So Random & Weird Podcast

Blood, Beauty, & Bad PR

Blood, Beauty, & Bad PR is an episode of So Random and Weird. It runs about 81 minutes, and Sheena and Sarah co-host.Opening chat (0:39–17:30) They talk about Halloween trick-or-treating traditions, from Lancaster County to Florida. They also cover Sarah's family night out, Nightmare Before Christmas and Sheena's meal prep. Main topic: Elizabeth Báthory, "The Blood Countess" (17:30–1:13:35) Sheena takes the legend apart piece by piece. She asks where each part of the story comes from. The legend: A countess bathes in the blood of young girls to stay young. The Guinness Book of World Records lists her as having 650 victims. She is caught in the act and walled into her room. Who she was: She was born in 1560 into one of Hungary's most powerful families. She was educated, married at about 14, and ran vast estates while her husband fought the Ottomans. She became a wealthy widow in 1604. The investigation: The accusations began with a Lutheran pastor's secondhand claims. Palatine György Thurzó then led the investigation. He had political and financial stakes in the outcome. His raid reportedly found one dead girl, a dying girl and other young women held in the castle. There was no mountain of bodies. The trials: Her servants were tried at Thurzó's own estate. They confessed under torture and were executed. The 650 figure comes from one witness describing a book that was never found. Elizabeth was never tried. A quiet deal put her under house arrest, and she died in 1614. The case for guilt and the case for a frame job: Guilt: Hundreds of witnesses, the raid, and her family's silence. Frame job: Torture, hearsay, political motives, and the blood-bath detail not appearing until about a century later. Sheena's view: She thinks it's a bit of both. Elizabeth likely abused her power, but not on the scale of 650 victims. How the legend grew: The blood-bath story first appears in 1729. It spread through vampire panic, Gothic writers, Hammer horror films and The Countess (2009). There's no documented link to Dracula. Takeaway: When a story seems too perfect, ask who wrote it, when, and who benefits. Sheena credits the After Dark podcast from History Hit and legal historian Professor Kimberly Kraft. She says she'll link their episode in the show notes. Closing (1:14–1:21) They share a get-out-and-vote message. They ask listeners to subscribe, rate and review, and they give their Instagram, email and Facebook. They tease Sarah's next episode on "oddities and curiosities," maybe ancient Egypt or medieval times. Blood Countess of Hungary: Sixteenth Century Serial Killer, After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal (History Hit), with Professor Kimberly Craft.

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Spooky Stories

Sheena and Sarah take turns telling scary stories. Sheena's stories Mount Pleasant Cemetery (Toronto): Her friend's dog freaks out at home after a cemetery walk. Weeks later, a neighbor is murdered by the cemetery's caretaker. Appalachia trail (Reddit): Two friends are chased by a mocking, toy-like voice in the woods. It ends with a terrifying scream. Wendigo encounter (Reddit): A Marine veteran and his friend say "Wendigo" three times in the woods. Trees fall and a pale, nine-foot creature appears. Sarah's Pennsylvania ghost tour Bube's Brewery (Mount Joy): A tour guest hears a voice say "Get out." Staff report seeing Pauline Engel, a ghost in a white gown. The "Ghost Adventures" crew caught a German whisper telling someone to put out a flame. Fulton Theatre (Lancaster): A skeptical stagehand hears footsteps and music in an empty building. Other stories feature a ghost named Marie and "the Whistler." Chickies Rock: Two teens are followed down a trail by a meowing sound that never gets closer. It stops once they reach the car. Sarah also tells the "Lover's Leap" legend. They close by asking listeners to rate, review and share the show, and to send in their own stories.

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Hungry Like the Wendigo

It's almost Halloween, and Sarah and Sheena are getting into the season with one of folklore's most feared creatures: the Wendigo. Sarah leads a researched deep dive into the winter spirit of Algonquian-speaking peoples. It's a gaunt, ice-hearted being that grows hungrier the more it eats.In this episode: Where the story comes from. The boreal forest, the harsh winters, and why the name carries the meaning of greed and taking too much. The Wendigo works as a warning about isolation and excess. The fear of becoming one. How communities understood and responded to someone believed to be turning, from healing ceremonies to satire and humor. Two true cases that reached the courtroom. The 1907 trial of Jack and Joseph Fiddler, and the 1879 case of Swift Runner, and what happens when a legal system meets a worldview it can't understand. "Wendigo psychosis." The famous and heavily debated diagnosis, and why many scholars now reject it. The Wendigo in pop culture. From Algernon Blackwood's 1910 novella to Marvel Comics, Pet Sematary, Supernatural, Until Dawn and Antlers. Along the way the monster loses its moral meaning, until Indigenous writers and consultants bring it back. What the story is really about. Greed, sharing, and the "common pot" as the antidote to the monster, and why Sarah sees it as timely. Along the way you'll get cohost banter, a few mangled pronunciations, a Hansel and Gretel comparison, and a Supernatural debate. Sarah also shares a plug for the new podcast Holy Feral, Sheena spins the wheel to pick next week's topic (history), and they invite listeners to send in their own stories at the show's email, Facebook and Instagram.Stay weird, stay curious.

