Strange and Dreadful Things

Miriam Grinstead loved the swing that her brother John had built in the hayloft above their garage. There wasn't a lot to do in Devil's Lake, North Dakota, and this was something that her and her siblings could all use...

Fifty years ago, Mary Schlais was murdered and left in a rural Wisconsin ditch. For decades, decades searched for her killer. Now, thanks to a new scientific discipline called Forensic Genealogy, her killer has finally...

Halloween is a time for make-believe frights and kids to trick or treat at neighborhood houses. In 1957, the Halloween fun turned into a true crime horror story when the childrens past time resulted in an all-too real...

In October 1959, a newspaper near Buffalo, Iowa, reported a bizarre story about what may have been a ghost in a local cemetery. Could the cemetery there actually be haunted, or was something else going on?

The Pfister Hotel is one of the grandest and most historic hotels in the United States. Situated in beautiful downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Pfister has faithfully served its guests for over 130 years. However...

Built in the mid-1800's, the Renwick Mansion is probably the best example of Italianate architecture in the Quad Cities. In short, it's a really cool-looking house. But over the years, many people have claimed to have...

When John and Ida Harris didn’t answer their door in 1895, the visitor knew something was wrong. Cautiously they opened the door. The nightmare they saw inside would stay with them the rest of their lives. Come hear a...

A few days before Christmas 1939, Stephen Melkey was struck by a car near South Bend, Indiana, and thrown nearly 40 feet through the air before landing. When the police arrived, they found that someone had tied his...

Quarters One is the second largest government-owned private residence next to the White House. Over the past 150 years, it has hosted politicians, soldiers, and celebrities in its gilded rooms. Some say that some of...

On a summer day in 2001, Donna Stabile knocked on the front door of Leticia Aguilar. She babysat Leticia's five children nearly every night but hadn't seen them for a few day. Donna had started to get worried, so she...

When its population peaked at around one-hundred people, Moonville could barely have been called a town. Regardless of its size, Moonville grew a reputation for being hard to get to and having an unusual amount of train...

In this remastered version of an earlier episode: In 1958, a legendary flood struck western Iowa that would claim many, and would forever change the lives of all those who survived.

The Lake Hope Furnace has stood for over one-hundred years, a remnant of the former thriving iron industry in southern Ohio. But its more than a historical monument. The furnace is the home of one of Ohio's most famous...

In 1937, Howard Long had a good life - a good wife, his own business, and a stable income during the Great Depression. All of that came to sudden halt when he was arrested and thrown in a jail cell with three other men...

In this remastered edition of an earlier podcast: In 1907, henry Warren walked into a local newspaper and placed an ad for a wife. He became a sensation, and was dubbed 'Loving Henry.' But under his charming good looks...