Odd Things I've Seen: The Podcast

Episode 33: Visiting the Sites of the Martha Stewart of Serial Killers

My fascination with serial killers comes with a heaping load of shame, except for in one instance: Ed Gein. That's because without Gein, we might not have Norman Bates. Or Leatherface. Or Buffalo Bill. Or the Firefly family. So my shame load was only a mild one as I visited sites related to him in his hometown of Plainfield, Wisconsin. With my wife and two kids.

• See photos from our visit to Plainfield here.
• Hardware Store Address: 110 S. Main St., Plainfield, WI. 
• Plainfield Cemetery Address: 6590 5th Ave, Plainfield, WI.
• Property Address: Archer Avenue and Second Avenue.
• Want to learn about the oddities I visit in real time? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon.
• I also write spooky books, including my latest The Smashed Man of Dread End.

Episode 32: The Place Where the Music Died

On February 3, 1959, a small plane carrying pop stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper crashed into an Iowa cornfield, killing all three instantly and inspiring Don McLean to write American Pie. We trudge into that cornfield, to see the place where the music died.

• See images from our jaunt to the death site here.
• Death site address: 315 St. and Gull Ave., Clear Lake, Iowa.
• More information on The Smashed Man of Dread End sticker offer.
• Want to learn about the oddities I visit in real time? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon.
• I also write spooky books.

Episode 31 (Special On-Location): Cryptid Kaiju of the Dakotas

In this special on-location episode, I head to North and South Dakota to see a couple of gigantic cryptid statues. In Bismarck, North Dakota, a quartet of Thunderbirds glower above a lightning storm on the banks of the Missouri. Then I drive five hours southwest through snow and rain and flocks of pheasants to Keystone, South Dakota, to see the world's largest Bigfoot statue, right in the shadow of Mount Rushmore. Come with me.

• See images of the world's largest wooden Bigfoot statue.
• See images of the Thunderbird statue of Bismarck.
• Bigfoot statue address: 121 Roy Street Highway 16A, Keystone, SD.
• Thunderbird statue address: 1605 River Rd, Bismarck, ND
• Want to learn about the oddities I visit in real time? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon.
• I also write spooky books.

 

Episode 30: That Time I Bought a Cursed Object

In this episode, I read from my latest nonfiction book, Cursed Objects, to talk about what exactly is a cursed object, as well as to tell the story of the time I bought one to see what would happen.

• Buy Cursed Objects: Strange but True Stories of the World's Most Infamous Items.
• See bonus Cursed Objects materials that didn't make it into the book.
• Want to learn about the oddities I visit in real time? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon.
• I also write other spooky books.

Episode 29: The Man Who Built a Mechanical Messiah

We visit High Rock Tower Park, where nineteenth century spiritualist John Murray Spear built his New Motive Power, aka, the God Machine, aka, the Infant Motor, aka, the Mechanical Messiah, all based on plans that the ghosts of Benjamin Franklin and Socrates gave him. Then the story gets weird.

• Photos from my visit to High Rock Tower Park
• Address of High Rock Tower Park: 30 Circuit Ave, Lynn, MA.
• A book about John Murray Spear.
• My Cursed Objects book is out now!
• Want to learn about the oddities I visit in real time? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon.
• I also write other spooky books.

Episode 28: Booing Ghosts: My Personal Take on the Paranormal

I’m a guy who digs the ghostly. I love the macabre. I obsessively search out spooky sites and objects like my afterlife depends on it. That means I always find myself in paranormal circles, be they crop, spellcasting, or fairy. I’m constantly absorbing other people’s takes on the paranormal. And I have a take on it, too. Actually, let’s get specific. Ghosts. I have a take on ghosts.

• Here's the essay version of this topic.
• My Cursed Objects book is out now!
• My next book, The Smashed Man of Dread End, is on NetGalley!
• Want to learn about the oddities I visit in real time? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon.
• I also write other spooky books.

Episode 27: A Haunted Tower, An Abandoned Base

We head to Cape Cod in Massachusetts to find neighboring, but very different oddities: A nineteenth century tower in a forest that is haunted by a famous opera singer who fights the local witch and an abandoned air force base with connections to a UFO abduction. Yeah, this one has it all. Even pirates.

• Photos from my visit to the Jenny Lind Tower.
• Photos from my visit to the abandoned North Truro Air Force Station.
• Address of North Truro Air Force Station: Old Dewline Road, Truro, MA.
• GPS coordinates of the Jenny Lind Tower: 42.034664, -70.055276.
• My Cursed Objects book is out now!
• Want to learn about the oddities I visit in real time? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon.
• I also write other spooky books.

Episode 26: A Reading from "A Season with the Witch"

A Season with the Witch: The Magic and Mayhem of Halloween in Salem, Massachusetts is my account of living in the city of Salem, Massachusetts, during the entire month of October, getting to the heart of this weird city during its weirdest season. In this episode, I read from that book. I'm also releasing this episode through my YouTube channel, so you can either watch me read or listen to me read. Unfortunately, I come with both versions.

• Watch this reading on YouTube.
• Buy A Season with the Witch.
• My Cursed Objects book is out now!
• Want to learn about the oddities I visit in real time? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon.
• I also write other books that you can buy. Spooky books.

Episode 25 (On Location): Yea, Though I Walk Through an Abandoned Bible Theme Park

For this episode, we're going on location to an abandoned Bible theme park (and murder scene) looming over the town of Waterbury, Connecticut. It's oddities like these that this site and that podcast and, well, I (me?) are made for.

• Photos from my visit to Holy Land USA.
• Address of Holy Land USA: 60 Slocum Street, Waterbury CT.
• Website for Holy Land USA.
• My Cursed Objects book is out now!
• Want to learn about the oddities I visit in real time? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon.
• I also write other books that you can buy. Spooky books.

Episode 24: Running [to] the Asylum

My obsession with Danvers State Hospital (aka Danvers Insane Asylum) started with the horror movie Session 9 back in 2001, which was filmed inside the then 120-year-old abandoned asylum. Over the next two decades, I visited the site, found the asylum cemetery, watched Session 9 on the site where it was filmed, and, just a few months ago, returned to find the second asylum cemetery. This is the whole story.

• Photos from my first visit to Danvers State Hospital.
• Photos from my second visit to Danvers State Hospital (to watch Session 9).
• Photos from my visit to the second Danvers Asylum cemetery.
• Address for Danvers State Hospital site: 1101 Kirkbride Dr., Danvers, MA
• Address for second Danvers Asylum cemetery: Gregory St. and Middleton Rd., Middleton, MA
• My Cursed Objects book is up for preorder.
• Want to learn about the oddities I visit in real time? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon.
• I also write other books that you can buy. Spooky books.