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Between the Rock and the Devil

A haunted museum, a vanished follow-up, and a ghost story tied to one of New England’s most tragic shipwrecks. Sheena and Sarah unpack the season two finale of The Holzer Files and the case that still refuses to sit quietly.At the center is Hans Holzer, the prolific paranormal investigator whose methods helped shape modern ghost-hunting long before TV made it a genre. Sheena explores his background, his interest in historical records, and the controversial casework that made him famous—and damaged his credibility. Sarah brings a skeptic’s perspective, questioning the theatrical feel of paranormal TV and why some ghost shows don’t quite feel real.The conversation dives into “Devil in the Rock,” the Bates Ship Chandlery in Cohasset, Massachusetts, and the claim that the haunting intensified after Holzer’s 1964 visit. Sheena also explores Holzer’s legacy, the controversy surrounding his connection to Amityville, and the tragic wreck of the Brig Saint John—history that gives this haunting a weight beyond a simple jump scare.If you love paranormal history, skeptical takes, old-school ghost hunting, and the strange intersection of folklore, tragedy, and television, this one is for you. It’s spooky, smart, and full of details that may leave you wanting to look up the building yourself.

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This is HALLOWEEN!!

A playful, history-rich Halloween episode tracing how the holiday evolved from Celtic Samhain through Roman and Christian influences into modern trick-or-treating.Sarah and Sheena explore bonfires, spirits, soul cakes, witches, masks, ghosts, Irish folklore, jack-o’-lanterns, mischievous pranks, candy, costumes, and Halloween in pop culture. Along the way, they connect the holiday’s darker origins—death, winter, fear, and superstition—to the way people now turn those fears into costumes, decorations, jokes, and community rituals.The episode closes on the idea that Halloween endures because it makes the scary parts of life feel a little more manageable: light a fire, put on a mask, share candy, and make it through the dark together.

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Brides, Boxes, and Bolted Shutters

coffin-shaped trunks, a shipload of pale young women, and one New Orleans legend that turned real history into vampire folklore. If you love haunted history, colonial-era mysteries, or the weird origins of famous ghost stories, this episode is for you.Sheena and Sarah unpack the Casket Girls, the French women sent to New Orleans in 1728 to help populate a rough colonial outpost, and trace how a practical immigration story mutated into one of the city’s stickiest supernatural myths. What started as a shipment of brides, orphans, and dowries became a rumor mill fueled by coffin-shaped luggage, a shuttered convent attic, and centuries of vampire panic.You'll discover how the Ursuline Convent entered the legend, why the attic story became such a perfect fit for New Orleans folklore, and how modern vampire tourism keeps the myth alive today. They also separate the documented history from the embellished tales, including the infamous claim that two journalists were found drained of blood after an overnight stakeout, and compare the Casket Girls myth with another famous New Orleans vampire figure, Jacques Saint Germain.We break down the historical context behind why these women were sent across the ocean in the first place, what the Ursuline sisters were actually doing in the colony, and why the city’s mix of Catholic tradition, superstition, and gothic atmosphere made it the perfect breeding ground for legends. Along the way, the conversation touches on Anne Rice, vampire subculture, and how real places become permanent stops on haunted history tours.This is a perfect listen if you’re drawn to creepy true stories, New Orleans lore, or the moment when fact gets spooky enough to become legend. By the end, you’ll never look at an old trunk, a convent attic, or a vampire tour the same way again.

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Don't Go in the Bayou: Pere Malfait

