The Strange and Unusual Podcast

There’s an old rule in the Appalachian Mountains, if you hear your name called from the woods, don’t answer. This week, we’re delving into the hills to find out why. We cover folklore from a 200-year-old Tennessee haunting that killed a man, to a 10-foot creature that emerged in West Virginia in 1952, to the thing in the trees that learns your voice.

Transcribed - Published: 31 May 2026

Join Alyson for a work of folk horror fiction she wrote in honor of the new spring season. In this episode, we follow Fiona, who has gone to the village of Eldergrove after the death of her aunt, to claim her inheritance of Aunt Erin's cottage. However, this inheritance came with an obligation that Fiona never saw coming.

Transcribed - Published: 21 April 2026

In 1895 Ireland, Bridget Cleary was killed by those who believed she had been replaced by a fairy changeling. In this episode we explore the eerie folklore of the Aos Sí, the fear that fueled her murder, and how superstition turned deadly in modern Ireland. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcribed - Published: 12 February 2026

In this episode, we examine the haunting true story of the Radium Girls, the young women in the early 20th century hired to paint luminous watch dials with radium-laced paint. Believing their employers' assurances that their work was safe , these dial painters were unknowingly exposed to toxic radiation. We'll go through their devastating health consequences, including a condition later called “radium jaw” .

Transcribed - Published: 21 January 2026

From the monstrous Yule Cat of Iceland to the cannibal Wendigo of North America, in this episode I explore seven eerie winter legends from around the world. You’ll meet Japan’s ghostly Yuki-Onna, China’s New Year beast Nian, Greece’s chaotic Kallikantzaroi, the rhyming ghost-horse Mari Lwyd of Wales, and the shape-shifting Ijiraq of the Arctic. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcribed - Published: 17 December 2025

Between garlands of garlic on doorways, wolves finding their voice in the dark, and the undead rising from their graves, Romania’s celebration of St. Andrew’s Eve (November 29th-30th) blurs the line between the living and the dead. Join Alyson in exploring this magical and uncanny Romanian holiday.

Transcribed - Published: 26 November 2025

On All Hallows’ Eve, the veil thins and the folklore gets...fun. In this episode, I count down 10 strange superstitions, from turnip jack-o’-lanterns and mirror magic to dumb suppers, bat omens, and haunted crossroads. Light a candle and let's begin!

Transcribed - Published: 20 October 2025

From whispered charms and buried witch bottles to torture chambers and Salem’s gallows, this episode of The Strange and Unusual Podcast traces the haunting story of the witch as healer, heretic, and scapegoat. I explore the folklore, the fear, and the witch hunts of Pendle, Würzburg, Bamberg, and Salem. Through historical accounts and chilling firsthand testimonies, in this episode I go into how ordinary people became legends, monsters, and martyrs, including my own ancestor, Elizabeth Howe.

Transcribed - Published: 13 October 2025

On this episode we trace the vampire’s long, shadowy journey, from 18th-century graveyard panics and Slavic strigoi to the seductive aristocrats of Gothic fiction and the conflicted immortals of modern pop culture. We also will go into how the myth evolves on screen, from Nosferatu and Bela Lugosi to Anne Rice, Buffy, and beyond. We explore why the vampire keeps returning to embody everything we fear (and secretly crave): mortality, contagion, seduction, power, and immortality.

Transcribed - Published: 22 September 2025

In this episode, we head back to school, but not the way you remember it. From abandoned high schools and haunted classrooms to urban legends whispered in bathrooms and tragedies that linger in lecture halls, autumn brings with it eerie campus lore.

Transcribed - Published: 8 September 2025

For this episode we're exploring harvest folklore throughout the world, and how it connects to the genre of folk horror. From the sunlit dread of Lady Midday stalking the fields of Eastern Europe to the vengeful rice paddy ghosts of Japan, nearly every farming culture told tales of spirits among the grain. We’ll wander those stubbled fields and deserted farms, listening for the whispers of harvest-time spirits: the Harvest Watchers and Field Spirits that people once believed lurked within the furrows.

Transcribed - Published: 25 August 2025

In this episode, we'll explore the folklore of the night, from the Sandman to Sleep Paralysis demons, and more. We'll get into the history of the lore, the scientific studies, and how these creatures manifest around the world.

Transcribed - Published: 18 August 2025

In this episode, we dig into the topic of urban legends come to life, These are legends that either others have actually brought to life and urban legends that are surprisingly based on fact. These legends include: The Bunny Man, Cropsey, Hook man, Slender Man, Polybius, The Babysitter Murder, Body in the Bed, Charlie No Face, and Laced Halloween Candy.

