Let's Talk Spooky

Shauna Taylor

Let's Talk Spooky is a weekly paranormal podcast exploring true ghost stories, dark folklore, urban legends, and haunted history from around the world. Hosted by Shauna, each episode blends documented history, real paranormal encounters, and eerie legends whispered for generations — from cursed lakes and haunted towns to cryptids, summer-camp monsters, and stories of reincarnation. If you love creepy stories rooted in real research — chilling, immersive, and a little too believable — this is your show. Light a candle. Get cozy. And let's talk spooky.

  1. 04: REMASTERED: El Silbón The Whistler of Los Llanos

    4d ago

    04: REMASTERED: El Silbón The Whistler of Los Llanos

    On a dark Venezuelan highway, a truck driver hears something that shouldn't be there — a whistle, seven notes, rising and falling. What he doesn't know is that the closer it sounds, the further away the danger really is. In this bonus deep-dive, we go back to a legend first touched on in Episode 4 and give El Silbón — the cursed soul of the Venezuelan plains — the full story he deserves: the murder that created him, the real man who may have inspired him, the bones he carries and counts outside your door, and theThe whistle paradox has kept two countries listening for two hundred years.Primary / Academic: Bonilla, Valentina S. — “The History Behind El Silbón: Exploring Historical and Psychological Elements to the Urban Legend” — University of North Florida,PANDION: The Osprey Journal of Research and Ideas, Vol. 5. Peer-reviewed academic paper. Pérez Montero, Carmen — “Mitos y leyendas predominantes en el Estado Portuguesa” — Regional oral history collection; source of multiple llanero eyewitness testimonies referenced in this episode. Gebauer, Juan Fernández — Fantasmagorias documentary series on Latin American monster legends; field research conducted in the Portuguesa region, Venezuela. Oral History & Regional Cultural Sources: Cuenta el Abuelo — “Vivencias Llaneras del Abuelo: Testimonios sobre El Silbón” — transcribed testimony from the Pérez Montero collection, including the LorenzoGarcía family-connection account and the Eladio Antonio Moreno encounter narrative. Venezuela Narrada — “La Leyenda del Silbón” — biographical detail on Joaquín Flores, including birth record claims, family members, and the disputed final confrontation with his father. Mythlok — “El Silbón: The Whistling Spirit That Hunts inVenezuelan Folklore.” Wild Hunt — Alan D.D., “Column: El Silbón, a Venezuelan Legend About the Ancestors.” A Note on Source Credibility: This episode draws on a tiered range of sources. The cultural and historical framework — the Independence War context, the llanero way of life, the structure of the legend itself — is supported by peer-reviewed academic research. The biographical details of Joaquín Flores and the modern encounter account that opens the episode are drawn from regional oral history and cultural blogs; they cannot be verified against official archival records and are presented as oral tradition rather than confirmed historical fact. This distinction is consistent with how folklore scholarship treats such material — and, frankly, it's part of what makes the story worth telling. CONNECT WITH LET'S TALK SPOOKYWebsite: letstalkspooky.com Email: letstalkspookypodcast@gmail.com TikTok:@letstalkspookypod

