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It's been a minute since we did a castle haunt or horror, so here are two very cool, eerie castles to live up to our name! Quick into of obligatory bitch session and catch-up, this time we go on about annoying and aging bodies, can anyone relate to that? Taking meds with side effects and lucky if they don't hurt your damn liver! Side shout-out to a couple comments from last episode and we're off to Germany! Kelsey takes us to Eltz Castle, Wierschem, Germany, and it's long, long history that we skip over for the good parts. One medieval family lived here forever somehow, if only we had a mockumentary called Medieval Family! Ghosts, George R.R. Martin bashing, and stolen kisses com into conversation and that's normal for us. On to Bran Castle and Bram Stoker's Dracula. A tangential connection maybe, but Vlad Dracule has had our fascination for a long time too so we hope you don't mind the side quests into Dracula, haunts and a little history. Plus the great Question: Do you get impaled up the ass??Torso? do you all know?? Darkcast Promo of the Week: Love and Murder Podcast

Hey cryptic cuties, hope your 2026 is treating you well and we are so excited to be back. We have a fun episode for you, diving into the fascinating world of counterfeiting, forgeries and replicas, featuring everything from the well done, all the way to the bizarre and laughable.  Starting with the arrest of Frank Bourassa, Kelsey covers how a life of crime led one man on a path to printing millions and becoming named the world's greatest counterfeiter.  Alanna closes out the ep with a collection of expensive forgeries that shook the world, as well as some failed restorations that made the 2 of us question if some things should just be left alone.  Happy listening and catch up with you all next time! Join our patron for exclusive episodes, videos and even more banter and tangents! Darkcast spotlight: Box in the Basement 

Happy Holidays, here is your second helping of psychic stuff! We love talking about parapsychology, and of course, we are not the only ones. So Alanna's topic of the day is telepathy; trying to test it, a brief history of our fascination with it, and into the most recent claims and controversies!  After some minor Game of Thrones spoilers (its old, come on, it's ok ), we dig into some topics discussed on the Telepathy Tapes Podcast and the response to both it's popularity, and some pushback against it.  So some spoilers for that podcast too, as we talk about how we can try and do better in testing in the future, and in education for people with special needs.  We did our best to be respectful as we navigated this touchy subject, so please listen with care as well, as you all do!  There's a mention of a banned Ted Talk, which can happen, we guess! Don't ban us lol, we are just asking some questions and trying to teach ourselves lol. Don't put us on the dark web! We love you all and hope you have a safe and Happy New Year!  

Hello Cryptic Crew, and welcome back to our latest episode!  This time its Kelsey's turn to deliver a curious case of a man who had some very prophetic dreams. Chris Robinson (not the one married to Amanda Knox, not to be confused with Canadian icon Christopher Robin either, you're welcome :)  He was often accurate at predicting disasters like airplane crashes and received the information through dreams. He even had a working relationship with local police. Theories include other worldly guides giving him advance knowledge, but you be the judge! We like to try and keep our minds open, and don't forget the movie talk, has anyone else seen Tron: Ares lol or ... what are you all watching this season?  Part two will be a dive into Telepathy Tests and  Controversies too! Stay tuned, it's dropping soon as a Yule treat! Keep it Cryptic!  Head to Patreon.com for bonus content monthly and a backlog of hundreds of hours of creepy and cool stories!  

Welcome back, this week we dive into some drug-related crimes. Kelsey  shares the scary tale of the Paraquat Vending Machine Murders in Japan- we are sad to say we'd never heard of it. A motive is nothing but senseless murder of strangers, so it's especially hard to fathom. So random. Then we move to the Canadian Maritimes where the story might be called Cocaine Plane, but it doesn't really get off the ground? It's been called the biggest drug bust in the country's history, but what really went down is more unexpected than we ever guessed. Tune in but party on responsibly with Drug Crimes. Oh did we mention Mounties and Mustaches, Canada's Country-wide fake Girlfriends and boyfriends alibis, and some facts about Pablo Escobar and his thwarted-New Brunswick jailbreak. Keep it Cocaine-free and cryptic!

This week is a Patreon Peek! We opened up the vault to give us some time to recover from some colds that can take down a host for a bit. But we love this episode, two very different takes on forensics, first a crimes solved with some, and then a teaching tool to solve killings with a unique twist.  So Kelsey covers the Soham murders, so-called for the area of the crimes, and trigger warning for child violence. But Forensic science and botany would play a big role in the evidence in this case, key to solving it.  Finally Alanna tells the tale of Frances Lee Glessner, A very smart woman who put her talents into re-creating crime scenes on a small scale for learning and training purposes. Her mini murder and unclassified death sequences were done to the most precise detail and the cases still kept secret for officers to learn from today.  Thanks for your patience and we should be back next week, so Keep it Cryptic! Much love!

