In April 1955, Portland’s iconic Meier & Frank department store became the scene of a shocking bombing and extortion plot. A blind chemist, Clarence William Peddicord, detonated a bomb in the store and demanded $50,000 to prevent a second explosion. His sister-in-law, Joyce Keller, was initially accused of aiding him but was ultimately acquitted. The daring scheme, intricate ransom instructions, and dramatic investigation captured national attention, highlighting both the audacity of the crime and the resilience of the city.

Episode Sources:

https://www.nydailynews.com/2016/10/16/cruel-fate-pushes-blind-bomber-to-attack-oregon-department-store-in-1955/

https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/meier-and-frank/

https://time.com/archive/6798814/crime-the-bomb-plot/

https://www.oregonlive.com/history/2016/11/bizarre_1955_extortion_plot_vi.html

https://www.oregonhistoryproject.org/articles/the-meier-frank-bombing-1955/

In 1948, Idaho faced a beaver problem: too many furry engineers were wreaking havoc in lowland towns. Enter Elmo Heter and his genius (and slightly crazy) solution: parachute 76 beavers into the remote wilderness. With WWII parachutes, specially designed crates, and a very patient test beaver named Geronimo, the animals were airlifted to the Chamberlain Basin, where they thrived. This zany experiment became an Idaho icon, showcasing creativity in wildlife management and leaving a lasting legacy on the ecosystem—and our imaginations.

Episode Sources:

https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/northwest/idaho/article282932703.html

https://cowboystatedaily.com/2025/10/25/in-1948-the-idaho-wilderness-needed-beavers-so-they-parachuted-them-in/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/running-ponies/why-76-beavers-were-forced-to-skydive-into-the-idaho-wilderness-in-1948/

https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/environment/2015-01-14/parachuting-beavers-into-idahos-wilderness-yes-it-really-happened

https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/mammals/beaver-drop-idaho-1948

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver_drop

On a cold Sunday in 1958, the Martin family went for a drive into the Columbia River Gorge and vanished without a trace.

No skid marks. No car. Just silence.

Months later, two bodies surfaced. The rest of the family—and their station wagon—were gone.

Now, 66 years later, a discovery beneath the river’s surface may finally bring answers.

Oregon’s lost Family: The disappearance of The Martin family in 1958, is out now everywhere you listen to Podcasts 

Sources:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_family_disappearance

https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2025/03/car-recovered-from-columbia-river-likely-belonged-to-the-martins-but-oregon-officials-suspend-search-for-more-evidence.html?outputType=amp

https://www.koin.com/news/oregon/car-columbia-river-no-match-to-martin-family-station-wagon-03242025/amp/

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/07/us/martin-family-station-wagon-columbia-river.html

https://www.columbiagorgenews.com/news/martin-family-disappearance-a-66-year-cold-case-revisited-with-local-diver-s-evidence/article_d32b4d5c-fe49-11ef-a802-cbb9dfb8afcb.html

https://www.koin.com/news/oregon/timeline-what-we-know-about-the-1958-martin-family-disappearance/amp/

https://people.com/car-found-river-believed-belong-oregon-family-went-missing-nearly-seventy-years-ago-11692775

https://www.columbiagorgenews.com/news/december-marks-65-years-since-portland-family-disappearance/article_cac6a08e-a117-11ee-a684-33ffe0eb092b.html

https://allthatsinteresting.com/lost-martin-family

This Halloween, we’re walking where the dead don’t sleep.

From the misty shores of British Columbia to the rain-soaked cemeteries of Oregon, we’re uncovering the stories buried beneath the moss — and the spirits who never quite left.

Join us as we visit the haunted graveyards of the Pacific Northwest — where miners still wander, lanterns still flicker, and the past still breathes.

New episode out now: Echoes in the Graveyard — our Halloween special from Mysterious Pacific Northwest.

 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your hauntings.

