Campfire: Tales of the Strange and Unsettling

This week, we’re exploring the frigid depths of one of the most popular tourist destinations in Northern California: Lake Tahoe. This favored vacation spot for the rich and famous, including The Rat Pack, JFK, and Marilyn Monroe is surrounded by a shocking amount of mystery. Dubbed Tessie by the locals over 50 years ago, the Lake Tahoe monster is seen half a dozen times a year by tourists and local business owners. This frequently found fiend is said to be between 10 and 80 feet long, having a large, serpentine body "as wide across as a barrel," and coloration ranging from jet black to turquoise. The lack of photographic evidence is offset by the incredible depth of native folklore that places it high in the pantheon of beings revered by the Washoe and Paiute tribes. Strap in for a wild ride with..

EVERY MOBSTER’S FAVORITE LAKE MONSTER!

Campfire: Tales of the Strange and Unsettling is created for adult audiences only. The content and discussion in this show will necessarily engage with various accounts that include violence, anxiety, fear, and occasional body horror. Much of it will be emotionally and intellectually challenging to engage with. We will flag especially graphic or intense content so as to never put you in an uninformed or unprepared position. We will do our best to make this a space where we can engage bravely, empathetically, and thoughtfully with difficult content every week. 

This week’s episode includes the following sensitive content:

Postmortem Mutilation

Drowning

Join the conversation on social media at

www.campfirepodcastnetwork.com 

Instagram:

instagram.com/campfire.tales.podcast

GoodPods:

 https://goodpods.app.link/T0qvGnXnplb

Twitter:

www.twitter.com/campfiretotsau 

Facebook:

www.facebook.com/campfire.tales.podcast

Special Thanks:

Gregg Martin for music contributions! Go follow him on Instagram at Instagram.com/reverentmusic 

Elias Armao for graphic design! Go follow him on Instagram at instagram.com/doggedlinedesignsupply 

This week, we’re diving headfirst into the liminal spaces connecting our towns and cities. We’re discussing the full range of strange encounters, close calls, and brushes with the bizarre reported on the roadways of America. The prevalence of myths, urban legends, and campfire stories that take place in this setting is undeniable. The question is why. Why is the act of transit such a magnet for Fortean phenomena? We get into stories of the Red Headed Hitchhiker, Bandage Man, and Hat Man. All entities with thousands of reported encounters. Could these really just be boogiemen created and perpetuated by parents in order to keep their children safe? With the vast numbers of reported incidents, it’s hard to say.

CREEP FACTOR: 10! 

Campfire: Tales of the Strange and Unsettling is created for adult audiences only. The content and discussion in this show will necessarily engage with various accounts that include violence, anxiety, fear, and occasional body horror. Much of it will be emotionally and intellectually challenging to engage with. We will flag especially graphic or intense content so as to never put you in an uninformed or unprepared position. We will do our best to make this a space where we can engage bravely, empathetically, and thoughtfully with difficult content every week. 

This week’s episode includes the following sensitive content:

Extreme Graphic Violence

Car Crashes

Visual and Auditory Hallucinations 

Join the conversation on social media at

www.campfirepodcastnetwork.com 

Instagram:

instagram.com/campfire.tales.podcast

GoodPods:

https://goodpods.app.link/T0qvGnXnplb

Twitter:

www.twitter.com/campfiretotsau 

Facebook:

www.facebook.com/campfire.tales.podcast

Special Thanks:

Gregg Martin for music contributions! Go follow him on Instagram at Instagram.com/reverentmusic 

Additional Music: “Alone With Your Voices” – Ghost Stories Incorporated

Additional Music: "Running From Deaath" - Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

Elias Armao for graphic design! Go follow him on Instagram at instagram.com/doggedlinedesignsupply 

This week, we’re headed into the heart of the Lonestar State where, in April of 1897, the small rural town of Aurora, TX was set upon by an extraterrestrial interloper in crisis. After a harrowing attempt at an emergency landing ended in absolute catastrophe, the death of at least one of the craft’s occupants left the modest midtown reeling. But the outstanding part of this tale is the handling of this matter by a community that found itself questioning the very nature of life on earth. In a time 50 years before the Roswell crash and six years before mechanized flight would be achieved for the first time in Kitty Hawk, this bizarre barnstormer crashed in a frontier town that was prepared to show as much respect as one could possibly muster. So, let’s play a game.

LITTLE GREEN MAN OR JUMP-PLANE JOCKEY? 

Campfire: Tales of the Strange and Unsettling is created for adult audiences only. The content and discussion in this show will necessarily engage with various accounts that include violence, anxiety, fear, and occasional body horror. Much of it will be emotionally and intellectually challenging to engage with. We will flag especially graphic or intense content so as to never put you in an uninformed or unprepared position. We will do our best to make this a space where we can engage bravely, empathetically, and thoughtfully with difficult content every week. 

