Department of the Dead is back after a long hiatus, and this episode is part cryptid deep dive, part life update, part chaotic reunion therapy session. Amanda, Yessie, and Thotty catch up on everything that’s happened while the podcast was AWOL, from cross-country moves and career burnout to grad school, branding projects, psychedelics, and trying to survive adulthood without losing their minds. But the real focus of the episode is one of Appalachia’s strangest and most iconic legends: the Flatwoods Monster. The trio dives into the infamous 1952 sighting in Flatwoods, West Virginia, where witnesses reported seeing a towering glowing creature with a spade-shaped head, glowing eyes, a metallic sulfur smell, and a floating skirt-like body after a mysterious object streaked across the sky. What starts as a cryptid episode quickly spirals into conversations about Cold War UFO hysteria, Mothman lore, Appalachia’s eerie energy, government secrecy, Fallout 76 monsters, haunted mountains, and whether cryptids are about to unionize against incoming West Virginia data centers. Equal parts spooky, hilarious, and unhinged, this episode marks the return of the Department of the Dead crew exactly as you remember them: exhausted, curious, slightly feral, and ready to yap about weird shit again. What starts as a cryptid episode quickly spirals into conversations about Cold War UFO hysteria, Mothman lore, Appalachia’s eerie energy, government secrecy, Fallout 76 monsters, haunted mountains, and whether cryptids are about to unionize against incoming West Virginia data centers. Equal parts spooky, hilarious, and unhinged, this episode marks the return of the Department of the Dead crew exactly as you remember them: exhausted, curious, slightly feral, and ready to yap about weird shit again.