Transcribed - Published: 28 July 2025

Join me on this summer road trip to some of the world's creepiest abandoned amusement parks. Our stops include: Lake Shawnee Amusement Park, Pripyat, Ukraine, Land of Oz, Gulliver’s Kingdom. And Honorable Mentions: Berlin’s Spreepark, Diversiones Grano de Oro, Western Village.

Transcribed - Published: 14 July 2025

In this episode in the Haunted Waters series, we explore ghost ships from around the world, which include The Carroll A. Deering, The Mary Celeste, The Flying Dutchman, El Caleuche, S.S. Valencia, The Baychimo, Eliza Battle, and MV Joyita

Transcribed - Published: 30 June 2025

In this episode of the Haunted Waters series, we explore sea monsters of myth from around the world. These frightening creatures include the Lusca, Umibōzu, Akhlu, Morgawr, and Ningen, as well as the 1734 account of a sea monster off the coast of Greenland by Hans Egede.

Transcribed - Published: 16 June 2025

On this episode in the Haunted Waters series, I cover lighthouses with haunted reputations, as well as the history of lighthouses. We explore Smalls lighthouse in Wales, Pharos of Alexandria, Tower of Hercules, Big Bay Point in Michigan, South Manitou lighthouse in Michigan, South Solitary lighthouse in Australia, and St. Augustine in Florida. Stirring: https://www.youtube.com/@StirringsStories

Transcribed - Published: 2 June 2025

Join me for a new 'Haunted Waters' series. In this first episode I explore lakes, marshes, and ponds and their legendary ghosts. Our stops in this episode include Bell Island in Canada, Haunted Lake in New Hampshire, White Rock Lake in Texas, Deadman's Pond in Canada, Big Moose Lake in New York, and Lake Lanier in Georgia.

Transcribed - Published: 1 May 2025

In this episode, I explore the Nahanni Valley of the Northwest Territories in Canada, which has been given the nickname Valley of the Headless Men. This due to a series of deaths of goldhunters and fur trappers after they entered the valley.

Transcribed - Published: 31 March 2025

In the conclusion to this series on Russian Hill, I delve into the events which affected Pat Montandon and her friends and family at 1000 Lombard Street, as well as the occult resurgence in the 1960s, including the role of Anton LeVay.

Transcribed - Published: 10 February 2025

In the second episode of this series, I tell the story of a young, widowed migrant during California's Gold Rush, and the horror of what she found in her new home on Russian Hill.

Transcribed - Published: 8 January 2025

In this episode we explore some of the strange goings-on in the earlier days of Russian Hill in San Francisco, including the ill-fated union of a Russian count and Spainish maiden, the first legal execution in California history, seances, the arrival of Fanny Stevenson to the hill, the earthquake of 1906 and more. In this episode we explore some of the strange goings-on in the earlier days of Russian Hill in San Francisco, including the ill-fated union of a Russian count and Spainish maiden, the first legal execution in California history, seances, the arrival of Fanny Stevenson to the hill, the earthquake of 1906 and more In part 2, we get into the experimental '60s, Anton LeVay, mysterious deaths, and many more strange goings-on during that time.

Transcribed - Published: 5 December 2024

A short series coming to the strange and unusual podcast

Transcribed - Published: 20 November 2024

In 1991, the New York State Supreme Court decided on a case that would set a legal precedent for house haunting in the state for years.

Transcribed - Published: 24 October 2024

We reach finally the conclusion of Frankenstein, where we discover the fates of Frankenstein and the Creature

Transcribed - Published: 24 September 2024

In this episode, we follow Victor Frankenstein to his wedding day, which ends in tragedy, and the dominos really begin to fall. Though I thought I could cover the remaining chapters of Frankenstein in this episode, that was before I realized the final chapter was like two chapters in one. So, I will be releasing the final episode in week, instead of the usual two weeks, to finish up this epic tale, before we begin Halloween season spookiness!

Transcribed - Published: 17 September 2024

In this episode, we cover chapters 20-21, in which Victor struggles with whether or not he will create a mate for the creature, and is confronted and threatened by the creature as well. Victor is then faced with an unexpected shock.

Transcribed - Published: 3 September 2024

This week's headline comes from The Inter Ocean, published on December 21, 1890. This article covers the "buried alive" convent of nuns in Naples, Italy. The convent is raided when strange rumors spread of this order of nuns, and things are changed for these nuns forever.

