Grim Philly

Ghost Stories, Ouija, and Necromancy from Philadelphia to Salem. Professor Joe Wojie and Celebrity Historian Britnee Smith are joined by Dr. Anya Shultz, Penn Paranormal’s Mary Jo Chudley, and Psychic Medium Brandi Van for true tales of haunting and the paranormal around Philadelphia and Pennsylvania’s most famously haunted locations.

Visit https://www.patreon.com/grimphilly for more weekly short story extras on ghost tales and the paranormal—for our patrons. And to be a friend of this podcast.

https://www.grimphilly.com/for nightly Dark Philly Adult Night Tours with a spattering of the paranormal for mature-audiences live in Philadelphia this fall. Voted #2 Ghost Tour in the entire United States on Trip Advisor’s Best of the Best and #14 of all attractions throughout the entire country for 2024. We are not technically speaking, actually a ghost tour though. Well, maybe a little like a ghost tour. But better. We think. And are honored and thrilled for Trip Advisor's acknowledgement of the care we've put in to creating these experiences for you and the talent of guides who we are quit frankly lucky to have!  https://www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice-ThingsToDo-cTopExperiences-g191#25

For your friendship and support these many years we are ever so humbled and cannot wait to bring to you more recorded material here with the personalities from our tours and special the guests who join us; and to see you for live events with us every night this fall and year-round here in Philadelphia!

On-Location interview in Chicago: Professor Joe Wojie interviews Author Adam Selzer about The Rise and Fall of Scarface Al Capone. Specific street addresses for assassination attempts by and against the gangster, beer wars, bloodshed, how the gangster got his scar, to Capones love-life, family, and public relations with local press and more are discussed…including fallacies dispelled and urban legends in Chicago about Al Capone. 

This interview is part of the larger interview library compiled before Grim Philly existed yet in podcast form outside of the original walking tours from which studio recordings later sprung. Please forgive the earlier discrepancies with sound quality and plosives herein – as the interview content is good. The sound quality less-so. The recording is complete also with an earlier introduction and pilot-name, (World History X) before the official launch of Grim Philly studio podcast in 2019.

https://www.grimphilly.com/for daily and nightly history and dark histories walks with historians in Philadelphia since 2011.

https://www.patreon.com/grimphilly. for weekly extras—short story tales of ghosts and the paranormal—for our patrons. And to be a friend of this podcast.

And thank you for supporting these podcast and walking tours these many years and for helping make Grim Philly the number one fall season attraction in Philadelphia, and one of the premiere Best of the Best things to do across the entire United States for 2024! https://www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice-ThingsToDo-cTopExperiences-g191#25

For your friendship and support we are ever so humbled and cannot wait to bring you more!

From poisoned liquor to mass bribery and criminal activity among Philadelphia police and the mayor – failing attempts to curb the death rate and corruption in Prohibition Philadelphia are brought in to the light by Criminologist Dr. Favian Martin, Professor of World History Joe Wojie, and Historians Britnee Smith and Ted Sisco. Bartender mixology in the era of prohibition period cocktails are mixed in to a more serious sociological mix of The Mayor's Office to thwart reform efforts of Smedley Darlington Butler, Grim Philly’s so-called Batman in 1920’s Gotham Philadelphia. Neighboring New Jersey’s similar sentiment among corrupt public servants and a thirsty citizenry joined to thwart federal attempts at enforcement throughout the Garden State and it’s capital city in kind.

Join the personalities from this podcast every night live this fall for a Dark Philly Adult Night Tour, on https://www.grimphilly.com/

Join us for weekly extras—short story tales of ghosts and the paranormal—for our patrons over at https://www.patreon.com/grimphilly.

And thank you for supporting these podcast and walking tours these many years and helping to make Grim Philly the number one fall season attraction in Philadelphia, and one of the premiere Best of the Best things to do across the entire United States! https://www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice-ThingsToDo-cTopExperiences-g191#25

For your friendship and support we are ever so humbled and can not thank you enough!

Hughie McLoon, Boardwalk Empire, and other politically incorrect stories from Prohibition era Philadelphia to the Jersey Shore are revealed within the larger geo-political climate of the period. World History Professor Joe Wojie is joined by Celebrity Historian Britnee Smith, Historian Ted Sisco, and Arcadia University Criminologist Dr. Favian Martin to discuss everything from mixology to Molly Hatchet in Grim Philly’s Prohibition Part II.

Join the personalities from this podcast every night live this fall for a Dark Philly Adult Night Tour, on https://www.grimphilly.com/

And join us for weekly extras—short story tales of ghosts and the paranormal—for our patrons over at https://www.patreon.com/grimphilly.  

And thank you for supporting Grim Philly’s podcast and tours these many years and making us the number one fall season attraction here in the City of Brotherly Love and in the Great State of Pennsylvania!

A criminologist, two historians, and a history professor reveal everything from moonshining and speakeasies at the boardwalk and beach, to New Jersey and Pennsylvania’s outright refusal to enforce national prohibition at their respective state levels. The surprising lawlessness of Wildwood and the Jersey Shore saw everything from the illicit liquor trade on boats, barges, and inlets; gangster shoot-outs - to even a mention of The New Jersey Devil or two. Join Britnee, Ted, Joe, and Favian for this storied journey down the shore back to the New Jersey beaches of yesteryear, for Grim Philly’s, Prohibition: Part I: The Wild Woods. 

Become a patron for exclusive weekly short-story tales of folklore and ghosts this season on https://www.patreon.com/grimphilly. 

And join the personalities from this show live in Philadelphia for nightly dark philly history tours and more this fall on https://www.grimphilly.com/

A living Jersey Devil caged exhibit was displayed at the 9th and Arch Street Dime Museum in Philadelphia following national headlines and a thousand witness statements claiming to have seen the beast in 1909. Join Grim Philly for a peak inside the gothic world of Philadelphia Victorian entertainments including freak shows, trance lectures and necromancy, mummy unwrapping parties, and the performers whose traveling freak exhibits graced the city of brotherly love. Grim Philly original interview clips from Bedlam Asylum and University of Edinburgh on location highlight entertainments of the era. Visit https://www.patreon.com/grimphilly for additional 2 hours original interview material recorded at Bedlam Asylum in London this winter. Visit https://www.grimphilly.com/ for live entertainments in Philadelphia nightly this fall.

Celebrity Historian Britnee Smith reads us a short-story tale of murder and ghosts from New Jersey’s infamous Shades of Death Road. Available only to our patrons at https://www.patreon.com/grimphilly. We hope to see you there for exclusive weekly short-story readings in folklore and ghosts throughout this fall. And, live in Philadelphia each night with the personalities from this podcast. Dark History tour tickets available at https://www.grimphilly.com/. Just a humble thank you to our patrons and friends who have supported our podcast and tours and helped us to become the highest ranked of all activities across the entire city of Philadelphia and our Dark Philly Adult Night Tour: the 14th BEST of ALL activities across the entire United States for 2024! https://www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice-ThingsToDo-cTopExperiences-g191#25

The Jersey Devil's story begins as we explore Native-American and Anglo cross-cultural pollenization, Quakers, Penn, Anglo settlement of "The Jersey's" and Philadelphia, and banter long on Jersey Devil story seeds of influence. This first episode lays the foundational basis for numerous Jersey Devil side story episodes to come and introduces our full Fall 2024 Jersey Devil Season on New Jersey's cryptid demon.

grimphilly.com for true crime and ghost tours this fall and to check out back episodes of Grim Philly Podcast in Philadelphia. patreon.com/grimphilly for exclusive material and to be a friend Grim Philly Podcast and Tours.

Professor Joe Wojie and Dr. Anya Shultz read and banter a folkloric short-story describing the mythical water women described in Lenape tales of the Makeriskhickon (Delaware River) and Shatemuc (Hudson River) – as well as Hoppie the Lockness Monster of the Garden State’s most expansive lake: Hopatcong.  

Available to patrons only on Grim Philly Podcast | Dark Histories & True Crime for Mature-Audiences | Patreon - where we will continue to post weekly short stories of folklore and ghosts there throughout the fall.

We hope to see you there and thank you for your support and friendship, both there, and for our nightly Dark Philly Adult Night Tours guided by the personalities on this podcast on Grim Philly History and Ghost Tours in Philadelphia – live and in person every night this fall too!

Legend dates The Jersey Devil’s birth to 1735; though historical roots are much older amalgamating Anglo, Lenape, and later literary sources. Exploring etymological evidence and retelling primary and peripheral tales Grim Philly brings together close to 20 scholarly voices to retell stories of history, folklore, and ghosts to deliver a more rich understanding of The Garden State’s infamous monster. Occasional episodes will deal with the cryptid full-on or as a throughline within. Others being inspired by the legend and retelling aspects of historical eras such as the prohibition or witch hunting periods to give context to portions of the legend as well as entertainment and educational value in their own right.

Through multidisciplinary research and creative story-telling we hope to bring greater awareness to this local legend that is older even than is The United States.

We don’t ever take for granted how blessed we are for the amazing patrons who support our free content for you and will be for you giving back something special by way of additional and behind the scenes content on our patreon there, at patreon.com/grimphilly. And will see you for our nightly dark histories walking tours also this fall! - join us with admission tickets every night through this fall season there on grimphilly.com for that too and to meet some of the personalities you’ve heard on this season’s podcast episodes! We are so blessed and thank you for your support and friendship of our podcast and dark histories walking tours both!