Down the Crooked Path

Step into the overgrown, foggy paths of London's historic graveyard as we uncover one of the most bizarre chapters in modern vampire lore. In the early 1970s, a media-fueled frenzy gripped the city, transforming a local ghost hunt into a full-blown paranormal media circus. At the center of this unexplained mystery were two rival researchers, David Farrant and Sean Manchester, whose bitter obsession with tracking down the elusive Highgate vampire sparked a Fifty-Year War.

From midnight cemetery raids and shocking court evidence to a 1974 Old Bailey prison sentence and decades of digital sabotage, Amanda Joy breaks down the raw, human madness behind the myth

🕸️ Where to Find Down the Crooked Path

Don't get lost in the dark! Follow the trail and join our community of mystery junkies online:

• Instagram: @DownTheCrookedPath — Behind-the-scenes look at the graveyards, historic crime photos, and episode visual aids.
• TikTok: @DownTheCrookedPath— Bite-sized deep dives into the world's strangest urban legends.
• Facebook: Down the Crooked Path Podcast Discussion Group — Chat with Amanda and fellow listeners about tonight's case.

🎙️ Community Shout-Out

A massive shout-out to our incredible network at the Creators Collective! We wouldn't be here without the absolute best community of indie audio storytellers. If you love things that go bump in the night, go give our eerie family a follow over on Instagram at the @SpookyPodSquad for your ultimate fix of daily macabre content and indie podcast recommendations.

Want to sink your teeth into the primary documents, and deep dives used to map out tonight's journey? Explore the links below:

• Gothic History Breakdown: Read the historical timeline, cultural impact, and secondary accounts of the rivalry on the Gothic lore archives at David Castleton's The Serpent's Pen Blog.
• The 1974 Legal Case: Read the original archival reporting on David Farrant's Old Bailey trial and the media frenzy surrounding the cemetery desecration via the New York Times Archival Library.
• The Magician's Duel & Feud History: Explore how the urban legend completely consumed the lives of both men in the comprehensive investigative feature by The Observer.

This week on Down the Crooked Path, we are stepping aside from our usual chapter to bring you a special crossover episode from our Thursday segment on the Canadian Creepies Podcast!

Your host Amanda Joy teams up with her frequent partner-in-creepy, Valerie, to wander down a distinctly French-Canadian path. Quebec is legendary for its European charm, cobblestone streets, and stunning landscapes—but beneath that beautiful surface lies a deeply rooted history of dark folklore, tragic history, and terrifying paranormal encounters.

In this special release, Amanda and Valerie unpack the spirits that still refuse to rest in one of Canada's oldest provinces. From the eerie, cobblestone corridors of Old Montreal to the haunting folklore passed down through generations, we are digging into the stories that still linger out of sight. It’s creepy, it’s historic, and it is definitely going to keep you up tonight.

In the winter of 1803, a terrifying specter held a small English village in a state of total mass panic. Long before the Victorian era, witnesses were already reporting chilling encounters with a phantom lurking in the pitch-black lanes, leaping out from behind tombstones, and physically assaulting residents. The paranormal terror grew so intense that armed citizen patrols took to the streets to hunt down the entity. But on January 3, 1804, a tragic case of mistaken identity ended in a brutal, real-world shooting and a sensational courtroom showdown.

But the story doesn't end with a royal pardon. What started as terrifying neighborhood ghost stories about a haunted churchyard ultimately forced the justice system to fundamentally rewrite the rules of self-defense for generations to come.

Join us as we break down the documented facts of the haunting, the frantic race against the execution clock, and the landmark case that changed the law forever..

📱 Connect With Us

Follow us down the crooked path for episode visuals, behind-the-scenes deep dives, and community discussions:

• Instagram: @DownTheCrookedPath
• TikTok: @DownTheCrookedPath

✨ Shoutout to the Squad: A massive shoutout to our incredible creative collective, the Spooky Pod Squad on Instagram! Thank you for keeping the lights on in the dark and supporting independent true crime storytelling. Give them a follow for your daily dose of the strange and unusual!

📚 Documented Historical Sources

• The 1804 Court Proceedings: The original details of the trial, the jury's attempts to lower the charge, and the forced murder conviction are preserved in the Proceedings of the Old Bailey (Ref: t18040111-79, 11th January 1804) [Old Bailey Online].
• The Murder Act of 1752: The strict penal mandate requiring the dissection of executed murderers is cataloged under the historical statutory records of Great Britain (The Murder Act 1752, 25 Geo. II c. 37).
• The 1984 Appellate Resolution: The formal overturning of the paradox and the creation of the modern "honest belief" standard is archived under R v Williams (Gladstone), available via the British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII) [UK Court of Appeal].
• The Legal Conundrum: The long-term academic debate regarding ignorantia facti (mistake of fact) originating from the 1804 trial is heavily documented in British common law textbooks, including Glazebrook's Criminal Law Theory.