 #MysteriousPNW #EchoesInTheGraveyard #HauntedPNW #HauntedCemeteries #HalloweenPodcast #TrueHaunting #PacificNorthwestGhosts #SpookySeason #MysteriousPacificNorthwest

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Masonic_Cemetery

https://www.eugenemasoniccemetery.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/full_of_life-intro.pdf

https://www.eugenemasoniccemetery.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/tales_to_tell-outside.pdf

https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/items/5c674891-939a-4d34-b142-1c1ddd45dd6c

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/experiences/montana/beautiful-and-haunted-cemetery-mt

https://historicmt.org/items/show/2212

https://www.theordinaryextraordinarycemetery.com/episode-27-old-cemetery-the-ghost-town-of-bannack-montana/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lone_Fir_Cemetery

https://www.portlandghosts.com/lone-fir-cemetery/

https://www.oregonmetro.gov/public-projects/honoring-untold-stories-lone-fir-cemetery

https://livingwithghosts.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/cemetery-creeping-portlands-lone-fir-pioneer-cemetery/

https://www.pnwhauntsandhomicides.com/rooted-in-history-unearthing-lone-fir-cemeterys-haunting-past/

https://www.axios.com/local/portland/2024/10/30/lone-fir-cemetery-famous-people-buried

https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/45417

https://www.eugenecascadescoast.org/blog/post/haunted-places/

https://seattleterrors.com/black-diamond-cemetery/

https://bothell-reporter.com/northwest/washingtons-most-haunted-ghost-hunters-head-to-black-diamond-cemetery/

https://onlyinyourstate.com/experiences/washington/black-diamond-cemetery-in-wa

https://courierherald.com/news/ghost-hunters-wrap-up-black-diamond-cemetery-investigation/

https://wnhauntedhouses.com/real-haunt/black-diamond-cemetery.html

https://blackdiamondhistory.wordpress.com/2022/04/17/plateau-cemeteries-draw-ghost-hunters/

https://alaskaadventurers.com/haunted-places-in-alaska/

https://idahohauntedhouses.com/real-haunt/boot-hill-cemetery–idaho-pioneer-cemetery.html

https://thegoldminehotel.com/ghost-towns-and-haunted-places-in-idaho

https://idahohauntedhouses.com/real-haunts/cemeteries.aspx

This Halloween Eve,  we’re opening one of our darkest Infamous Files yet. Step inside the blood-stained stones of Leap Castle, sit at the table where the Devil revealed his cloven hoof at Loftus Hall, and climb the misty hill where the Hellfire Club once drank, laughed, and left behind something that still prowls in the dark.

From banshee cries to the Black Cat of Killakee, Ireland’s haunted heart beats through every ruin, every hall, every whisper in the night. 

Listen now to The Infamous Files: Haunted Ireland – our Halloween episode of Mysterious Pacific Northwest – wherever you get your podcasts.

#HalloweenPodcast #InfamousFiles #HauntedIreland #LeapCastle #LoftusHall #HellfireClub #ParanormalPodcast

Sources: 

www.hauntedrooms.co.uk/haunted-places/ireland/leap-castle

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_Castle

www.leapcastle.net

www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/leap-castle-ghost-story

www.thelittlehouseofhorrors.com/leap-castle

www.ciaranmchugh.com/gallery/the-bloody-chapel-at-leap-castle

www.carpediemeire.com/2020/10/12/leap-castle

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mildred_Darby

www.houseofwaterford.com/blog/general-news/haunting-history-loftus-hall

www.theirishroadtrip.com/loftus-hall-haunted-ireland

www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/loftus-hall-haunted-history-irelands-24702576

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loftus_Hall

www.rte.ie/archives/exhibitions/2015-haunted-ireland/744630-loftus-hall

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montpelier_Hill

www.dublin.ie/live/stories/the-hell-fire-club

www.moonmausoleum.com/the-mysterious-legends-of-hellfire-club-on-montpelier-hill

www.myrealireland.com/irish-knowledge/the-hell-fire-club

www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/hellfire-club-ireland-haunted

www.theirishroadtrip.com/hellfire-club-dublin

www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/ghost-stories-killakee-house-hellfire-club

www.rte.ie/archives/2015/1027/737627-ghosts-of-killakee-house

www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/haunted-black-cat-killakee-house-24699467

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banshee

www.irishcentral.com/roots/banshee-irish-mythology

www.irishpost.com/news/irish-banshee-legend-explained-198765

www.duchas.ie/en/src?q=banshee

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicklow_Gaol

www.wicklowhistoricgaol.com/history

www.independent.ie/lifestyle/haunted-wicklow-gaol-where-the-screams-of-the-damned-are-still-heard/26862327.html

www.theirishroadtrip.com/wicklow-gaol

www.irelandsown.ie/the-hauntings-of-wicklow-gaol

www.irishmirror.ie/lifestyle/travel/haunted-wicklow-gaol-ghosts-prison-22642346

www.rte.ie/archives/2015/1027/737631-ghosts-of-wicklow-gaol

www.hauntedrooms.co.uk/haunted-places/ireland/wicklow-gaol

www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g186646-d214838-Reviews-Wicklow_Gaol-Wicklow_County_Wicklow.html

