Content Warning: This podcast often uses explicit language and covers sensitive or distressing topics - suicide specifically is discussed in this episode. It is NSFW. Listener discretion is advised.

Strangers, it sure is dark down here inside the studio this week. Join Ellsworth and Big Spoon as they delve deep into the science, spirituality, and high strangeness of organ transplants!

Ellie and Riley recount the tale of one of the most infamous organ donation donations, where two men's lives are intertwined not just by a shared heart, but also by the same woman who stole it—romantically, of course. They explore the concept of cellular memory and its postulated effects on organ recipients, including the fascinating physical and psychological changes that may occur, like newfound preferences for the donor's favorite things. They also explore the idea of energy lingering in our bodies and tissues after death, and the mystical memoir of Claire Sylvia, an organ recipient who met her donor in her dreams. It’s so much deeper than that Strangers, so stay tuned!

Ellie and Riley make a pit stop at Side Bar Hospital to discuss the Philip experiment where a parapsychology research society basically conjured a tulpa, haunted blood transfusions, how artificial intelligence (AI) is utterly terrifying, and theories on where modern medicine will take us next, leading to Ellie’s beautiful impression of a heart growing in a petri dish. 

Check out episode sources, pictures, or any other goodies we may have found on our website.

This episode is sponsored by our incredible Patrons: Tasha, BJ, Brian, Brent, Katrina, Carol and Count Chocula. You Strangers warm our dark little hearts!

Special thanks to our show sponsor, The Phantom Moon Collection. Phantom Moon Collection is a small business jewelry brand started by our incredible friend, Natasha.  Each piece is handmade with love, inspired by her favorite books, horror stories, and her three kitties, Bellatrix, Pumpkin, and Eevee. Use code DIRTLINGS for 15% off your order!

988 - The Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

Register to Become an Organ Donor

Reminder: We're hobbyists, not experts. Please approach the content of this episode with that in mind, we encourage you to do your own research. Remember, facts and statistics can be misinterpreted or misused. If you're an expert on a topic we cover, we welcome additional information or corrections via our contact form on our website. Happy listening!

Content Warning: This podcast often uses explicit language and covers sensitive or distressing topics. It is NSFW. Listener discretion is advised.

Stay tuned at the end of the episode for a special pod update!

Strangelings, Ellsworth and Big Spoon are ready to come out of stasis to go spelunking inside the studio and they’re taking you with them!

Riley checks all the boxes off for the movies that terrified her as a kid: The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Pet Semetary (1989), and The Descent (2005) and details some fun facts and best quotes for the fellow Nerdlings out there. Ellie answers the distress signal by delivering every reason why you need to go watch Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979), after you finish this episode of course. She ends on the more lighthearted edge of horror franchises with Ron Underwood’s Tremors (1990). Listen, if you love a good sand-worm, tentacles and Kevin Bacon, this movie is right up your alley!

Ellie and Riley head off to an unexplored Side Bar Planetoid to discuss stealing someone’s identity via skin-suit, badass women in film, Hereditary because why not, and a Terrible Ellsworth Would You Rather? that will make your skin crawl.

Also, apologies for the loud audio in advance, the laughter was a mic blaster this time around!

Check out episode sources, pictures, or any other goodies we may have found on our website.

This episode is sponsored by our amazing Patrons: Tasha, BJ, Brian, Brent, Katrina, Carol and Count Chocula. You Strangelings warm our dark little hearts!

Special thanks to our show sponsor, The Phantom Moon Collection. Phantom Moon Collection is a small business jewelry brand started by our incredible friend, Natasha.  Each piece is handmade with love, inspired by her favorite books, horror stories, and her three kitties, Bellatrix, Pumpkin, and Eevee. Use code DIRTLINGS for 15% off your order!

Reminder: We're hobbyists, not experts. Please approach the content of this episode with that in mind, we encourage you to do your own research. Remember, facts and statistics can be misinterpreted or misused. If you're an expert on a topic we cover, we welcome additional information or corrections via our contact form on our website. Happy listening!

Content Warning: This podcast often uses explicit language and covers sensitive or distressing topics. It is NSFW. Listener discretion is advised.

Dirtlings, Ellsworth and Big Spoon are taking you down the Reddit Rabbit Hole to figure out what's going on with the viral aliens in your feed!

