Ghosts of the Hell Gate

This episode is about the legendary pigman of Denton, Texas. Kinda.

The thing is, I'd never heard of the pigman, so it's really an episode about how urban legends and folklore are spread, what makes one urban legend take off while another lingers in obscurity, and what our urban legends say about us.

Though I do also tell the story of the pigman somewhere in there.

Highlights include:

• the "Cowboy Mafia"
• the WPA Folklore Project

Content note: this episode contains a brief mention of sexual assault, stories about violent attacks that lead to disfigurement, quoted language that suggests that facial disfigurement is tied to someone’s moral character, mentions of the war on drugs and corruption in the U.S. legal system.

Check out the shownotes.

Not far from the famed Goatman's Bridge in Denton County, Texas, a courthouse square has its share of spirits.

I return once more to North Texas—a place of strange UFO and cryptid encounters, and also where I grew up. This time, I'm looking at Denton Square, a historic spot where urban legends, history, and hauntings intersect.

Content note: This episode contains mentions of violence against Black and indigenous people and suicide.

Highlights include:

• an opera house that became a used bookstore
• a digression about how urban legends spread and develop
• a ghost horse!!

Check out the shownotes.

Support the New Blood Kickstarter! Please spread the word and—if you’re able to—back the project to help bring two new queer paranormal shows into the world! Check out newblood.tv for more info.

A wild ride through nostalgia about instant photography, the pitfalls of both analog and digital photography, the weirdly zeitgeisty history of the Polaroid Corporation, and the search for images we can "trust."

Highlights include:

• My attempts to doctor Polaroid photos
• Spirit photography
• Computational photography

Check out the shownotes for sources and a written version of the episode.

A deep dive into nostalgia, liminality, and the paranormal.

Are we interested in the paranormal because we feel nostalgic? Could that be why so much paranormal investigation gear is inspired by 1980s and 1990s tech?

Highlights include:

• Could a state of feeling deep nostalgia help with spirit communication?
• Radio Shack memories
• Internet aesthetics
• Attempts to find meaning in a chaotic world

In 1897, a series of mysterious airships were sighted all around the United States. This is a look at the flap in general, with a particular focus on some of the North Texas UFO sightings.

Highlights include:

• The Dallas-Fort Worth area as a "window area" with heighted strange activity
• A glimpse into how Victorian-era people responded to UFOs
• Lots of bearded aliens

Check out the shownotes for sources and a written version.

I really get into it in this one! The stated goal of this episode is to talk about some fascinating takeaways from Consorting with Spirits: Your Guide to Working with Invisible Allies by Jason Miller. However, get ready for many digressions about my own paranormal experiences, several of which I haven't talked about yet on the podcast.

Highlights include:

• a possible doppelganger encounter
• poltergeist-type activity caused by a living person
• a terrifying experience in a church in Portugal
• local spirits and Randonautica
• churches as especially haunted and magical locations

Note: Sorry about the radiator noise in this one! I did my best to eliminate as much as it as possible, but these NYC radiators love to make a racket.

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