32: Great Balls of Fire

In your final visit to The Midnight Library of the season, and since we now count so many among you as our friends… we thought we might impart to you some rare and useful, magical knowledge. We’re going to tell you all about the powerful Runic alphabet. What you do with it after that is up to you… but we’ll know, so just keep that in mind...friend. For more information on this episode visit our website!

24 Nov 201922min

The accident that killed James Dean was the end of his life, but it was the beginning of a legendary story about the curse of his Porsche, ‘Little Bastard.’ Parts from the car salvaged by amateur racing enthusiasts caused numerous injuries and the death of at least one man on the track. The broken shell of the car traveled around the country as part of a safety exhibition curated by legendary car customizer George Barris. Along the way, several trucks that hauled it crashed, in once case, killing the driver. The car fell apart several times while on display as well and injured bystanders. In this final episode of this series, we’ll take a look at the Curse of James Dean’s Porsche, and when the show is over, you can decide whether or not you believe in it. Of course, the thing to remember about curses is that they don’t particularly care if you believe in them or not. For more information on this episode visit our website!

17 Nov 20191h 59min

In 1931 a man and a machine were both created. James Byron Dean was born to a modest farming family in rural Indiana, and Ferdinand Porsche founded a company in Stuttgart, Germany, to build automobiles. These two men would never meet, but their egos would clash in a way that would redefine charisma, performance, and power that will never be forgotten. In 1955 both man and machine would die in a horrific crash. But is the legend of a curse in a story like this unavoidable? That’s easy for us to analyze in hindsight, but what’s not so easy is to understand are the machinations that caused it to happen. However, we can work towards that understanding tonight in part one of our two-part series on James Dean and Little Bastard. For more information on this episode visit our website!

11 Nov 20191h 42min

What is at the heart of our fears?  We may be afraid to encounter a supernatural specter or a creature from beyond our reality and understanding, or an agent of evil from a more earthly realm, but in either case, what we actually fear is the potential for harm to come to us or our loved ones.  The deadly violence that visits randomly and one we are powerless to stop.  Ironically, our tendency as humans is also to become fascinated by what scares us.  We seek to glimpse into the darkness not only as a vicarious thrill but also as a means of coping.  It is why we find fun in traditions like Halloween and for some, indulging our curiosity in the exploits of serial killers.  As we put to bed the story of the Villisca ax murders, we find that it is a story that contains all the elements of our primal dread.  Acts so horrible they left scars and echoes in the worlds of the living and the dead.  Our guest tonight, author Troy Taylor, helps us piece together the facts and makes a strong case that the killer who committed the shocking murders in Villisca quite likely left a trail of death throughout the Midwest with as many as 30 victims or more.  In the end, what we learn is that there is more to fear from a monster made of flesh and blood.  This was a monster that randomly and wantonly tore flesh and spilled blood, one who was all too real, and one that was never caught. For more information on this episode visit our website!

27 Okt 20193h 30min

Where's the one place in the world you'd like to feel the safest? Your bed, right? And in a secure home that surrounds that bed. We also become nostalgic for what we think was a simpler and more wholesome time. The atrocities we've become accustomed to hearing about on our current nightly news, we imagine inconceivable in bygone eras. But the truth is, we've always been vulnerable to the brutality of the waking world, no matter the times or the place. The darkest evil can come to find us wherever we lay our heads. One average family in America's Heartland at the turn of the century would experience this as their peaceful dreams turned into a nightmare. On the evening of June 9, or early morning hours of June 10, 1912, a depraved murderer had entered the home of the Moore family in Villisca, Iowa.  He savagely crushed the skulls of Josiah Moore, his wife Sarah, and their four children with an ax as they slept.  Also killed in the same fashion were Lena and Ina Stillinger, young sisters who just happened to be spending the night. The memories of this gruesome crime and the spirits who endured it would remain with the house.  This horrific act of violence would leave its mark on the town and the Moore home, forever branding it the "Villisca Ax Murder House." For more information on this episode visit our website!