EPISODE DESCRIPTION - Ready to publish A Louisiana boogeyman with a moss-covered body, glowing amber eyes, and one bizarre weakness might not be as ancient as everyone thinks. This episode peels back the legend of Pierre Malfey to ask the question that changes everything: is he a real folk warning that grew into a monster, or a monster invented by television that the internet later turned into folklore?Sarah and Sheena take you from the swamps of South Louisiana to a 1974 episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker that may have done more to shape the legend than any oral tradition ever did. Along the way, they unpack the eerie details that made Pierre Malfey stick—the crushing hug, the Spanish moss, the swamp gum stake, the amber lights in the dark—and why those details feel so convincing. You'll discover: How Acadian history, Cajun culture, and French boogeyman traditions feed the story Why the name “Pierre Malfey” raises more questions than answers The strange overlap between folklore, pop culture, and “legend laundering” How a TV monster can get absorbed into the very myth it may have invented Why swamp safety, parental warnings, and horror folklore are closer than you think Sarah brings the deep-dive research and a sharp eye for the contradictions, while Sheena keeps the conversation grounded, funny, and skeptical in all the right ways. Together they trace the line between real regional fear and a story that may have been born in a writer’s room, then lived long enough to become a legend.Perfect for spooky-season listeners, folklore fans, cryptid obsessives, and anyone who loves a good “what came first, the warning or the monster?” mystery. If you’ve ever heard a strange name whispered as a child and wondered where it came from, this one will stay with you.

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The Walls Have Ears (and Apparently Tape Decks)

Old buildings might be doing more than standing there. If you have ever walked into a room and felt the air change, this episode gives you the eerie vocabulary for that feeling—and the case for why some places may be replaying trauma instead of simply being haunted.Sheena and Sarah take on the Stone Tape Theory, the idea that stone, brick, quartz-rich materials, and even water can hold onto emotional events like a recording and play them back later as a residual haunting. They trace the concept from a 1972 BBC horror play to Cambridge academic T. C. Lethbridge, then break down why paranormal investigators keep coming back to it. You’ll discover: Why residual hauntings behave like loops instead of intelligent spirits How quartz, piezoelectricity, and the idea of “recorded” energy get woven into ghost lore The skeptic’s case, including pareidolia, confirmation bias, and infrasound The real-world lab case that made a “haunting” disappear after a fan was fixed Famous stone tape-style stories Sarah brings a lived, intuitive take rooted in witchcraft, psychometry, and the belief that homes and objects can hold residue from the past. Sheena threads in the history, the science, and the pop-culture origins of the theory, making the conversation both eerie and surprisingly grounded.If you love haunted history, paranormal theories, or the feeling that old places remember what happened inside them, this one is for you. It’s a conversation that sits right on the edge of folklore and physics—and leaves you wondering whether the walls around you are really as silent as they seem.Perfect for spooky season, ghost-story skeptics, believers, and anyone who has ever stepped into a place and felt something they couldn’t explain.

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Solitary, But Make It Haunted

Eastern State Penitentiary was built to heal broken people through silence and isolation - instead, it became one of the most notorious soul-breaking machines in American history. If you think this is just another haunted prison story, Sarah and Sheena trace the real horror first: the Quaker reformers, Benjamin Rush's radical theory, the wagon-wheel design, the black hoods, the punishment cells, and the decades of torture that turned a "humane" experiment into a nightmare.Then the ghosts start to make sense.

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Ham-Handed Justice

Medieval Europe did not just punish people for crimes - it put animals on trial. A pig in men’s clothing. Rats served with a legal summons. Cats executed as agents of Satan. If you think history is boring, this episode will change your mind fast.Sheena and Sarah unpack the bizarre, surprisingly structured world of animal trials across France, Switzerland, Italy, and beyond - where courts treated pigs, rats, roosters, and even insects as if they could be legally responsible for murder, crop destruction, witchcraft, and plague. Along the way, they reveal the strange logic behind these cases and why a defense attorney for rats was not as absurd to medieval minds as it sounds today.

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Talbot's Curse

This episode is a fog-drenched ride through werewolf history—part folklore, part true crime, part Hollywood myth-making. It starts with ancient wolf legends, dives into horrifying witch-trial-era scapegoats, and ends with the 1941 Wolf Man movie that basically invented the werewolf rules everyone thinks are ancient. It’s spooky, smart, and weirdly heartfelt.

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Too Close to Home

A quiet small town, a trusted babysitting favor, and two classmates with a plan so cold it still chills Pocatello nearly two decades later. This case is a devastating reminder that the people who seem most ordinary can be hiding something horrific.

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AITA #2

Join us for another AITA episode. Remeber to rate and review and tell us if we were wrong or right!

The Enenma, The Hysteria, and the Whale

Before modern medicine kind of got their act together, doctors tried...a lot. This week we cover the wildest, most cringe-inducing treatments history has to offer-where the remedy was often worse than the disease, and nobdy stopped to ask if it should be done.

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Big Three 101

Just asking "what's your sign?" is so passe. What you really want is thier big three-sun, moon, and rising. This episode goes over how your not just "insert sign here," but a magical, mysitcal chaos more than that.

