All Episodes

June 24, 2025 50 mins

In 1950s Greece, a hilltop monastery promised healing, holiness, and hope for the desperate. But inside its whitewashed walls, Mariam Soulakiotis—known to her followers as Mother Mariam—was running something far darker. Torture disguised as penance. Starvation sold as salvation. With nearly 500 deaths linked to her cult-like regime, Soulakiotis remains one of history’s most sinister religious figures. In this episode of The Man-Eating Toaster, we peel back the veil on the so-called “Nightmare Nun”—a woman who wore the cross like armor and turned faith into a weapon.

The Man-Eating Toaster is my member exclusive show over on Patreon where I cover cults and bizarre true crimes like this one.

The Dancing Toaster is a weekly podcast that wrestles with the intersection of faith and the unexplained. I release new episodes every Tuesday wherever podcasts are found.

Get some new merch! thedancingtoasterstore.printful.me

Wanna support the work? Donate at: Buymeacoffee.com/thedancingtoaster

Or head over to the Patreon! Your monthly support gets you early access to all episodes of the Dancing Toaster, and gets you access to the The Man-Eating Toaster.

Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

United States of Kennedy
Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.