The Spooky Darlings

This week, we’re heading to New Jersey, where the cryptids are giving the cast of Jersey Shore a run for their money!

First, Emily tells us about the Mantis Man, a giant insect-like creature spotted lurking near the water outside Hackettstown. Next, Nettie introduces us to Big Red Eye, a mysterious creature that might make you think twice about wandering through the woods after dark. Finally, Hayley takes us into the Pine Barrens for the legend of the infamous Jersey Devil.

Are these just local legends, or does the Garden State have a whole new meaning for the “Situation”?

Stay spooky, darlings!

Sources:

https://narberthhistory.org/people/Jefferies/Norman/1865

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Devil

https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Jersey_Devil

https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/11818/secret-history-jersey-devil?srsltid=AU7gw4Xqn1bwDRLmDIMf0cN5wu1YhrozShcPSf5ASHczZTQFSpV3YEu9

https://shop.minimuseum.com/blogs/cool-things/the-quakers-benjamin-franklin-and-the-jersey-devil

https://njhumanities.org/humanities-to-go/psp/the-jersey-devil-in-myth-and-history/

Message us!

Thanks for listening to The Spooky Darlings! If you have a creepy, strange, or cool story you would like to share email us at [email protected].

Follow us on instagram and TikTok @thespookydarlingspodcast for more!

Peruse our merch store at https://thespookydarlings.printful.me/

Witch, con artist, or cold-blooded killer? This week, we’re telling the twisted tale of Mary Bateman, the infamous Yorkshire Witch.

In the early 1800s, Mary made a name for herself as a fortune teller and healer, but wherever she went, strange circumstances seemed to follow.

From a magical chicken known as the Prophet Hen of Leeds to mysterious letters from oracles, supernatural remedies, and poisoned pudding, Mary’s schemes grew increasingly bizarre—and eventually deadly. But even her execution wasn’t the end of her strange story.

Join us as we explore the life and crimes of Mary Bateman and ask the question: Was she a misunderstood healer, or a ruthless murderer who knew how to exploit people’s fears?

Message us!

Thanks for listening to The Spooky Darlings! If you have a creepy, strange, or cool story you would like to share email us at [email protected].

Follow us on instagram and TikTok @thespookydarlingspodcast for more!

Peruse our merch store at https://thespookydarlings.printful.me/

It's Follow Up Friday, Darlings! Grab your headphones, because the sisters are talking about all of the major true-crime news, plus a whole lot of chaos in between.

We check in on the Sandra Birchmore case as former Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell's federal murder trial gets underway in Boston. Then we break down the Caleb Flynn verdict, where the former American Idol contestant was found guilty in the death of his wife, Ashley. We also dig into the Cornell 7 and the reopened Chi Phi fraternity case that has the whole internet talking.

Need a palate cleanser? Same. We're talking Ready or Not and Ready or Not 2, aka the most unhinged family game night ever put on film. Plus, we share the podcasts and TV shows we can't stop bingeing, Jeannette spills all the details from her trip to Sonoma (yes, there was wine), and Hayley fills us in on her recent minor surgery on her childhood toe-mole. It's a bit sentimental. 

True crime news, horror movie talk, and sister banter. What more could you want on a Friday?

Follow The Spooky Darlings for new episodes twice a week, and leave us a review telling us what case we should follow up on next!

Message us!

Thanks for listening to The Spooky Darlings! If you have a creepy, strange, or cool story you would like to share email us at [email protected].

Follow us on instagram and TikTok @thespookydarlingspodcast for more!

Peruse our merch store at https://thespookydarlings.printful.me/

Three sisters talk about the  unsolved 1992 disappearance of Sherrill Levitt, her daughter Suzanne "Suzie" Streeter, and her friend Stacy McCall from a home in Springfield, Missouri. What happened to the Springfield Three? 

Stay spooky, darlings!

Sources:

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&hs=17IB&sca_esv=82f1c36e4f945204&rls=en&sxsrf=APpeQnv6M1CY6dh7lX5daIXAdWFenq1V7g:1789526895506&q=the+springfield+three+documentary&source=lnms&fbs=ABfTbFUxGEP8yeZbmk97ajdTjIq-bxSzyj7z9gU06lAo0LlvNKzSRx6KfqVA5DRSEwRk3qVPfBrdnshR0HQXJ6q8yieEyavkkB4Vm717sz5zdnfzfylFhE0fYCosjXyUAIRyN-3F9s3JvyB2NlegN-45F3eP7wEgIDYiStg51zNC3eOXcFHGuAQ0Cxfq2COqGZUViLWjSJHl_TgZcFOSRjhG0pXoTR0Zty8kfVshE4mchv4aSjM1_gE&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwittrCXi_KWAxXREUQIHeF7FHIQ0pQJegQIDhAB&biw=1448&bih=752&dpr=2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springfield_Three

https://www.reddit.com/r/springfieldthree/comments/1wd50c8/whats_your_lifesavings_bet_on_the_springfield/

https://www.reddit.com/r/springfieldthree/comments/1sdbhbh/amazing_documentary_on_the_case/

https://www.pomc.org/murder-wall/murder-wall-stories/sharon-kay-zellers-19-years-old/

https://www.leg.state.fl.us/capitalcases/Documents/Case_updates/Htm/113377.html

Message us!

