Castles & Cryptids

Well it's a wrap on 2023, can you believe it? We can't fathom how we just did Krampus last year only! LOL. Time for some urban legends, some of our favorite tales to revisit, our bread and butter baby!! We've all seen the movie versions from Western culture, like the hook man and the check-your-backseat-cause-it-looks-like-you-have-a-killer-in-there gas station story.

We wanted to see if other countries have specific legends, or just what your local tales of horror might be. We spoke of the Slit-mouthed lady, the Scottish severed head and who knows what else! Truly creepy tales of the world, that's what!

Happy Holidays and Merry Yule Y'all!

Zencaster Promo!

Birdie Promo!

https://linktr.ee/castlesandcryptids

Welcome to our 2nd last ep of 2023, and the last true crime ep of the year! (insert confetti cannons and air horns here) For this weeks ep we each chose cases where a person decided to kill the rest of their family members, depressing we know... 

Kelsey tells the story of the Fisher family, a seemingly normal family with a few problems from the outside, and even more on the inside. Friends and coworkers are shocked after a sudden explosion rips through the neighbourhood, bringing about The Fall of the House of Fisher (see what we did there, we love you Mike Flanagan) 

Alanna shares the story of 2 great pro wrestlers, Chris and Nancy Benoit. While the pair may have started as a storyline, they fell for real and started a life together. Years later their love story comes to a tragic conclusion that no one saw coming. 

It's a dark ep for sure, but catch us next week for our last ep of the year (shameless patreon plug, where we have dozens more eps and videos!) 

Until then, keep it cryptic!

 Use our special link https://zen.ai/E0jhXppbKy1GdZYyKRcHFg to save 30% off your first month of any Zencastr paid plan. 

Tags: Familicide, Fisher Family, Robert William Fisher, Chris & Nancy Benoit, Chris Benoit

Magic Mirror on the Wall, who has the strangest tale of all? If you are anything like us, you like hearing odd and bizarre fairy tales and creepy "children's" stories! They are often short with simple characters and trumped up tropes- stepmothers are always evil! The poor boy turn hero and marries the princess, or prince! Short dude has long name like Rumpelstiltskin! 

Kelsey and Alanna curated a short list of strange stories for round one of what's sure to be a fun series we can keep coming back to! Just listen to these titillating titles:

The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs

The Louse and The Flea

The Red Shoes

The Bird, The Mouse and The Sausage

Bet you can't guess which one has religious overtones and which one has a Total Party Kill?! (that's nerd for they all die lol)

Darkcast Network Promo of the Week!

Creepy Confidential Podcast https://www.instagram.com/creepyconfidential/

Don't Forget About our 30% Zencaster deal! (just in time for the holidays, haha) 

Use our link below to show the love:

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Keep it Cryptic!!

Hello and here is part two of our Rogue Darkness takeover, talking about the tale of Hanna Cranna. Witch she may have been, however she rivaled Dean Winchester for her love of pies and watch yourself if you should deny her pie! Don't deny pie! That's the true lesson here. Hope you enjoy, and catch you next week!

Hey Cryptic Cuties, Kelsey and I had to postpone our fairy tales episode this week due to illness, we're sorry. But we picked a Darkcast Network pro to keep you company- Rogue Darkness, hosted by Raven. Check out their coverage here of Enriqueta Marti: the Vampire of Barcelona, and the second part will be the tale of the "Witch" Hanna Cranna. Clearly a cryptic conspiracy exists, or else that witch just really likes pie. Speaking of conspiracies, part 2 will be out later today as it's not letting me post multiple segments ....is it still the full moon?? We hope you'll check out Rogue Darkness :

https://open.spotify.com/show/2rOxmhB97QfPqESDO31XLW

Keep it Cryptic!

#Darkcast Network show of the week is Rogue Darkness of course!

It felt like forever since we did an international true crime ep, so this week we decided to cover 2 unsettling cases all the way from Kenya! (shout out to our Kenyan listeners). Kelsey kicks things off with the details of the Kenyan Starvation Cult, this recent and ongoing case has touched hundreds of families across Kenya.

Alanna overs the strange death of Mercy Chepkosgei Keino, whose death has been attributed to a hit and run. But this case may be more than it seems, as the events leading up to Mercy's death involve interesting CCTV footage (available on our website) from a house party. Is Mercy's death simply a hit and run, or is this a cover-up for something much more sinister?

Until next week, keep it cryptic everyone!

Darkcast Promo of the week! Cause of Crime Podcast

https://www.causeofcrime.com/

Use our special link https://zen.ai/E0jhXppbKy1GdZYyKRcHFg to save 30% off your first month of any Zencastr paid plan.

Tags: African True Crime, Kenyan True Crimes, Shakahola Forrest, Kenyan Starvation Cult, Mercy Chepkosgei Keino

linktr.ee/castlesandcryptids Website: castlesandcryptidspod.squarespace.com

Happy Friday, hope you're ready for more tales from the Rock, this time the haunts that linger after the homicides...

Alanna takes us through some history of prisoners held here, which dates back to the Civil War era, so there's been tons of death and tragedy on the island. 

The solitary confinement cells pack a particular paranormal punch, so we get into what went on in the cells and who haunts them now. 

Kelsey tells us about all of Al Capone's activity after death, we talk about why he hangs out here in his afterlife, and wonder was he haunted himself....

Long live Unitard Capone!! And Keep it Cryptic! ; )

We are super excited to share our special offer with our amazing podcast host, Zencaster! Here is the discount link to get 30% off as mentioned in our promo: 

https://zen.ai/E0jhXppbKy1GdZYyKRcHFg

Happy Saving!!

Darkcast Promo of the Week! Cause of Death: 100 Seconds to Midnight 

https://www.causeofdeath100secs.net/

https://linktr.ee/castlesandcryptids

Tags: Alcatraz, Haunted AF, Haunted history, Alcatraz Island, Evil Island, Haunted Prisons, Scarface

We have a special 2 part episode for you all, this week we cover some of the most famous prisoners to ever set foot on Alcatraz Island. Kelsey kicks things off with the Karpis-Barker gang, known for robbing banks and later for kidnappings, these criminals gained a lot of attention for their crimes. Everything came to an end when they chose the wrong person to target, someone who had a few friends in some very high places.

Tags: Alcatraz Inmates, Creepy Karpis, Karpis- Barker Gang, Al Capone, The Birdman of Alcatraz, Alcatraz Escape

After cutting out 10 hours of cat cajoling, we have a short and neat episode about unexplained spheres, ghostly lights in the sky and other random oddities! Some subjects just can't be shoved into one category, or explained easily away. Unless you say its always aliens, which to be fair it probably is.

Kelsey covers one of the lesser known phantom lights phenomenon of the USA, the Gurdon light. Why do these hovering lights seem to show up in places all over the country? Where's Canada's mystery lights? Basically what the hell is going on? We theorize what's causing the lights and why they are probably not headlights!

Then Alanna takes us to the swingin' seventies and the mystery of the Betz sphere. Go figure that a Floridaman should be the one to find a mysterious smooth metal orb in their yard, no explanation. More strange still, was what it started doing once they took it into the house....

Which all prompts a look at some stone spheres around the world, and what they might have in common with their mysterious metal cousin.

Darkcast Promo of the Week: California True Crime

Happy Halloween! The best day of the year has arrived and so has the last installment of our Wicked Week. Today's traditions and folklore comes from Misty Mysteries, Horrifying History, Sinister Story Hour, Creepy Tapas and Cause of Death: 100 Seconds to Midnight. Happy Haunting, and thanks for tuning in!!