Astonishing Legends

Astonishing Legends

The world is more mysterious than most people are comfortable imagining. We cross paths with the mystical from time to time and may not even notice it. If we do, we quickly return to our usually mundane daily existence. But what if we not only acknowledged the unknown, we investigated it and spoke with those in the know? That's what co-hosts Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess, and co-executive producer Tess Pfeifle do at Astonishing Legends. Over 100 million downloads and hundreds of thousands of listeners have discovered the thrill of exploring the mysteries of our world, showing that the unknown can be both captivating and intriguing. Welcome to Astonishing Legends!

Episodes

48: Die Fratzen

September 30, 2025 • 27 mins
In tonight’s dead letter… a listener shares their chilling encounters with "Die Fratzen," demonic faces that surfaced after a period of indulgence and self-disgust. These weren't just fleeting nightmares; they manifested as waking visions and doppelgangers, leading to a quest for spiritual help. The writer grapples with the possibility of mental health issues versus a genuine spiritual battle and how these experiences mirror t...
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The Screaming Skulls

September 27, 2025 • 97 mins
Across England, legends tell of “screaming skulls,” which are human remains said to bring disaster if moved from their resting place. In Dorset, a skull defies removal with deadly consequences; in Derbyshire, “Dickie” halted a railway project; in Yorkshire, Anne’s head demanded to stay within her beloved home; and in Manchester, one cast into a moat unleashed a storm. Whether relics of Celtic head-worship, tools of folk medici...
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47: The Lock Looker

September 23, 2025 • 39 mins
In tonight’s Dead Letter, you’ll hear a bizarre tale from rural Ohio, one of our favorite strange states, involving a creature known only as the "Lock Looker." This cryptid, with its orangutan-like build, glowing orange eyes, and famous movie scream, lurks near a dam and has been sighted by both the storyteller and their father. It may have been around a while. Join Scott and Forrest as they briefly debate the pronunciation of...
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Important Update

September 20, 2025 • 57 secs
News from Scott and Forrest
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46: The Cowboy in the Canteen

September 16, 2025 • 42 mins
In tonight’s dead letter… a VFW canteen worker in Michigan has a close encounter with a mysterious cowboy, complete with vintage attire and dollar coins. The stranger asks her to champion his cause of getting “shell shock” recognized for a Purple Heart. After the encounter, the letter he provides vanishes and the general he mentions turns out to be from the Civil War.

Links:

Jim Harold’s Roadhouse Saloon Camp...
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45: Uninvited Intruders

September 9, 2025 • 32 mins
In tonight’s dead letter, a listener recounts a childhood filled with unexplained phenomena in their 1940s Michigan home. From persistent footsteps and unsettling noises like dragging chains and hammering to a menacing presence in their bedroom, the haunting escalated over the years, driving them to seek refuge upstairs. But even then, the activity followed, with something heavy repeatedly stomping on the cast iron cover of th...
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Mystery Solved! AMA 2025

September 6, 2025 • 159 mins
Alright Astonishing Legends listeners, buckle up! In this special AMA episode, Scott and Forrest are answering your burning questions! We're diving headfirst into everything from the implications of sentient Tesla bots inheriting fortunes (and causing chaos) to the latest updates on the search for Amelia Earhart's lost plane.

We’re also exploring listener questions and thoughts on future stories and the state of Aston...
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44: The Beginning that Never Ended

September 2, 2025 • 39 mins
In tonight’s dead letter… Listener, Isla recalls a childhood park trip in Australia where she and a friend went exploring after her mom’s car broke down in the bush. They wandered too far from the car and observed a void-like, spear-bearing figure on the bank. The bush fell silent and the wind carried songs in an ancient language as they fled back to the car without looking back. Years later Isla still feels watched whenever s...
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43: Tracked

August 26, 2025 • 34 mins
In tonight’s dead letter… Listener, Scott recounts a series of unexplained howls heard in the woods near his Alabama home. Night after night, he and his family would sit on the porch and listen, noticing patterns in the sounds. This progresses later to him being stalked by something he could not see.