    35 min

  2. 6d ago

    Announcement

    Listener Favourites We’re taking a week off to let the team rest, recharge, and get ready for more spooky stories — but we didn’t want to leave you without something eerie to listen to. This week, we’re revisiting a few listener-favourite episodes: the ones that stayed with you long after they ended. These episodes explore the places where folklore, history, fear, and belief begin to blur. From the true stories behind terrifying urban legends, to changelings, doppelgängers, thin places, and lost time, each episode asks the same unsettling question: what if the old stories were not just stories after all? Episode 45: When the Legend Was Real — True Stories Behind History’s Scariest Urban Legends Urban legends are often dismissed as campfire stories, but sometimes the truth behind them is even darker. This episode looks at the real events, fears, and historical moments that helped shape some of the scariest legends we still tell today. Episode 48: Changelings For centuries, families believed that something unnatural could steal a child and leave something else behind. This episode explores changeling folklore, the fear beneath the belief, and the unsettling real-world consequences of stories told to explain what people could not understand. Episode 41: Doppelgängers: The Double Across Cultures What would you do if you saw yourself — or if someone else saw you where you could not possibly be? This episode follows the doppelgänger across cultures, from omens and spirit doubles to stories that suggest seeing your own double may be more than just a strange coincidence. Episode 32: Thin Places, Lost Time Some places feel different, as though the world has worn thin and something else is pressing through. This episode explores thin places, missing time, and eerie stories where people step out of the ordinary world — and return changed, confused, or not quite sure how long they were gone. Because sometimes, the stories that haunt us most are the ones that feel a little too real. And don’t forget — we’re always looking for listener stories for an upcoming listener story episode. If you have a paranormal experience, local legend, strange encounter, haunted object story, or something you just can’t explain, we would love to hear from you. Send your stories to letstalkspookypodcast@gmail.com or reach out to us on social media. Stay curious, stay spooky.

    1 min

  3. Jun 12

    52: Into the Dark: Sleepaway Camp Horror

    CONTENT WARNING This episode contains discussion of the murder of three children (Camp Scott, Oklahoma, 1977), documented sexual abuse at summer camps, predatory behaviour toward minors, and the legend of Elias White, which involves the hanging of an enslaved man. Please take care if any of these topics are difficult for you. Every sleepaway camp has a monster. Not the same monster — each one builds its own, passed down from counselor to camper, summer after summer, until no one quite remembers where the story started. Only that it’s true. Only that it happened here. In this episode of Let’s Talk Spooky, we’re going to camp — all of them at once. We’re meeting the monsters that haunt the American sleepaway camp tradition: Hatchet Annie, the wronged camper who came back with an axe. The Banana Man, the predatory counselor who never quite left. The Man from the Farm, the ordinary man from next door who walked into the woods one night and decided to stay. Elias White, the enslaved man whose hanging made an entire forest forbidden. And the cluster of drowned children, grieving ghosts, and hermits on islands that haunt every dock, swamp, and cabin in the country. CONNECT letstalkspooky.ca · letstalkspookypodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @letstalkspookypodcast · TikTok: @letstalkspookypod If you enjoyed this episode, a rating or review wherever you listen takes 30 seconds and helps new listeners find the show. Stay Curious. Stay Spooky. SOURCES Folklore & Scholarship • USC Digital Folklore Archives (folklore.usc.edu) — Hatchet Annie, the Banana Man (informant KM, 2022); Mary Brown / Troy Camp (Taylor, 2015); The Hermit, Maine all-boys camp (BM, 2023); Elias White, Bass Lake CA; Camp Seven Hills, western NY (2019) • Bill Ellis — “The Camp Mock-Ordeal: Theater as Life,” Journal of American Folklore, 1981 • Jay Mechling — “The Magic of the Boy Scout Campfire,” Journal of American Folklore, 1980 Camp Scott (1977) • Victims: Lori Lee Farmer (8), Michele Heather Guse (9), Doris Denise Milner (10) — June 13, 1977, Mayes County, OK • Suspect Gene Leroy Hart acquitted March 1979; died June 1979, age 35 — case officially unsolved • 2019 DNA testing: inconclusive but pointed toward Hart; eliminated other suspects. Real-World Underpinning • CBS News (2018) — 500+ documented cases of sexual abuse at U.S. camps over 55 years • Jon Conte, University of Washington — structural risk factors at camps • Regulatory gap: 8 U.S. states have no overnight camp licensing; 18 states have no mandatory staff background checks

    30 min

  4. Jun 5

    51: Dead Calm

    Content note: This episode contains discussion of racial violence, lynching, and the racially motivated expulsion of an entire Black community in 1912 Georgia. It also includes detailed accounts of multiple drowning deaths and body recovery. Additionally, this episode covers the colonial erasure of Indigenous spiritual tradition. Listener discretion is advised. In July 2023, three men died at Lake Lanier in Georgia in a single weekend. Lake Lanier is one of the most visited recreational lakes in the United States. It is also one of the deadliest — and once you understand what is sitting beneath its surface, the death toll stops feeling like a coincidence. This week, we visit two dangerous lakes and hear their haunting tales. LAKE LANIER Georgia Department of Natural Resources — annual drowning reports (primary source for all death statistics) Forsyth County Sheriff's Office — official press release, Thomas Milner death, July 2023 Patrick Phillips, Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in America (W.W. Norton, 2016) — primary source for 1912 Forsyth County racial history CNN — interview with rescue diver Buck Buchanan, 2020 Adventures in Cemetery Hopping — Alta Vista Cemetery, Delia Parker Young / Susie Roberts grave documentation OKANAGAN LAKE BC Coroners Service — annual provincial drowning reports (primary source for all death statistics) Elder Marlene Squakin (Yamxwa) — N'ha-a-itk tradition, documented via Summerland Museum / Castanet.net, March 2024 Summerland Museum — working with Syilx knowledge keepers on N'ha-a-itk cultural framing BC Wildlife Act, 1989 — Ogopogo protected status Have a story, a local legend, or a documented case you'd love to hear covered on Let's Talk Spooky? Send it in. We want to hear from you. letstalkspookypodcast@gmail.com www.letstalkspooky.ca Instagram: @letstalkspookypodcast TikTok: @letstalkspookypod

    41 min

  5. May 29

    50: The Patient Ones

    What's the oldest fear in the human record? Not vampires. Not werewolves. Not anything that hunts in the dark. It's the person sitting across from you at dinner—the one who poured your drink. In this episode, we're diving into one of history's most chilling archetypes — the woman poisoner. From the prison cells of ancient Rome to a TikTok trend that exploded in 2024, the legend of the woman who knows what grows in the dark has never really gone away. Four women. Four centuries. One very uncomfortable truth about trust, proximity, and the people who feed us. Content Warnings: This episode contains discussion of: poison and poisoning, domestic violence, child death (including infant death), execution, and serial homicide. Please take care of yourself. Sources & Further Reading Locusta Tacitus, Annals (Books 12 & 13) — the original ancient sourceSuetonius, Life of Nero — describes Locusta's estate and studentsCassius Dio, Roman History — corroborating accounts"Locusta of Gaul: Rome's Imperial Poisoner" — Crime Reads (crimereads.com)"Aqua Tofana: Slow-Poisoning and Husband-Killing in 17th Century Italy" — Mike Dash History (mikedashhistory.com)Giulia Tofana — Wikipedia (start here, then follow the citations)"What Is MATGA?" — Fast Company (fastcompany.com)MATGA movement coverage — Newsweek, November 2024Mary Ann Cotton — Britannica (britannica.com)"The Dark Angel of Durham" — Weird Darkness"The Story of Nannie Doss, the Giggling Granny" — All That's Interesting (allthatsinteresting.com)Nannie Doss — WikipediaNancy "Nannie Doss" Hazle — Encyclopedia of Alabama