Long before pumpkins lit American porches, eerie turnips glowed across Irish hillsides, carved to ward off spirits during Samhain and inspired by the legend of Stingy Jack, the trickster doomed to wander the Earth with a single ember from Hell. As Irish immigrants brought the tradition to America, they found the pumpkin—larger, softer, and perfectly suited for carving—and the Jack-O’-Lantern was reborn. Over centuries, this symbol of fear transformed into one of community, harvest, and Halloween cheer, its flickering light carrying echoes of ancient superstition beneath its modern smile. Even today, every glowing pumpkin honors the ghostly traveler whose cursed light first shone across the Irish bogs.

Episode Sources:

https://www.theirishjewelrycompany.com/blog/post/the-origins-and-superstitions-of-the-jack-olantern-in-irish-tradition?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=13177453168&gbraid=0AAAAAD9dF0mxHMnpTkHjaDqZNwOlvaWc1&gclid=CjwKCAjw3tzHBhBREiwAlMJoUorOXiOPP3Ebu1fiUbtICkUZNt5MP6biSNMrQ6xyD1ZsVws4SF5iyxoCKFAQAvD_BwE

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack-o%27-lantern

https://www.history.com/articles/history-of-the-jack-o-lantern-irish-origins

https://carnegiemnh.org/the-jack-o-lanterns-origins/

https://www.npr.org/2025/10/17/nx-s1-5576485/from-folklore-to-your-front-porch-the-history-of-the-jack-o-lantern

Seattle’s Pike Place Market is famous for flying fish, flowers, and neon lights — but when the crowds go home, another side of the Market comes alive.  From the spirit of Princess Angeline, to restless children in the lower levels, to the chilling hauntings inside Kells Irish Pub — this historic landmark is filled with stories that refuse to fade.
Our newest episode dives into the history and hauntings of Pike Place Market — a place where the past still walks the brick streets after dark.
 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts!
#PikePlaceMarket #SeattleHistory #HauntedSeattle #HauntedPlaces #GhostStories #ParanormalPodcast #HauntedHistory #SeattleGhosts #PacificNorthwest #SpookySeattle #GhostTour #PodcastEpisode #TrueCrimeAndGhosts #MysteriousPNW
Sent from my iPhoneSources:
https://www.seattle.gov/cityarchives/exhibits-and-education/online-exhibits/pike-place-market-centennial
https://www.pikeplacemarket.org/history/https://www.kuow.org/stories/seattle-s-pike-place-market-has-a-haunted-history
https://ghostalleyespresso.com/haunted-market
https://www.duwamishtribe.org/princess-angeline
https://www.hauntedrooms.com/washington/seattle/haunted-places/kells-irish-pub
https://nightlyspirits.com/seattle-ghost-tour/https://unexpectedproductions.org/market-ghost-stories/
https://www.seattlemet.com/arts-and-culture/seattles-most-haunted-places
https://www.seattle.gov/cityarchives/exhibits-and-education/online-exhibits/pike-place-market-centennial
https://www.pikeplacemarket.org/history/
https://www.kuow.org/stories/seattle-s-pike-place-market-has-a-haunted-history
https://ghostalleyespresso.com/haunted-market
https://www.duwamishtribe.org/princess-angeline
https://www.hauntedrooms.com/washington/seattle/haunted-places/kells-irish-pub

It started with a single cough echoing from an empty room.

Then the Bibles burned, the crosses fell, and the walls began to whisper his name.

In 2012, a quiet Bothell home became the center of one of the most disturbing hauntings in modern history — a case that would divide believers, skeptics, and investigators around the world.

This week on Mysterious Pacific Northwest, we step inside The Seattle Demon House — where faith met fire, and something unholy refused to leave.

New episode out now.

