The Secret Society of Strangers

Before there was Mother God, there was just Amy. A McDonald's manager from Houston who found a website that told her she was divine — and spent the next 13 years becoming a 19-billion-year-old creator of the universe with 534 past lives, a spiritual advisory board that included Robin Williams and Steve Irwin, and a Cabal of enemies trying to assassinate her. Her followers called her Mother. Her mistakes were never hers; theirs were hurting God. Then she started drinking. Then she started turning blue. And the people around her stopped calling it alcohol and started calling it her medicine. This is Love Has Won — the story of Amy Carlson, the machinery that let a room full of people watch a 45-year-old woman die on camera and interpret it as ascension, and the successor sites still running the mythology today. Content warning: coercive control, addiction, severe illness, child endangerment, and descriptions of human remains.

🕯️ Stay Curious. Stay Strange

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📧 Got a High Strangeness Story? Somewhere the locals avoid? Somewhere the stories don't quite add up? We want to hear about it. Email at [email protected]  us or slide into the DMs — we're listening.

A Strange Static Media Production.

A Strange Static Media Production.

Lee — Writer, Researcher, Editor, Producer.

Josh & Jen — Co-Host, Assistant, Creative, Co-Producer.

In November 1996, a 16-year-old from Murray, Kentucky who called himself Vesago — a 500-year-old vampire — drove 800 miles to Eustis, Florida with 3 followers. Hours later, Richard Wendorf and Naoma Ruth Queen were dead in their home, and 5 teenagers were headed for New Orleans in the family's Explorer. We follow the Vampire Clan from the Vampire Hotel to a Baton Rouge Howard Johnson: the blood rituals, the rulebook behind the ranks, the 17th-century demon behind the name, Rod Ferrell's uncorroborated claim that he witnessed a ritual killing as a child, and the daughter who came home at 10:30 that night. True crime, the 1990s vampire subculture around the group, and the Rod Ferrell case — told for the people it happened to.

🕯️ Stay Curious. Stay Strange

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☕ Support the Show: Buy Me a Coffee — every cup helps.

📱 Follow Us: Instagram · TikTok Clips, extras, and whatever rabbit hole we fell down that week.

📧 Got a High Strangeness Story? Somewhere the locals avoid? Somewhere the stories don't quite add up? We want to hear about it. Email at [email protected]  us or slide into the DMs — we're listening.

A Strange Static Media Production.

A Strange Static Media Production.

Lee — Writer, Researcher, Editor, Producer.

Josh & Jen — Co-Host, Assistant, Creative, Co-Producer.

The Vampire Clan case remains a chilling example of how teenage isolation can warp into dangerous obsession. We break down the reality behind Rod Ferrell and his followers.

This episode examines the trajectory of a group that started with small-town boredom and ended in a double homicide. By looking at the specific dynamics of their interactions, we separate the sensationalized mythos from the documented facts. It is a necessary look at how influence and group identity can lead to catastrophic choices.

We analyze the intersection of cult psychology and criminal behavior, providing a clearer picture of the events that shocked Kentucky and beyond. For those interested in the mechanics of true crime, this breakdown offers a grounded perspective on one of the most bizarre cases in modern history.

Subscribe for weekly crime analysis and let us know which case you want us to cover next.

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SSOS is a Strange Static Media production.

Hosted by Lee Miller, Josh Seifert, and Jen Nielsen. For business inquiries or to submit a story tip: [email protected].

The Vampire Clan case remains a chilling example of how teenage isolation can warp into dangerous, ritualistic obsession.

We break down the reality behind Rod Ferrell and the group that started with small-town boredom and ended in a double homicide. By examining the specific dynamics of their interactions, we separate the sensationalized mythos from the documented facts. This analysis explores how influence and group identity lead to catastrophic choices, offering a grounded look at the intersection of cult psychology and criminal behavior.

For those interested in the mechanics of true crime, this breakdown provides a clear perspective on one of the most bizarre cases in modern history. We look past the headlines to understand the trajectory of a group that shocked Kentucky and beyond. Whether you are a long-time listener or new to the story, this episode clarifies the events surrounding the 1996 killings

#TrueCrime #Paranormal #Vampires #Cult #Murder #Kentucky

A man steps onto a bus in December 1949. Other passengers see him in his seat. When the bus reaches the next stop, he's gone — his belongings still on the rack above, an open bus timetable on the empty seat. He was never seen again.

This is Part Two of the Bennington Triangle.

In Part One we climbed Glastenbury Mountain and traced how one stretch of Vermont wilderness earned its reputation. Now Lee, Josh, and Jen get to the cases that made the legend: the disappearances that came one after another between 1949 and 1950, and the theories people have reached for ever since to explain them.

