Horrorwood: True Crime in Tinseltown

Everyone knows the Sanderson sisters from Hocus Pocus, but could their story have a connection to three real sisters from Salem's dark past? Rebecca Nurse, Mary Eastey, and Sarah Cloyce were caught in the deadly witch trials of 1692, where accusations of witchcraft tore their family apart. Discover the tragic true story of the Towne sisters and their connection to the beloved Halloween classic.

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Episode Sources:

“Hocus Pocus” on Disney Wiki

“The Witchcraft Trial of Mary Easty” by Rebecca Beatrice Brooks, December 15, 2015, History of Massachusetts Blog

“The dark history behind the seasonal comedy Hocus Pocus” by Anna Parsons, October 29, 2020, The Uproar

“Towne Family” from Salem Links and Lore

“Sarah Cloyce: Accused in the Salem Witch Trials” by Jone Johnson Lewis, May 24, 2017, ThoughtCo.

“Rebecca Towne Nurse – Hanged as a Witch” from Legends of America

“Towne Family Celebrates Lineage at the House of the Seven Gables” by Kevin Letourneau, August 14, 2011, Updated August 21, 2011, Patch

“The Real Life Sanderson Sisters“ by The FilmFanTwins, October 30, 2025, The FilmFan Blog!!!

“The Woman Who May Have Inspired Hocus Pocus” by Veronika Lee, September 13, 2022, Grunge

“The Real Story Behind Hocus Pocus” by Mister D, September 30, 2025, Bootleg Betty - A DailyDose of the Divine Bette Midler

“Sarah and Peter Cloyce Home, Site of” from Salem Witch Museum

“The Baby Girl of the Towne Family, Sarah Cloyce Part 1” by WomenOfEssex, September 17, 2023, Medium

“Salem Village, Sarah Cloyce Part 2” by WomenOfEssex, September 27, 2023, Medium

“The Towne Sisters, Sarah Cloyce Part 3” by WomenOfEssex, October 23, 2023, Medium

“The Towne Sisters go to Trial, Sarah Cloyce Part 4” by WomenOfEssex, October 24, 2023, Medium

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Nicholas Davio - nicholasdavio.com, @mr.nick.davio, @huron_coast

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In 1878 a 13-year-old girl moved in with another family and lived with them for three months...as their dead daughter.

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Episode Sources:

“The Watseka Wonder” by Dr. E. Winchester Stevens, 1878

“Lurancy Vennum (Watseka Wonder)” PSI Encyclopedia

“Ghost Brothers: Lights Out” S1E1 - Roff Family Rituals

“Buried Secrets” NBC, 1996

“The Watseka Wonder” by Monica Otoide, Univ. of IL Urbana-Champaign, Oct 29, 2018

“Through a glass darkly: patients of the Illinois State Hospital for the Insane at Jacksonville, USA (1854–80)”

“Nevins v. the City of Peoria” Supreme Court of IL, 1866

Asa Berry Roff Biography - Iroquois County Genealogical Society

Roff House - 2020 Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award for Restoration

“The Water-Cure Journal and Herald of Reform” by Rachel Williams, Jan 31, 2017

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Nicholas Davio - nicholasdavio.com, @mr.nick.davio, @huron_coast

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*Special Announcement* We've got a little something for ya in this episode. Be sure to listen!

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On a chilly December evening in 1926, British crime author Agatha Christie walked out of her house, got in her car and drove away. When she didn't return home that night her house staff grew concerned. When her car was found the following morning, halfway down a grassy embankment with her driver's license and other belongings still inside, the entire nation waited on pins and needles to learn her fate.

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Episode Sources:

“Agatha Christie and the 11 Missing Days” by Jared Cade, 1998

“Mrs. Agatha Christie, Novelist, Disappears In Strange Way From Her Home in England” The New York Times, Dec 6, 1926

“Mrs. Agatha Christie: Her Own Story of Her Disappearance” Daily Mail, 1928

“The Curious Disappearance of Agatha Christie” by Ben Johnson, Historic UK, Dec 19, 2014

“The Original Gone Girl: Agatha Christie’s Mysterious Disappearance” by Catherine Ostler, The Independent, Nov 4, 2014

“Christie's most famous mystery solved at last” by Vanessa Thorpe, The Guardian, Oct 14, 2006

Agatha Christie Website

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We're back with Part 2 of the Hull-House Devil Baby, and this week we're talking all about its influence on "Rosemary''s Baby" and the tragedies that seemed to curse those involved with the film.

