In this episode of The Box of Oddities, the astonishing true story of Kara Robinson—abducted in broad daylight and held captive by a serial killer- she outsmarted her captor and escaped, rewriting the rulebook on survival. It's resilience meets real-life thriller. Then, we head to Sandtown, Indiana—a place that once bustled with life, and now? Gone. Vanished. Poof. No wreckage, no ruins, just whispers and weirdness. Was it swallowed by the earth, or just bad at city planning?

Join Kat and Jethro as they dive into survival stories and small-town vanishings, sprinkling in their signature oddball humor and curiosity-fueled commentary. It's true crime meets urban legend with a side of "Wait, what?!"

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EPISODE REWIND:

Step into the creaky time machine as we dig up some gloriously odd gems from the archive:

The Great Horse Manure Crisis of the 1800s — When cities were drowning in poop, and people feared equine waste would bring about the downfall of civilization. Spoiler: It didn't. But it was a real pile of trouble.

The Bretzius House of Horrors — During what was supposed to be a charming home renovation, the Bretzius family unearthed mummified cats, twisted occult artifacts, and one big reason to just rent. Was it witchcraft, folk magic, or just an extreme case of DIY gone wrong?

Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery — One of the most haunted graveyards in America, where phantom farmers plow ghostly fields, glowing orbs float like confused fireflies, and spectral cars drive absolutely nowhere.

These stories are so strange, you'll think we made them up. We didn’t. History just has a weird sense of humor. Listen now to this Box of Oddities rewind — vintage weirdness, zero manure smell.

#BoxOfOddities #HauntedHistory #WeirdFacts #HorseManureCrisis #GhostStories #CursedRenovations #PodcastRewind #TrueWeird #OccultHistory #HauntedCemetery #OddlyFascinating

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Step into a timeline tangle and sip the strangest origin story ever brewed in this episode of The Box of Oddities. First, we explore the baffling time slips of Canevaro Avenue in Lima, Peru, where unsuspecting pedestrians report stepping into centuries-old realities, only to snap back to present day like glitchy NPCs in a haunted simulation. Is it a wrinkle in time or just an aggressive tourist trap?

Then: coffee. You drink it, you love it, but did you know its discovery involved a hyperactive goat, a skeptical monk, and possibly divine intervention? Spoiler: it's the most chaotic beverage backstory in history.

Get your brain weird and your mug ready—because we’re serving mystery, caffeine, and just enough existential dread to pair perfectly with your morning brew.

Fun Facts from this episode:

Carnavaro Avenue in Lima, Peru, is reportedly a location where people experience mysterious 'time slips' - momentary shifts into different time periods while walking down a seemingly ordinary street

Multiple eyewitnesses have described vivid experiences of seeing the street transform, with people wearing clothing and experiencing environments from different historical eras, ranging from the 1940s to the 1970s

Theories about these time slips include potential connections to ley lines, ancient indigenous beliefs about energy portals, and the area's rich historical background with Incan and pre-Incan cultural influences

The coffee origin story traces back to Ethiopia, with a legendary account of a goatherd named Kaldi discovering coffee's stimulating effects when his goats became unusually energetic after eating coffee berries

Coffee spread from Ethiopia and Yemen to become a global beverage, first through Islamic world coffee houses and later through European exploration and colonial expansion

Brazil's entire coffee industry allegedly originated from a single coffee plant smuggled by a French naval officer in 1723, which became the ancestor of over 18 million coffee trees in the Caribbean, Central, and South America

Coffee houses historically were not just places to drink, but community hubs for intellectual and political discourse, often viewed with suspicion by religious and political leaders

The scientific and cultural understanding of time remains limited, with experiences like those on Carnavaro Avenue suggesting that our perception of time might be more flexible than currently understood

#TimeSlips #WeirdHistory #CoffeeOrigin #BoxOfOddities #OddPod

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This time on The Box of Oddities, we chew through two stories that will leave your brain deliciously baffled. First, travel back to Zürich, 1522, for The Affair of the Sausages—a rebellious feast that helped ignite the Protestant Reformation. When eating meat during Lent becomes a political act, things get oddly spicy. Then, we descend into the shadowy caves of South America to meet the Oil Bird—a nocturnal, echolocating enigma that smells like rancid milk and looks like a feathered flashlight that’s lost its will to live.

From religious rebellion fueled by cured meats to a bird that might be part candle, part cryptid, this episode is peak historical weirdness and evolutionary chaos.