Transcribed - Published: 19 August 2024

In this week's episode, Alyson explores the phenomenon of being scared to death through real life examples, folklore, and medical mysteries.

Transcribed - Published: 29 July 2024

In this episode, we cover chapters 17 through 19, when the creature confronts and begs his maker to build him a new companion. Victor then goes on a journey to perform his dreaded task.

Transcribed - Published: 18 June 2024

On this week's episode we delve into the superstition of the evil eye and a case of witchcraft murder in Kalamazoo in 1929

Transcribed - Published: 4 June 2024

This week's headline comes from St. Louis Post Dispatch, published on December 23, 1900

Transcribed - Published: 20 May 2024

Barbara Newhall Follett was considered a child prodigy when her first novel "The House Without Windows" was published at age 12 in 1927, and then she had vanished forever when she was 25 in 1939. What happened to Barbara? And what does her disappearance possibly have to do with another woman who vanished in New Hampshire in 1936, Elsie Whittemore?

Transcribed - Published: 6 May 2024

This week's headline was published by Escanaba Morning Press on July 6, 1911. In this episode, we get into Jersey Devil lore, a trolling Benjamin Franklin, a mysterious Irish creature, frozen hoof prints, a Philadelphia Dime Museum, a doctored kangaroo, and more!

Transcribed - Published: 23 April 2024

Beginning in June, 1947, when a news article reached millions about a UFO sighting over Mt Rainier, flying saucer mania began, and lasted through the 1950s. Intensified by an alleged invasion of saucers over Washington DC, nuclear war, and the newly began Cold War, it was a time when the world feared that we may be overtaken by little, green men.

Transcribed - Published: 8 April 2024

In this week's episode, listen to learn more about the fascinating female vampires of Southeast Asia

Transcribed - Published: 19 March 2024

This week I'm away on a birthday trip, so I'm re-releasing one of my favorite headline episodes.

Transcribed - Published: 4 March 2024

For this installment, we cover chapter 12-16, when things really get dark

Transcribed - Published: 20 February 2024

In this week's episode, we explore the history of mirrors, and their place in our superstitions, legends, and folk beliefs.

Transcribed - Published: 6 February 2024

For this week's episode, we are exploring the monstrous entities that emerge during the winter holidays.

Transcribed - Published: 25 December 2023

Doors, thresholds, doorways, portals, and gates have always been powerful symbols throughout all of history and across all cultures. They’ve been used in rituals and religious rites since antiquity. And they have always been part of humanity’s legends, folklore, ghost stories, and superstition. Join me this week, as we explore the psychological and symbolic place doors have always held throughout all humanity.

Transcribed - Published: 11 December 2023

This week I'm down with a cold, so please enjoy this re-release of one of my favorite episodes ever 'A Haunting Winter'. Next week I'll be back with a whole new episode!

Transcribed - Published: 4 December 2023

This week's headline comes from The Toronto Star Weekly, April 5, 1924

Transcribed - Published: 20 November 2023

Join Alyson for chapters 10-11 of 'Frankenstein' by Mary Shelley. In this episode, Victor Frankenstein is forced to face his creation, and he, in turn, tells Victor all about the first days of his life.

Transcribed - Published: 10 November 2023

Join me for part 2 of my ghost story, as Teresa gets settled into Burton Hall

Transcribed - Published: 31 October 2023

In this week's episode, we explore medieval accounts by historians living a the time of the walking dead. Additionally, we look into why people of all times love a good spooky tale. Next time, join me for 'The Shadows of Burton Hall, Pt 2"

Transcribed - Published: 23 October 2023

In this week's episode we begin a ghost story written by me called 'The Shadows of Burton Hall'. The story begins with Teresa moving back to a family country estate in the English countryside, after losing the love of her life. Locals begin telling her of the hauntings her home is famous for, and the estate begins to feel like its full of menacing shadows.

Transcribed - Published: 9 October 2023

In this week's episode, we delve into the history of doppelgängers.

Transcribed - Published: 2 October 2023

This week's headline "Mystery of the Talking Mongoose of Cashen's Gap" was printed in The San Francisco Examiner on April 12,1936

Transcribed - Published: 25 September 2023

To start of a new series in this podcast 'Frightful Fables From Around the World', we start with Vasilisa The Beautiful from Russia. Join me to learn more about this centuries old tale and about the Slavic witch Baba Yaga.

Transcribed - Published: 11 September 2023