Riley gives the down low on the Garden Alien predicament in Great Britain, a defunct curiosity shop and the little Nazca humanoids found in a Peruvian airport. Ellie dredged up some very concerning yet hilarious videos from a real life Scooby Doo crew who chased down a suspicious cargo vehicle and theories of what the government could actually be towing under the cover of darkness. Keep your eyes peeled out in Garden Grove California, Dirtlings…

Ellie and Riley also get off the Exit to Side Bar City to discuss technical difficulties, how being a robot could cause an existential crisis and our pets wondering why their spare human deviated from routine… 

How dare we!

Check out episode sources, pictures, or any other goodies we may have found on our website.

This episode is sponsored by our amazing Patrons: Tasha, BJ, Brian, Brent, Katrina, Carol and Count Chocula. You Dirtlings warm our dark little hearts!

Special thanks to our show sponsor, The Phantom Moon Collection. Phantom Moon Collection is a small business jewelry brand started by our incredible friend, Natasha.  Each piece is handmade with love, inspired by her favorite books, horror stories, and her three kitties, Bellatrix, Pumpkin, and Eevee.

Reminder: We're hobbyists, not experts. Please approach the content of this episode with that in mind, we encourage you to do your own research. Remember, facts and statistics can be misinterpreted or misused. If you're an expert on a topic we cover, we welcome additional information or corrections via our contact form on our website. Happy listening!

Content Warning: This podcast often uses explicit language and covers sensitive or distressing topics. It is NSFW. Listener discretion is advised.

Dirtlings, guess who’s in the Path of Totality? Your friendly neighborhood hosts Ellsworth and Big Spoon! 

That’s right, they are back after a break and ready to be swallowed up by the Dirtstar. Follow along as Riley recounts a disturbing yet beautiful encounter with shimmering spirit beings from r/NoSleep on Reddit and a sprinkle of tales about people who ultimately succumbed to the effects of a solar eclipse (allegedly-ish). 

Ellie spills the tea on internet driven conspiracy theories looming on TikTok, Old World religious beliefs that stood the test of time only to circle back to the modern era and of course Doomsday because come on Dirtlings, who can ignore all the synchronicities? 

They also park on the edge of Side Bar highway (jk unless it’s an emergency!) to chat about their probably haunted or raccoon infested neighbors, Ellie’s fiery pet dragon Meatloaf, do plants actually scream and safety tips for your solar viewing pleasure that won’t make much sense now that the Total Solar Eclipse of 2024 is over. Better luck on August 12th, 2026! This one will be viewable from the Arctic, eastern Greenland, northern Spain and Iceland. 

Tickets, please!

Check out episode sources, pictures, or any other goodies we may have found on our website.

This episode is sponsored by our amazing Patrons: Tasha, BJ, Brian, Brent, Katrina and Carol. You Dirtlings warm our dark little hearts!

Special thanks to our show sponsor, The Phantom Moon Collection. Phantom Moon Collection is a small business jewelry brand started by our incredible friend, Natasha.  Each piece is handmade with love, inspired by her favorite books, horror stories, and her three kitties, Bellatrix, Pumpkin, and Eevee. Use code DIRTLINGS for 15% off your order!

Reminder: We're hobbyists, not experts. Please approach the content of this episode with that in mind, we encourage you to do your own research. Remember, facts and statistics can be misinterpreted or misused. If you're an expert on a topic we cover, we welcome additional information or corrections via our contact form on our website. Happy listening!

Content Warning: This podcast often uses explicit language and covers sensitive or distressing topics. It is NSFW. Listener discretion is advised.

Dirtlings, Ellsworth and Big Spoon dug deep inside the Dirtstar and uncovered a local legend littered with unhinged side bars from one of the worst years ever, 2023. You are most welcome.

Riley dives right into the tale of the Faust Lumberjack, a legend that has been haunting the Adirondacks for over a century. This story has all the genres and tropes we live for like a super isolated cabin in the woods, a loving family making a new life for themselves, a mysterious disappearance, an incredibly brutal axe murder situation and of course, a very messed up haunting as a result of restless spirits. What’s not to love?

Ellie takes Riley off the beaten path and down to Side Bar Trail: they laugh over the infamously hot lumberjack on TikTok, tips for scrolling on that app for those late to the game, the Canadian Smog that was clouding up their town, Riley’s tonsil stones (smog related?), the wild stupidity of chickens, a widowed goose and Lucky Girl Syndrome. Give that last one a try; it’ll give you a good mental boost when silver linings are hard to find.

