On Saturday night, April 11th, 1981, a young mother, her teenage son, and her son's teenage friend, were all violently murdered in the small, picturesque community of Keddie, California. One of her daughters was also kidnapped, and also murdered. No one was ever charged. Did local authorities help coverup the most gruesome killings in the history of Plumas County?

Did you know that in 1902, August Engelhardt travelled from Germany to a small island in the South Pacific and tried to build a community based mostly in worship of the sun, being naked all the time, and literally only eating coconuts? He tried for seventeen years. Oh yeah. This is a weird one.

Jim Bakker, and his wife, Tammy Faye, revolutionized tele-evangelism in the 1970s and 1980s. Their PTL Club, was, at it's height, pulling in millions a WEEK in donations to support their cause. But their cause was a lie. Jim was not who he claimed to be, and financial and sexual improprieties would send him to prison... before he got out and started running his scam all over again.

Do you have a plan in mind for what you would do in a doomsday event like nuclear war, alien invasion, a deadly plague, Terminator Skynet style "robots have turned against humanity" scenario, etc.? Some people do. Some very rich people. And it's insane what they're building in case everything goes off the rails.

From 1977 to 1980, Joseph Paul Franklin went on a multi-state murder and mayhem spree, bombing a synagogue, shooting at people exiting another, and shooting interracial couples, lone black men, women who had previously dated black men, and a white porn magazine owner for publishing nude photos of an interracial couple. All in a delusional attempt to ignite a race war.

Ervil LeBaron was raised by a cult leader... would have several brothers who were cult leaders...and would father several more cult leaders. And out of all of them, he was the worst. The Mormon Manson loved to call for blood atonement - ordering the execution of between 20 and 30 people, many of them rival cult leaders.

Have you ever heard of disturbing serial killer Richard Byrd? He raped and strangled eight young women to death in Las Vegas between 1991 and 2001, but almost no one has heard of him, because he was arrested... the day after 9/11. And he took a plea bargain and never went to trial. Hear his wild story today... and never think about hair brushes the same way again.

Today we explore what life was really like for ancient Greece's feared warriors, the Spartans. How close was it to the Hollywood depiction in movies like 300? We go over the history of the militaristic city-state and much more. For the glory of Sparta!

On July 2nd, 2021, 22 year-old Gabby Petito and her fiancé, 23 year old Brian Laundrie, left the quaint hamlet of Blue Point, Long Island to embark upon on a cross-country adventure in a white, modified, 2012 Ford Transit Connect van. Less than two months later, what appeared to be the trip of a lifetime based on social media posts, ended in both of their deaths.

Very informative episode today! I learned so much and hope you do too. We explore the history of human psychedelic usage, and also dive into the origin, properties, dangers, and benefits of the most popular psychedelics today: LSD, MDMA, Magic Mushrooms, DMT, and Peyote.

Did you ever think that overeating, specifically, could send your soul to Hell? Or that not losing enough weight, fast enough, could jeopardize your salvation? These are just some of the many terrible (and bizarre) messages that very skinny self-proclaimed "prophetess" Gwen Shamblin Lara preached before she died in a plane crash in 2021.

Jim Miller. Killin' Jim. Right before stepping off a wooden crate with a noose around his neck, in front of the members of the lynch mob that wanted him dead, Miller claimed to have killed 51 men. I believe him. This guy put the wild... in the wild west.

On the night of November 25th, 1996, Rick Wendorf, 49, and his partner Ruth Queen, 54, were beaten to death with a crowbar inside their home in Eustis, Florida, by a vampire over 500 years old known as Vesago. At least that's what their killer believed. "Vesago" was really Rod Ferrell, a sixteen year-old from Murray, Kentucky, who lost himself in a vampiric role playing game, and truly thought he'd become an immortal bloodsucker.

I might not be able to record any more podcasts because NOW MY BRAIN IS MELTED! Today, we explore the theoretical concept of the fourth dimension, see how it applies to the nature of our reality and our dreams, and explore how some think it proves the existence of the soul... and ghosts. (cue Twilight Zone melody...)

Today's Short Suck is all about John List. With a bankruptcy looming, worried about the shame he'd face for no longer being able to provide his family with the life they'd grown accustomed to, and supposedly worried about their salvation as well, John makes some extreme and horrific choices to "save" their souls.

Today I share the real practice and history of the classic Catholic exorcism that so many of us have seen in films like 1973's The Exorcist and 2023's The Pope's Exorcist. How does an exorcism actually work? Who qualifies? What is the official ritual? What is the history of exorcisms? All this and more in this demon-infested episode.

The Sunday Morning Slasher, Carl Watts, is thought to have killed over 100 women between Michigan and Texas, from 1974 to 1982. He's also the only US serial killer ever to almost be released from prison AFTER confessing to 13 murders in a plea deal. This guy was a creepy killing MACHINE.

Today's Short Suck is all about the weird, wild world of penis enlargement! What options are out there? Are they safe? And why are so many unsatisfied with the length and girth of their one-eyed willies?

Between 1998 and 2006, at least 48 elderly women were strangled to death in Mexico City. These murders would lead to Mexico's first ever investigation into an active serial killer. The task force was certain that a man was responsible for the killings, and were shocked to realize the killer was a middle-aged mother of four.

I've wanted to dig into this story for a couple of years now. Aaron seemed to have EVERYTHING going for him. And he threw it all away through committing the most confusing, impulsive acts of violence. How much did the severe case of CTE football gave him lead to the murder (and probably multiple murders) he committed?

Today's Short Suck is all about the life of Hugh Glass - the man whose insane story of surviving a Grizzly Bear attack inspired the 2015 Leonardo DiCaprio film, The Revenant.

In the Spring of 1993, three eight-year-old boys were murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas. And immediately, thanks to outlandish, paranoid Satanic Panic notions, investigative suspicion fell on a local eighteen-year-old, Damien Echols, ignorantly believed to be the leader of a local Satanic cult, and two of his teen friends, falsely believed to be his followers...

The story behind the new Iron Claw movie starring Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White. Was the Von Erich wrestling family actually cursed? I understand why some people think so. Five out of six of wrestling star Fritz Von Erich's sons would die prematurely and tragically, many of them dying shortly after the family became the most famous family in all of professional wrestling.

The first in what will hopefully be many Short Sucks! 45-60 minute stories delivered in a more traditional type of story-telling. No inside jokes and mythology to keep track of. Just some quick extra entertainment! This episode is all about the life of Grady Stiles, Jr. aka Lobster Boy, a "freak show" performer who truly was a monster.