The Smiling Man

This chapter enters the mysterious and unsettling world of shadow people. Join us as we explore the origins and apparent encounters whilst delving into the depths of human psychology to understand the enduring fascination with these elusive, shadowy figures. Is it possible that shadowy figures are entering our world? How can so many people experience such similar things? and how far back do the tales of Shadow People go?Support the show Contact me at: [email protected] the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/lukemordueEverything else: lukemordue.com/podcast

In this harrowing chapter, we plunge into the chilling world of a spine-tingling urban legend that has fueled fear and fascination - the horrifying tale of 'The Dead Boyfriend' hanging above the car. Join us as we delve into the origins, gripping narratives, and psychological underpinnings of this enduring myth whilst also drawing connections to very real crimes committed over the years. Support the show Contact me at: [email protected] the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/lukemordueEverything else: lukemordue.com/podcast

**Trigger Warning: This chapter involves harm to children.**In this chapter, we unwrap a notorious urban legend that has cast a sinister shadow over Halloween for decades, 'Poisoned Candy'. Join us as we delve into the origins, fears, and dark reality behind this enduring Halloween myth, exploring how the legend of tainted treats has become a sinister undercurrent of Halloween folklore, examining its roots in real cases and the fears that continue to haunt the holiday.Support the show Contact me at: [email protected] the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/lukemordueEverything else: lukemordue.com/podcast

Let's soar through history to unravel the spine-tingling mysteries and explore the enduring fascination surrounding this enigmatic creature. We'll unravel the origins of this cryptid, delving into the eerie accounts of sightings that first gripped the town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia. We'll investigate the theories and explanations surrounding the Mothman, from the supernatural to the scientific, seeking to demystify this enigmatic phenomenon. Is it a harbinger of doom, an alien visitor, or something else?Support the show Contact me at: [email protected] the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/lukemordueEverything else: lukemordue.com/podcast

In this chapter, we delves deep into the urban legend of the 'Jersey Devil'. From its roots in the Pine Barrens and the Leeds family story into the 1909 wave of sightings, when strange tracks, alleged attacks, and public fear spread across South Jersey and beyond. Join us as we examine what was actually reported, how the story travelled, and what the panic reveals about rumour, media, and the human need to give a name and a shape to the unknown.Support the show Contact me at: [email protected] the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/lukemordueEverything else: lukemordue.com/podcast

From ancient carvings and medieval manuscripts to shipwreck songs and seaside myths, 'Mermaids' have haunted human imagination for centuries.Over the years, they have been a symbol of beauty, danger, sin, and even salvation. But where did these beings come from, and why have they endured in so many cultures across the world?Support the show Contact me at: [email protected] the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/lukemordueEverything else: lukemordue.com/podcast

'The Smiling Man’ was a short story that sent shivers down the spines of countless readers on Reddit, telling the harrowing encounter of a man who crosses paths with a mysterious, grinning figure during a quiet nighttime stroll. But what makes this internet legend so enduring and terrifying? In this episode, we'll peel back the layers of the story and its origins, diving into the psychology of a smile, and the creation of a modern-day urban legend.Support the show Contact me at: [email protected] the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/lukemordueEverything else: lukemordue.com/podcast

Some stories are kept secret for a reason, and among the Diné, the figures outsiders call 'skinwalkers' is one of them.In this chapter, we examine how this subject sits within Diné teachings about witchcraft rather than monsters, why many details are not shared publicly, and how 19th-century accusations, modern reporting, and internet mythmaking reshaped the idea for the rest of the world.We separate community perspectives and documented history from hearsay and pop-culture distortion. To many, the Skinwalker is another Urban Legend, but to those who know its secrets, it is far more than that.Support the show Contact me at: [email protected] the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/lukemordueEverything else: lukemordue.com/podcast

**Trigger Warning: This chapter involves harm to children.**In this chapter, let's delve into the urban legends that brought forward what is now known as 'The Satanic Panic‘, from the first sensational cases and flawed investigations to the media frenzy and courtrooms that followed.  We’ll look at how fear, politics, and culture combined to create a moral wildfire, one that still echoes in today’s conspiracy movements.Support the show Contact me at: [email protected] the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/lukemordueEverything else: lukemordue.com/podcast

The Kraken belongs to a 600-year tradition of Scandinavian sea monsters; creatures so vast that medieval sailors mistook their backs for islands and landed on them.The word itself is said to have first appeared in a Norwegian glossary in 1646, but by the 1750s, Erik Pontoppidan was cataloguing fishermen's accounts in his ‘Natural History of Norway’, treating the creature not as folklore but as a species awaiting classification.But what were these sailors actually seeing? Was it mass hysteria? Mistranslated whale sightings? Or genuine encounters with something the world hadn't named yet? In this chapter, I trace the Kraken from 13th-century Norwegian texts to the harpoon scars left on dying sperm whales and to 2004, when researchers finally photographed a living giant squid in its natural habitat for the first time in human history.This is Urban Legends.Support the show Contact me at: [email protected] the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/lukemordueEverything else: lukemordue.com/podcast