Ominous Origins

Ronald Gene Simmons WASN‘T a Member of KISS

Despite sharing 2/3rds of a name with rock legend Gene SImmons, the two couldn't be further apart. One worshipped demons, one was a rock god, and one had a tongue that legends were made of; the other, well, he was a straight up demon, a vessel for pure evil, a man who killed 16 people, including his entire immediate family. Yeah, so buckle up for a fun one this week. I mean, they're all fun, aren't they?
Richard Gene Simmons was a US citizen who excelled while being a member of the military in more than one role. He was a decorated soldier, and from all accounts did well for himself while enlisted. However, something changed when he retired from the military. Perhaps its the highscool syndrome, you know the jocks who peak at 17 then it's all downhill from there? Yeah, I'm thinking Simmons peaked in the military and didn't know what to do when he got out. He worked a string of low paying jobs, a couple from which he was fired. Maybe it was all the stress from being fired and a failure, or maybe it was the fact he fathered a child with his own daughter - yeah, that happened - that set him off.
But the fateful December of 1987, Simmons killed his entire family before going after all those who wronged him. There are some terrible and gruesome details that you can only get by listening to the episode, so... Listen!
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Robert Pickton Was A Bad Man | Part 2

Last week we took a short look at Robert Pickton and what he'd done. It was brief, and we didn't cover all the details I wanted to, so this week we spend a little more time on the crimes of Pickton, his trial, and of course, most importantly, his victims. These serial killer episodes are always a bit love hate for me. Sure, like most people I find the topic to be incredibly interesting, but on the other hand, I hate glorifying and giving these "people" any more attention than they've already gotten. One thing that I do find incredibly important is the victims. They should never be forgotten, but they will forever be linked with the person who took their life. So it's a two way street.
Nevertheless, this episode does deal with some more of the details concerning Pickton, and what he did, and what the police eventually found after ignoring his crimes for sooooo long. Really, it's disgusting how long they turned a blind eye to what he was doing on that pig farm. Spoiler alert, it involved feeding his victims to his pigs.... among others. Yeah, you'll have to listen to find out more details on that.
In the end, Pickton was a despicable person, who, like many others like him, suffered from a pretty crappy upbringing from abusive parents. Of course, that's not an excuse. Pickton had siblings that didn't turn into serial killers, and they had the same upbringing, especially his brother. His sister was sent to live with relatives at a young age. But, it does get one thinking about the whole nature vs. nurture things. 
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Robert Pickton Picked a Pig Farm

Yes, when you think of Canada, you probably think of friendly faces, maple syrup, and the phrase "Eh." But what doesn't come to mind is serial killers. Well, I have some news for you, we up here in the great white north have our fair share of bloodthirsty killers, and today we'll be talking about one by the name of Robert "Willy" Pickton. This "human" did some pretty unspeakable stuff, and his laundry list of terrible deeds is punctuated with murder. In this first part of at least two, I look at a brief overview of his case and crimes, and to be honest, it's pretty enraging stuff. But sadly, that's not the only enraging bit about this case as the police messed up... A lot. Not only did they let Pickton go at one point, they barely lifted a finger when over 65 women were reported missing in a 20 year span.
Pickton targeted women in the sex work industry in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. This was an area known for poverty, drugs, and sex work, and he knew damn well that the police gave zero craps about the people in this area, and so he was able to get away with his heinous crimes for years without detection, and as previously mentioned, was even able to get basically get away with murder when one of the women who fought him and got away was basically told she was lying about her encounter (despite both her and Pickton being stabbed in an altercation) because she was a drug addict. 
Pickton was eventually caught when a former colleague told the police he had seen illegal guns on the property. But, if this guy had ever smoked weed in his life, then well, he would have been written off as a filthy cretin with no moral compass. Thankfully, I guess, he never partook in passing anything to the left hand side, and was taken seriously. But just how many women did Pickton kill? Well, you'll just have to listen to find out.
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Are they a bad cover band, or just the Black Eyed Kids?

We are back this week with a topic I've wanted to cover for quite sometime; the strange phenomena of the Black Eyed Kids. Back in 1996 a journalist, Brian Bethel, had an encounter that left him with an unsavory taste in his mouth. He couldn't explain what happen, only that it had, but what he could recall was shocking. Bethel's account featured a new type of haunting with a brand new, never before seen monster - black eyed kids. He described these kids as between the ages of 6 and 16 with fairly normal features, except that their clothes were dated by a few decades... oh and their eyes were solid black. Yeah, I know, terrifying, right?
Well after Bethel's account, other's began either having similar encounters with these things, or recalled events that had happened to them in their younger years. All of these stories, which are now plentiful all over reddit, have one thing in common - the kids always want to come into your space, be it a house or car, or... whatever. Generally, these kids also seem out of touch with modern society, such as asking to come into a home to use a landline when pretty much everybody (including bloody toddlers), have their own cellphone. They also create a sense of unease within the person/people they're interacting with.'
Most chilling of all? Well, there are absolutely no accounts of what happens in somebody lets one of these Black Eyed Kids into their house... Maybe nobody's lived to tell the tale.
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Let‘s Escape to the Astral Planes

