SO EP:693 Bigfoot, Kudzu, and Sweet Tea

Jerry is back to continue our ongoing series of encounters from the South Mountains and coastal regions of North Carolina—and this chapter takes us deep into one of the most haunting landscapes in the state: the Great Dismal Swamp.In this episode, we hear the chilling account of Mike, a former U.S. military veteran who sets out alone on a hiking and camping trip in the North Carolina section of the swamp.Drawn by solitude and the familiar pull of danger he once knew in the service, Mike hopes the wilderness will fill the void left behind after military life. Instead, the swamp delivers something far more disturbing. As night falls, Mike becomes aware that he’s not alone. Strange ape-like vocalizations echo through the darkness. A foul, unfamiliar odor lingers in the air. The sense of being watched grows overwhelming. What begins as unease escalates into a series of close, deeply unsettling encounters with something he cannot identify—something that doesn’t want him there. His search for adrenaline is quickly replaced by raw fear and survival instincts.The episode also weaves in parallel encounters from Robert and Angie, along with their friends, near a rural home in coastal North Carolina. Their experiences include unexplained noises in the woods, rocks being thrown from unseen sources, and shadowy figures moving just beyond the tree line—events that mirror Mike’s terror and suggest a wider, ongoing presence in the region.Blending wilderness survival, psychological tension, and the supernatural, this episode explores the ancient history and eerie reputation of the Great Dismal Swamp while confronting the unnerving question: what still lives in these forgotten places—and why do some people encounter it while others never do?Get Our FREE NewsletterGet Brian's Books Leave Us A VoicemailVisit Our WebsiteSupport Our SponsorsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sasquatch-odyssey--4839697/support.

17 Joulu 53min

What would you do if everything you thought you knew about your father turned out to be wrong? What if his silence, his distance, his strange obsession with the mountains wasn't coldness at all, but something else entirely? What if he'd been guarding a secret so profound, so impossible, that it had consumed his entire life? That's the question facing Marcus Stone as he pulls up to a cabin he hasn't entered in twenty-three years. His father is dead. The funeral has already happened, and Marcus wasn't there. Twenty-three years of silence between them, hardened into something neither could break. And now it's too late.Or is it? Because Robert Stone left something behind. A trunk in the cellar. A note in his father's handwriting that speaks of burdens and secrets and an ancestor named Captain Elijah Stone.A note that hints at something that's been passed down through generations, waiting for someone brave enough to finally bring it into the light. What Marcus finds in that cellar will change everything he thinks he knows about his family, about history, and about what really walks in the deep places of the American wilderness. Seven leather-bound journals. Letters tied with twine that's gone black with age. A stone pendant carved with symbols that don't match any language Marcus has ever seen. And the words of a man who died two hundred years ago, preserved in ink that has faded from black to brown but remains perfectly legible.March fifteenth, seventeen ninety-nine.Captain Elijah Stone. Revolutionary War veteran. A man haunted by stories he heard during the brutal winter at Valley Forge. Stories told by Oneida scouts around dying fires. Stories of the elder brothers. The ones who were here before us. The ones who watch from the shadows of ancient forests.This is the beginning of an expedition into the unknown. Nine men riding west from Richmond, following legends and whispers toward something that might not exist. A hot-tempered Scottish soldier carrying grief like a loaded weapon. A Kentucky frontiersman who's been waiting twenty years for someone to go looking. A Philadelphia naturalist convinced that science can explain anything. A former minister searching for proof of God in a world that suddenly seems random and cruel.And leading them all, a captain who knows, somehow, that not all of them will return.The signs begin almost immediately. Footprints eighteen inches long, pressed deep into mud by something that weighs five hundred pounds. Wood knocking in the darkness, three sharp strikes echoing through the trees. Food stolen from bundles hung fifteen feet in the air. Structures built with purpose and intention, a language in the landscape that speaks of intelligence, of planning, of something that thinks. They know we're here, the frontiersman says. They've known since we crossed into the mountains. And then comes the story that changes everything. A blizzard twenty years ago. A young trapper who thought he was going to die. And something that carried him through the storm, examined him in a dark cave, and made a decision. They were deciding what to do with me.What walks in those mountains? What has been watching humanity since before we learned to walk upright? And what did Robert Stone spend his entire life guarding? The answers are waiting in the pages of those journals. And Marcus Stone is about to discover that some inheritances come with a price.This is The Bigfoot Journals, Part One.The expedition has begun.Get Our FREE NewsletterGet Brian's Books Leave Us A VoicemailVisit Our WebsiteSupport Our SponsorsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sasquatch-odyssey--4839697/support.

