Emily and Caroline discuss the Queen Mary’s history: built in the 1930s as a luxury transatlantic liner, later refitted in WWII as the troopship “Great Ghost,” and involved in a 1942 collision with HMS Curacoa that killed hundreds. After postwar service declined with the rise of air travel, Long Beach bought and converted the ship into a hotel and tourist attraction. They then cover its reputation as one of the world’s most haunted sites, highlighting reports of the “lady in white,” the spirit of crewman John Pedder killed by Watertight Door 13, the notoriously active Room B340, eerie sounds linked to the collision area, and paranormal claims around the drained first-class pool and alleged vortex zones, alongside several firsthand online accounts.

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Queen-Mary-ship

https://www.museodelmarpr.org/echoes-of-the-past-the-rms-queen-mary/

https://usghostadventures.com/haunted-stories/hauntings-of-the-rms-queen-mary/#:~:text=In%20the%20accident%2C%2018%2Dyear%2Dold%20John%20Pedder%20was,only%20been%20a%20crew%20member%20for%20a

This episode dives into the legend of the Lost City of Z and British explorer Percy Harrison Fawcett, who believed the Amazon rainforest once held an advanced civilization hidden beneath the jungle. After years of research—drawing on indigenous accounts, early European reports, artifacts, and the mysterious Manuscript 512—Fawcett launched a final expedition in 1925 with his son Jack and Jack’s friend Raleigh Rimmel, then vanished after his last message from “Dead Horse Camp.” The hosts cover the enduring theories behind their disappearance, the deadly search efforts that followed, and how modern tools like lidar and archaeological discoveries near the Xingu River reveal planned settlements, roads, and plazas—suggesting Fawcett’s broader claims about complex Amazon societies were likely right, even if Z was never a single city.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_City_of_Z

https://louiswolf.com/english/2023/6/3/the-lost-city-of-z-a-journey-into-the-history-discoveries-and-mythology-of-a-legend

https://ageofsteam.wordpress.com/2015/03/18/quest-for-the-lost-city-of-z/

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/09/19/the-lost-city-of-z

https://time.com/4735505/the-lost-city-of-z-true-story/

https://www.historyhit.com/facts-about-percy-fawcett-and-the-lost-city-of-z/

Emily and Caroline dive into the history and legends of Bran Castle in Romania, often linked to Dracula. They trace its origins to 1377, when Hungary’s King Louis I authorized the Transylvanian Saxons to build a fortress on a high rock to defend a key mountain pass and serve as a customs point, with construction completed in 1388 and later ownership shifting among Transylvanian princes and the Hapsburg Empire. They explain how the castle’s modern fame surged after Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula—despite Stoker never visiting Romania—and how the character was loosely inspired by Vlad the Impaler, whose campaigns and alleged brief imprisonment near the castle fueled the association. The episode also explores Romanian strigoi vampire folklore, garlic-based defenses, St. Andrew’s Day traditions, and reported ghost stories and paranormal experiences at the castle today.

Sources:

https://www.history.co.uk/articles/vlad-the-impaler-7-gruesome-acts-by-the-man-who-inspired-dracula

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vlad-the-Impaler

https://www.bran-castle.com/en/dracula/

https://vocal.media/geeks/jure-grando-alilovic-vampire

https://www.transylvaniaunveiled.com/blog/unveiling-the-strigoi---transylvanias-haunted-souls

https://dracula-castle.ro/visitor-information/

Missed it the first time? Here it is again!

Join Emily and Caroline as they dive headfirst into the eerie legends of the Black Shuck, the infamous hellhound of English folklore. From terrifying historical encounters to modern-day sightings and cryptid theories, this episode promises to be a spooky exploration of one of the most mysterious creatures in folklore. Will we uncover the truth? Tune in to find out!

Sources:

https://www.thesuffolkcoast.co.uk/articles/the-legend-of-the-bungay-black-dog

https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Black_Shuck#:~:text=For%20centuries%2C%20inhabitants%20of%20England,fur%20and%20glowing%20red%20eyes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Shuck

https://www.discoveryuk.com/mysteries/black-shuck-the-devil-dog-of-english-folklore/

https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Hound-of-the-Baskervilles

https://mythical-beasts.fandom.com/wiki/Barghest

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwyllgi#:~:text=The%20gwyllgi%20(Welsh%20pronunciation%3A%20%5B,breath%20and%20blazing%20red%20eyes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_dog_(folklore)#:~:text=Guardian%20Black%20Dogs,-Guardian%20Black%20Dogs&text=Instead%20they%20guide%20lost%20travellers,presence%20of%20the%20black%20dog.

https://allthatsinteresting.com/black-shuck

Caroline and Emily dive into the Sallie House in Atchison, Kansas—an 1800s home linked to Dr. Charles Finney and infamous for reports of violent paranormal activity. They cover the popular legend of a girl named Sallie who supposedly died during a rushed appendectomy (despite no historical proof she existed), the 1993 case that brought national attention, and why many believe the entity targets men with scratches and attacks. The episode ends with competing theories—environmental or psychological factors, poltergeist activity, or something darker using “Sallie” as a disguise—plus a warning that the house is now open for overnight paranormal tours with strict rules.

