This week we have multiple stories of cryptids from around the US.  There's always a fun story of the local creepy monster or legend to make kids out camping rethink their decisions when they wake up in the middle of the night.  This week we have everything from Sink Hold Sam to the Pope Lick Monster. Take a listen and learn about some of the more strange local legends both whimsical and sinister.

My apologies for the late podcast this week... the blue screen of death reared its ugly head, but the computer issues are now fixed and the podcast is finally posted.

Our topic this week is Amelia Elizabeth Hobley-Dyer, the Ogress of Reading.  A woman who made money "caring" for children of unwed mothers in Victorian England.  Unfortunately, this often meant her killing the children and pocketing the money from the poor women who paid her to take them in. 

Where did the people of Scotland come from?  The Picts were living in Scotland when the Romans arrived but where did they come from and who did they descend from?  Theorys abound: from home grown stories of them descending from an Egyptian queen to more conventional crossings of the Irish Sea by Gaelic peoples.  Take a listen and see what you think.

The ornate eggs that Faberge made for the imperial family of Russia are famous around the world. 52 eggs were made for the imperial family, and the majority of these are still around today, on display around the world in various collections.  However, some of the eggs are still missing and have from time to time been found in the strangest of places.  Take a listen, maybe you'll be the next to come across a long lost egg.

Daniel Dunglas Home (pronounced Hume) was a medium of the mid 19th century that gained fame in both Europe and the US for his ability to levitate and move objects during seances.  He became one of the most famous mediums of the spiritualist movement and had many high profile believers and doubters including Arthur Conan Doyle as a prominent believer and the poet Robert Browning as a prominent detractor. 

The concept of a Wendigo, a malevolent spirt that can cause someone to become an insatiable cannibal is a part of Algonquin Folklore that is both part cryptid and part culture-bound syndrome.  While the concept has entered the vernacular of the western world with horror movies and stories depicting it, it stems from the Algonquin culture where the threat of starvation in the winter woods was a very real thing.  The tales help to steer society away from greed and account for the potentially very real possibility of resorting to cannibalism in times of extreme need.  Take a listen as we discuss the legend of the Wendigo.

This week's topic is the life of Margaret Brown, better known as The Unsinkable Molly Brown in mostly fictionalized accounts after her death.  Margaret was born in Hannibal, Missouri about 30 years after Mark Twain.  She is famed for her activism in social causes and for surviving the sinking of the titanic.  Take a listen and find out more about her facinating life.

Today's podcast is about one of the more light-hearted cryptids out there.  The mysterious jackalope, seen mounted on many walls but not often in the wild.  Take a listen and find out about this icon of the great plains.

Today's podcast has two topics: the miraculous staircase of the Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico and the vampires of New Orleans.  Both of which are linked, oddly enough, by their relationship to nuns.  

Andrew Cunanan was a serial murderer that killed five people during a crazed spree in 1997.  His most famous and final victim, other than himself, was Gianni Versace, the famed clothing designer.  What drove him to do what he did?  Listen in and see what you think.