Ghoul on Ghoul

Amanda and Sarah head to historic New England and back to California for two wild cases. Sarah covers Elizabeth Knapp, a 17th-century teen girl believed to be demonically possessed. Amanda reveals part two of the Clara Phillips fiasco. Other subjects covered include fighting in front of the cheese dip, classic Hollywood monologuing, and buying too much unreturnable Target merch.

Recommendations:

Amanda recommends the 1951 sci-fi film 'The Thing from Another World.'

Sources:

• “The Use of Transference in Seventeenth-Century Massachusetts,” by Michael Fass for American Studies, Vol. 36, No. 2 (Fall, 1995)
• “The Terrifying Demonic Possession of 16 Year Old Elizabeth Knapp,” Hit the Lights Podcast, November 2020
• Entertaining Satan: Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England by John Demos
• Wikipedia/Clara Phillips
• LA Magazine (How Murderess Clara Phillips Became “Tiger Girl”)
• New York Times (' Clara Phillips' Tries Honduras Jail Break; 15 Students Whose Aid She Sought Are Seized)
• New York Post (Inside the deranged mind of Clara Phillips, Hollywood’s first female psychopath)

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Amanda and Sarah explore some unusual lore and a California cryptid. Sarah says no to drugs with a look at connections between cannabis-related superstitions/urban legends and the history of cautionary tales. Amanda takes listeners to the West Coast with a rundown of the Fresno Nightcrawler. Other subjects covered include taste-testing Peep-flavored Pepsi, thirsting for Steve Guttenberg, and cooking babies.

Recommendations:

Sarah doubles down on Amanda's previous rec of the 2022 horror film Men.

Sources:

• SYFY Wire (THE DARK HISTORY BEHIND HANSEL AND GRETEL)
• Snopes (The Microwaved Baby)
• Snopes (Did Several Musicians Die with White BIC Lighters in Their Pockets?)
• Wikipedia/Molly Whuppie
• The Business Journal (MORE THAN FRESNO FAMOUS: HOW THE NIGHTCRAWLER CAPTURED THE WORLD’S IMAGINATION)
• Your Central Valley (Fresno Nightcrawler: Hoax or real? Mystery remains years later)
• Yosemite National Park (Yosemite: The Weird and the Wonderful)

Amanda and Sarah sprinkle some spooky potpourri and film facts all over this episode. Sarah samples various Black Dog stories along with a Pittsburgh urban legend known as Slag Pile Annie. Amanda meets at the intersection of comedy and horror with a look at the history and legacy of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein. Other subjects covered include a weird email, a ghost encounter, and a terrifying orgasm.

Recommendations:

Amanda doesn't recommend Scream VI but does recommend the 1976 mystery thriller Obsession.

• Arcadia Publishing (Slag Pile Annie: A Story from the Steel Mill)
• Shuckland
• Neatorama (The Story of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein)
• Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein By Ron Palumbo
• Diabolique Magazine (LAUGHING, SCREAMING, HOWLING: REVISITING A MONSTER KID’S DELIGHT, ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN)
• Collider (Horror Comedy Movies Owe a Great Debt to Abbott and Costello)
• Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter and Billy The Kid vs. Dracula (1965)
• New York Times (ABBOTT, COSTELLO SPLIT - July 15, 1957)

Get out your charts, ghouls, cos Amanda and Sarah have an episode chock full of hot zodiac takes, including double the Ass-trology. Other subjects covered include sex rags, reality TV, sisterly tampon pressure, and a gruesome Mario Bros. character.

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Originally posted as Episode 11 on July 19, 2018.

It's all about spiritualism on this week's episode as Amanda and Sarah discuss two women associated with the movement. Sarah channels an unusual story about famed spiritualist medium Florence Cook and her "spirit control," Katie King, who was said to be the deceased daughter of a Welsh pirate. Amanda gives a creepy history lesson on the tragic life of First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln and her shifty spirit minister Charles J. Colchester. Other subjects covered include big ol' Instagram daddies, donkey facts, and the joy of pretending to be drunk.

Sources:

"Spirited Sexuality: Sex, Marriage, and Victorian Spiritualism" by Marlene Tromp for Victorian Literature and Culture

"Victorian Women and the Theatre of Trance: Mediums, Spiritualists, and Mesmerists in Performance" by Amy Lehman

MysteriousPeople.com (lol): Katie King

Smithsonian Magazine ("The Spiritualist Who Warned Lincoln Was Also Booth’s Drinking Buddy")

Wikipedia: Mary Todd Lincoln

Recommendations:

Sarah recommends you read "Affinity" by Sarah Waters.

Amanda recommends you read "Assassination Vacation" by Sarah Vowell and "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" by Seth Grahame-Smith (the latter only kinda).

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