Ghosthropology Podcast

08/09/2025

Multi-time guest Michelle Hanks was kind enough to send me a copy of her new book. The topic is the role of doubt and skepticism among paranormal investigators and it should be interesting. I plan to start reading it today.

01/09/2025

Episode 101 is up!

The C**k Lane haunting is one of the best known British ghost stories and one of the best known British hoaxes. In this episode, Matt discusses the events that took place at 20 C**k Lane in the 1760s, how they related to the religious, political, and social currents of the time, and how we might think about them today.

https://kmmamedia.com/2025/09/01/101-the-cock-lane-ghost/

18/08/2025

Episode 100 is out!
In this very special 100th episode, your friendly neighborhood Ghosthropologist sits down with his Good Lady Wife for some listener-submitted stories and some Q&A. Hear about the creepy bathroom, a smelly ghost, and a shadowy figure on the highway… Enjoy!
https://kmmamedia.com/.../18/100-hearing-from-the-listeners/

04/08/2025

Episode 99 is out!

The story of the Screaming Skull of Bettiscombe Manor is one of the better-known British ghost stories and is part of a larger motif in British supernatural folklore. The Bettiscombe Manor story involves slavery, ignoring the wishes of the dead, and the price paid for these transgressions. There is less reality to the story than even a skeptic might think, but quite a lot is going on in the folklore. In this episode, Matt talks about why, if you find a human skull in your house, you might just want to leave it be.

https://kmmamedia.com/2025/08/04/99-the-screaming-bettiscombe-skull/

07/07/2025

In this episode, Matt concludes his discussion of Ludwig Lavatar’s 16th-century book on Protestant Demonology, Of Ghostes and Spirites Walking by Night. In this part, we learn that ghosts are actually demons, that Medieval and late Roman sorcerers got up to some freaky stuff, and that Bulgaria was once ruled by a werewolf. We also find that Lavatar has a rather upsetting yet mundane explanation as to why God allows evil spirits to torment people.

https://kmmamedia.com/2025/07/07/97-of-ghostes-and-spirites-walking-by-night-part-2/

30/06/2025

10/06/2025

We're on a bit of a forced hiatus here, dealing with some medical matters.

However, while we wait for a new episode, here's some photos from Coal Oil Point in Santa Barbara. I used to really enjoy photography, back when I had time to take long trips just to take pictures, but I sharpened by skills near my home. And when I lived in Santa Barbara, I would go around town taking photos. I took these around 2005 or 2006. The cross is not a tombstone, it is part of some other monument, but I do not remember what is was for.

07/06/2025

Episode 97 is the second and final part of the discussion of Ludwig Lavatar's 16th century book on demonology. And it's pretty wild!

02/06/2025

We have experienced some delays, but we are getting back on track.

19/05/2025

NEW EPISODE!

In this, the first of two episodes, Matt discusses the first part of Of Ghostes and Spirites, Walking by Night, a book in which a 16th-century theologian tried to explain why, in a world that he believed to be ruled by a Christian God, people saw ghosts. This book provides fascinating insights into Renaissance folklore, beliefs about the afterlife, and theology. And there’s a lot of smack talk.

08/05/2025

When I lived in Santa Barbara, I was walking near downtown one day when I noticed that, according to the road sign, I was walking on Quarantina Road, that is, Quarantine Road. Walking a bit further, I found Salsipuedes (Leave if you can) and Indio Mu**to (Dead Indian)...which was ominous.

I mentioned this to some of the other anthropology graduate students and we looked into it, and it appears that these road names all are derived from one of the periods when an illness, possibly smallpox, was killing local Chumash people associated with the mission.

I have to question the city government's thinking in retaining these road names.