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Amanda and Sarah meet at the intersection of sex and crime with two very different stories. Amanda celebrates Women's History Month with the story of Jane Toppan, a nurse/serial killer believed to derive pleasure from drugging her patients to death. Sarah investigates the historical connections between execution by hanging, the mandrake root, and erotic asphyxiation. Other subjects covered include the masculine urge to send bad gifs, chore preferences, and bunny decor.  Recommendations: Amanda recommends the films Remember My Name and Cruising. Sarah recommends the book How to Keep House While Drowning. Sources: “Autoerotic Deaths,” Practical Forensic and Investigative Perspectives Wikipedia/Erotic asphyxiation Wikipedia/Death erection BBC News (The plant that can kill and cure) "Myths and mandrakes" by Anthony John Carter Botanical.com (Mandrake) Wikipedia/Jane Toppan New England Historical Society (JOLLY JANE TOPPAN, THE KILLER NURSE OBSESSED WITH DEATH) NY Daily News (Killer Boston nurse finally went too far when she poisoned entire family in 1901) Find A Grave (Jane Toppan) Radford University (Jane Toppan “Jolly Jane”) For updates on future episodes and other fun stuff, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or check out our Patreon. 

Get out your charts, ghouls, cos Amanda and Sarah have an episode chock full of hot zodiac takes, including double the Ass-trology. Other subjects covered include sex rags, reality TV, sisterly tampon pressure, and a gruesome Mario Bros. character.  For updates on future episodes and other fun stuff, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or check out our Patreon. 

Amanda and Sarah explore a questionable haunting and even more questionable condition. Sarah provides updates on The Demon of Brownsville Road (originally covered in Episode 37), a Pittsburgh-area case of a family terrorized by a supernatural presence in their home. Amanda investigates penis-snatching, a phenomenon where men believe their genitalia was stolen through magic.  Recommendations: Amanda recommends the film Men and the third installment of Shudder's documentary series In Search of Darkness.  Sources:  CNN (7 killed in Ghana over 'penis-snatching' episodes) Vice (Witches Allegedly Stole Penises and Kept Them as Pets in the Middle Ages) Harper's Magazine (A Mind Dismembered) Pacific Standard (Africa’s genital-stealing crime wave hits the countryside) Reuters (Penis theft hits city) For updates on future episodes and other fun stuff, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or check out our Patreon. 

Amanda and Sarah take a dose of true crime with a case about a con artist and a locked-room mystery. Amanda goes to Arkansas for the story of how Norman Baker lured victims into the famous Crescent Hotel with fake cancer treatments. Sarah investigates the unsolved 1931 murder of Julia Wallace, who was found beaten to death in her Liverpool home. Other subjects covered include a creepy country ballad, an Alex Jones Chili-Gate explainer, and a Richard Attenborough love fest.  Recommendations: Amanda recommends the films Brighton Rock and 10 Rillington Place. Sarah recommends Skinamarink.  Sources:  Shedunnit Podcast (The Telephone Call) Echo (Unsolved 'locked room' murder that's puzzled detectives for 88 years) The Crime Wire (The Unsolved Murder of Julia Wallace) The Julia Wallace Murder Foundation Arkansas Times (Graphic nonfiction illuminates a dark story from Crescent Hotel’s past) Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Glass bottles found behind 'haunted' Arkansas hotel date to 1938 cancer elixir) Crescent Hotel History Atlas Obscura (Found: A Quack’s Medicine Bottles, Buried Behind a Haunted Hotel) For updates on future episodes and other fun stuff, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or check out our Patreon. 

Amanda and Sarah welcome guest Genevieve Barbee-Turner, a professional tarot illustrator with multiple custom decks to her name. Genevieve discusses her theories on tarot and its uses, and how her decks serve to tell stories with a social justice angle. She recently launched a Kickstarter for her next project HAUNTED: An Appalachian Tarot Deck, described as being inspired "by Appalachian folklore and urban legends from Southwestern PA, West Virginia, and Eastern Ohio." Find her work at Killerpancake Illustration: https://killerpancakeillustration.com/ And the HAUNTED Kickstarter at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/killerpancake/haunted-an-appalachian-tarot-deck Recommendations: Amanda recommends the movies M3GAN and Hellbender. Sarah recommends the Britcom Chewing Gum.  For updates on future episodes and other fun stuff, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or check out our Patreon. 