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What the Walls Hold

Most of us think walls are just for privacy or a bit of décor—turns out, they’ve played a much darker role in history, especially for women. This episode uncovers a shocking secret: centuries of women being walled up alive, buried alive, or held in tiny chambers as sacrosanct punishment, spiritual devotion, or political pawnage. Brace yourself—what you thought was just fairy tales and folklore was actually rooted in terrifying, real practices.From ancient Rome’s Vestal Virgins to medieval anchoresses who chose their wall life—who exactly locked these women up, and more creepily, who convinced them it was sacred? We break down the chilling logic behind using a woman’s body as a resource for communal protection. Think: idealized sacrifice, divine purity, or just an excuse for deeply patriarchal control. We explore story after story that blurs the line between honor and horror—heroines or victims, depending on who’s writing the history. You’ll discover: the stories behind the founding deposits, the myth of Rapunzel’s tower as an echo of real female confinement, and how folklore preserves these ancient fears and rituals. We also analyze the dark reason why some women willingly chose enclosure—finding spiritual authority in the most extreme of circumstances. Plus, the terrifying that women were sometimes imprisoned because of accusations or political moves, not choice.Why does this matter? Because understanding this history reveals how patriarchy, fear, and religion fueled the idea that an enclosed woman is a powerful, sacred protector—or a helpless sacrifice. It’s a mirror for our own struggles with gender roles and control today. If you think walls are just for houses, think again—they’ve been symbols of both protection and oppression for millennia.This episode is a wild dive into the depths of history’s most unsettling practices—and how stories we cherish may hide stories of women silenced, walled up, and often, forgotten. Perfect for history buffs, psychology fans, or anyone questioning the real power of the walls we all live with. Hit play—you won’t look at closed doors the same way again.

Kaspar Hauser-German Man of Mystery

Unraveling the Mysterious Case of Casper Hauser: The Boy Who Could Be Royal or Just Really Good at Lying Get ready for a tale as tangled as your grandma's spaghetti. In this episode, we dive into the bizarre, spooky, and totally confusing story of Casper Hauser—a kid who popped up in 1828 Germany claiming to be a prince... or maybe just a serial liar? Either way, it’s a rollercoaster of royal theories, childhood trauma, and DNA drama that has baffled scientists for 200 years. The ongoing debate: was Casper a victim, a fraud, or a little of both? Timestamps: 00:00 - The fun heaping scoop on Casper Hauser’s bizarre life 02:50 - Casper's childhood in a dark cell and the theories behind his rapid language skills 05:20 - The royal prince theories and why the Bavarian king was so concerned 08:30 - Close calls: firework accidents, escape attempts, and mysterious attacks 15:10 - The wild story of letters from a supposed mother and the emotions involved 19:30 - The DNA investigations from 1996 to 2024 and what the latest tests revealed 22:08 - Psychological analysis: Autism, multiple personality, or just a pathological liar? 26:00 - The royal conspiracy, swap theories, and the potential stolen prince 36:30 - Casper’s death: murder or accident? The ambiguous wound and final note 44:00 - Modern medical understanding and the impact of social deprivation 49:00 - The legacy of Casper Hauser: why his story is still fascinating todayResources & Links: The Enigma of Casper Hauser (1974 film) iScience Study on Casper Hauser DNA (2024) DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) Explanation

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The Campus Killer: Gainesville's Darkest Semester

Fall 1990, University of Florida students returned to campus only to find their college town had become a hunting ground. 5 students over a few days, 3 previously in Shrevesport, LA.

Digging Up the Dead: The Curious World of Death Photography

Buckle up Buttercups, because today we're diving into a topic as old as time—death photography! Whether it's Victorian postmortems, colorful Mexican Dia de los Muertos traditions, or modern memorial photos, this episode explores how humans have always used pictures to hold on to loved ones... even after they've gone. Plus, a few creepy family snaps and a dash of cultural weirdness. Resources & Links: Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep — Organization providing compassionate remembrance photography Coco (Movie) — Celebrating Día de los Muertos traditions The Order of the Good Death — Advocacy for death positivity and open conversations about mortality Caitlin Doughty’s Website — Death educator and founder of The Order A Brief History of Victorian Postmortem Photography — Deep dive into the Victorian death photo craze

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Good News? In THIS Economy?!

In this lively episode, Sarah and Sheena dive into a whirlwind of feel-good stories from around the globe. From a tool-using cow in Austria to the resurgence of sea turtles in Florida, the hosts celebrate the quirky and uplifting news that often goes unnoticed. They also share heartwarming tales of human kindness, like a teacher crafting quilts for her students and a firefighter heroically saving a woman from a flooded car. With a sprinkle of humor and a dash of curiosity, this episode is a delightful reminder of the good happening in the world.