Stephanie Hoover Has That Story

Stephanie Hoover

Whether it's history, crime or legend, non-fiction author Stephanie Hoover has that story. Join Stephanie for concise, yet intriguing, discussions of cultural history, historical true crime, and folklore. It's "history-tainment" at its finest.

  1. When A Stranger Calls, Scream - Because It's Halloween: True Events That Inspired Scary Movies

    10/26/2020

    When A Stranger Calls, Scream - Because It's Halloween: True Events That Inspired Scary Movies

    There are two kinds of people in the world: people who cover their face with pillows while they watch scary movies - and those of us who inch closer to the screen the scarier the movie gets.  We've all heard the dime store psychology. Horror movies, claim the professionals, satiate our primitive need for safe thrills. We all KNOW there's no Freddie Krueger... no malevolent clown in the street drains... no evil spirit in your TV about to do a freaky-deaky jerky crawl into your living room.  These frights, as effective as they are, are just products of the imaginations of skilled - if not deliciously morbid - writers' imaginations.  And so, we pop our popcorn and turn off the lights and we laugh at the fools who investigate noises in the basement or attic when it's quite obvious that THAT is EXACTLY where death waits.  We laugh at friends complaining of nightmares, smugly reminding them it's all just Hollywood hooey. But what if it wasn't…? What if the horror on the screen is simply a retelling of horrors perpetrated in real life? Worse, what if they could actually happen… again? To… you? In this final installment of my six-part Halloween celebration, I'll tell you about the REAL events that inspired some of Hollywood's most terrifying feature films. And then we'll see just how brave you really are. For more information, visit Stephanie Hoover Has That Story.

    15 min
  2. Vampires: The Origin of the Myth

    10/12/2020

    Vampires: The Origin of the Myth

    In June 2015, a 21-year-old Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania man was arrested on charges of “bloodletting” and sexual assault. He allegedly not only convinced several underage victims to slice their wrists so he could drink their blood, he also engaged in intimate acts with a minor while they bled on each other from self-inflicted lacerations. It's a shocking case for a Pennsylvania town that's about as inclined to believe in vampires as it is the tooth fairy. But, it's a case that also, remarkably, demonstrates the eternal life of the vampire myth. In this episode, Stephanie tells the story of the surprising origins of vampiric legends and how they've changed through the centuries. *** NOTE! The first 41 seconds of this episode may not be suitable for very young listeners. *** To read Stephanie's feature article, on which this episode is based, visit this page: https://www.hauntinglypa.com/history-of-vampires.html For more information on this podcast on Stephanie's books, visit StephanieHoover.com. Or join the conversation in one of her new Facebook groups: ~ Old Fashioned Crime ~ Ghosts, Monsters & Myths ------------------------------------------ The following music and sound effects (or edited pieces thereof) were used in this episode:      Churches of Ohrid 2 by cms4f (FreeSound.org)      Hamer.wav by escortmarious (FreeSound.org)      Creeking Door by visualasylum (FreeSound.org)      Horse Whinny Close A by InspectorJ (FreeSound.org)

    8 min
5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

Whether it's history, crime or legend, non-fiction author Stephanie Hoover has that story. Join Stephanie for concise, yet intriguing, discussions of cultural history, historical true crime, and folklore. It's "history-tainment" at its finest.