Welcome To The Oddity Shop, Where The Bizarre is Always on Sale.  This week, your Curator Kara is finally tracing the origin of the oddity shop!

We trace the fascinating 400-year history of oddity shops and cabinets of curiosities, from royal gardeners collecting exotic artifacts to modern establishments displaying genuine mummies with bullet holes.

From John Tradescant the Elder created the first public oddity museum, filling his house with fossils, ancient coins, and exotic artifacts collected while working as a royal garden to Seattle's Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, which opened in 1899, and still operates today with attractions including Sylvester the mummy, confirmed through CT scans to be a real human preserved with arsenic. Modern oddity shops continue to fascinate us with their blend of history, mystery, and the macabre!

What is your favorite oddity!?

Join us for the Gothic Garden Party in the Flint Cemetery on October 4th if you're in the area - Victorian costumes encouraged!

Refs:

• https://gardenmuseum.org.uk/the-museum/the-ark-gallery/ 
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musaeum_Tradescantianum
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tradescant_the_Elder
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tradescant_the_Younger
• https://lukehoney.typepad.com/the_education_of_a_garden/2012/05/the-tradescants-and-south-lambeth.html
• https://www.cabinet.ox.ac.uk/ordinary-visitors-evidence-handling
• https://britisharchaeology.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/collections/history-17thcentury.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Saltero%27s
• https://u

Shop MI Mystical Forest on Etsy – where spirit meets craftsmanship.

For a limited time, enter code “oddball” at checkout to receive 10% off plus a free pendulum. Or simply Click Here

Mi Mystical Forest Facebook

Support the show

The Shop's phone lines are open! Give us a call and leave a voicemail (Or two!) with your creepy personal tale/oddity, and it could be featured on a future episode!
616.320.4935

JOIN US ON PATREON: Click Here!
Join the Oddity Shop on Patreon for Day Early Access to Episodes and tons of bonus content!!!

Visit our Website to learn more!
Email Us at: oddityshoppodcast.com
www.OddityShopPodcast.com

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Affiliate programs are designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to the partner site.

Welcome To The Oddity Shop, Where The Bizarre is Always on Sale.  This week, your Curator Zach brings you the Story of Mary Toft.

We delve into the bizarre 1726 case of Mary Toft, a poor English woman who convinced doctors and even King George I that she was giving birth to rabbits.

• Mary Toft, a poor illiterate woman from Surrey, claimed to give birth to animal parts and rabbits following a miscarriage
• Local man-midwife John Howard became convinced of the phenomenon and documented the strange births
• The story reached King George I, who sent several royal physicians to investigate
• Medical theory of the time suggested "maternal impression" could explain animal births if a woman was traumatized during pregnancy
• The hoax unraveled when a porter was caught smuggling rabbits into Mary's quarters
• The scandal ruined the reputations of several prominent doctors who had been fooled

Leave a bunny emoji in a hole if you've heard this story before, or if you know of other historical medical hoaxes that are equally bizarre. The most important thing you can do for us is to creep with your little oddballs!

References: 

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Toft
• https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1htm1pp/til_of_mary_toft_who_in_1726_became_the_subject/
• https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/library/files/special/exhibns/month/aug2009.html
• https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/mary-toft-gave-birth-to-rabbits

Shop MI Mystical Forest on Etsy – where spirit meets craftsmanship.

For a limited time, enter code “oddball” at checkout to receive 10% off plus a free pendulum. Or simply Click Here

Mi Mystical Forest Facebook

Support the show

The Shop's phone lines are open! Give us a call and leave a voicemail (Or two!) with your creepy personal tale/oddity, and it could be featured on a future episode!
616.320.4935

JOIN US ON PATREON: Click Here!
Join the Oddity Shop on Patreon for Day Early Access to Episodes and tons of bonus content!!!

Visit our Website to learn more!
Email Us at: oddityshoppodcast.com
www.OddityShopPodcast.com

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Affiliate programs are designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to the partner site.

Welcome To The Oddity Shop, Where The Bizarre is Always on Sale.  This week, your Curator Kara is telling us all about Sundown Towns.

We delve into the disturbing reality of sundown towns across America, exploring how these racially exclusive communities didn't just disappear with the Civil Rights movement but continue to exist in both explicit and implicit ways today.

