Bug in a Rug

Ep. 161 The Blennerhassett Hotel

The Blennerhassett Hotel isn't just known for its luxurious rooms, vintage charm, and impressive history. In recent years, rumors of ghosts including the Sea Captain, Four O'clock Knocker, and Kissing Bandit have made it a paranormal legend among its guests. 
 
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Sources:
13 GHOSTS AT THE BLENNERHASSETT HOTEL | hauntedparkersburg
Blennerhassett Hotel - Wikipedia
Blennerhassett Island - staging ground for high treason
Explore the Haunted Blennerhassett Island in West Virginia
Full History - The Blennerhassett Hotel & Spa
The Ghosts of the Blennerhasse... - Creepalachia - Apple Podcasts
A Hallowed Haunt at the Blennerhassett Hotel - WV Living Magazine
The (Haunted) Blennerhassett Hotel - Atlas Obscura
Haunted Blennerhassett Hotel, Parkersburg, West Virginia | Haunted Rooms America
Several ghosts spotted inside the Blennerhassett Hotel
 

Ep. 160 Blood Rain

We are 99.99% sure 'blood rain' is caused by red dust or algae that is caught up in rain clouds. There have been accounts of this phenomenon happening all of the world for centuries! Even with this in mind, it really just means that there is still a 0.01% chance that it is actual blood raining down as an omen of bad things to come.
All we are saying is to keep your head on a swivel when you go outside and you start to feel a drop or two or rain falling on your head.
 
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Sources:
‘A shower of Flesh and Blood’ in Sampson County – NC Miscellany
Blood rain - Wikipedia
Blood Rain, Blood Snow: Curse or Science? — International Microorganism Day
Chatham Blood Shower, 1884 | NCpedia
""Fall of Blood"" in Chatham County :: Journal of the NC Academy of Science
High Strangeness: When Flesh and Blood Fell from the Sky
Mystery from 1884: The day it rained blood in Chatham County
The Scary Legend Of The Day It Rained Blood In North Carolina
 

Ep. 159 The Abduction of Antônio Vilas-Boas

Antônio Vilas-Boas was abducted from his family farm in 1952 by 5-foot-tall humanoids dressed in "...tight-fitting siren-suit, made of soft, thick, unevenly striped, gray material." He was stripped of his clothes, covered in clear gel, and used as a, "...good stallion to improve their own stock". The alleged aliens then gave him a tour of their UFO before placing him back at his home.
This story contributed to the argument of what extraterrestrials wanted from earthlings... could it possibly be that they were investigating human reproduction and genetics?
 
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Sources:
The alien abduction of Brazilian farmer Antônio Vilas-Boas, near São Francisco de Sales, 1957
9 Alien Abduction Stories That Seem Disturbingly True
Antônio Vilas-Boas - Wikipedia
Antonio Villas Boas Abduction (1957) – Unidentified Phenomena
The Antônio Villas-Boas case | Gnosis Online - Your portal to esotericism
Antonio Villas-Boas elrablása – TUDOMÁNYOS UFO
Architects of the Underworld: Unriddling Atlantis, Anomalies of Mars, and ... - Bruce Rux - Google Books
Conspiracy Films: A Tour of Dark Places in the American Conscious - Barna William Donovan - Google Books
Ed Keffel | The UFO Database
João Martins | The UFO Database
The Lure of the Edge: Scientific Passions, Religious Beliefs, and the ... - Brenda Denzler - Google Books
Phantoms and Monsters: Pulse of the Paranormal
The Surprising Origin of Alien Abduction Stories | Live Science
UFO sightings in Brazil - Wikipedia

Ep. 158 H. H. Holmes and the Murder Castle

H. H. Holmes was known for robbing graves, stealing horses, insurance fraud, and... murder. The United States' first serial killer allegedly had up to 200 victims fall prey to the soundproof rooms, secret passages, trapdoors, acid vats, pits of quicklime, gas chambers, and crematorium in his 'Murder Castle'.
 
