Tales of the cowboy Thomas “Black Jack” Ketchum have floated around New Mexico since he started robbing trains with his brother in the late 1800s, but who would have thought that a cowboy scorned would turn into a ghost that can be seen even now reliving his capture… Join us this week for the start of an exciting new year filled with cowboys and ghosts!

Stay safe out there. 

With love,

Saaniya and Maddie x

Sources:

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/blackjack-ghost/

https://seeksghosts.blogspot.com/2011/07/new-mexico-ghosts-black-jack-ketchum.html

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-blackjackketchum/

https://dustyoldthing.com/strange-tale-black-jack-ketchum/

The Baba Yaga is one of the most well known evil-witch type entities. Coming from Slavic folklore, she is a supernatural being who appears as a deformed and/or ferocious-looking woman - an ogress who would steal and eat children while flying on a mortar and pestle and creating storms. But there is more to her than meets the eye - in fact, she is a reminder that freedom lies beyond the barrier of social norms, and if we cross those lines we might just find happiness.

Stay safe out there.

With love,

Saaniya and Maddie x

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Yaga

https://www.britannica.com/topic/ogre

https://www.worldhistory.org/Baba_Yaga/

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20221118-baba-yaga-the-greatest-wicked-witch-of-all

In Irish folklore, the banshee is known as the bearer of bad news. Her name comes from “tumuli” - mounds that traditionally covered a grave or a number of graves that were said to be home to spirits of the dead. The banshee is surrounded by death on all sides, so join us today for the story behind the banshee and even some first hand accounts of meeting her.

Stay safe out there.

With love,

Saaniya and Maddie x

Sources:

https://gengo.com/language-and-culture/creepiest-mythical-creatures-from-around-the-world/

https://www.celtic-weddingrings.com/celtic-mythology/legend-of-the-banshee

https://www.irishpost.com/life-style/exploring-irish-mythology-banshee-170287

https://irishmyths.com/2022/07/25/banshee/

Witches actually represent the antithesis of basically all Navajo cultural values. While medicine men are typically the community healers and cultural workers who are seen in a positive light, witches are seen as evil since they perform twisted ceremonies and manipulate magic in a “perversion of the good works medicine people traditionally perform.”

What happens when medicine men get corrupted? And what does this have to do with Aliens?

Stay safe out there.

With love,

Saaniya and Maddie x

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin-walker

https://www.history.co.uk/shows/curse-of-skinwalker-ranch/from-skinwalkers-to-wendigos-4-native-american-myths-and-legends

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skinwalker_Ranch

https://allthatsinteresting.com/skinwalker

https://www.history.com/news/skinwalker-ranch-paranormal-ufos-mutilation

The Wendigo is known by several names — Windigo, Witigo, Witiko, and Wee-Tee-Go — but each roughly translates to “the evil spirit that devours mankind.”

“The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation, its desiccated skin pulled tightly over its bones. With its bones pushing out against its skin, its complexion the ash-gray of death, and its eyes pushed back deep into their sockets, the Wendigo looked like a gaunt skeleton recently disinterred from the grave. What lips it had were tattered and bloody ... Unclean and suffering from suppuration of the flesh, the Wendigo gave off a strange and eerie odor of decay and decomposition, of death and corruption” - Basil H. Johnston

Stay safe out there. 

With love,

Saaniya and Maddie x

Sources: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendigo

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/mn-wendigo/

https://allthatsinteresting.com/wendigo

Around 200 years ago, the Judgement of Death Act 1823 saw the number of crimes punishable by death in Britain drop dramatically. Good news in theory, but since medical and anatomical schools were only legally allowed to dissect the bodies, or cadavers, of those who had been condemned to death, this led to an extreme shortage of dead bodies available. Financial compensation offered by medical schools meant that some unscrupulous types soon found a way around this shortage of bodies, leading to a rash of grave-robbing by those known as resurrectionists. This led to why Burke and Hare may have murdered the 16 people in the West Port murders in 1827…

Stay safe out there.

With love,

Saaniya and Maddie x

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O-970Unboo

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/Burke-Hare-infamous-murderers-graverobbers/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burke_and_Hare_murders

The story of the ghost of Bellamy Bridge is probably one of Florida's most famous ghost stories. The legend talks about the restless ghost of a young woman named Elizabeth Jane Bellamy. And how she roams the swamps around the bridge on dark and foggy nights. But surprisingly Elizabeth Jane Bellamy was a real person who was the wife of one of Florida's key economic and political leaders before the civil war. Stay tuned to see how these stories combine to form the legend we know today…

Stay safe out there.

With love,

Saaniya and Maddie x

Sources:

https://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/bellamybridge.html

https://violetskyadventures.com/ghost-of-bellamy-bridge/

https://visitjacksoncountyfla.com/play/culture-heritage/bellamy-bridge-heritage-trail/

https://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/bellamybridge2.html

We’re going back to one of the first true crime cases we covered on this channel, and talking about the World’s End Murders again. Christine Eadie and Helen Scott, who were 17 years old at the time, decided to go on a night out with some friends on October 15th, 1977. So they went to a couple of bars on the royal mile before ending up at the World’s End Pub. But that was the last time either of them were seen. 40 years later, the case was finally solved… so what happened that night? And what happened in the years following?

Stay safe out there.

With love,

Saaniya and Maddie x

Sources:

http://www.scotlandspubsandbars.co.uk/location/the-worlds-end/

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5981466/angus-sinclair-worlds-end-murders-edinburgh-killer/

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/aug/29/ukcrime.uknews4

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/crime/worlds-end-murders-night-haunts-scotlands-capital-day-82456

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_End_Murders

Zombie Road is a short road in the City of Wildwood, and is one of Missouri’s most haunted locations. It started being referred to as the Zombie Road in the early 1950s when the road eventually fell into disrepair and was all but abandoned. Because it’s such a secluded area it was a very popular local hangout for teenagers to party - but over the years it ended up with a different reputation…

Stay safe out there.

With love,

Saaniya and Maddie x

Sources:

https://www.dangerousroads.org/north-america/usa/4359-zombie-road.html

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/missouri/zombie-road-mo/

https://www.roadstotravel.net/usa-zombie-road-missouri/

https://www.stlmag.com/history/st-louis-sage/is-zombie-road-really-haunted/