• Sundown towns were communities where Black people and other minorities weren't allowed after dark
• These towns existed (and some still maintain these attitudes) across all regions of the U.S., not just the South
• Redlining and housing discrimination worked alongside sundown policies to create lasting segregation
• Personal accounts from Reddit show people experiencing sundown town hostility in recent months
• Truck drivers share stories of being warned to leave certain areas before dark for their safety
• The impact of these policies continues through wealth gaps, housing segregation, and cultural attitudes
• Even when laws change, the mindsets and practices often remain in more subtle forms

Please share our episode about sundown towns on your social media. This isn't just history—it's happening now, and spreading awareness is one way we can work toward change.

Refs

• 
  https://www.reddit.com/r/blackladies/comments/1dnp7zs/considering_sundown_towns_while_on_road_trips/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
• https://www.reddit.com/r/blackmen/comments/1j306ig/have_you_ever_had_an_experience_being_caught_in_a/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minden%2C_Nevada?utm_source=chatgpt.com
• https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1iw4ppe/serious_white_people_of_reddit_who_have_lived_in/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
• https://www.reddit.com/r/illinois/comments/1j0xw42/megathread_recording_the_his

Shop MI Mystical Forest on Etsy – where spirit meets craftsmanship.

For a limited time, enter code “oddball” at checkout to receive 10% off plus a free pendulum. Or simply Click Here

Mi Mystical Forest Facebook

Support the show

The Shop's phone lines are open! Give us a call and leave a voicemail (Or two!) with your creepy personal tale/oddity, and it could be featured on a future episode!
616.320.4935

JOIN US ON PATREON: Click Here!
Join the Oddity Shop on Patreon for Day Early Access to Episodes and tons of bonus content!!!

Visit our Website to learn more!
Email Us at: oddityshoppodcast.com
www.OddityShopPodcast.com

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Affiliate programs are designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to the partner site.

Welcome To The Oddity Shop, Where The Bizarre is Always on Sale.  This week, your Curator Zach brings a strong warning, Stay off The Pope Lick Trestle.

The terrifying legend of the Pope Lick Monster has claimed more lives than any other American cryptid. Not through supernatural attacks, but by luring thrill-seekers to their deaths on a deadly railroad trestle. Standing 90 feet above Pope Lick Creek in Fisherville, Kentucky, this active train bridge has become the site of dozens of tragic accidents spanning generations.

We take you deep into the dark history of this notorious local legend, exploring the origins of the Goatman. The most chilling aspect of this episode isn't the monster itself, but what happens to those who seek him out. We hear from those affected by the tragedies, including the heartbreaking testimony of a train engineer who personally witnessed 43 accidents during his career.

As we debate the ethics surrounding the annual Goatman Festival and the responsibilities of storytellers, railroads, and thrill-seekers, we're reminded that sometimes the most dangerous part of any legend is human curiosity. Whether you're fascinated by urban legends, cryptids, or the psychology behind risk-taking behavior, this exploration of the Pope Lick Monster offers a powerful warning about the thin line between folklore and fatal attraction.

References:

•  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Lick_Monster
• https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/pope-lick-trestle-bridge
• https://www.islands.com/1727666/pope-lick-trestle-bridge-haunted-railroad-kentucky-thrilling-tale-folklore-eerie-legend/
• https://u.osu.edu/popelickmonster/reality-in-legend/
• https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2016/05/14/pope-lick-monster-mythical-dangers-real/83667728/
• Hulus: OUT THERE: Crimes of the Paranormal S1 E3

Shop MI Mystical Forest on Etsy – where spirit meets craftsmanship.

For a limited time, enter code “oddball” at checkout to receive 10% off plus a free pendulum. Or simply Click Here

Mi Mystical Forest Facebook

Support the show

The Shop's phone lines are open! Give us a call and leave a voicemail (Or two!) with your creepy personal tale/oddity, and it could be featured on a future episode!
616.320.4935

JOIN US ON PATREON: Click Here!
Join the Oddity Shop on Patreon for Day Early Access to Episodes and tons of bonus content!!!

Visit our Website to learn more!
Email Us at: oddityshoppodcast.com
www.OddityShopPodcast.com

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Affiliate programs are designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to the partner site.

Welcome To The Oddity Shop, Where The Bizarre is Always on Sale.  This week, your Curator Kara is diving deep into the halls of Waverly Hills

The gothic spires of Waverly Hills Sanatorium pierce the Kentucky sky like a warning – some places never truly empty, even long after their residents have gone. Built in 1910 as a tuberculosis hospital, this imposing structure holds the echoes of thousands who suffered and died within its walls. What began as a modest school on a hilltop transformed into one of America's most notorious haunted locations, where pain lingers in the very bricks and mortar.

