This week on Para(normal), we’re tackling two very different kinds of paranormal mysteries: one of America’s most notoriously haunted houses and the bizarre theory that The Simpsons somehow knows what’s coming next.

First, Nicolina takes us inside San Diego’s Whaley House, a beautiful 1850s home built on the site of the old Old Town gallows. From unexplained footsteps and shadowy figures to the tragic stories of the Whaley family and generations of reported ghost sightings, we ask whether more than 170 years of history could have left something behind.

Then Marie investigates 20 times The Simpsons supposedly predicted the future. Smartwatches, video calls, Disney buying Fox, Donald Trump becoming president, the Nobel Prize, the OceanGate Titan disaster and more all make the list, but how many were genuinely eerie predictions, and how many were coincidence, satire or clever writers spotting where the world was already headed?

🔗 Learn More

The Whaley House:

Official Whaley House Museum

Whaley House History:

County of San Diego — Whaley House

Bengt Holmström’s 2016 Nobel Prize:

Nobel Prize — Bengt Holmström

Content Warning

This episode includes discussion of execution, suicide, the death of a child and grief.

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This week on Para(normal), we’re covering two terrifying true crime stories: Jennifer Holliday’s incredible survival and the unsolved Servant Girl Annihilator murders.

In 2005, paramedic Jennifer Holliday was shot, abducted and trapped with Eric Stephen Parnell, the man who had just murdered her cousin, Anna Franklin. Critically wounded, Jennifer devised an unbelievable survival strategy: convince her attacker that he was actually her rescuer. She kept the lie going long enough to secretly communicate with 911, and ultimately lead police straight to her.

Then, we head to Austin, Texas, in 1885, where an unidentified killer was attacking people in their homes as they slept. Known as the Servant Girl Annihilator, the killer primarily targeted Black domestic workers before the murders suddenly stopped. Eight people were dead, the city was terrified, and more than 140 years later, the killer’s identity remains unknown.

Was this one of America’s earliest serial killers, and why has the case been largely forgotten while Jack the Ripper became infamous?

Content Warning: Murder, gun violence, kidnapping, sexual assault, violence against women and children, racism, and graphic injuries.

Sources & Further Reading:

Houston Chronicle — Jennifer Holliday

Jennifer Holliday: A Story of Survival in East Texas

Travis County Archives — Mysteries of Travis County

Servant Girl Murders — Austin, Texas 1885

CultureMap Austin — The Servant Girl Annihilator

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In 2006, 16-year-old Cassie Jo Stoddart was murdered by classmates Brian Draper and Torey Adamcik, two teenagers obsessed with horror movies, filmmaking and Scream. Even more disturbing? They recorded themselves discussing the murder before it happened, and again after Cassie was killed.

Then we head to Siberia for the mysterious 1993 Khamar-Daban incident. Seven hikers entered the remote mountain range, but only one, Valentina Utochenko, survived. She later described watching members of her group suddenly collapse one after another under terrifying circumstances.

Authorities attributed most of the deaths to hypothermia, but questions surrounding the hikers’ strange symptoms, the rapid sequence of deaths and Valentina’s survival have fuelled theories involving poisoning, toxic exposure, military activity and unexplained environmental phenomena.

Two terrifying stories: one seemingly inspired by a horror movie, and one that feels like it belongs in one.

Content Warning: This episode discusses the murder of a teenager, violence, stalking and school-shooting ideation.

Further Reading & Watching

• The Scream Murder: A True Teen Horror Story — ABC News Studios

• The Scream Murder: A True Teen Horror Story — Disney+

• Khamar-Daban Incident — Background, Timeline & Sources

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This week on Para(normal), Nicolina and Marie dive into two cases where nothing is quite what it seems.

First, the disturbing true crime story of Dr. John Schneeberger and Candice Fonagy. After Candice accused the respected Saskatchewan doctor of sexual assault, DNA testing appeared to clear him, but she refused to give up. What investigators eventually discovered was an almost unbelievable scheme to manipulate his own DNA tests.

Then, we travel to Norway for the mystery of the Isdal Woman, an unidentified woman found dead in 1970 whose multiple aliases, wigs, coded notes and secretive travels across Europe have fueled theories that she may have been a Cold War spy.

Further Reading:

 John Schneeberger case

 BBC — Death in Ice Valley

 The Isdal Woman case

Content Warning: Sexual assault, drugging, abuse and death.

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This week on Para(normal), Nicolina and Marie travel from the collapse of an ancient civilization to one of Canada’s strangest paranormal cases.