14 Joulu 59min

In this chilling episode, Fred from Alaska recounts the harrowing true story of Michael Hollister, a former Alaskan resident whose routine black bear hunt in the Kenai Mountains took a deeply unsettling turn nearly fifteen years ago. What began as a familiar pursuit in the rugged wilderness near Portlock, Alaska, quickly spiraled into a series of events that defied logic and explanation.As Michael tracked a black bear through remote terrain, he became overwhelmed by an oppressive sense of being watched. Strange, unidentifiable noises echoed through the forest, and the atmosphere shifted from solitude to sheer dread. The tension escalated when Michael came face-to-face with a massive, humanoid figure—something he could only describe as Bigfoot-like—standing where no human should have been.Shaken but determined, Michael continued his hunt, only to encounter even more disturbing anomalies during his retreat: the sudden appearance of an unmarked black helicopter overhead and an aggressive brown bear charge that forced him into a calculated, life-or-death escape.Fred walks listeners through Michael’s methodical withdrawal from the wilderness, highlighting the instincts and experience that ultimately saved his life. This episode is a powerful and unnerving account of survival, mystery, and the unknown forces that may still lurk in Alaska’s untamed backcountry. Fred closes by expressing deep gratitude to Michael for coming forward and sharing an experience that continues to haunt him—and may challenge everything you think you know about the wild.Get Our FREE NewsletterGet Brian's Books Leave Us A VoicemailVisit Our WebsiteSupport Our SponsorsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sasquatch-odyssey--4839697/support.

14 Joulu 43min

This week on Sasquatch Odyssey, I’m joined by screenwriter and paranormal podcaster Richard Hatem — the mind behind the screenplay for The Mothman Prophecies and the host of Richard Hatem’s Paranormal Bookshelf. Richard and I first crossed paths back in September at the Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and I’ve been excited to get him on the mic ever since.In our conversation, Richard takes us inside his first-ever Mothman Festival experience — the energy, the people, and the strange pull Point Pleasant has on anyone who’s even remotely fascinated by the unknown. From there, we dive deep into the making of The Mothman Prophecies: what inspired his approach, how he balanced real-world lore with cinematic storytelling, and the emotional undercurrent he wanted the film to carry. Richard shares what it was like shaping a story that lives in the space between dread, wonder, and grief — and why Mothman remains one of the most haunting and compelling American paranormal legends.We also zoom out into the bigger picture: the strange intersections between Mothman, Bigfoot, UFOs, high strangeness, and the broader paranormal tapestry. Richard offers thoughtful insight into how these phenomena echo each other, why certain stories endure, and what our fascination with the unknown might say about us as human beings.Finally, Richard talks about his show Paranormal Bookshelf and his love for the stories that hide in dusty corners of folklore, eyewitness encounters, and forgotten history — reminding us that the best paranormal discussions aren’t just about proving something exists… they’re about what these mysteries awaken inside us.If you’re into Mothman lore, Bigfoot encounters, or the deeper “why” behind paranormal obsession, this one’s for you.Richard Hatem's Paranormal BookshelfGet Our FREE NewsletterGet Brian's Books Leave Us A VoicemailVisit Our WebsiteSupport Our SponsorsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sasquatch-odyssey--4839697/support.

12 Joulu 53min

Jerry returns to the show for another deep dive into the South Mountains of North Carolina—a region he calls one of the strangest “hotspot” corridors he’s ever researched. Drawing from decades of local accounts, family histories, and firsthand reports, Jerry traces a chilling pattern of unexplained activity across the South Mountains, the Great Smokies, the Blue Ridge, and even the Pacific Northwest.This episode unfolds like a living archive of the weird: early-1900s stories of eerie vocalizations rolling through the hollers, barns disturbed in the dead of night, and unsettling encounters that left families questioning what really stalks those ridgelines. From Carpenter’s Knob to backroads you’d never notice on a map, the stories stack up—each one different, yet threaded by the same sense of being watched, followed, or hunted.Then the episode pivots into something even darker: the black-eyed children phenomenon.Through Dave, the lifelong partner of Susan, we hear her spine-freezing encounter that followed her mother’s death—a night marked by a knock at the door, a request to be let inside, and the unmistakable terror of realizing something wasn’t human. Susan’s experience mirrors incidents tied to her mother years earlier, raising disturbing questions about generational patterns, grief triggers, and why certain places seem to attract the unexplainable.By the end, you’ll be left wondering what makes these mountains a magnet for high-strangeness—and whether some forces don’t just haunt locations… but follow bloodlines.Get Our FREE NewsletterGet Brian's Books Leave Us A VoicemailVisit Our WebsiteSupport Our SponsorsEpisode Timeline00:00 – Welcome back to the South Mountains series01:35 – What makes a “hotspot”? Patterns across mountain regions03:08 – Carpenter’s Knob: the encounters that won’t let go08:48 – Ray’s experiences in the heart of the activity17:11 – Edward’s roadside encounter after dark23:09 – Susan and the black-eyed children: a generational nightmareBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sasquatch-odyssey--4839697/support.

