A haunted waterbed, a family in over their heads, and a courtroom where the devil wasn’t allowed to testify. We pull apart the real story behind The Conjuring 3’s “Devil Made Me Do It” and ask the hard questions the legend prefers to skip. Did a possession jump from a teenage boy to his sister’s boyfriend, or did stress, alcohol, and tangled relationships set the stage for a fatal mistake? We trace the timeline from the Bridgeport–Newtown move and the first “be well” shove to improvised deliverances, the Warrens’ infestation–oppression–possession framing, and the day Alan Bono was stabbed after a long, wine-soaked afternoon.

Our conversation looks closely at conflicting accounts: why some memories are crystal clear when possession is said to erase recall, how suggested phenomena seemed to appear after being described, and what happens when a judge rejects a supernatural defense. We dig into the trial pivot to self-defense, Arne Johnson’s manslaughter conviction and early release, and the broader ecosystem of books, documentaries, and films that turned this case into cultural folklore. Along the way, we examine incentives, the control of evidence, and the thin line between belief and storytelling that shapes so much of American paranormal lore.

If you care about true crime clarity, paranormal skepticism, or just want to understand how a single case became a franchise touchstone, this one’s for you. Hit play, follow the receipts with us, and tell us where you land: demon, denial, or something messier in between? If you enjoy the show, tap follow, share this episode with a friend who loves The Conjuring universe, and leave a quick review—it helps more curious listeners find us.

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We trace the Glatzel and Johnson families from the first day of oddities to the arrival of Ed and Lorraine Warren, “light” exorcisms, and a promise that the beast would claim another soul. When Debbie starts fresh at a kennel owned by Alan Bono, pressure builds: a boozy lunch, doors blocked, music hammering, and a sudden fight that leaves Bono fatally stabbed. In the aftermath, Arnie Cheyenne Johnson denies memory of the attack and his lawyer pushes the headline defense: “The devil made me do it.”

The court shuts the door on demons, and the case pivots to protection of a minor and diminished responsibility—ending in a manslaughter conviction and parole after five years. But the story doesn’t settle. One brother says it was exploitation, not exorcism: undiagnosed mental illness, suggestibility, and a family swept up by star demonologists in the shadow of Amityville. Allegations of alcohol abuse and jealousy shift the motive from the supernatural to the painfully ordinary. Along the way, we ask hard questions about police work, media incentives, and how a case like this helped fuel the U.S. satanic panic.

We don’t preach; we pull threads. You’ll hear the timelines, the contradictions, the cultural echoes, and the reasons this case still grabs headlines and film scripts alike. If you’re here for true crime, paranormal lore, or a clear-eyed look at how belief shapes justice, this one delivers. Hit play, then tell us: hoax, horror, or something in between? Subscribe, share with a friend who loves forensic mysteries or occult history, and leave a review with your take—we’ll read our favorites on the show.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2weDBRdcWI

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A brutal family murder, a discounted dream home, and a legend that swallowed a neighborhood—Amityville is as much a story about us as it is about a house. We walk through the facts of the DeFeo killings, then slow down to examine how a decade of grief turned into a global ghost franchise. The details that matter—addiction, violence, a rushed confession, and shifting insanity claims—sit next to the details that sell: cold rooms that no fire could fix, swarms of flies, a red‑eyed “friend” named Jody, and yes, a midnight marching band that feels made for the movies.

We talk about why George and Kathy Lutz bought 112 Ocean Avenue, furniture included, and how their claims escalated alongside meetings with lawyers, book percentages, and the media engine that followed. We revisit the priest’s alleged experiences, the Warrens’ high-profile investigation, and the infamous “ghost boy” photo that likely showed a team member. Then we zoom out: later owners reported no hauntings, only harassment from crowds. Windows were changed, the address was updated, and still the myth persisted—because a profitable story is harder to evict than any spirit.

