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All things Kooky and Spooky in the Sooner (or Cowboy) state! Native Oklahomans and cousins, Jess and Tiff, explore all the dark history, paranormal, and true crime in their home state.
Copyright: © Curious Cousins OK
Ep 182: The May Rooms
Step back into the high-stakes, wildcatting days of early Tulsa, where oil, money, and vice built a boomtown overnight. This week, Jess dives into the history of The May Rooms, Tulsa’s longest-running and most infamous brothel. Operating on the upper floors of the 1918 Jacobs Building (310 E. First St.), the enterprise survived over four decades of vice raids, Prohibition front-shops, and strict 17-minute time limits—all under the watchful eye of its formidable madam, Pauline Lambert.
We cover the jaw-dropping lore of the 1970s armed robber who complained to Channel 8 news when the brothel called the cops on him, the 87-year-old sting operation that finally brought down the house, and how this secretive second-story labyrinth froze in time until its modern revival in the Blue Dome District. Plus, stick around for the spooks: phantom footsteps, the legend of "Aspirin Annie," and the ghostly encounters Jess experienced firsthand on a Tulsa haunted pub crawl!
So snuggle in! It’s the start of spooky season, and this tale, will leave you ready to go physically (or spectrally) visit some of these iconic locations!
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Ep 181: Flames, Factions, and the Fall of Oklahoma’s Prison System
Was anyone a fan of the show “Prison Break”? Anyone?
While major, full-scale prison takeovers have dropped sharply since their peak in the 1970s and 80s—thanks to modern architectural containment zones and specialized Tactical Emergency Teams (CERT)—Oklahoma’s history holds some of the most violent and costly uprisings in American history. In Episode 181, Tiff breaks down the macro history of American prison disturbances and traces how a deadly cycle of severe overcrowding, extreme heat, understaffing, and volatile gang dynamics turned Oklahoma's correctional facilities into powder kegs.
From the historic 1973 uprising at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester to the chain reaction of medium-security revolts through the 1980s and the modern gang-driven lockdowns of today, this episode explores what happens when a state system reaches its breaking point.
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Welcome back, cousins, to Season 5 of your favorite Kooky and Spooky podcast, about your favorite state, Oklahoma! This season, Jess starts us off with a little state fair history…
From deep-fried treats and livestock shows to the roar of the midway, state fairs represent classic autumn nostalgia. But behind the neon lights of the 1987 Oklahoma State Fair lurked a nightmare that would leave two native sisters dead and trigger a decades-long battle for justice against institutional corruption.
In this episode, Jess takes a look back at the history of Oklahoma’s iconic fair traditions before diving into one of the state's most frustrating cold cases: the September 1987 disappearances of Cheryl Genzer (25) and Lisa Pennington (16). After leaving the fairgrounds with two men, the sisters vanished. A month later, their remains were exhumed from a shallow grave in northwest Oklahoma City—both dead from headshots fired by two completely different caliber weapons.
Who did it? Will we ever know? And could new legislation blow this, and many more, cold cases wide open? Listen now!
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🎙️ Ep 179: Lawton Dogman (Season 4 Finale)
📌 Episode Overview
In the Season 4 finale, Tiff dives deep into one of the Sooner State’s most famous and unsettling urban legends: The 1971 Lawton Dogman. What began as a series of strange sightings in Southwestern Oklahoma quickly escalated into city-wide panic, emergency police calls, and hospitalizations.
The episode traces the deep roots of werewolf lore—from ancient Greek writings and medieval European witch trials to Turkic shamanic traditions—before dissecting Oklahoma's own bizarre history of upright canine encounters. Tiff also explores broader state hotspots (including the Kiamichi Mountains, Lake Thunderbird, and the Red River Valley) and contrast modern "cryptid" hunters with traditional Indigenous perspectives on shapeshifters, dark medicine, and the legend of Deer Woman.
🏷️ Episode Credits
Written & Produced by: Jess Burnett & Tiff Murray
Editing: Jess Burnett
Social Media: Tiff Murray
Theme Music: "It Comes to This" by Moments
Cover Art: Jess Burnett & Tiff Murray
Catch up on past episodes now! "Curious Cousin OK" will return with Season 5 this September.
