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With the motto "Money, Sex, and Joy", you could be fooled into thinking that being part of The Order of the Solar Temple sounds fun. Their motto might have sounded attractive, but the strict rules, complete loyalty, and oh yeah, dying at the whim of your leader might be a turn off. In October 1994, the world watched as the bodies started to pile up in Europe and Canada. Members and their families were ritualistically murdered before being ceremonially set on fire. This club is not for everyone! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the new homeowners arrived at their dream house, they were touched to find a welcome letter in the mailbox. It was such a thoughtful and old-fashioned custom for 2014. But what they read was terrifying and marked the beginning of a nightmare that lasted for years. "Allow me to welcome you to the neighborhood. My grandfather watched the house in the 1920s and my father watched in the 1960s. It is now my time. Do you know what lies within the walls? You have children. I have seen them. Once I know their names, I will call to them and draw them to me. Welcome my friends, welcome. Let the party begin.” It was signed The Watcher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s all fun and games … until you get caught. In the 1950s, game shows were all the rage. Producers were under immense pressure to make the shows entertaining to keep audiences tuning in. They quickly realized the guaranteed way to create drama was to rig the outcome. But when a disgruntled “loser“ blew the whistle, the hoax was revealed and the genre almost disappeared forever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a boy growing up in Germany in the late 1880s, Hans Schmidt enjoyed some pretty disturbing past-times. If he wasn’t hanging out at the town’s slaughterhouse mesmerized by the carnage, he was slicing the heads off animals just to watch the blood flow. Years later, as a priest within the ranks of the Catholic church, he would go on to do far worse. By the time he was arrested in 1913, Father Schmidt had committed a long list of crimes, but it’s what he did to a young woman in New York City that sent him to the electric chair. To this day, he is the only Catholic priest in US history to be executed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ever since the invention of the freezer, people have been using it for imaginative ways to store stuff. Why not? Why would you expect to find anything other than frozen dinners and stale ice cubes in there? But if you need safe and secure storage for things you don’t want people to find, there’s no better place. From the congressman who stashed almost $100k in frozen pie crust boxes to the 97-year-old woman whose granddaughter wanted to continue to collect government assistance, the freezer is the one place people don’t look. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When two police officers arrived at the side entrance of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in the early hours of March 18th, 1990, the night guard buzzed them in. They said they were responding to a disturbance call and had a few questions. Before he had time to react, the officers had him in handcuffs. Just over an hour later, the two men dressed in police uniforms exited the side door, loaded their car, and drove off with over half a billion dollars in artwork. Over 30 years later, the stolen items have never been found and no one has ever been charged. To this day, it’s the most valuable property theft of all time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s incredibly rare for astronauts to make headlines for anything other than their epic space adventures. But in 2007, astronaut Lisa Nowak changed that when she drove 900 miles across the country to threaten her astronaut ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend. With a successful career in the US Navy and NASA’s elite space program, she wasn’t one to take rejection lightly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Like any small community, it's hard to keep anything secret. But in the late 1970s, the quiet town of Circleville, Ohio found out just how deadly secrets could be. In a series of anonymous letters that brings new meaning to the old saying, the pen is mightier than the sword, a mystery writer used whatever information they could find to terrorize their targets. The letters, which number in the hundreds, have ruined lives, destroyed families, and left the people of Circleville terrified of skeletons in the closet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the only known case where a ghost helped police solve her own murder, the Greenbrier Ghost is not the only time the deceased have spoken from beyond to identify their killer. In their online blog, a victim documented the minutes leading up to his murder. And when a Russian spy was poisoned by a radioactive substance, he was able to tell officials where, how and when he was killed. Just when they thought they got away with murder, the dead had more to say. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1968, while most of the world was looking toward space as the new frontier, a group of adventurers back on earth was embarking on an intrepid voyage of their own. The goal was to be the first person in history to sail around the world solo…. non-stop! It was called the Golden Globe Race and would test even the most experienced sailor, both physically and mentally. No assistance, total isolation, and mother nature constantly trying to sink them, racers risked it all for the excitement and glory. Some would die trying. Nine boats entered that year. Only one crossed the finished line. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most people have watched a high-speed police chase on television. There’s excitement and drama, but most of all, it’s the anticipation of how and when it will end that captures our attention. While most pursuits conclude with the driver pulling over and surrendering, some end in such spectacular fashion that even the police are left shocked. From driving straight off the edge of a cliff into the ocean to trying to get away backwards in a limo, some people will do anything to escape a hot pursuit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It can be a zoo out there, especially in the world of crime. Just when authorities think they’ve seen it all, they’re reminded that, no, they really haven’t. In 2018, a man was kidnapped and held for ransom in a hotel room… by an alligator. Not weird enough? How about a parrot that helped put a murderer behind bars? Or the Florida Gators fan that used an actual Florida gator as a weapon? So yeah…that happened. You know it’s a jungle out there when animals get involved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the events leading up to someone’s death raise more alarm bells than the actual cause of death, you know there’s a rabbit hole just waiting to be explored. The more chaotic and random the victim’s movements are prior to their demise, the more challenging it can be to put the pieces together. If the case doesn’t go cold, that is. The strange last days of both Blair Adams and John Wheeler top the list of bizarre cases of erratic behavior that still have investigators puzzled. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a German convent near the River Rhine in the 15th century, a nun started biting her fellow sisters who, in turn, began biting other nuns. Soon, the convent was full of holy servants uncontrollably biting each other. From there, it spread to other convents throughout the region. Physicians at the time could find no medical reason to explain the bizarre behavior and it would be a while before the term “mass hysteria” was coined. The biting eventually subsided, but that wouldn’t be the last time a large group of people experienced a collective psychological episode, nor would it be the strangest. Not even close. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s the short con and there’s the long game. The short con is quick, over in the blink of an eye while the long con can take days or even weeks. Then there’s Christian Gerhartsreiter. The game he played was on a whole different level. His con took place over the course of three decades and involved one of the most famous and wealthy families in America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On January 25, 1972, an explosion ripped through the baggage compartment of JAT Flight 367. The plane tore apart at 33,000 feet. Metal, luggage and people fell to the earth. When the fuselage was found moments later, people were stunned to hear a scream coming from inside. They found flight attendant Vesna Vulovic, broken and battered, but still alive. She has the distinction of surviving a fall from the highest recorded height. She’s not the only one, however, to have fallen thousands of feet and survived. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the world of medicine, there are plenty of curious cases that keep doctors guessing. Every now and then, however, there are things happening with a patient that simply can’t be explained. Such is the case of Gloria Ramirez, whose mysterious condition transformed her into a chemical weapon. With medical staff falling like dominos all around her, the patient would become known as “The Toxic Lady”. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At first sight, Marilyn Hartman looks like the quintessential grandmother – white hair, petite, with a friendly smile and overall disarming disposition. You don’t really give her a second look. However, over the years, her unassuming natural camouflage has enabled her to sneak past security and onto numerous commercial flights, earning her the nickname “the serial stowaway”. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since 1927, giant inflatable character balloons have been an iconic part of the famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The balloons can be a staggering 6 stories tall and are maneuvered through the streets of Manhattan by groups of almost 100 strong people below. That may seem like a large number of people to handle a helium-filled balloon, until something goes wrong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

They say that funerals are for the living, not for the dead. While traditions may vary, the sentiment remains the same, sending departed spirits off to their next adventure. For some of these rituals, the only limit, beyond the law, is the imagination. From extreme embalming, otherwise known as corpse posing, to Tibetan sky burials, where the entire body is devoured by vultures, there’s no shortage of fascinatingly macabre practices. Oh, did we mention erotic funerals? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices