KOOKS, CRANKS, AND ICONOCLASTS! cover art

KOOKS, CRANKS, AND ICONOCLASTS!

KOOKS, CRANKS, AND ICONOCLASTS!

By: Michael Lucht Spencer Lowery Chris Wells Jonas Lucht Jason Lloyd
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Greetings & Salutations! We're here to cover various interesting/infamous/inexplicable living enigmas & anomalies from across all of time, space, maybe even beyond, & from history BOTH ANCIENT & RECENT! Basically it's "BIOGRAPHY!" but focused solely on WEIRDOS! Listen then repeat what you hear to sound smart at parties! STOP being MYOPIC! START being ESOTERIC! (Mmm! Yum!) Stay tuned True Believers! Clear The Hump w/us as we provide Weekly Bios on strange/insane/shameful/lost/forgotten Misfits of History! Comedy/Conspiracy/True Crime/High Strangeness!Michael Lucht, Spencer Lowery, Chris Wells, Jonas Lucht, Jason Lloyd
Episodes
  • TALES FROM THE CRANK BANK! - The Hinton Ampner Haunting/The Haunting of Nicasio Torres
    Jun 24 2026

    HEYYYYOOOOOO YOU BEAUTIFUL KOOKS! This here's a bit of a short anthology, giving you fine folks a pair of paranormal stories, while allowing me time to work on improving the show! These are two COMPLETELY TRUE tales of paranormal terror and...bad craziness! First, the tale of the Hinton Ampner Haunting! Then, the Cutun Haunting of Nicasio Torres! PLEASE TO ENJOY!

    Email us!: kooksandcranks@gmail.com

    All music and sfx are license free from Pixaby.com

    SOURCES:

    *Poltergeist Over England – Harry Price (1945)

    *A Hampshire Manor – Ralph Dutton (1988)

    *Lord Halifax's Ghost Book – Charles Lindley Wood, Viscount Halifax (1936)

    *A Natural History of Ghosts – Roger Clarke (2012)

    *Certain Nocturnal Disturbances: Ghost Hunting Before the Victorians – Brandon R. Schrand (2022)

    *https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/hampshire/hinton-ampner/history-of-hinton-ampner](https://www.google.com/search?

    *q=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/hampshire/hinton-ampner/history-of-hinton-ampner)

    *https://archive.org/details/gentlemansmagaz313unkngoog/page/n571/mode/2up](https://www.google.com/search?q=https://archive.org/details/gentlemansmagaz313unkngoog/page/n571/mode/2up)

    *https://www.lavozdelnorte.cl/2017/03/caso-cutun-41-anos-de-misterio/

    *https://www.scribd.com/document/900278469/El-Aterrador-Caso-Cutun-La-Casa-Embrujada-de-Nicasio-Torres-y-Un-Misterio-Sin-Resolver

    *https://www.thefortean.com/2019/04/16/the-haunting-of-nicasio-torres/

    *https://nexusnewsfeed.com/article/unexplained/the-haunting-of-nicasio-torres/

    *https://www.reddit.com/r/relatoparanormal/comments/15b1dzw/la_casona_de_cut%C3%BAn_un_misterio_paranormal_que_a%C3%BAn/?rdt=44926

    *https://crazzfiles.com/the-haunting-of-nicasio-torres/

    *https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Men_in_the_hat_(Chile)


    If you are currently struggling with mental health and/or substance abuse issues, you definitely aren't the only one. If you require immediate assistance, please dial 988.

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    41 mins
  • POST-SOVIET PARA-JOURNALISM & URBAN LEGENDS - "TA DA COMRADE"
    Jun 18 2026

    Here's that companion piece I was talking about in the other episode. This one covers (much like the title says) post-Soviet "Para-journalism", urban legends, as well as "urbex legends". It's a mixed bag of stories about abandoned Soviet bioweapons labs, weird physics defying anomalies, fish-man surgical experiments (I ain't hardly bullshittin' neither, check dat shit out!), Kozyrev Mirrors, and a whole bunch of other assorted high strangeness. This episode is brought to you by VODKA...PLEASE TO ENJOY!

    Email us!: kooksandcranks@gmail.com

    For SOURCES see last episode, or check the online archives of the various periodicals mentioned in this episode. They're out there.


    If you are struggling with mental health and/or substance abuse issues...might I suggest...a different substance? No? Yeah, probably not the best route. But if you need immediate help, please dial 988.

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    1 hr and 18 mins
  • THE REAL STALKERS OF THE CHERNOBYL EXCLUSION ZONE - "WORMWOODSY"
    Jun 18 2026

    SUP KOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKS! This episode happened because I stumbled across some material I just couldn't stop reading about. So...I made an episode about it! Listen up as this episode explores the actual real life subculture of dangerous urbex mutants who breach the guarded perimeter of the poisonous radioactive Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (or just "The Zone", if you're one of the cool kids!). We'll explore the Stalker way of life, ideas, concepts, etc. and together take a guided tour of the most notable "tourist attractions" within the Zone, as well as look at some of the Stalker folklore concerning rituals and strange inhumanoid dangers one may face when traversing..."THE ZONE!" All this plus a look into post-Soviet era "para-journalism" (more on that in the companion piece to this episode) as well as examination of urban legends surrounding a former Soviet era ruin supposedly inhabited by a "Satanic black magic cult", which as I'm sure most regular listeners know...is sure to be a hoot. PLEASE TO ENJOY!

    Email us!: kooksandcranks@gmail.com

    SOURCES (which also count for the companion episode as well but since I like to cut every corner I can, will only post here):

    Chernobyl Prayer / Voices from Chernobyl (Oral History), Svetlana Alexievich (1997).


    Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment, Yablokov, Nesterenko, & Nesterenko (2009).


    Post-Soviet Tunnel Folklore: Samizdat & Para-Journalism Archives (1990s) detailing the "Metrostroy Blind Ones" / "Podzemnye Zhiteli".


    The Mothman Prophecies (Comparative Case Studies), John Keel (1975).


    Newspaper Archives of "Komsomolskoye Znamya" & "Anomaliya" Journal Reports (Kiev, 1990–1995) on the "Podzemnye Zhiteli"


    Lost Inside a Radioactive Bunker in Chernobyl - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fBmDwo4ebQ


    Nezavisimost Digital Archive (Komsomolskoye Znamya) - https://www.eastview.com/resources/gpa/nezavisimost/


    RuFORS & UFOset Soviet Samizdat Digital Library - http://www.rufors.ru/


    The National Security Archive (Chernobyl Declassified Files) - https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/


    https://www.youtube.com/@paranormalresearchpaul/videos


    If you are struggling with mental health and/or substance abuse issues, maybe try heading out to "The Zone" for a bit? Clear your head? But if you require immediate assistance, please dial 988.

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    1 hr and 43 mins
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