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2. The 1971 Lawton Panic3. Oklahoma Cryptid Hotspots4. Cryptids vs. Indigenous Traditions
Ep 178: The Bombing of Boise City
In July 1943, World War II was raging across the globe, patriotic fervor was at an all-time high, and Americans were doing everything they could to support the war effort. But for the small, sleepy agricultural town of Boise City, Oklahoma, the war hit a little too close to home—literally.
In this episode, Jess explores the bizarre, true story of how a rogue U.S. Army Air Corps B-17 bomber got hopelessly lost during a nighttime training run, mistook the lights of the Cimarron County Courthouse for its practice target, and launched a 30-minute aerial blitz on an unsuspecting American town. From a heroic power plant operator who saved the day by killing the lights, to a missing bomb hidden in a barn for over 70 years, to the flight crew’s journey from catastrophic blunder to decorated wartime heroes, this is one of the most unbelievable chapters in Oklahoma history…and certainly doesn’t skimp on the kooky and spooky!
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Episode 177: Daniel Furr (Part 2) — The Web of Silence
How far would you go to find the truth when the system shuts its doors?
In Part 1, Tiff traced the heartbreaking disappearance of 15-year-old Daniel Lee Furr from Ada, Oklahoma, in the summer of 1995, and the chaotic, deeply flawed recovery of a body at an abandoned brick quarry.
Now, in Part 2, Tiff dives headfirst into the terrifying aftermath. As a grieving mother is met with a wall of institutional silence and bureaucratic excuses, a chilling web of rumors begins to spread among the local youth—whispering of a brutal ambush, dark secrets, and suspects shielded by local ties.
We explore the shocking mismanagement of vital physical evidence, a stunning discovery hidden away in a courthouse basement, and a sister’s relentless, decades-long fight to step in where the law failed. What happens when the primary suspect takes his secrets to the grave? And can modern forensic technology finally bring answers to a family that has spent over thirty years searching for justice?
Listener discretion is advised, as this episode contains discussions of violence and sensitive themes.
Have information regarding the death of Daniel Lee Furr?
Please contact the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) at 1-800-522-8017. There remains a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
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Episode 176: Daniel Furr (Part 1)
The mid-1990s were a chaotic, historic era defined by massive headlines—from the tragedy of the OJ Simpson trial and the shock of the Oklahoma City bombing to the pop-culture frenzy of Windows 95 and the return of Michael Jordan. But in the small town of Ada, Oklahoma, a completely different, deeply convoluted nightmare was unfolding for one local family.
In this episode, Tiff opens the file on the heartbreaking and baffling unsolved murder of 15-year-old Daniel Lee Furr. Daniel was a curious, animal-loving teenager known for his warmth and independent spirit, but his final year took a dark turn. After getting mixed up with a dangerous crowd and initiated into a local gang, Daniel found himself trapped in a world of fear, threats, and sudden disappearances.
On July 11, 1995, Daniel's own Boy Scout troop made a gruesome discovery at the bottom of an abandoned, overgrown rock quarry outside of town: a severely decomposed body lying beneath their missing troop flag. What followed was a masterclass in bureaucratic confusion. From a crime scene littered with bizarre clues to forensic reports riddled with staggering medical contradictions—including mismatched hair lengths, wildly conflicting height and weight estimates, and a highly chaotic dental identification—a haunting question has kept his family fighting for decades: Was it actually Daniel in that pit?
Join us as we scratch the surface of a case where local rumors intersect with systemic failure. As your favorite cousins always say, no cold case is truly that cold, and it only takes one small piece of information to blow a case wide open.
Special Thanks & Resources: This episode heavily features research and insights from Raven Rollins. For a deeper dive into Daniel's story, we highly recommend checking out her work:
Listen: The Sirens: Southern True Crime Podcast for in-depth interviews with Daniel’s mother, Gale, and sister, Chelsea.
Read: Sins of the South: Three Oklahoma Cold Cases and Allegedly: True Crime from Pontotoc County, Oklahoma by Raven Rollins (available on Amazon).
Community: Follow the Justice for Daniel Furr page on Facebook to support the family's ongoing fight for answers.
Case Information: If you have any information regarding the disappearance and death of Daniel Lee Furr, please contact the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) at 1-800-522-8017, or submit a tip via the OSBI Cold Case Files. No detail is too small.
Enjoyed the episode? Drop us a review, hit subscribe, and share this episode to help keep Daniel's memory alive and push for the justice he deserves. Stay tuned for Part 2!
