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In tonight's dead letter, Corey takes us back to Omaha, Nebraska in the year 2000, when he was the overnight host on a Top 40 station and a call-in topic about haunted places kept circling back to one private family cemetery. He sent a carload of listeners out there on a Friday night to report back live on the air. A few days later his boss got a phone call from the cemetery's caretakers. And, to paraphrase a Dateline episode…things got weirder from there. We mentioned a TON of old eps in this one! Relevant Prior EpisodesEp 48: Choose Your Own AdventureAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 71: Pere Cheney: The Town that DisappearedAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 87: Black Eyed Kids Part 1Astonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 50: Mothman Part 1Astonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 14: What's Gotten Into You?Astonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 209: The Phantom Horse of GreensboroAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 120: The Grim ReaperAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 154: Lockdown at the Waverly Hills SanatoriumAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 156: The Ax Murder House in Villisca Part 1Astonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 49: Monsters Among UsAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 310: The Rhine Research Center: Extraordinary EvidenceAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Links and Further ReadingChurch Grims, by Tess Pfeifle (Astonishing Legends blog) Strange Intruders, by David Weatherly G.N.M. Tyrrell (Psi Encyclopedia, Society for Psychical Research) Ghosts and Apparitions in Psi Research (Psi Encyclopedia) Phantasms of the Living, Volume 1 (1886), free at the Internet Archive Phantasms of the Living, Volume 2 (1886), free at the Internet Archive Jim Harold's Campfire The Mothman of Point Pleasant (Small Town Monsters, 2017) The Ankou The Case Against Reality, by Donald Hoffman A Game of Pool, The Twilight Zone (1961) On a Pale Horse, by Piers Anthony The Villisca Axe Murder House Live and Let Die (1973) Twin Peaks: The Return (2017) We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to [email protected]!

In 1933, a Scottish botanist watched a seemingly abandoned steamship drift past the Alaskan coast on an ice floe. It appeared upside down in a strange mirage, with no crew and no one at the wheel. This ship was the Baychimo, which was abandoned two years earlier, but refused to disappear. Having repeatedly resurfaced across the Arctic, it earning a reputation as one of history’s great ghost ships. In this episode, we explore the strange history of ghost ships from the the Baychimo, to the frozen Octavius, and the Ourang Medan, whose crew was reportedly found mysteriously dead shortly before the ship itself exploded and sank. Three ships, three enduring legends, and at least one vessel whose final resting place remains unknown. Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

In tonight's dead letter, our listener Ed and his wife are newlyweds, sharing the apartment he's lived in for about two years in Clay Center, Nebraska. One morning in early 2020, he hits snooze on his alarm and sees a figure walking out of their bedroom, silhouetted by the living room lights he'd set on a timer, and it looks just like his wife, but it’s not. Relevant Prior Episodes Ep 26: Shadow PeopleAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 64: Electronic FogAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 226: Boundless Remote Viewing with Lori Williams Part 1Astonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Links and Further Reading Ed's Floor Plan of the Apartment Clay Center, Nebraska, Wikipedia World's Largest Ball of Twine, Kansas TourismNote: We call it the world's biggest ball of yarn in the episode. It's actually a ball of sisal twine. I always mess that up! (Scott) Doppelganger, Britannica Hypnagogic Hallucinations, Cleveland Clinic A-Yokai-A-Day: Ikiryo, Matthew Meyer Alexander Cannon (psychiatrist), Wikipedia STAR GATE [Controlled Remote Viewing], Federation of American Scientists Astral Projection Hypnosis by Dr. Steve G. Jones Journeys Out of the Body by Robert A. Monroe Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf Beyond the Bermuda Triangle by Bruce Gernon and Rob MacGregor We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to [email protected]!

In tonight's dead letter, our listener named Mark is driving through western Michigan at two in the morning in 1978, working off a paper map and handwritten directions to a house he's never been to. He comes up a hill and into a curve on US 131, and there are four people standing in his lane. Two of them are waving him over to the right, and the other two have their arms raised above their heads in an X. Had they not been there he may have had a fatal collision, and when he went to find them shortly after, they had vanished. Relevant Prior Episodes Ep 102: Resurrection Mary Part 1Astonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 116: Small Town MonstersAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Links and Further Reading Lydia: The Ghost of Jamestown Bridge, NCpedia A History of the Vanishing Hitchhiker, Beardsley and Hankey, 1943 The Bray Road Beast, Small Town Monsters Jim Harold's Campfire: True Ghost Stories, Books 1 through 6 Note: We call it the National Highway Transportation Safety Association in the episode. The ‘A’ is actually for Administration.  We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to [email protected]!

