We Would Be Dead

It's our 100th episode and you picked this absolute beast of a topic! Kurt Cobain, the iconic and ephemeral alternative rock deity meant and continues to mean a great deal to a great many people. As the front man of ground breaking nineties  band Nirvana, Kurt changed the landscape of music. We have done our best to tell the emotionally complicated story of his misunderstood childhood, meteoric rise to fame and tragic death. Someone killed Kurt, whether that person existed within his own head or outside of it is what the grieving multitudes want to know. We think the only way to make a fair assessment is to know as much about the man himself as humanly possible. Stay tuned next week for part 2!

"What else could I write?

*Affialated Links

*Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain

*Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana

*Journals

My Time With Kurt Cobain, Article in the New Yorker by Michael Azerrad

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It's a Leslie Episode!

In the early morning hours of December 3rd, 2016, police found an abandoned car with the keys left in the ignition on the Route 35 bridge, crossing the Shark River in Belmar, NJ. The car belonged to 19-year-old Sarah Stern, but she was no where to be found. Sarah Stern was a local, who was attending college nearby and planning to move to Canada to pursue an education and career in the arts. Unfortunately, with not much to go on, investigators feared that Sarah may have jumped off the bridge into the freezing waters where her body would have been pulled out to the Atlantic Ocean. But after talking to friends and family, the investigators were left with more questions than answers. Especially once they learned that Sarah had found a large sum of money that only a select few knew about, not including her father. Could this money have more to do with Sarah's disappearance? Did she run away to start a new life? was this life to much for her? or did something much more sinister happen to her? This is a tale of friendship, betrayal, and karma. 

Dateline's Episode on Sarah Stern

20/20's Episode on Sarah Stern

Liam McAtasney Confession Video

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Once upon a time, there was a boy who lived in the rolling hills of Germany's Black Forest. For a time he had a charmed life, he lived in a huge manor house, he had many friends, a doting father and brothers who he looked up to and loved. Then one day, everything vanished, everything except the boy and the manor house, and the boy began to change. It seemed that everyone he loved wanted to leave him, and this frightened the boy, which would not do. The boy thought and thought and thought,  and in the end it seemed that the only way he could keep someone forever.... would be to eat them. 

This week we take a deep dive into the graphic and startling case of Armin Meiwes, the German internet cannibal who killed, butchered and ate a willing victim. We're walking a strange moral tightrope this week fiends, so try to keep your balance.

This Week's main source "Interview With a Cannibal: The Secret Life of the Monster of Rotenburg" By Gunter Stampf

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R E Q U E S T! (we hope you sung that in your head to the tune of Respect by Aretha Franklin) You asked, we listened, this week we cover our first true missing persons case, the frustrating and yet unsolved disappearances of Brian Shaffer. 

On March 31, 2006 second year medical student at Ohio State University, Brian Shaffer, went out to celebrate the beginning of spring break with a few friends and was never seen again. In the span of just 4 minutes Brian seems to have evaporated into thin air, to this day no evidence has been found and no theories can be confirmed. 

Anyone with information about this case can call the Columbus Division of Police at 614-645-2358

*Quotation in the title is from the song "Off He Goes" by Pearl Jam.

FBI listing for Brian

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On July 16th, 2011, a troubled 17 year old named Tyler Hadley managed to throw the house party of the year and every high school / college aged kid in Port St. Lucie Florida was talking about it. At this party, anything went. No rules, no restrictions, no parents, it was a teenage paradise, but one question remained, where were Tyler's parents? Tyler told anyone who asked that they had gone out of town, knowing full well that in reality, his parents had never left the house, and that nearly a hundred people had been unknowingly dancing on their grave.

Tyler Hadley's case may sound like the story of another run of the mill angry young man, but it's much more than that. It poses terrifying question, how well do any of us know our own kids? 

Tyler Hadley's Killer Party by Nathaniel Rich

Link to purchase 1000 Fireflies by Ryan Hadley and Dan Yearick

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Well fiends the Snowvid got us.  To thank you for your patience while Leslie heals and we dig out from under the winter wonderland in our driveways, Holly put together this special bonus episode. Enjoy some of the best true crime shorts from "What the Friday". 

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Gather 'round the fire fiends and let's bring back a time honored tradition...again! Christmastime ghost stories. Another episode perfect for a chilly and festive evening. Merry Christmas, fiends!

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We’re back once again to ruin Christmas! This year we’ll explore the dark and fascinating origins of everyone favorite jolly gift giver, Santa Claus. We’ll explore where our modern Santa came from and meet his merry gang of elves, reindeer, monsters and ham babies. So mind your manners and be sure to watch out, Santa Claus is coming to town!

Helpful hints for holiday family stress

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"People ask me all the time how I think of such dark stories every week. Well, I say, I just take any scenario and think of the worst possible outcome. It’s there if you want it, but you have to want it."

This week we take a look at a crime that captured a nation. The murder of 6-year-old "beauty queen" (their words, not ours) JonBenét Ramsey. The murder that has dominated the covers of tabloid periodicals ever since the day it happened, all the way back in December of 1996. A beautiful, wealthy, 6-year-old girl brutally murdered in her own home on Christmas night while the rest of her family slept in their beds... or did they? The worst part about this story is that we know very little, the rumors are many and the facts are few, and so, it remains unsolved. So who killed her? Why bring such a violent end to such an innocent little creature? Well, we can give you all the credible information available, but what we can't give you is an answer. You'll have to decide what you think yourself... but be careful, your answer could say more about you than it does about the crime.  

Helpful hints for holiday family stress

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For most of us, our childhood home is a sacred place; it holds our memories, our daydreams, our secrets. It's a place where we learned and grew and discovered who we were. Your childhood home should radiate safety especially, around the holidays. It should be a place that appears in your dreams and photographs for the rest of your life. It should never be the scene of your worst nightmare come to life. That is, unfortunately, exactly what the Guy family of Knoxville, Tennessee, had to face. Just after spending a wonderful thanksgiving together, Joel and Lisa were brutally murdered in their home. 

On Monday November 28th, 2016, The Knox County sheriff's department was called in to do a wellness check on 55 year old Lisa Guy and her husband Joel, but what they found has gone down in history as one of the worst crime scenes imaginable. The officer's who found Joel and Lisa could only describe it as "A diabolical stew of human remains". What kind of monster could do this you might ask? Only one who was very close to home, a monster that one could say, hid under the bed... A monster that Joel and Lisa spent 28 years caring for... their son.

Helpful hints for holiday family stress

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