Sorry, ghouls, no new episode. We'll see you in two weeks. 

Amanda and Sarah revisit an episode from back when they were still figuring out this whole podcasting thing and didn't have a decent mixer. It still slaps. Originally posted as Episode 43 on March 14, 2019.  Just a warning: This episode contains references to sexual violence, bodily trauma, and some disturbing, gory details about pregnancy. Listener discretion advised.  Amanda and Sarah give birth to instances of pregnancy horror for this episode. Sarah goes way back to the 1700s for the harrowing story of Mary Toft, an English woman who became a sensation when she started giving birth to rabbits. Amanda heads back to present day for the case of Sanju Bhagat and the medical oddity known as fetus in fetu. Other subjects covered include a Bootleg Bart bully and a fun cyst story. Recommendations: Sarah recommends X-Files episode "Humbug" and the music video about the beloved late polar bear, Knut. Sarah and Amanda DO NOT RECOMMEND the Selkie-inspired book Sealskin by Su Bristow. Sources:  Wikipedia/Mary Toft What Mary Toft Felt: Women’s Voices, Pain, Power and the Body by Karen Harvey The Paris Review (An Extraordinary Delivery of Rabbits) The Public Domain Review (Mary Toft and Her Extraordinary Delivery of Rabbits) ABC News (Bearing Your Own Twin) Cracked (The 7 Most Horrifying Things Ever Discovered in a Human Body)   For updates on future episodes and other fun stuff, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Amanda and Sarah head to Italy to dance with the puppets and cry blood with the saints. Amanda becomes a real girl with a dive into the disturbing, cautionary, pre-Disney origins of Pinocchio. Sarah prays to St. Lucy/Lucia, whose reputation for gouging out her own eyes has inspired traditions and desserts in Italy and Sweden. Other subjects covered include never buying a new car, making up Olivia Newton-John lore, and hating Elf on the Shelf.  Recommendations: Sarah recommends (so far) the Netflix show 1889. Amanda recommends (kinda) the Amazon Prime series Three Pines.  Sources: Norwegian American (On the darkest day, a tale of two “Lucys”) Wyrd Designs (Glad Lussinatt) Tradition in Action (The Feast of St. Lucy Inspires Charming Customs) Slow Italy (Santa Lucia celebration in Italy) Wikipedia/Saint Lucy NBC News (Pinocchio's Real Roots Mapped) Smithsonian Magazine (The Real Story of Pinocchio Tells No Lies) The New Yorker (What the Original “Pinocchio” Really Says About Lying/The Transformations of Pinocchio) For updates on future episodes and other fun stuff, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or check out our Patreon. 

Amanda and Sarah serve up multiple helpings of a Fuck-Marry-Kill game with different famous cannibals. Other subjects covered include proper mac n' cheese settings, penial speculums, and the fluidity of Leatherface.  For updates on future episodes and other fun stuff, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or check out our Patreon. 

Amanda and Sarah head back to the farm to finish up a two-parter and take down a viral rumor. Sarah finishes up her retelling of the Caledonia Mills haunting in Nova Scotia. Amanda examines the belief among TikTok users that U.S. national parks are infested with feral cannibals. Other subjects covered include loving on lettuces, hating on Thanksgiving, and not buying bad movie jewelry.  For more on Esther Cox and the Great Amherst Mystery mentioned in this episode, see Episode 116: Handsome Hollywood Dildo.  Sources: Fire Spook, the Mysterious Nova Scotia Haunting by Monica Graham. Nimbus Publishing Limited, 2013 The Lineup (A Haunting at Caledonia Mills: The Chilling Case of the Mary Ellen Spook Farm) "My Experiences at the MacDonald Homestead" by H. B. Whidden For updates on future episodes and other fun stuff, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or check out our Patreon. 

