Welcome to Interesting If True, the podcast that is a basic bitch

I'm your host this week, Shea, and with me is Aaron!

I'm Aaron, and this week I learned that the natural enemy of Cryptozoologists and Ufologists alike are… moths. Moths that play tricks of light in their terrible, blurry, “evidence”...

Round Table

Aaron Guesting on Atheist Nomads. Because of production schedules, we don’t yet know when it’s airing, so I guess you’ll just have to start listening to Atheist Nomads.

Yes, we do! Listen to it now!

Aaron recently joined Dustin on episode 426 of Atheist Nomads. Thanks to Dustin for hosting an... Interesting... discussion! Again, check them out at AtheistNomads.com or subscribe directly to their show using the buttons in the player.

This Week's Beer

Baltimore Blond - Baltimore and Guinness.

* Aaron: 8* Shea: 8

Mysterious Monsters And More

October is finally here and with the fall leaves and apple cider come the monsters and mayhem of Halloween. This is my favorite time of year, sweatshirt weather and Ugg boots, heck yes! Might I add I look great in yoga pants, too? Well, to kick this scary season off, today I’m gonna introduce you to some mad monsters and paranormal predators you may have never heard of. This week I delve deep into ancient mythos and modern myths to bring you mysterious monsters and more…

While reading some weird Creepy comics this week I stumbled on a haunting creature called Vrykolakas. Vrykolakas, also called Vorvolakas or Vardoulakis, is a terrible, undead creature in Greek folklore. It shares similarities with numerous other legendary creatures but is generally equated with the vampire of the folklore of the neighbouring Slavic countries. While the two are very similar, vrykolakas eats flesh, particularly livers, rather than drink blood, which combined with other factors such as its appearance bring it more in line with the modern concept of a zombie.

A Vrykolakas

The word “Vrykolakas” isn’t strictly vampiric in and of itself, and is actually linked to wolves! It is Slavic in origin and comes from the root words meaning “wolf.” According to ByLightUnseen.net, “the etymological leap from werewolf to vampire is obscure.” The earliest uses of the word seem to be around the mid-1600s. In 1645, Leo Allatius. According to Allatius, “The vrykolakas is an evil and wicked person who may have been excommunicated by a bishop. Its body swells up so that all its limbs are distended, it is hard, and when tapped it thrums like a drum.” It has also been reported, along with the rise of the Greek Orthodox Church, that the Vrykolakas had to do with evil (or the devil) inhabiting a body of the already dead, causing it to move.

The Vrykolakas do not turn those with a bite. Instead, it would spread death through disease. If you saw a Vrykolakas walking around town, you would immediately know your town was in mortal peril. In order to draw people out, it would knock on doors. Once a person opened the door, they would soon die. To this day in Greece, it is common in some places to not open the door until the second knock. However, it also seems that not all Vrykolakas wanted to kill everyone they came into contact with. Sometimes, Vrykolakas were people who had died unfortunate or violent deaths and had to attend to some unfinished business. One can become a Vrykolakas fairly simply. It is said that if you live a sacrilegious life, were excommunicated, or were buried in the unconsecrated ground that...