The show kicks off with Craig's recording space, dubbed The AfterWyrd Library, showcasing a new, custom-made owl. The talk quickly turns to Halloween, Craig's partner Becky's Ekba doll costume, and the creepy doll customisations in his window that are now terrifying local wildlife. The segment concludes with a discussion on the enduring, yet debunked, urban myth of razor blades in apples.

Andy introduces a topical, wyrd news story: President Trump's sudden move to declassify secret government records related to the 1937 disappearance of aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart. The Wyrdo's revisit the horrifying, plausible theory that Earhart survived a crash landing on a remote island, only to be consumed by giant land crabs.

Andy follows up with a related story, providing potential "smoking gun" proof: Aerial footage from 1938 that shows a "strange metallic object" in a lagoon on the island of Nikumaroro. An expedition is due to set off to investigate this object, believed to be the main body and tail of the legendary Lockheed 10E Electra.

Craig introduces a light-hearted, yet costly, story from South Carolina about a teaching assistant who was arrested for repeatedly using a fart spray in his high school. This leads to a bizarre historical footnote: the deadliest fart in history—a Roman soldier's indecent gesture in a sacred temple in 570 BC that triggered a riot and resulted in over 10,000 deaths.

Craig offers two quick-fire weird news items: an update on the menacing 31 Atlas Comet that is now confirmed to be much bigger than originally thought, and the shocking news that children's TV star Paul Chuckle (of the Chuckle Brothers) has gone hard man gangster, swapping slapstick for gruesome hits as "The Jackal" in a new mobster movie, Fall to the Top.

Andy’s final piece of weird news concerns a giant hairy object that smashed into a farm in Argentina. The carbon fibre cylinder, potentially space junk, baffled experts due to its peculiar covering of black, hair-like fibres.

Craig wraps up with a perfect spooky season story: the ghost of TV legend Sir Bruce Forsyth is allegedly haunting the London Palladium. A paranormal specialist named Brocard claims she heard his famous catchphrase echoing in the theatre. Craig triumphantly confirms that Brocard’s ghost husband, Edwardo (a 'devilishly handsome Victorian soldier'), had indeed been divorced after less than a year.

"Don't blame the owls."

www.wyrdwessex.co.uk

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Hosted by Craig Brooks & Andy Stevens

Edited by Craig Brooks

Intro music by Exceptional_3D - Unexplained mystery intro/outro

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ahoy there, Wyrdos! This week on Wyrd Wessex, we're casting off from the safety of the shore and sailing head-first into the chilling world of ghost ships. We explore the vessels that vanished without a trace, only to be found centuries later with their crews mysteriously gone.

We dive deep into historical maritime mysteries, including the eternally fascinating case of the Mary Celeste, the famed brigantine found sailing perfectly intact but utterly abandoned in 1872. We explore the fate of the unsinkable MV Joyita, and the bizarre story of a decades-long sailing "zombie ship" found far from its home port. We question the reasons behind these impossible disappearances and the disturbing clues left behind.

From historical facts, we move into the chilling heart of nautical legends and true folklore. We investigate the legendary curses of the Flying Dutchman, the tragic, repeating loop of the Lady Lovibond shipwreck, and the fiery phantom that has haunted the Northumberland Strait for over 200 years. Were these ships cursed by fate and the sea itself, or is there a genuine, though currently unexplainable, scientific phenomenon behind these repeated sightings?

Join us as we explore stories of phantom vessels, impossible vanishings, and chilling curses that will make you think twice about sailing the high seas.

Stay Wyrd!

www.wyrdwessex.co.uk

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Written by Craig Brooks and hosted by Craig Brooks and Andy Stevens

Edited by Craig Brooks

Intro music by Leonell Cassio - The Paranormal Is Real (ft. Carrie)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andy and Craig (or are they two Mr. Ballens?) are back with another collection of strange news and oddities that didn't quite make it into the main Wyrd Wessex podcast. From East Yorkshire's Bermuda Triangle to prize-winning weird science, it's all here.

East Yorkshire's Triangle of Terror We investigate the Wold Newton Triangle, a small corner of East Yorkshire plagued by high strangeness. We discuss reports of werewolves, dragons, and a legendary screaming skull. Can Wessex compete with its own Bermuda Triangle of folklore?

Weird Science & The Ninja Squirrel The Wyrdo's celebrate the return of the Ig Nobel Prize, the annual award for truly bizarre scientific research. We find out which team won for painting zebra-like stripes on cows and explore the surprising link between booze and linguistics.

