Skeptoid #996: Murder in Hex Hollow

Skeptoid

Brian Dunning

Skeptic, Social Sciences, Skepticism, Paranormal, Conspiracy Theories, Urban Legends, Science, History

4.6 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 8 July 2025

⏱️ 18 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The 1928 murder of a folk healer ignited a media frenzy and moral panic, revealing how superstition and magical thinking can fuel real-world tragedy.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	On a chilly November night in 1928, three men approached the tall, dark, wooden home of a bearded
0:10.0	folk wizard in rural Pennsylvania. They'd come to break a curse, and soon this night would end
0:17.2	in blood, flames, and murder. But this isn't the premise of an HP Lovecraft story.
0:23.9	While newspapers would dismiss the magical aspects of this crime as mere superstition,
0:28.2	the murder was all too real and would soon drag a popular folk practice into the harsh
0:33.7	light of a world that thought it had seen the last of the witch trials.
0:39.3	That's coming up right now on Skeptoid.
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1:34.2	You're listening to Skeptoid.
1:36.3	I'm Blake Smith, guest hosting for Brian Dunning from Skeptoid.com.
1:42.0	Murder in Hecks Hollow.
1:45.3	Welcome to the show that separates fact from fiction, science from pseudoscience,
1:50.7	real history from fake history, and helps us all make better life decisions by knowing
	...

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