Check out episode sources, pictures, or any other goodies we may have found on our website.

This episode is sponsored by our brilliant Patrons: Tasha, BJ, Brian, Brent, Katrina and Carol. You Dirtlings warm our dark little hearts!

Special thanks to our show sponsor, The Phantom Moon Collection. Phantom Moon Collection is a small business jewelry brand started by our incredible friend, Natasha.  Each piece is handmade with love, inspired by her favorite books, horror stories, and her three kitties, Bellatrix, Pumpkin, and Eevee. Use code DIRTLINGS for 15% off your order!

Reminder: We're hobbyists, not experts. Please approach the content of this episode with that in mind, we encourage you to do your own research. Remember, facts and statistics can be misinterpreted or misused. If you're an expert on a topic we cover, we welcome additional information or corrections via our contact form on our website. Happy listening!

Content Warning: This podcast often uses explicit language and covers sensitive or distressing topics. It is NSFW. Listener discretion is advised.

Dirtlings, it’s Valentine's Day, which means it’s a great time to talk about love demons. Follow your hosts Ellsworth and Big Spoon down the tunnel of love to explore the origins of Cupid, from ancient Roman mythology, and to learn how to summon a tall, dark and handsome from the depths of Hell!

Riley will recount the mythos of Cupid, born from the power couple Venus and Mars and stories of this cherubic baby/youth shooting things with his bow and arrows (some with passion, others with disgust) and how Cupid ultimately fell victim to his own power. Really it depends on the version of the lore you read, amirite? Low key, Riley thought Cupid may have been a demon more than a god but it turns out he was simply like his fam up in Mount Olympus: a total trickster. 

Ellie introduces us to various types of love demons and other seductive bed fellows as written in the Ars Goetia, one of five parts in the Lesser Key of Solomon and later translated by America’s favorite occultist Aleister Crowley. Ellie will also give us the deets on how to conjure Saleos, The Duke of Hell and Knight of Endless Darkness. Trust us, he’s the nicest of the Fallen Angels found in the Dirtstar thus far. 

Things take a wrong turn into the Side-Bar Circle of Hell where Ellie and Riley discuss My Strange Addiction (yes it’s the car guy), the woman who married a 300 year old pirate ghost whom she later divorced, giant tadpoles, love bugs (aka the March Fly Plecia Nearctica), and the wonderfully horrifying bugs who will be returning this summer in a once-and-a-lifetime synchronized emergence: Cicadas.

Go ahead, I dare you to google it. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Check out episode sources, pictures, or any other goodies we may have found on our website.

This episode is sponsored by our perfect Patrons: Tasha, BJ, Brian, Brent, Katrina and Carol. You Dirtlings warm our dark little hearts!

Special thanks to our show sponsor, The Phantom Moon Collection. Phantom Moon Collection is a small business jewelry brand started by our incredible friend, Natasha.  Each piece is handmade with love, inspired by her favorite books, horror stories, and her three kitties, Bellatrix, Pumpkin, and Eevee. Use code DIRTLINGS for 15% off your order!

Reminder: We're hobbyists, not experts. Please approach the content of this episode with that in mind, we encourage you to do your own research. Remember, facts and statistics can be misinterpreted or misused. If you're an expert on a topic we cover, we welcome additional information or corrections via our contact form on our website. Happy listening!

Content Warning: This podcast often uses explicit language and covers sensitive or distressing topics. It is NSFW. Listener discretion is advised.

Dirtlings, we have another guest and friend of the pod inside the Dirtstar today! Kiwi joins Ellsworth and Big Spoon to share terrifying personal stories of astral projection, sleep paralysis and how to arrive in this spooky liminal space nearly at will. It helps to do lots of meditation or have several sleep disorders…

Pick a struggle.

So put on some cozy goth-lounge wear, brew some sleepy-time tea and join Kiwi, Ellie and Riley for a chill and laughter filled deep dive into what keeps you from a restful night's sleep or even a power nap, because sometimes you just leave your body. Whoops. 

The crew also take a trip to the Side-Bar Astral Plane to discuss Kiwi’s dark yet brightly colored mind, podcast equipment, whose body would be perfect to jump into for body hopping sleep demons, the astral projection sleep-team plan to elevate Kiwi and Ellie’s abilities in the dream world (Riley wants none of that action) and how to get all of their husbands in french maid outfits. Yeah, this needs to happen.

