MonsterTalk

Werewolves are an ancient idea, but the meaning and beliefs around the concept have changed over time. How were they viewed in the classical world and even earlier? Find out in this week's episode as we interview Dr. Tanika Koosmen.

Dr. Koosmen's thesis at Newcastle online archive

The werewolf story in Satyricon

Some movies mentioned:

Van Helsing (2004)

Deep Rising (1998)

Interesting terms:

Versipellis - In Roman mythology and literature, a "versipellis" is literally a "skin changer" and referred to someone who could change their skin or shape, similar to a shapeshifter. The term is derived from "versus" (changed) and "pellis" (skin).

Episode art by Team Smith (my kids worked together on this one)

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We welcome back Dr. Justin Mullis to tell us about the interesting connection he found between Cryptozoology and the Godzilla franchise. He just appeared at G-Fest in Chicago where he spoke on this topic.

Justin's profile at Academia.Edu

Justin visiting with Cian at The Lost World Podcast talking Kong Skull Island

Justin writes for AIPT in NYC

The Impossible Archive podcast

Justin discussing "little people" with Cian Gill

Thanks to Stephen & William Smith for this week's episode art.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're joined by mosquito and disease expert Dr. Louisa Messenger of the Las Vegas PARAVEC lab. It turns out that gators and snakes aren't the big danger in a swamp. And this monster isn't constrained to swamps. In fact, it's probably in your own backyard.

Mosquito problem in Las Vegas

How to fight Mosquitos

Dr. Messenger's Lab website

Additional Reading:

History of antimalarial drugs

Modern use of Quinine

The Color Mauve

History of Malaria

Lyle Blackburn's Sinister Swamps (affiliate link)

Theodore Sturgeon's IT!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Karen Stollznow and Matt Baxter recount their journey to solve the mystery of the ghost lights of Silver Cliff Cemetery, in Colorado.

Silver Cliff Cemetery

Prisoner's Cinema

History Colorado

Karen's book Haunting America (Amz affiliate link)

Announcing the release of Karen's latest title: 

bitch: The Journey of a Word

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We answer a listener question that takes us down some interesting rabbit holes and face to face with the apparently never-ending tendrils of the Satanic Panic.

Photo of Tokoloshe statue courtesy Peter Aller.

Lots of show notes for this one:

South Africa’s Occult Crimes Unit: How Apartheid shaped South African attitudes toward Paganism and the Occult

Dr. Kobus Jonker

More on "Donker" Jonker

What is a Sangoma?

Wikipedia: Tokoloshe

A sample of The Daily Sun coverage of Tokoloshe

The SAPS Occult Unit was never truly disbanded?

How Apartheid shaped SA attitudes about Paganism and the Occult

Article about the 666 Gangs and the Occult Task Force

Frighteningly familiar SA Police web page about spotting Occult in kids

1999 article about failures of the Occult Task force

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The US Library of Congress says the Cassowary is the world's "Most Dangerous Bird!?" But is it? We talked with biologist Steven Portugal to find out.

Steven Portugal's search for the Cassowary trip

Cassowary (Wiki)

Darren Naish on the 2023 Cassowary Florida Relocation Event

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Blake and Karen discuss some recent werewolf projects, and what to do with all this research material accrued since this project started in 2011. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Friend of the show Ray Garton, author of many horror books including In a Dark Place, passed away April 21, 2024 of lung cancer.

This show is largely a rebroadcast of episode #039 from 2011.

Ray was one of the first and most prominent people who worked with Ed and Lorraine Warren who then went on to call them out for their duplicity. He wouldn't be the only one either, as we covered in The Warren Omission a few years later.

Content Warning: Many of the alleged events that Ray wrote about for the Warrens involved sexual and physical trauma, and this episode needs the explicit tag due to discussion of that content.

Ray Garton's Amazon Author page (affiliate link)

Ray's Obituary

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We take a look at the 1992 BBC Halloween tv special, Ghostwatch.

Ghostwatch (streaming Affiliate Link)

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we take a look at some recent news stories that fall within our bailiwick. We've got big cats, big-not-really-cats, and some UFO data to discuss. (with Matt Baxter.)

Note - check out the articles for images of the "Thylacine", especially the Reddit thread and Galante's video.

Tasmanian Tiger:

Forrest Galante's YT Video

Coverage in Newsweek

Reddit readers have a go at the photos

Alien Big Cat in UK

BBC says DNA confirms big cat in UK

Local news coverage

2023 article with similar findings

UFO Hotspot Analysis

Axios story about the analysis

NUFORC's website

Data Analyst considers this data

Cool - NUFORC uses an old missile silo as HQ??

About NUFORC (Wiki)

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices