This week, multidisciplinary artist and researcher Caitlin Fitzgerald joins AP for a conversation about her art, the stories behind her work in various mediums, and folklore which infuses storytelling down through the ages. Caitlin creates visual art in the form of ceramics, stained glass, illustration, mixed media, and digital art- all of which she does very well, and all are informed by a sense of mystery and inspired by obscure legends. 

In this episode she explains the background and research for some of her subjects, such as the jackalope- for which she creates and sells bedazzled sculptures- and her longtime efforts in reviving the devotions to Saint Guinefort, a 13th century folk saint who just happens to be a dog. She does excellent original illustrations based on the design of illuminated manuscripts of the past, and the particulars of this kind of design as well as her sources are examined in conversation. They also talk about a mermaid saint, snails, and various other marginalia.

If all of that wasn't fascinating enough, Caitlin also talks about her work with the Boleskine House Foundation- a group which has, over the years, built and restored the legendary manor house near Loch Ness which Aleister Crowley once owned. Caitlin talks about her contributions to the restoration and her work with the foundation, which includes a stained glass light fixture which you can view on her instagram!

Check out her work at https://caitlinfitzgeraldart.com/
And for more on Boleskine House look at https://www.boleskinehouse.org

On this week's show Jay Shenk joins AP for a discussion about art, magic, and technology and how the history and methods behind these subjects intertwine in the 20th century. Jay is a self-described student of the strange, advertising professional, and tech hobbyist who is also pursuing a Masters degree in Art and Technology at the University of Oklahoma. In this conversation, he brings his knowledge of the highly weird to point out connections between subjects as seemingly disparate as Theosophy, surrealism, radionics, Spiritualism, parapsychology, outsider art, and technological advances in mass communications. 

The far-ranging scope of this episode allows for discussion of plenty of fun subjects, such as the outsider art of Howard Finster, Tony 'Doc' Shiels and his Monstermind experiments, Elvis seances, art as modern shamanism, and also Mothman's butt. Yes, you read that correctly. 

Follow Jay on Bluesky at @synoisia.bsky.social

As of this month, The AP Strange Show has been around for one whole year! This is a brief bonus for listeners, a thank you to all who have tuned in or appeared on the show, and some thoughts about where it's headed.

Along with that stuff, there's a few horror movie recommendations for your spooky season pleasure, and even a seance! 

Thanks to everyone who has supported the program, there's much more to come... and Happy Halloween!

This week, AP catches up with Adam Sayne, longtime host of the Conspirinormal podcast and organizer of the Strange Realities conferences in Tennessee. The show has been on hiatus, but Adam assures us in this conversation that Conspirirnormal will return- they start off by talking about his thirteen years of hosting, interviewing, and presenting ideas about all manner of weird subjects as well as examining the ever-changing landscape of media and what's generally referred to as "content creation". 
From there, the discussion becomes more of a paranormal jam session, with lighthearted chat about some of the more insane conspiracy theories, personalities within ufology and ghost hunting, and the ways these narratives overlap and inform beliefs more broadly. From Flat Earth and Tartaria to organic robotoids, the Nephilim, and Bigfoot, they run the gamut of fringe topics- and end with a look at demonology, and the long shadow cast by Ed and Lorraine Warren over paranormal investigation.
Check out https://conspirinormal.com/ to see the back catalog of shows Adam has done over the years, and, if you're not already, make sure to subscribe so you're there when the show returns!

This week, returning guest Solomon Pakal joins AP to discuss Mayan Astrology, and how one can use it to enhance their magical and mundane existence. Solomon is a longtime magical practitioner, a historian of Mesoamerican culture and magic, and Brujo through his Guatemalan ancestral lineage. In this episode, the conversation centers around his work with Mayan Astrology, which he will soon be offering a course on through his Substack. In the episode he outlines how the Maya conception of astrology differs from versions in the west, or in the Vedic tradition, involving more terrestrial and spirit based calendars that overlap in multidimensional ways. He further explains the benefits of using such a system for both personal and global predictions, for personal development, and magical timing.

Solomon is currently writing and sharing video content on his Substack that is well worth your time, and available to free subscribers. Beginning in November paid subscribers will have access to his course on Mayan Astrology, and listeners are encouraged to check it out here: https://substack.com/@solomonpakal

It's a special double feature Third Time's the Charm episode on this week's show, as AP chats with his old friend Ryk McIntyre about two third installments from classic Universal Monster movie franchises. First, they discuss the relatively obscure offering from the Invisible Man series, 1940's The Invisible Woman- a departure from the gothic horror and suspense of the other films, it's more of a screwball comedy and the only Universal picture to feature one of The Three Stooges. Next, they discuss The Creature Walks Among Us, the very last of the original Universal Monster films which, for better or worse, shows you the Creature from the Black Lagoon like you've never seen him before. 

