Ominous Origins

Dark History | Albert Fish

This is an episode I've been toying with for quite some time. I first learned of Albert Fish when I was graduating highschool, when I was in a super edgy serial killer phase. He was a fascinating subject from just a human perspective, and he is the epitome of the nature versus nurture debate. Was he born evil, or was he victim of circumstance? Actually, I'm getting ahead of myself here. I do that quite a lot. Albert Fish was known by many different monikers, such as the boogeyman, The Grey Man, and the Werewolf of Wysteria, but ultimately he was a monster, and perhaps the most notorious child killer and molester in the history of the world. It wouldn't surprise me if Freddy Krueger was based off him, at least in a small way. 
Fish was first convicted of murdering a young girl by the name of Grace Budd. He lured her away from her family, in plain sight, from their home, took her to an abandoned house, strangled her, and reportedly ate her. Albert Fish was a cannibal. He enjoyed the flesh of children most. He was, as aforementioned, a monster. His claims of murder and molestation reach absurd numbers ranging from 9-100. 
He came from a family filled with mental illness, and he was also abused as a child at an orphanage, many of the punishments he carried over, using them as an adult on both himself and his victims. Strangely, out of all this, he was married at one point, and even had six kids, none of whom he ever abused.  At his trial, he obviously claimed insanity, and while some jurors admitted after the fact that they believed him to be insane, they still thought that he needed to be put to death. And so they did. 
For more information, you will just have to listen to the full episode.
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The Crying Boy Painting

Curses, they’re supposedly all around us. From the curse of the Bambino, to  the Annabelle doll, we’ve all experienced or heard of some kind of curse in the world. Sometimes they hit a little closer to home, and sometimes they’re very personal. Maybe there’s an intersection you won’t drive through, or maybe there’s a chair in grandpa’s house that gives you some eerie vibes, it could be anything. But in the 1980’s, a painting of a young crying boy popped up. By itself, that isn’t really newsworthy, but it’s how these (yes, multiple) paintings were discovered that was truly fascinating.
While it’s not been reported just how many of these mass-produced paintings were found among the wreckage of a burned home, multiple were. If that wasn’t weird enough, these paintings were the only objects left intact in the entire home. Yeah, that’s strange right? Aiding in the allure of the artwork was the mystery behind the artist. The name was unknown, but it could have possibly been a pseudonym. 
The curse truly took hold in the mid-80’s when The Sun, a British tabloid magazine, reported that this painting, or the subject of the painting, a crying orphaned boy, caused the houses it hung in to burn to the ground. Many speculated that it was revenge for abuse or mistreatment, or that the boy in the painting became an orphan because he accidentally burned down his family home, causing all those inside to die - except him.
From the murmurs of fire officials, to the tabloid reporting, the curse of the crying boy painting took off in the U.K., and it culminated in a massive bonfire, where, according to the Sun, 2500 copies of the paintings went up in flames, effectively ending the curse… or did it? You’ll just have to listen to the episode to find out!
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Dark History | Roanoke

It's one of, if not the oldest mysteries in America's history. In 1590, a colony of over a hundred people just up and vanished, with seemingly no trace left behind. Of course, this has lead to massive amounts of speculation and theories from everybody. From amateurs to professionals, and everybody in between, Roanoke has been the topic of great debate and mystery for over 400 years... Until now, apparently?
 
Roanoke could be summed up pretty quickly, and for those unfamiliar with what happened back in the 1500's, after setting up a colony John White, who was made governor, was forced to sail back to England for supplies. He left for three years, and upon his return, not a soul was left in the Roanoke colony. The only clue as to their whereabouts was a single word carved into a post: Croatoan. Another word, Cro, carved into a nearby tree. That was all he had to go on, and while a nearby island was called Croatoan, he never did find them, or what happened.
 
Enter today, literally, as I was scrolling through a news feed on my phone, a headline caught my attention: Roanoke Solved. I was intrigued, and so I began to dig deeper, and I discovered there have been a lot of advancements in the search for answers, and that mystery might just be solved. But for more details, and a better explanation, you'll just have to listen to the episode.
 
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Dark History | Cropsey

We all know the stories. We all know the tales - the boogeyman, the hook handed escaped convict, the monster in the woods - well what if I told you that maybe, just maybe, they were all real? Okay, well, not real, but real enough to be attributed to one single person. It all started with an urban legend by the name of Cropsey. It's a silly, yet unsettling name that people threw around on Staten Island, but nobody really gave much thought to its origin, other than there was a creepy old TB ward nestled in a local wooded area. That was until the early 1970's when people started going missing. Children, to be specific. Cropsey, for the first time, felt very real. Almost too real. First a young girl, then a you adult man, and then a disabled girl. They all seemingly vanished in plain sight, with only one suspect. Years prior, a custodian at a local school for disabled kids took 11 children for a ride in his van. He bought them lunch, and then took them across state lines to the Newark airport. While he never hurt the kids, he did spend time in prison for, well, imprisoning people. That man was named Andre Rand. The police never needed to look further than Rand for the crimes, and he was soon arrested. But what happened to the victims? Were they ever found? Was he ultimately sentenced after his arrest and trial? Well, to get the full story, you'll just have to give the episode a listen. The story of Cropsey is one that's caught my attention in the past, thanks to wonderfully made documentary by the same name. I highly suggest checking that out if you want an in depth look into this case.If you would like to donate to the show, you can, and I would forever be grateful.https://supporter.acast.com/Ominous-Origins-1Our sponsor: www.morbidlybeautiful.comMerch: www.redbubble.com/people/HorrorShotsYouTube: Horror ShotsTwitch: www.twitch.tv/muskyfauxWebsite: www.horrorshots.comInstagram: ominousoriginspodTwitter: @horrorshotsprodFacebook: HorrorshotsPatreon: www.patreon.com/horrorshotsCredit: Music: https://www.purple-planet.comSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/Ominous-Origins-1. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dark History | The SlenderMan Stabbing

We've all been susceptible to the power of suggestion or given into our beliefs at one point in time, however sometimes people take it a little too far. Knocking on a stranger's door to hand out pamphlets is one thing, but luring your friend into the woods to stab them 19 times is on a complete other level. But that's exactly what happened in May of 2014 in a small county in Wisconsin.What happened on that fateful May day is shrouded in mystery and intrigue not just because two 12 year old girls stabbed their best friend and left her for dead, but because it all boiled down to an internet phenomenon called Slender Man, and the obsession that Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser had with the fictitious creature. Depending on what circles of the internet you follow, you may or may not know who Slender Man is, but the long and short of it is he's a creation that was borne from a photoshopping contest. From there, his lore expanded and spread like wildfire.The near urban legend stature of the Slender Man spawned many, many forms of multimedia from movies to video games, and ultimately garnered one Hell of a following. A following that included two 12 year old girls who felt the need to kill in order appease him. The story doesn't end with a very satisfactory conclusion - while the Victim, Payton Leutner survived by sheer willpower and strength, it also exposed a flaw in our society - mental illness, and how it can so easily go unchecked. Anissa and Morgan, for all their sins, were victims themselves, both suffering for differing forms of mental illness. Though, if you want to hear the whole story, you'll just have to listen to the cast!If you would like to donate to the show, you can, and I would forever be grateful.https://supporter.acast.com/Ominous-Origins-1Our sponsor: www.morbidlybeautiful.comMerch: www.redbubble.com/people/HorrorShotsYouTube: Horror ShotsTwitch: www.twitch.tv/muskyfauxWebsite: www.horrorshots.comInstagram: ominousoriginspodTwitter: @horrorshotsprodFacebook: HorrorshotsPatreon: www.patreon.com/horrorshotsCredit: Music: https://www.purple-planet.comSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/Ominous-Origins-1. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Norse Mythology | Midgard and The World Serpent