If you’re drawn to true crime, paranormal history, and the ethics that separate commemoration from exploitation, this one will stick with you. We’re not out to crush belief; we’ve had our own strange moments and talk candidly about signs, memory, and unfinished business. But we also follow the money, question credibility, and push for respect where it’s due: to the victims, to the neighborhood, and to the truth that doesn’t need jump scares to hold up.

Hit play, then tell us what you think: haunting or hustle? If you enjoy our deep dives, subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a quick review—it helps more curious minds find us.

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The most infamous Dutch Colonial in America didn’t start as a horror franchise—it began with six bodies found face down in their beds. We pull back the curtain on 112 Ocean Avenue to separate what’s on the record from what was engineered for the spotlight. We walk through the 1974 DeFeo murders, Butch’s shifting stories, the courtroom battle over insanity and “demonic influence,” and the sober verdict that anchored the case. Then we follow the paper trail a year later, when George and Kathy Lutz bought the house, called a priest, and reported a barrage of phenomena—3:15 a.m. wakeups, black water, flies in winter, levitation, a hidden room, and a red‑eyed pig named Jody—that mapped perfectly onto a page‑turning horror arc.

From there, the story scales: a proposed book deal with the DeFeo defense attorney, a richer contract with Jay Anson, and a best‑selling “true story” that minted the Amityville brand. We revisit the Warrens’ televised investigation, the eerie “ghost boy” photo later linked to a team member, and the quiet counter‑narrative from subsequent owners who report no hauntings at all. Along the way, we look hard at the incentives that shaped each chapter—legal strategy, media profit, and the cultural hunger to turn tragedy into legend—while acknowledging the real horror at the core: domestic violence, addiction, and murder.

This conversation blends true crime rigor with folklore literacy and a healthy dose of skepticism. If you care about the difference between police files and polished scripts, if you’ve wondered why Amityville still trends decades later, and if you want a clear view of what’s documented versus dramatized, you’ll feel right at home here. Hit play, then tell us your verdict: hoax, haunting, or something more human in the shadows? Subscribe, share with a friend who loves true crime, and leave a review to keep thoughtful stories like this in your feed.

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The map said nine days; our hearts turned it into a highlight reel. We roll out at dusk, chase the Exorcist Steps before sunrise, get humbled by DC parking, and reset our nerves at Ford’s Theatre. A tunnel panic in Baltimore tries to hijack the ride, but we breathe through it and learn a trick we’ll use all week: pair fear with a bigger view. Philly greets us with a concierge win, a middling cheesesteak, and the Rocky Steps that feel exactly like you hope they will. At Black Tom Island we frame Manhattan from a safe distance—skyline, Statue, the whole promise—before diving in for real a day later.

New England turns the volume down and the color up. Norwood surprises us with an Italian spot where a guitarist clocks a necklace and invites our kid to play; Maine stuns us silent at Fort Williams Park and Two Lights, all spray and volcanic rock and World War II bunkers tucked into the cliffs. Hampton Beach gives us a sunrise worth the alarm. Salem offers context and restraint—Gallows Hill over jump scares—and Fall River lets us sleep soundly in the Lizzie Borden house with more respect than rumor and a checklist of sensible rules.

Then Manhattan wakes us up: Times Square’s theater of hustle, a hop-on, hop-off loop that turns chaos into chapters, Chinatown food that ruins takeout forever, and the wooden heartbeat of the Brooklyn Bridge underfoot. At the 9/11 Memorial, the world narrows to names and water. A deli Reuben stacks like a dare; Top of the Rock answers it with a Manhattan over Manhattan and a skyline that makes your phone feel inadequate. We drift west to Hershey for a nostalgic detour, then south to Gettysburg, where hills hold history and Dobbin House serves comfort in candlelight. A hidden mine bar under our hotel becomes our last great discovery, followed by one neon ghost town in South Carolina and a quick course correction back to a cracked-booth local joint. Buc-ee’s seals the deal with a snack victory lap.

