The Strange and Unusual Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

In the second episode of this series, I tell the story of a young, widowed migrant during California's Gold Rush, and the horror of what she found in her new home on Russian Hill.

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In this episode we explore some of the strange goings-on in the earlier days of Russian Hill in San Francisco, including the ill-fated union of a Russian count and Spainish maiden, the first legal execution in California history, seances, the arrival of Fanny Stevenson to the hill, the earthquake of 1906 and more.

In part 2, we get into the experimental '60s, Anton LeVay, mysterious deaths, and many more strange goings-on during that time.

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On this week's episode we delve into the superstition of the evil eye and a case of witchcraft murder in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1929

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While we don as much green as possible on St. Patrick's Day now, green gained a deadly reputation in the 19th century. And it was well-earned. Check it out to hear all about a green to die for!

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On the morning of April 24th, 1891, the body of a mutilated woman is found in a New York hotel room. Immediately, fear that Jack the Ripper was now at work in America hit the headlines, and the newly-formed New York Police Department was under tremendous pressure to find their man and prove their competence. 

Join Alyson for the mystery of the murder of Carrie Brown, a victim of Jack the Ripper or a copycat killer in Victorian America.

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Curses, or the belief in the them, have been with us for millennia. Join Alyson as she takes you through the world of curses and hexes through history, fiction, and true crime. We will will explore the Black Death, Shakespeare, the witch trials, and more.

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On the morning of October 30th, 1928, Elfrieda Knaak was found with her head, hands, and feet burned down to the bone in the furnace room of the Lake Bluff, Illinois police station. She survived her ordeal with fire, but not for long. Before her death she claimed she did it herself, but then made contradicting statements that seemed to implicate others being involved. The evidence in this case is perplexing and it remains a fascinating mystery to this day.

Join Alyson as we jump back to the 1920's and look into the revival of the spiritualist movement during that decade. Welcome to our first Murder Mystery Minisode!

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Speak of the Devil and the Devil will appear. The power and superstition of the spoken name is explored as we delve in the stories of Bloody Mary, Beetlejuice, real-life exorcism and more.

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This week's headline comes from St. Louis Post Dispatch, published on December 23, 1900

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Barbara Newhall Follett was considered a child prodigy when her first novel "The House Without Windows" was published at age 12 in 1927, and then she had vanished forever when she was 25 in 1939. What happened to Barbara? And what does her disappearance possibly have to do with another woman who vanished in New Hampshire in 1936, Elsie Whittemore?

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