Episodes

We’re taking a break this week and using the time to amplify the voices of other creators we love in the true crime space. This week we’re bringing you a fabulous story from the Rainy Day Rabbit Holes podcast hosted by our friends Shea & Jody. This episode delves into the chilling events surrounding the Tylenol murders of 1982 and the subsequent Excedrin poisonings in 1986. It explores the tragic deaths caused by cyanide-laced capsules, the investigations that followed, and the impact these eve...

On a dark September night in 1986, a van sat abandoned on the Sunset Highway outside Portland—with the engine running. Upon closer inspection there was a purse on the gas pedal, and blood everywhere. What first appeared to be a tragic accident quickly unraveled into something far more disturbing. Cheryl Keeton was a successful attorney, a mother of three, and a woman in the middle of a bitter divorce. As investigators dug deeper, they uncovered a story of control, fear, and a staged accident t...

This week we dive into the strange, fascinating world of superstitions, starting with a few well-known ones before venturing into some truly bizarre beliefs from around the globe. The episode explores classic superstitions like unlucky black cats, knocking on wood, the taboo of walking under ladders, the bad luck of breaking mirrors, and why you shouldn’t open an umbrella indoors. From there, we travel through a collection of unusual cultural superstitions. In parts of South America and Spain, ...

In the early 1900s, the Hood River Valley was still frontier country. Homesteads were scattered across rugged land, neighbors lived miles apart, and life revolved around routine and survival. When that routine suddenly stopped - others took notice. Louisa Nesbitt and her daughter Alma vanished from their rural homestead without warning. At first, neighbors assumed the women had simply left the valley. But as time passed with no word from either of them, suspicion began to grow. What followed ...

Pack your raincoat and your flannel, we’re heading to Grays Harbor in Washington, the salty gateway to the Pacific and the misty doorstep of the Olympic Peninsula. The most notable town on Grays Harbor is Aberdeen, hometown of Kurt Cobain. The town leans into its legacy with a welcome sign that reads “Come As You Are,” a nod to the iconic Nirvana anthem. Nearby, a humble highway sign became rock folklore and was eventually relocated due to its popularity with fans. But Grays Harbor is more than...

This episode originally aired in three parts - now conveniently edited down to one for your listening pleasure! Today we’re going to talk about a very mysterious hole, known as Mel’s Hole. Who is Mel, and what is so special about his hole? On Feb 21st 1997, a self described Willie Nelson Doppelgänger named Mel Waters, contacted radio talk show “Coast to Coast with Art Bell.” Five phone interviews over the course of 5 years detailed a bewildering tale with many peaks and pits! Extended versions...

In this episode we examine the history behind one of the world’s most persistent superstitions. Friday the 13th has long been associated with fear and bad luck—but where did that reputation come from, and why does it keep resurfacing across the centuries? Join us as we delve into the fear of Friday the 13th – known as paraskevidekatriaphobia – tracing the date’s uneasy legacy from medieval power plays to modern financial panic and how it became embedded in culture. Along the way, we explore how...

The Oregon Zoo might seem like an unlikely setting for true crime and paranormal history, but beneath its family friendly surface lies a past with some unsettling chapters. In 2013, construction crews working on a new elephant habitat unearthed human remains. These undocumented burials trace back to Hillside Farm — a poor farm and sanatorium for the mentally ill and those with infectious diseases. The identities of those found remain unknown, their presence lingering as a quiet reminder of Portl...

On April 21st 1955, a deadly act of violence shattered the quiet grounds of Portland’s Columbia Edgewater Country Club on Marine Drive. After an evening at the club attending a stag party, attorney and WWII veteran Oliver Kermit Smith returned to his car and started the engine. A bomb hidden beneath the driver’s seat detonated, killing him instantly. Investigators quickly determined the explosion was deliberate. The device had been wired directly into the ignition system, ensuring detonation th...

Join Caitlyn & Cassie as they chat about Reddit AITA stories featuring paranormal nonbelievers! How do you go about telling someone you don't believe in their ghost story? Or that there might be more physical evidence for Bigfoot than Jesus? Tune in for a fun discussion and let us know your verdicts! Visit our website! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Patreon, & more! There are so many ways that you can support the show: BuyMeACoffee, Spreaker, or by leaving a rating & review on Apple Po...

This week we're showcasing our friend Alecia of Truly Twisted. On Christmas Eve 1945, in the rural outskirts of Fayetteville, West Virginia, George and Jennie Sodder tucked their children into bed for the night with the anticipation of spending Christmas together the next morning. Tragically a fire quickly engulfed the home forcing the family to leave, but 5 of the children were still inside. What would unfold that evening is still one of the greatest mysteries in the true crime world today, lea...