The stories here are countless and chilling. Room 502, where a nurse allegedly took her own life after becoming pregnant and contracting tuberculosis. The shadow people who peer around corners on the fourth floor. The terrifying entity known as "the creeper" that crawls along walls and ceilings, sending even seasoned ghost hunters fleeing. 

Waverly Hills isn't just about ghosts, it's about understanding how places absorb human suffering. With estimates of 6,000-10,000 deaths during its operation, the sheer concentration of pain and loss has seemingly imprinted itself on this gothic monolith. We're already planning our return for a more immersive overnight investigation, and perhaps something special for our listeners too. Stay tuned for what awaits in the shadows of Waverly Hills – where the door to the past never fully closes.

References:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waverly_Hills_Sanatorium
• https://sanctuaireveroniquelessard.wordpress.com/english-versions/waverly-hills-sanatorium-louisville-ky-usa/
• https://kyhi.org/waverly-hills-patient-death-index/
• https://www.americanhauntingsink.com/waverlytb
• https://usghostadventures.com/americas-most-haunted-trending/hauntings-of-waverly-hills-sanatorium/
• https://nurseslabs.com/13-haunted-hospitals-asylums-world/3/
•  

Shop MI Mystical Forest on Etsy – where spirit meets craftsmanship.

For a limited time, enter code “oddball” at checkout to receive 10% off plus a free pendulum. Or simply Click Here

Mi Mystical Forest Facebook

Support the show

The Shop's phone lines are open! Give us a call and leave a voicemail (Or two!) with your creepy personal tale/oddity, and it could be featured on a future episode!
616.320.4935

JOIN US ON PATREON: Click Here!
Join the Oddity Shop on Patreon for Day Early Access to Episodes and tons of bonus content!!!

Visit our Website to learn more!
Email Us at: oddityshoppodcast.com
www.OddityShopPodcast.com

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Affiliate programs are designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to the partner site.

Welcome To The Oddity Shop, Where The Bizarre is Always on Sale.  This week, your Curator Zach is doing a part 2 of the lessor cryptids!

Hidden beneath America's seemingly ordinary landscapes lurk creatures most cryptid hunters never discuss. While Bigfoot and Mothman steal the spotlight, these lesser-known monsters deserve their moment in the moonlight.

Join curators Kara and Zach as they venture into the fetid swamps of Florida to track the Skunk Ape – a bipedal, ape-like creature whose overwhelming stench of rotting meat and methane makes witnesses physically ill. 

Descend into the mines of Colorado where Tommyknockers – small humanoid creatures with wrinkled faces – play mischievous pranks on miners. 

Your skin will crawl hearing about the Qalupalik, the Arctic's answer to sirens. This horrifying Inuit legend lures children with hypnotic humming before snatching them into an underwater lair.

Finally, meet Sinkhole Sam – a 15-foot snake-like creature whose legend is quietly fading in Kansas. Once drawing crowds of curious onlookers to the "Big Sinkhole," Sam is now barely remembered as drought has claimed his habitat. His touching story reminds us how cryptid legends are born, evolve, and sometimes die with changing landscapes.

Which of these forgotten monsters would you most want to encounter?

• References:   https://www.reddit.com/r/bigfoot/comments/shjdxx/my_possible_skunk_ape_encounter_2018_in_ocala/   
•  https://www.reddit.com/r/Cryptozoology/comments/y2u4z7/sinkhole_sam_newspaper_clippings/#lightbox
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skunk_ape
•  https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/social-sciences-and-humanities/skunk-ape-cryptozoology
•  https://www.skunkape.info/
• https://kdvr.com/news/local/tommyknockers-the-legend-that-lives-inside-colorados-mines/
•  https://www.legendsofamerica.com/gh-

Shop MI Mystical Forest on Etsy – where spirit meets craftsmanship.

For a limited time, enter code “oddball” at checkout to receive 10% off plus a free pendulum. Or simply Click Here

Mi Mystical Forest Facebook

Support the show

The Shop's phone lines are open! Give us a call and leave a voicemail (Or two!) with your creepy personal tale/oddity, and it could be featured on a future episode!
616.320.4935

JOIN US ON PATREON: Click Here!
Join the Oddity Shop on Patreon for Day Early Access to Episodes and tons of bonus content!!!

Visit our Website to learn more!
Email Us at: oddityshoppodcast.com
www.OddityShopPodcast.com

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Affiliate programs are designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to the partner site.

Welcome To The Oddity Shop, Where The Bizarre is Always on Sale.  This week, your Curator Kara is going down the Time Slip Rabbit Hole.