In the news in brief, we rapid-fire through headlines on massive Ozzy Osbourne tributes and the shrinking of British conkers. We also cover the brutal, out-of-nowhere attacks of an "evil ninja squirrel" that has terrorized a neighborhood.

Holy Water & UFO Mysteries Andy discusses the River Jordan water with a Catholic friend to determine if it is truly "holy water." The answer is complicated and leads to a discussion on blessings and flowing rivers.

Finally, we look at a compelling case of an unidentified falling object that smashed into a New Jersey building, caused a flash and a boom, and then vanished from the scene. What on Earth—or not on Earth—was it?

"Don't blame the owls."

www.wyrdwessex.co.uk

Buy our merch here

Hosted by Craig Brooks & Andy Stevens

Edited by Craig Brooks

Intro music by Exceptional_3D - Unexplained mystery intro/outro

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Wyrdo's Craig and Andy for this special episode of Wyrd Wessex as they're joined once again by special guest and storyteller Eileen Budd. This is the unexpected sequel to our first werewolf episode, as the wyrdo's had far too many dark canine tales left to tell!

We delve into the dark and slightly ridiculous process of becoming a werewolf. Craig shares the chilling ritual from Elliot O'Donnell's book, involving chalk circles, a new moon, and a boiling potion of strange ingredients, including Asafoetida(aka "Stinking Gum") and cat fat. The importance of the magical girdle is highlighted in the dark tale of Peter Stubb (The Werewolf of Bedburg), who terrorised a region for 25 years before his capture.

Andy explores why the werewolf is less common in England, pointing to King Edward I's 1281 order to exterminate the wolf population, leading to the legend being replaced by spectral hounds like Black Shuck. Eileen notes that the Scottish 'werewolf' (werwouf) was often used to describe a wild or feral man. She also shares Jinty's Griddle story—a tale of a woman who fights a wolf, resulting in her children inheriting amber eyes. We discuss the strange Irish legends of the Werewolves of Ossory, where people are cursed to transform into wolves every seven years.

Eileen draws a powerful link between the terrifying sea-fiend, the Nuckelavee, and the Highland Clearances, suggesting the beast's noxious breath was an allegory for the toxic kelp fumes. Andy delves into the historical legend that King John of England himself was a werewolf. The discussion includes modern sightings of the Winter Werewolf near Windsor, showing the legend is still alive.

Finally, we explore the potential cure. The Wyrdo's discuss Boanthropy, a rare psychological delusion where a person believes they have turned into a cow or ox. Craig shares the ludicrously complicated cure for lycanthropy, involving a live snake, two live toads, a specific astrological time, and the final triple command: "Black evil devils from hell be gone!"

Guest and Production Information

To hear more of Eileen's work, check out her podcasts, Scottish Folk and At Home With The Picts. You can also find her on Instagram at @eileenbudds.

Stay Wyrd!

www.wyrdwessex.co.uk

Buy our merch here

Written by Craig Brooks and hosted by Craig Brooks and Andy Stevens

Edited by Craig Brooks

Intro music by Leonell Cassio - The Paranormal Is Real (ft. Carrie)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a packed episode of AfterWyrd, your favourite Wyrdo's, Andy and Craig, delve into book collecting, religious relics, and the paranormal mysteries making headlines.

Craig recounts his trip to a Devizes book fair, including the hilarious story of a £1,500 Tolkien first edition and the surprising risk of devaluing it with just a little bit of spit. The hosts discuss the struggle between collecting rare books and the simple desire to use them.

Craig reveals his latest unusual purchases: Holy Land Earth and a vial of Jordan River water. This leads to a profound question Andy and Craig explore: Does water need to be blessed by the Church to be inherently holy, or does its sacred provenance imbue it with power?

• The Black Iceberg: A massive, obsidian "black diamond" is spotted off Newfoundland. Is this dark mass merely ancient dirt, or an ominous Lovecraftian sign of something more profound?
• The Crying Statue: A Virgin Mary statue in Mexico is reportedly weeping tears, which locals link directly to the region's extreme violence. The Wyrdo's investigate whether this could be a genuine miracle.
• The Ghost Village: A chilling medieval mystery in Yorkshire reveals that villagers may have performed brutal rituals to stop their dead from walking after archaeologists discovered over a hundred bodies buried haphazardly.
• The Vanishing Feline: Did a Florida woman capture a ghost cat disappearing into thin air on her Ring camera, or is this just a classic case of a technical failure creating paranormal evidence?

"Don't blame the owls."

www.wyrdwessex.co.uk

Buy our merch here

Hosted by Craig Brooks & Andy Stevens

Edited by Craig Brooks

Intro music by Exceptional_3D - Unexplained mystery intro/outro

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Wyrdo's Craig and Andy for this special episode of Wyrd Wessex as they're joined by special guest and traditional storyteller Eileen Budd to delve into the fascinating and frightening world of werewolves and black dogs.

We explore chilling accounts from Scotland as Eileen shares the folklore of black dogs haunting a Glasgow prison and the tenement built on its foundations decades later, connecting the stories to modern phenomena and the historical folklore of rabies. Eileen also recounts the truly wyrd Scottish tale of David Sutter, a murderer whose spirit returns as a giant dog to haunt the first human he saw after his crime, serving as a powerful story of penance and curses.

Andy recounts the savage and terrifying tale of the Wolf of Wales, an 18th-century beast with hauntingly human-like blue eyes, a legend that has continued with startling modern sightings. Craig tells a frightening Christmas story from Elliot O'Donnell's book about a family haunted by a wolf-like spectre—the Phantom of Cumberland—and the dark secret found in a cave nearby. Andy presents a first-hand Hebridean account of a man who finds a werewolf skeleton, only for the remains to come back and haunt him.

The hosts discuss the strange and shocking European werewolf trials, where people would confess to being lycanthropes, and the theories behind these dramatic admissions. The Wyrdo's discuss why belief in these creatures is still surprisingly common, citing a recent YouGov poll. They explore how folklore is intrinsically linked to politics and societal fears, with Eileen revealing the metaphorical meaning of "werewolf" in Scots language. Craig ends with a final, fascinating modern story about the werewolf-like creature known as Old Stinker, which stalks the Yorkshire Wolds.

Guest and Production Information

To hear more of Eileen's work, check out her podcasts, Scottish Folk and At Home With The Picts. You can also find her on Instagram at @EileenBudd.

Stay Wyrd!

www.wyrdwessex.co.uk

Buy our merch here

Written by Craig Brooks and hosted by Craig Brooks and Andy Stevens

Edited by Craig Brooks

Intro music by Leonell Cassio - The Paranormal Is Real (ft. Carrie)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a slightly shorter-than-usual but still packed episode of AfterWyrd, your favourite Wyrdo's, Andy and Craig, delve into the weird and wonderful with a focus on a rather talkative goat, a new BBC show, and a miraculous tree.

Andy and Craig discuss recent political events, including a political figure "defecting" to the Reform Party and a London march with an unnerving, Pagan-unfriendly tone.

Andy shares his thoughts on the latest instalment of The Conjuring film series, discussing the real-life Warrens and the controversy surrounding the sale of their haunted museum. Craig teases that the Warrens will be getting a very different mention in an upcoming episode of the main show on the Enfield poltergeist case.

The Wyrdo's kick off the news with a story about police investigating a screaming woman, only to find it was a noisy goat named Simon. This leads to a discussion about unsettling animal noises, including a throwback to a very creepy, "Mehh," from a previous job.

The conversation shifts to a new BBC ghost hunting series called Nightwatch, starring This Country's Charlie and Daisy May Cooper. This leads the hosts to muse about their own paranormal investigations and whether they could do a similar show called 'Daywatch'.

Andy shares an AP News story about a lightning-struck pine tree in a Bolivian cemetery that is now revered as a 'miracle tree', believed to bestow good fortune and psychic powers on those who touch it.

Craig shares a bizarre tale from The Sun about a widow who discovers her late husband's secret life and seeks revenge by mixing his ashes with dog mess and, ahem, consuming some herself.

The episode wraps up with a truly strange story about a Russian woman who sells her soul for a collection of 'Labubu' dolls and a concert ticket, exploring the dark side of consumerism and curses.

"Don't blame the owls."

www.wyrdwessex.co.uk

Buy our merch here

Hosted by Craig Brooks & Andy Stevens

Edited by Craig Brooks

Intro music by Exceptional_3D - Unexplained mystery intro/outro

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, the Wyrdos are joined by renowned paranormal author and researcher Mike Ricksecker—known for his work on shows like Ancient Aliens and The Alaska Triangle—for a truly wyrd discussion that spans dimensions! Mike shares how his own childhood experiences with a shadow person set him on a path of paranormal research.

We dive deep into the mysteries of the unexplained, exploring the difference between ghosts and shadow people. Mike shares his fascinating theory on why our eyes are hard-wired to see them, and how these figures may interact with our dimension. Andy and Craig share their own strange personal encounters that echo Mike's research.

Mike offers a new perspective on how time slips could be the genuine explanation for some of the world's most famous "ghost" sightings, providing a fascinating, science-based approach to the paranormal. The conversation turns topical as Mike discusses the pros and cons of paranormal TV shows like Most Haunted and reveals a recent, unbelievable UFO sighting he had right here in the UK.

To wrap things up, we find out Mike's incredible "Florida man" headline and hear his thoughts on ancient folklore, cryptids, and why he hopes Bigfoot truly does exist. Don't miss a minute of this mind-bending conversation!

Connect with Mike Ricksecker:

• Website: https://www.mikericksecker.com
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/hauntedroadmedia
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MikeRickseckerOfficial
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikericksecker

Stay Wyrd!

www.wyrdwessex.co.uk

Buy our merch here

Written & hosted by Craig Brooks and Andy Stevens

Edited by Craig Brooks

Intro music by Leonell Cassio - The Paranormal Is Real (ft. Carrie)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, the Wyrdo's Andy and Craig get stuck into some truly bizarre news stories, from a surgeon's shocking fraud to a raccoon's boozy misadventure.

We delve into a truly perplexing Guardian article about a Sepsis Surgeon who committed insurance fraud after freezing his own legs to have them amputated for sexual gratification. We discuss the details, the judge's reaction, and the concerning implications for his former patients—a tale that is less supernatural and more just plain horrible. We later end the episode on a heroic note with the Raccoon Rhapsody, a story from the New York Post about a nurse who saved a moonshine-soaked raccoon from drowning, complete with mouth-to-snout CPR.

Andy shares a more optimistic news item: NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover has found the most compelling rock samples yet of ancient life on the red planet. While not definitive, the discovery of organic carbon is a fascinating step forward in our search for extraterrestrial life. Craig brings us a story from Wales Online about a rare fin whale that washed up on a beach, leading to a grim discussion about the beautiful, but depressing, phenomenon of a 'whale fall' and climate change. We also talk about a man in Surrey who claimed to be attacked by a leopard, exploring the details of his claw injuries and the speculation about local big cat experts.

The Wyrdo's move on to a light-hearted tale from The Guardian about four hikers who got lost in the Catskill Mountains after taking magic mushrooms. One was having a "debilitating high," and they had lost their car keys, leading to a rather confused rescue operation. Craig also brings up a brief, unsettling story from his old stomping grounds about the disturbing discovery of dead foxes in bags in Swindon.

"Don't blame the owls."

www.wyrdwessex.co.uk

Buy our merch here

Hosted by Craig Brooks & Andy Stevens

Edited by Craig Brooks

Intro music by Exceptional_3D - Unexplained mystery intro/outro

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, the Wyrdo's Andy and Craig wrap up their wild road trip through Cornwall! They sit down with Will Coleman, the man behind Kerdroya, a brand-new ancient monument and a stunning labyrinth built entirely from traditional Cornish hedges.

Kerdroya: A Brand New Ancient Monument

Discover the deep history and craft behind the 30,000 miles of Cornish hedges and how a new generation is preserving this ancient skill. Will explains the difference between a labyrinth and a maze and the powerful, meditative meaning behind Kerdroya. Hear a skeptic's perspective on ancient sites, why this place is considered "land art," and the concept of the "Fliff Flaff" of energy—a testament to how people are leaving their mark on it for the future.

Roche Rock and The Tormented Soul

The history continues as we explore Roche Rock, the dramatic granite outcrop with a ruined chapel on its summit, and its chilling connection to the local legend of Jan Tregeagle, a tormented soul who must perform impossible tasks.

The Cream Tea Debacle

The Wyrdo's risk their lives with a Cornish cream tea! Listen as Craig invents the controversial "Wiltshire Way" (guaranteed to offend locals) and faces the wrath of those devoted to the correct Devon vs. Cornish method.

Guest & Production Information

For more information on the Kerdroya project and to help support its construction, visit: https://www.kerdroya.org/

Stay Wyrd!

www.wyrdwessex.co.uk

Buy our merch here

Written by Craig Brooks and hosted by Craig Brooks and Andy Stevens

Edited by Craig Brooks

Intro music by Leonell Cassio - The Paranormal Is Real (ft. Carrie)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.