The Riverlands

It's time for the annual Riverlands Musical Episode! On a snowy evening in February, we had the pleasure to talk with Riverlands singer/songwriter Hugh DeNeal. Hugh is an absolute legend in the Riverlands musical community with a unique style all to himself. Hugh and his legendary southern Illinois band, the Woodbox Gang, have an electric style of bluegrass that has been described as "Insurgent Americana", though the band preferred the term "Trashcan Americana". Hugh's unique storytelling style through his music make him a perfect Riverlands musical guest. Enjoy!

Our next entry into our 10 Questions with Paranormal Investigator interview series features Michelle and Rebecca from the Screaming Ghost Girls. What started out as a ghost hunt as part of a girls weekend getaway quickly morphed into a full blown adventure for Michelle and Rebecca. They're hilarious, they know their history and we think you're really going to enjoy our interview with The Screaming Ghost Girls!

This episode is the first in our “10 Questions with…” series. In this version of the series, we’re featuring conversations with Paranormal Investigation groups from all corners of the Riverlands.

In this episode, we sit down with Shannon, Nick, Jason and Ryan, 4 out of the 5 members of Parallax Paranormal. Parallax Paranormal utilizes technology to try to capture evidence of paranormal activity and offer their investigative services free of charge to clients. Parallax Paranormal were really awesome to talk with and we hope you enjoy this interview as much as we did!

Introducing a Riverlands side series: 10 Questions with....where we interview groups and people from the Riverlands.  We aren’t sure where this series will take us, but for now, we are starting with several paranormal investigator groups from across the Riverlands. Though not paranormal investigators ourselves, we’ve always been fascinated with those who dare to venture a little further into the unknown. So, join us over the next few months for some wild tales as we discuss what draws these groups to investigate the paranormal and their investigation methodology. We can't wait for you to hear their stories!

Tonight's episode is an addendum to our previous episode, Guided by the Spirit. Our guest Jesse shares his brush with the CSA with us. We hope you enjoy Jesse's story. Thanks for listening!

Tonight's episode is an origin story of sorts- a self-proclaimed hero's descent into villainhood. As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. This is a story about Jim, a man who was lead by the spirits of the Riverlands on a journey that ultimately ended in terrorism and murder. Jim was a preacher who founded a survivalist Christian community deep in the Missouri and Arkansas Ozarks. Jim's sermons became increasingly paranoid and foretold the decline of civilization. What began as a community of the lost and idealistic, eventually evolved into an extremist paramilitary organization that dissolved after a multi-day standoff with the U.S. government. You can find more information in our show notes! Thanks for listening!

Happy Holidays! This year, we're continuing The Riverlands tradition of Christmas ghost stories. In this special episode we chat with Jonathan, the city planner for Hillsboro, Illinois. Jonathan shares our interest in history and high strangeness and recently started a ghost walk for downtown Hillsboro. We talk about Jonathan's favorite local ghost stories and Hillsboro's revitalization over the past 10 years. Thanks for listening! We will see you in the new year!

In central Missouri, just east of the Lake of the Ozarks, is a town of 200 people called Tuscumbia. By all accounts, Tuscumbia is a small, quiet river town. But in some corners of internet, Tuscumbia is legendary. This is because, on a chilly  February morning in 1967, a farmer named Claude Edwards said he spotted something strange  on his way to tend to his cows, sparking a story that would become known as The Space Penguins of Tuscumbia. Thanks for listening!

Happy Halloween! We've got a bunch more spooky stories for you. Hope you enjoy them! Thanks for listening!

We're back! We're kicking off Season 2 with a two part series in celebration of the Halloween season! While researching stories for Season 2, we came across many stories of high strangeness from across the Riverlands. We're really excited to share these stories with you! Each story is told by those who experienced them, in their own voices.

We hope you enjoy them! Happy Halloween!