Thanks for listening to The Spooky Darlings! If you have a creepy, strange, or cool story you would like to share email us at [email protected].

Follow us on instagram and TikTok @thespookydarlingspodcast for more!

Peruse our merch store at https://thespookydarlings.printful.me/

We’re heading to New Hampshire, where first, Hayley tells of some strange alien encounters. Then, Emily shares the bizarre and mysterious tale of the Derry Fairy encounter. And finally, Nettie leads us deep into the woods in search of the elusive Wood Devil.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barney_and_Betty_Hill_incident

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_(1938_radio_drama)

https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2026-06-29/declassified-pentagon-ufo-files-mysterious-west-rindge-aliens-nh-newhampshire

Message us!

Thanks for listening to The Spooky Darlings! If you have a creepy, strange, or cool story you would like to share email us at [email protected].

Follow us on instagram and TikTok @thespookydarlingspodcast for more!

Peruse our merch store at https://thespookydarlings.printful.me/

Welcome to Spooky Season! It's witch week at The Spooky Darlings! We each chose a witch from a different part of the world, and they're a spellbinding lineup: the shape-shifting brujas of La Biznaga, Mexico; Isobel Gowdie, a Scottish woman who confessed to witchcraft at Auldearn near Nairn in 1662; and Tía Casca and her ancestor, Dorotea, of Trasmoz, Spain, a village that still carries its curse and excommunication today. Folk magic, witch trials, and a family of witches, all in one episode.

Sources:

• La Biznaga, Coahuila, el mítico pueblo de brujas que busca resurgir
• La Biznaga, Coahuila, el pueblo "donde vuelan las brujas"
• La Biznaga: The enigmatic town in Mexico allegedly inhabited by witches
• A Tale of Two Witch Towns: Naica, Chihuahua and La Biznaga, Coahuila
• TikTok @AlejandraSpooks- The Flying Witch of Biznaga
• https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20160418-spains-cursed-village-of-witches
• https://www.gutenberg.org/files/53552/53552-h/53552-h.htm?utm
• https://people.duke.edu/~garci/garcitextos/BECQUER-GA/Cartas/Cartas.html?utm
• https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/22/excommunicated-spanish-witch-village-turns-curse-into-tourist-cash

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isobel_Gowdie

https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/nor.2012.0032

https://spookyscotland.net/isobel-gowdie/

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/isobel-gowdie-scottish-witch-trials-carlin-stones-scotland

Message us!

Thanks for listening to The Spooky Darlings! If you have a creepy, strange, or cool story you would like to share email us at [email protected].

Follow us on instagram and TikTok @thespookydarlingspodcast for more!

Peruse our merch store at https://thespookydarlings.printful.me/

The Spooky Darlings break down their thoughts on Taylor Paul, is she still our favorite? Maybe....maybe not...

What are our thoughts on Patrick Clancy and the 60 Minutes interview? Do we all agree? 

An update on a previous case, someone is on death row...do they get their last meal?

Join us as we talk about what were listening to, what were watching, and what is happening in our lives! 

Sources:

TikTok slomw song:

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTy2QcWK8/

Message us!

Thanks for listening to The Spooky Darlings! If you have a creepy, strange, or cool story you would like to share email us at [email protected].

Follow us on instagram and TikTok @thespookydarlingspodcast for more!

Peruse our merch store at https://thespookydarlings.printful.me/

When you hire a mortician, you're trusting them with the most vulnerable moment of your life: your dead body. This week the Darlings dig into what happens when that trust goes sideways. Jeannette opens with the case of Dale Omsberg, a Lincoln City mortician who stacked bodies like cords of wood, but was only  sentenced to 30 days behind bars. Then we hop across the pond with Hayley, where English mortician Robert Bush was convicted of startlingly similar crimes — except he walked away with 20 years. Same betrayal, wildly different justice. And to close it out, we head back to the early aughts where Jean Crump committed crimes with a crew of old ladies, each bringing her own specialty to the table — phlebotomy, tax know-how, estate law. Basically a con-artist Ocean's Eleven of funerals. Three morticians, three eras, one uncomfortable question: how well do we actually know the people handling our loved ones after they're gone?

Sources:

"Digging Up the Past: Heinous 1984 Lincoln City Crimes Shock the Nation." Lincoln City Homepage, lincolncityhomepage.com/digging-up-the-past-heinous-1984-crimes-shock-the-nation/.

"FOR SALE: Historic Eventuary on the Market." The News Guard, 7 Nov. 2018, www.thenewsguard.com/news_paid/for-sale-historic-eventuary-on-the-market/article_0e919e52-e1e9-11e8-8146-afc6f13ac443.html.

"Former Lincoln City Mortician Dies from Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound." The News Guard, www.thenewsguard.com/news/former-lincoln-city-mortician-dies-from-self-inflicted-gunshot-wound/article_422a18b2-c899-11e2-b7bc-001a4bcf887a.html.