#MysteriousPacificNorthwest #SeattleDemonHouse #BothellHellHouse #HauntedPNW #RealHaunting #ParanormalPodcast #HauntedSeattle #SpookyStories #OctoberEpisodes

Sources:

https://seattleterrors.com/bothell-hell-house/

https://komonews.com/news/local/bothell-man-claims-his-house-is-haunted-this-is-no-casper

https://shows.acast.com/unsolved-mysteries-of-the-world/episodes/the-bothell-hell-house-demons-in-seattle

https://www.thegravetalks.com/the-bothell-hell-house/

https://frightfind.com/the-bothell-hell-house/

https://www.heraldnet.com/northwest/the-haunting-of-hell-house/

https://tomruffles.wordpress.com/2019/08/05/the-bothell-hell-house-by-keith-linder/

https://www.discovery.com/shows/ghost-adventures/episodes/demons-in-seattle

https://www.discovery.com/shows/ghost-adventures/episodes/demons-in-seattle

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4431448/

https://www.denofgeek.com/culture/haunted-house-owner-reveals-details-of-bothell-hell-house/

https://www.heraldnet.com/northwest/the-haunting-of-hell-house/

https://komonews.com/news/local/bothell-man-claims-his-house-is-haunted-this-is-no-casper

https://ghostadventures.fandom.com/wiki/Demons_in_Seattle_%28episode%29

https://www.thegravetalks.com/the-bothell-hell-house/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqY6yqvbpuY

https://seattleterrors.com/bothell-hell-house/

https://shows.acast.com/unsolved-mysteries-of-the-world/episodes/the-bothell-hell-house-demons-in-seattle

https://frightfind.com/the-bothell-hell-house/

https://tomruffles.wordpress.com/2019/08/05/the-bothell-hell-house-by-keith-linder/

https://eosty.medium.com/bothell-hell-house-real-haunting-ghost-story-8d3fa04a26b

https://theghostvictimexperiment.wordpress.com/2022/03/07/the-bothell-hell-house-wiki/

https://www.bothell-reporter.com/life/the-haunting-of-hell-house-continues/

Step inside Manresa Castle in Port Townsend, Washington—a place where history and hauntings blur together. Built in 1892 by Charles Eisenbeis, the town’s first mayor, the castle has lived many lives: a grand family home, a Jesuit monastery, and now a hotel. Along the way, it has gathered stories of lingering spirits: a grieving woman said to have leapt from Room 306, a monk whose footsteps echo in the attic above Room 302, and even playful presences tugging at shoes or turning glasses upside down. Blending Port Townsend’s colorful boomtown past with chilling firsthand encounters, this episode wanders through foggy streets, creaking corridors, and candlelit legends to ask—who still calls the castle home when the lights go out?Manresa Castle:

https://www.manresacastle.com/

Episode Sources:

https://www.historylink.org/file/10752

https://www.seattlepi.com/local/seattle-history/article/Historic-Port-Townsend-Puget-Sound-haunted-ghost-10936187.php

https://theshockingtruestoryofmonsteragogo.wordpress.com/2022/10/11/a-night-in-the-haunted-manresa-castle-hotel/

https://hauntedhouses.com/washington/manresa-castle/

https://www.hauntedrooms.com/washington/haunted-places/haunted-hotels/manresa-castle

https://olympicpeninsulaparanormalsociety.com/manresa_castle.htm

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/manresa-castle-port-townsend

https://www.wahauntedhouses.com/real-haunt/manresa-castle.html

In this episode, we explore some of the Pacific Northwest’s smallest and most remarkable landmarks. From Portland’s Mill Ends Park—the world’s smallest park, famously home to a colony of leprechauns—to Washington’s Ranald MacDonald’s Grave State Park Heritage Site, a humble plot of land honoring the first English teacher in Japan, and Oregon’s Cape Meares Lighthouse, the shortest lighthouse on the Oregon coast, yet rich in history and innovation.

Though these sites may be small in size, each carries a deep cultural, historical, or whimsical significance. Join us as we uncover the stories behind these tiny spaces, the people who shaped them, and the ways they continue to capture the imagination and pride of the Pacific Northwest.

Episode Sources:

https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=131

https://friendsofcapemeareslighthouse.com/history

https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/cape-meares-lighthouse/

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/nature/washington/smallest-state-park-wa

https://www.portland.gov/parks/mill-ends-park#:~:text=The%20smallest%20park%20in%20the,Parkway%20in%20downtown%20Portland%2C%20Oregon.

https://www.travelportland.com/attractions/mill-ends-park/