This week’s episode includes the following sensitive content:

Fire

Airplane crash

Join the conversation on social media at

www.campfirepodcastnetwork.com 

Instagram:

instagram.com/campfire.tales.podcast

GoodPods:

 https://goodpods.app.link/T0qvGnXnplb

Twitter:

twitter.com/campfiretotsau

Facebook:

facebook.com/campfire.tales.podcast

Special Thanks:

Gregg Martin for music contributions! Go follow him on Instagram at Instagram.com/reverentmusic 

Story Music: 'Dreamlike' from Kevin MacLeod

Elias Armao for graphic design! Go follow him on Instagram at instagram.com/doggedlinedesignsupply 

Nestled deep in the heart of Canada’s Northwest Territories and the McKenzie mountain range, Nahanni Valley has some of the most remarkable landscapes on earth. Mountain peaks so sheer that they protected the valley from the last ice age, raging rivers thousands of feet deep, thousands of miles of ice caves, acres of hot springs, and waterfalls double the height of Niagara. Pair with that a vast history of Dene lore laden with evil spirits, Sasquatch-like creatures, giants, enormous white wolves, and creatures left over from the Pliocene period! And oh yeah! UFO sightings galore! When prospectors start turning up headless, the intrigue really gets dialed up.

A STORY NOT ABOUT THE GOLD THEY FOUND, BUT WHAT FOUND THEM!

Campfire: Tales of the Strange and Unsettling is created for adult audiences only. The content and discussion in this show will necessarily engage with various accounts that include violence, anxiety, fear, and occasional body horror. Much of it will be emotionally and intellectually challenging to engage with. We will flag especially graphic or intense content so as to never put you in an uninformed or unprepared position. We will do our best to make this a space where we can engage bravely, empathetically, and thoughtfully with difficult content every week. 

This week’s episode includes the following sensitive content:

Extreme graphic violence

Decapitation

Suicide

Drowning

Starvation

Animal attacks

Cannibalism

Join the conversation on social media at

campfirepodcastnetwork.com 

Facebook:

facebook.com/campfire.tales.podcast

Instagram:

instagram.com/campfire.tales.podcast

Twitter:

twitter.com/campfiretotsau

Special Thanks:

Gregg Martin for music contributions! Go follow him on Instagram at Instagram.com/reverentmusic 

Elias Armao for graphic design! Go follow him on Instagram at instagram.com/doggedlinedesignsupply 

This week, we’re venturing into the rolling emerald hills of central Ireland. A land once ruled by Druidic tribes saw the takeover of western forces in the 13th century and with it the construction of some of the most enduring and iconic structures in European history. Sitting easily among the most recognizable of them is Leap Castle. The 700 year history of Leap Castle reads like a how-to manual on creating angry spirits. Add to that a splash of Druidic protection summoning and you have a proper coddle of paranormal phenomenon.

THESE GHOSTS HAVE EVERY RIGHT!

Campfire: Tales of the Strange and Unsettling is created for adult audiences only. The content and discussion in this show will necessarily engage with various accounts that include violence, anxiety, fear, and occasional body horror. Much of it will be emotionally and intellectually challenging to engage with. We will flag especially graphic or intense content so as to never put you in an uninformed or unprepared position. We will do our best to make this a space where we can engage bravely, empathetically, and thoughtfully with difficult content every week.

This week’s episode includes the following sensitive content:

Extreme Graphic Violence

Suicide

Sexual Assault

Restraint

Confinement

Violence Against Children

Subjugation

Slavery

Confined Spaces

Join the conversation on social media at

campfirepodcastnetwork.com

Facebook:

facebook.com/campfire.tales.podcast

Instagram:

instagram.com/campfire.tales.podcast

Twitter:

twitter.com/campfiretotsau

Special Thanks:

Gregg Martin for music contributions! Go follow him on Instagram at Instagram.com/reverentmusic

Elias Armao for graphic design! Go follow him on Instagram at instagram.com/doggedlinedesignsupply

Just east of the sun-drenched beaches of Rio de Janeiro, in the city of Niterói, sits the windswept bank of Vintém Hill. It is here on this hillside that Brazilian authorities would discover the bodies of two tv technicians at the center of one of the most enigmatic and enduring mysteries in South American history. Were these two paranormal-obsessed engineers duped into an overdose and robbery, or did they truly make contact with entities from beyond? Either way, this case has far more questions than answers and we’re doing our best to correct the scales.

IT’S ALWAYS ALIENS!

Campfire: Tales of the Strange and Unsettling is created for adult audiences only. The content and discussion in this show will necessarily engage with various accounts that include violence, anxiety, fear, and occasional body horror. Much of it will be emotionally and intellectually challenging to engage with. We will flag especially graphic or intense content so as to never put you in an uninformed or unprepared position. We will do our best to make this a space where we can engage bravely, empathetically, and thoughtfully with difficult content every week.

This week’s episode includes the following sensitive content:

Illicit drug use

Depictions of decomposition

Explosions

Join the conversation on social media at

campfirepodcastnetwork.com

Facebook:

facebook.com/campfire.tales.podcast

Instagram:

instagram.com/campfire.tales.podcast

Twitter:

twitter.com/campfiretotsau

Special Thanks:

Gregg Martin for music contributions! Go follow him on Instagram at Instagram.com/reverentmusic

Story music provided by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

Elias Armao for graphic design! Go follow him on Instagram at instagram.com/doggedlinedesignsupply

Halloween! Samhain! All-Hallows Eve! No matter what you call it, it’s our absolute favorite time of year and this year, we’ve decided to begin a new tradition. Every year on Halloween, we’re going to sit down and read a few of our favorite stories that have come across our desk. And that’s what this is! Relaxed, fun, loose, and spooky. Maybe you spent the day trick or treating. Maybe a cool party. Some haunted houses. No matter. Now you’re done and you can kick back, relax, and get spooky with

HALLOWEEN STORIES TO CHILL THE BONES! 

Campfire: Tales of the Strange and Unsettling is created for adult audiences only. The content and discussion in this show will necessarily engage with various accounts that include violence, anxiety, fear, and occasional body horror. Much of it will be emotionally and intellectually challenging to engage with. We will flag especially graphic or intense content so as to never put you in an uninformed or unprepared position. We will do our best to make this a space where we can engage bravely, empathetically, and thoughtfully with difficult content every week. 

Story Links:

My Dad’s Shenzhen Story

https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/pyyqkw/my_dads_shenzhen_story/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

 I Opened My Bathroom Mirror and Ruined my Life

https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/pyvreh/i_opened_my_bathroom_mirror_and_ruined_my_life/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

The Witch and The Till

https://www.reddit.com/r/shortscarystories/comments/qbgq4r/the_witch_at_the_till_halloween_2021/

A Halloween Haunt

https://www.reddit.com/r/scarystories/comments/qb1xub/a_halloween_haunt/

Join the conversation on social media at

campfirepodcastnetwork.com 

Facebook:

facebook.com/campfire.tales.podcast

Instagram:

instagram.com/campfire.tales.podcast

Twitter:

twitter.com/campfiretotsau

Halloween Shoutout Links:

Rogue Darkness 

https://open.spotify.com/show/2rOxmhB97QfPqESDO31XLW?si=qYXOEEldRSabvQRGBQU2xQ

Haunted Housewives

https://open.spotify.com/show/3mlRwTOLNN5IhoJ5B9KJys?si=_Sv2WfihSAuFz5-dyIyYEw

A Juicy Pear Podcast Starring Shawn and Wendy

https://open.spotify.com/show/1e4MWSDApusFUwY3bxIke3?si=Ce-imG0jR-60eArApONySQ

The Right Shoe

https://open.spotify.com/show/74qWabzWuovoE6Y78Mamio?si=cUpq8iPHTwSVEbU6Bq6vMg

2 Girls & a Campfire

https://open.spotify.com/show/0R2T7S944RNrfA27FNplyT?si=dvPa4WVmTmOypbBL9HarFA

Bats on the Brain

https://open.spotify.com/show/5iyxEbsv2GQtbkdazSDKWS?si=Jvy2Hxv1SeeuKr3PttYgsA

Movies on Weed

https://open.spotify.com/show/6E8dCmovH7nxc1skId9jYj?si=6Rf6njnsQHyUN6siRtzY0Q

Shit That Scares Me

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sh-t-that-scares-me/id1557158478

Wait, Whaaat?

https://open.spotify.com/show/4MtJR43OLY5dj5AGplzROE?si=nx_6MQeBSgOKHavyN1nQmg

Twisted and Uncorked

https://open.spotify.com/show/7ratTOm3OjvxvufIYKKeWI?si=Qw4F2rJFQZqGCvghkjQuyA

A Brian Shaffer Story

https://open.spotify.com/show/2PKvZwZAb9XJ6WjCN5FKcb?si=c_K8KkaWQWG5RAKHShb7vQ

Vile Beans!

https://vilebeans.com/

The Greener Grass Podcast

https://open.spotify.com/show/2OHxUeWGliaXMNMPNeXnUo?si=gQo4t8EPSOWUKxM-_s8wxg

Unearthly Wanderings

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCkdBokmcsdpYm3A6_yX0uPQ?view_as=subscriber

Totally Weird and Twisted

https://open.spotify.com/show/6PCPs34mEttRtdcHcG6piJ?si=UZi-01JmSuuNrHjNpdW5kQ

Special Thanks:

