The Noir and Bizarre

There's a new exhibit at the Baltimore Museum of Art - ----Monsters and Myths: Surrealism and War in the 1930s and 1940s----. On this episode, Katie goes behind the scenes with co-curator Oliver Shell to explore some key works and ask big questions about absurdity, dreams, nightmares, demons, and monsters. ----Monsters and Myths: Surrealism and War in the 1930s and 1940s---- exhibits at the Baltimore Museum of Art through May 26, 2019.

Monsters and Myths: Surrealism and War in the 1930s and 1940s at the BMA.

Sixty years ago - on the night of October 26 1958, around midnight, two men were driving by Loch Raven Reservoir in Towson. Suddenly, they saw a huge egg-shaped object appear above a bridge. As they got closer, their car stopped dead.They watched the object hover for a while and then there was a flash of light – some strange noise – and a burst of heat – it then rose into the sky and disappeared. The event remains unexplained.Today, this history has been rediscovered and embraced by residents of the Knollwood neighborhood of Towson, Maryland, who are hoping to launch an Alien Invasion festival in the future. What's behind the continued allure of space?

October 1958 two men saw a huge egg shaped object appear above a bridge near Loch Raven Reservoir

Guest host Rachel Baye takes listeners behind the scenes on a ghost hunt at the Lord Baltimore Hotel, one of the most haunted places in Maryland. The hunt took place on September 29, 2018, this year's ----National Ghost Hunting Day.---- There are more than a few spine-tingling moments on this eerie tour!

From Ancient Celtic harvest rites warding off ghosts and spirits... to Roman rites honoring the dead... To All Soul's Day masses... On this episode, Katie is exploring the origins and evolution of modern Halloween celebrations. We also feature a reading of T.S. Eliot's haunting poem, ----The Hollow Men.---- Happy Halloween!

Elizabeth Harper is an author, photographer, and academic, as well as the creator of the popular online blog: All the Saints You Should Know: Bones, Relics, Lore, and Oddities from the Catholic Church.On this episode, Katie and Elizabeth talk about the confusion over incorruptability of saints' bodies, the strange allure of ossuaries (bone churches), folk Catholicism and veneration, and how churches can act as memory theaters for forgotten history.

On this episode, Katie takes listeners on an audio tour of the First Annual International Edgar Allan Poe Festival and then meets up with Stephen Demczuk, founder and CEO, of Raven Brewing Company, to learn about the origins of this iconic Poe-inspired beer.

This year's One Maryland One Book pick is ----Bloodsworth: The True Story of the First Death Row Inmate Exonerated by DNA Evidence---- by Tim Junkin. At 23 years old, Kirk Bloodsworth found himself wrongfully accused and facing the death penalty for a crime he didn't commit. Behind bars for nearly nine years before DNA proved his innocence, Bloodsworth now dedicates his life to proving the innocence of the wrongfully incarcerated.He was also instrumental in outlawing the death penalty in Maryland. On this episode, Katie interviews both Tim Junkin and Kirk Bloodsworth to hear the full the story.

Two-time National Book Award Finalist Howard Norman writes strange and melancholy novels, most of which are set in remote Canadian provinces. His books deal with murder, love, detectives, and the impossibility of closure. Howard Norman is a creative writing professor at University of Maryland and spends his summers at a farmhouse in Vermont.