Dialing the Dead: A Séance with Sam & Colby

On the evening of January 27, 2001, Roxana Verona arrived at the Etna, NH home of her friends Half and Susanne Zantop for a dinner the couple had planned with friends that night. When no one answered the door, Verona entered the home and found the brutalized bodies of Half and Susanne, both dead from multiple stab wounds.The murder of the Zantops shocked the tiny community of Etna and the faculty and students of Dartmouth College, where the couple worked at the time of their deaths. The murder baffled local police, who had very little experience with violent crime, much less murder. The first few weeks of the investigation were hampered by an overwhelming number of unhelpful tips from the public and considerable time was wasted on chasing false leads. When investigators finally caught up with the killers nearly a month later, their identities were not at all what anyone was expecting, and their motive for the murder made even less sense.ResourcesBelkin, Douglas, and Lois Shea. 2001. "Slayings cast pall over Dartmouth." Boston Globe, Janaury 30: 1.Belkin, Douglas, and Marcella Bombardieri. 2001. "A faculty couple at Dartmouth slain." Boston Globe, Janaury 29: 1.—. 2001. "Officials won't discuss motive or how evidence led to pair." Boston Globe, February 18: 1.Bombardieri, Marcella, and Tom Farragher. 2001. "1 NH suspect to be arriagned today." Boston Globe, February 21.Butterfield, Fox. 2002. "Teenagers are sentenced for killing two professors." New York Times, April 5.Eddy, Kristina. 2001. "Town jholted by death of two professors." Concord Monitor, January 29: 1.Hookway, Bob. 2002. "Zantop killing was randon." Valley News, February 20: 1.Lehr, Dick, and Mitchell Zuckoff. 2003. Judgment Ridge: The True Story Behind the Dartmouth Murders. New York, NY: Harper Collins.Mooney, Brian, and Kathleen Schuckel. 2001. "Bid for a ride via CB trips up NH suspects." Boston Globe, Febraury 20: 1.New York Times. 2002. "Youth dreamed of adventure, but settled for killing a couple." New York Times, May 18.Storin, Matthew. 2001. "To our readers." Boston Globe, February 21.Tillman, Jodie. 2001. "Dartmouth College reacts." Concord Monitor, Janaury 29: 8.Zuckoff, Mitchell, and Shelley Murphy. 2001. "Love affair eyed in NH killings." Boston Globe, February 16.—. 2001. "Love affair eyed in NH killings." Boston Globe, February 6.—. 2001. "Vt. youth sought in NH killings." Boston Globe, February 17: 1.Zuckoff, Mitchell, Marcella Bombardierri, Douglas Belkin, and Rachel Osterman. 2001. "Zantops were close, but a study in contrasts." Boston Globe, February 16: 1. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Weirdos! Today we are joined by legendary crime novelist Patricia Cornwell, the mastermind behind the Kay Scarpetta series and one of the pioneers of the forensic thriller genre! Whether you’re a longtime Scarpetta stan or newly forensic-curious, this episode is packed with morbid stories, writing wisdom, and bone-deep passion for the truth!Looking to Preorder SHARP FORCE, the 29th installment of the Scarpetta series? Click HERE or find it at your favorite bookseller on 10/7/25!Would you like a sneak peak to the Scarpetta Television show? Click Here!Want to read A Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Ruben? Find it here!Join us for our NEXT Morbid Bookclub by starting the first Scarpetta book, Post Mortem! Find it here!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On the evening of November 30, 1989, Linda Napolitano awoke in her lower Manhattan apartment to find herself unable to move. She felt as though she was in the presence of other individuals, then she began to lift off her bed and was transported, as though by unseen hands, out her bedroom window several floors up, before being abducted into an unidentified aircraft. Linda Napolitano is one of countless people who claim to have been abducted and experimented on by extraterrestrials; however, she is one of very few whose abduction was witnessed by nearly two dozen strangers in one of the busiest cities in the world. According to ufologist Budd Hopkins, Napolitano’s abduction has produced irrefutable evidence of extraterrestrial life, but more importantly, he believes Linda’s case is proof of a larger and more insidious plan to eradicate humanity altogether.The Manhattan Alien Abduction case is among a small number of heavily researched and well-documented cases of supposed alien abduction in American history, but it is not without its critics. In the years following Linda’s abduction, a dramatic story has unfolded, pitting skeptics and believers against one another in surprising and deeply personal ways.Thank you to the Amazing Dave White (of BRING ME THE AXE PODCAST) for research and writing assistance!ReferencesHopkins, Budd. 1996. Witnessed: The True Story of the Brooklyn Bridge UFO Abductions. New York, NY: Pocket Books.Lowe, Lindsay. 