Strange Deranged Beyond Insane

Melissa

True crime that lingers. Paranormal thatfeels personal.Strange Deranged Beyond Insane dives into haunted locations, twisted cases, and the unexplained-often rooted in Michigan's darkest corners. Blending psychological insight with real-life storytelling, each episode explores the line between mental health and the paranormal. With heart, humor, and just enough chaos to keep you hooked!

  1. 4 days ago

    Rock Star To Homicide Prosecutor

    Send us Fan Mail A touring rock musician cuts his hair, puts on a suit, and walks into a Chicago courtroom, then ends up trying murder cases when the city is at a boiling point. That’s the real-life origin story of our guest, Greg Owen, a former Cook County prosecutor who went from sharing stages with legendary acts to learning homicide trials inside a system battling both violence and corruption. We talk through the pivot that changed Greg’s life overnight, what it takes to survive early courtroom work with almost no time to prepare, and how corruption can quietly tilt outcomes through the “right” judge, the “right” lawyer, and evidence that disappears at the worst possible moment. Greg then takes us inside the double murder case that stayed with him for decades, the one that became his book Convergence with Jonathan Dixon, and explains why the prosecution point of view is so rarely told and so revealing. From there, the stakes escalate into gang prosecutions, contract killings, and the kind of danger most people never imagine comes with the job, including a documented plot involving a stolen surface-to-air missile. We close with Greg’s practical breakdown of insanity defenses, why “the devil made me do it” doesn’t land with juries, and how the Lindsay Clancy trial shows the power and the pitfalls of expert testimony in modern criminal court. If you like true crime, courtroom strategy, and the human side of prosecution, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find us. Support the show

  2. 5 Aug

    We Are 14 Downloads From 10K- I'm Calling Out My Listeners

    Send us Fan Mail Fourteen downloads. That’s the gap between this weird little paranormal podcast and 10,000 total downloads, and I’m not quietly refreshing the stats until it happens. I’m turning the final stretch into a listener challenge, because the best part of this show has never been the numbers. It’s you, the people sitting on stories that still give you chills. I talk about what it’s like building an independent, niche show for nearly three years, why “slow burn” growth is still real progress, and how easy it is to compare yourself to massive podcasts that have been publishing since 2017. I also share a bit of what’s working behind the scenes, including why I use Buzzsprout and how it makes it easier to distribute the show and hear directly from listeners through messages and voicemails. Then we get to the fun part: send me your ghost stories, haunted house experiences, UFO sightings, cryptid encounters, and local legends, or pitch a paranormal topic that’s so strange I need to investigate it. I’m choosing one submission to win a personally put-together mystery prize box, and Michigan listeners get an extra challenge with the possibility of meeting up to join me on a real paranormal investigation. If you love spooky stories, urban legends, and true paranormal experiences, hit play, share this with a friend, and help push us over the line. Subscribe, leave a review, and send me your story so we can keep this strange community growing. Support the show

  3. 5 Aug

    Lionsgate Reset: I Release, I Receive, I Become

    Send us Fan Mail Lionsgate is creeping up, my body is doing what bodies do, and the timing feels a little too perfect to ignore. I start with the 8/8 Lionsgate Portal, Leo season energy, and why I’m treating this window as a reset focused on release rather than chasing. We get into full moon intensity, menstrual cycle symbolism, and the real difference between spiritual meaning and medical science, especially when the internet starts connecting women’s health to big global events.  To keep it practical, I pull in “Raven” (my name for ChatGPT) and share the exact kind of prompts that turn overwhelm into a clear ritual: what I’m done carrying, what I’m inviting in, and the mantras I’m using to stay steady. I also tell the story of how I ended up saving my son’s baby food jars and turning them into manifestation and affirmation jars, because sometimes the smallest, most ordinary objects become the most powerful anchors.  Then we pivot hard into life whiplash: an Evanescence and Spiritbox concert recap, true crime follow-ups that are as heartbreaking as they are confusing, a TikTok Ouija board trend that coins a missing female archetype as “the Destroyer,” and why so many artists create better at night. I even get into the weird landline suppression chatter and end with the funniest movie theater stories I’ve heard in a while, including IMAX chili and a Spider Man premiere gone wrong.  If any of these topics hit for you, listen, share this with a friend who loves the strange side of life, and leave a review so more spookies, freaks, and in-betweens can find us. What part are you thinking about the most right now? Support the show

  4. 30 Jul

    Infernal Tramps

    Send us Fan Mail Horror doesn’t always arrive with fangs and fog. Sometimes it shows up as a mailman, a bank, a headline you wish you never clicked, or a “normal” family moment that suddenly turns into a nightmare. That’s the thread we pull on with indie horror author Alex Grass, who just released Infernal Tramps: Tales of Weird Terror, a short story collection packed with vignettes, novelettes, and surreal dread that escalates fast. We talk about how writers make the mundane feel sinister, why weird horror hits so hard, and how influences like Bentley Little prove that everyday life is already loaded with menace if you know where to look.  We also go somewhere heavier: true crime, grief, and the strange magnetism of real testimony. We unpack why cases like Lindsay Clancy’s can feel impossible to look away from, how internet access turns strangers into obsessions, and why an “adult timeout” from social media can be the only sane move. Along the way, we connect horror storytelling to mental health, trauma, and that human urge to regain control by trying to understand the darkest edges of behavior.  Then we zoom out into craft and career: short fiction vs novels, the surprise of who actually reads horror, the love-hate relationship with adaptations, and why a one-star review can be accidental marketing. Alex also shares what shifted in his own beliefs after digging through enough “weird” research, landing on a chilling truth that makes both horror fiction and real life feel sharper: there’s no perfect way to predict anyone, and almost anybody can do anything.  If you like horror fiction, weird terror, true crime psychology, and conversations that don’t flinch, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a fellow horror fan, and leave a review so more listeners can find the strange. Support the show

  5. 28 Jul

    The Heart In The Cooler And The Ghost On GPS

    Send us Fan Mail Imagine a 3 a.m. drive with a donated human heart in a cooler, an unforgiving deadline on your GPS, and the sudden certainty that someone is sitting beside you. That’s where we start: eerie organ transport legends that keep showing up in personal accounts, from “the heartbeat in the cooler” to phantom passengers and shadowy hospital hallway spirits. I unpack why these stories hit so hard, especially when the work is real, time-sensitive, and soaked in emotion. Then things take a sharp turn into one of the most controversial modern urban legends I’ve heard: the claim that some STI and STD experiences are tied to spiritual entities or negative attachments. I say this clearly and repeatedly: there’s no scientific evidence for that, and sexually transmitted diseases are real medical conditions that need real healthcare. From there, we explore why the belief persists anyway, how different cultures frame intimacy as an energetic bond, and how trauma and toxic relationships can feel “paranormal” even when psychology offers strong explanations. We round it out with the chaos you expect from this show: horror as metaphor (yes, It Follows), power grid and AI fears, flip phones as an escape from doomscrolling, unsettling ocean stories, Mandela effect arguments that make people furious, and internet-fueled celebrity clone theories. Finally, we land on a surprising little spark of nostalgia with talk of MySpace and the craving for a less algorithmic internet. Subscribe so you don’t miss the next drop, share this with your favorite spooky friend, and leave an honest rating and review. What part of the episode made you stop and go, “Wait, what?” Support the show

  6. 28 Jul

    True Crime With A Warning Label

    Send us Fan Mail A mother of three faces first degree murder charges, and the courtroom battle is about something far bigger than headlines: postpartum mental health, criminal responsibility, and what we do when a parent says they are not okay and nobody catches it in time. We walk through the Lindsay Clancy case as it’s been publicly reported, including her background, the timeline leading up to January 2023, and the legal fight over an insanity defense tied to postpartum psychosis.  We also dig into what makes this case so polarizing: the gap between appearing “coherent” and being in psychiatric crisis, the role of medications and diagnosis, and how juries are asked to weigh expert testimony against brutal outcomes. Along the way, we talk about why malingering of psychosis even enters the conversation, what some clinical literature claims about detecting faked symptoms, and why none of this is simple when the stakes are life sentences and lifelong grief. Keywords that matter here are postpartum psychosis, postpartum anxiety, true crime analysis, insanity defense, and mental health stigma.  Then we widen the lens to two more recent tragedies: Sarah Duffy’s killing by her soon to be ex husband after an online post, and a Grand Haven, Michigan familicide tied to an intentionally set house fire. We reflect on domestic violence, online image versus private reality, religion and control, and the uncomfortable pressure that can build inside families while the outside world sees smiles and curated clips.  If you listen to true crime podcasts to understand patterns, warning signs, and the hard questions behind “how could this happen,” this conversation will stay with you. Subscribe, share this episode with someone who cares about mental health and safety, and leave a review with your take: where do you think prevention realistically starts? Support the show

