Spookatorium 039

This episode of professor Gruntsplatter’s Spookatorium includes information on the Piasa, a giant bird(?) once believed to inhabit the Mississippi Valley, and a look at some of the more esoteric interests of Sabine Baring-Gould the priest behind the hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers.” And of course, there’s music. This time from Rope Sect, The Ex, Head Of David, Dynastes, November Novelet, Grey Frequency, Caulbearer, The Moon And The Nightspirit, Le’Enfant Del La Foret, Mago, Tertium Non Data & Velum Sonus.

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Spookatorium 031

In this episode we look at preserving the strange cures in medieval medical texts at Cambridge. There’s a brief stop on Victorian medicine and the rise of antiseptics. We also dig into how a team in Canada built a better mental hospital by using LSD to help them understand the perceptions of the people who would be staying there.

Also Features music from… A Tergo Lupi, The Northern Lighthouse Board, Holy Mountain Beast, The Fall, Lolita Black, No Mind, Clock DVA, Cober Ord, First Law, SIMM, The Sound, This Mortal Coil, and JK Flesh.

The show is available on iTunes, Podvine, Spotify, Mixcloud and others, or you can watch a video version on YouTube.

Spookatorium 030

New episode launched, and it’s getting closer to where the show was when I stopped before. This episode looks at consensus opinion as it relates to the poltergeist phenomenon based on the work of Dr. William Roll. And there’s lots of music from the likes of…

Fixions, Menace Ruine, Of The Wand & The Moon, Temple Destroyer, Ghost Actor, Sombre Lux, Cyan Revue, Imvixor, Lubricated Goat, Invercauld, Lucid Dreams, Vomito Negro & Trust Crusher.

The show is available on iTunes, Podvine, Spotify and other places through the feed, which has been updated and is available in the sidebar. It’s also on Mixcloud for now. If you prefer YouTube, it is available there as well on my Crionic Mind Channel.

Spookatorium 025

Welcome to Episode 25, once again it has been too long… This episode features some potentially landmark news from the world of Cryptozoology, but first things first…

Out of the gate we discuss the bizarre affliction that has come to be known as Morgellons disease. This condition, as yet unrecognized by the medical establishment, includes such symptoms as the growth of multi-colored fibers from the body that have been reported to move autonomously, and strange crystalline or granular residue that appears within lesions all accompanied by the feeling of insects crawling under the skin. The CDC has begun looking into it after several years of requests from those that suffer from it. However in some medical circles it continues to be looked at as a psychological rather than physiological condition. Then there are those that see the condition as a result of something more nefarious.

After that we take a look at a set of core components by which hauntings might be judged in order to come up with some type of standardized scientific perspective on what occurs in a haunting scenario. Along the way we touch a bit on Patternology and the Fortean perspective of holistic review rather than compartmentalized observation.

Finally, a piece I had to re-record after some breaking news today altered the story dramatically. Bigfoottracker.com, now working in cooperation with Searchingforbigfoot.com have announced that they have a Bigfoot corpse in their possession, and will be presenting their collected evidence on August 15th at a press conference in Palo Alto, CA. The creature is said to have been discovered in Northern Georgia, and additionally live creatures were also seen in the area at the time. This has been a twisted tale that first appeared on Cryptomundo.com about a month ago. Since that time several evidence free, taunting videos were posted and removed by the members of Bigfoottracker, and the alleged pathologist they had reviewing the corpse was found to be a fraud. The group admitted to hoaxing the pathologist story, but maintained they did have a body. Today a press release was issued fleshing out that claim, and there has been a leak of a photo. The story was covered by local papers but I didn’t see much else in the way of mainstream coverage, but I suspect that will be changing very soon. The photo is compelling, and I look forward to hearing more details from the press conference.

Music this time from the likes of…

AVRIGUS (1:05)
JOY DIVISION (5:30)
TSOL (10:12)
BLACK MESSIAH (20:12)
SCRAP.EDX (23:04)
BEYOND DAWN (27:00)
NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS (37:37)
EISREGEN (41:48)
GOD (45:56)
INADE (49:52)
FRONT 242 (64:20)
NAILBOMB (68:43)
DEATH IN JUNE (71:23)
NACHTMYSTIUM (76:03)

Background:
NAMANAX
DUAL

That’s all for now, I will hopefully have some additional information on the Sasquatch story in the coming days. I’m also hoping to clear out some of my back log of stories by updating the site more frequently between episodes of the show.