We cover James Tedford, gone from a moving bus with a full load of witnesses. Eight-year-old Paul "Buddy" Jepson, who vanished in the time it took his mother to finish a chore. And Frieda Langer — the only one of the missing whose body ever came back, found months later in open ground that searchers had already walked, in a condition that made the how of her death impossible to name.

Then we sort the theories, fast and honest — the man-eating stone, the creature in the timber, the "thin place," abduction, a killer working the trail, the pattern in the dates — and ask the question underneath all of it: why do we reach for a triangle at all?

🕯️ New here? You've found your people. We're the Secret Society of Strangers — three friends digging into history's darkest, strangest, and most unexplained cases. Subscribe and stay a while.

⚠️ This episode discusses the disappearance and presumed death of a child, and includes speculative theories. Listener discretion advised.

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⏱️ CHAPTERS

00:00 — Cold Open: Gone From a Moving Bus 00:38 — Welcome Back to the Society 03:50 — Where Part One Left Us 05:24 — Three Years of Quiet 07:40 — James Tedford, December 1949 17:52 — Paul "Buddy" Jepson, 1950 27:11 — Frieda Langer — The One Who Came Back 38:30 — What the Mountain Was Already Known For 40:49 — Theory: The Stone 43:20 — Theory: Something in the Trees 46:27 — Theory: A Thin Place 47:45 — Theory: Taken 49:00 — Theory: The Simplest, Darkest Answer 52:00 — Theory: The Trail Itself 54:17 — The Pattern in the Dates 56:36 — Theory: Bad Ground 57:45 — Why a Triangle? 1:00:59 — Questions for the Strangers 1:02:00 — Before You Go Out There 1:04:52 — Wrapping Up

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📚 SOURCES & FURTHER READING

Joseph A. Citro — the author who coined "the Bennington Triangle" in 1992 — "Green Mountain Ghosts, Ghouls & Unsolved Mysteries" (1994) and "Passing Strange" (1996)

Bennington Triangle — overview & case summaries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bennington_Triangle

Glastenbury Mountain — geography & history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glastenbury_Mountain

"The Haunting of Glastenbury Mountain," Vermont Country Magazine (2023): https://vermontcountry.com/2023/10/26/the-haunting-of-glastenbury-mountain/

Glastenbury Wilderness — U.S. Forest Service: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r09/gmfl/recreation/glastenbury-wilderness Full research notes and imagery credits in the episode's Production Media Index.

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ABOUT THE SHOW The Secret Society of Strangers is a true crime and paranormal podcast where three friends investigate history's darkest mysteries, strangest disappearances, and most twisted minds — unsolved murders, impossible vanishings, cults, con artists, and high strangeness. We're building a society of the professionally curious and academically strange.

🕯️ Stay Curious. Stay Strange.

#BenningtonTriangle #TrueCrime #Unsolved

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📌 A Strange Static Media Production. Lee — Writer, Researcher, Editor, Producer. Josh & Jen — Co-Host, Assistant, Creative, Co-Producer.

DISCLAIMER: This episode discusses historical disappearances and the presumed death of a child, and presents speculative theories that are identified as such. Content is offered for storytelling and educational purposes. Folklore and unverified accounts are described as folklore, not established fact.

A man vanishes from a moving bus in December 1949 — his bags still overhead, the other passengers none the wiser until his seat turns up empty. He was never found.

That's where Part Two begins. Lee, Josh, and Jen return to Glastenbury Mountain for the cases that built the legend of the Bennington Triangle: James Tedford, gone from that bus; eight-year-old Buddy Jepson, gone in the length of a single chore; and Frieda Langer, the only one of the missing whose body ever came back — found in ground the searchers had already crossed.

Then we sort the theories, honestly and without a tidy answer: the stone, the creature, the thin place, abduction, a killer on the trail, and the strange pattern hiding in the dates.

This is Part Two of two. If you haven't heard Part One, start there.

⚠️ Contains discussion of a child's disappearance and presumed death, plus speculative theory. Listener discretion advised.

🎧 Subscribe wherever you're listening. Merch at ssos-shop.fourthwall.com (code SSOSPOD, 5% off). Support the show at [BUYMEACOFFEE-URL]. Follow @SSOSPodcast.

Got a high strangeness story? Email us or DM — we're listening.

🕯️ Stay Curious. Stay Strange

🎧 Listen & Subscribe: Spotify · Apple Podcasts · Podbean · YouTube Hit subscribe so the next one finds you.

