Episode 94: Ye’ Olde Spooky Christmas

Merry Christmas!This year, for our Christmas episode, let’s talk about some not so well known Christmas and Yule folklore and figured- the ones that bring a little spookiness to the Christmas and Yule season.The Ukrainian Christmas SpidersThe Yule CatAnd Frau Perchta, the Winter Witch Goddess

“Sleep paralysis” is defined as episodes of paralysis that occur while someone is awake, or in the middle of falling asleep. Little is known about what causes sleep paralysis. Many psychotherapists believe that the hallucinations experienced during these paralytic episodes are the reason behind most supposed paranormal events. But what if these episodes aren’t the reason for paranormal events, but a window of time where the paranormal is more likely to happen? A window of time where we are most vulnerable?

Have you ever heard of Pareidolia? It is a psychological phenomena that occurs in humans where we think we see faces in different objects. We are desperate to find the familiar in unfamiliar, and sometimes dangerous circumstances. How many times have you thought that you saw eyes staring at you from your closet just for your brain to be playing tricks on you? But what if something was there? Let me introduce to you a famous case that has divided the supernatural community for decades - Las Caras de Belmez.

Every exorcism and possession case is unique in its own right, but one thing that can always be agreed on is that the possessed individual always suffers. These people are never willing participants in the attacking of their souls. But what if they were? What if someone welcomed the possession? That is what our special Halloween original story is about.Scary Stories for the Soul Presents: The Four Door Experiment

Sitting in the Bel-Nor neighborhood of St.Louis, Missouri is a house with a dark history. Its brick exterior and white shutters makes it just as average and innocuous as the homes that surround it, but this was once the home of Roland Doe - the boy who would go on to inspire William Peter Blatty’s 1971 novel “The Exorcist,”and subsequently William Friedkin’s film of the same name.

At this point, we have all witnessed exorcisms taking place. Fictional ones, of course, but nonetheless, horror fans, and those poor souls that we have dragged to the movies with us, have all witnessed a young priest and an old priest, reciting the Rites of Exorcism over a writhing, spitting, tormented man, woman, or child. We’re scared but we know it's not real. We know they are playing characters in a movie. But how would you react if you were watching a real person go through it all? Well in April of 1991, ABC viewers were faced with that very question when “20/20” aired the live exorcism of a teenager known only as “Gina.”

The thought of a minister or a reverend or a nun becoming possessed feels wrong on so many levels, but demons get brownie points for possessing and inhabiting the bodies and souls of those who have given themselves fully to God. However, the overtly religious are taught that evil can wear many faces. If you’re expecting evil to be lurking in every dark corner, anything can seem like a sign from the Devil. And that’s where the lines start to blur - that’s where the waters get murky with paranoia. And that's where Sister Maricica Irina Cornici found herself trapped between paranoia and doctrine.

There is a line in Arthur Miller’s 1953 play The Crucible, that reads, “What victory would the Devil have to win a soul already bad? It is the best the Devil wants, and who is better than the minister?” When we think of demonic possession, we think of random, wrong-place-wrong-time, bad luck of the draw happenstance. We don't think of the religiously devout, but maybe Arthur Miller was right - what better trophy for a demon than one of God's favorites. Which leads us to our first episode to kick off our Halloween season, the case that inspired the 2005 film The Exorcism of Emily Rose, the Possession of Annaliese Michel.

Halloween is here! Well, for the chronically obsessed it’s BEEN here, but now it’s officially official. Listen to this exclusive trailer to learn more about our special Halloween episodes. The topic this year: infamous cases of demonic possession!

Listen to The Legend of La Llorona, narrated in Spanish by published poet, Sandra Cortes