Strangeful Things

You know, here on Strangeful Things we have talked about a lot of malicious scumbags, and this week is no different, but it sort of is different in that we are dealing with a killer who does something I have never personally experienced and it is not an aspect of his physical violence. It is more along the lines of cosmic cruelty.  

You will see what I mean.

Also the Charlotte, NC police department screwed up this whole thing so ba...

This week, we’re taking a scalpel (or, more accurately, a janky pawn-shop file) to the life of Luigi Lucheni—the anarchist who assassinated Empress Elisabeth of Austria in 1898.

We dig into Lucheni’s trash fire of a childhood, the rise of anarchism in Europe, and the absolute disaster that was monarchy back then (and honestly, now too). We’ll follow Cece’s last d...

This episode, we are diving into Stockholm’s darkest unsolved murder—The Atlas Vampire case of 1932. We trace Lilly Lindeström’s journey from Malmö to the Atlas district, unpack the chilling (cause it is cold!) Walpurgis Night timeline, and dissect the staged crime scene and blood-drinking rumors through the lens of a scholarly paper I found with facts and whatnot.  

Not saying I solved it, ...

We are going to head to multiple locations to track down the real story on the theory of the Smiley Face Killers. The sad story starts with someone from my own alma mater, Fordham University and has literally never ended.

Is there an organized group of serial killers kidnapping and murdering young men, or do people want to find patterns where they might not exist?  I try to find out and at the end of the day, I come up with the onl...

The case isn't solved just because the cops said it was. In part two of Monster of Florence we dig through the mess of suspects, confessions, and conspiracy theories—including Satanic cults, horny Sardinians, and one particularly persistent picnic trio.

If Italy's goal was to confuse everyone forever, mission accomplished.

But! Never let it be said that a little confusion prevented the Italian cops from arresting everyone who might...

Grab your passports (and probably some pepper spray), because Acadia and special guest Emma are heading to Italy to tell you all about The Monster of Florence. This piece of crap preyed on couples who were just trying to hook up in privacy on the Florentine equivalent of Inspiration Point.

Now that I just wrote that I am pretty mad that I did not think of a Fonzie joke if we neede...

You know how the rich people are in charge of everything and us poors can't do anything about it and it gets worse every year?  Well, like most things, it ain't new.

Come back in time to the Great Depression, when FDR first rolled onto the national scene (ha! rolled) and learn how the rich jerks who run the world didn't take too kindly to this guy who wanted to help people.

This is not about FDR, but it does include him. I don't w...

Years ago, Jennifer Sandwich wrote a script about adventurer and all around bad ass Peter Freuchen, but I have been holding onto it. I couldn't just use it at any old time. How was I going to get across how tough this guy was when the weather was temperate?

I wasn't. So I waited. I waited until my Southern lands were frozen solid and the joy of watching people not accustomed in any way to cold temperatures freaking out and crying ...

You know how sometimes places get a reputation for being haunted? Well, the Calcasieu Courthouse in Lake Charles, Louisiana is one of those places. But in this case, the haunting itself isn't the good part of the story.

I think some places are thought of as haunted because of the terrible things that have happened there or there is some soul with unfinished business blah blah.

But we think the Calcasieu Courthouse is haunted becaus...

This week we go to the Land of Enchantment, New Mexico, to investigate the mystery of the West Mesa Bone Collector, the name given to the serial killer preying on the women of Albuquerque.

That type of crime is not super rare, but a cop calling out the disappearance of these women YEARS before it was discovered that they died? And still working the case almost 20 years later?  That's rare.

A little known case that shows just how co...

Relatioships are a weird thing. Sometimes you can marry someone and not really care about them at all.  Sometimes you can want someone so much you will go to ridiculous lengths to murder their current spouse using the good old US MAIL!

Grace tells us the story of Cordelia Botkin who hatched a pretty great plan except since there was no TV in 1898 so she had not learned about how covering ones tracks is pretty important when committ...

In this episode we talk about a little known incident that occurred in Brazil back in the 80s. It is a rough tale when you realize it should never really have happened.  Not if things had gone the way we expect them to.

We all go to sleep at night with the knowledge that certain things will just happen because we as a society have seen to it that they will happen. We don't worry that the traffic lights are gonna team up to make us ...

Dive into the chilling case of Benny Evangelista, a spiritual healer in 1920s Detroit, whose gruesome murder left the city shook. Known for his bizarre beliefs and practices (because people don't understand religion), Evangelista was found in his home in a grisly scene. What sinister forces could have been at play? Was it a ritualistic thing, a disgruntled follower, or something even more mysterious? Join us as we unravel the twist...

This week, Grace is chasing down the Wampus Cat, the Appalachian cryptid that’s half-woman, half-cat, and half-too many legs. From its spooky origins in Native American folklore to the backwoods sightings that’ll make you reconsider your next camping trip, we’re digging into the stories that keep this legend alive. Is it just a tall tale, or is there really a sassy feline terrorizing the South? Either way, we’re not taking any chan...

What sort of cryptid hangs out on the side of the road, not bothering anyone?  Well, if the people of Loveland, Ohio are right, their own personal Frogmen do.  Who are these mysterious amphibians?  We have no idea.

But, we do have the stories. Handed down from generation to generation until we end up in the present day where the community of Loveland has embraced their mysterious Frogmen.  Figuratively, of course. They aren't gonna...

This week, Acadia and Graveyard Grace dive into the chilling case of Ronald Dominique, aka the Bayou Strangler - a serial killer you've probably never heard of, but definitely should have.

With a body count rivaling some of America's most infamous murderers, Dominique somehow flew under the radar for years. This 'average Joe' became one of Louisiana's most prolific killers.

We'll explore the factors that allowed him to evade justic...

When someone is murdered, or, in this case, more than one person, the family can only hope that the police do everything they can to catch the killer, making sure that they do everything methodically and carefully.

There are times when the combination of diligence, intelligence, and good fortune solve cases and bring some measure of peace to the bereaved.

This is not that story. But Acadia and Graveyard Grace are gonna tell you abo...

Peter Dupas is an Australian criminal who assaulted and murdered women over the course of decades. He probably would have done it more often but he was in jail a lot. Like, a lot. But still, not enough. 

I don't even know what to think about this one because on one hand, I hate things like "Three Strikes" and mandatory sentences and stuff like that.

On the other hand: Peter Dupas.

Join us and find out why Australia needs to check i...