Ryk is an actor, a poet, and currently works as a tour guide, researcher, and writer for the Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, MA. Learn more about the location here: https://lizzie-borden.com/

This week's show is an exciting one, as the one-and-only Professor Porterfield joins AP for an in-depth discussion about Hoodoo, the Sporting Life, and spell work with playing cards. Professor Porterfield is an Old Testament, old school reader and root worker and the author of several books including A Deck of Spells: Hoodoo Playing Card Magic in Rootwork and Conjure. He had recently appeared in Salem, MA, presenting at the Salem Witchcraft & Folklore Festival, and in this episode talks about concepts from his lecture 30 Years in the Sporting Life. In both the lecture and in the interview, he gives practical and magical advice for those who "walk on the other side of the street", who are often the more vulnerable and marginalized among us. In doing so he also gets into the history and philosophy of Hoodoo as a practice and as a means of survival.
Prof. Porterfield also talks about his personal history and lineage in Hoodoo, discusses his conjuring work and divination, and even a bit about ghosts and other entities!

To learn more about the Professor and his work, check out his website here: http://www.professorporterfield.com/

This week Dr. Jerrold Coe, the writer and collector behind Paperbacks of the Gods, joins AP for a freewheeling discussion about the pulpy madness of paperback forteana. Jerrold's site is a treasure trove of quirky titles, replete with wildly weird cover designs and even weirder subjects, and this conversation is a celebration of such cultural oddities. They explore the prolific catalogues of story collectors such as Brad Steiger and Warren Smith, and the dynamics of the publishing world that delivered these tales to the wider culture. In his writing and in this conversation, Coe does an excellent job of tracing the history of various narratives and the authors who promoted them. 

From T. Lobsang Rampa to Otto Binder, to sci-fi and less fortean paperback kitsch, the exploration of mass media paperbacks in the golden age of paranormal weirdness makes for a very fun and funny discussion.

Check out Coe's work here: https://paperbackgods.blogspot.com/
Also, subscribe to his YouTube for fortean documentary uploads at @jerrold_coe

This week on the show, Glennie F. Sewell joins AP to discuss his work in paranormal investigation and his academic efforts toward synthesizing lived paranormal experiences and their relation to the imaginal realities with which they interact. He recently led a workshop to discuss these concepts at the 2025 Paranormal Research Symposium in Gettysburg, PA. AP attended the workshop and even had a paranormal event occur in the middle of it! (A description of said event can be found in the episode "Road Trippin' with Tim Binnall.) Glennie's presentation of anomalous activity as a liminal bridge to the imaginal realms are well worth considering, and made him a natural welcome guest on this show.

He discusses these concepts and his methodology in approaching stories he sources directly from consenting participants, finding commonalities in lived experiences and analyzing the narratives of what we consider "paranormal". In so doing he pulls upon threads such as choices of words used in the telling to find deeper meaning in what are often transformative or perception altering tales. He and AP discuss the limitations of language to describe the greater reality, and the difficulties inherent in discernment around cultural inborn assumptions.

Glennie currently holds an MFA from Goddard College and is the author of an unpublished novel, Guardians of Forever: Earth Gone. He is currently teaching World Literature online and working toward a PhD in Transformative Studies at the California Institute of Integral Studies. He is also the co-founder of the Messenger Guardians Institute and Messenger Guardians Paranormal Investigation Studies, based out of Vermont. You can follow his work with MGPIS on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@messengerguardiansparanorm8606

On this week's show, Leah Prime drops in to discuss rare and cursed books! From incunabula to anthropodermic bindings, to books of occult lore, Leah shares her wealth of knowledge about rare books and manuscripts from around the world in a fascinating conversation with AP. She discusses her backstory, and what led her to an academic life in rare texts. They also talk about the history of printing, what goes into preservation of old volumes, and the lore surrounding books such as the. Codex Gigas. Also discussed are trends within western esotericism and their Hebrew roots, and works such as The Book of Abramelin, and their impact on modern occultism. 

The far-reaching conversation also covers The Voynich Manuscript and its attendant mysteries, as well as more modern rare and mythical works such as Agrippa (The Book of the Dead) by William Gibson. It was a fascinating journey through the history of print as a medium, with no shortage of weird items along the way!

Leah can be found on Twitter or BlueSky, or on Substack at @leahprime