Gregg Martin for music contributions! Go follow him on Instagram at Instagram.com/reverentmusic 

Elias Armao for graphic design! Go follow him on Instagram at instagram.com/doggedlinedesignsupply

In this week’s addition to the Campfire Classic Collection, the father of Science-Fiction takes a turn toward the terrifying. H.G. Wells tries his adept hand at the world of Gothic Horror with fantastic results. Originally published in 1896 in Idler Magazine, this story centers around a scientifically but open minded man who is attempting to confirm or debunk the presence of paranormal entities in “the red room” of the enormous Lorraine Castle. Expertly crafted twists and turns will lead you all ways but to the truth as he shirks off the warnings of the Castle’s aged custodians and possibly his own better angels and ascends to the dreaded Red Room.

H.G. Wells’ best known works are The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), The War of the Worlds (1898) and the military science fiction The War in the Air (1907). Wells was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times.

Campfire: Tales of the Strange and Unsettling is created for adult audiences only. The content and discussion in this show will necessarily engage with various accounts that include violence, anxiety, fear, and occasional body horror. Much of it will be emotionally and intellectually challenging to engage with. We will flag especially graphic or intense content so as to never put you in an uninformed or unprepared position. We will do our best to make this a space where we can engage bravely, empathetically, and thoughtfully with difficult content every week. 

Join the conversation on social media at

campfirepodcastnetwork.com 

Facebook:

facebook.com/campfire.tales.podcast

Instagram:

instagram.com/campfire.tales.podcast

Twitter:

twitter.com/campfiretotsau

Special Thanks:

Gregg Martin for music contributions! Go follow him on Instagram at Instagram.com/reverentmusic 

Elias Armao for graphic design! Go follow him on Instagram at instagram.com/doggedlinedesignsupply

The fourth and final installment in our Halloween Monsters series ends with a bang: Vampires. We dive into the terrifying tale of a family living in the North-West England village of Croglin Grange. After renting a single story home, they soon came to find that the owners had more than good reason to vacate. The woman of the house soon found herself face to face with a vampiric villain with a taste for flesh and blood. We then take a deep dive into the history of vampires from their Eastern European roots to the importance in Western pop culture. And finally, we discuss our Top 5 Vampire movies of all time. So, get out your garlic and crucifixes.

WE’RE GOING TO TRANSYLVANIA!

Campfire: Tales of the Strange and Unsettling is created for adult audiences only. The content and discussion in this show will necessarily engage with various accounts that include violence, anxiety, fear, and occasional body horror. Much of it will be emotionally and intellectually challenging to engage with. We will flag especially graphic or intense content so as to never put you in an uninformed or unprepared position. We will do our best to make this a space where we can engage bravely, empathetically, and thoughtfully with difficult content every week.

This week’s episode includes the following sensitive content:

Sexual Assault

Violence against children

Child murder

Mental health issues

Extreme graphic violence

Ocular Trauma

Join the conversation on social media at

campfirepodcastnetwork.com

Facebook:

facebook.com/campfire.tales.podcast

Instagram:

instagram.com/campfire.tales.podcast

Twitter:

twitter.com/campfiretotsau

Special Thanks:

Gregg Martin for music contributions! Go follow him on Instagram at Instagram.com/reverentmusic

Elias Armao for graphic design! Go follow him on Instagram at instagram.com/doggedlinedesignsupply

Campfire Classics Collection Volume 3: Pickman’s Model

In the third installment of the Campfire Classics Collection, in honor of the Halloween season, today we’re reading “Pickman’s Model” (1927) by H.P. Lovecraft. In this terrifying tale of one man’s struggle to find the uppermost reaches of horror, we explore themes of passion, moderation, and exclusion. This true master of horror uses the story to extrapolate on his theories regarding the anatomy of suspense; the psychology of fear in a way that has inspired novice authors for nearly a century. Enjoy this reading around a campfire or snuggled under a warm blanket. Feel free to follow the link and read along with us.

Happy Halloween!

https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/pm.aspx

H.P. Lovecraft’s best know works include “The Call of Cthulhu” (1926), “At the Mountains of Madness” (1931), “The Shadow Out of Time” (1936), and “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” (1936)

Campfire: Tales of the Strange and Unsettling is created for adult audiences only. The content and discussion in this show will necessarily engage with various accounts that include violence, anxiety, fear, and occasional body horror. Much of it will be emotionally and intellectually challenging to engage with. We will flag especially graphic or intense content so as to never put you in an uninformed or unprepared position. We will do our best to make this a space where we can engage bravely, empathetically, and thoughtfully with difficult content every week.

Join the conversation on social media at

campfirepodcastnetwork.com

Facebook:

facebook.com/campfire.tales.podcast

Instagram:

instagram.com/campfire.tales.podcast

Twitter:

twitter.com/campfiretotsau