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Astonishing Legends — History
Astonishing Legends

The world is more mysterious than most people are comfortable imagining. We cross paths with the mystical from time to time and may not even notice it. If we do, we quickly return to our usually mundane daily existence. But what if we not only acknowledged the unknown, we investigated it and spoke with those in the know? That’s what co-hosts Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess, and co-executive producer Tess Pfeifle do at Astonishing Legends. Over 100 million downloads and hundreds of thousands of listeners have discovered the thrill of exploring the mysteries of our world, showing that the unknown can be both captivating and intriguing. Welcome to Astonishing Legends!

Copyright: © Astonishing Legends Productions, LLC

Latest Episodes:

A Tale of Ghost Ships Three! Sep 27, 2026

Show notes

In 1933, a Scottish botanist watched a seemingly abandoned steamship drift past the Alaskan coast on an ice floe. It appeared upside down in a strange mirage, with no crew and no one at the wheel. This ship was the Baychimo, which was abandoned two years earlier, but refused to disappear. Having repeatedly resurfaced across the Arctic, it earning a reputation as one of history’s great ghost ships.

In this episode, we explore the strange history of ghost ships from the the Baychimo, to the frozen Octavius, and the Ourang Medan, whose crew was reportedly found mysteriously dead shortly before the ship itself exploded and sank. Three ships, three enduring legends, and at least one vessel whose final resting place remains unknown.

Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

S2 Ep36: The Mimic Sep 22, 2026

Show notes

In tonight's dead letter, our listener Ed and his wife are newlyweds, sharing the apartment he's lived in for about two years in Clay Center, Nebraska. One morning in early 2020, he hits snooze on his alarm and sees a figure walking out of their bedroom, silhouetted by the living room lights he'd set on a timer, and it looks just like his wife, but it’s not.
Relevant Prior Episodes
Ep 26: Shadow People
Astonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts
Ep 64: Electronic Fog
Astonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts
Ep 226: Boundless Remote Viewing with Lori Williams Part 1
Astonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts
Links and Further Reading
Ed's Floor Plan of the Apartment
Clay Center, Nebraska, Wikipedia
World's Largest Ball of Twine, Kansas Tourism
Note: We call it the world's biggest ball of yarn in the episode. It's actually a ball of sisal twine. I always mess that up! (Scott)
Doppelganger, Britannica
Hypnagogic Hallucinations, Cleveland Clinic
A-Yokai-A-Day: Ikiryo, Matthew Meyer
Alexander Cannon (psychiatrist), Wikipedia
STAR GATE [Controlled Remote Viewing], Federation of American Scientists
Astral Projection Hypnosis by Dr. Steve G. Jones
Journeys Out of the Body by Robert A. Monroe
Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf
Beyond the Bermuda Triangle by Bruce Gernon and Rob MacGregor
We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to deadletteroffice@astonishinglegends.com!

S2 Ep35: The Benevolent Warning Sep 15, 2026

Show notes

In tonight's dead letter, our listener named Mark is driving through western Michigan at two in the morning in 1978, working off a paper map and handwritten directions to a house he's never been to. He comes up a hill and into a curve on US 131, and there are four people standing in his lane. Two of them are waving him over to the right, and the other two have their arms raised above their heads in an X. Had they not been there he may have had a fatal collision, and when he went to find them shortly after, they had vanished.
Relevant Prior Episodes
Ep 102: Resurrection Mary Part 1
Astonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts
Ep 116: Small Town Monsters
Astonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts
Links and Further Reading
Lydia: The Ghost of Jamestown Bridge, NCpedia
A History of the Vanishing Hitchhiker, Beardsley and Hankey, 1943
The Bray Road Beast, Small Town Monsters
Jim Harold's Campfire: True Ghost Stories, Books 1 through 6
Note: We call it the National Highway Transportation Safety Association in the episode. The ‘A’ is actually for Administration.
We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to deadletteroffice@astonishinglegends.com!

S2 Ep34: The Lady in the Rocking Chair Sep 08, 2026

Show notes

In tonight's dead letter, listener Mothmaiden remembers a time when she was four years old and an only child in a neighborhood with no other kids, and she had an imaginary friend named Cindy Cora who looked exactly like Betty Rubble from The Flintstones. Then on a sunny afternoon, in her own bedroom with the light coming through the window, she saw an elderly woman with white and gray hair piled high on her head, sitting in a rocking chair, calm and gentle and completely solid. Were these things connected?
Relevant Prior Episodes
Abduction at Devil's Den
Devil's Den: The Reckoning Part 1
Chris McKinnell and the Warren Legacy
Dan, Susan, Micah Hanks and Missing Time
Links and Further Reading
Two-thirds of school-age children have an imaginary companion by age 7, University of Washington
Note: We say about one in three for the invisible-only friends. In the study, about two thirds of kids have had an imaginary companion by age seven, and about one in three have one at the time they are asked.
The psychological significance of play with imaginary companions in early childhood, Learning & Behavior
Childhood amnesia, Wikipedia
Ghosts and Apparitions in Psi Research, the Society for Psychical Research's Psi Encyclopedia
Phantasms of the Living (1886) by Gurney, Myers and Podmore, Internet Archive
Strange Intruders by David Weatherly
Devils Den: The Reckoning by Terry Lovelace
Contact (1997), Wikipedia
Note: We say David Morse was one of the doctors on ER. He played Dr. Jack Morrison on St. Elsewhere.
Sesame Street debuts, November 10, 1969, HISTORY
Wall Street crash of 1929, Wikipedia
The History of Bettys in Pop Culture, Refinery29
Natalie and Tara on YouTube