🛒 Wear the Society: ssos-shop.fourthwall.com — code SSOSPOD takes 5% off.

☕ Support the Show: Buy Me a Coffee — every cup helps.

📱 Follow Us: Instagram · TikTok Clips, extras, and whatever rabbit hole we fell down that week.

📧 Got a High Strangeness Story? Somewhere the locals avoid? Somewhere the stories don't quite add up? We want to hear about it. Email at [email protected]  us or slide into the DMs — we're listening.

A Strange Static Media Production.

Sources: Joseph A. Citro, "Green Mountain Ghosts, Ghouls & Unsolved Mysteries" (1994) & "Passing Strange" (1996); Bennington Triangle and Glastenbury Mountain (Wikipedia); Vermont Country Magazine (2023); U.S. Forest Service.

In the dense woods of Glastenbury Mountain, Vermont, people don't just get lost — they vanish. No bodies. No answers. Just a mountain that's been taking people for as long as anyone can remember.

Some places you can only reach on purpose. The Bennington Triangle isn't one of them — you can see it from a college campus, a gas station, a kitchen window.

In Part One, Lee leads Josh and Jen up the Green Mountain to trace how one stretch of Vermont wilderness earned its name: Abenaki warnings about ground that owes you nothing, compasses that refuse to point north, a man-eating stone, the Bennington Monster, and the first documented disappearances that turned local legend into an unsolved mystery.

The hunter found dead with no wounds. The 74-year-old guide who knew the mountain blind and still walked into the dark and never came back. And the case that forced Vermont to build a state police force from scratch — 18-year-old Bennington College student Paula Jean Welden, who walked up the Long Trail one Sunday afternoon in December 1946 in a red parka and was never seen again.

Part One of two.

⚠️ Covers historical events including Vermont's eugenics program. Listener discretion advised.

🕯️ Ex Tenebris, Peregrini — Stay Curious. Stay Strange.

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⏱️ CHAPTERS

00:00 Cold Open — The Triangle You Can Walk To

01:58 Welcome to the Secret Society of Strangers

05:10 Glastenbury Mountain: 26,000 Acres of Nothing

06:21 The Abenaki and the Living Mountain

10:37 The Settlers, the Land, and a Vanishing Population

13:10 The Compass That Won't Point North

16:02 The Man-Eating Stone

18:20 The Dancing Lights

20:50 The Bennington Monster

23:15 Henry McDowell and the Voices

25:30 The Grand Hotel and the Electric Trolley

30:00 The Freshet

32:43 What Vermont Was Doing in the Same Years

34:35 John Harble, 1897

39:46 Carl Herrick, 1943

45:01 Middie Rivers, 1945

51:44 Paula Jean Welden, 1946

1:04:43 The Darkest Theory

1:09:13 End of Part One

1:09:34 Questions for the Strangers

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📌 CREDITS

A Strange Static Media Production.

Lee — Writer, Researcher, Editor, Producer

Josh & Jen — Co-Host, Assistant, Creative, Co-Producer

DISCLAIMER: This episode discusses historical disappearances, deaths, and documented state programs including eugenics. Content is presented for storytelling and educational purposes. Some accounts described are folklore and circulating local legend, not established fact, and are identified as such.

#BenningtonTriangle #Vermont #MissingPersons #TrueCrime #HighStrangeness #PaulaWelden

Some places you can only reach on purpose. The Bennington Triangle isn't one of them — you can see it from a college campus, a gas station, a kitchen window. And it's been taking people for a very long time. In Part One, Lee leads Josh and Jen up Glastenbury Mountain: the Abenaki who knew it was inhabited, the settlers who couldn't hold it, the town that dissolved off the map, and the first souls to vanish — a hunter moved after death, a guide who knew every trail and walked into the dark anyway, and 18-year-old Paula Jean Welden in her red parka. Part one of two.

🕯️ Stay Curious. Stay Strange.

🎧 Listen & Subscribe: Spotify · Apple Podcasts · Podbean · YouTube Hit subscribe so the next one finds you.

🛒 Wear the Society: ssos-shop.fourthwall.com — code SSOSPOD takes 5% off.

☕ Support the Show: Buy Me a Coffee — every cup helps.

📱 Follow Us: Instagram · TikTok Clips, extras, and whatever rabbit hole we fell down that week.

📧 Got a High Strangeness Story? Somewhere the locals avoid? Somewhere the stories don't quite add up? We want to hear about it. Email at [email protected]  us or slide into the DMs — we're listening.

