Hauntings and Happenings

The fields are golden, but the shadows are lengthening. Lughnasadh — or Lammas — is the first harvest festival on the Wheel of the Year, a celebration born of both abundance and sacrifice. In this episode of Hauntings and Happenings, we trace its mythic roots in the story of the god Lugh and his foster mother Tailtiu, explore how it transformed into the Christian Loaf Mass, and uncover the strange psychological weight of late summer — August anxiety, liminal thresholds, and the rituals humans use to tame chaos. From funeral games and bonfires to bread blessings and modern pagan revivals, Lughnasadh asks a haunting question: What does your harvest look like — and what did it cost?

Works Cited- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XNLeL-L1Pw8QnRhdyhAzu19ctaVS5fyinbWq6O-yLaY/edit?usp=sharing

Once hailed as the most luxurious ship ever to sail the seas, the RMS Queen Mary now sits permanently moored in Long Beach, California—a glamorous relic… and a ghost ship.

In this episode of Hauntings and Happenings, host Kasey delves into the ship's opulent beginnings, its wartime transformation into the "Grey Ghost," and the haunting legacy of tragedy, trauma, and tales that refuse to rest. From the infamous collision with the HMS Curacoa to the alleged spirits of little Jackie and the shadowed room B340, we explore how history and horror intertwine aboard one of the world’s most haunted vessels.

Is it truly haunted—or are we drawn to its story because, deep down, we’re all haunted by something?

Featuring historical records, firsthand accounts, and psychological insight into our obsession with ghost stories, this episode asks: what echoes louder—the facts of history, or the whispers in the dark?

Works Cited- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Diyejs4rtz2S_FdhMJu2OGb8K-8gGa9PgdUzl5ZGglQ/edit?usp=sharing

Can you kill someone in your sleep—and have no memory of it?

In this haunting episode of Hauntings & Happenings, Kasey explores the terrifying intersection of sleep, violence, and moral responsibility. Through three real-life cases—Kenneth Parks (Canada), Scott Falater (U.S.), and Jules Lowe (U.K.)—we unravel how legal systems grapple with the defense of sleepwalking and what science says about parasomnias, dissociation, and automatism.

From neuroscience and court transcripts to cultural beliefs about soul-wandering and spiritual possession, this episode asks the uncomfortable question:

What happens when your body betrays your mind?

🎧 Featuring psychological and sociological analysis, courtroom drama, and eerie personal anecdotes, this episode will leave you questioning how well you really know yourself… especially when the lights go out.

Works Cited- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1krht_NMHzIe-rz5MgGDWzT0ZJvZ90KH7AFofAqmgU10/edit?usp=sharing

In the spring of 2001, Steven LaChance moved his children into a quiet two-story home in Union, Missouri. Thirteen days later, he fled in the middle of the night—leaving behind their belongings and a house that seemed to scream back at him.

In this episode, we unpack one of the most intense and emotionally charged hauntings ever recorded: the Union Screaming House. But this isn’t just a ghost story. It’s a story about what fear does when it festers. About trauma that erupts. About family systems under strain. And about the myth of safety in suburban America.

From emotional contagion and psychic projection to the haunting of broken families and the fragile illusion of the American Dream—we walk room by room through what might really be behind the screams.

Because sometimes a house doesn’t echo the past.

Sometimes... it mirrors us.

Works Cited- https://docs.google.com/document/d/14abAPXg0zVMrqKKZOPSvohgKuLu88LAlDLTHnbfQNZw/edit?usp=sharing

What if pressing the wrong sequence of elevator buttons could take you somewhere… else?

In this episode of Hauntings and Happenings, host Kasey explores the chilling urban legend known as The Elevator Game—a viral ritual that promises access to another dimension, but at a dangerous cost.

We’ll break down the rules, origins, and eerie rise of the game from Korean horror lore to TikTok sensation. Along the way, we’ll dive deep into the psychology of liminal spaces, Jungian shadow selves, and the sociology of digital folklore—where dare games become performance, and fear becomes community.

With real anecdotes, viral video breakdowns, and a critical look at the Elisa Lam conspiracy theories, this episode asks a single question that might stay with you:

When the doors close… what if you weren’t alone after all?

Works Cited- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Nty8CZ9etZth8FHHnLfo3SC_Cdn3-q2Fwo0RAmRmw3A/edit?usp=sharing

🌿 Deep in the swamps of the Congo, a shadow stirs—a creature said to resemble a living dinosaur. But is the Mokele-Mbembe real… or something more complex?

