Patreon Dispatches from the Curiosity Shop 35: Cropsey or the Witch?
Haley and Natali share their own local urban legends.
Haley’s definitely steps out of a literal horror film, but Natali’s is an absolute delight! (It’s definitely time to take a road trip to Miss Mary’s house!)
S02E21: Kate Warne, the heroic first woman Pinkerton detective, and Pearl Tytell, handwriting detective and trailblazing forensic document examiner.
When you need a tricky job done, you have to hire the best! As the first lady detective, Kate Warne’s work with the Pinkertons opened new investigative doors for the agency, helped foil a presidential assasination plot, and paved the way for the creation of the CIA. (We’re also told that she did a fabulous southern belle cosplay.) Pearl Tytell’s groundbreaking document investigation techniques exposed fraud in the highest levels of the government and the lowest reaches of backroom business deals and career-ending gossip mills. (She once even uncovered a fake claim to Russian royalty!) At times, her analysis carried more weight in the courts than the opinion of the FBI. From typewriter quirks to ink colors and paper stock, when Pearl was the expert witness, everybody listened!
Patreon Dispatches from the Curiosity Shop 35: Cropsey or the Witch?
Haley and Natali share their own local urban legends.
Haley’s definitely steps out of a literal horror film, but Natali’s is an absolute delight! (It’s definitely time to take a road trip to Miss Mary’s house!)
S02E20: Slender Man and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
Heads up: The first story involves violence against children. Listen at your own discretion.
Whether written at the dawn of a nation or crowd-sourced on the internet, all urban legends hold within them at least a tiny kernel of truth. Here’s what happens when those distorted stories stop being fiction and become real living nightmares.
Patreon Dispatches from the Curiosity Shop 34: Decorative Gourd Season, Bitches!
It’s officially spooky season, and we’ve got yer pumpkin bread, yer crescent moon wreaths, a whole handful of yer chicken wire ghosts, and yer obligatory spice-scented spooky crafts. It’s a pre-Halloween party, and you’re obviously invited!
S02E19: Mrs. Margaret Smith-Wilkinson, nicknamed the Countess of Monte Cristo, and Lady Jane Lewson, the possible real life inspiration for Miss Havisham.
Come meet a hotel mogul turned high society con artist (who probably wasn’t a black widow), and the enigmatic walking fire hazard that might have inspired Dickens’ fictional jilted bride; two women whose actual lives are truly the stuff of fiction.
Patreon Dispatches from the Curiosity Shop 33: Are You Gonna Drink That?
Drinking tea, reading the leaves, and overthrowing the patriarchy.
So, just a regular Tuesday.
S02E18: Woven spells, sewing magic, and the history of spinsters.
Is there someone in your life who knits with glass needles, spins their own yarn, sews their own patterns, or dyes their own thread? Yes? Well, we strongly discourage getting on their bad side. You know, just in case they decide to throw that project into the fire.
Dispatches from the Curiosity Shop 32: Out of the Mouths of Moms
Busting myths and embracing the weirdness of old wives’ tales.
Yes, you actually can go swimming right after you eat.
S02E17: Personal Ghost Stories and Haley’s Haunted Mom.
I mean, who doesn’t want to hear stories about a spooky local legend, a whispering apparition, a 1970s UFO, and Haley’s mom talking about the little girl ghost in her hall who looks just a bit too familiar?
Dispatches from the Curiosity Shop 31: Haunted real estate and courthouse ghosts.
Has your home been declared legally haunted? According to the state of New York, it’s actually possible! (Just make sure you don’t try it in a haunted courthouse!)
S02E16: Sewing spacesuits and the science lab at the Eiffel Tower.
Did you know that the Eiffel Tower doubles as art and science? It’s true! Also true: sewing a space suit is hard, and then your work gets shredded.