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Episode Sources:

“Rosemary’s Baby” on IMDb

“11 Allegedly Cursed Movie Productions And The Eerie Incidents That Surrounded Them” by Austin Henry, Edited by John Kuroski, Published October 10, 2023, Updated July 2, 2026, All Things Interesting

“Rosemary’s Baby: The Devil Was Not Only in the Details” by Wojciech Oleksiak, Published March 26, 2015, Updated April 16, 2015, Culture.Pl

“Dissecting the curse of Roman Polanski’s horror classic ‘Rosemary’s Baby’” by Swapnil Dhruv Bose, November 24, 2020, Far Out Magazine

“The Most Cursed Hit Movie Ever Made” by Rosemary Counter, June 1, 2017, Vanity Fair

““Stuck with Satan”: Ira Levin on the Origins of Rosemary’s Baby” by Ira Levin, April 2003, November 5, 2012, Criterion

“Bill Stoner and the Cotton Club Case” by Steven Powell, June 14, 2024, The Venetian Vase

“4 CONVICTED IN SLAYING OF THEATRICAL PRODUCER” by Deseret News, July 23, 1991

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Jane Addams opened Hull-House in 1889 with a mission to help Chicago’s immigrant communities. There were stories of ghosts to begin with, but nothing caused more chaos than the legend of a demonic baby supposedly hidden inside. Thousands came looking for a child that Addams insisted never existed, and decades later the story inspired the horror classic "Rosemary's Baby." More than a century later, the history and hauntings of Hull-House remain tangled together in one of Chicago’s strangest stories.

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Episode Sources:

“Our History” from the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum

“History” from the Jane Addams Hull House Association

“Chicago Hauntings: Ghosts, A Portal, And A Devil Baby At Jane Addams' Hull House” by Adam Harrington, October 28, 2021, CBS Chicago

“Hull House Haunting” by JAPP, October 23, 2015, Jane Addams Papers Project

“The Haunted Lore of Hull-House” by Nadia Maragha, August 14, 2026, Jane Addams Hull-House Museum

“The Hull House Museum” by Windy City Ghosts, Posted November 13, 2019, Updated April 22, 2026

“The Devil Baby at Hull-House” by Tim Nealon, Ghost City Tours

“The Devil Baby of Hull-House” by Adam Selzer, March 3, 2008, Adam Chicago Tours

“The Haunted History of Hull House Chicago & the Devil Baby” by American Ghost Walks, February 10, 2022

“The Devil Baby at Hull House” by Jane Addams, October 1916 Issue, The Atlantic

“Jane Addams Hull-House Museum” added by Avalon, Atlas Obscura

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Nicholas Davio - nicholasdavio.com, @mr.nick.davio, @huron_coast

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Zelig Williams was no stranger to the stage. By age 28 he had already performed on Broadway in "Hamilton" and "MJ: The Musical," and toured with Hugh Jackman in "The Man. The Music. The Show." He then made his film debut in the Will Ferrel-led flick "Spirited." But during a brief hiatus in his hometown of Columbia, SC, Zelig vanished.

If you have any information on this case, you can contact:

Richland County Sheriff's Department: 1-803-576-3000

Midland Crimestoppers: 1-888-Crime SC  (1-888-274-6372) or CrimeSC.com

#bringzelighome

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Episode Sources:

Zelig Williams Website

Missing Link Website

“Family of missing Broadway dancer Zelig Williams holding faith he will return home safe” by Doha Madani, NBC News, Oct 14, 2024

“Broadway Dancer Zelig Williams Missing In South Carolina; Hugh Jackman Appeals For Help” by Greg Evans, Deadline, Oct 11, 2024

“New podcast aims to bring greater attention to missing Broadway dancer Zelig Williams, who vanished from South Carolina in October 2024” by Veronica Fulton, NBC News, Mar 11 2026

“The Day Zelig Vanished” Dateline: Missing in America, July 27, 2026

“Distraught mother of missing Broadway dancer Zelig Williams pleads for his return: ‘He’s all I got’” by Chelsea Bailey, CNN, Oct 16, 2024

“One year later, still no sign of missing Broadway star Zelig Williams” by Tatiana Carter, WACH Fox 57, Oct 3, 2025

“A Broadway dancer vanished from his home over three months ago. His distraught family ‘absolutely’ believes foul play is involved” by Andrea Cavallier, The Independent, Jan 18, 2025

“Behind the “Hu•Man in the Mirror” — The Vanishing of Zelig Williams” by Troy Styles, Blunt Force Media, Oct 14, 2024

“Zelig Williams: Details Surface About Missing Dancer” by Callie Lyons, FitsNews, Oct 14, 2024

MIssing: Zelig Williams, Crime Junkie, Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat, Nov 27, 2025

Zelig Williams: Broadway and Worldwide Performer, A Time to Live with Amanda Jane Cooper, May 16, 2023

“Family of missing Broadway dancer hires private investigator to assist in desperate search” by Chelsea Bailey, ABC7 Eyewitness News, Oct 15, 2024

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When 18-year-old Rori Hache disappeared from Oshawa, Ontario, in 2017, her family was desperate to find out what happened to her. Months later, a disturbing discovery would lead investigators to Adam Strong and his basement apartment. Evidence uncovered there would also provide answers in the disappearance of 19-year-old Kandis Fitzpatrick.