    45 min

  6. May 22

    49: Folklore's Most Dangerous Women: Creatures of lore

    Send us Fan Mail Episode Description A campfire walk through some of the most feared women in world folklore, from a four-hundred-year-old spider waiting in a Japanese mountain house, to a wailing figure outside an Irish window at midnight. We travel through Slavic rivers and summer wheat fields, down dark roads in South Asia, into Colombian mangroves and the deep Brazilian Amazon, and onto the forest trails of Indigenous North America. What you start to notice, when you put these women side by side, is that almost every one of them was wronged first. Mothers who lost children. Brides who were murdered. Women buried wrong. They came back anyway. They came back hungry. And every culture on earth seems to have remembered them, independently, in its own language, in its own forest, on its own river, at its own time of day. Light a candle. Lock the door. Don’t answer if someone calls your name from past the streetlights. Sources meterial • Lady Anne Fanshawe, Memoirs of Lady Fanshawe (composed 1676, first published 1829). The earliest detailed first-person Banshee account in print. • Karel Jaromír Erben, Polednice (“The Noon Witch”), 1853. Czech folklore ballad foundational to Polednice in modern memory. • Edo-period ynkai collections, including the Taihei Hyaku Monogatari and the Tonoigusa, for Jorngumo in her earliest written form. • W. B. Yeats, Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry (1888). Foundational survey of Irish supernatural tradition, including Banshee accounts. • Lady Wilde, Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland (1887). Nineteenth-century compilation of Irish folklore. • Lady Augusta Gregory, Visions and Beliefs in the West of Ireland (1920). Documented Banshee sightings from West Ireland oral tradition. • Tupi-Guarani oral tradition, recorded by sixteenth-century Jesuit missionaries in Brazil, for the earliest written references to Caipora. • Slavic folklore scholarship on the Rusalka and Polednice traditions, including ethnographic work from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries across Russia, Ukraine, Czechia, Slovakia, and Poland. • Indigenous storytellers, writers, and scholars for the deeper teachings of Deer Woman. See contemporary Indigenous-led folklore podcasts, anthologies, and community-published resources. Content Note This episode discusses themes of murder, death in childbirth, violence against women and children, drowning, and historical injustice. It is intended for adult listeners. Stay Curious. Stay Spooky.

    37 min
  7. 03: REMASTERED: Ghostly Exposure: Postmortem & Spirit Photography

    May 18

    03: REMASTERED: Ghostly Exposure: Postmortem & Spirit Photography

    Send us Fan Mail A grieving widow develops a roll of film and finds her dead mother in the back seat. A WWI airman steps into a squadron portrait two days after his funeral. A Boston photographer swears he can capture the dead — and P. T. Barnum takes the stand to prove him wrong. Tonight, the photographs that came back heavier than they went in.  Before the smartphone, before the camera roll — before there was a way to carry your dead in your pocket — people wanted to keep the faces of the ones they loved. Some of them tried very hard. Some of them, it seems, succeeded a little too well. In this remastered episode, we’re climbing back into the strange, tender, deeply uncanny history of postmortem and spirit photography — from Victorian iron posing stands and painted-on eyes, to William Mumler’s scandalous Boston studio, to the back seat of a quiet Ipswich car on a Tuesday afternoon in 1959. Featuring the Mabel Chinnery photograph, the ghost of Freddy Jackson, the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall, the haunted faces in the wake of the S.S. Watertown, Mary Todd Lincoln’s most famous portrait, and three modern firsthand-style accounts that have been quietly circulating online — the kind of photograph you delete six times, and it keeps coming back. Postmortem Photography & Victorian Death Culture • Stanley, Liz, and Sue Wise. “The Domestication of Death: The Sequestration Thesis and Domestic Figuration.” Sociology, vol. 45, no. 6, 2011, pp. 947–62. JSTOR. (jstor.org/stable/42857592) • Slate Magazine: “The Eerie History of Spirit Photography and Child Mortality in the 19th Century.” October 2017. (slate.com/human-interest/2017/10/spirit-photography-and-child-mortality-in-the-19th-century.html) • Victorian Visual Culture blog: “Photos of the Dead.” December 2020. (victorianvisualculture.blog/2020/12/14/photos-of-the-dead/) William Mumler & Spirit Photography • Cao, Maggie M. “Spirit Photographs and the Civil War.” American Art, vol. 31, no. 2. • Kaplan, Louis. The Strange Case of William Mumler, Spirit Photographer. University of Minnesota Press, 2008. • Court records of The People v. William H. Mumler, New York, 1869. Freddy Jackson • Goddard, Sir Victor. Flight Towards Reality. London: Turnstone Books, 1975. • The Black Vault Case Files: “The Ghost of Freddy Jackson.” (theblackvault.com/casefiles/the-ghost-of-freddy-jackson/) Mabel Chinnery • Sunday Pictorial, April 19, 1959 — original publication and expert analysis. • Anomalies database (Garth Haslam): “1959, March 22 — Mabel Chinnery’s Strange Photograph.” (anomalyinfo.com/Stories/1959-mabel-chinnerys-strange-photograph) The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall • Country Life magazine, December 1936 — original publication of the photograph by Captain Hubert Provand and Indre Shira. • BBC News: coverage of Raynham Hall and the Brown Lady. (bbc.com/news/uk-england-36389581) S.S. Watertown • Service News, Cities Service Company company newsletter, 1924–1925 — primary publication of the photographs and crew accounts. • Hervey, Hal. “Ghosts of the Watertown.” True Strange Stories, 1929. • Foster, Michael Dylan. The Book of Ynkai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore. University of California Press, 2015 — for context on shinrei shashin in Japanese popular tradition. • Behrend, Heike, et al., eds. Spirits in Politics: Uncertainties of Power and Healing in African Societies. Campus Verlag, 2015 — for a broader cross-cultural context on photography and the spirit world. • Instagram: @letstalkspookypodcast • Email: letstalkspookypodcast@gmail.com • Subscribe/follow wherever you listen, and please leave a review — it helps more spooky souls find the firelight.

