Odd Things I've Seen: The Podcast

Episode 8: House of a Sinner, Arm of a Saint

In this episode, I take you to the house where infamous occultist Aleister Crowley enjoyed a magick retirement and then to the severed arm of Saint Edmund. Surprisingly, neither of these two sites are in Europe. They're in New England. And they are mere hours from each other. The depth of oddity in any given state is astounding.

• Aleister Crowley House: 14 Church Lane, Hebron, NH
• Arm of Saint Edmund: 1 Enders Island, Mystic, CT
• Photos of the Arm of Saint Edmund.
• Photos of the Aleister Crowley House.
• Want to learn about the oddities I visit in real time? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon.
• I also write books that you can buy. Spooky books.

Episode 7 (Special On-Location): A Jaunting in Connecticut

In this special episode of Odd Things I've Seen: The Podcast, I take you on location with me on a road trip I took last Saturday to see five oddities in Connecticut: Two sites connected to a Great Awakening preacher who has haunted me since childhood, a minor witch memorial, the house of a serial killer who inspired a delightful comedy movie, and an abandoned amusement park. This is the episode I show you what I mean by "within a tank or two of gas of any point in this country is some seriously cool oddity."

Too see photos from this trip, visit the OTIS Patreon Page, and download Issue 157 of the weekly OTIS Club Newsletter. This particular issue is free to the public, and if you like it, please consider joining so that I can do more podcasts like this one and so that you can have the maximum dosage of oddity in your life as recommended by the surgeon general.

Want to learn about the oddities I visit in real time? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon. I also write books that you can buy. Spooky books.

Episode 6: The Fire that Froze Pompeii

We're going international in this episode, heading to Italy to see what it's like/how exhausting it is to visit both Pompeii and Vesuvius in a single day. Volcanic ghost towns might be the most fascinating ghost towns.

• Pics from out stroll through Pompeii.
• Pics from our ascent up a foggy Vesuvius.
• Want to learn about the oddities I visit in real time? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon.
• I also write books that you can buy. Spooky books.

Episode 5: A Garden Full of Cobra Lilies and Corpse Flowers

Plants are 80% of the planet's biomass. So it makes sense that there are some odd plants out there. I've seen a few in my day. Like a swamp full of cobra lilies in Oregon and a seven-foot-tall phallus-shaped corpse flower in New Hampshire. Let's get botanical.

• Pics from our time among the cobra lilies.
• Pics of our our meeting with a corpse flower.
• Address for Darlington State Park: 5400 Mercer Lake Rd, Florence, OR
• Address for the Dartmouth Life Sciences Center: 15 Dewey Field Road, Hanover, NH
• Want to learn about the oddities I visit in real time? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon.
• I also write books that you can buy. Spooky books.

Episode 4: Lying in Bed, Just Like Lizzie Borden Did

The story of Lizzie Borden and the ax murder of her parents has been told...to death. But the oddest part of the story is that today...you can stay the night at the crime scene. Which. We. Did.

• Pics from our night at Lizzie Borden's.
• More pics from our night at Lizzie Borden's.
• Address for Lizzie Borden's B&B: 230 Second St., Fall River MA
• Address for Maplecroft: 306 French St., Fall River, MA
• Address for the Borden family grave plot: 765 Prospect St., Fall River, MA
• Want to learn about the oddities I visit in real time? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon.
• I also write books that you can buy. Spooky books.

Episode 3: Playing Chicken with Area 51

We head out to the Nevada desert to play chicken with Area 51. And see an Independence Day (the movie) time capsule. And eat at an alien-themed eatery.  And generally look for the truth that is out there. 

• Pictures from The Extraterrestrial Highway.
• Pictures from Area 51.
• The video of the tour group accidentally crossing the line into Area 51.
• Address for the Little A'Le'Inn: 9631 Old Mill Rd, Alamo, NV
• GPS coordinates for the turnoff to Area 51: 37.457170, -115.483479
• Want to learn about the oddities I visit in real time? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon.
• I also write books that you can buy. Spooky books.

Episode 2: Let's Picnic at a Flaming Ghost Town

Centralia, Pennsylvania, is a ghost town...on fire. Beneath its grass blades, a coal fire rages that has burned for half a century and will burn for centuries longer. Smoke wafts over the sites where neighborhoods once stood. Roads choke on overgrowth. Pockets beneath the topsoil are waiting to cave in at the next footstep. The idea of the place is terrifying. But the reality of the place is...fascinating. Heck, I brought my family with me on one of my visits.

• Photos from my first visit to Centralia.
• Photos from my second visit to Centralia.
• GPS coordinates for the town: 40.804336, -76.342517 (but really, you just have to tell Google Maps to take you to Centralia)
• GPS Coordinates for the old damaged Route 61: 40.779370, -76.366882
• Want to learn about the oddities I visit in real time? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon.
• I also write books. Spooky books.

Episode 1: The Spookiest Statue in the Cemetery…and the Smithsonian

A suicide brought it into existence. A copy of it turned evil. You can find a version of it in a graveyard, at the Smithsonian, at an artist's studio in New England...and outside, just around the corner from the White House. Come with me, J.W. Ocker, as we visit the Adams Memorial and its Mr. Hyde, the Black Aggie, and learn the strange story that entwines them.

Photos on OddThingsIveSeen.com of the funerary sculptures.

Sites you can visit:

• Rock Creek Cemetery (Adams Memorial): 201 Allison St NW, Washington, DC
• Druid Ridge Cemetery (Black Aggie pedestal): 7900 Park Heights Ave, Pikesville, MD
• Howard T. Markey National Courts Building (Black Aggie): 717 Madison Pl NW, Washington, DC
• Hay-Adams Hotel (Site of Clover Adams' suicide): 800 16th St NW, Washington, DC
• Saint-Gauden's National Historic Site (Home of sculptor, with a casting of the statue): 139 St Gaudens Rd, Cornish, NH
• Smithsonian American Art Museum (Site of a casting of the statue): F St NW &, 8th St NW, Washington, DC

Want to learn about the oddities I visit in real time? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon.

 

 

 

 

Introducing Odd Things I've Seen: The Podcast!

My name is J.W. Ocker. For more than a decade, in my spare time, I have sought out odd sites and artifacts. I'm terrible at maps and bad at driving, but I believe that within a tank or two of gas of any point in the country are oddities worth trekking to on a Saturday afternoon. And I have the stories as proof.