The Strange And Unusual Podcast

To end the year, please take a listen to Episode 18: A Haunting Winter, originally released on January 2, 2019. In this episode I explore the old tradition of telling ghost stories in the winter. The custom of telling winter’s tales is not known to most of us today, but it was custom that stretches back hundreds of years. And more often then not, these winter tales turned to horror.  The popularity of these winter ghost tales peaked to an all time high during the Victorian era and became a celebrated Christmas tradition. And this entanglement of ghosts and Christmas, ultimately lead to a ghost story becoming the most enduring Christmas tale of all, Charles Dickens, ‘A Christmas Carol’, a story in which the ghosts of past, present, and future, change a man’s life for the better.  Join The Strange and Unusual Podcast, as I explore the tradition of winter ghost stories and the reasons they meant to so much to our ancestors, and maybe ought to kept alive today. I decided to release this episode again because

In this episode, I discuss the Georgian, Victorian, and Edwardian trend of ghost hoaxing and its motivations. Join me for part 1 on this old school, ghost cosplay. Visit the podcast website: thestrangeandunusualpodcast.com Instagram: @thestrangeandunusualpodcast Twitter: @thesandupodcast Thanks to this week's sponsor, Talkspace! Visit talkspace.com and use promo code STRANGE for $100 off.

Join me for a preview of an original haunted house ghost story 'The Shadows of Burton Hall' that I wrote for the upcoming episode(s) on haunted houses. Also, I’d love to hear some questions from you, the listeners. I’m now starting to put together my schedule of new episodes for 2022, and I’d love to take into account what makes you curious, what strange events, stories, myths, urban legends, and more have you ever wondered about. If I use your idea in any way, I’ll give you a shout out. Just let me know if you’d like your name told or kept secret. Email me at thestrangeandunusualpodcast@gmail.com Visit the podcast website: thestrangeandunusualpodcast.com Instagram: @thestrangeandunusualpodcast Twitter: @thesandupodcast Thanks to this week's sponsors, Talkspace and Vodacast! Visit talkspace.com and use promo code STRANGE for $100 off. Download the vodacast app in the App Store or visit their website at vodacast.com

In this episode, beliefs and fear surrounding wells is discussed before a reading of the terrifying tale 'The Well' by W.W. Jacobs. Visit the podcast website: thestrangeandunusualpodcast.com Instagram: @thestrangeandunusualpodcast Twitter: @thesandupodcast Thanks to this week's sponsor Vodacast! Download the app in the App Store or visit their website at vodacast.com

In anticipation of the next episode of haunted houses, I present you with tales of haunted places and minds with Edwardian author, W.W. Jacobs, best known for his story, 'The Monkey's Paw'. Visit the podcast website: thestrangeandunusualpodcast.com Instagram: @thestrangeandunusualpodcast Twitter: @thesandupodcast Thanks to this week's sponsor Vodacast! Download the app in the App Store or visit their website at vodacast.com

Tales of women mysteriously wearing ribbons around their necks, and the secret they keep beneath from their husband have been with us for centuries, perhaps most famously with Alvin Schwarz's "The Green Ribbon" from the book, 'In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories'. In this episode we look into the tale, its meaning, and its origins in the 18th century revolutionary days in France.  Visit the podcast website: thestrangeandunusualpodcast.com Instagram: @thestrangeandunusualpodcast Twitter: @thesandupodcast Thanks to this week's sponsor Vodacast! Download the app in the App Store or visit their website at vodacast.com

In this episode we take a peek into Halloween true horror, from accidental hangings to mistaken corpses, to kick off the spooky season. Visit the podcast website: thestrangeandunusualpodcast.com Instagram: @thestrangeandunusualpodcast Twitter: @thesandupodcast Thanks to this week's sponsor Vodacast! Download the app in the App Store or visit their website at vodacast.com

In the concluding episode on this series on the Axeman of New Orleans, we see the axeman returns after a long break. 

Taphophobia (tap-oh-phobia), the fear of being buried alive has existed for as long as, well, we’ve existed. In this episode, we touch on the history of this fear and end with Ambrose Bierce's 'One Summer Day', a story of premature burial with a twist.

Join me for 3 Edgar Allan Poe Tales of Obsession and Death - The Oval Portrait, The Premature Burial, and The Tell-Tale Heart.

Join me for a bonus horror story reading of 'The Waxwork' by A.M. Burrage. In this tale, madness is brought on by the uncanny valley, a concept discussed in Episode 7, Raising the Dead, Part 2.

Join me for a bonus horror story reading of 'The Body-Snatcher' by Robert Louis Stevenson. If you haven't listened to episode 10, 'Grave Matters in Edinburgh', you may want to listen to that first, to hear the real-story of Burke and Hare, that inspired Stevenson's fiction.

In part two we explore Congo Square, the development of jazz, the culture of New Orleans, and finish coverage of the axeman's first attacks.

Ash and Alaina from 'Morbid: A True Crime Podcast' are joined in a discussion with the wonderful and charming Rachael O'Brien from the podcast 'Seven Deadly Sinners'. Take a listen and fall in love with more of the Morbid Network family!

Join me as I tell part 1 of the story of New Orlean's history, it's complicated relationship with race and immigration, its soul and joy, and how one masked himself in darkness to terrorize the city.

On this episode is a collection of haunting winter tales, some new to the podcast and others are old friends from past episodes. So, get cozy and comfortable, get a roaring fire going, and join me as we revive the old Victorian custom of telling scary ghost stories.

In this conclusion of our journey through the Victorian cult of death, we delve into the rise of post mortem photography, 19th century viewings and funerals, the rise in desire for corpse preservation, the birth of the garden cemetery, mourning wear and widows weeds, and the annoyance and perils of crepe, especially crepe veils. You'll also hear the tale of Percy Shelley's death, cremation and how his heart ended up in the desk of his widow, Mary Shelley. Additionally, we look into how the medieval cult of saints influenced the Romantics and Victorians. Death relics, hair art will also be explored, as well as an odd story of how one woman's dead husband ended up as parlor decor.

On this supernatural look at the 19th century Victorian cult of death, as we explore banshees, ominous clocks, death tokens, harbingers, the birth of Victorian gothic literature, and madness brought on by death and body snatchers.

"Dark Parade," a phrase in a Emily Dickinson’s poem, captures the spirit of the Victorian cult of death, a social movement built on strict mourning rules and funerals, the fetishizing of ephemera of the dead, a movement that was meant to beautify and romanticize the horrific. In this first part of our look into Victorian mourning and death, we explore death by fashion, Queen Victoria's mourning, the Victorian concept of "The Good Death", wakes and vigils gone wrong, and premature burial.

This episode gets kind of beastly, as we go through the history of the werewolf from prehistoric times. We follow the wolf man through tales written by Bram Stoker, through the medieval werewolf trials, the lunacy of lycanthropy, and so much more.