In tonight's dead letter, listener Mothmaiden remembers a time when she was four years old and an only child in a neighborhood with no other kids, and she had an imaginary friend named Cindy Cora who looked exactly like Betty Rubble from The Flintstones. Then on a sunny afternoon, in her own bedroom with the light coming through the window, she saw an elderly woman with white and gray hair piled high on her head, sitting in a rocking chair, calm and gentle and completely solid. Were these things connected? Relevant Prior Episodes Abduction at Devil's Den Devil's Den: The Reckoning Part 1 Chris McKinnell and the Warren Legacy Dan, Susan, Micah Hanks and Missing Time Links and Further Reading Two-thirds of school-age children have an imaginary companion by age 7, University of WashingtonNote: We say about one in three for the invisible-only friends. In the study, about two thirds of kids have had an imaginary companion by age seven, and about one in three have one at the time they are asked. The psychological significance of play with imaginary companions in early childhood, Learning & Behavior Childhood amnesia, Wikipedia Ghosts and Apparitions in Psi Research, the Society for Psychical Research's Psi Encyclopedia Phantasms of the Living (1886) by Gurney, Myers and Podmore, Internet Archive Strange Intruders by David Weatherly Devils Den: The Reckoning by Terry Lovelace Contact (1997), WikipediaNote: We say David Morse was one of the doctors on ER. He played Dr. Jack Morrison on St. Elsewhere. Sesame Street debuts, November 10, 1969, HISTORY Wall Street crash of 1929, Wikipedia The History of Bettys in Pop Culture, Refinery29 Natalie and Tara on YouTube We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to [email protected]!

Hey folks! We're gearing up to go to the Wet Hot Bad Magic Summercamp next week but after that we're back on our regular schedule! In the meanwhile here's a chat Scott and Richard had just a week ago about his new tour which is also CLOSE ABOARD! >>>>>>>>>> A special episode from our friend Richard Hatem. Richard is the screenwriter behind The Mothman Prophecies and a longtime friend of the show, and he hosts Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf. He invited Scott onto his podcast to talk about his upcoming Light in the Dark Tour 2026, a 10-day, six-city run of live shows in September that wraps up at the Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. We liked the conversation enough that we're sharing it here on the main feed. Along the way, Scott and Richard get to such never-before-asked questions as: What scares our dogs? Where will Scott and Forrest be appearing live in September? Did Abbott and Costello get along? Can anyone find Scott's legendary "lost" appearance on Portlandia? Did Richard schedule too many shows on this tour, and will Susan ever forgive him? Find out the answers to these and many more questions on this episode. If you can make it to one of the tour stops, go. Tickets and dates are at the link below. LinksGet tickets to Richard Hatem's Light in the Dark Tour 2026 LIVE: https://www.richardhatemsparanormalbookshelf.com/eventsListen to Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf: https://www.richardhatemsparanormalbookshelf.com/Support RHPB on Patreon: https://patreon.com/RichardHatemCelebrate 2026 with 26% off all RHPB merch with offer code RHPB26. The discount is pre-applied at this link: https://richardhatem-shop.fourthwall.com/promo/RHPB26Need help with your personal writing projects? Richard is here to help. Get 20% off when you mention RHPB: https://www.richardhatem.com/NotesGet the answer to ALL of your Abbott and Costello questions here: Abbott and Costello Meet the PodcastIs your dog afraid of hiccups, just like Luna? Learn about your dog's weird fears here: Understanding Your Dog's Fear

In tonight's dead letter, listener Chris takes us back to the early 2000s, when he was the head brewer at a restaurant on the east side of Cumberland, Maryland, in a building so old it served as a Civil War field hospital. One night after close, he and three coworkers were having a beer in the basement bar when the loudest sound he'd ever heard slammed into the floorboards right above their heads, shaking dust from the ceiling and rattling every bottle behind the bar. Relevant Prior Episodes Nightmarchers of Hawaii Links and Further Reading The Battle of Folck's Mill: Maryland Historical Trust Battlefield Documentation (PDF) Battle of Folck's Mill, Wikipedia Folck's Mill (National Register of Historic Places site), Wikipedia The Battle of Folck's Mill, Western Maryland's Historical Library The Invasion, Aug 1864: The Cumberland Alleganian's Original Account, Western Maryland's Historical Library Folck's Mill Marker, Historical Marker Database The History of Puccini Restaurant, Cumberland, Maryland The Phantom Battle of Edgehill, Historic UK The Spectral Army of Souther Fell, Mysterious Britain and Ireland The Dieppe Raid Case, Mysterious Britain and Ireland The Drummer of Tedworth, Wikipedia Phantom Armies of the Night by Claude Lecouteux The Rosenheim Poltergeist, by Tess Pfeifle at Astonishing Legends We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to [email protected]!