Alabama Bigfoot Website (via Wayback Machine) Most audio links not working:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110518043...
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Dead Letter Office Special Announcement

August 19, 2025 • 14 secs
This week’s Dead Letter Office is cancelled, but the show will return next week. Thank you for your patience and understanding!
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42: A Gathering of Shadows

August 12, 2025 • 36 mins
In tonight’s dead letter, listener Jerri-Kay recounts a story from her childhood when her mother witnessed multiple shadow figures entering their bedroom in broad daylight. Later that night, while seemingly half-asleep, when her mom enters her room she yells that she's not her mother and points to lights that only she can see in the room, leaving the family shaken and searching for answers. Were these events positive or negati...
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The Hatem Files 2

August 9, 2025 • 107 mins
This week, Scott and Forrest welcome back Richard Hatem of Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf to Astonishing Legends! Join us as we delve into Richard's unique insights on paranormal literature, including odd details in famous experiences like Whitley Strieber's book, Communion and others. We'll explore Rich’s favorite episodes and get a sneak peek into his upcoming season. Plus, we'll hear about his pending tour across the ...
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41: The Fisherman's Ghost and the Homunculus

August 5, 2025 • 33 mins
In tonight’s dead letter, we hear from our listener Sam, who shares two spooky stories. The first involves two hauntings at an aquarium in the UK. An old lady ghost with a penchant for floral perfume, and as one might expect…a fisherman. While the second features a mysterious, hunched-over shadow figure lurking in a South Carolina home. Sometimes these shorter letters are the most freaky. As we often remind our listeners, the ...
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40: Skinwalkers in Iraq

July 29, 2025 • 31 mins
In tonight’s dead letter listener Henry, a marine, recounts his experiences on guard duty in Iraq, where his platoon was stationed at an abandoned hotel near the Jordanian border. During a late-night watch, he and another marine hear footsteps in the stairwell, but a search of the building yields nothing but an unsettling encounter with glowing eyes in the boiler room. The mystery deepens when a fellow marine suggests the pres...
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39: The Hat Man Takes a Seat

July 22, 2025 • 36 mins
In tonight’s dead letter… Josh shares a chilling encounter with a being we’ve discussed on the show numerous times. The Hat Man. For Josh he appears as a shadowy figure sitting in his bedroom in the middle of the night. What would you do in this situation? It’s easy to answer that until you’re confronted with it yourself. Josh gave into paranormal apathy, something we’ve identified at Astonishing Legends as a common reaction t...
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38: A Gray Walks in LA

July 15, 2025 • 33 mins
In tonight’s dead letter, listener Renee shares a strange encounter in Los Angeles. Late one night, while walking her dog, she saw what appeared to be a gray alien. After a moment of shock, she looked again and saw a middle-aged African-American woman. Renee was left wondering if she had seen a psychic mask slip or if it was just a trick of the light.

Send your story to deadletteroffice@astonishinglegends.com
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The Green Monster of Flatwoods

July 12, 2025 • 141 mins
On September 12th, 1952, in Flatwoods, West Virginia, five boys witnessed a fiery object slowly descend from the sky and land nearby, seemingly under intelligent control. What followed became one of the strangest UFO encounters in American history. Joined by a 32-year-old mother and a National Guard member, the group were allegedly pursued by a towering, mist-shrouded, humanoid figure that emitted strange lights and sounds. An...
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37: Jacob City Miners

July 8, 2025 • 38 mins
In tonight’s dead letter, Cody shares a chilling experience from a trip to Jacob City, a ghost town in Utah. While camping with friends and their dogs, they captured eerie EVPs, including one that called out Cody’s name. As the night grew darker, the dogs became unusually frightened, and a sudden, strong wind forced them to pack up and leave before their campfire got out of control. This is history, mystery, and a reminder to ...
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36: Chips, Salsa and UFOs

July 1, 2025 • 41 mins
In tonight’s dead letter, Jordan recalls a strange encounter in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she spotted nearly a dozen silver crafts hovering over the Sandia Mountains. These objects appeared to be linked and moved in unison, with one larger craft seemingly in charge. A large black helicopter sped off in the direction of the crafts after they disappeared, leaving Jordan with a sense of wonder and the feeling that they were ...
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Junk Drawer 26 - Main Feed Edition!

June 28, 2025 • 112 mins
This week, we revisit a favorite Patreon Junk Drawer episode featuring Max Kelso's unsettling experiences at a Boy Scout camp in the heart of Ohio.
We explore Max's first encounter as a young scout when he saw a shadowy figure watching him through the window of his cabin late one night. Years later, during a game at the same camp, Max experiences something even stranger.
The Junk Drawer is a more casual, conversational...
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