"Grim History of Pacific View Mortuary." Newport News-Times, www.newportnewstimes.com/news/grim-history-of-pacific-view-mortuary/article_9de13a6a-e139-11ec-9346-0b379abc4c49.html.

"Local Filmmakers to Debut Documentary about Lincoln City Eventuary." The News Guard, www.thenewsguard.com/news_paid/local-filmmakers-to-debut-documentary-about-lincoln-city-eventuary/article_474cd6f6-63b8-11ea-ac61-17f8c654a0ca.html.

TikTok - Nemi514: The Case of the Lincoln City Mortician. - https://www.tiktok.com/@nemesia541/video/7678040071693520159

https://abc13.com/archive/7588715/

https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/losangeles/press-releases/2010/la080210.htm

https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-xpm-2013-apr-24-la-me-mortuary-worker-lies-20130424-story.html

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca9/13-50179/13-50179-2015-01-28.html

https://www.myasd.com/blog/10-fascinating-chapters-funeral-history-you-didnt-learn-mortuary-school/

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg35errde5o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXsfBS1AZR4

https://www.ranker.com/list/funeral-home-crimes/jessika-gilbert

https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/o2dne0/til_about_formaldehyde_hunger_a_wellknown/

https://www.roperandsons.com/blog/the-evolution-of-morticians/

Message us!

Thanks for listening to The Spooky Darlings! If you have a creepy, strange, or cool story you would like to share email us at [email protected].

Follow us on instagram and TikTok @thespookydarlingspodcast for more!

Peruse our merch store at https://thespookydarlings.printful.me/

We’re heading to Nevada!  First, we dive into the eerie legends of Water Babies—mysterious creatures whose cries are said to lure the curious to their fate. Then we dig into the story of the Lovelock Giants, the red-haired giants supposedly discovered inside a Nevada cave and the very real archaeological finds that helped fuel the legend. And finally we turn our gaze upward for the Flying Space Clams, one of Nevada’s strangest UFO encounters, involving bizarre clam-like creatures touching down in the desert and soaring through the sky. 

Stay spooky, darlings!

Sources:

https://www.fringearchives.com/don-wood-jr-1925-ufo-sighting-nevada-desert-gliders/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

https://iapsop.com/archive/materials/flying_saucers_palmer/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

https://statecryptids.blogspot.com/2017/04/giant-space-clams-nevada.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com&m=1

https://www.cryptopia.us/site/2015/02/gargantuan-gliders-nevada-usa/

https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Si-Teh-Cas

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovelock_Cave

https://www.ndtv.com/science/archaeologists-investigate-claims-of-giant-skeletons-in-nevada-caves-of-us-5338671

"Curse of the Pyramid Lake Water Babies." Granby Drummer, Aug. 2019, granbydrummer.com/2019/08/curse-of-the-pyramid-lake-water-babies/.

Hall, C. J. "The Stone Mother at Pyramid Lake: Legends and Folklore." C.J. Hall, 31 Aug. 2021, cj-hall.com/2021/08/31/the-stone-mother-at-pyramid-lake-legends-and-folklore/.

"Lake Monsters of Nevada." Vegas Ghosts, vegasghosts.com/lake-monsters-of-nevada/.

"Legends of the Lakes: Deep Tunnels and a Scooped-Up Scuba Diver Are Among Tahoe and Pyramid's Tall Tales." Reno News & Review, 4 May 2023, renonr.com/2023/05/04/legends-of-the-lakes-deep-tunnels-and-a-scooped-up-scuba-diver-are-among-tahoe-and-pyramids-tall-tales/.

"Native American Legends and Myths of Pyramid Lake." Anomalien, anomalien.com/native-american-legends-and-myths-of-pyramid-lake/.

Message us!

Thanks for listening to The Spooky Darlings! If you have a creepy, strange, or cool story you would like to share email us at [email protected].

Follow us on instagram and TikTok @thespookydarlingspodcast for more!

Peruse our merch store at https://thespookydarlings.printful.me/

This week, we’re sharing the bizarre true story of Hypnotist Arthur Everton and his subject Robert Simpson. We discuss the performance that turned fatal, what was witnessed onstage, the investigation that followed, and the debate over whether hypnosis was the cause of Simpson’s mysterious death.

Sources:

https://www.weirdhistorian.com/a-case-of-hypnotism-gone-wrong-and-a-desperate-attempt-to-make-it-right/

https://bizzarrobazar.com/en/2020/02/05/ipnotismo-nella-morgue/

https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/view-from-hillsborough/2016/01/06/hypnotized-to-death-2/78349284/

https://www.nytimes.com/1909/11/11/archives/evertons-rival-triumphs-somervilles-other-hypnotist-puts-three-men.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1909/11/28/archives/is-hypnotism-another-narcotic-poison.html

https://listverse.com/2015/10/16/10-deadly-cases-of-hypnosis/

Message us!

Thanks for listening to The Spooky Darlings! If you have a creepy, strange, or cool story you would like to share email us at [email protected].

Follow us on instagram and TikTok @thespookydarlingspodcast for more!

Peruse our merch store at https://thespookydarlings.printful.me/