Our friend Richard Hatem is taking his Paranormal Bookshelf on the road! The Light in the Dark Tour 2026 is an all new live show playing six cities in seven days, September 13th through 19th, and it winds up at the Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Richard and Susan Lambert will be at the festival both days selling Mothman and podcast merch, and on Saturday night, September 19th, he's performing an episode of the podcast picked especially for Point Pleasant. Hear Scott and Rich talk about the tour in his most recent post on the RHPB feed:SpotifyApple Podcasts Tour Dates and Tickets Sunday, September 13: Storm Crow Manor, Toronto, ON Monday, September 14: Padraigs Brewing, Minneapolis, MN Tuesday, September 15: The Red Lion Pub, Chicago, IL Wednesday, September 16: B Side Lounge, Cleveland Heights, OH Thursday, September 17: Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA (FREE SHOW!) Saturday, September 19: Trinity UMC Community Center, Point Pleasant, WV (The Mothman Festival) More from Richard All Tour Dates and Tickets Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf on Apple Podcasts Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf on Spotify Paranormal Bookshelf Merch The Mothman Festival Tickets for every show but Carnegie Mellon (which MAY not require them, TBD)  are at richardhatemsparanormalbookshelf.com/events, or search Richard Hatem on Eventbrite. Come out and see Richard do his thing!

In tonight's dead letter, a teenager in rural Arkansas in the late 2000s goes poking around an abandoned schoolhouse and comes home with a mirror she likes the look of. Years later it's hanging in her first Los Angeles apartment, and one evening while she's in the bath she catches the towel on the back of the door swinging wildly but the moment she turns to look, it stops dead. But that’s only part of the story. Relevant Prior EpisodesThe Bell Witch Part 1The Scrying GameMel's Hole Part 1Abduction at Devil's DenNightmarchers of HawaiiThe Ghosts of Flight 401 Links and Further ReadingAmerican Hauntings — Troy Taylor's books, podcast, and live eventsReunions: Visionary Encounters with Departed Loved Ones by Raymond MoodyNote: We say 1933 in the episode — Reunions was published in 1993.Oculus (2013), dir. Mike FlanaganWhat is a "dybbuk" in the prologue of the Coen brothers' A Serious Man?Ghosts On A Plane? The Story Of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to [email protected]!

In tonight's dead letter, in the summer of 1996, two college kids from New Jersey were road-tripping to Gen Con when they got off I-80 near Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, looking for food and a place to stay. Around 11:30 PM, at a gas station that turned out to be closed for the night, three blonde kids in bathing suits were standing under a light, saying something to them that neither of them could make out. Relevant Prior EpisodesBlack Eyed Kids Part 1Strange Intruders with David Weatherly Part 1Sam the Sandown ClownDan, Susan, Micah Hanks and Missing TimeAbduction at Devil's DenSkinwalker Ranch Part 1 Links and Further ReadingStrange Intruders by David WeatherlyThe Gift of Fear by Gavin de BeckerDeath as a Child: The Modern Legend of the Black-Eyed Children (Atlas Obscura)8 local spots you didn't know were haunted (northcentralpa.com — the "Otzinachson"/Demon's Den lore) We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to [email protected]!