I'm back! I know, it's been a while. This episode has been kicking my arse. When I was contacted about my thoughts on the astral planes, I became curious and jumped right in. However, I was a little overwhelmed by how much research there's been on the topic, and so I did my best to take the best bits from a ton of different sources and condense it into a 20 minute episode. So, that was fun.
But what I did learn as that the there are a lot of these planes, and while I didn't go into detail on any of them, we get a pretty firm understanding of just what these places are. But what I found more interesting was how people travel there. The experiences, called astral projections, or out of body experiences can happen to anybody at any time, though there are some triggers for the involuntary OBE's. On the flipside, there are some who train themselves to project themselves to these dimensions. It's all very interesting.
One of the biggest studies I could find on OBE's came from Frontiers in human neuroscience. I will admit that I didn't read the whole thing. For as interesting as it is, it wouldn't make for good podcasting content, but I encourage you to check out the article HERE.
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The Beast of Jersey was a Musty man

Going through some past episodes, I realized that we've covered a lot of beasts. To be fair, the term beast can be attributed to any number of terrifying things, so I don't feel too bad. Nevertheless, this character is a real piece of work. Edward Paisnel has hints of Albert Fish in the sense that he was a disturbed man who preyed on the young, and they both had a crime spree that lasted much longer than it should have. But we've already covered Fish, so onto the Beast!
During the late 1950's through to the early 70's. Paisnel went from attacking women on the street, and abusing them in a field, to breaking into homes and abducting kids from their bedrooms... and abusing them in fields. The Island of Jersey is a tiny place, and back in the 50's and 60's it was even smaller in terms of population, and the fact that this guy got away with what he did for so long is nothing short of incredibly disturbing. 
So you're sitting there thinking, "yeah, this guy's terrible for what he did to people and kids, but why is he is so terrifying?" Well, he would wear a disguise, and not just any disguise, but one that consisted of a loose fitting mask and wig that resembled a woman - think Texas Chainsaw 3 - and a coat adorned with nails on the collar, sleeve, and front flap. He was right out of a nightmare, and I'll post the picture below.
Thankfully he was eventually caught, the only way a serial criminal could be. What might that be? Well, you'll just have to listen to find out.
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Three Men Walk into a Lighthouse...

... And they all vanished. Hell of a punchline, eh? Well that's exactly what happened in December of 1900, three men were at their lighthouse post on the Flannan Isle, Thomas Marshall, James Ducat and Donald MacArthur, when one stormy night they all mysteriously vanished into thin air. There was never a trace of these men found again. Of course, you might think that they all got swept away in the storm, or some other tragic accident, and you might not be wrong. BUT that won't people from theorizing other, more supernatural explanations. 
A popular theory when anybody goes missing, is of course, aliens. Naturally, given the circumstances, and the scene that was left behind it does appear that they were abducted my something otherworldy, and the main reason for this theory: The clocks, every last one within the lighthouse, were frozen, dead, not working. The scene also looked like they were taken in the middle of a meal, as half eaten plates of food were left behind, as well the kitchen was a mess, and a chair tipped over. Aliens.
Other than that, potentially a giant bird up and plucked them from the shores of the isle. Yes, a giant bird. However, this isn't as common, or believable as the alien theory. But whatever did happen on that isle is still a mystery, and the mystery grew even further when their logbook was discovered, and there were some strange passages written within. Spoiler, it involved a bit of crying and a lot of praying. It was almost as if they knew something was going to happen, or perhaps they knew they were being stalked or hunted.
Regardless of what actually happened, the mystery remains, and will probably never be solved. Their bodies were never found, and more than a hundred years later, never will be... Unless the aliens drop them off and they hadn't aged a day. That would be something.
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It‘s a Bird, It‘s a Plane, It‘s the Beast of Gevaudan!

So let's say you live in the 1700's, and let's also say that you live on a farm, or out in the country somewhere, what would be your biggest fear? Well, the city-folk would probably be afraid of muggings and murder, but you, your fears hit a little different. How about being confronted in the middle of the woods in the dead of night by a massive wolf-like beast. It's so ferocious, and it's nothing like you've ever seen. It snarls, snaps it's massive jaws, and before you can blink, your head is clean off. 
If that sounds specific, that's because it is, and that was a real fear many in the Gevaudan area of 1760's France had. There was a beast, something that didn't belong, lurking the countryside, and it did not discriminate. Men, women, and children all fell victim to whatever this beast was. In fact, it got so bad that even Louis XV became involved, and so did a reward for the slaying of the beast - 6,000 Livres, which was a boat-load of money back then. 
The beast was eventually believed to be slain, but shortly after the attacks started again. So just what as this creature? Well, there are many popular theories, ranging from exotic animals imported, and escaping (similar to the alien big cats of a previous episode), to a prehistoric survivor from well... prehistoric times, to that of a serial killer who used an armored dog to do his hunting and wounding, at the very least.
I like that last theory. It seems the most interesting. But regardless of what this beast is, it still remains a mystery, so tell, me, what do you think it was?
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