Samhain/Sauin season is here and a Happy All Hallow's Eve to all of you! Call them creepy campfire stories, or what you want but we wanted the dark and eerie vibes this time! So let's all snuggle in for the first tale of terror- Kelsey's recitation  of the Man Who Watched Me Sleep story?! Or should we say the Red Man Story... Either way, we on the edge of our seats and butts puckered! Always watching me....  then it's on to some older tales... In some sort of old-school stories of Samhain, from Celtic folklore gods and goddesses of death and destruction, to anecdotes of the unexplained, Alanna runs through some morbid mythology then a Sumerian story of a trip to the Underworld. Bloodthirsty battles can leave deep scars, it seems, and we wonder, are some warriors-mostly called berserkers, infected with "battle madness"? What a superpower she must have!  Send us your favourite creepy pastas, odd tales, and other weird stories you might have! we will feature all in a future episode, so don't delay! thanks and as always, Keep it Cryptic! Darkcast Network Promo of the Week: Tragedy with a View Share the love, give the 5 stars, and please follow us on the socials for all the stuff! Thanks Cryptic Cuties!!!

Hey cryptic cuties! Hope you are all enjoying the fall and spooky season as much as we are. This week we thought we would take a look at 2 cases involving disguises or costumes (in honour of halloween of course).  First up, Kelsey shares the details of the murder of Marlene Warren, who was shot on her doorstep by a creepy clown, and whose identity would take decades to confirm.  Alanna lightens the mood with the life and crimes of William Sutton, known as "Slick Willie" or "Willie the Actor", a man who frequently wore disguises during his 40 year career.  If you have any spooky stories you would like us to read next ep, please send them to us through any of our socials or by e mail!  Darkcast spotlight is The Final Trace!  Birdie Promo! We are Birdie ambassadors, personal safety alarms made for women, by women. We are excited to offer a promo code below for 10% off your purchase at www.shesbirdie.com now, thanks for partnering with us Birdie! Promo code: castlescryptids15 for 10% off your order!

Hello friends and Happy Spooky Season! It's official we hit 200 episodes and it's time for something completely different!  A man with 3 buttocks! no wait, that's a different show... Intro includes topics from A.I. actors, cryptid-inspired flavors, and light laughing  at children's descriptions of cryptids. Then we move into our appetizer, the Cryptid Quiz! How well do YOU know your cryptids? Play along and find out, we haven't covered all of these ones! So you think you're smarter than a podcaster, lol, our new show! Wink! BTW, there are SO many sea creatures, damn!! Love a lake monster, too. On to the entree, a new, possibly one-off segment called Cryptid of the Week! If you like it, maybe we do more... lol let us know! Finally, we cap it off with a Peek into the Patreon content-some Reddit threads that are curated by Alanna and her ADHD! Embarrassing anecdotes, stupid movie tropes, and when artificial intelligence tries to create ads, and fail terribly. Guess Kelsey's doubling-down on her bot-craze! Thank you so very much for listening for so many episodes and Keep it Cryptic! Or ELSE :) Proud Member of Darkcast Network! the Best of Indie Podcasts! If you want more C+C shenanigans, check us out on Patreon.com/castlesandcryptids ! See you soon!

Sorry for the late evening episode, it's been a long week here at C+C HQ!  We're kicking off the spookiest season with some witchy, pagan style celebrations and we couldn't be more excited! Or hungry, by the end of the recording. Applesauce and pork and root veggies, hell yeah!  So once we go over some of the sausage and symbols of the autumn fest, Kelsey gives us some other ways to get your Mabon on. Yes, there is lots of red, orange and gold so the fall vibes are strong with this one! Then we dive into some origin stories like the Welsh fable from which it gets its name. It's full of unpronouncable names like Culhwch, sage old Salmon, the questing beast, and even a name drop of King Arthur! He's low-key like that's my cuz, man. So grab a snack, say Son-of-a-mother! and tune in to Mabon Fests and Feasts! Darkcast Promo of the Week: Scottish Murders! All about crimes in Scotland and involving Scots. Such a good show!