First, Nicolina investigates the mysterious Late Bronze Age Collapse, when interconnected empires, cities and trade networks across the Mediterranean began falling apart around 1200 BCE. Was it the Sea Peoples, climate change, famine, earthquakes, rebellion…or a catastrophic combination of everything?

Then, Marie heads to Québec in 1889 for the bizarre story of the Dagg Poltergeist. Fires appeared without explanation, objects flew across rooms, windows shattered, and an unseen voice began answering questions, at one point claiming, “I am the devil.” The activity seemed mysteriously connected to 11-year-old Dina Burden McLean, disappearing whenever she left the farmhouse.

Additional Reading

• The Late Bronze Age Collapse — World History Encyclopedia
• The Dagg Poltergeist / Clarendon, Québec Haunting

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What if your computer started receiving messages from someone living 400 years in the past? And what happens when a brutal family murder gets blamed on witchcraft and a rare blue moon?

This week on Para(normal), Nicolina and Marie investigate two bizarre cases where the supernatural explanation might be just as fascinating as the truth.

In 1984, Ken Webster was living in an old cottage in Dodleston, England, when strange messages began appearing on his BBC Micro computer. The person writing them called himself Lukas and claimed to be living in the same location, in the 16th century.

What followed was an alleged correspondence spanning hundreds of years, eventually documented in Webster’s book The Vertical Plane. Were the Dodleston Messages an elaborate hoax, a paranormal encounter, a time slip or evidence that different moments in time can somehow overlap?

Then we head to Pensacola, Florida, where Voncile “Bonnie” Smith and her sons John and Richard Smith were found murdered inside their home in 2015.

The case quickly became known as the Blue Moon Murders after investigators publicly discussed possible ritualistic elements, witchcraft and the rare blue moon occurring around the discovery of the bodies.

But prosecutors eventually presented a much less supernatural motive. So was there really something ritualistic happening beneath the blue moon, or did a sensational paranormal theory nearly overshadow a very human crime?

Sources & Further Reading

📖 The Vertical Plane by Ken Webster — Google Books

👻 The Dodleston Messages Research Archive

📚 The Vertical Plane: The Mystery of the Dodleston Messages — Open Library

🌕 Blue Moon Murders — The Minds of Madness

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Five friends drove to a basketball game in 1978. By the next morning, they had vanished.

This week on Para(normal), Marie dives into one of America’s strangest unsolved mysteries: The Yuba County Five. What should have been a simple drive home after a college basketball game turned into a decades-long mystery involving an abandoned car, an unexplained detour into the Sierra Nevada mountains, a survival trailer stocked with food that was barely used, and one man who has never been found.

Why did the group leave a perfectly functional vehicle? Who survived for weeks inside the trailer? And what happened to Gary Mathias?

Before the mystery begins, Nicolina gets an unforgettable early birthday surprise from legendary Canadian TV personality Rick Campanelli, leading to one of the podcast’s funniest openings yet.

Could this have been a tragic series of mistakes, or is there still a missing piece investigators have never uncovered? Listen now and decide for yourself.

Sources & Further Reading

• The Yuba County Five (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuba_County_Five
• All That’s Interesting – The Yuba County Five: https://allthatsinteresting.com/yuba-county-five
• Ranker – The Strange Case of the Yuba County Five: https://www.ranker.com/list/yuba-county-five-facts/erin-mccann
• The Charlie Project (Gary Mathias): https://charleyproject.org/case/gary-dale-mathias
• Unsolved Mysteries Wiki – Yuba County Five: https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Yuba_County_Five

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What if one of Canada’s most iconic sports landmarks is also one of Toronto’s most haunted buildings?

This week on Para(normal), Nicolina and Marie investigate the chilling legend of Dorothea (Dorothy) Elliott, the 19-year-old bank employee whose tragic death inside the former Bank of Montreal building in 1953 is believed to have left a restless spirit behind. Today, that same building houses the Hockey Hall of Fame, where staff, visitors, and paranormal investigators have reported unexplained footsteps, shadow figures, whispers, cold spots, and sightings of a young woman who seems unable to leave.

Together, we separate historical fact from ghost story, explore the real investigation into Dorothea’s death, and examine why this haunting has endured for decades. Is Toronto’s most famous hockey landmark hiding one of its darkest secrets?

