In this episode, Samantha and Aaron take listeners on a wild ride from the middle ages to the 1990s, trying to get to the bottom of the legend behind the stone ruins along the Ohio River in Utica, Indiana. In the end, Samantha and Aaron come up with their own theory about the Witches’ Castle of Utica.

Time Stamps

• History of Utica- 3:06
• Witch Legends- 6:40
• Sharer Murder- 13:40
• Legend or Lie- 24:51
• Some Real History- 28:25
• Newspaper and Internet Sources- 32:50
• Prince Madoc- 44:38
• Wrapping It Up- 49:50

Links

• The Accidental Spook on the Witches' Castle
• More on the Witch Legends
• More on Madoc

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Episode Notes

Sam and Aaron return to address your questions and comments about their two most recent episodes on wolf lore and the Michigan Dogman.

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Episode Notes

In this week’s episode Samantha and Aaron dive into the legend and various sightings of Michigan’s Dogman. This state’s canid creature warrants treatment outside apart from other dog creature sightings, thanks to the song from a local DJ and the Gable film. Tune in as they discuss these things, as well as things the dogman is not and the importance of thorough research methods. Tune in and enjoy the discussion.

Time Stamps:\ Introduction- 00:57\ “The Song”- 5:19\ What Dogman Isn’t- 08:20\ Sightings- 16:26\ Legend or Lie- 26:58\ More Sightings- 31:30\ North American Dogman Project- 41:05\ The Gable Film- 51:22\ Final Thoughts- 57:34

Sources and Links\ The Michigan Dogman by Linda Godfrey\ North American Dogman Project\ Gable Film\ The Legend

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Episode Notes

The legends of Dogmen and wolf beings loom large in the worlds of cryptozoology and the paranormal. In this episode, as a prelude to an exploration of the Dogman mythos, Samantha and Aaron dive into the historical lore of wolves, comparing European and Native American perceptions of wolves, manifestations of wolves in popular culture, and discussing why they are a good subject for supernatural tales.

Sources\ Culture, prophecy bind Ojibwe people and wolves (Northern Wilds)\ When the Beast of Gévaudan Terrorized France (Smithsonian)\ Of Wolves and Men by Barry Holstun Lopez\ Vicious: Wolves and Men in America by Jon T. Coleman

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Episode Notes

Happy Halloween!

Samantha and Aaron are celebrating by answering a whole bunch of YOUR questions about Halloween and general spooky stuff! Thanks to everyone who sent in questions and be sure to come back tomorrow for the first part of our exploration of Dogman lore.

The Bobby Pickett Monster Mash video Sam refers to is here!

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Episode Notes

Today, we address listener questions and comments from our recent episode, The Paranormal is Personal. Next week, it's the beginning of our exploration of the "Dogman" mythos. And be sure to catch our special Halloween Question and Answer session on October 31!

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Episode Notes

In this episode, Samantha and Aaron step back from examining actual pieces of lore in order to share their own personal paranormal experiences. They examine the reasons why eye-witness testimonies of supernatural phenomena need to be handled with care, the ways their own experiences influence the way they interpret those from others, and how their training as historians has prepared them to analyze sources.

Time Stamps History of Paranormal Research- 2:20 Analyzing Sources- 13:46 Personal Stories- 15:55 Legend or Lie- 39:47 Interpreting the Paranormal- 44:06 The Desire to Have an Encounter- 54:07

Sources For this episode we relied on a lot of articles to help us explain some of the thoughts we had about why people believe in the paranormal, what can influence that belief, and the power of biases. In case you’d like to look at these, we’ve divided them into helpful categories.

On the Public's Belief in Ghosts Why do People Believe in Ghosts? (The Atlantic) [The Truth about the Paranormal] (BBC)(https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20141030-the-truth-about-the-paranormal) Why do We Like a Scary Story? (Oxford Open Learning)

On Dark vs. Supernatural Tourism Dark Tourism, Explained (Washington Post) Dark Tourism: The Most Haunted Destinations in the World (Culture Trip)

On Why We Like to Feel Scared Why People will Pay to Feel Scared (The Atlantic)

On Cryptids So Why do People Believe in Bigfoot Anyway? (California Magazine) Have Scientists Finally Killed off the Loch Ness Monster? (The Conversation) Why Won't Scientific Evidence Change the Minds of Loch Ness Monster True Believers? (The Conversation)

For a complete look at the Fox sisters and some pieces of nineteenth-century spiritualism, this Smithsonian article provides a good overview. Samantha also relied on previous research regarding the idea of a “Good Death” and the Civil War from Drew Gilpin Faust’s This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War.

Aaron and Samantha visited the Michigan Bigfoot Conference in this episode of The Saucer Life

The quotation that begins the second part of the episode is from Aaron’s book The Chaos Conundrum.

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Episode Notes

Due to listener demand, we're going to be including the Monday Mail Call as a regular episode from now on. In this installment, you'll get listener questions and feed back from our first two episodes--The Dudgeon Swamp Mystery and The Mad Gasser of Mattoon.

We'll see you back here in a week for The Paranormal is Personal...

Timestamps 0:00- Opening music 0:16- The Dudgeon Swamp Mystery 15:17- The Mad Gasser of Mattoon

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Episode Notes

“He moves through the night as nimbly and secretly as a cat, squirting a sweetish gas through bedroom windows.” -(citation needed)

In this episode Samantha and Aaron are exploring the case of the Mad Gasser of Mattoon! In late-August and September of 1944 the citizens of Mattoon, Illinois began reporting cases of sweet smells in the home at night, followed by physical symptoms, such as a burning throat and temporary paralysis. Was there really an “anesthetic prowler” attacking the residents of Mattoon or is there another explanation? 

Time Stamps: Intro- 0:00 Setting the Scene- 3:10 What the Papers Said- 6:52 Legend or Lie?- 44:58 Paranormal Explanations- 49:17 Psychological Explanations- 57:53 An Actual Criminal?- 1:08:51

Note! There are a couple of spots that had some brief, un-fixable audio distortion–only a second or so, here and there. Thank you for understanding. For More Information: On the Gassings in Botetourt County On Spring-Heeled Jack On The Dancing Plague of 1518

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Episode Notes

In our inaugural episode, the Great Lakes Lore team will be diving into the sources and exploring the deaths of a father and son in rural, 1920s West Michigan. The Dudgeon family moved to White Cloud, Michigan in 1905 and, less than twenty years later three members of the family were convicted of murder. Were they guilty or were the locals out to get the new folks in town? 

A special thanks to the folks at The October Project for bringing together many of the primary sources we used in our research. You can find Meda’s handwritten account of her husband’s death there, as well as more pictures and the history by Harry Spooner that we reference.

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This podcast is powered by Pinecast.