    41 min

  8. May 15

    48: Changelings

    Send us Fan Mail On Christmas Eve in 1689, a Swedish farmer and his wife carried their ten-year-old son to the manure heap at the edge of their farm and left him there overnight to freeze. They believed, sincerely and devoutly, that he was a changeling — and that the elves would come in the night and return their real son by morning. He was not the first child this happened to. He would not be the last. This week, host Shauna takes you deep into the changeling tradition — into where the lore came from, what our ancestors believed a changeling was, and the documented historical record of what they did to the children they were certain were not their own. From a courtroom in Tralee in 1826 to a Lutheran pulpit in Wittenberg in 1532 to present-day West Africa, this episode walks through five hundred years of folk diagnosis, folk cure, and the children who paid the price. Sources & Further Reading • The Gotland Trial Records, 1690 — bound in the Swedish dombok (court book), held in the Swedish National Archives, Stockholm. Studied in detail by Ilmar Arens and Bengt af Klintberg in Rig: Kulturhistorisk Tidskrift, 1979. • Martin Luther, Tischreden (Table-Talk), volume 5 — first printed 1566; standard scholarly edition in the Weimar edition of Luther's collected works (Weimarer Ausgabe). • Ralph of Coggeshall, Chronicon Anglicanum, c. 1200 — British Library, Cotton MS Vespasian DX. • Tralee Assizes Trial Records, July 1826 — the case of Ann Roche; contemporary court reports and transcripts, excerpted in 19th-century Irish folklore writings. • John Francis Campbell, Popular Tales of the West Highlands, 1860–1862, four volumes — The Smith and the Fairies is in volume 2. Public domain; available free at archive.org and on Project Gutenberg.

    32 min
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About

Let's Talk Spooky is a weekly paranormal podcast exploring true ghost stories, dark folklore, urban legends, and haunted history from around the world. Hosted by Shauna, each episode blends documented history, real paranormal encounters, and eerie legends whispered for generations — from cursed lakes and haunted towns to cryptids, summer-camp monsters, and stories of reincarnation. If you love creepy stories rooted in real research — chilling, immersive, and a little too believable — this is your show. Light a candle. Get cozy. And let's talk spooky.

Information

  • Creator
    Shauna Taylor
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    57
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Shauna Taylor

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