In this darkly fascinating episode of The Box of Oddities, Kat and Jethro explore the bizarre world of Victorian starvation contests and the tragic tales of the Starving Brides of Blackpool—young women who became public spectacles in a disturbing blend of endurance, showmanship, and societal obsession with purity. Then, Jethro takes us back to 17th-century England for the unsettling trials of Thomas Hogg and George Spencer, where superstition and Puritanical paranoia turned alleged sin into criminal conviction. Were these men victims of early witch-hunt hysteria—or living symbols of a community’s moral panic?

Expect laughter in the darkness, uncomfortable truths, and that signature Box of Oddities blend of macabre history, weird culture, and unexpected humor.

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🎃 A chilling Box of Oddities Halloween celebration!
Kat and Jethro rewind time to revisit the very first Halloween Special, recorded on a dark and stormy Halloween night years ago. In this fright-packed collection of true listener encounters, we dive into some of the most unsettling paranormal moments ever shared by the Freak Family — including ghostly apparitions, haunted highways, Civil War spirits, and the terrifying Grey Lady of Tasmania.

👻 Featured encounters include:

A spectral homeowner still roaming the halls after a fatal accident 😨

A “Utah backroad” where vengeful ghosts try to run travelers off the road

A haunted Gettysburg field echoing with wagon wheels and marching soldiers

San Diego’s notorious Whaley House — footsteps from beyond the grave

Tasmania’s Grey Lady — and a night of screams, possession, and rotting-orange phantom stench

With creepy first-person recordings, eerie real-life locations, and that signature blend of humor and horror, this is the perfect Halloween audio ritual. Whether you believe in ghosts or not… these stories just might believe in you.

Grab your candy, dim the lights, and enjoy this spooky trip down memory lane with Kat and Jethro — and the ghosts who came with them… 👁️👁️

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The Box of Oddities: 8th Annual Halloween Special

Step into the shadows for our 8th Annual Halloween Special—where the veil thins, the lights flicker, and the stories come straight from you, the Freak Family. This year, listeners share their most chilling real-life encounters: a music box that plays from beyond the grave, a midnight sprint through a haunted cemetery, a towering white figure that defies explanation, a windowless room hiding something unspeakable, and a Tucson hotel room that fights back.

From eerie coincidences to full-blown paranormal panic, these tales remind us why October is our favorite time of year—and why some things are better left unexplained. Lock the doors, dim the lights, and prepare for a night of true listener-told horror—because in this episode, you are the Box of Oddities.

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Halloween week gets weirder than ever on The Box of Oddities as Kat and Jethro dive into the chilling mystery of electronic voice phenomena (EVPs) — and why some recordings might not come from the past… but from the future. 😱📼 From eerie predictions like “April 10th… fire” to spectral warnings whispered before tragedy strikes, this episode explores whether time-slipping ghosts are trying to send us messages across the timeline. Could hauntings be echoes from events that haven’t happened yet?

Then, Kat reveals the deeply bizarre legacy of Italian scientist Elfizio Marini, whose life’s work involved petrifying human body parts into polished décor — including a stone-fleshed table he gifted to Napoleon III. Because nothing says power and prestige like enjoying a sandwich over someone’s literal brains and lungs. 🍽️🧠

Plus:
• The EVP anomaly caught in a recent crossover episode
• The haunting physics behind retrocausality
• Halloween traditions that make zero sense (looking at you, horse-skull caroling)
• A peek behind the curtain of the final stretch of the fall tour 👻🎤

Whether you’re a believer, a skeptic, or a beautiful freak somewhere in between — buckle up. The future might already be haunting you.

🎧 Listen now and keep flying that freak flag at TheBoxOfOddities.com

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INBOX OF ODDITIES 062: Meat Popsicles & Zombie Squirrels

In this edition of the Inbox, the Freak Fam checks in with existential snack food, sasquatch fashion dilemmas, and a parrot who might be possessed by a 1960s sketch comedian.

A Tampa household has now fully adopted the worldview that we are all just anxious meat popsicles waiting for a mysterious demise. Christine experiences a full-blown BOO Effect and urgently requires a ruling on whether her new sweatshirt is for Sasquatches or designed by them. (Either way, Bigfoot has impeccable taste.) Brett sends photographic proof that Atlanta is teeming with new Freak Fam friends—some of them stuffed.

We hear from someone who met a foul-mouthed African Gray who may or may not be Artie Johnson reincarnated (very interesting…). A listener in Iceland regrets missing the infamous Penis Museum (the ultimate tourist trap), while another fears Northern California’s new menace: an aggressive alpha squirrel that might be the patient zero of the rodent zombie apocalypse.