2024. ‘The Manhattan Alien Abduction’ controversial true story: Why the star is suing Netflix. November 1. Accessed September 27, 2025. https://www.today.com/popculture/manhattan-alien-abduction-true-story-rcna178005.2024. The Manhattan Alien Abduction. Directed by Vivienne Perry and Daniel Vernon.Sheaffer, Robert. 2011. "Abductology Implodes." Skeptical Inquirer 25-27. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On February 4, 1941, Bronx police officers were called to the home of John and Catherine Pappas for a report of a homicide. Based on the evidence, detectives theorized that someone had been invited into the Pappas apartment while Catherine was home alone and that same someone had strangled her to death, then ransacked the apartment looking for valuables. To investigators the scene resembled a fairly straightforward robbery-homicide; however, to detective Ed Burns, there were elements of the crime scene that bore a striking similarity to another assault and robbery case he’d been assigned to just two weeks earlier in another part of the Bronx. What followed was an investigation that exploded in size from a single robbery-gone-wrong that resulted in a murder to a sprawling serial sexual assault case that would eventually involve more than eighty victims in eight states, all victimized by the same man. The hunt for the Aspirin Bandit is among the more remarkable cases in New York criminal history, not only because of the number of victims, but also because of the tremendous effort and coordination put forth to catch the killer—effort and coordination that, in 1941, was virtually unheard of.Thank you to the Amazing Dave White (of BRING ME THE AXE PODCAST) for research and writing assistance!ReferencesBrooklyn Eagle. 1941. "Papas slayer, faced by victims, confesses." Brooklyn Eagle, March 4: 1.Connor, Christine, and Elise Greven. 2017. "Gentleman Killer." A Crime to Remember. Janaury 3.Dillon, Edward, and Howard Whitman. 1941. "Cigarets, aspirin clues to woman's strangler." Daily News (New York, NY), February 6: 4.New York Times. 1941. "Alarm for burglar sent in Pappas case." New York Times, February 8: 32.—. 1941. "Cvek found guilty of Pappas murder." New York Times, May 20: 46.—. 1941. "Cvek tells court he killed in anger." New York Times, May 16: 24.—. 1941. "Mystery cloaks woman's murder." New York Times, February 6: 15.—. 1941. "Pappas strangler admits 15 crimes." New York Times, March 5: 1.—. 1941. "Slayer of woman 'rebukes' press." New York Times, March 8: 34.—. 1941. "Sun lamp halts trial." New York Times, April 22: 23.Rice, William. 1941. "Cvek a killer? No surprise to his relatives." Daily News (New York, NY), March 5: 4. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Weirdos, REJOICE! It’s that time that's brought to you, BY you, FOR you, FROM you and ALLLLL about you! This week, Ash & Alaina enter their villain era, and  focus on tales from the early oughts! We’ve got haunted plants! We’ve got stories about a break in! We’ve got ghostly babysitters! So sit down, grab a cup of ambrosia and join us as we say farewell to September!LISTEN to this (nearly)Nicholas-free version on all podcast platforms OR WATCH the Nicholas version on Youtube on 9/25/2025!If you’ve got a listener tale please send it on over to [email protected] with “Listener Tales” somewhere in the subject line- and if you share pictures- please let us know if we can share them with fellow weirdos! :) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Weirdos! This week, we’re diving headfirst into the haunted and the unexplainable with none other than Sam & Colby! They’ve shared their passion for seeking the paranormal, taunting the unknown, and occasionally screaming at shadows in abandoned places. Sam & Colby talk about some of their most terrifying (and hilarious) experiences on the road, as well as answer questions we can confidently say they’ve never been asked!Want to watch their ghost hunts? Check out their YouTube Channel HERE!Interested in doing a ghost hunt at the haunted school they purchased? Book your experience HERE!Check out their Escape Room: Room 1952 Asylum? Book it HERE!Purchase their NEW Hunt A Killer Game: The Haunting of Wicker Ridge HERE! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the early morning hours of July 9, 1993, police in Sedona, Arizona received a dispatch call from 911 regarding a domestic violence related shooting at a home on Coffee Pot Drive. When they arrived at the home, officers found thirty-one-year-old Russell Peterson performing CPR on his longtime girlfriend, Stephanie Wasilishin, who was lying on the floor of the couple’s bedroom with a large hole in her neck from a .44 caliber bullet. Also present in the bedroom was the couple’s four-year-old daughter.At first, Peterson told investigators that Stephanie had fired the gun at him in the living room, then retreated to the bedroom, where the two struggled over the gun, during which Stephanie was shot. Later, however, Peterson changed his story, telling detectives he couldn’t remember what happened, but he thought Stephanie shot herself. Further complicating matters was the couple’s daughter, who told detectives “Papa killed her.”For decades, the Wasilishin family has sought justice for Stephanie, but that justice and the answers to their questions have remained elusive. With the passage of time, is it possible for investigators to close the case on Stephanie Wasilishin’s death, or has too much time passed for a resolution to present itself?Looking to sign the petition? Click here!Want LISTEN to Nikki’s Podcast “PAPI KILLED MOMMY” Listen here!Follow Nikki on TikTok Click here!Thank you to the Amazing Dave White (of BRING ME THE AXE PODCAST) for research and writing assistance!ReferencesBrooks, Scott. 1993. Miscellaneous offense report, Peterson/Wasilishin. Incident Report, Sedona, Arizona: Sedona Police Department.Eland, Ron. 2020. Sedona Police Department adds more pieces to puzzle in 1993 death. July 27. Accessed August 5, 2025. https://www.redrocknews.com/2020/07/27/sedona-police-department-adds-more-pieces-to-puzzle-of-1993-death/.—. 2020. Sedona Police Department returns to 1993 case. July 16. Accessed August 5, 2025. https://www.redrocknews.com/2020/07/16/sedona-police-department-returns-to-1993-case/.Irish, Robert. 1993. Sedona Police Department Supplementary Report, case #93-4944. Supplementary Report, Sewdoa, Arizona: Sedona Police Department.Keen, Dr. Philip. 1993. Report of Autopsy, Stephanie Wasilishin. Autopsy, Phoenix, Arizona: Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner.Spokes, Walter. 1993. Russell Peters interview, 10-21-93. Interview transcript, Sedona, Arizona: Sedona Police Department.Spokes, Walter. 1993. Supplementary Report, case # 93-4944. Incident report, Sedona, Arizona: Sedona Police Department. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the summer of 1977, single mother Margaret Hodgson called the police to her council estate apartment in Enfield, London to report that she and her two daughters, Janet and Peggy, had seen furniture move in the apartment and were hearing strange noises coming from within the walls. That simple albeit unusual call set in motion a chain of events that would thrust the unassuming Hodgson family into the center of a debate about the existence of the supernatural and forever associate them with one of England’s most notorious paranormal cases, the Enfield poltergeist.Over the course of roughly eighteen months, the family claimed they were subjected to a variety of supernatural harassment that ranged from moving furniture and knocking in the walls to disembodied voices and even involuntary levitation. Soon after the report was made to the police, the story attracted a variety of news outlets and paranormal investigators, all determined to either prove the case a genuine poltergeist or a hoax perpetrated by two adolescent attention-seeking girls.Nearly fifty years later, the case remains controversial among skeptics and believers, all of whom want to know what exactly did happen in the Hodgson's apartment and who—or what—is to blame for the disturbances.Thank you to the Amazing Dave White (of BRING ME THE AXE PODCAST) for research and writing assistance! ReferencesAmin, Meghna. 