Just avoid Halloween at all costs

In this part 2 episode, we discuss the end of Bill Cooper's life, his ascension to a pillar of reverence for U.S. militia movements and domestic terrorists, and the impact of his book and ideas on pop culture, to include sci-fi and hip-hop music.

In 1991, renowned UFOlogist and conspiracy theorist Milton William Cooper published a book that would end up becoming the catalyst for the zeitgeist of the pre-millennium tension of the 90's.  Behold a Pale Horse contained documents, notes, and essays detailing a New World Order plan to enslave the human population via the media and government mind-control experiments, secret society oaths, and and even an imminent UFO invasion.  However, many of the themes in the book would resonate with the public, as people began to associate what Cooper describes to events happening globally, with some of his predictions actually coming true.  The book would eventually become further associated with American militias and domestic terrorism.  But how much of it was just made-up nonsense?  Was there ANY merit to to his experiences and beliefs?  Was Cooper a fraud?  We discuss, and then some.

Tonight, we talk about real-life Halloween tales gathered from internetland, ranging from the absurd, to the comical, to the truly horrifying.  It's enough to make you just want to stay at home and eat candy, where it's safe.  Or is it?

On Halloween in 1974, a man named Ronald Clark O'Bryan would commit a horrific act that would have a continued impact over the next 5 decades and become the basis for the urban legend of strangers poisoning candy handed out to children on Halloween.  Now, while this urban legend has been mostly debunked, there are small bits of truth that help enforce the idea that people are using Halloween candy as a method to harm children.  We discuss these incidents over the years, as well as whether or not a myth can become reality over time.

Tonight, we discuss topics from past episodes in which the mystery surrounding them has been solved since we last covered them.  The Murders at Steve's Motel, the Gabby Petito disappearance, and even the one that started it all, the Ruth Price 911 call are up for re-evaluation.  So welcome back, and enjoy this walk through the archives.

From 1894 until 1997, the United States and Canada ran a schooling system for Native Americans that equated to systemic genocide- children, some as young as newborns, were taken from their families and forced to live in boarding schools with the intent of assimilating them into Christian society.  Not allowed to engage in their native languages or religious practices, these children endured horrific physical and mental abuse as they were stripped of their culture, many times culminating in death via disease, abuse, or suicide.  Over a quarter million native children in the U.S and Canada were forced into these schools, with thousands upon thousands never returning home, as evidenced by the discovery of unmarked mass gravesites at many of the schools, with more being found every month.

For 84 years, there existed a small, dark stain in the heart of America.  A place where travelers of the night passing through a small town in Ohio were likely to be surrounded by rapists, drug dealers, murderers and sex traffickers and not realize it.  Despised by some, loved by others who knew it was a place where anything goes, it's notoriety reached it's peak in 1991 when a triple homicide occurred, the victims being the couple that owned the property along with their six-year-old daughter, in what appeared to be a professional hit.  The case was never solved, and it, along with the very acknowledgement of the existence of the place has been swept under the rug by locals, and it was finally demolished in 2021.  This is the legend of Steve's Motel.

This week, we each choose what we believe to be the most haunted place in America, and discuss our reasons why.  A quaint southern town known for having more ghostly inhabitants than live ones, a mental health facility with a hellish reputation, and a house in Kansas with a haunting so incredible it was captured multiple times on network television.  So grab your Halloween candy, and enjoy!

Over the last few years, there has been a growing trend in horror- the Extreme Horror Experience.  Evolved from the notoriety of "Extreme Haunted Houses" like McKamey Manor and Blackout, these experiences look to disturb and unnerve visitors by blurring the line between safety and danger.  Although what actually happens in these experiences is rather secretive, there are reports of intentional physical harm and borderline sexual assault. But are these places just sadism in disguise?  Are they actually scary, or ridiculous cash grabs?  We'll tell you what we think in this fun episode.

At the base of the tallest mountain in Japan, there is a place where hundreds of people a year go to purposefully never return from.  Curious visitors to the area may encounter corpses, curses left behind by the dead, or sometimes, hear screams from deep within the trees.  Though there is some debate over whether or not Aokigahara is haunted in the traditional sense of the word, there is no doubt that there exists a dark allure that compels people to enter the forest and end their lives.  - Warning:  This episode contains discussion about suicide and Japanese suicide culture.  If you are feeling suicidal or experiencing extreme depression, *please* reach out to someone for help.  The National Suicide Prevention lifeline is available 24/7 in North America at 800-273-8255.  For those abroad, below is a link to the various suicide lifelines available in different countries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines