The Tales We Tell

Have you ever been out in the woods alone and felt like someone (or something) was watching you? Was that thing a cat/human hybrid with six legs? This week, Jarek joins the podcast to tell Hannah about the infamous Wampus Cat that lurks in the Appalachian wilderness. It's always a weird one when the Partsches get together, and this one is no exception--elephant seals, giant dongs, furries, and more! It's a shorter one, bu...

Have you ever seen someone who looks just like someone else you know? Have you ever seen someone who looks just like yourself? This week, Hannah tells Katy about the phenomenon (and/or paranormal experience) of doppelgangers. From regular people discovering their "twin stranger", to benign astral projection, to omens of death, and more! The girls talk Snapchat filters, their own doppelganger encounters, crouching shadow p...

Have you ever heard strange noises in your house, or felt like you're being watched? Do you come home to find items in your house moved around? Well, you might just have a cat. Or, you could be experiencing what the Bowen family experienced in 1987 when what they first thought was the spirit of their deceased mother turned out to be something much more sinister. This week, Hannah tells Katy the story of Daniel LaPlante, and th...

Summer safety tip: if you see a racoon acting drunk during the day, avoid it (and probably call Animal Control). This week, Hannah tells Katy about the legendary Mad Stone that might be able to help you if you ignore that advice, and get bitten by a rabid animal. The girls talk about werewolves, science, more reasons to distrust birds, vaccination efforts, and what to do if you wake up to find a bat in your room. The tangents are p...

If you're about to take a trip involving any kind of air travel, maybe skip this episode. This week, Hannah tells Katy about the remarkable story of Juliane Koepcke: an amazing young woman who faced one of the worst things that can happen to a person (a plane crash) and survived. It's not our usual stuff, but if you're scared of flying and/or being alone in a huge rainforest facing certain death, you might find it sp...

Once upon a time, the trapdoor used to be a key element in many a serial killing. This week, Hannah tells Katy the story of the Benders--a family of serial killers wreaking havoc on the prairies of Kansas in the 1870's. From an old nursery rhyme that was possibly inspired by the wildest (fictional) story of would-be Sweeney Todds running a rural inn, to the very real tale of the family that lured travelers into their roadside ...

How far would you go under the instruction of an authority figure? Would you hurt someone? Kill them? The answer is (unfortunately) pretty surprising. This week, Hannah tells Katy about the Milgrim experiment, and its rather horrifying implications. The girls get a little in the weeds discussing the Holocaust, WW2, and horrible people (aka: Nazis), but it's all relevant, we promise! This experiment was directly inspired by the...

Have you ever stood on the train tracks and looked down the rails into the darkness, hoping to see the mysterious light everyone says sometimes appears? Have you seen the light yourself? This week, Hannah tells Katy about the Maco Light (a true Local Lore for these NC-based podcasters), and the other very similar stories featuring a gruesome train mishap, and a headless ghost wandering around with a lantern. The girls talk local ge...

It was the Crime of the Century, and the whole world was invested in finding out who kidnapped (and murdered) the Lindbergh baby. This week, Hannah takes Katy through the rest of the story: how the police tracked down a suspect, the evidence, the witnesses, and the Trial of the Century. The girls talk about what made sense, what didn’t, and what could have been/definitely was missed. If you’re looking for closure, look somewhere el...

We're still celebrating our birth-aversary (happy 4 years to us!) so, of course, Hannah had to bring the mood down with a truly awful story. This week, the girls dive into part one of a two-parter exploring the infamous Lindbergh kidnapping. From the problems with Charles Lindbergh himself, to the disappearance of "Little Lindy", and all the ransom notes, strange clues, and horrific discoveries made along the way, th...

Happy birth-aversary to us!! To celebrate FOUR years of telling spooky stories, unsolved mysteries, and local lore, we've decided to go back to what we do best: WTF stories. This week, Hannah tells Katy the story of Alexander Pearce, a man unfairly imprisoned in Tasmania who broke out prison, and did what he had to do to survive in the Australian bush. This one is wild, and the girls had to use a felt board to keep all the cha...

Deep in the heart of Appalachia, there's a legend of a pale race of cave-dwelling people, who only come out at night, and who may or may not have been driven to extinction. This week, Hannah tells Katy about the Moon-Eyed People of Appalachia (thank you Amanda, for the suggestion!). The girls talk problematic white history, blind Pelicans, gay whales, genetics, Welsh pronunciations, and whether or not the Moon-Eyed People actu...

What's the most exotic meat you've ever tried? Gator sausage and scorpion have nothing on this episode. This week, Hannah tells Katy the legend of the Demon Butcher of Palos Park, and the horrifying (and stomach-turning) truths in it. The girls revisit a few cannibals from Ep. 24, find a great movie recommendation, and dive headfirst into how the sausage was made back when our great grandparents were buying it from the gr...

Do you ever hear weird noises in your house, or get woken up by sexy demons getting their vagina goo all over you? This week, Hannah tells Katy the story of the Smurl family, and their weird-ass haunting that involved both of the aforementioned activities, as well as some bath tub flirting, small fires, and one bushy-moustached demon trying to get laid. The girls devolve into chaos while they discuss Catholic magic spells, Mary-Sue...

Remember when everyone in America was digging up giant human skeletons (see episode 199)? Well it turns out, some people were digging up and identifying actual dinosaur bones as well; two of those people were Cope and Marsh. This week, Katy takes the reins and tells Hannah about the Bone Wars! The girls talk not so friendly rivalries, future TV series casting, dinosaurs (duh), explosions, and plenty of “bone” jokes. If you love sci...

It's our 200th episode!!! And we are throwing it back to where it all began, but with better audio, and more thorough research. This week, Hannah re-tells Katy the story of the Lost Cosmonaut, and all the deep, dark, terrible things that happened within the Soviet (and US) Space Program. The girls talk about the ethics of putting dogs in space (spoiler: it's not ethical and should never be done), horrific ways to die (ie,...

In the mid 1800’s, giant human bones seemed to be turning up all across America, at the same time that many scholars and preachers were teaching that the Americas had once been inhabited by a race of prehistoric white giants. This week, Hannah tells Katy about this “fun” time in American history, and some of the skeletons that were unearthed. The mushy teenage girl brains do not go away (they’re talking about abnormally large bones...

It’s the episode Hannah’s been waiting for! This week, Hannah finally tells Katy the tragic story of inmate, Sam Shockley, and how he was failed by the system at every stage of his life. From the time he was a teenager, until he was caught up in the Battle of Alcatraz as an adult and unfairly executed by the state, Sam is the prime example of why mental health advocacy matters, why prison reform matters, and why we won’t stop talki...

We’re almost through our mugshot profiles, and in Alcatraz, pt. 5 (no one’s sick of this, right?) Hannah tells Katy about smirking James Boarman, and Dermot Mulroney/Marvin Hubbard. The girls talk mushy teenage boy brains, mushy teenage girl brains, botched escape attempts, and so much more. It’s an unintentionally chaotic episode, but worth it!

So pour the drinks, bear with us, and join us for our second to the last Alcatraz episod...