She co-founded the order that gave Dracula his name. She was accused of drinking blood, running an alchemy lab, and cutting a deal with the devil. Six hundred years later, Croatian kids still play a schoolyard game named after her.

Her name was Barbara of Cilli — Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Hungary, Bohemia, and Germany, and one of the most powerful women of the 15th century. History turned her into a monster. Tonight we find out who did it, and why.

Stay Curious. Stay Strange.

🎧 Listen & Subscribe: Spotify · Apple Podcasts · Podbean · YouTube Hit subscribe so the next one finds you.

🛒 Wear the Society: ssos-shop.fourthwall.com — code SSOSPOD takes 5% off.

☕ Support the Show: Buy Me a Coffee — every cup helps.

📱 Follow Us: Instagram · TikTok Clips, extras, and whatever rabbit hole we fell down that week.

📧 Got a High Strangeness Story? Somewhere the locals avoid? Somewhere the stories don't quite add up? We want to hear about it. Email at [email protected]  us or slide into the DMs — we're listening.

🕯️ Stay Curious. Stay Strange.

A Strange Static Media Production.

Lee — Writer, Researcher, Editor, Producer

Josh & Jen — Co-Host, Assistant, Creative, Co-Producer

SOURCES & FACT-CHECK NOTES

Dvořáková, Daniela — Barbara of Cilli (1392–1451) — primary modern biography.

Wikipedia — Barbara of Cilli; Order of the Dragon; Counts of Celje; Veronika of Desenice; Ulrich II, Count of Celje; Carmilla. (Wikipedia confirms Carmilla is ‘likely based on the legendary image of Barbara as a vampire.’)

Journal of Dracula Studies (Kutztown University) — Carmilla / Order of the Dragon academic connection.

Paušek-Baždar, Snježana (2008) — ‘Queen Barbara of Cilli as Alchemist in Samobor’ — supports the alchemy lab.

Secret Zagreb / Love Zagreb — Medvedgrad and Black Queen folklore (flag as folklore, not record).

FACT-CHECK — the €2 coin is 2014 (600th anniversary of her 1414 coronation as Queen of Germany), designed by Matej Ramšak — NOT 2008. Script corrected.

FACT-CHECK — 2022 Konstanz event/exhibition title: ‘Barbara von Cilli – Kaiserin, Alchemistin, Vampir’ (Empress, Alchemist, Vampire). Verified via Wikipedia.

FLAG — devil’s-pact, snake-in-the-tunnels, raven-was-a-cursed-lover, lovers-off-the-battlements: all folklore. Delivered as legend in-script; keep it framed that way.

In 1941, a quiet Denver neighborhood became convinced one house was haunted. Lights switched on in empty rooms. Footsteps echoed behind locked doors. A widow fled her own home; her housekeeper quit, certain the place was cursed. They were all closer to the truth than the police — because something WAS in that house. Not a ghost. A man. This week, Lee leads Josh and Jen through the case of Theodore Coneys, the “Denver Spider Man,” who murdered 73-year-old Philip Peters and then lived in the victim’s attic crawlspace for nine months — freezing, starving, three feet above the people hunting for a phantom. It’s the most famous case of “phrogging” in American history, and the realest ghost story Denver ever told.

Stay Curious. Stay Strange.

CTA + LINKS

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Buy Me a Coffee  |  Patreon (The Curious / The Strange tiers)  |  TeePublic (merch)

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📧 Got a High Strangeness Story?

Email: [email protected]  —  or DM us on socials. We're listening.

CREDITS

A Strange Static Media Production.

Lee — Writer, Researcher, Editor, Producer

Josh & Jen — Co-Host, Assistant, Creative, Co-Producer

SOURCES

Primary / Archival

Period News Coverage

Modern Coverage / Secondary

In the summer of 1980, an eleven-year-old boy in Brookfield, Connecticut saw something in an empty bedroom — a withered figure with black eyes and cloven hooves. Over the next seven months, what started as a child's nightmare consumed an entire family, brought Ed and Lorraine Warren to their door, and ended with a nineteen-year-old stabbing his landlord to death outside a dog kennel.

Arne Johnson's defense attorney attempted something unprecedented: a plea of not guilty by reason of demonic possession. But behind the trial that inspired The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It lies a darker story — celebrity demonologists who profited from a family's pain, a mother who may have been secretly drugging her own children, and a brother who spent decades trying to tell the truth.

Join Lee, Josh, and Jen as they follow this case from the bedroom on Oak Grove Road to the courtroom in Danbury — and uncover what the Conjuring franchise doesn't want you to know.

Stay Curious. Stay Strange.

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CREDITS

SOURCES