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Episode Sources:

“Remains of Kandis Fitzpatrick found in Oshawa; Adam Strong led police to body” by Kerrisa Wilson, February 16, 2022, CP24

“Plumbers found human flesh in accused killer Adam Strong's pipes, murder trial hears” by Liam Casey, The Canadian Press, September 28, 2020, CBC

“HUNTER: Killer Adam Strong is all about Adam Strong” by Brad Hunter, March 16, 2021, Toronto Sun

“Accused killer Adam Strong showed off sex video, bragged of ‘dungeon’, court hears” by Jeff Mitchell, Oshawa This Week, October 19, 2020, DurhamRegion

“HUNTER: Accused Oshawa killer Adam Strong learns fate Tuesday” by Brad Hunter, March 14, 2021, Toronto Sun

“‘I have all the characteristics of a serial killer,’ Adam Strong told Durham police” by Jeff Mitchell, Oshawa This Week, October 7, 2020, DurhamRegion

“Adam Strong sentenced to life in prison without parole for 25 years in killings of 2 Ontario women” by Liam Casey, The Canadian Press, May 28, 2021, CBC

“Adam Strong found guilty of 1st-degree murder, manslaughter in killings of 2 Ontario women” by The Canadian Press, March 16, 2021, CBC

“‘You got me, the gig’s up’: Alleged killer on trial after human flesh found clogging drain” by Josh Marcus, September 29, 2020, The Independent

“How a convicted killer led police to his victim's remains 14 years after her murder” by Kerrisa Wilson, February 16, 2022, CTV News

“Adam Strong found guilty of 1st-degree murder, manslaughter in deaths of 2 Oshawa teenage girls” by Jessica Patton, Global News, March 16, 2021, Global News

“HUNTER: Dismemberment killer Adam Strong's Oshawa house of horrors for sale” by Brad Hunter, April 7, 2026, Toronto Sun

“Oshawa court hears disturbing details in double-murder trial of Adam Strong” by Brittany Rosen, October 7, 2020, Global News

“Small Town Murder - #526 - Deadly, Disturbed & Lazy - Oshawa, Ontario, Canada”

“Kandis Fitzpatrick's remains found 14 years after she went missing — convicted killer led police to body” by Julia Alevato, February 16, 2022, CBC

“Kandis Fitzpatrick” from Unidentified Wiki

“DNA of 2nd missing woman found in Adam Strong’s home” by News Staff, July 10, 2018, City News Everywhere

“Adam Strong Convicted of First-Degree Murder and Manslaughter” from Barrison & Manitius

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Nicholas Davio - nicholasdavio.com, @mr.nick.davio, @huron_coast

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We're baaaack! We missed you, Misfits! And we've got an episode for you that has a little bit of, well, a lot of stuff. If you clicked on this episode hoping for ghost stories, attempted murders (yes, plural), a pigeon funeral and threat of assassination...you came to the right place!

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Episode Sources:

“Junius Brutus Booth: Theatrical Prometheus” by Stephen M. Archer, Southern Illinois University Press, 1992

“Dock Street Theatre: America’s First Theatre” Charleston Stage

Gazette Excerpt from Unknown Fire Warden, Colonial South Carolina: A Sourcebook

“Charleston Fire 1740” Colonial South Carolina: A Sourcebook

“An Overview of the Charleston Area” Explore Charleston

The Little House of Horrors: Dock Street Theatre

“The Ghosts of Dock Street Theatre” by Hunter Casillas, Ghosts of the South

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Nicholas Davio - nicholasdavio.com, @mr.nick.davio, @huron_coast

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When 26-year-old Jean Spangler left her home on the evening of Friday, October 7, 1949, she had no idea she wouldn't be returning. She told her sister-in-law she was working that night...but there was no record of her employment for that date. What was she up to? Where did she really go? This episode has Kirk Douglas, the Black Dahlia killer and "That 70s Show" star Laura Prepon. It's a doozy, folks.

Episode Sources:

"The Missing Star Spangler Girl: Inside the chilling, still unsolved disappearance of Jean Spangler” by Maureen Lee Lenker

"The Disappearance of Jean Spangler” 

"Mystery of Missing Starlet Was Never Solved” by Cecilia Rasmussen

"The dancer and the movie star: Unsolved disappearance fascinates Hollywood 71 years later” by Nick Pearson

"The Mysterious Disappearance of Jean Spangler" by Arthur Lyons

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Creeptastic theme music by:

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