Sources:

https://strangeandtwisted.com/blogs/stories/the-sallie-house-haunting-america-s-most-scary-paranormal-case?srsltid=AfmBOorBTSuY5wkQetqcpwftxIVclheodOI7-enC0puhaVGl44s8K9De

https://usghostadventures.com/americas-most-haunted-trending/sallie-house/

https://www.travelks.com/blog/stories/post/haunted-houses-in-atchison-kansas-things-that-go-bump-in-the-night/

https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/33hkex/the_sallie_house/

Join Emily and Caroline as they cover Germany’s Black Forest (Schwarzwald), outlining its location in southwest Germany, its dense, dark-looking spruce canopy, and notable regional culture such as Black Forest ham, cuckoo clocks, and Black Forest cake. They explain how the forest’s atmosphere helped inspire the Brothers Grimm and recounts darker elements from classic tales including Cinderella, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, the Frog Prince, and Rapunzel. The episode then shifts to Black Forest folklore and supernatural legends: a barren “forbidden” area said to cause illness and madness, moss women who lure people to their deaths, a witches’ gorge and headless horseman, the Werewolf of Morbach, Der Großmann, the Mummelsee lake maidens, and other beings like elves, nixies, kobolds, the Lorelei siren, the Night Hag, the Tatzelwurm, and the Black Forest witch.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Forest

https://apnews.com/travel-and-tourism-a8d408f477974cc89e0041aa4b83b5f1

https://www.bavarianclockworks.com/history-of-the-cuckoo-clock/?srsltid=AfmBOorb1GODbRIKpvtbLziHOew9cUHIm2EYMnW_3h-QD7uQ6gy1SOjv

https://www.jpost.com/travel/article-865875

https://mysteriousadventurestours.com/6-eerie-haunting-places-in-the-black-forest-of-germany/

https://thelittlehouseofhorrors.com/the-black-forest/

https://wildernessbonescapes.com/blog-1/f/episode-18-fables-legends-and-folklore-of-the-black-forest

https://vocal.media/horror/beyond-the-mist-ghosts-curses-and-the-untold-hauntings-of-the-black-forest

https://slendermanconnection.fandom.com/wiki/Der_Gro%C3%9Fmann

https://www.mummelsee.de/en_US/erlebnis/mummelsee?acceptCookies=Necessary&cachebust=69b00ea884a1e

https://mysteriousadventurestours.com/9-mythical-creatures-and-fairy-tales-of-the-black-forest/

Caroline and Emily explore the centuries-old mystery of Oak Island in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, centered on the “money pit” first discovered in the 1790s by Daniel McGinnis and friends, who dug through repeated layers of log platforms before the shaft flooded. They cover reports of a inscribed stone that later disappeared, theories of engineered flood tunnels linking the pit to Smith’s Cove, and the strange discovery of coconut fiber used as filtration despite coconuts not growing in the region. The episode reviews major treasure theories—pirates (Captain Kidd), Knights Templar relics, Marie Antoinette’s jewels, and more—along with the possibility the pit is a natural geological formation, and notes that modern searches, including a History Channel series, still haven’t confirmed any treasure.

Sources:

https://vocal.media/geeks/the-legend-of-oak-island-the-search-for-a-treasure-that-may-or-may-not-exist

https://www.numismaticnews.net/the-buried-treasure-of-oak-island

https://explorersweb.com/exploration-mysteries-oak-island-treasure/

https://collider.com/the-curse-of-oak-island-treasures-surprising/

https://www.readersdigest.ca/culture/treasure-hunt/

https://www.history.com/shows/the-curse-of-oak-island/articles/curse-of-oak-island-top-theories

Emily and Caroline dive into Edinburgh’s Real Mary King’s Close, a 17th-century “close” (alleyway) buried beneath the Royal Mile, exploring its history, plague-era myths, and why it’s considered one of the city’s most haunted sites—featuring stories of Annie, the Woman in Black, and other reported paranormal encounters.