Happy September cryptic cuties, hope you are enjoying the last of the warm weather before we dive straight into fall and pumpkin spice everything. This week we investigated a few more cults we wanted to share with you all, we hope you find cults as fascinating as we do.   Kelsey creeps Alanna out by telling her about a group that hit a little too close to home. The College of Integrated Philosophy may seem harmless on the surface, but they have had their fair share of controversy and court cases over their decades long history.  Alanna shares updates on a cult we first discussed over on our patreon after watching Escaping The Twin Flames Universe, leaders Jeff and Shaleia Divine were recently interviewed about their beliefs, and it has everyone talking about them once again. Happy listening! Darkcast spotlight is The Bell Witch Podcast

Hello and welcome back to another creepy, cryptic episode of your favourite paranormal podcast! This time we are diving into some visual, mental and certainly mysterious phenomenon.  We have all probably heard of deja vu, but what do we really know about it causes, or correlations? Kelsey puts on her professor glasses and gives us a mini-lesson on the science we've learned about this glitch-type feeling. Surprising causes have been reported on, as well as other similar or opposite phenomenon, like jamais vu.  Alanna takes us to Aberfan, Wales and an event that was seen by many people before it occurred, yet no one could have stopped the tragedy. But how could many have dreamed of a similar event, and what happened after? Well for one, thing, the Premonition Bureau was started. So you know there's gonna be a follow-up episode! Darkcast Network Promo of the Week: Rogue Darkness Podcast See you in two weeks! Keep it Cryptic!

Welcome back cryptic cuties, we hope you are having a great summer. Apologies for Kelsey's audio quality, we didn't notice it when we were recording (but ironic given us talking about other podcasts audio in our into), hopefully everyone still enjoys the ep!  Kelsey kicks things off with the tale of Canadian folk hero 'Monica la Mitraille', a successful bank robber who took matters into her own hands in order to provide for her children. Featuring a high speed car chase that sounds like something out of a movie, its hard to believe it actually happened.  Alanna has the low down on the Redpath Mansion Murders, focusing on a wealthy family and the mysterious deaths of 2 of their members. With little evidence and seemingly no motive, it truly is a classic case of whodunit.  Join our patreon to catch up on all our monthly bonus episodes and help support the pod, we love you all and are so appreciative of all our listeners.   Darkcast spotlight of the week is True Crime Connections: A safe, empowering space for survivors to share their stories, heal out loud, and connect through honest conversations. 

Hey you beautiful people, we're back (on our bullsh*t :P ) First we chat about some milestones like graduation, adulting, gardening, and something we now know is called "holiday Creep". Spoilers, it's not a true crime or cryptid though! Just scary capitalism! Also it's the summer of Mr. Pink for one of us.... But Kelsey case dives us right in to some older accounts of vampirism, exhumation, and in particular the confounding case of Arnold Paole, the Monster of Medvegna, maybe. This story out of 1700's Serbia has as many as 17 vampires (fave number of Alanna!) , cattle deaths, a Serbian soldier possibly infected by the bite, and a cameo from Marie Antoinette's mom! What more could you want from history?? Then we have Alanna's Serbian vamp case, the Peasant Vampire of 1725,  centered on a man who may have killed as many as 8 people in a week, and ends with an honorable mention or two like the case of "Dracula's Bride". But for real! So please settle into your coffins for some creepiness, incredible stories and a vampire autopsy book, cause why not?? Till next time, Keep it Cryptic! Darkcast Promo of the Week: Mystery Frequency! Story-style pod of epic sagas  Tags: Vampyr, Sarah Ellen Roberts, the Coventry Street Vampire, Peter Blagojevic, 17 Vampires, Arnold Paole, Serbian Vampires

What does a one person submarine and a secret spy ring have in common? The American Revolution of course! This week we decided to learn a bit more about our neighbours to the south and take a deeper look at some of the events surrounding their independence.  Kelsey has the low down on Bushnell's Turtle, a submersible with a success rate of zero, that still managed to become world famous thanks to its inventors and pilots. Alanna shares the story of Anna Strong and the Culper spy ring, who were able to remain undetected thanks to some pretty ingenious methods of communication. Their contributions to the war effort and even their existence would not be revealed until centuries later.  We hope you enjoy this dose of American history, Happy belated 4th of July to all our American listeners and we will catch up with you all on the 25th! If you can't wait till then, join us over at patreon.com/Castlesandcryptids for lots of bonus content.  Darkcast promo of the week is Murder and Mimosas