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Ep 175: Medicine Park
Pack your bags and grab your sage, because this week we are heading to Oklahoma’s very first planned resort town: Medicine Park. Nestled in the foothills of the Wichita Mountains, this unique oasis was built entirely from the ground up—literally—using the area’s distinct, naturally polished granite cobblestones. But beneath its picturesque, therapeutic exterior lies a wild history of Roaring Twenties vice, Depression-era gangsters, and a horde of restless spirits that never checked out. Join Jess as she describes:
🏔️ The Rise, Fall, and Renaissance of a Cobblestone Oasis
🥩 The Old Plantation Restaurant: Steaks with a Side of Vice
👻 The Spooks: Medicine Park’s Most Active Hauntings
Turn the lights down, because the paranormal activity in Medicine Park runs the full gamut. As a historic epicenter for transient characters and illicit behavior, The Old Plantation Restaurant is now a playground for a "horde of spirits."Jess dives deep into the most frequent ghostly encounters!
Plus, we look at the surrounding town's anomalies, from the self-moving items at the Branded Bear Shop to the Johnny Cash lookalike haunting the Blue-Eyed Coyote Guest House.
So load up! The cold creek water will not be the only thing giving you the chills!!
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Ep 174: Keystone Lake — The Towns Beneath the Waves
What if the place you called home was chosen to be wiped off the map?
In Episode 174, Tiff dives deep into the murky waters of Keystone Lake, Oklahoma’s second-largest reservoir, to uncover a rich history of American exploration, Native American heritage, and 20th-century engineering that forever rewrote the local geography. Before it was a massive 23,000-acre playground for boaters, this rugged valley was known as the "Triangle Country"—a wilderness walked by the likes of Washington Irving and Thomas Nuttall.
But in the late 1950s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers arrived with a $123 million plan to tame the Arkansas and Cimarron rivers. The cost of progress? The total submersion of entire communities.
We explore the fascinating and heartbreaking stories of Oklahoma's "drowned towns":
Keystone: The bustling railroad hub built at the "key" river confluence, now sitting completely underwater just north of the dam.
Mannford & Prue: Two communities that refused to die, banding together to meticulously rebuild entirely new towns on higher ground.
Appalachia: A settlement completely wiped off the map, leaving only the sandy shores of Appalachia Bay as its monument.
Cleveland: The Land Run town saved by an existential engineering marvel—a massive levee system that keeps the lake at bay just feet from residents' doorsteps.
Finally, Tiff looks into the "Kooky and Spooky" side of Keystone Lake. From divers reporting unsettling, shadowy shapes navigating the underwater ruins, to local legends of a witch's smoldering chimney and the phantom cries of a baby near the old bridges—this episode balances heavy history with local folklore. Plus, Tiff wraps up with a look at other Oklahoma lakes sitting atop ghost towns and how historic droughts are bringing these lost main streets back to the surface.
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Ep 173: Elohim City Pt 3
⚠️ WARNING: If you haven’t listened to Parts 1 and 2 yet, stop right here, go back, and binge those first—or prepare to be utterly confused!
In Jess’ final installment on Oklahoma’s most infamous extremist compound, she is tying up all the loose ends and answering the burning questions that left our jaws on the floor last week.
Last week, Tiff asked a fantastic question: Do the residents of Elohim City actually vote in mainstream U.S. elections? The answer lies in a wild, anti-government theology that completely isolates them from modern civic life—though they aren't above using a capitalism loophole to fund their compound.
Then, Jess dives straight into the explosive aftermath of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing:
The Citizen-Driven Grand Jury: Discover how a rare loophole in the Oklahoma Constitution forced a massive, independent investigation that put the FBI's "Lone Wolf" theory to the ultimate test.
The "John Doe No. 2" Mystery: Who was the phantom square-jawed man seen with Timothy McVeigh? We look at the mind-bending psychological theory the government used to erase him from the case, and why the eyewitnesses refused to back down.
Undercover Informant CI-183: Meet Carol Howe, a wealthy debutante turned ATF spy who successfully infiltrated Elohim City and explicitly warned handlers about a plot to bomb federal buildings on April 19th—weeks before the tragedy. Why did the government ignore her, and why did they try to lock her up afterward?
Finally, we look at Elohim City today. From its transition to a council of elders to swapping its 1970s aesthetic for smartphones, Wi-Fi, and a massive dome church, we look at how this compound managed to survive into the modern era by rebranding from armed militants to quiet "survivalists."
🎧Grab your headphones—the finale is here.🎬
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