We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to deadletteroffice@astonishinglegends.com!

Special: Richard Hatem's Light in the Dark Tour 2026 Sep 04, 2026

Show notes

Hey folks! We're gearing up to go to the Wet Hot Bad Magic Summercamp next week but after that we're back on our regular schedule! In the meanwhile here's a chat Scott and Richard had just a week ago about his new tour which is also CLOSE ABOARD!

>>>>>>>>>>

A special episode from our friend Richard Hatem. Richard is the screenwriter behind The Mothman Prophecies and a longtime friend of the show, and he hosts Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf. He invited Scott onto his podcast to talk about his upcoming Light in the Dark Tour 2026, a 10-day, six-city run of live shows in September that wraps up at the Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. We liked the conversation enough that we're sharing it here on the main feed.

Along the way, Scott and Richard get to such never-before-asked questions as: What scares our dogs? Where will Scott and Forrest be appearing live in September? Did Abbott and Costello get along? Can anyone find Scott's legendary "lost" appearance on Portlandia? Did Richard schedule too many shows on this tour, and will Susan ever forgive him? Find out the answers to these and many more questions on this episode.

If you can make it to one of the tour stops, go. Tickets and dates are at the link below.

Links

Get tickets to Richard Hatem's Light in the Dark Tour 2026 LIVE: https://www.richardhatemsparanormalbookshelf.com/events
Listen to Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf: https://www.richardhatemsparanormalbookshelf.com/
Support RHPB on Patreon: https://patreon.com/RichardHatem
Celebrate 2026 with 26% off all RHPB merch with offer code RHPB26. The discount is pre-applied at this link: https://richardhatem-shop.fourthwall.com/promo/RHPB26
Need help with your personal writing projects? Richard is here to help. Get 20% off when you mention RHPB: https://www.richardhatem.com/

Notes

Get the answer to ALL of your Abbott and Costello questions here: Abbott and Costello Meet the Podcast
Is your dog afraid of hiccups, just like Luna? Learn about your dog's weird fears here: Understanding Your Dog's Fear

S2 Ep33: The Inn at Folck's Mill Sep 01, 2026

Show notes

In tonight's dead letter, listener Chris takes us back to the early 2000s, when he was the head brewer at a restaurant on the east side of Cumberland, Maryland, in a building so old it served as a Civil War field hospital. One night after close, he and three coworkers were having a beer in the basement bar when the loudest sound he'd ever heard slammed into the floorboards right above their heads, shaking dust from the ceiling and rattling every bottle behind the bar.
Relevant Prior Episodes
Nightmarchers of Hawaii
Links and Further Reading
The Battle of Folck's Mill: Maryland Historical Trust Battlefield Documentation (PDF)
Battle of Folck's Mill, Wikipedia
Folck's Mill (National Register of Historic Places site), Wikipedia
The Battle of Folck's Mill, Western Maryland's Historical Library
The Invasion, Aug 1864: The Cumberland Alleganian's Original Account, Western Maryland's Historical Library
Folck's Mill Marker, Historical Marker Database
The History of Puccini Restaurant, Cumberland, Maryland
The Phantom Battle of Edgehill, Historic UK
The Spectral Army of Souther Fell, Mysterious Britain and Ireland
The Dieppe Raid Case, Mysterious Britain and Ireland
The Drummer of Tedworth, Wikipedia
Phantom Armies of the Night by Claude Lecouteux
The Rosenheim Poltergeist, by Tess Pfeifle at Astonishing Legends

We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to deadletteroffice@astonishinglegends.com!

Richard Hatem's Light in the Dark Tour 2026! Aug 29, 2026

Show notes

Our friend Richard Hatem is taking his Paranormal Bookshelf on the road! The Light in the Dark Tour 2026 is an all new live show playing six cities in seven days, September 13th through 19th, and it winds up at the Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Richard and Susan Lambert will be at the festival both days selling Mothman and podcast merch, and on Saturday night, September 19th, he's performing an episode of the podcast picked especially for Point Pleasant.

Hear Scott and Rich talk about the tour in his most recent post on the RHPB feed:
Spotify
Apple Podcasts

Tour Dates and Tickets
Sunday, September 13: Storm Crow Manor, Toronto, ON
Monday, September 14: Padraigs Brewing, Minneapolis, MN
Tuesday, September 15: The Red Lion Pub, Chicago, IL
Wednesday, September 16: B Side Lounge, Cleveland Heights, OH
Thursday, September 17: Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA (FREE SHOW!)
Saturday, September 19: Trinity UMC Community Center, Point Pleasant, WV (The Mothman Festival)
More from Richard
All Tour Dates and Tickets
Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf on Apple Podcasts
Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf on Spotify
Paranormal Bookshelf Merch
The Mothman Festival
Tickets for every show but Carnegie Mellon (which MAY not require them, TBD) are at richardhatemsparanormalbookshelf.com/events, or search Richard Hatem on Eventbrite. Come out and see Richard do his thing!

S2 Ep32: But We didn't Break the Glass Aug 25, 2026

Show notes

In tonight's dead letter, a teenager in rural Arkansas in the late 2000s goes poking around an abandoned schoolhouse and comes home with a mirror she likes the look of. Years later it's hanging in her first Los Angeles apartment, and one evening while she's in the bath she catches the towel on the back of the door swinging wildly but the moment she turns to look, it stops dead. But that’s only part of the story.
Relevant Prior Episodes
The Bell Witch Part 1
The Scrying Game
Mel's Hole Part 1
Abduction at Devil's Den
Nightmarchers of Hawaii
The Ghosts of Flight 401
Links and Further Reading
American Hauntings — Troy Taylor's books, podcast, and live events
Reunions: Visionary Encounters with Departed Loved Ones by Raymond Moody
Note: We say 1933 in the episode — Reunions was published in 1993.
Oculus (2013), dir. Mike Flanagan
What is a "dybbuk" in the prologue of the Coen brothers' A Serious Man?
Ghosts On A Plane? The Story Of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401

We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to deadletteroffice@astonishinglegends.com!

S2 Ep31: DLO-231: The Kids in the Parking Lot Aug 20, 2026

Show notes

In tonight's dead letter, in the summer of 1996, two college kids from New Jersey were road-tripping to Gen Con when they got off I-80 near Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, looking for food and a place to stay. Around 11:30 PM, at a gas station that turned out to be closed for the night, three blonde kids in bathing suits were standing under a light, saying something to them that neither of them could make out.
Relevant Prior Episodes
Black Eyed Kids Part 1
Strange Intruders with David Weatherly Part 1
Sam the Sandown Clown
Dan, Susan, Micah Hanks and Missing Time
Abduction at Devil's Den
Skinwalker Ranch Part 1
Links and Further Reading
Strange Intruders by David Weatherly
The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker
Death as a Child: The Modern Legend of the Black-Eyed Children (Atlas Obscura)
8 local spots you didn't know were haunted (northcentralpa.com — the "Otzinachson"/Demon's Den lore)

We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to deadletteroffice@astonishinglegends.com!

S2 Ep30: DLO-230: A Finger Down the spine Aug 11, 2026

Show notes

In tonight's dead letter, listener John is nineteen, home from his freshman year and a few shifts into a summer dishwashing job at a grand old house on Michigan's Old Mission Peninsula that has been a restaurant since the 1950s. The staff there blame anything strange in the building on a ghost they call Genevieve, and John doesn't believe in any of that. One warm night he goes upstairs to change out of his kitchen clothes, and the bulb pops the second he flips the switch. Strange enough on its own, but what happens next is why this particular night stuck with him.

Note: The room referenced at Waverly in the Episode is 503. It should have been 502.

Relevant Prior Episodes

Greyfriar's Kirkyard Halloween Special

The Sallie House – Ghost in the Machine Part 1

Lockdown at Waverly Sanatorium

The True Story behind the Conjuring Part 1

A Live Reading with Jim Hunt - Psychic Medium

Links and Further Reading

The Mission Table Restaurant of Bowers Harbor: A Splendid Building, But Not a Residence for a Ghost — Julie Schopieray, Grand Traverse Journal

Would the Real Mrs. Stickney Please Stand Up? Setting the Old Mission Ghost Story Straight — Northern Express

The Haunting of Bowers Harbor Inn – Is It Genevieve Stickney's Ghost? — Old Mission Gazette

Bowers Harbor Inn — Wikipedia, on the 1927 fire and the house built around the old farmhouse

Mission Point Lighthouse — History, the light at the tip of Old Mission Peninsula near the 45th parallel

Occupational Folklife — American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Meet the Mackenzie Poltergeist of Greyfriars Kirkyard — Icy Sedgwick, on the grabs and marks reported on the tours

Waverly Hills Sanatorium — American Hauntings, on Room 502 and the nurse story

The Buxton Inn — Wikipedia, the Granville, Ohio inn Forrest visited

We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to deadletteroffice@astonishinglegends.com!

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