Check out episode sources, pictures, or any other goodies we may have found on our website.

This episode is sponsored by our beloved Patrons: Tasha, BJ, Brian, Brent, Katrina and Carol. You Dirtlings warm our dark little hearts!

Special thanks to our show sponsor, The Phantom Moon Collection. Phantom Moon Collection is a small business jewelry brand started by our incredible friend, Natasha.  Each piece is handmade with love, inspired by her favorite books, horror stories, and her three kitties, Bellatrix, Pumpkin, and Eevee. Use code DIRTLINGS for 15% off your order!

Reminder: We're hobbyists, not experts. Please approach the content of this episode with that in mind, we encourage you to do your own research. Remember, facts and statistics can be misinterpreted or misused. If you're an expert on a topic we cover, we welcome additional information or corrections via our contact form on our website. Happy listening!

Content Warning: This podcast often uses explicit language and covers sensitive or distressing topics. It is NSFW. Listener discretion is advised.

STAY TUNED AT THE END OF THE SHOW FOR A SNEAK PEAK: CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT!

TLDR: Producer/Screenwriter Jason Ginsburg rocks Ellsworth’s and Big Spoon’s horror worlds with Classic Monster movie facts and anecdotes with behind the scenes knowledge and expertise from his time in the film industry, as they tell the classic tales of Gill-Man and Frankenstein’s Monster.

Very Long and a Must Read: Dirtlings, a third person found their way inside the Dirtstar: Screenwriter, Producer and Classic Monster Enthusiast, Jason Ginsburg! Join your hosts Ellsworth and Big Spoon as they follow their special guest into the world of cinema: Classic Monster Edition.

In 2023, Jason revamped a beloved golden oldie: The Monster Mash. Jason was the clever lyricist, working with the talented songwriter Eduardo García Rascón and incredible vocalist Brette Alana to create this new addition to your spooky playlist. Their ballad, Children of the Night is a fun and darkly-romantic take on the complete squad of classic monsters, all from the perspective of the ever present love interest.

Links down below! Jason also gives us a behind the scenes look at his film and theatre education which prepared him for an incredible career in screenwriting and producing works for cinema, TV and web series such as Age of Stone and Sky: The Sorcerer Beast starring Corey Feldman, Jeffrey Combs and Allie Rivera Quinonez, Ask the Astronaut with literal former NASA Astronaut Micheal Massimino and Tales of Tinder, real stories from Tinder as told by puppets! Dirtlings, Jason has accomplished many more incredible feats, so check out his links down below for more, including his creation and longest-running comedy X project (FKA Twitter) : @FakeThemePark based on Jason’s adventures as a VIP tour guide and many other functions for Universal Studios Hollywood. Did we mention he works for Discovery Channel? Jason, what do you NOT do?!

Also in this episode, Riley and Ellie dive into two classic creatures backed by Jason’s expertise: Gill-Man and Frankenstein’s Monster. Riley keeps it mostly light with the gut wrenching home invasion story of an ancient, amphibious being, his many triumphs over scientific study, kidnapping of lovely genius ladies and repeated escape from captivity.

Ellie gives us a haunting breakdown of Mary Shelley, her tragic family history, the unrelenting love of her father William Godwin (philosopher and journalist) and Shelley’s beautiful tale of Frankenstein’s Monster, known as The Creature. All of us discuss the origins of these classic monsters, their cultural significance, and their impact on popular culture. We also explore the themes of science, morality, and humanity that are expressed through these classic monsters and their place in the world of cinema horror to this very day.   Listen to Children of the Night and learn the origins: Children of the Night - Brette Alana on Spotify Monster Complex: Celebrating the Universal Monsters with the love song “Children of the Night”

Where to find Jason: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonginsburg https://www.jasonginsburg.com/ @FAKETHEMEPARK

Where to find Eduardo García Rascón https://open.spotify.com/artist/59w3uEIR8uzYSBrdcrOEKm?si=Q93gA9asRhm59GiV7oqTcQ

Where to find Brette Alana: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3FiaxmXcTrxZmleemWBZcS?si=LjlAgWT3TAKuM7vEjGhLUQ  

Check out episode sources, pictures, or any other goodies we may have found on our website.

This episode is sponsored by our incredible Patrons: Tasha, BJ, Brian, Brent, Katrina and Carol. You Dirtlings warm our dark little hearts!