This journey is part travel guide, part courage practice: how to plan smart, pivot often, eat well, and let a lighthouse, a bridge, or a sunrise be bigger than your fear. If you’re plotting your own loop, take the vantage point first, choose one unforgettable meal per city, and leave room for the places that find you. Enjoy the ride—and if this story moved you, follow, share with a friend, and drop a review so more road-trippers can find us.

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A leather mask, a clink of cans, and a key turning in a famous front door—our night at the Lizzie Borden house started playful and got serious fast. We walk you room by room through Fall River’s most talked‑about address, balancing the eerie staging with the ordinary rhythm of a B&B: check‑in chatter, locals with big hearts, and a neighbor who opens the shop just to tell stories. The trip becomes a prism for the case itself, where small details—window washing, a handkerchief, a door latch—matter more than legend.

We revisit 1892 with clear eyes: Andrew’s frugality, Abby’s background, adult daughters navigating status and independence, and Bridget’s place in a home that called her by the last maid’s name. The illness that sweeps the house is likely spoiled mutton, not poison, yet fear sets the stage for two killings hours apart. From morphine to caffeine, from a chaotic search to a trial that boiled skulls and paraded them in court, the investigation shows how limited tools warp outcomes. We pull apart the stubborn question—how could anyone inflict that much damage without wearing the blood?—and weigh the possibilities without forcing a neat answer.

Along the way, we examine how media shapes memory. A detour into Ryan Murphy’s Ed Gein series sparks a frank talk about accuracy, empathy, and why production flair can both illuminate and mislead. After acquittal, Lizzie buys Maplecroft, hosts parties, and endures a rhyme that gets the facts wrong but wins the culture anyway. Standing in those rooms, we find less haunting than history—and a reminder that catchy stories often outlive careful ones.

Press play to explore the real timeline, the class and gender dynamics, the missing forensics, and the way travel puts you closer to truth. If this conversation grabs you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and drop your verdict in the comments—what detail convinced you most?

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We’re sitting in Lizzie Borden’s bedroom, mics in hand, feet on century-old floors that creak like a metronome for the past. That intimacy changes everything. The famous rhyme fades once you see the sightlines, test the doors, and realize how a body could hide behind a bedframe and a myth could hide inside a tidy narrative.

We trace the real timeline: Abby’s silent fall upstairs, Andrew’s final nap on the sofa, a maid sick from bad stew, a family doctor with morphine, and a police force literally at an amusement park. The “obvious” story—Lizzie did it—runs into blood-spatter physics, the absence of a murder weapon, and the logistics of washing off gore without running water. We unpack motives people still cite (inheritance, resentment, control), then weigh them against capacity: clothing, time, acoustics, and witness angles in a compact, connected house. Along the way we meet Bridget “Maggie,” revisit the prussic acid rumor, and examine how a pharmacist’s claim and burned dress lore outgrew the evidence.

After the verdict, the story doesn’t end. Maplecroft, charity done quietly, a sisterly split over a party for actress Nance O’Neill, and a life lived under a headline all reshape the woman behind the legend. We also bring you with us on the road—Fall River coffee, a Portuguese dinner, bridge panic, and that odd feeling of calm inside a place the world calls haunted. It’s part true crime, part travel log, and fully grounded in the stubborn details only a house can teach.

Hit play, then tell us what the floorplan and timeline suggest to you. If this deep-dive hooked you, follow, share with a friend who loves unsolved cases, and leave a review so more curious listeners can find the show.

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The seltzers crack open, the laundry hums, and we dive straight into the story that haunts American horror: Ed Gein. Coming off a nine-day run through New England and a somber detour to Gettysburg, we trace the path from a Plainfield farmhouse to the birth of a cultural myth, focusing on the small, brutal truths that too many summaries skip. We talk about Augusta’s iron grip, the isolation that starved Ed of normal life, and the suspicion around Henry’s death that left him even more alone. Then we walk through the squalor, the grave robbing, and the mother-obsession that shaped his most disturbing acts—not to sensationalize them, but to understand the forces that pushed a damaged mind over the edge.

