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Hello friend and welcome to a nightmare before Halloween. Take a seat here next to the campfire. Don't you know the woods are a terribly dangerous place to be alone?

I've invited a few friends here to join us tonight. They are almost exclusively crime podcasters who all have a terrifying tale to share.

You're going to hear 31 spooky stories. And before we conclude with a soothing, deadly bedtime story, we'll be visited by someone that devil himself would likely think twice before crossing.

All podcasters joining tonight, you'll find listed in the episode show notes in order of appearance, along with a link on where to find them. If you're in the mood for true crime, or spooky tales, or maybe to learn about some other podcasters, you could start listening too. Well, then you're in the right place.

Ah, the campfire feels nice and warm now, doesn't it?

I'm Shane Waters by the way, the host of foul play crime series, and tonight stay close. You never know who or what could be lurking in these dark woods.

All start with the first spooky crime story of the night.

The night of Halloween was once called All Hallows Eve. It was the night where costumes were worn to ward off evil spirits who had crossed over from the dead into the living world to roam.

The customary costume was intended for protection, a layer of clothing to change a person's appearance, blend in with the spirits, and dispel any incoming evil.

In today's world, it is other humans, rather than spirits, that we have come to fear. When a person disappears, literally vanishes without a trace, our world suddenly takes on a menacing and unknown feeling.

Busy lives, bustling traffic, life happening in every direction, and somehow a human being gets swallowed up like a vortex spinning and capturing its prey.

When there are no clues, when there is no evidence to find, the world carries on, and yet this individual is no longer in it.

For those left behind, they have unanswered questions, and a desperate need for answers to try and make sense of it.

On February 27, 2003, around 4pm, the Minneapolis Police Department received a phone call, a body had been found floating in the Mississippi River, just south of the iconic Third Avenue Bridge.

The imposing structure, with its sweeping concrete arches that flow across the full, 2,223 foot length of the bridge, connects downtown Minneapolis with the northeast area.

As dispatch sent water recovery teams to the scene, detectives were put on alert. There are many different reasons a body can end up in the water, all are tragic events.

Some, however, come straight from dark and sinister places. The Mississippi River had been frozen in recent weeks, with the harsh winter keeping the temperatures below freezing.

A slow thawing had begun to emerge, the ice cautiously melting, and with this gentle reduction came the release of objects that had been held in its icy grip, as water experts respectfully began to recover the body onto dry land.

The glances between them could not be mistaken. They had recovered at least 13 bodies from that stretch of water, and none looked like this.

When the air in a person's lungs is replaced by water, the ability to breathe is impaired and restricted, rising until it fills the lungs to capacity.

The liquid causes suffocation, air is forced out, and the lungs are immersed completely, leading to respiration grudgingly, yet inevitably coming to an end.

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