Special thanks to our show sponsor, The Phantom Moon Collection. Phantom Moon Collection is a small business jewelry brand started by our incredible friend, Natasha.  Each piece is handmade with love, inspired by her favorite books, horror stories, and her three kitties, Bellatrix, Pumpkin, and Eevee. Use code DIRTLINGS for 15% off your order!

Reminder: We're hobbyists, not experts. Please approach the content of this episode with that in mind, we encourage you to do your own research. Remember, facts and statistics can be misinterpreted or misused. If you're an expert on a topic we cover, we welcome additional information or corrections via our contact form on our website. Happy listening!

Content Warning: This podcast often uses explicit language and covers sensitive or distressing topics. It is NSFW. Listener discretion is advised.

Dirtlings, we hope you slept well last night because this episode might make you think twice before getting some much needed shut eye. Come on a journey with your hosts Ellsworth and Big Spoon to enter the realm of living nightmares deep inside the Dirtstar. But like really ‘cause this one is all about sleep paralysis! And why are there demons in here?!

Riley details the perfect recipe for conscious-immobility with a dash of hallucinations, the myriad of causes for these terrifying experiences and how you can help put these sleep demons to rest with healthy habits and having your primary care provider on speed dial.

Ellie reveals sleep demons and creatures from cultures around the world with a hard look at those who people tend to see the most such as the Djinn, the Hat Man and the Hag. She’s also got some creepy as hell stories to share from the internet about people who have seen unsettling things during their sleep paralysis episodes, along with the entity that may or may not be still haunting Ellie’s own waking dreams.

It’s totally a sleep demon, just putting that out there.

Check out episode sources, pictures, or any other goodies we may have found on our website.

This episode is sponsored by our saintly Patrons: Tasha, BJ, Brian, Brent, Katrina and Carol. You Dirtlings warm our dark little hearts!

Special thanks to our show sponsor, The Phantom Moon Collection. Phantom Moon Collection is a small business jewelry brand started by our incredible friend, Natasha.  Each piece is handmade with love, inspired by her favorite books, horror stories, and her three kitties, Bellatrix, Pumpkin, and Eevee. Use code DIRTLINGS for 15% off your order!

Reminder: We're hobbyists, not experts. Please approach the content of this episode with that in mind, we encourage you to do your own research. Remember, facts and statistics can be misinterpreted or misused. If you're an expert on a topic we cover, we welcome additional information or corrections via our contact form on our website. Happy listening!

Content Warning: This podcast often uses explicit language and covers sensitive or distressing topics. It is NSFW. Listener discretion is advised.

Since the recording of this episode, we’ve partnered with Phantom Moon Collection! Visit her site and use the code DIRTLINGS for 15% off your order :) and find her online @phantom.mooncollection.

Dirtlings, you asked for this one, literally. Ellsworth devised a patron-poll with topics sure to ease us all into the winter months and Krampus won! Cozy up inside the Dirtstar with Ellie and Riley as we explore the dark and fascinating world of Krampus, the dark entity who bestows punishments to ill behaved children and his major comeback into mainstream media.

Ellie delves into the origins of this Christmas beast, his wild goat-like appearance, the sack he carries for naughty children (or a basket sometimes; both will transport you to Hell sufficiently) and the role of Krampus in the Advent season, terrorizing misbehaved kiddos while Saint Nicholas rewards the good ones with presents!

Riley reviews a top ten list of Krampus films and takes a deep dive into “Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale” (2010) from Jalmari Helander (listen, it’s Krampus adjacence, okay?) and Michael Dougherty’s hilarious dark comedy “Krampus” (2015). Major spoilers ahead everyone, you've been warned!

Check out episode sources, pictures, or any other goodies we may have found on our website.

This episode is sponsored by our magnificent Patrons: Tasha, BJ, Brian, Brent, and Katrina. You Dirtlings warm our dark little hearts!

Special thanks to our show sponsor, The Phantom Moon Collection. Phantom Moon Collection is a small business jewelry brand started by our incredible friend, Natasha.  Each piece is handmade with love, inspired by her favorite books, horror stories, and her three kitties, Bellatrix, Pumpkin, and Eevee. Use code DIRTLINGS for 15% off your order!

Reminder: We're hobbyists, not experts. Please approach the content of this episode with that in mind, we encourage you to do your own research. Remember, facts and statistics can be misinterpreted or misused. If you're an expert on a topic we cover, we welcome additional information or corrections via our contact form on our website. Happy listening!