  7. 23 Jul

    When Prayer Breaks Reality

    Send us Fan Mail He says a voice entered his mind, ordered him to shut off the TV, and changed the trajectory of his life. Michael Monk joins me to unpack a string of experiences that begin with a third eye style awakening and escalate into something most people only hear about in whispers: a severe left-eye injury followed by a prayer he believes healed it, then years of testing spiritual guidance through unmistakable body signals he calls “yes” and “no.” If you’re curious about energy healing, prayer, and spiritual awakening stories that don’t fit neatly into a single tradition, you’ll want to hear how he connects Christian language, chakra mechanics, and lived experimentation. We also go deep into consciousness and perception, including the Law of One, 2012 and quantum shifts, and his claim that physical reality functions like a sensory construct built by the nervous system. Michael explains the moment he saw the world “shimmer” into rainbow waveform energy, how fear instantly snapped him back, and why he believes meditation is less about forcing focus and more about relaxing into “nothing” until extrasensory perception turns on. From there we get into clairvoyance training, auras, telekinesis, and why he created the Avatar Energy Mastery Institute alongside a separate metaphysical church for people who want devotion and technique kept distinct. Then we open the bigger doors: out-of-body experiences and astral projection, angels and demons, fallen angels, “hell” as a vibrational match, and how unprocessed emotion can behave like something external. We also touch UFO orbs, hybrid and interdimensional themes, and CE5 style meditation for contact. If any of that hits a nerve, you’re not alone. Subscribe for more conversations like this, share the episode with a friend who loves the paranormal and spirituality, and leave a review so more people can find the show. Support the show

  8. 16 Jul

    From Rock Journalism To Paranormal Research: Interview With Maxim W. Furek

    Send us Fan Mail A rock journalist walks into the paranormal and doesn’t come back out the same. I’m joined by author and researcher Maxim Furek, and we start with the kind of background you can’t fake: writing from childhood, underground papers, major music interviews, and the moment a real-world coal mine disaster story opened a door into something far stranger than a rock biography. We talk about the 1963 Sheppton Mine rescue, how myth and history braid together, and why reports of Pope John XXIII appearing to trapped miners still spark debate around miracles, hallucinations, and what “evidence” even means in paranormal investigation. Then we zoom out to the bigger, human side of high strangeness. Maxim shares what he learned working in addiction recovery, where so many people describe the switch to sobriety as a “miracle,” and we explore the idea that spirituality, psychology, and science might be describing the same underlying forces with different vocabularies. I also share some of my own experiences with precognitive dreams during a terrifying time in my family, plus the odd, intuitive moments that show up as feelings, symbols, and signs like crow behavior that seems loaded with meaning. We also dig into modern paranormal culture and how it spreads now: Maxim’s upcoming book The Scream of the Haunted House, ethical questions around ghost hunting and dark tourism, and why he wants the paranormal taken more seriously by academics. From Bigfoot research and the legacy of scientists like Jeff Meldrum to UFO disclosure fatigue, Roswell mythology, the Kecksburg UFO case, and even theories about UAPs coming from the ocean, this conversation keeps pulling the thread. If you’re into haunted houses, demonology, precognition, Bigfoot, UFOs, or just honest storytelling about the unknown, you’ll feel right at home. If you enjoy the show, subscribe, share it with a friend who loves weird truth, and leave a review so more listeners can find us. What’s the one paranormal topic you want us to go deeper on next? Support the show

About

True crime that lingers. Paranormal thatfeels personal.Strange Deranged Beyond Insane dives into haunted locations, twisted cases, and the unexplained-often rooted in Michigan's darkest corners. Blending psychological insight with real-life storytelling, each episode explores the line between mental health and the paranormal. With heart, humor, and just enough chaos to keep you hooked!