Amanda and Sarah do Halloween right with a festive true crime case and a harrowing haunting. Amanda fills your candy bag up with the story of Peter Fabiano, aka the Trick or Treat Murder. Sarah unveils part one of a two-parter about the Mary Ellen Spook Farm of Caledonia Mills. Other subjects covered include impersonating Jennifer Coolidge, slipping into Scorpio season, and inventing a new milk.  Recommendations: Amanda recommends the new Unsolved Mysteries season on Netflix, and the Netflix anthology series Cabinet of Curiosities. Sarah does not recommend the movie Antlers.  Sources: Fire Spook, the Mysterious Nova Scotia Haunting by Monica Grahaham. Nimbus Publishing Limited, 2013 The Lineup (A Haunting at Caledonia Mills: The Chilling Case of the Mary Ellen Spook Farm) "My Experiences at the MacDonald Homestead" by H. B. Whidden Daily News (The Trick or Treat Murder) Vice (The Bizarre Lesbian Murder Scandal That Rocked 1950s LA) Newspapers.com (Lansing State Journal) For updates on future episodes and other fun stuff, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or check out our Patreon. 

Amanda and Sarah finally go ghost hunting! Guests Carrie and Katie discuss their paranormal investigation into a presumably haunted Pittsburgh spot, and they have the audio to prove it. Katie also goes into her years-long love of ghost hunting, explains the culture, and provides tips on how to do your own investigations. Other subjects covered include ranking the best personal Halloween costumes, lusting after characters from spooky TV shows, and singing to your chickens.   You can find Carrie on her own podcast What I Love About Myself. For updates on future episodes and other fun stuff, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or check out our Patreon. 

Amanda and Sarah revisit an episode from back when they were still figuring out this whole podcasting thing and didn't have a decent mixer. It still slaps. Originally posted as Episode 23 on Oct. 11, 2018.  Because there are no rules and everything is chaos, this episode is a grab bag! Amanda talks about the real-life strength ministry Power Team and scarecrow lore. Sarah gets behind osculum infame (or the Kiss of Shame), a supposed ritual where people greeted the Devil by kissing his butt. Other subjects covered include justifiably blaming stuff on your period, a funny spousal dream, and dirty fighting with Amazon purchases. Recommendations: Sarah recommends the very academic but very rewarding book "Caliban and the Witch: Women, The Body And Primitive Accumulation" by Silvia Federici and "The Kiss in History" by Karen Harvey. Amanda does not recommend watching the new Netflix film, Hold the Dark.  Sources: Vice (The Power Team Was the Bloody, Evangelical Freakshow That Ruled the 80s) ThoughtCo (Scarecrow Folklore and Magic) This tweet from @LoreCurious "Caliban and the Witch: Women, The Body And Primitive Accumulation" by Silvia Federici "The Osculum Infame: Heresy, Secular Culture and the Image of the Witches’ Sabbath" by Jonathan Durrant "The Kiss in History" by Karen Harvey For updates on future episodes and other fun stuff, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or check out our Patreon. 

Amanda and Sarah get real loopy in this extra-long episode about warding and winged cryptids. Sarah explains the origins of the cornicello, the evil eye, and the Roman obsession with dicks. Amanda gets inspired by her recent trip to the Pacific Northwest with a tale about the Batsquatch of Mount St. Helens. Other subjects covered include little Caboodles, dog clothes for humans, and messy adventures aboard Viking River cruises.  Recommendations: Sarah recommends (not really) the horror films A House on the Bayou and An American Werewolf in London. Amanda recommends the 1987 thriller Suspect.  Sources: Wikipedia/Fascinus Wikipedia/Cornicello Top 7 Things to Know about Malocchio or the Italian Evil Eye Atlas Obscura (Romans Used to Ward Off Sickness With Flying Penis Amulets) Spooked - Episode 211: Holy Ghost LA Times (Ancient Deities Dwelt in Cascades’ ‘Black Snow’ : Mythology: Native American legends give life to volcanic activity. Stories parallel actual events, including the creation of Crater Lake and eruption of Mt. Shasta) Atlas Obscura (Is the Earth Actually Hollow?) The Oregonian (‘Batsquatch of Mount St. Helens’ explores NW legend) Brewbound (Rogue’s Monsters of IPA Campaign is Back) For updates on future episodes and other fun stuff, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or check out our Patreon. 