What happens when the places we visit completely vanish from reality? That's the unsettling question at the heart of our exploration into time slips - those rare moments when people seem to step briefly into another era.

The story of two British couples vacationing in France in 1979 serves as our central mystery. After staying overnight at a quaint, rustic inn with oddly outdated features, they were shocked to discover on their return journey that the entire place had disappeared without a trace. Not only was the road gone, but all photographs they'd taken at the location had mysteriously vanished from their developed film.

This isn't just about a missing building – it's about what happens when reality itself seems to shift around us.  We dive into several other firsthand accounts from people who've experienced similar phenomena – from a man who stopped at a gas station selling products with expiration dates from years past, to travelers who stumbled into a pub where everyone dressed in early 1900s attire and seemed shocked by their "visitors." These stories share common elements: sudden environmental changes, interactions with people who seem from another time, and the inability to ever find these places again.

Have you experienced something similar? We'd love to hear your story. Call our voicemail, email us, or connect on social media to share your own encounter with the unexplainable.

References:

• https://strangeco.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-phantom-hotel-extraordinary-time.html 
• https://crberryauthor.com/2016/02/18/the-hotel-that-slipped-forwards-in-time-then-back-again/ 
• https://strangerearth.blogspot.com/2008/10/another-slip-in-time-in-france.html 
• https://www.reddit.com/r/Glitch_in_the_Matrix/comments/45ll6q/always_found_this_very_interesting_not_sure_how/ 

Shop MI Mystical Forest on Etsy – where spirit meets craftsmanship.

For a limited time, enter code “oddball” at checkout to receive 10% off plus a free pendulum. Or simply Click Here

Mi Mystical Forest Facebook

Support the show

The Shop's phone lines are open! Give us a call and leave a voicemail (Or two!) with your creepy personal tale/oddity, and it could be featured on a future episode!
616.320.4935

JOIN US ON PATREON: Click Here!
Join the Oddity Shop on Patreon for Day Early Access to Episodes and tons of bonus content!!!

Visit our Website to learn more!
Email Us at: oddityshoppodcast.com
www.OddityShopPodcast.com

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Affiliate programs are designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to the partner site.

Welcome To The Oddity Shop, Where The Bizarre is Always on Sale.  This week, your Curator Zach is covering the Infamous 1947 Roswell UFO Crash in our 150th Episode!!!!

The mystery begins when pilot Kenneth Arnold spots nine crescent-shaped objects flying at impossible speeds over Washington State, coining the term "flying saucer" and kickstarting America's UFO obsession. But the story truly takes flight when rancher Mac Brazel discovers bizarre debris on his New Mexico property.

When Brazel reports his findings to the Roswell Army Air Field, something extraordinary happens: the military actually announces they've captured a "flying disc" before abruptly changing their story within 24 hours, claiming it was merely a weather balloon. Major Jesse Marcel, the intelligence officer who handled the original materials, would later break his silence, stating unequivocally: "It was not anything from this Earth. I'm absolutely sure of that."

We trace how this incident faded from public consciousness before roaring back to life in the 1970s with hundreds of new witnesses coming forward. We examine the government's evolving explanations,  and all the bizarre inconsistencies that have kept researchers questioning the official narrative for 75+ years.

Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on Roswell or share your own otherworldly experiences! 

References: 

·         https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roswell_incident

·         https://www.britannica.com/topic/unidentified-flying-object

·         https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/roswell-ufo-incident

·         https://blogs.library.unt.edu/sycamore-stacks/2022/07/07/75-years-after-the-roswell-incident-what-have-we-learned/

·         https://people.com/roswell-incident-true-story-unsolved-mysteries-8722935

·         https://media.defense.gov/2 021/Jul/13/2002761373/-1/-1/0/GENERAL_ACCOUNTING_OFFICE_S_SCHIFF.PDF

Shop MI Mystical Forest on Etsy – where spirit meets craftsmanship.

For a limited time, enter code “oddball” at checkout to receive 10% off plus a free pendulum. Or simply Click Here

Mi Mystical Forest Facebook

Support the show

The Shop's phone lines are open! Give us a call and leave a voicemail (Or two!) with your creepy personal tale/oddity, and it could be featured on a future episode!
616.320.4935

JOIN US ON PATREON: Click Here!
Join the Oddity Shop on Patreon for Day Early Access to Episodes and tons of bonus content!!!

Visit our Website to learn more!
Email Us at: oddityshoppodcast.com
www.OddityShopPodcast.com

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Affiliate programs are designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to the partner site.

