The Strange and Unusual Podcast

The Strange and Unusual Podcast Fear of the unknown is explored as we focus on folklore, superstition, ghost stories, murder, and more. The unknown. Welcome to The Strange and Unusual Podcast.

It lies at the root of all fear, and has inspired legends, superstition, folklore, customs, and even murder throughout history. Still today we feel the shadowy presence of our ancestors' struggles to explain the mysterious in almost every facet of our lives. Whether it be in the form of religion, urban legends, ghost stories, superstitious rituals, and so much more we are still just fighting to keep our monsters in the dark.

New episode “7 Winter Legends That Lurk In the Dark” is available now! In this episode I cover the Yule Cat from Iceland...
12/17/2025

New episode “7 Winter Legends That Lurk In the Dark” is available now! In this episode I cover the Yule Cat from Iceland, the Wendigo from North America, Yukon-Onna from Japan, Kallikantzaroi from Greece, Nian from China, Mari Lwyd from Wales, and Ijiraq from the Artic Inuit. Happy spooky holidays, everyone!

New episode ‘7 Winter Legends That Lurk In the Dark’ is available now! In this episode I cover the Yule cat from Iceland...
12/17/2025

New episode ‘7 Winter Legends That Lurk In the Dark’ is available now! In this episode I cover the Yule cat from Iceland, the Wendigo from North America, Yuki-Onna from Japan, Kallikantzaroi from Greece, Nian from China, Mari Lwyd from Wales, and Ijiraq from the Arctic Inuit. Happy spooky holidays, everyone!

In Romania, November 29th belongs to the wolves and the restless dead. New episode ‘Night of the Strigoi: St Andrew’s Ev...
11/27/2025

In Romania, November 29th belongs to the wolves and the restless dead. New episode ‘Night of the Strigoi: St Andrew’s Eve in Romania’ now available! 🐺🧄

Hope you’ve all had a delightfully spooky Halloween!👻
11/01/2025

Hope you’ve all had a delightfully spooky Halloween!👻

Join me for the new episode ‘10 Strange and Unusual Halloween Superstitions’, where I count down 10 strange superstition...
10/20/2025

Join me for the new episode ‘10 Strange and Unusual Halloween Superstitions’, where I count down 10 strange superstitions, from turnip jack o’lanterns and mirror magic, to dumb suppers, bat omens and more! 🎃

A new episode “Gallows and Grimoires: Witchcraft from the Spell in to the Noose” is available now! In this episode I tra...
10/13/2025

A new episode “Gallows and Grimoires: Witchcraft from the Spell in to the Noose” is available now! In this episode I trace the haunting story of the witch as healer, heretic, and scapegoat, exploring the folklore, the fear, and the witch hunts of Pendle, Würzburg, Bamberg, and Salem. Pictured above is a memorial of my own ancestor, Elizabeth Howe, who was convicted and hanged as a witch in Salem in 1692, a story I also cover on this episode.

New episode: “Shadows of Immortality: Vampires from Folklore to Pop Culture” is now available! On this episode I trace t...
09/22/2025

New episode: “Shadows of Immortality: Vampires from Folklore to Pop Culture” is now available! On this episode I trace the vampire’s long, shadowy journey, from 18th-century graveyard panics and Slavic strigoi to the seductive aristocrats of Gothic fiction and the conflicted immortals of modern pop culture. Also, I go into my own trip to Transylvania and my visit to 14th century Bran Castle (pictured above), which is known as Dracula’s Castle to tourists.

A new episode, just in time for the new school year “Back To School Nightmares” is available everywhere now!1. Back to s...
09/08/2025

A new episode, just in time for the new school year “Back To School Nightmares” is available everywhere now!

1. Back to school nightmare ep
2. The abandoned Lambertville High School in NJ
3. El Paso High School in Texas
4. El Paso High
5. The alleged ghost in the Class of 1985 photo
6. Mgotjane Primary School in Edwatini, Africa
7. Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, once a high school, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
8. Former prison cells at the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum
9. Haunting black and white ID photos of those formerly imprisoned
10. The Bell Tower at what is now Preparatoria Federal Lazaro Cardenas in Tijuana, Mexico
11. Before its life as a school, back when it was Aguascaliente Hotel and Casino
12. The courtyard at the hotel in Tijuana

New episode ‘Whispers In The Corn: Harvest Watchers and Field Spirits’ available everywhere! In this ep we’re exploring ...
08/25/2025

New episode ‘Whispers In The Corn: Harvest Watchers and Field Spirits’ available everywhere!

In this ep we’re exploring harvest folklore throughout the world, and how it connects to the genre of folk horror. From the sunlit dread of Lady Midday stalking the fields of Eastern Europe to the vengeful rice paddy ghosts of Japan, nearly every farming culture told tales of spirits among the grain. We’ll wander those stubbled fields and deserted farms, listening for the whispers of harvest-time spirits: the Harvest Watchers and Field Spirits that people once believed lurked within the furrows.

New episode ‘Goodnight, Sleep Tight: The Sandman and Other Creatures of the Night’ is available everywhere! (P.S. I pick...
08/22/2025

New episode ‘Goodnight, Sleep Tight: The Sandman and Other Creatures of the Night’ is available everywhere! (P.S. I picked this image since it reminds me exactly how my sleep paralysis plays out!😳)

New episode “Urban Legends Come To Life” is available everywhere now!1. Newspaper article about the figure that became k...
07/29/2025

New episode “Urban Legends Come To Life” is available everywhere now!
1. Newspaper article about the figure that became known as the Bunny Man
2. The Bunny Man Bridge
3. Picture of Willowbrook State School, the center of the Cropsey legend
4. Missing poster for Jennifer Schweiger, whose body was later found on the Willowbrook property
5. Article about the Phantom of Texarkana, who inspired the Hookman legend
6. Movie poster for “The Town That Dreaded Sundown”, which was based on the Texarkana murders
7. Slender Man, a fictional character that was brought to the real world with an attempted murder
8. Polybius, the arcade game of legend
9. The real life murder that inspired the babysitter murder legend, of “the calls are coming from inside the house”
10. “Black Christmas”, which used the caller inside the house trope
11. One of many instances of bodies being found in hotel beds
12. Young Raymond Robinson, who would go on to be know. As Charlie No Face
13./14. Pictures of Raymond Robinson on his nightly walks
15. The real life inspiration for what’s become the laced Halloween candy legend

It’s that time of year again!
02/24/2025

It’s that time of year again!

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