Amanda and Sarah touch on two wronged women of history with a U.K. case and a famous princess. Sarah takes on Bessie Dunlop, a 16th-century Scottish farmer's wife whose strange encounters with fae folk got her into big trouble. Amanda covers Juana of Castile, a supposedly troubled noblewoman beset by awful, power-hungry men. Other subjects covered include the perils of poison ivy, the many armpits of the body, and the tragic consequences of royal inbreeding.  Recommendations: Amanda recommends the 1983 folk horror film Eyes of Fire.  Sources: “Witch, Fairy and Folktale Narratives in the Trial of Bessie Dunlop” In Fantastical Imaginations: The Supernatural in Scottish History and Culture , ed. Lizanne Henderson “The Cult of the Seely Wights in Scotland” Author(s): Julian Goodare Source: Folklore, Vol. 123, No. 2 (August 2012) https://www.jstor.org/stable/41721541 Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft, by Walter Scott, [1830] Wikipedia/Bessie Dunlop THE LIFE AND DEATH OF BESSIE DUNLOP, THE WITCH OF LYNN The Sunday Post (For Bessie: Ayrshire community unites to remember Dalry woman executed in Scotland’s witch trials) Britannica (Joan, queen of Castile and Aragon) Town & Country (What Was Catherine of Aragon's Sister, Juana la Loca, Really Like?) Esquire (The Tragic Story of the Mad Queen of Castile Who Slept Next to Her Husband's Corpse) The Mary Sue (The Spanish Princess Tackled One of Spain’s Most Infamous Female Monarchs) The Spectator (Sad, not mad)   For updates on future episodes and other fun stuff, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or check out our Patreon. 

Amanda and Sarah welcome guest Chauncey Johnston, a Pittsburgh hairstylist extraordinaire with a few stories about her haunted encounters working at the Buhl Mansion Guesthouse & Spa in Sharon, Pa. Other subjects covered include dislodging your diva cup, masturbating at work, and living near an ice cream cone factory.  For updates on future episodes and other fun stuff, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or check out our Patreon. 

Amanda and Sarah focus more on sex for their 169th episode. Sarah wades into the rusalka, a type of Slavic water spirit with a taste for singing, hair styling, and luring men to their deaths. Amanda goes Dutch with the incredible story of the Oversteegen sisters, who used the power of seduction to take down Nazis. Other topics covered include scat humor, hentai, and traumatizing Amanda with frogman art. Recommendations: Amanda recommends seeing the new horror film Nope.  Sources: JStor (Russian Peasant Beliefs Concerning the Unclean Dead and Drought, Within the Context of the Agricultural Year” by Elizabeth A. Warner, Folklore, Vol. 122, No. 2 (August 2011), pp. 155-175 Wikipedia/Rusalka  Washington Post (Freddie Oversteegen, Dutch resistance fighter who killed Nazis through seduction, dies at 92) Vice (This 90-Year-Old Lady Seduced and Killed Nazis as a Teenager) New York Times (Freddie Oversteegen, Gritty Dutch Resistance Fighter, Dies at 92) This episode is sponsored by the Mattress Factory museum and its Urban Garden Party: ZODIAC taking place on Friday, August 12. Experience one of the most anticipated events in Pittsburgh, returning after a two-year hiatus to delight you with astrology and occult-themed activities, as well as cocktails, food, live music, dancing, and more. For more info, visit mattress.org/events. For updates on future episodes and other fun stuff, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or check out our Patreon. 

