Morbid

Having lost several children to childhood illnesses, Leonarda Cianciulli was very protective of her surviving children and was willing to do anything to protect them. So, when the deeply superstitious Leonarda was warned by a fortune teller that all her children would die at a young age, the forty-six-year-old shopkeeper determined that the best way to keep her son alive was to offer human sacrifices in exchange for Giuseppe’s safety. Ove the course of a year, Leonarda murdered three local women and disposed of their bodies with caustic chemicals, using any remaining biological evidence in the creation of soaps, candles, cookies, and cakes, which she shared with others in her community.

Thank you to the lovely David White, of Bring Me the Axe podcast, for research assistance :)

References

Baltimore Sun. 1946. "Rendered her friends to wax, she says." Baltimore Sun, April 28: 3.

Eddy, Cheryl. 2015. The Superstitious Murderer Who Turned Her Victims Into Cake And Soap. June 23. https://gizmodo.com/the-superstitious-murderer-who-turned-her-victims-into-1713486930.

Green, Ryan. 2019. The Curse: A Shocking True Story of Superstition, Human Sacrifice and Cannibalism. Unknown: Independent.

Museo Criminologico. 2006. The Correggio soap-maker. September 12. http://www.museocriminologico.it/correggio_uk.htm.

Ortiz, Genoveva. 2022. The Deadly Soap-Maker of Correggio: The True Story of Leonarda Cianciulli. unknown: True Crime Seven.

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)

Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)

Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley

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When Annie Campbell uprooted her daughter from their home in Donegal, Ireland and relocated to Sauchie, Scotland in 1960, the move resulted in consequences far beyond what anyone could have expected. Removed from the only home she’d ever known, eleven-year-old Virginia Campbell did her best to acclimate to the foreign environment as she and her mother settled into the home of Virginia’s aunt, but within just a few weeks of their arrival the family was under siege from an invisible entity Virginia would later name “Wee Hughie.”

One of the most notorious cases of poltergeist activity in Scottish history, the case of the Sauchie poltergeist involved the usual trappings of poltergeist phenomenon—slamming doors, moving objects, and disruptive noises. Yet what set the phenomenon apart from myriad other cases of poltergeist phenomenon was that the supposedly supernatural phenomenon was witnessed by many bystanders, including Virginia’s teachers and classmates.

Was the Sauchie poltergeist a genuine example of paranormal activity, or was “Wee Hughie” nothing more than an elaborate hoax perpetrated by a creative girl seeking attention in the wake of major disruption in her life and environment?

Thank you to the lovely David White, of Bring Me the Axe podcast, for research assistance :)

References

Associated Press. 1960. "Haunted Irish girl gtets aid." Windsor Star, December 3: C-8.

Owen, A.R.G. 1964. Can We Explain the Poltergeist? New York, NY: Garrett Publications.

Robinson, Malcom. 2020. The Sauchie Poltergeist. Scotland: Independent.

Sims, Victor. 1965. "Poltergeist Terror." Sunday Mirror, June 13: 8.

—. 1965. "Virginia was possessed by a wild and unknown force." Sunday Mirror, June 27: 13.

United Press International. 1960. "Girl's ghost upsets school." Pittsburgh Press, December 2: 17.

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)

Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)

Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley

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When it comes to the horrors of witch hunts and trials around the world, Sweden is not often cited as one of the more aggressive or egregious nations. Nevertheless, the Torsåker Witch Trials remain a shocking example of religious hysteria due to the way in which they unfolded, which included local leaders defying the Swedish Crown and taking it upon themselves to identify, try, and execute supposed witches without proper authority. Moreover, while the Torsåker case may have unfolded like most others across Europe, it remains an outlier in that those responsible for starting the hysteria weren’t just held accountable for their false accusations but were in fact murdered.

Thank you to the lovely David White, of Bring Me the Axe podcast, for research assistance :)

References

Gershon, Livia. 2022. "The Easter Witches of Sweden." JSTOR Daily, April 15.

Hogman, Hans. n.d. Torsåker Witch Trials of 1674 - 1675. Accessed September 16, 2023. https://www.hhogman.se/witch-trials-sweden.htm.

Jordan, Charlene Hanson. 2012. Whispers in the Church: Swedish Witch Hunt, 1672. Des Moines, IA: Abbott Press.

Tiderman-Österberg, Jennie. 2021. "The Swedish Witch Trials: How to Confront Dark Heritage." Smithsonian Magazine, October 25.

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)

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Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley

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When Muswell Hill resident David Farrant wrote to the letters section of the Hampstead and Highgate Express in February 1970, he had hoped to find others who’d witnessed any unusual or potentially supernatural happenings in London’s Highgate Cemetery. Instead, Farrant kicked off a moral panic over vampires, ghosts, and all manner of occult activities that featured prominently in the pages of British newspapers for years.

Farrant’s letter received a few responses from others who claimed to have had their own supernatural experiences in Highgate Cemetery, but the story would likely have ended there had it not been for Sean Manchester. A self-proclaimed occultist and vampire hunter, Manchester claimed that what Farrant had seen at Highgate was in fact a vampire, and moreover, the cemetery itself was the site of ongoing black masses, vampire gatherings, and other dark practices. Soon, a rivalry developed between Farrant and Manchester over who had the power to eradicate the supernatural threat at Highgate and just weeks after Farrant sent his letter to the newspapers, Manchester led a large mob of Londoners into Highgate Cemetery intent on driving out the evil that supposedly swelled there.

Throughout the early 1970s, the war of words between Farrant and Manchester frequently captured the public’s attention, thanks to the various news outlets that couldn’t resist the outrageous actions of the two men that ranged from benign and silly (a naked fire dance in an abandoned building) to gruesome and disrespectful (desecration of human remains). However, while the antics of the two men at the center of the story may elicit a smirk or an eyeroll, the public’s response to the supposed supernatural threat provides valuable insight into a phenomenon of moral panic that go on to fuel, among other things, the satanic panic that dominated the news throughout the 1980s and 90s.

To learn more about ways to save our graves, go to https://www.saveourcemeteries.org.

Thank you to the lovely David White, of Bring Me the Ax podcast, for research assistance

References:

Cambridge Evening News. 1970. "Mr. Blood in hunt for vampire." Cambridge Evening News, March 14: 21.

Ellis, Bill. 1993. "The Highgate Cemetery Vampire Hunt: The Anglo-American Connection in Satanic Cult Lore." Folklore (Taylor and Francis, Ltd.) 104 (1/2): 13-39.

Evening Standard. 1970. "'Black magic' man tells of threats." Evening Standard, November 4: 17.

—. 1968. "Coffins broken open at a witches' sabbath." Evening Standard, November 1: 23.

—. 1974. "Naked witchcraft men in fire dance." Evening Standard, January 21: 5.

—. 1974. "Wife tells of 'horror photos'." Evening Standard, June 20: 5.

Farrant, David. 1970. "Letters: Ghostly walks in Highgate." Hampstead and Highgate Express, February 6: 26.

Guardian Journal. 1970. "Vampire hunter is cleared by court." Guardian Journal, September 30: 7.

—. 1968. "'Black magic' theory after coffins raid." Guiardian Journal, November 2: 1.

Hampstead and Highgate Express. 1970. "Does a wampyr walk in Highgate?" Hampstead and Highgate Express, February 27: 1.

Liverpool Daily Post. 1972. "Couple fined for churchyard ritual." Liverpool Daily Post, November 23: 18.

Manchester Evening News. 1973. "100 join hunt for cemetery 'vampire'." Manchester Evening News, March 14: 5.

Sunday Mirror. 1973. "'Sacrifice' witches in horror." Sunday Mirror, April 8: 11.

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)

Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)

Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley

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On November 28, 1848, Isaac Jermy and his son were shot and killed in their Wymondham estate, Stanfield Hall. After a brief search, investigators located the killer, James Blomfield Rush, a tenant farmer who was leasing land from Jermy and had fallen behind on his payments. Fearing eviction and destitution, Rush concocted a plan to kill the entire Jermy family and their staff, then cast blame on Jermy’s relatives, with whom the family had been feuding over the title of the estate. However, the plan fell apart when several of the victims survived and identified Rush as the killer.

Thank you to the lovely David White, of Bring Me the Ax podcast, for research assistance.

References

Bayne, A.D. 1849. The Stanfield Tragedy: A Complete Narrative. Norwich, England: Jarold and Sons.

Bristol Mercury. 1849. "Rush's trial." Bristol Mercury, April 7: 2.

Caledonian Mercury. 1849. "Execution of Rush." Caledonia Mercury, April 23.

Liverpool Mercury. 1848. "Horrible murders in Norfolk." Liverpool Mercury, December 5: 2.

Royal College of Physicians of London. 1850. A Full Report of the Trial of James Blomfield Rush for the

Murder of Mr. Jermy and His Son. London, England: W.M. Clark.

The Times. 1848. "Horrible murders at Stanfield Hall, near Wymondham." The Times, December 01: 5.

—. 1848. "The murders at Stanfield Hall." The Times, December 4: 3.

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)

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Just before midnight on December 29, 1972, Eastern Air Lines Flight 401, traveling from New York to Miami, crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing nearly two thirds of the passengers on board. Crashing into the swamp softened the landing and likely saved dozens, but the remote location made rescue efforts complicated and required a cooperative effort between first responders and local civilians.

The crash came at a difficult time for the airline industry, following closely on a number of several high-profile hijackings and examples of equipment malfunctions that negatively affected ticket sales. This only got worse when the investigation into Flight 401 was concluded and the cause of the crash was determined to be operator error when the flight crew became distracted and unaware that the autopilot had switched itself off.

In the months and years that followed, several Eastern Air employees and survivors of Flight 401 began reporting sightings of the ghosts of crew members and passengers who died in the crash. Although Eastern Air went out of their way to deny any sightings, the stories spread and became a part of Florida folklore as the subject of books, television films, and even a public spectacle as part of Ed and Lorraine Warren’s Occult Museum in Connecticut.

Thank you to the glorious David White, of Bring Me the Axe podcast, for research assistance :)

References:

Aguila, Grethel. 2022. "'We're down.' Flight 401 crashed in Miami 50 years ago." Miami Herald, December 21: A3.

Associated Press. 1980. "Eastern still fighting ghost." Honolulu Star-Bulletin, August 28: 52.

Baxter, Mike. 1972. "Rescue armada mobilized within half hour." Miami Herald, December 31: 15.

Fuller, John. 1976. The Ghost of Flight 401. New York, NY: Berkley Publishing Corporation.

Jenkins, Greg. 2005. Florida's Ghostly Legends And Haunted Folklore: South And Central Florida (volume one). Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press.

Kay, Jennifer. 2007. "Everglades jet crash haunts hero." Rocky Mountain News, December 26.

National Transportation Safety Board. 1973. Aircraft Accident Reports: Eastern Air Lines L-1011, N310EA. Aircraft accident report, Washington D.C.: National Transportation Safety Board.

Orlando Evening Star. 1972. "Stewardess sings carols to survivors." Orlando Evening Star, December 30: 1.

Star Services. 1972. "Many survive Everglades jet crash." Orlando Evening Star, December 30: 1.

Times-News.

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)

Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)

Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley

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In the fall of 1961, Betty and Barney Hill took a trip to Niagara Falls. On the drive back from Canada to their home in Portsmouth, NH, the Hills claimed their trip was interrupted when, after stopping to investigate a strange flying object hovering above the car, the couple was abducted by what Barney later described as “beings [that] were somehow not human.”

Thank you to the wondrous Dave White for Research Assistance!

References:

Friedman, Stanton, and Kathleen Marden. 2007. Captured! The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience. Red Wheel : Newburyport, MA.

Palmer, Barry. 1965. "Portsmouth couple wes 600 persons here." Nashua Telegraph, December 1: 3.

Public Broadcasting Sysetm. 1997. Nova: Kidnapped by UFOs? Boston, MA, April 1.