10 Joulu 40min

In this episode, Fred shares chilling wilderness accounts that remind us how quickly the familiar can turn unnerving in remote places. First, Margaret and Kyle set out for a simple berry-picking outing—until an oppressive feeling of being watched settles in. What starts as subtle unease escalates when they spot an enormous figure moving nearby, forcing them into a tense, instinct-driven retreat.Then we head to the Alcan Highway, where Jonathan’s late-night drive takes a terrifying turn. Alone in his RV, he’s jolted awake by violent impacts against the vehicle—an apparent attack by something powerful, unknown, and determined.With nowhere to run and no clear explanation for what’s outside, Jonathan is left to endure a long, fear-soaked night on one of the most isolated roads in North America.Together, these stories explore the raw, primal dread that can surface in the wild, the sense that we’re not always alone out there, and the haunting questions that linger when encounters defy logic. Listener discretion is advised—these accounts are intense, unsettling, and may stay with you long after the episode ends.Get Our FREE NewsletterGet Brian's Books Leave Us A VoicemailVisit Our WebsiteSupport Our SponsorsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sasquatch-odyssey--4839697/support.

7 Joulu 38min

In this episode, Brian sits down with filmmaker Eric Fulford—director of Bigfoot Enterprises: The True-ish Adventures of Patterson and Gimlin—joins the show to pull back the curtain on his upcoming film and the real-world story that inspired it.Eric shares how a lifelong fascination with Bigfoot, sparked by the legendary Patterson-Gimlin film, shaped both his creativity and his curiosity.But instead of rehashing the usual debate over what was—or wasn’t—captured on camera in 1967, Eric takes us somewhere deeper: into the human drama behind Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin. Their ambitions, risks, personalities, and the cultural moment they stepped into become the heart of his film.We talk about why this project is less about the creature and more about the characters, and how Eric plans to deliver a respectful, adventurous, and creatively reimagined retelling that still honors the legacy of the original story. He also breaks down the independent, community-powered approach to funding the film, inviting the Bigfoot world to help bring it to life.If you’ve ever been fascinated by the Patterson-Gimlin footage—or wondered about the people who filmed it—this conversation offers a fresh, compelling look at one of cryptozoology’s most iconic chapters.Tune in for a behind-the-scenes look at the legend, the filmmakers, and the untold story that made Bigfoot history.Support Bigfoot EnterprisesGet Our FREE NewsletterGet Brian's Books Leave Us A VoicemailVisit Our WebsiteSupport Our SponsorsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sasquatch-odyssey--4839697/support.

5 Joulu 41min

Heads up, everyone — over the coming weeks I’ll be releasing a special Wednesday series centered on the South Mountain region of North Carolina. Jerry will be sharing some truly incredible encounter stories from in and around that area, and each one adds a new layer to the mystery that seems to live in those woods. In this first installment, we’re taken into the South Mountains through a terrifying family experience that began as an ordinary camping trip and turned into something they’ll never forget.As night settled in, strange wood knocks started echoing through the trees, followed by unsettling “whoops” and other sounds that didn’t match anything familiar. The atmosphere shifted fast from quiet wilderness to a feeling of being surrounded, watched, and pushed to the edge of panic. What happened out there left them shaken, confused, and certain that something unknown had moved in close. Jerry also shares additional encounters from across different generations, showing that whatever people are running into in the South Mountains isn’t tied to one era or one family.A mid-century story follows a farm boy confronted by a hulking presence with glowing red eyes, an early-1900s account recalls a grandfather being chased through the woods by multiple creatures, and a modern encounter describes two men hearing disturbing sounds and briefly seeing something near their home that they still can’t explain. Together, these stories paint a chilling picture of a region where the unexplained has never really stopped happening — and where the line between legend and reality feels uncomfortably thin.Check Out Jerry's Tik TokGet Our FREE NewsletterGet Brian's Books Leave Us A VoicemailVisit Our WebsiteSupport Our SponsorsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sasquatch-odyssey--4839697/support.

3 Joulu 43min