Sources & Further Reading

Historical Sources

• Hockey Hall of Fame: https://www.hhof.com
• Bank of Montreal History: https://www.bmo.com
• Toronto Star Archives: https://www.thestar.com
• City of Toronto Heritage Properties: https://www.toronto.ca

Paranormal & Local History

• Haunted Walk Toronto: https://hauntedwalk.com
• Ontario Heritage Trust: https://www.heritagetrust.on.ca
• Historic Places Canada: https://www.historicplaces.ca

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If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, rate, and leave a review. Your support helps us continue investigating history’s strangest hauntings, paranormal mysteries, and unexplained events. Have a ghost story, paranormal experience, or local legend you’d like us to cover? Email us at: [email protected]

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For more than 700 years, whispers have surrounded Monaco’s ruling family. Is the Grimaldi family truly cursed, or has centuries of tragedy simply created one of history’s most enduring legends?

This week on Para(normal), Nicolina and Marie dive into the infamous Grimaldi Curse, a mysterious tale that claims every generation of Monaco’s royal family is doomed to heartbreak, failed marriages, and untimely tragedy. From the legend of a mysterious woman who allegedly cursed the dynasty to the heartbreaking stories of Grace Kelly, Prince Rainier III, Princess Caroline, and Prince Albert II, we separate historical fact from supernatural folklore.

Then, we investigate one of the strangest unsolved mysteries in modern history: The Oakville Blobs. In 1994, residents of Oakville, Washington awoke to find mysterious gelatinous blobs falling from the sky. Some reported becoming ill, scientists examined the strange substance, and theories ranged from military experiments to biological organisms and the mysterious phenomenon known as Star Jelly. More than three decades later, the mystery remains unsolved.

Could both of these stories have perfectly rational explanations, or do they hint at something we still don’t understand?

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Could a curse actually kill someone, or can fear alone become deadly?

This week on Para(normal), Nicolina and Marie dive into one of the internet’s most chilling unexplained deaths: the case of Christopher Case. After rejecting the advances of a mysterious woman who claimed to be a witch, Christopher became convinced he had been cursed to die within seven days. He filled his apartment with candles, crosses, and holy water, and exactly one week later, he was found dead. Was it an unexplained paranormal event, a psychological phenomenon known as “voodoo death,” or simply an extraordinary coincidence?

Then, the conversation shifts to one of the most devastating true crime cases in modern history: Andrea Yates. Rather than focusing solely on the murders, Nicolina explores the disturbing influence of traveling preacher Michael Woroniecki, whose apocalyptic teachings and extreme religious beliefs have been cited by former followers and investigators as a significant influence on the Yates family’s worldview. Could a hidden cult have helped shape one of America’s most infamous tragedies?

Additional Resources:

Christopher Case

• Mysterious Universe – Christopher Case: https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2017/09/the-strange-case-of-christopher-case/
• Historic Mysteries – Christopher Case: https://www.historicmysteries.com/christopher-case/
• LiveAbout – Voodoo Death Explained: https://www.liveabout.com/voodoo-death-2594427

Andrea Yates & Michael Woroniecki

• PBS Frontline – The Yates Family: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/yates/

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In this unsettling episode of Para(normal), Nicolina and Marie examine two chilling true crime cases that reveal how manipulation, ideology, and exploitation can destroy lives in profoundly different ways. Before the investigations begin, they also share their candid experience with a recent tarot and psychic reading, discussing the difference between genuine intuition and vague “cold reading” techniques.

The first story explores Tony Alamo, the self-proclaimed prophet who built the Alamo Christian Foundation into one of America’s most notorious religious cults. Behind promises of salvation were allegations of psychological control, financial exploitation, forced labor, child abuse, and decades of manipulation before Alamo was convicted and sentenced to 175 years in federal prison.

The second investigation examines the disturbing case of Kenneth Law, the Ontario man accused of operating websites that allegedly marketed sodium nitrite to vulnerable people experiencing suicidal crises. Prosecutors allege his online operation became an international criminal enterprise that targeted at-risk individuals around the world, raising difficult questions about accountability, mental health, and where criminal responsibility begins. This portion of the episode contains discussion of suicide and may be distressing for some listeners.

In this episode:

• The rise and crimes of Tony Alamo and the Alamo Christian Foundation
• How cult leaders manipulate vulnerable followers
• Religious abuse, coercive control, and psychological conditioning
• Kenneth Law and the international criminal investigation
• The ethics of online platforms and criminal responsibility
• The psychology behind manipulation, vulnerability, and exploitation
• Our honest review of a recent tarot and psychic reading experience

If you enjoy investigations into cults, psychological manipulation, true crime, and the darker side of human nature, subscribe to Para(normal) and leave us a review.

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