Meanwhile, early-episode pug snortles lead to film history, someone swears off chicken for 36 whole hours after Mike the Headless Chicken, and a beloved friend is found again—this time as a museum skeleton exhibit. There’s Exploding Head Syndrome, cursed libraries, punk-band names that are too spicy for polite company, emotional support sandwiches, and sincerely enthusiastic reports of Kat physically picking up audience members.

All this oddness and more—proof that the Freak Fam is thriving, terrified of birds, and proudly flying their freak flags wherever they go.

Never change.
Stay curious. Stay weird. Stay away from angry squirrels.

Tickets And Live Show Information Here!

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The undead are real. They just have antlers.

This episode uncovers the terrifying rise of Zombie Deer Disease—a real-life, prion-fueled plague turning deer into vacant-eyed, drooling husks. It's spreading fast. It's nearly indestructible. And experts say it might jump to humans.

Then: a nudist cult leader who worshipped coconuts, lived naked on a tropical island, and tried to save humanity with fruit. Spoiler: it didn’t work.

🧟‍♂️ Brains. Coconuts. Horror. Fiber.

🎃 Get it? It’s Halloween.
🎟️ Final fall tour dates + tickets: theboxofoddities.com

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Last Chance to The Box of Oddities Live! Click Here!

In this episode of The Box of Oddities, Kat and Jethro return from the road with fresh tales that will absolutely ruin your lake plans. First, we dive into the haunted beauty of Lake Natron, Tanzania’s blood-red, bird-mummifying wonder. Is it a cursed portal to the afterlife? A hellish mirror that turns animals to stone? Or just a volcano’s extremely weird science experiment gone rogue?

Then, things get… floppy. Meet the Atlantic Sea Hare—a gentle, squishy marine slug with the defensive capabilities of a goth ink-jet printer. It has no shell, 80 million babies, and it might be smarter than your ex.

Along the way, Kat and Jethro ponder reflective death traps, romantic slug chains, and the perils of communal candy bowls. Plus: a live tour recap, hot glue burns, and a moment of deep appreciation for dappling.

Whether you’re a long-time listener or just sea slug curious, this episode will glue your brain to your skull (not literally). Click play, embrace the bizarre, and let’s get weird.

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This time on The Box of Oddities, JG takes a bite out of the dark world of clinical vampirism, exploring the psychology and strange obsessions of those who crave more than just metaphorical blood. Then, Kat ventures into the chilling shadows of Spain to unravel the mysterious Vallecas Case, where the unexplained death of Estefanía Gutiérrez Lázaro left more questions than answers—and a trail of terrifying phenomena that still haunts investigators today. From real-life bloodlust to ghostly disturbances, this episode delivers the kind of macabre intrigue only the Box of Oddities can serve.

LIVE SHOW TICKETS HERE!

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In this week’s eerie episode of The Box of Oddities, Kat dives into the scandalous life of 17th-century Parisian fortune teller to the elite, La Voisin—witch, poisoner, and all-around dark delight. From secret rituals to deadly intrigues, La Voisin’s tale is as twisted as the streets of old Paris themselves. Then, brace yourself as the story takes a chilling turn to Cheeseman Park, where secrets lurk beneath the earth… and corpses aren’t just a metaphor. Jethro and Kat navigate the macabre mysteries, bizarre coincidences, and shocking revelations that make history stranger than fiction.

Tune in if you dare—and maybe don’t wander alone through the park tonight.

LIVE SHOW TICKETS AND INFORMATION HERE!

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EPISODE 742: (with Christine Schiefer of "And That's Why We Drink)

This Halloween, something spooky this way swaps.

In this very special Paraween Host Snatchers edition of The Box of Oddities, Kat is joined by the delightfully haunted Christine Schiefer of And That’s Why We Drink—because JG has mysteriously vanished (probably abducted by science or a mothman, TBD). Together, Kat and Christine unpack the glowing enigma of the Brown Mountain Lights—the unexplained orbs that have haunted Appalachia for over a century.

Are they ghosts? Aliens? Passive-aggressive lovers stuck in a centuries-long spat? Or just bioluminescent squirrels playing god? We explore all the theories—ball lightning, swamp gas, folklore, fungal rave dust—and somehow make room for 1913 dental ads and an impromptu John Denver roast.

Whether you're a fan of high strangeness, ghost lore, or just want to hear Christine and Kat lose it over the phrase “globular form,” this crossover episode is a Halloween-season must-listen.

🔦 Featuring lore, laughs, and a whole lot of Appalachian weirdness.
🎧 Press play and get your globular on.

Perfect for fans of:

And That's Why We Drink

Paranormal mysteries

Appalachian folklore

Bioluminescent squirrel theories

Spooky season shenanigans

LIVE SHOW INFO AND TICKETS HERE!

#ParanormalPodcast #BrownMountainLights #AndThatsWhyWeDrink #BoxOfOddities #Paraween #PodcastCrossover #WeirdHistory #GhostLore #TrueWeird #AppalachianMysteries

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