Astonishing Legends

S2 Ep6: The Smiling Pillar of Avoca

In tonight’s dead letter, a routine hike along a converted railroad bed transforms into a standoff with the inexplicable for Patron and Listener Zed. Standing in an open clearing along the path is a solitary, towering object that seems to possibly be a tree, but for some reason it’s hard to tell. When Zed and his hiking partner attempt to rationalize the sight, they are met not with answers, but with a wave of paralyzing dread and the distinct impression that the object is aware of them.Reference LinksWadhams to Avoca Trail | Michigan TrailsThe Van Meter Monster - Astonishing LegendsMantis Men - Astonishing LegendsIndrid Cold (The Smiling Man) - Cryptid WikiCommunion (1989) - IMDbWe're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to deadletteroffice@astonishinglegends.com

The Scole Experiment Part 2: The Germanium Receptor

This week, we return to the pitch-black depths of the Scole Experiment, where a sealed room in rural Norfolk became the testing ground for an impossible claim: that voices from beyond could speak through a crude, powerless device that shouldn’t have worked at all. What began as a strange experiment in energy and communication quickly drew the attention of the Society for Psychical Research — seasoned skeptics, scientists, and even magicians determined to expose any trickery. Instead, they found themselves confronting an event that challenged physics, belief, and their own assumptions. Was this the realization of a long-dreamed-of “spirit phone,” or a masterclass in deception?Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

S2 Ep5: Kids Can be Creepy, Especially your own

In tonight’s dead letter… we explore the unsettling possibility that our children are not the blank slates conventional psychology suggests. Listener, Tim, recounts the evening his toddler, Mason, claimed he "wasn't always" his kid before describing a past life that ended in a tragic house fire. It is a quiet reflection on the "old soul" phenomenon and whether our children bring a bit of luggage with them when they enter this world.Reference LinksThe University of Virginia: Division of Perceptual StudiesThe Work of Dr. Ian StevensonMonarch Butterfly Migration and Genetics - National GeographicAltered States (1980) - IMDBDefending Your Life (1991) - IMDBPLAINTEXTThe University of Virginia: Division of Perceptual Studies: https://med.virginia.edu/perceptual-studies/The Work of Dr. Ian Stevenson:https://a.co/d/0fMu7zrxMonarch Butterfly Migration and Genetics - National Geographic: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/facts/monarch-butterfly/Altered States (1980) - IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080360/Defending Your Life (1991) - IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101694/We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to deadletteroffice@astonishinglegends.com!

The Scole Experiment Part 1: The Norfolk Protocol

In a quiet Norfolk village, in the early 1990s, a seventeenth-century farmhouse became the setting for one of the most controversial paranormal investigations ever conducted. In the cellar of Street Farmhouse in Scole, a small group known as the Scole Experimental Group claimed they weren’t just contacting spirits — they were working with them. Over five years, under strict controls, they reported blue lights with apparent intelligence, physical phenomena, voices broadcast through powerless devices, and even photographic images appearing on sealed film, all allegedly guided by a collective of discarnate scientists calling themselves “The Team of Many Minds.” This episode kicks off a three-part deep dive into the Scole Experiment, beginning with the Norfolk Protocol and the impossible technology said to be designed from beyond the grave.BibliographyBooks & Reports Foy, Robin P. Witnessing the Impossible: The Diary of the Scole Experiment. Diss: Campion Books, 2008. Keen, Montague, Arthur Ellison, and David Fontana. "The Scole Report: An Account of an Investigation into the Genuineness of a Range of Physical Phenomena Associated with a Mediumistic Group in Norfolk, England." Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research 58, no. 220 (November 1999): 147–455. Solomon, Grant, and Jane Solomon. The Scole Experiment: Scientific Evidence for Life After Death. Diss: Campion Books, 1999 (Updated 2006). MultimediaDrasin, Dan. "SCOLE: THE AFTERLIFE EXPERIMENT." YouTube video of Original Documentary. Uploaded by Dan Drasin.Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

S2 Ep4: Something's Watching

In tonight’s dead letter… Scott and Forrest explore the intersection of the safety of the suburbs and the primeval woods of the greater Akron area. Long before "Ohio" became modern slang for the weird, it was already earning that reputation through sightings of glowing red eyes that radiated their own light, but if you listen to Astonishing Legends, you already know that. Michael’s account details a terrifying standoff where when he was only 5 years old, he and his sister found themselves locked in the sanctuary of a childhood bedroom with something peering at them from outside. Reference LinksSmall Town MonstersVillage of Mogador - Official HistoryMinerva Monster - Encyclopedia ArcticaThe Ohio Valley UFO Flap of 1973Mogador, Ohio - WikipediaWe're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to deadletteroffice@astonishinglegends.com!