21 Okt 20191h 23min

The interview you’re about to hear is one of the most compelling, fascinating, and terrifying personal accounts we’ve ever come across.  We realize it may also be one of the most controversial subjects we’ve ever discussed.  Our guest tonight knows these sensations all too well. The wonder, terror, decades of trauma, and the consequences from coming forward after a lifetime of these experiences are all part of his story.  In June of 1977, Terry Lovelace was in the U.S. Air Force working as a medic and EMT while stationed at Whiteman AFB.  He and his EMT partner and close friend felt compelled to take a weekend camping to Devil’s Den State Park in Arkansas.  What started out as a carefree trip to the great outdoors would end in a night of horror and pain as they encountered a massive unknown craft about five stories tall.  This experience would lead to not only nightmares and inexplicable panic attacks for Terry along with an intense investigation by the USAF Office of Special Investigations, but the tragic and premature death of his friend.  Terry would go on to a successful career in law as a felony prosecutor, eventually becoming an Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Territory of American Samoa and a State’s Attorney for Vermont’s Board of Medical Practice.  After retirement, a trip to the Emergency Room for a fall in 2012 would bring all those suppressed memories to the surface once again, memories that began in his childhood.  The radiologist had discovered an anomalous piece of square metal about the size of a fingernail with two wires attached, just above his right knee.  In the calf muscle below, a strange, flower petal-shaped object with the density of bone was also discovered.  To add to the mystery, there were no incision marks anywhere to be found.  This discovery and the objects’ purpose were enough to convince Terry that it was time to tell his story.  He believes we all have a right to know what’s really going on.  Some may find his account frightening or at least alarming, while others will dismiss it as fantasy.  Many won’t know what to think about it.  But consider this: if you don’t believe any of it, then you don’t have to worry, you and your rationale are safe.  If you do believe his story, even just some of it, then it may provide a glimpse into one of the biggest mysteries and threats humanity has ever faced. For more information on this episode visit our website!

13 Okt 20192h 45min

The Astonishing Legends podcast is proud to invite you to The Midnight Library, -Not just a show, but a place you can go-. For your listening pleasure, tonight’s reading will be about The Paris Catacombs.  Once you’re inside, your Hosts, Miranda Merrick & Mr. Darling will do everything in their power to make you believe that you’re safe, so you can relax and hear the fascinating story of how 6 million skeletons made their way beneath the streets of Paris. (The Midnight Library cannot be held responsible for those who choose to visit of their own free will) For more information on this episode visit our website!

5 Okt 201928min

Many of us have seen all the ghost hunting shows on cable television and elsewhere, but are those accurate representations of what goes on during a paranormal investigation?  After all, TV shows, have to deliver as many instances of spooky "evidence" as possible, because we, the viewing audience, demand it.  In reality, like any hunting or fishing expedition, the experience is usually long stretches of waiting patiently and hopefully for brief moments of high excitement.  Well, tonight we're going to find out in detail what it's like to actually go on a ghost hunt as we welcome back the previous episode's guest, author and paranormal investigator James A. Willis.  We'll also be joined by our good friends Jill and Roger Pingleton, who are seasoned paranormal investigators themselves.  On July 22, 2019, during a "lockdown" from 8:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. we had the privilege of following along with them as they investigated one of the most notoriously haunted buildings in the United States, if not the world, the Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, KY.  From 1910 to 1961, this massive and formerly abandoned medical facility saw more than its share of misery and death as it served as a treatment hospital for those suffering from the scourge of tuberculosis as it plagued the Louisville and Jefferson County area.  The building then witnessed another era of dwindling and death from 1962 to 1982 when it served as Woodhaven Medical Services, a nursing home for the elderly and those with severe mental disabilities.  Fortunately, however, this historic edifice has been undergoing restoration since 2001 when it was taken over by caring and dedicated new owners.  It's currently open for tours, investigations, and events.  Regardless of Waverly Hills' past, the future looks bright for this special place, a special place that's also especially haunted. For more information on this episode visit our website!

23 Sep 20193h 34min