Robinson, J. Dennis. 1999. "The Grounding of Betty Hill." The Portsmouth Herald, February 5.

—. 2008. The UFO romance of Betty and Barney Hill. Accessed August 17, 2023. http://www.seacoastnh.com/the-ufo-romance-of-betty-and-barney-hill/?showall=1.

The Portsmouth Herald. 1969. "Barney Hill dies in city at age 46." The Portsmouth Herald, February 26: 3.

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)

Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)

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It’s wackadoodle time on this week’s listener tales. In this installment we have the only and only butt mountain, possible imposter police officers, attempted kidnappings, psychic friends, demon filled dorm rooms, and haunted airbnbs. If you have a tale you would like to send in please send it to [email protected] with “Listener Tales” somewhere in the subject line :)

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)

Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)

Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley

Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally

Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)

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In the summer of 1974, paranormal investigators and UCLA students Barry Taff and Kerry Gaynor were approached in a bookstore by a woman who’d overheard their conversation about the supernatural and said she had a friend who needed help from someone with their expertise. The friend in question was Doris Bither, a middle-aged single mother of four who claimed she and her family were under attack from unseen entities in their Culver City, California home.

According to Doris, the attacks began several months earlier and included, among other things, objects moving on their own, the presence of inexplicable foul odors in the house, unusual noises with no point of origin, and most distressingly, multiple physical and sexual assaults that were increasing in frequency and intensity.

Thank you to the lovely David White for research assistance :)

References

Biddle, Kenny. 2021. "A Closer Look at the Entity Photographs." Skeptical Inquirer 45 (6).

O'Keeffe, Ciaran, James Houran, Damian Houran, Neil Dagnall, Kenneth Drinkwater, Lorraine Sheridan, and Brian Laythe. 2019. "The Dr. John Hall story: a case study in putative “Haunted People Syndrome"." Mental Health, Religion & Culture 22 (9): 910-929.

Ortega, Xavier. 2011. The Real Entity Case, Part II. August 6. Accessed August 23, 2023. https://www.ghosttheory.com/2011/08/06/the-real-entity-case.

Radford, Benjamin. 2021. "The ‘True’ Story behind The Entity: Untangling Hollywood Horror." Skeptical Inquirer 45 (6). https://skepticalinquirer.org/2021/10/the-true-story-behind-the-entity-untangling-hollywood-horror/.

2005. The Entity Files. Directed by Perry Martin. Produced by Anchor Bay Entertainment. Performed by Barry Taff.

—. 2011. The Real Entity Case. August. Accessed August 24, 2023. http://barrytaff.net/2011/08/the-real-entity-case-2/.

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)

Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)

Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley

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In the depths of American history there are few examples of mass hysteria that loom larger than the Salem witch trials of 1692. As horrific as it was, it was far from the only example of witch-hunting in Massachusetts’ history. In fact, ten years before hysteria over black magic gripped the village of Salem, similar accusations of witchcraft were aimed at Mary Webster of Hadley, a small village in Western Massachusetts.

Thank you to the incredible Dave White for Research assistance.

References

Clancy, Hal. 1977. "In good old days, wicthes would hang for a May snow." The Boston Globe, May 14: 1.

Judd, Sylvester. 1905. History of Hadley. Springfield, MA: H.R. Hunting.

Manning, Alice. 1976. "Witches in the Connecticut Valley: a historical perspective." Daily Hampshire Gazette, December 15: 35.

Marshall, Bridget. 2003. "Mary (Reeve) Webster, the "Witch" of Hadley." University of Massachusetts Lowell. Accessed August 28, 2023. https://faculty.uml.edu//bmarshall/Mary%20Webster.htm.

Mather, Cotton. 1967. Magnalia Christi Americana. New York, NY: Russell and Russell.

Perera, Lisa. 1992. "Before Salem, Valley had witch trials of its own." Daily Hampshire Gazette, May 16: 22.

Smith, Anna. 2019. The Witch of Hadley: Mary Webster, the Weird, and the Wired. October 15. Accessed August 28, 2023. https://www.massreview.org/node/7575.

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)

Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)

Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley

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