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Sources:
Did Serial Killer H.H. Holmes Really Build a ‘Murder Castle’? | HISTORY
The Enduring Mystery of H.H. Holmes, America's 'First' Serial Killer | Smithsonian
Exhumation confirms gravesite of notorious Chicago serial killer H.H. Holmes - Chicago Tribune
H.H. Holmes: Biography, Serial Killer, Murderer
H.H. Holmes - Crime Museum
H. H. Holmes - Wikipedia
Mass murderer Dr H H Holmes: The story of the Chicago Murder Castle, plus Benjamin Pitezel & his other victims - Click Americana
Michigan Today » A double dose of the macabre
Murder Castle ‑ H.H. Holmes, Chicago World's Fair & Layout | HISTORY
New Master List of HH Holmes Victims – Mysterious Chicago
St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Holmes selling Mortgaged Goods - Newspapers.com™
The Trial of Herman W. Mudgett Alias H.H. Holmes for the Murder of Benjamin ... - Herman W. Mudgett - Google Books
 

Ep. 157 Sky King

Richard "Beebo" Russell was dubbed the 'Sky King' after he made an unauthorized takeoff from the Seattle-Tacoma airport in a 76- seat passenger Bombardier Q400. He was followed by fighter jets as he flew to Mount Rainier and did an impressive barrel roll... all without his pilot's license.
 
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Sources:
2018 Horizon Air Bombardier Q400 incident - Wikipedia
Airline worker who stole plane told air traffic control 'I don't wa.. - ABC13 Houston
Commercial Vs Airline Pilot: Comparison List of Differences | SkyTough
File:Ketron Island crash site of 2018 Horizon Air Q400 incident.jpg - Wikimedia Commons
How to Become an Airline Pilot – Steps, Eligibility, & Requirements / ATP Flight School
Richard Russell, "Rich": 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
The Sky Thief: Beebo Russell's Last Flight
The Tragic Story of 'Sky King' Richard Russell | HowStuffWorks
Who Was Richard Russell? Man Steals Airplane and Crashes | TIME
William Musculus | Flickr
youtube.com/watch?v=rpBH2QTZgOU
 

Ep. 156 The Rake

Is 'The Rake' a creepypasta or a cryptid come to life? If it isn't real... then old, naked, no nipple men have been breaking into homes far more often than we thought.
 
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Sources:
The Rake - Creepypasta
the Rake | Origin and History | Dictionary.com
The Rake | Monster Wiki | Fandom
The Story of The Rake | Paranormal Authority
The Rake - Mythical Encyclopedia
The Rake
#PrescottAZHistory: 9 Cryptid Monsters of Arizona (UPDATE: Bigfoot near Prescott?)
"Monsters Underground" Rake (TV Episode) - IMDb
The Rakshasa in the Puranas: The Demonic Beings of Hindu Mythology - Mythology WorldWide
Rakshasa | Demonic Spirits, Demons & Monsters | Britannica
What is Puranas & How Many Puranas are There? HindUtsav
Act of Rakshasa: Significance and symbolism
Where Tulpas Come From - JSTOR Daily
Tulpa - Wikipedia
Creature Feature: The Power Of Belief: The Rake | World of Magick⛥ Amino

Ep. 155 The White Thing and Sheepsquatch

Welcome to Wild and Wonderful West Virginia, where we have cryptids called The White Thing and Sheepsquatch!
One is a large, dog-like creature with filthy white, wooly fur and saber-like fangs, while the other is an 8-foot, hairy bipedal creature with a long head that holds a single-point set of horns not dissimilar to those found on a young goat.
What's not to love? 
Join us as we discuss whether or not everyone is seeing the same entity or if there are two monstrous creatures stalking the Appalachian Mountains.
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Sources:
Ruth Ann Musick - Wikipedia
Sheepsquatch | Cryptid Wiki | Fandom
Tale of West Virginia monster may have first been documented in 1950s - West Virginia Explorer (wvexplorer.com)
Ted Fauster: Meet the top five monsters from the West Virginia hills - West Virginia Explorer (wvexplorer.com)
Telltale Lilac Bush - Wikipedia
The Legend Of The White Things Of West Virginia (onlyinyourstate.com)
The Sheepsquatch: A Cryptid In American Folklore - Mother Farmland
The Sheepsquatch - Is West Virginia's White Thing Real? (cryptidophilia.com)
The Telltale Lilac Bush and Other West Virginia Ghost Tales : Ruth Ann Musick : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
The WV Presents "The Telltale Lilac Bush" Webisode #1 - PILOT (Series Premiere) (youtube.com)
West Virginia Monsters – White Thing – Upper Monongahela River Association (uppermonriver.org)
White Thing/Sheepsquatch Sighting - Clio (theclio.com)

