Welcome to this first edition of Time Suck Short Sucks. 45 to 60-ish minutes, about one

subject I find interesting. Little something extra for Time-Sook fans or something for the person

who doesn't have time to listen to a three-hour

episode or keep up with inside jokes and characters that go back years now.

I'm hoping to release these twice a month at least most months, we'll see.

The style of these will be a much more traditional form of storytelling.

No announcements, no segments, no complex show mythology,

your inside jokes that require you to hear many other episodes

to understand them.

But don't worry, I will keep that going for our Monday episodes, but for these, just entertaining

information about one subject delivered with some of my reactions to the story as it unfolds. And today

I'll be sharing the story of Grady Stiles Jr. better known as Lobster Boy.

Lobster Boy proudly worked as a so-called freak for most of his life, presenting his unique physical appearance in front of paying crowd after paying crowd, many of who had bought a ticket hoping to see some sort of real life monster.

Little did they know that Grady truly was a monster.

Just not for the reasons they thought.

Today's story is a tale of a man who would end up being both a murderer

and a murder victim.

It's a story full of dysfunctional family drama

like something out of a soap opera,

set against a backdrop of a literal freak show

full of characters with names such as

Midget Man, the human Blockhead, the Riddler, the Fat Man, and more.

...