Residents in the South of England woke up the morning of February 9, 1855, to a winter wonderland. A storm the night before had dumped snow over the countryside. But people started to see something different in the snow, something that didn't belong. Footprints. It wasn't only the type of footprint that was confusing, it was where they were. The prints crossed snowy fields, wandered up to doorsteps, traveled over haystacks and even ended up on roofs. Were they the prints of some sly animal out for an evening in the blustery weather, or were they the work of something more sinister? 

It wasn't easy being in a position of power in 10th Century Europe. But for Italy and the papacy, it was even worse - for a long period, the pope of the Catholic Church was the only person to have authority to crown the next Holy Roman Emperor. Because this was such a powerful position, many people were willing to kill for it.

Sometimes a new pope would pass decrees undoing certain rules of previous popes, or to promote their own personal or political gain. But the case of Pope Formosus was different - he was made to answer for his alleged crimes after his death, by (literally) exhuming his dead body and putting him on trial. 

On March 25, 2017,  police in West Palm Beach received a 911 call. The man on the other end confessed to murdering someone and asked for police to come. The caller was Randy Herman Jr., and the victim was Brooke Preston. Not only were Randy and Brooke roommates and close friends for almost a decade, but Randy would have an interesting defense of his crime. He claimed he was sleepwalking. 

In 1900s New York City, two brothers from a well-to-do family found themselves in a bad situation. When one brother went blind, the other quit his job to be able to care for his sick sibling. As time went on, the brothers withdrew from society and ventured outside less and less, and developed a dangerous habit - hoarding. While living among tons of items in their house, one brother began setting booby traps to keep people out. One day, a neighbor called the police to report the smell of a decomposing body - and what they found was awful. 

This week we talk about Homer and Langley Collyer, their eccentric habits, and how some people come to become hoarders. While often popularized as entertainment on TV, hoarders usually have one or more mental health issues that lead to that lifestyle, and overcoming it might be harder than most people think. 

Sit back during this holiday season and enjoy some darker tales of Christmastime folklore from around the world. 

In 1929, Netta Fornario came to the small Scottish island of Iona for a break from the hectic pace of London city life. For island residents - most devout Christians - she was an outsider, but a friendly, kind person, who was just a little different. Netta was a practitioner of the occult, believed in fairies, and thought of herself as a healer, even trying to heal people through telepathy.  
However, one November day, Netta didn't return home. Days later, her body was found on a hillside, nude, with a knife nearby and a cross carved into the earth. Was it murder? Did she take her own life? Was it simply an accident? In this episode we'll talk about her life, theories around her death, and how the people of Iona took Netta in as one of their own. 

When Selena Not Afraid grew up, she wanted to go to college near her older brother and eventually own her own horse farm. The teenager from Montana had her whole life ahead of her when she disappeared at a rest stop on New Years Day, left behind by the people who were taking her back home after a New Years Eve party. When her body was found days later, the family still didn't have the answers they wanted and continue to push to find out what happened to Selena.  

It's a story worthy of a modern-day soap opera: Successful millionaires fight for the love of a young, beautiful, popular actress, creating a love triangle filled with luxury, social status (and the occasional meddling mother-in-law.) But it's also a story that we've seen recently, and in real life - wealthy, older men raping and trafficking underage girls, a murder of a ringleader, and millionaires going without punishment for committing various crimes. In a story filled with Jeffrey Epstein parallels, in this episode we talk about the murder of New York architect Stanford White; Harry Thaw, the man who killed him, and Evelyn Nesbit, the girl they fought over - and how this killing uncovered a disgusting part of the underbelly of the New York high. society scene of the 1900s. 

Happy Halloween to all our listeners! Dana and Kristen both have stories to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year. 

When the Dandy family wanted to get away from the loud and busy city life of Buffalo, New York, they found what would seem like the perfect place to relocate: a beautiful farmhouse in Hinsdale, New York. But it wasn't long before the family started to experience things they couldn't explain. And for years, a grab bag of unexplainable paranormal activity shadowed their every day life.