Welcome To The Oddity Shop, Where The Bizarre is Always on Sale.  This week, your Curator Kara is telling us all about the life and death of Marilyn Monroe.

Marilyn Monroe's story goes far beyond the blonde bombshell image that captivated America. Behind the platinum hair and breathy voice was a brilliant, wounded woman whose mysterious death still haunts our cultural imagination sixty years later.

We pull back the curtain on the resilient, intellectual woman hidden behind the carefully constructed facade and meticulously walk through the timeline of her final day, exposing the contradictions that have fueled conspiracy theories for decades. The evidence points to something far more sinister than a lonely overdose. Was Marilyn Monroe's greatest crime daring to be intellectual in a world that wanted her to remain simply an object?

Whether you're a longtime fan or discovering her story for the first time, you'll never see Marilyn Monroe the same way again. Share your theories about what really happened by calling our listener hotline—we want to hear your perspective on this enduring American mystery.

References:

• https://www.harpercollins.com/products/marilyn-monroe-donald-spoto
   https://www.amazon.com/Marilyn-Monroe-Biography-Donald-Spoto/dp/0060923669
• https://www.orionbooks.co.uk/titles/anthony-summers/goddess/9781780226619/
• :
   https://www.amazon.com/Goddess-Secret-Lives-Marilyn-Monroe/dp/0451409739
•  https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374158354/fragments
   https://www.amazon.com/Fragments-Marilyn-Monroe-Intimate-Letters/dp/0374158352
•  https://www.openroadmedia.com/en-us/book/marilyn/9781453226496/
• 
   https://www.amazon.com/Marilyn-Norma-Jeane-Gloria-Steinem/dp/0802134104:

Shop MI Mystical Forest on Etsy – where spirit meets craftsmanship.

For a limited time, enter code “oddball” at checkout to receive 10% off plus a free pendulum. Or simply Click Here

Mi Mystical Forest Facebook

Support the show

The Shop's phone lines are open! Give us a call and leave a voicemail (Or two!) with your creepy personal tale/oddity, and it could be featured on a future episode!
616.320.4935

JOIN US ON PATREON: Click Here!
Join the Oddity Shop on Patreon for Day Early Access to Episodes and tons of bonus content!!!

Visit our Website to learn more!
Email Us at: oddityshoppodcast.com
www.OddityShopPodcast.com

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Affiliate programs are designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to the partner site.

Welcome To The Oddity Shop, Where The Bizarre is Always on Sale.  This week, your Curator Zach is deep diving in CERN, Particle Physics, and Conspiracies!

What happens when the brightest scientific minds on Earth build a machine that can tear apart the very fabric of reality. The scientific achievements of CERN  and the Large Hadron Collider are undeniable. But, as we delve deeper into this world of quantum strangeness, we discover unsettling questions

Why does a statue of Shiva —the Hindu deity of cosmic creation and destruction—stand prominently at CERN's headquarters? What explains the disturbing ritual sacrifice video filmed on their premises in 2016? And could there be a connection between the activation of this godlike machine in 2008 and the emergence of the Mandela Effect in 2009?

When CERN's own scientists make cryptic statements like "out of this door might come something, or we might send something through it," should we dismiss it as metaphor, or take it as confirmation they're aware of what they're unleashing?

References:

• https://www.iflscience.com/conspiracy-theorists-think-cern-has-wild-plans-for-2024s-solar-eclipse-73694
• https://www.home.cern/science/accelerators/large-hadron-collider
• https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-36428799
• https://mythdetector.com/en/does-cern-seeks-to-open-the-gates-of-hell-and-what-role-does-hindu-god-shiva-play-in-science/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/wuolos/where_does_the_idea_that_cern_is_demonic_come_from/
• https://www.theregister.com/2009/11/06/lhc_dimensional_portals/
•  https://www.theguardian.com/science/video/2016/aug/18/mock-human-sacrifice-at-cern-video

Shop MI Mystical Forest on Etsy – where spirit meets craftsmanship.

For a limited time, enter code “oddball” at checkout to receive 10% off plus a free pendulum. Or simply Click Here

Mi Mystical Forest Facebook

Support the show

The Shop's phone lines are open! Give us a call and leave a voicemail (Or two!) with your creepy personal tale/oddity, and it could be featured on a future episode!
616.320.4935

JOIN US ON PATREON: Click Here!
Join the Oddity Shop on Patreon for Day Early Access to Episodes and tons of bonus content!!!

Visit our Website to learn more!
Email Us at: oddityshoppodcast.com
www.OddityShopPodcast.com

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Affiliate programs are designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to the partner site.