It’s not every week that I take a look at the more common myths and cultures around the world - I feel at times there’s not much I can add to those topics. However, while looking for this week’s topic I came across a familiar, yet distant topic, Jormungand, or the world serpent. While I couldn’t find a great deal of information on the world serpent itself, it did lead me down the rabbit hole of Norse mythology, specifically the relationship between Jormungand and Thor, the Nine Worlds, and the World Tree.The inherent relationship between all of these different aspects is something that’s truly fascinating. The world tree, Yggdrasil is such an important concept, yet very little is actually known about its significance in the grand scheme of things. We know it has a relationship to Midgard (the visible world), Asgard (home of the gods), and Jotunheim (home of the giants), but how the other six worlds sit in relation is unknown. There have been theories, poems, and stories told about all of these, but there wasn’t a lot of written history during the time of these beliefs, which makes it all the more interesting.The Norse culture and mythology is so vast that it would need an entirely dedicated podcast to cover it all, but hopefully you enjoy this quick rundown of some of the things I found of particular interest. From Thor and Jormungand, to the prose Edda, there’s so much to discover, and if you want to know just a little bit more, you’ll have to listen to the cast!If you would like to donate to the show, you can, and I would forever be grateful.https://supporter.acast.com/Ominous-Origins-1Our sponsor: www.morbidlybeautiful.comMerch: www.redbubble.com/people/HorrorShotsYouTube: Horror ShotsTwitch: www.twitch.tv/muskyfauxWebsite: www.horrorshots.comInstagram: ominousoriginspodTwitter: @horrorshotsprodFacebook: HorrorshotsPatreon: www.patreon.com/horrorshotsCredit: Music: https://www.purple-planet.comSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/Ominous-Origins-1. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Wild Hunt

For anybody who fancies themselves a gamer, the term The Wild Hunt might ring familiar from The Witcher franchise. Anybody who studies folklore, history, or mythology, it might have historical connotations associated with it. And for those of you who have no interest in either, you might not be familiar with the term at all. Nevertheless, The Wild Hunt is a phenomenon of sorts that was popularized throughout much of Europe, with one of the first mentions of it taking place in 1127, however the event dates back even further, going into the days of Odin.The Wild Hunt, like many other semi-religious events, has evolved over the years depending on what religion was in power. It was once considered a pegan tradition, but eventually morphed into one with more Christian motifs to it. Regardless of the localization or region, the Wild Hunt always had a distinct leader; for some it was the Fairy King, others it was a devil. Generally, the Wild hunt was associated with the dead, an army, and the changing of the seasons.It seems that every region that experienced The Wild Hunt has its own tales to tell, and to find out more, as always, you’ll just have to listen to the episode!If you would like to donate to the show, you can, and I would forever be grateful.https://supporter.acast.com/Ominous-Origins-1Our sponsor: www.morbidlybeautiful.comMerch: www.redbubble.com/people/HorrorShotsYouTube: Horror ShotsTwitch: www.twitch.tv/muskyfauxWebsite: www.horrorshots.comInstagram: ominousoriginspodTwitter: @horrorshotsprodFacebook: HorrorshotsPatreon: www.patreon.com/horrorshotsCredit: Music: https://www.purple-planet.comSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/Ominous-Origins-1. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Faerie Tales | Rev. Robert Kirk

Once again I revisit a case from the past, and something that I’ve had an intense interest in since my youngest years - faeries. Yes, those whimsical little flying folk that live in trees and in knolls. I think most people think of Tinkerbell when they think of faeries, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, faeries and their lore go back hundreds upon hundreds of years. This week’s episode explores one man who has such a connection with the faerie folk that he’s considered the leading expert on the topic. His name is Reverend Robert Kirk, and if you believe the tales, and his journals, not only did he write on the topic of faeries and document their tales and existence, but he spent time with them, lived with them, and perhaps even punished by them.It wasn’t until after his death that Kirk became known for his journals and stories, and it’s even believed that maybe he didn’t die at all. He had such a fondness for the seelie realm that he perhaps chose to stay there, leaving his mortal body behind. Of course, this can’t be proven, but it’s a lovely thought, and gives hope to those that want to believe in an afterlife. Maybe the Reverend lives on with the faeries to this day. For more information, and my thoughts on the whole thing, you’ll just have to listen to the episode.Our sponsor: www.morbidlybeautiful.comMerch: www.redbubble.com/people/HorrorShotsYouTube: Horror ShotsTwitch: www.twitch.tv/horrorshotsplaysWebsite: www.horrorshots.comInstagram: ominousoriginspodTwitter: @horrorshotsprodFacebook: HorrorshotsPatreon: www.patreon.com/horrorshotsCredit: Music: https://www.purple-planet.comSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/Ominous-Origins-1. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.