Amanda and Sarah sweat it out during an episode about creepy wall stuff and yet another Black Widow. Sarah tears down immurement, AKA the practice of trapping people or animals in walls for superstitious, religious, or punitive purposes. Amanda heads to Chicago for the tale of Tillie Klimek, a woman believed to have poisoned, many times fatally, around 20 people. Other subjects include ball sack enthusiasts, deadly spider inventions, and too many animal skeletons.  Recommendations: Amanda recommends the 1982 mystery thriller Still of the Night and the 1998 film Hush.  Sources: ATI (Immurement: A History Of Walled In Terror And Cruelty) WNEP (Family Makes Shocking Discovery Behind Walls During Home Renovations) "The Walled-In Woman in Medieval and Early Modern Spain” by Anne J. Cruz Wikipedia/Immurement SYFY Wire (CHICAGO'S 'MRS. BLUEBEARD,' TILLIE KLIMEK) Chicago Sun-Times (This week in history: Chicago serial killer Tillie Klimek dies in prison) Find a Grave (Ottilie “Tillie” Gburek Klimek) This episode is sponsored by the Mattress Factory museum and its Urban Garden Party: ZODIAC taking place on Friday, August 12. Experience one of the most anticipated events in Pittsburgh, returning after a two-year hiatus to delight you with astrology and occult-themed activities, as well as cocktails, food, live music, dancing, and more. For more info, visit mattress.org/events. For updates on future episodes and other fun stuff, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or check out our Patreon. 

Amanda and Sarah surprise each other with a shocking song origin and morbid fashion trend. Amanda reports on the connections between an assault on TV newsman Dan Rather, a random murder, and a hit by the band R.E.M. Sarah once again revisits the French Revolution for a look at how the major event inspired a wave of hairstyles and clothing. Other subjects covered include a radical feminist monster truck, plus bird facts, and Soviet chic. Sources:  The Transcript (Coiffure à la victime: The Urban Legend of the Guillotine Haircuts) Timeline (The protest haircut that defied the guillotine during the French Revolution) Wikipedia/Incroyables and merveilleuses Minniemuse (GALLIANO'S MUSLIN DISEASE) Rolling Stone (Flashback: Dan Rather’s ‘Kenneth, What Is the Frequency?’ Assault Inspires R.E.M., Game Theory) New York Times (Belatedly, the Riddle of an Attack on Rather Is Solved) Playbill (Dan Rather Attack Controversy Plays Out on Stage in Kenneth — What is the Frequency?) LA Times (Guilty Plea Ends NBC Shooting Case) "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" - R.E.M. This episode is sponsored by the Mattress Factory museum and its Urban Garden Party: ZODIAC taking place on Friday, August 12. Experience one of the most anticipated events in Pittsburgh, returning after a two-year hiatus to delight you with astrology and occult-themed activities, as well as cocktails, food, live music, dancing, and more. For more info, visit mattress.org/events. For updates on future episodes and other fun stuff, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or check out our Patreon. 

Amanda and Sarah go all-natural with deadly water features and weird animals. Sarah looks at the fascinating and sometimes dangerous appeal of waterfalls and the "lovers' leap" phenomenon. Amanda goes wild with stories about creepy critters like snakes, rats, and eels, as well as emus. Other subjects covered include a sleepwalking incident, a Bigfoot festival rundown, and another panty discussion.  Recommendations:  Amanda recommends the 1974 horror film Deathdream. Sources:  Historical Marker Database (The Legend of Lovers Leap) New England Historical Society (Six Lovers Leaps in New England) Blue Ridge Outdoors (Lovers’ Leaps) Icy Sedgwick (Wonderful Waterfall Folklore, Myths & Legends) Snap Judgment Presents: Spooked - Dismal Falls Daily Mail (Beware the 'rat king'!) Mental Floss (An (Almost) Comprehensive History of Rat Kings) ABC News ('Snake House': Family Home in Idaho Turns Out to Be 'Satan's Lair' of Serpents) Scientific American (The Great Emu War: In which some large, flightless birds unwittingly foiled the Australian Army) Atlas Obscura (In 1932, Australia Started an ‘Emu War’—And Lost) Buzzfeed (Eel Pit Day Will Go Down In TikTok History, And Eel Pit Guy Told Us He Was As Amped About It As We Were) Toronto Star (Why this ‘eel daddy’ TikToker built an eel pit inside his home) This episode is sponsored by the Mattress Factory museum and its Urban Garden Party: ZODIAC taking place on Friday, August 12. Experience one of the most anticipated events in Pittsburgh, returning after a two-year hiatus to delight you with astrology and occult-themed activities, as well as cocktails, food, live music, dancing, and more. For more info, visit mattress.org/events. For updates on future episodes and other fun stuff, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or check out our Patreon.