In tonight's dead letter, listener John is nineteen, home from his freshman year and a few shifts into a summer dishwashing job at a grand old house on Michigan's Old Mission Peninsula that has been a restaurant since the 1950s. The staff there blame anything strange in the building on a ghost they call Genevieve, and John doesn't believe in any of that. One warm night he goes upstairs to change out of his kitchen clothes, and the bulb pops the second he flips the switch. Strange enough on its own, but what happens next is why this particular night stuck with him. Note: The room referenced at Waverly in the Episode is 503. It should have been 502.Relevant Prior EpisodesGreyfriar's Kirkyard Halloween SpecialThe Sallie House – Ghost in the Machine Part 1Lockdown at Waverly SanatoriumThe True Story behind the Conjuring Part 1A Live Reading with Jim Hunt - Psychic MediumLinks and Further ReadingThe Mission Table Restaurant of Bowers Harbor: A Splendid Building, But Not a Residence for a Ghost — Julie Schopieray, Grand Traverse JournalWould the Real Mrs. Stickney Please Stand Up? Setting the Old Mission Ghost Story Straight — Northern ExpressThe Haunting of Bowers Harbor Inn – Is It Genevieve Stickney's Ghost? — Old Mission GazetteBowers Harbor Inn — Wikipedia, on the 1927 fire and the house built around the old farmhouseMission Point Lighthouse — History, the light at the tip of Old Mission Peninsula near the 45th parallelOccupational Folklife — American Folklife Center, Library of CongressMeet the Mackenzie Poltergeist of Greyfriars Kirkyard — Icy Sedgwick, on the grabs and marks reported on the toursWaverly Hills Sanatorium — American Hauntings, on Room 502 and the nurse storyThe Buxton Inn — Wikipedia, the Granville, Ohio inn Forrest visitedWe're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to [email protected]!

In 1673, Rebecca Cornell was found dead beside the hearth in her Rhode Island home. Afterward, her ghost allegedly appeared to accuse someone of murder and her son was tried and hanged. Her story is just one of nearly sixty strange intersections of true crime, hauntings, history, and food collected in Cuisine to Kill For, the new cookbook from veteran paranormal investigator and television personality Amy Bruni. This week, Amy joins us to talk about the haunted restaurants, infamous deaths, cocktails, dinners, desserts, and recipes that reveal just how naturally the paranormal and the culinary can share a table. Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

In tonight's dead letter, listener Mary is on a ghost tour in Key West when the guide stands her group under an old, unmarked movie marquee and asks them what happened there. Before he says another word, Mary smells smoke. The story he tells the group involves a church fire, and more strange events unfold from there. Relevant Prior Episodes Conjuring Philip Part 1The True Story behind the Conjuring Part 1Resurrection Mary Part 1The Count of St Germain Part 1 Links and Further Reading Great Fire of Key West (1886) — WikipediaOur History — St. Paul's Episcopal Church of Key WestStrand Theater, 527 Duval Street — Cinema TreasuresSan Carlos Institute — WikipediaChicago Hauntings: The Horrors of the Iroquois Theater Fire That Killed 602 People Downtown in 1903 — CBS ChicagoAmerican Ghost Walks — the ghost tour company the hosts recommendDowsing — BritannicaThe Philip Experiment — WikipediaWe're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to [email protected]!

In tonight's dead letter, a truck-riding barn cat named Milo becomes the witness our listener Amy needs to affirm that she’s not seeing and hearing things. The old stone house they occupy seems to have some very strange and unusual visitors. One defying any conventional explanation or even paranormal categorization.  Related Astonishing Legends Episodes Dyatlov Pass Part 1 Monsters Among Us  Background & Further Reading Infrasound and the Paranormal — Vic Tandy's "fear frequency" researchThat Ghostly Presence May Just Be Bad Plumbing — Popular Science, on infrasound and haunted-house perceptionBeast of Bray Road — Wikipedia background on the Linda Godfrey dog-man case Forrest referencesGhosts of the Kent Stage — KentStater, on the haunted Kent, Ohio venue Scott We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to [email protected]!

In tonight's dead letter, Eric, a longtime listener on active duty in the Navy, pulls into Juneau, Alaska for a port call in the summer of 2009 and hikes up the Mount Roberts trail for the view over the harbor. Around eleven in the morning, in full daylight, he watches a perfectly round patch of light — a little bigger than a manhole cover, a shade lighter than the water — glide from boat to boat, slip under the cruise-ship dock, and circle a small float out in the middle of the channel. It never changes shape, never touches anything but the water, and as best he can tell, he's the only one who sees it. Then he hikes all the way down to that dock to find out what it was. REFERENCE LINKS Related Astonishing Legends EpisodesThe Edgar Cayce Story Part 1The Sallie House – Ghost in the Machine Part 1The Sludge Entity Part 1Background & TopicsUnidentified Submerged Objects (USOs) — WikipediaInvestigation Alien (George Knapp) — NetflixThe "Plasmoids" Paper — Journal of Modern Physics (2024)Foo Fighters (WWII) — WikipediaNikola Tesla's Wardenclyffe Tower — WikipediaLake Pend Oreille Acoustic Research Detachment (U.S. Navy)Mount Roberts Trail, Juneau — Alaska.orgAmerican Ghost Walks: Ketchikan Ghost TourWe're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to [email protected]!