In Part 2 of our true crime deep dive into the 1982 Chicago Tylenol murders, we look past the initial nationwide panic and focus directly on the aftermath, the primary suspects, and the intense manhunt that gripped Illinois. We break down how the newly formed Tylenol Murders Task Force scrambled to track down who was slipping lethal doses of potassium cyanide into Extra-Strength capsules. The trajectory of the investigation completely shifts when an anonymous extortion letter demanding $1 million is sent to Johnson & Johnson, triggering a coordinated FBI search for the writer.

We untangle the web of the key figures who fell into the crosshairs of law enforcement, focusing heavily on the enigmatic James W. Lewis—the man convicted of that extortion plot who spent decades playing a cat-and-mouse game with investigators. We also look into local Chicago dock worker Roger Arnold, whose suspicious behavior made him a prime suspect in the product tampering nightmare. Finally, we explore how this unprecedented act of domestic terrorism targeted vulnerable store shelves and forever altered over-the-counter medicine, forcing McNeil Consumer Products to pioneer tamper-proof triple-seal packaging and inspiring the federal Tylenol Act. Decades later, this case remains one of the most chilling unsolved mysteries in American history.

Connect With Us on Social Media

Don’t miss out on case photos, archival newspaper clippings, and mid-week updates! Follow our community on these platforms:

• 📸 Instagram: @DownTheCrookedPath
• 🎵 TikTok: @DownTheCrookedPath
• 👥 Facebook: Down The Crooked Path Podcast

Proud Member of The Creators Collective

Find us on Instagram : @spookypodsquad

"A Bitter Pill" Feature by Joy Bergmann – The definitive investigative deep-dive from the Chicago Reader exploring alternative supply chains, warehouse tracking, and suspect timelines.

• NPR Archival Obituary Report – The historical look-back breaking down the life, extortion conviction, and 2023 death of prime suspect James W. Lewis.WTTW Chicago Stories Special Feature – The comprehensive digital home for the multi-perspective documentary on the local victims, complete with reporter roundtable reflections.
• PBS Video: Inside the Tylenol Murders – Full streaming entry for the seasoned documentary investigating how the laced capsules upended consumer safety.
• CBS News Chicago 40-Year Retrospective Hub – The centralized network hub detail archive capturing the tracking efforts of the Tylenol Murders Task Force.
• CBS News Chicago: Profiles of Suspects & Persons of Interest – Detailed historical breakdowns of Roger Arnold, James Lewis, and other key figures scrutinized by the FBI.James W. Lewis Case Documentation on Wikipedia – Full historical repository outlining his financial crimes, extortion trial background, and decades of legal scrutiny.

A true Crime Classic: The security of daily life vanished over a few terrifying days in late September 1982. What started as a localized nightmare in the suburbs of Chicago quickly exploded into a nationwide panic, fundamentally changing the way we look at household items forever. In this episode, we trace the heartbreaking chronological timeline of the seven Chicago victims, the frantic street-level responses, and the corporate crisis that followed. But just when investigators thought they were dealing with a regional emergency, a cold case from the mountains of Wyoming blew the entire timeline wide open. We end tonight’s story on a dark Chicago street corner in 1983, where a random execution leaves investigators completely blind and leaves us down a crooked path of unanswered questions.

Connect With Us

If you loved this episode and want to dive deeper into the darkness with us, make sure you are following our journey across social media. Come say hi, share your theories, and hang out with the community!

• Instagram: @DownTheCrookedPath
• TikTok: @DownTheCrookedPath
• Facebook: Down The Crooked Path Podcast

The Creators Collective

This show is a proud member of the Creators Collective. We are a network of independent true-crime storytellers dedicated to ethical reporting, deep-dive research, and supporting indie creators. Check out the collective website to find your next favorite podcast binge!

Sources & Further Reading

To verify the facts, timelines, and case files discussed in tonight's episode, please visit our verified source directory:

• The Janus Family & Incident Overview: Explore the detailed interactive timeline of the initial suburban collapses through the CNN Interactive Timeline of the Janus Family Tragedy.
• The Chicago Investigation & Retrospective: Read the full historical case breakdown and investigative overview provided by the PBS NewsHour Tylenol Murders Archival Report.
• The Wyoming Connection: Verify the case files and toxicological breakthroughs regarding the death of nineteen-year-old Jay Mitchell via The New York Times Cyanide Death Archive.
• The Shooting of John Stanisha: Review the original 1983 crime records and arrest reports details surrounding the June 18 street-corner execution through the UPI Archives 1983 Crime Records.

