It’s time for our fifth installment of spooky true crime stories! This episode kicks off with a discussion about sensationalism surrounding the crimes of infamous serial killer Herman Webster Mudgett, AKA H.H. Holmes. We then recount the tale of the Hammersmith Ghost, who terrorized a small village on the outskirts of London for two months in the winter of 1803, and try to answer the question, “Is it murder if you thought you were shooting a ghost?”
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Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, iHeartRadio, and more.
Here are our sources for this episode:
Hammersmith Ghost:
- https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2015/10/the-case-of-a-ghost-haunted-england-for-over-two-hundred-years/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammersmith_Ghost_murder_case
- https://londonist.com/london/features/hammersmith-ghost-story-murder
- https://georgianera.wordpress.com/2015/01/02/the-hammersmith-ghost/
- https://worldhistory.medium.com/mass-hysteria-and-murder-the-tale-of-the-hammersmith-ghost-ef89bb4b641f
- https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-198-the-hammersmith-ghost-10-7-2022/
- http://www.crimemagazine.com/hammersmith-ghost-and-strange-death-thomas-millwood
- https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?div=t18040111-79
- https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4714
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/3364467.stm
- https://www.exclassics.com/newgate/ng470.htm
- https://husheduphistory.com/post/707844177217585152/hammersmith-a-haunting-a-hoax-and-a-tragic-hunt
- https://buzzfeed-unsolved.fandom.com/wiki/The_Haunting_Murder_Case_Of_The_Hammersmith_Ghost
HH Holmes:
- https://www.biography.com/crime/hh-holmes
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/H-H-Holmes
- https://www.history.com/topics/crime/murder-castle
- https://www.newspapers.com/image/668069816/?clipping_id=67109514&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjY2ODA2OTgxNiwiaWF0IjoxNjc5MjY3OTgzLCJleHAiOjE2NzkzNTQzODN9.AjfSlT89zr_Tie0ees8p2X9c1TudcEdjqeIExSIvErM
- https://allthatsinteresting.com/hh-holmes-hotel
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/enduring-mystery-hh-holmes-americas-first-serial-killer-180977646/
In our fourth Spooky True Crime episode, we’re taking you back to Pennsylvania Dutch country in 1928 for the story of the Hex Hollow murder. Listen to hear about the traditional medicine and folk magic traditions of Brauche or Powwow, and what happens when we succumb to fear and suspicion to try to remedy a string of bad luck.
Link with pictures from a tour of the Hex Hollow House: https://housecrazysarah.life/the-house-at-hex-hollow/
You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, or iHeartRadio.
Here are our sources:
- Supernatural with Ashley Flowers, Episode 62
- Lore podcast, Episode 62: Desperate Measures
- Morbid podcast, Episode 153
- https://the-line-up.com/hex-hollow-nelson-rehmeyer
- https://www.ydr.com/story/news/history/blogs/york-town-square/2017/10/14/murder-and-witchcraft-incredible-story-york-countys-hex-murder/764018001/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rehmeyer%27s_Hollow
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_tripping
- https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/rehmeyers-hollow
- https://occult-world.com/blymire-john/
- https://www.glencairnmuseum.org/newsletter/2017/3/2/powwowing-in-pennsylvania
- https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/ny-metro-justice-story-rehmeyer-20181121-story.html
- https://www.ydr.com/story/news/history/blogs/york-town-square/2009/12/06/hex-murder-rehmayer/31681709/
- https://www.wgal.com/article/tales-of-witchcraft-spells-murder-surround-rehmeyer-s-hollow/6239526
Whether or not you realize it, you interact with chemicals every day of your life. The foods you eat, the products you use to clean your home, and even you, yourself, are made of chemicals! Some of them, though, can be quite dangerous or have been used for nefarious purposes. So, in this episode, we’re diving into the darker side of chemistry with stories of hidden gold, acid burns, and body dissolution.
You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, or iHeartRadio.
Here are our sources:
- https://www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/can-acid-dissolve-a-body/3007496.article
- https://edu.rsc.org/analysis/breaking-bad-ii-acid-bath-disposal-of-bodies/3007374.article
- https://medium.com/the-crime-historian/the-story-of-lye-the-cook-the-murderer-his-wife-and-her-lover-187d29c92352#:~:text=Under%20high%20heat%20and%20pressure,liquid%20in%20just%20three%20hours.
- https://ehs.unc.edu/chemical/hfa/chemical-safety-information-hydrofluoric-acid/
- https://www.cremationassociation.org/page/alkalinehydrolysis
- https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/what-happens-when-a-dead-body-is-dissolved-in-lye
- https://www.chem.purdue.edu/chemsafety/chem/HFfatality.html
- https://www.today.com/popculture/mythbusters-proves-breaking-bads-walt-needs-some-more-schooling-6C10904583
- https://inside.nku.edu/artsci/departments/chemistry/about/diversity/jabiribnhayyan.html
- https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2011/10/03/140815154/dissolve-my-nobel-prize-fast-a-true-story
- https://gizmodo.com/how-acid-can-leave-your-skin-untouched-but-destroy-your-1723056026
We’ve all heard stories of Elizabeth Bathory, who is known as the most torturous and prolific female serial killer in history. Was she really the monster we all know her as, or was she the Regina George of her time – a powerful woman with enemies just as mean as she was? Kyna, host of the Historical AF podcast joins us for our second spooky true crime episode. Listen in for a giggle-filled discussion on the famed Blood Countess and her residence-turned-prison, Cachtice Castle.
To see our sources for this episode, head to our website at www.spookysciencesisters.com. Hit subscribe to be notified of future episodes, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram (@SpookySciPod), TikTok (@SpookyScience), and Facebook (@SpookyScienceSisters) for even more spooky content! Help us grow by sharing with a friend and leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. You can also support the show further by buying us a “spirit”!
Promo at the beginning of the episode from Ain’t It Scary? with Sean & Carrie. Spooky Science Sisters is a member of the Straight Up Strange Podcast Network.
A mother helps solve her daughter, Zona’s, murder after a visit from Zona’s ghost. An urban legend from the Hudson Valley area in New York turns the Boogeyman real. In our first ever spooky true crime episode we cover two horrifying, but real, stories. Listen now to learn more about the Greenbrier Ghost and Cropsey.
To see our sources for this episode, head to our website at spookysciencesisters.com. Hit subscribe to be notified of future episodes, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram (@SpookySciPod), TikTok (@SpookyScience), and Facebook (@SpookyScienceSisters) for even more spooky content! Help us grow by sharing with a friend and leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. You can also support the show further by buying us a “spirit”!
Spooky Science Sisters is a member of the Straight Up Strange Podcast Network.