In this episode, we trace the twisting path of Africa’s most elusive cryptid through legend, psychology, colonial history, and digital mythmaking. From missionary expeditions and creationist campaigns to blurry YouTube videos and cultural symbolism, the Mokele-Mbembe refuses to disappear.

Whether beast, belief, or metaphor, this river-dwelling mystery tells us something profound—not about what lives in the jungle, but about what still lives in us.

🦕 Featuring discussion of the Jungian shadow, terror management theory, confirmation bias, and the enduring power of folklore.

Works Cited- https://docs.google.com/document/d/10J8DeCzVugUfge2D4INWneLhbi9Sfw4ea25eNZPnJ40/edit?usp=sharing

The longest day of the year has arrived—and with it, ancient magic stirs in the light.

In this special solstice episode, Kasey dives deep into the fiery heart of Litha, exploring its roots in Celtic and Germanic fire festivals, its echoes in modern traditions like Stonehenge gatherings and Midsommar, and the psychological power of sunlight on the human brain.

Discover how ritual gives us control over chaos, why we leap over bonfires when the light is at its peak, and what it means to celebrate the moment just before the turning begins. Featuring fire symbolism, liminal theory, and sun-drenched modern rituals you can try yourself, this episode blends folklore, science, and soul.

“To dance around fire on the longest day is to whisper to the universe: I see the shadow coming… but not yet.”

Works Cited- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OL134gurKMSZaIisGG3YjuS-kppljMiS9VKjd_hu4z8/edit?usp=sharing

In 1961, Betty and Barney Hill were driving through rural New Hampshire when a strange light in the sky changed their lives forever. What followed was a story of missing time, disturbing dreams, and hypnosis-fueled recollections that would go on to define the alien abduction genre.

In this episode of Hauntings and Happenings, host Kasey unpacks the Hills’ infamous encounter—exploring not just what happened, but why it still matters. Was it trauma? A dream? A symptom of Cold War anxiety and racial alienation? Or was it a genuine contact with the unknown?

Drawing from psychological theories, sleep science, Cold War history, and firsthand records, this deep dive looks at the abduction that started it all.

Because if something took you in the night…

Would you even remember?

Works Cited- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DFdV2M_QuCnPhLpvNVFcpzEMbvudnTzW6BH_I44tg8M/edit?usp=sharing

Are you sure the Monopoly Man had a monocle? That it was Berenstein Bears? That Darth Vader said, “Luke, I am your father”? If so… you might be remembering a reality that never existed.

In this mind-bending episode of Hauntings and Happenings, we dive into the strange world of the Mandela Effect—a phenomenon where large groups of people share the same false memory. From psychological theories like confabulation and schema distortion to metaphysical speculation about quantum timelines, CERN, simulation theory, and collective consciousness, we explore what happens when reality doesn’t match your memories.

Is it all just a trick of the mind? Or did something… shift?

Works Cited- https://docs.google.com/document/d/12QNhftGqqUsAZDkQgZU4RNE0L9LE90xZ5tRotjLrDm0/edit?usp=sharing

In this haunting episode of Hauntings and Happenings, we journey deep into the forests, rivers, and flickering hearths of Slavic folklore to confront three ancient beings: the Domovoi, the Rusalka, and Baba Yaga. But these aren’t just ghost stories — they’re mirrors.

Through the lens of ambiguity aversion and moral projection, we explore how these spirits blur the lines between guardian and punisher, victim and predator, witch and wise woman. We’ll dive into the psychological discomfort of the unknown, how folklore enforces cultural taboos, and why these ambiguous figures still thrive in modern horror, memes, and myth.

When the fire crackles, when the river hums, when the trees seem to whisper your name…

It might not be a haunting.

It might be a reckoning.

🎙️ Featuring:

– Domovoi rituals and domestic judgment

– Rusalka’s transformation from fertility spirit to cursed soul

– Baba Yaga’s ancient roots and terrifying freedom

– The Ellsberg paradox, Carl Jung’s Shadow, and moral injury

– Modern appearances in The Witch, Hellblade, and Antlers

Works Cited: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Aew8QSkrpw5uPqBuWK96wD8gIywexbXwi1PMojYwFUk/edit?usp=sharing