Professor Gruntsplatter’s Spookatorium 025

Cheers,
Prof. Gruntsplatter

Spookatorium 022

Episode 22 is upon us, this go around we examine numerous instances of a aural phenomenon described in the Tibetan Book of the Dead as the sound of the soul separating from the body. Buzzing and grinding sounds that build to a crescendo have been associated with everything from Near Death Experiences, Shamanic Rituals, Old Hag Syndrome and other forms of transcendent consciousness. An excellent article, called “Her Sweet Murmur” by Greg Taylor (which you can read if you click the link there) from the collection Dark Lore Vol. 1 summarizes these connections and we take a look at this one component of the article which goes further into exploring some additional sounds.

Then we travel to Ohio to review the story of the Loveland Frog. A 3-4 foot bipedal frog like creature allegedly spotted on the back roads around Loveland, Ohio in 1955 and 1972. While evidence is limited to eye witness testimony and there are reports that at least some of it may have been exaggerated or hoaxed it remains one of my favorite crypto tales.

Finally we take a look at the discredited work of Dr. Johann Beringer. He believed in the early 1700’s that fossils were in fact cast off ideas carved by the hand of God. His collection grew to encompass bizarre specimens like birds with fish heads, and even stones that bore the name of God.

It was later revealed he was duped by colleagues and they were all forgeries, but not until Beringer had published his work. Humiliated, he supposedly spent his remaining days and fortune trying to buy back copies of his book, Lithographia Wirceburgensis, which you can view through the link. His story is, perhaps, a cautionary tale for those Intelligent Design fans out there.

The sounds this time around are supplied by…

CHAOS AS SHELTER (1:05)
WYRD (4:36)
NOVY SVET (9:53)
SISTRENATUS (25:31)
BODY CHOKE (28:25)
NEW MIND (32:18)
MOTH MASQUE (36:38)
BACKWORLD (45:19)
AGNES BERNELLE (49:55)
KHOLD (53:28)
SKINNY PUPPY (60:15)
BRUTAL TRUTH (63:55)
CAUL (66:45)
NEFILIM (70:19)

With background accompaniment from
BURZUM & NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS

Professor Gruntsplatter’s Spookatorium 022

Thanks as always for tuning in… and congrats to Aspen, the winner of the Blood of the Black Owl “S/T” CD in our first drawing.

– Prof. Gruntsplatter

Spookatorium 021

Welcome gawkers to episode 21 of the show! This episode we examine the Jewish ritual of Kapparot – the transfer of sins into the body of a chicken and the sacrifice of the chicken prior to Yom Kippur… as well as recent performance of it in New York and the aftermath left behind. I’ve also included a short PETA video here in the notes to further give you an idea of what we are talking about. I also juxtapose this with a sensational article from the Sioux City Journal regarding a reported ritual killing.

Following this we look at the hoax of the Jenny Haniver. Oddly named this crytpotaxidermy beast constructed from dried, rays, skates and cuttlefish has been passed off as a bona fide monster since the 16th Century, and continues to be despite widely being dubbed a hoax from early on. You can buy one right here.

Finally a look at the fascinating Charles Bonnet Syndrome. The condition in which those with failing vision find their lives interrupted by elaborate hallucinations. I hadn’t heard of this until reading a great piece in the book Dark Lore Vol. 1 which I would recommend.

In addition this time we are having a little drawing from which the winner will receive a copy of Blood of the Black Owl’s self titled record on Bindrune Recordings. Details are in the show…

Music this time from the likes of…

BLIXA BARGELD (1:05)
CARPATHIAN FOREST (5:00)
TULUS (10:45)
THE ACCUSED (26:33)
HARMONY GARDEN (28:55)
MALHAVOC (32:51)
DARKTHRONE (37:14)
BABYLAND (43:23)
SUBTERANNEAN MASQUERADE (46:56)
EMBER (52:45)
DESSAU (54:57)
COIL (65:17)
NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS (71:15)
NEVER PRESENCE FOREVER (76:25)

With background accompaniment from
DEL

Professor Gruntsplatter’s Spookatorium 021

That is it this time, leave a comment or drop an email ya ingrates.

– Prof. Gruntsplatter