From there, we map how Hollywood picked up the pieces. Psycho, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Silence of the Lambs didn’t copy Gein; they transformed the raw material into stories about control, identity, and terror. We compare what each got right, what they invented, and why those choices still shape how people think about real cases. Along the way, we weigh schizophrenia and dissociation as reported in Gein’s case, keep a clear line between explanation and excuse, and talk honestly about the officers who walked into that house and carried its aftermath for years.

The road-trip energy sneaks in, too—Lizzie Borden’s house, the hush of Gettysburg’s fields, and the way music and history can deepen empathy for victims. It’s a conversation that blends research, reflection, and a few raw laughs to keep us grounded while we handle heavy material. If you want a thoughtful, unflinching look at how abuse, isolation, and illness intersected with one of the bleakest chapters in true crime—and how that chapter echoed through film and TV—this one’s for you.

Hit follow, share with a friend who loves true crime done right, and drop your take: which film adaptation comes closest to the difficult truth?

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Ever wondered where Hollywood's most iconic villains came from? In our landmark 50th episode, we pull back the curtain on Edward Theodore Gein—the Wisconsin recluse whose nightmarish crimes spawned Norman Bates, Leatherface, Buffalo Bill, and countless other fictional monsters.

Born in 1906 to an alcoholic father and fanatically religious mother, Ed Gein's childhood was defined by isolation and psychological abuse. His mother Augusta, who taught him that all women were "harlots," kept her sons completely secluded from society on their 155-acre farm. When she died in 1945, Ed—then in his late 30s—was left utterly alone, having never developed basic social skills or relationships outside his family.

What followed was a descent into unimaginable horror. While the sleepy town of Plainfield saw Ed as merely an odd, pitiable figure who babysat local children, he harbored gruesome secrets. After the disappearance of hardware store owner Bernice Worden in 1957, authorities discovered her body at Ed's farm—along with furniture upholstered in human skin, bowls made from skulls, face masks crafted from women's faces, and most infamously, a belt made entirely of human nipples.

From Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" to "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "The Silence of the Lambs," Gein's influence on horror cinema is immeasurable. As Netflix prepares to release "Monster: The Ed Gein Story" on October 3rd, join us for this unflinching exploration of the real-life nightmare behind your favorite scary movies. Because sometimes, truth is more terrifying than fiction.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlPCSfvnoXE

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We're raising our Bloody Marys to celebrate both Lindsay's birthday and our podcast's first anniversary in this raw, unfiltered episode that perfectly captures what makes Drink About Something unique – our ability to balance life's joys with exploration of its darkest corners.

The celebration kicks off with a recap of Lindsay's birthday dinner at her favorite Mexican restaurant, complete with a sombrero, singing waitstaff, and a tiny margarita with a candle. Jesse went all out with gifts, focusing on Lindsay's love for Bloody Marys with an impressive array of mixes, garnishes, and specialty vodkas. We also highlight meaningful purchases from survivors' businesses, including clothing from Jennifer Turpin (of the Turpin family case) and Aaron Goodwin.

But true to our format, we don't shy away from the darkness. We delve into the horrific case of David Parker Ray, known as the Toybox Killer, whose crimes were so disturbing that Jesse experienced an emotional breakdown during our recording. This raw moment underscores the weight of what we cover – a serial predator whose full victim count will never be known, leaving countless families without closure.

The episode captures a profound realization: how cases like this highlight the everyday fear many women live with, and how covering true crime has opened Jesse's eyes to this reality. We recommend "Cries in the Desert" for listeners wanting to learn more about this disturbing case.

As we toast to our 50th episode and prepare for our upcoming New England trip, this milestone recording embodies everything our podcast stands for – finding moments of connection and joy while confronting the darkest aspects of humanity. Join us for this unedited glimpse into both our celebration and our contemplation of a case that left us forever changed.

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Ready to explore more shocking true crime cases with us? Subscribe to Drink About Something for new episodes every Friday, and visit drinkaboutsomething.site with links to see all our content, including visual evidence from the cases we cover.

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