 2023, Frontiers of Medical Research: Brain Science.
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    49 mins