This week we're showcasing our friends Trevin & Amanda - the hosts of Live, Laugh, Larceny. Two petty crimes. Zero chill. And reactions so bad, they’d make Coldplay blush. This week, Amanda drops by before her second vacation in two weeks—and Trevin has his own vacation drama to share. His first time riding a bike as an adult turns into a near panic attack in a quaint ocean community, while Amanda faces a Beaver Lake, Arkansas dilemma when her husband’s massive truck can’t conquer the rocky te...

The Chateau still needs your help to preserve this incredible site and protect the bats - https://friendsocac.org/support/ This New Year's Day, we're venturing back into the mysterious Oregon Caves National Monument, a spelunking paradise in...

On December 5, 1998, eight-year-old Derrick Joe Engebretsen vanished from the snowy slopes of Pelican Butte near Klamath Falls, Oregon. His heart-breaking disappearance took place while cutting a Christmas tree with his father and grandfather, shaking the surrounding community. Derrick’s footprints led into the forest… and then simply stopped. No struggle. No trail. No remains. Despite massive search efforts involving local deputies, state police, search-and-rescue teams, dogs, helicopters, and...

🎄 In this in(tree)guing episode, we explore an abandoned Christmas tree farm in Oregon that found new life thanks to Mark Rohlfs, of Santa and Sons. What began as an overgrown, forgotten land became a source of “Natural Noble Firs”, prized for their rustic, unshaped look. Customers embraced the wild aesthetic, while unused boughs were turned into wreaths, garlands, and regrowth materials, proving nothing was wasted. 🔥 The conversation also touches on devastation and resilience after the 2020 Or...

In late May 2025, three young sisters—Paityn Decker (9), Evelyn Decker (8), and Olivia Decker (5)—disappeared during a scheduled visit with their father, Travis Caleb Decker. Days later, their bodies were discovered in a wooded area near Rock Island Campground in the Cascade Mountains. Investigators uncovered forensic evidence, including DNA, linking their father to the killings, prompting a massive months-long manhunt across rugged mountain terrain. In mid-September, human remains identified a...

In this listener story episode, Judi sends an update from https://www.pnwhauntsandhomicides.com/creepy-people-chronicles-mediums-mischievous-spirits/! Featuring the Delaney House, the symbolism behind her oracle card reading, and a fateful house fire...

Could a quirky collectible convert skeptics into stans? Since Cassie couldn’t join our full episode https://www.pnwhauntsandhomicides.com/haunted-dolls-and-the-labubu-curse/, she put together a bonus episode of her very own! We found ourselves...

Two years after Susan Cox Powell vanished, tragedy struck again. During a court-ordered supervised visit in Graham, Washington, her husband Josh Powell locked a social worker out, attacked his sons Charlie and Braden, and ignited the house in a fire that shocked the nation. In Part 2 we piece together the aftermath—the frantic 911 call, the investigation that followed, and the systemic failures that allowed a person of interest in Susan’s disappearance to retain access to his children. We examin...

Join us for an engaging exploration of art and tarot with our guest, David, of Whiskey Terra Foxtrot. David offers insights into his creative process as he works on designing a hand-drawn Kickstarter tarot deck. “The Liminal Deck is a traditional 78-card tarot deck with a non-traditional construction. De-gendered and de-saturated, drawing on vaguely unsettling, yet familiar imagery to recreate quiet contradictions of the dreamscape, it's the deck unlike any other.” Listen in as we explore the ...

When 28-year-old Susan Cox Powell vanished from her West Valley City, Utah, home in December 2009, her purse, phone, and keys suspiciously remained—and her husband’s story didn’t add up. In part 1 we trace the chilling trail of red flags Susan left behind: a secret will, haunting journal entries, and an eerie home video “in case something happens.” From the Powells’ tangled family history in Puyallup, Washington, to the night of the so-called midnight “camping trip,” we uncover the control, mani...

This week, we venture deep into the mist-shrouded Pacific Northwest to unearth one of the region’s most haunting legends in Kwakwaka’wakw folklore — the story of Baxbakwalanuksiwe’, the Man-Eater at the North End of the World. Once banned by colonial authorities and nearly lost to time, the Hamat’sa, or “Cannibal Dance,” is a ceremonial initiation that confronts humanity’s darkest impulses and the mythic hunger embodied by Baxbakwalanuksiwe’. Covered in gaping mouths and crying out “hap, hap, h...

Happy Halloween! We have a trick AND a treat for you with this https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/truly-twisted-where-real-stories-take-a-twisted-turn/id1800597032?i=1000700047299 bonus! On the evening of July 3rd, 1929 the Evangelista family was...

We’re kicking off Hallo-week with an extra creepy bonus for episode 204: https://www.pnwhauntsandhomicides.com/the-bizarre-tale-of-jake-the-alligator-man/ We’ll see you later this week for another all new spooky episode! 🎃 Back at...