Happy SpoOOOoooOOOOOky Halloween! I'm sharing my versions of some selected stories from Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. There's a true crime tale in here, A ghostly horse ride, a terrifying car ride, and a toe.

This episode’s songs are:

• Get Out of My House by Kate Bush
• Hell Broke Luce by Tom Waits
• How Soon is Now - by the Smiths

Sources:

• https://www.mentalfloss.com/literature/books/14-terrifying-facts-about-scary-stories-tell-dark
• https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_in_the_backseat
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_babysitter_and_the_man_upstairs
• https://truecrimearticles.wordpress.com/2018/03/30/the-unsolved-murder-of-janett-christman/

Sound mixing performed by Brother Jay from The Rule of Scary podcast - check that out if you’re a horror movie fan! And hey! Thank you for listening to my stories. Keep it weird out there.

To find song recommendations for this podcast, check out the Spotify Professional Weird playlist

• https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5jIkaamOZlCwtd2peUk9lF?si=0238d524a374492d

Email me at professionalweirdopodcast@gmail.com

Now that it looks like we're getting out of the heat of summer, I’ll tell you some stories where people were not able to escape the heat, because we’re talking about spontaneous human combustion.

This episode’s songs are:

• Burning Down the House by Talking Heads
• Fire Water Burn by the Bloodhound Gang
• Heart Cooks Brain by Modest Mouse
• Sunny Side Up by Faith No More
• Burning by King Buffalo

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_human_combustion
• https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/weather/2026/09/10/summer-2026-heat-record/91673943007/
• https://allthatsinteresting.com/mary-reeser
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Mary_Reeser
• https://thehorrorcollection.com/spontaneous-human-combustion/
• https://www.mentalfloss.com/history/quick-7-seven-cases-spontaneous-human-combustion#inline-text-9
• https://destinationghost.com/curious-case-of-jack-angel/
• https://unsolved.com/gallery/spontaneous-combustion/
• https://www.history.com/articles/is-spontaneous-human-combustion-real

Sound mixing performed by Brother Jay from The Rule of Scary podcast - check that out if you’re a horror movie fan! And hey! Thank you for listening to my stories. Keep it weird out there.

To find song recommendations for this podcast, check out the Spotify Professional Weird playlist

• https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5jIkaamOZlCwtd2peUk9lF?si=0238d524a374492d

Email me at professionalweirdopodcast@gmail.com

Let's talk through a handful of cryptids. Are they real, or are they tall tales? Are they nightmares, or are they friends?

Songs with this episode:

• The Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon by The Cramps
• Hellhound by Son of Dave
• Monster by L7
• Coyote by Dope Lemon, and
• Unicorn by Gojira

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimothy_(raccoon)

https://www.geekwire.com/2026/jimothy-raids-the-corporate-pantry-amazon-adds-extra-200k-to-food-bank-gift-after-raccoon-art-auction/

https://magicalclan.com/facts-about-chupacabra/

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

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

https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Mongolian_Death_Worm

https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Thunderbird

https://www.historicmysteries.com/myths-legends/thunderbird/22913/

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/thunderbird-cryptid-ocker

https://www.history.com/articles/the-cardiff-giant-fools-the-nation-145-years-ago

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

https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Grampus

https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Grootslang

https://oldfolklore.com/the-grootslang-of-the-south-african-caves/

https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Hellhounds

https://animalko.com/legendary-cryptids-that-turned-out-to-be-real/

Book Cryptid Creatures by Kelly Milner Halls

Sound mixing performed by Brother Jay from The Rule of Scary podcast - check that out if you’re a horror movie fan! And hey! Thank you for listening to my stories. Keep it weird out there.

To find song recommendations for this podcast, check out the Spotify Professional Weird playlist

• https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5jIkaamOZlCwtd2peUk9lF?si=0238d524a374492d

Email me at professionalweirdopodcast@gmail.com