monster, urban legend

Vampires of New Orleans: Comte & Jacques St. Germain

This spooky season, we dive into two of New Orleans’ most enduring vampire legends: Count St. Germain, the mysterious European aristocrat who fascinated Enlightenment courts and allegedly discovered the secret to eternal youth, and Jacques St. Germain, his 20th-century doppelgänger who hosted lavish parties and may have left more than wine stains behind.

We’ll unravel the historical breadcrumbs, sift through the lore, and ask the age-old question: are these men merely the products of high-society gossip and gothic imagination… or is immortality hiding in plain sight on Royal Street?

Stay tuned for part 2, where we continue our descent into New Orleans’ shadowy past, more legends, more mystery, and maybe even a few more vampires if you’re lucky.

Edited by Max Holechek

ghosts

The Stanley Hotel

High in the Colorado Rockies stands a hotel that has welcomed presidents, movie stars, and curious travelers, but it is the ghosts that made it famous.

In this episode, we uncover the story of the Stanley Hotel, an opulent mountain retreat built in the early 1900s that became as legendary for its hauntings as its grandeur. From its origins as F.O. Stanley’s vision of luxury and health to chilling reports of spectral children, phantom piano music, and rooms so active they inspired Stephen King’s The Shining, we explore the history and the paranormal legacy of one of America’s most iconic haunted hotels.

Edited by Max Holechek

true crime

Richard Trenton Chase: The Vampire of Sacramento

Richard Trenton Chase, also known as the “Vampire of Sacramento,” terrorized California in the late 1970s with a spree of murders involving cannibalism and delusional blood rituals. Join us as we unpack his chilling journey from a nightmarish childhood and untreated psychosis to the city-wide panic that erupted after his gruesome crimes, as we also explore how systemic psychiatric failures and missed warning signs led to the tragic descent into violence that would haunt criminal psychology forever.

TW: child abuse, murder, cannibalism.

Edited by Maxwell Holechek

true crime

Arthur Shawcross: The Genesee Killer, Part Two

After serving time for his first murders, Arthur Shawcross was released back into society. What followed was a series of killings that left women across Rochester terrified and police desperate for answers.

In Part Two, we follow Arthur Shawcross as he reinvents himself after prison, only to unleash a wave of violence even more chilling than before. Targeting women along the Genesee River, his murders exposed failures in the system, devastated families, and escalated into one of the most notorious serial cases in New York’s history.

true crime

Arthur Shawcross: The Genesee Killer, Part One

Before he became known as the Genesee River Killer, Arthur Shawcross’s violent urges first surfaced in two brutal murders that shocked upstate New York. Long before his killing spree along the Genesee River, Arthur Shawcross’s darkness emerged in 1972, when two young victims vanished under chillingly similar circumstances. In Part One, we trace Shawcross’s early life, the disturbing patterns that began to take shape, and the investigation into his first known murders, crimes that should have been a warning of the horrors yet to come.

Edited by Max Holechek 

ghosts, urban legend

The Dark Underbelly of the Butterworth Building

Tucked above Pike Place Market, the Butterworth Building was once Seattle’s swankiest monument to death, complete with mahogany caskets, mourning suites, and the West Coast’s first corpse elevator. In this episode, we dig into the dark legacy of E.R. Butterworth, his creepy connection to “fasting specialist” Linda Hazzard, and the spirits that linger (not just the alcoholic kind).

Special guest Jake Rice, aka Ghost Daddy, drops by to share eerie tales of paranormal activity still reported today.

Edited by Maxwell Holechek

true crime, unsolved mystery

The Disappearance of Ann Marie Burr

In the early hours of August 31, 1961, 8-year-old Ann Marie Burr vanished from her home in Tacoma, Washington, with no forced entry. No witnesses. No trace. 

More than six decades later, her disappearance remains one of the most haunting unsolved cases in the Pacific Northwest, made even more chilling by its possible connection to one of America’s most infamous serial killers.

Edited by Maxwell Holechek

curse, unsolved mystery

The Curse of Ötzi the Iceman

In 1991, high in the Ötztal Alps, a frozen body emerged from the ice, and what seemed like a mountaineering accident turned out to be Europe’s oldest natural mummy. Meet Ötzi, a 5,000-year-old Copper Age man whose remarkably preserved remains offer a chilling glimpse into prehistoric life, and possibly, death by more than just natural causes. From forensic finds to the strange and sudden deaths of researchers tied to him, rumors of a deadly curse refuse to melt away. Was Ötzi simply an archaeological marvel… or a mummy with unfinished business? Let’s dig into the ice, the evidence, and the eerie echoes of a curse that may still linger today.

Audio editing by Maxwell Holechek

cryptid

Looking for Champ in Lake Champlain

Is it just a local legend, or something real beneath the surface? For centuries, Lake Champlain has been home to stories of a mysterious creature known as Champ. Fact, fiction, or something in between?

For generations, stories have surfaced of a mysterious creature gliding through the waters of Lake Champlain, described as serpentine, elusive, and impossible to forget. Nicknamed Champ, this lake monster has drawn the attention of locals, skeptics, cryptozoologists, and even sonar scans. But is there truth behind the legend? From Indigenous folklore to 20th-century tourism, we delve into the murky depths of this creature’s history and the question that refuses to be answered: what’s really out there?

Edited by Maxwell Holechek

curse, ghosts, urban legend

The Baleroy Mansion and The Chair of Death

In this episode, we dive into the realm of the cursed and the haunted, exploring the eerie history of Baleroy Mansion and its infamous “Chair of Death.” From strange deaths linked to the cursed chair to the lingering spirits of past residents, we unravel the chilling mysteries that make this mansion one of the most haunted places in America. Is the curse real? Can a piece of furniture really hold malevolent power? Tune in as we uncover the supernatural history of Baleroy, and ponder whether the spirits still haunt its halls today. Allegedlies abound!

Edited by Maxwell Holechek

A Spooky Podcast