#BoxOfOddities #WeirdHistory #AffairOfTheSausages #OilBird #StrangeFacts #BizarreBiology #OddPodcast #HistoryNerds #WTFNature

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In this Inbox of Oddities, we unbox your weirdest true stories—and maybe a haunted Viking cat or two. Kat and Jethro share listener tales about severed doll heads that mysteriously appear mid-garage cleanout, and rogue Roombas dabbling in the occult. Plus: an office assistant accidentally inherits human remains, a cat channeling Bjorn Ironside, haunted dreams of the Winchester Mystery House, spontaneous combustion vibes in the kitchen, and a demon with questionable joke standards. Also, bonus life advice: if your Amazon package stares back at you, just slowly back away.

This Inbox has it all—ghosts, robots, cremains, and questionable life choices. Listen now, because you never know when your kitchen appliances might try to start a séance.

#InboxOfOddities #HauntedRoomba #BoxOfOddities #TrueWeird #DollHeadHorror #CreepyCoincidences #BjornTheCat #SpontaneousHumanCombustion #HighAltitudeCakeScience #ParanormalPets #HauntedWinchesterDreams #OfficeHauntings #FreakFam

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Pack a lunch and maybe an exorcist—this episode of The Box of Oddities is going full ghost tour. First, we trudge down England’s "corpse roads," where the dead were literally carried across the countryside because Uber hadn’t been invented yet. Are the spirits still commuting? Tune in and find out. Then, it’s off to the haunted Mizpah Hotel in Nevada, where the decor includes vintage wallpaper, bad decisions, and an occasional ghostly slap in the face. From medieval funeral logistics to bed-and-breakfast poltergeist etiquette, it’s a journey through the weird, the haunted, and the deeply questionable. Bring snacks. Possibly holy water.

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When contractors cracked open the aging walls of a 120-year-old department store, they expected dust, maybe a few old rats with top hats. What they didn’t expect was a discovery so bizarre it had the building inspector saying, “Yeah… I’m gonna need backup.” In this episode of The Box of Oddities, Kat and Jethro peel back the drywall on a mystery that’s been sealed for over sixty years.

Then: before TikTok influencers and Times Square billboards, there were the banner girls—humans turned mobile advertisements, parading products on their bodies with the same enthusiasm as a sandwich board at a conspiracy convention. What happened when marketing met mayhem? You’ll have to hear it to believe it.

Tune in for strange secrets, forgotten history, and the kind of content that makes you mutter, “What the weird?” under your breath in public.

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Welcome to Inbox of Oddities, where reality takes a smoke break and the inbox bursts open with haunted urns, chalk-eating tulpas, Cold War wristbands, and at least one New Jersey-based armadillo that defies all natural law.

In this listener-fueled fever dream:

Come for the mystery. Stay because your pet just growled at the speaker and now you can’t blink.

BOO is powered by your stories—and possibly interdimensional rodent portals.

#BoxOfOddities #InboxOfOddities #WeirdPodcast #ListenerTales #HauntedUrn #ImaginaryFriendOrDemon #SiberianShamanNeighbor #PossessedCat #BunkerTourism #PodcastWeirdness #StayBizarre #FreakFlagFlying

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In this episode of The Box of Oddities, your curiosity is about to be abducted—possibly by a 19th-century mermaid in a UFO-shaped boat. First, we plunge into the Utsuro-bune Incident—a baffling tale from 1803 Japan involving a mysterious woman, a sealed vessel, and just enough alien energy to make your eyebrows levitate. Then, we trek into the frosty footprint of Peter Freuchen, the towering Dutch explorer who survived the Arctic by literally pooping his way out of an ice prison. Yes, really.

Prepare for mystery, adventure, and bodily function-based survival tactics, all served with that signature Box of Oddities flavor: one part absurdity, two parts historical weirdness.

Listen now before your toilet brush becomes sentient.

#HistoryPodcast #WeirdHistory #BizarreButTrue #TheBoxOfOddities #UFOFolklore #ArcticExplorer #OddPod

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The Psychology of Heaven's Gate and Nan Songer, The Spider Lady

What makes a person trade all earthly belongings for a pair of Nikes and a one-way ticket on a UFO behind a comet? In this episode, Jethro dives into the unnerving psychology behind the Heaven’s Gate cult: belief, identity, and how a group of intelligent, seemingly rational people boarded the strangest spaceship never built.

Then Kat introduces us to Nan Songer—California’s charming, eccentric “Spider Lady”—who became famous for her eight-legged companions and a personal brand that was equal parts science, spectacle, and complete arachnid chaos.

So, please ensure your seat is in its upright and fully locked position: One story might make you question the nature of belief, while the other might make you check your shoes. Listen now wherever pods are cast!

#HeavensGate #CultPsychology #SpiderLady #NanSonger #BoxOfOddities #TrueWeird #OddlyFascinating #CultsAndCritters #SpidersAndSpaceships

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