Ep. 154 Rebecca Wight and Claudia Brenner

On May 13th, 1998, Rebecca Wight and Claudia Brenner went hiking through Furnace State Park. Unbeknownst to the couple, they were being stalked by Stephen Carr who would ultimately attack the two women unprompted. 
Join us as we discuss the unfortunate events that unfolded, the "gay and trans panic" defense used in court, and statistics surrounding crimes against the LGBTQ+ community. 
 
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Sources:
12 Crimes That Changed the LGBT World (advocate.com)
Appalachian Trail Histories | Rebecca and Claudia · LGBTQ Hate Crime (Student Exhibit) (appalachiantrailhistory.org)
CDE (cjis.gov)
Fact Sheet on Injustice in the LGBTQ community | National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC)
Gay panic defense - Wikipedia
Imgur: The magic of the Internet
Killed For Being Gay: The Murder of Rebecca Wight | by Verity Partington | Medium
LGBT people nearly four times more likely than non-LGBT people to be victims of violent crime - Williams Institute (ucla.edu)
Michaux State Forest (pa.gov)
Murder of Rebecca Wight - Wikipedia
Rebecca Wight and Claudia Brenner - Newspapers.com™
The Gay/Trans Panic Defense: What It is, and How to End It (americanbar.org)
Victimization rates and traits of sexual and gender minorities in the United States: Results from the National Crime Victimization Survey, 2017 | Science Advances
Wayback Machine (archive.org)

Ep. 153 Ghost Chickens and Vampires invade Highgate!

Are ghost chickens and vampires wreaking havoc on Highgate, London? Can we take raccoons to court? Does this podcast support cannibalism?
...Tune in to find out!
 
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Sources:
A Scientific Spirit: Sir Francis Bacon and the Ghost Chicken of Highgate | Mental Floss
Francis Bacon - Wikipedia
Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery - Wikipedia
Highgate Cemetery: A City of the Dead That Inspires the Living - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Highgate Cemetery, London, England (historic-uk.com)
Highgate Chicken Ghost (real-british-ghosts.com)
Pond Square Chicken, Highgate – Mysterious Britain & Ireland
The ghosts of Hampstead and Highgate | Ham & High (hamhigh.co.uk)
The Highgate Vampire: Horror of the Dead | The Unredacted
Visit Highgate | A visitor's guide
What Is the Highgate Vampire and Has it Ever Been Spotted? (vice.com)

Ep. 152. Leonarda Cianciulli... The Soap Maker of Correggio

To celebrate Women's History Month, we are dedicating this episode to the infamous serial killer known as The Soap Maker of Correggio. Leonarda Cianciulli's horrific crimes will make you rethink where your soap comes from... and how many people have forced you to commit cannibalism without your knowledge. 
 
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Sources:
Leonarda Cianciulli - Wikipedia
LEONARDA CIANCIULLI: SHE CREATED SOAPS WITH HUMANS – HORRORS REVEALED (wordpress.com)
Meet Leonarda Cianciulli, Italy's Infamous Female Serial Killer (allthatsinteresting.com)
The Correggio soap-maker - Mucri - Criminology Museum (archive.org)
TIME.com: A Copper Ladle -- Jun. 24, 1946 -- Page 1 (archive.org)
Sodium: Getting rid of dirt - and murder victims - BBC News