A historical True crime story dealing with witches and hexes and perhaps, some midguided ideas. On November 27, 1928, in Rehmeyer’s Hollow, Pennsylvania, three men brutally murdered 60-year-old folk healer Nelson Rehmeyer. Believing Rehmeyer had cast a fatal curse, John Blymire and his accomplices hunted him down to steal his copy of the traditional healing text Long Lost Friend and break the spell.

In this episode, we dive into the chilling 1928 "Hex Murder" of York County, Pennsylvania. We explore the rich, complex traditions of Pennsylvania Dutch "powwowing" (folklore healing) and how a dangerous cocktail of fear, mental instability, and superstition led to a tragic, sensationalized murder trial that shocked the nation.

Sources & Further Reading

• Baseline history and context via the York Daily Record's Hex Hollow Feature.
• Background on regional folklore and local preservation from WGAL News.
• Deep dive into the legal and cultural aftermath via Rehmeyer’s Hollow Wikipedia Overview.

Connect With Us

• TikTok: @DownTheCrookedPath – Join us live for cemetery walks and behind-the-scenes content!
• Instagram: @DownTheCrookedPath

Community Shout-Out

A huge shout-out to the incredible Creators Collective over on Instagram! We are so proud to be part of the community alongside you all as the #spookypodsquad. Go give them a follow for more incredible indie audio content!

True crime meets ghost story:

Teresita Basa was a Filipina immigrant living in Chicago in 1977, known for her quiet routine and her work as a respiratory therapist at Edgewater Hospital. She was studying music at Loyola University and taught piano from her apartment, keeping a small circle and a steady life. On the night of February 21st, a fire in her 15th‑floor unit led to the discovery of her death, and early signs pointed toward a staged scene with very few clues to work from. Detectives spent months trying to make sense of what happened inside that apartment, and the direction the case eventually took was nothing anyone expected.

Follow along: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@downthecrookedpath

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/downthecrookedpath

If you want more creator updates, spooky project drops, and behind‑the‑scenes looks at what we’re building, you can find us over at the SpookyPodSquad. It’s where we share collabs, bonus content, and everything happening across the collective.

SpookyPodSquad: https://www.instagram.com/spookypodsquad

Are they a cryptid? Are they Aliens? OR are they some sort of ultra-terrestrial super being?

When a paranormal investigator starts receiving these unusual emails from a man claiming to be a Dr. Christie whose home under siege, it send Greg Newark down a rabbit hole he never expected.

The writer claims these little men are coming of of an abandoned cave system behind his yard and kidnapped his dog. He is begging for help before the emails abruptly stop.

Looking into the case Grey and his team are sent on a wild goose chase by someone... or something that is more then meets the eye.

Find Down the Crooked Path on TikTok and Instagram at @downthecrookedpath. Find the Creators Collective on Instagram at @spookysquad.

This week on Down the Crooked Path, we’re stepping aside from our usual chapter and sharing one of our Tuesday segments from the Canadian Creepies podcast. It’s filling in for our regular episode while we work on what’s coming next, and it fits naturally into the crooked world we’ve been building.

We’re bringing you the story of Barbe Hallay. Born around 1646, she was a young settler in 17th‑century New France and became the focus of what is considered the earliest recorded case of alleged demonic possession in Quebec. After arriving from France in 1659, she reportedly experienced strange disturbances that were blamed on a local miller accused of practicing witchcraft.

You can find Canadian Creepies on Instagram at @canadiancreepies. You can follow me at @downthecrookedpath on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook for updates, behind the scenes notes, and everything else we’re working on.

We’ll be back next week with a full Down the Crooked Path episode.

During the UFO crazy in the 1950's this case of possible Alien encounter is considered to be taken seriously and coined the term little green from outer space. The Kelly–Hopkinsville encounter remains one of the most detailed multi‑witness creature reports in American folklore. Eleven people described small, silver beings moving around the Sutton farmhouse for hours, returning even after police and military left the property. Theories range from territorial owls to escaped carnival primates to a small extraterrestrial scouting party. No physical evidence was ever recovered, and the family never changed their story.

Check me out on TikTok and Instagram at @downthecrookedpath. Email: [email protected]

Shout‑out to The Creators Collective, a group of independent podcasters telling strange stories with care and curiosity. Find them on Instagram at @spookysquad.