2022. "Man behind photos of the Enfield poltergeist ‘still can’t believe’ what he saw." The Metro, October 28.Brimmer, Ryan. 1978. "Ghost Story." Daily Mirror, March 30: 20.Cambridge Evening News. 1978. "Pitfalls facing psychic investigator." Cambridge Evening News, March 31: 18.Couttie, Bob. 1988. Forbidden Knowledge: The Paranormal Paradox. Cambridge, UK: Lutterworth.French, Chris. 2016. Five reasons why London’s most famous poltergeist case is a hoax. June 17. Accessed October 7, 2023. https://www.timeout.com/london/blog/five-reasons-why-londons-most-famous-poltergeist-case-is-a-hoax-061616.Grosse, Maurice. 1977. "Poltergeist in Enfield." The Observer, November 20: 16.Hyde, Deborah. 2015. "The Enfield 'poltergeist:' a sceptic speaks." The Guardian, May 1.Nickell, Joe. 2012. "Enfield Poltergeist." Skeptical Inquirer 36 (4): 12-14.Playfair, Guy Lyon. 1980. This House is Haunted. New York, NY: Stein and Day.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Happy Friday, weirdos! We are SO EXCITED to spend our FIRST MONTHLY BONUS EPISODE digging into the shocking Netflix Documentary Unknown Number: The High School Catfish! MAJOR spoilers ahead, so if you haven't watched it yet, press 'pause' and get thee to Netflix IMMEDIATELY!Want to watch the documentary? Find it on Netflix here! Unknown Number: The High School CatfishLooking for the article we mentioned? Find it on THECUT Here! Who Was Cyberbullying  Kendra Licari's Teen Daughter? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Just after 8:00 pm on the evening of February 19, 1994, thirty-one-year-old Gloria Ramirez was admitted to Riverside General Hospital with what Emergency Room staff believed were symptoms of a heart attack. When Ramirez failed to respond to the medications and emergency treatments, medical staff began preparations for defibrillation; however, when they removed the woman’s shirt, they were surprised to find her skin covered in an oily sheen and her body seemed to be emitting an odd fruity odor. Stranger still, when a nurse took a blood sample from the woman’s arm, the blood smelled of ammonia and appeared to have slightly yellow particles floating in it. The nurse turned to leave the room, intending to take the sample for immediate analysis, but she didn’t even make it to the door before she lost consciousness and was caught by a coworker before her limp body hit the floor. Less than an hour after she was admitted to the Riverside General Emergency Room, Gloria Ramirez was pronounced dead, but her story was far from over.Within hours of Ramirez’s visit to the ER, medical personnel who attended her that evening became sick with symptoms typically associated with insecticide poisoning (tremors, apnea, burning skin), and several required hospitalization. In the days and weeks that followed, the doctors and nurses who’d come into direct contact with Ramirez continued to experience bizarre symptoms that seemed to defy logical explanation and left everyone wondering, how had a seemingly ordinary woman’s body been transformed into Trojan horse of toxicity most associated with chemical warfare?Thank you to the Amazing Dave White (of BRING ME THE AXE PODCAST) for research and writing assistance!ReferencesAyers, B. Drummon. 1994. "Elaborate precautions taken for autopsy in mystery fumes case." New York Times, February 25: A17.Ayers, B. Drummond. 1994. "After airtight autopsy, mystery lingers in case of hospital fumes." New York Times, February 26: 10.Boodman, Sandra G. 1994. "Was it a case of mass hysteria or poisoning by toxic chemical?" Washington Post, September 13.Gorman, Tom. 1994. "Victims of fumes still ill, and still seeking answers." Los Angeles Times, April 14: 1.King, Peter H. 1994. "Another funeral of note." Los Angeles Times, April 27: 3.Kolata, Gina. 1994. "Fumes at hospital baffle officials." New York Times, February 22: A12.New York Times. 1994. "Doctor faults state report on faintings." New York Times, September 4.—. 1994. "Doctor files lawsuit over mystery fumes in emergency room." New York Times, August 10: A14.—. 1994. "Kidney failure killed woman in fumes case." New York Times, May 1.Stone, Richard. 1995. "Analysis of a Toxic Death." Discover Magazine, April 1. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.