Ghost Stories and Gummies

EPISODE 35: The Creepiest Craigslist & Facebook Marketplace Encounters

Late-night Marketplace scrolling was a mistake.
This week on Ghost Stories & Gummies, I’m diving into some of the creepiest, weirdest, and most uncomfortable real encounters tied to Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace.
From terrifying meetups and bizarre sellers to “absolutely the fuck not” situations that sound like the beginning of a horror movie…
So grab your gummies, lock your doors, and maybe stop responding to listings that say “pickup behind abandoned warehouse.”
🖤 Submit Your Stories to Dear Darkness
Have a paranormal experience, glitch story, creepy encounter, stalker situation, mimic story, haunted object experience, or complete WTF moment?
Send it to Dear Darkness:
Email ghoststoriesandgummies@gmail.com
DM me on Instagram/TikTok
or submit anonymously through the form in my bio/link hub
Your story could be featured in a future episode.
🎧 Listen to Ghost Stories & Gummies
Available on:
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
Amazon Music
Podbean

Episode 34: The Doomsday Cat Cult

This week on Ghost Stories and Gummies, we’re getting into one of the wildest cult stories I’ve covered yet: the so‑called Doomsday Cat Cult. We’ll talk about pastor Sheryl Ruthven, her cat rescue Eva’s Eden, and how, according to former members and reporting, a small Washington church turned into a high‑control doomsday group where cats were believed to be divine beings carrying 144,000 souls through the apocalypse.  From blood‑tinged rituals and “Divine Magdalene” claims to a cross‑country “Exodus,” family estrangements, and the Investigation Discovery episode that blew the story up, this one is part true crime, part “what the hell did I just hear.”  Content warning: cult dynamics, spiritual and psychological abuse, possible animal neglect, and mentions of violence
https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/coverstory/apocalypse-meow-how-a-cult-that-believes-cats-are-divine-beings-ended-up-in-tennessee/article_78fc2367-5596-5a7a-ad8e-edae8c83a594.html 
 
https://www.cultnews101.com/2016/09/apocalypse-meow-how-cult-that-believes.html 
 
https://www.realclearreligion.org/2016/09/09/apocalypse_meow_a_cat_cult_in_tennessee_273944.html 
 
https://www.getreligion.org/getreligion/2016/9/8/why-bob-smietanas-apocalypse-meow-story-on-an-end-times-cat-cult-really-is-the-cats-meow 
 
https://catsofcapetown.com/2025/03/04/the-curious-case-of-the-doomsday-cat-cult-a-shocking-saga-of-family-faith-and-felines/ 
 
https://whatcom-news.com/evas-eden-cat-rescue-makes-news-in-tennessee_50126/ 
 
https://www.facebook.com/IsThereACultInColumbiaTN/ 
 
https://www.sportskeeda.com/us/shows/who-sheryl-ruthven-do-details-the-curious-case-of-subject-explored 
 

Episode 33: Why Do Some Places Feel So Off… For No Reason

Some hauntings don’t react to you.
They don’t acknowledge you, they don’t change, and they don’t seem aware that you’re even there.
They just… keep happening.
Same place. Same movement. Same sequence over and over again.
In this episode, we’re breaking down the Stone Tape Theory the idea that environments themselves can somehow “record” emotional or traumatic events and replay them later as what people describe as residual hauntings.
We get into where this theory comes from, why materials like quartz are always brought into the conversation, and the scientific reasons it doesn’t actually hold up. But even with that, people are still reporting the same kinds of experiences in the same types of places.
So if it’s not a ghost… what are people actually experiencing?
Because some places don’t feel neutral and that’s the part that sticks.
Have you experienced something like this?
 Send it in: 
ghoststoriesandgummies@gmail.com

Episode 32 Dear Darkness Society: I Shouldn’t Have Gone Back on Reddit

We’re back with Dear Darkness Society Part 2.
After going down a Reddit rabbit hole during Episode 30, I found way more stories than I was expecting… and there was no way I was leaving some of these out.
So this episode is a continuation, more real experiences, more “that’s not right” moments, and more stories from people who were kind enough to share what they’ve gone through and let me bring it here.
Some of these are unsettling.
Some are just straight-up weird.
And some will have you sitting there like… that's a no for me dawg.
A huge thank you to everyone who shared their stories and trusted me with them, I really do appreciate it.
If you’ve ever experienced something you can’t explain, something that didn’t sit right, or something you still think about… you’re not alone.
The diary is always open. 🖤

Episode 31: Creepy Broadcasts Interruptions

There’s a specific kind of unsettling that happens when your TV does something it’s not supposed to do.
Not buffering. Not lagging.
Just… wrong.
In this episode, I'm getting into real cases where broadcasts were interrupted, hijacked, or taken over sometimes for seconds, sometimes longer and left people genuinely confused about what they were seeing.
From the 1987 Max Headroom incident, to the Southern Television interruption in the UK, to real emergency alert hacks that exposed how vulnerable these systems actually are… this one gets weird fast.
We’re talking:
how broadcast signal intrusions actually happen
why these systems aren’t as untouchable as we think
real cases that were never fully explained
and why your brain reacts so quickly when something feels “off”
Some of these are strange.
Some are unsettling.
Some are just… no. I don’t like that.
Because it’s not just what people saw it’s the fact that something was able to interrupt a system that’s supposed to be controlled… and no one could stop it.
 
https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/public-and-broadcasting
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/patternicity-finding-meaningful-patterns/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_signal_intrusion
https://rewindtv.com/2021/11/22/wgn-max-headroom-signal-intrusion/ 
https://www.pbs.org/video/max-headroom-attack-yffnrt/ 
https://www.pbs.org/video/30-years-later-max-headroom-incident-remains-mystery-ugz9gm/ 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIop2MsmMTQ&t=7s 
https://www.discoveryuk.com/mysteries/vrillon-the-broadcast-that-hijacked-britains-imagination/ 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmXsvyOpPJk 
https://transdiffusion.org/2023/08/21/southern-interference/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Television_broadcast_interruption 
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/vrillon-hacking-alien-voice-seventies-extra-terrestrial-hoax-unexplained-mysteries-a8069926.html 
https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/katv-broadcast-interruption-of-1959 
https://www.tarrdaniel.com/documents/Ufology/intergalactic_message.html 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Midnight_broadcast_signal_intrusion 
https://www.mentalfloss.com/entertainment/tv/when-captain-midnight-hacked-hbo 
https://freakylogo.fandom.com/wiki/HBO_Captain_Midnight 
https://ultimateclassicrock.com/captain-midnight-hbo/ 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtdwD0qqApQ 
https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/29/arts/hbo-piracy-incident-stuns-other-satellite-users.html 
https://www.networkworld.com/article/950900/man-who-hijacked-hbo-s-satellite-signal-30-years-ago-would-face-far-different-fate-today.html 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEkWNCK6Hu4 
https://www.keranews.org/2013-02-12/zombie-alert-also-aired-in-michigan-hacking-traced-to-overseas-source 
https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2013/feb/12/zombie-apocalypse-newsflash-tv-video 
https://www.govtech.com/security/hackers-broadcast-zombie-emergency-alert-on-tv.html 
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-02-15/zombie-apocalypse-hoax-exposes-flaws-in-system/4520554 
https://current.org/2013/02/zombie-emergency-broadcast-hoax-on-pubtv-station-blamed-on-overseas-hacker 
https://www.ksl.com/article/24061333/hackers-send-zombie-emergency-alert-through-ksl-station-others 
https://player.bfi.org.uk/subscription/film/watch-ghostwatch-behind-the-curtains-2012-online 
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-41740176
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/oct/26/how-we-made-bbc-mockumentary-ghostwatch 
https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/why-i-love-ghostwatch 
https://www.curiousarchive.com/ghostwatch-bbc-controversial-broadcast/ 
https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/in%20dreams%20are%20monsters/2022/10/28/ghostwatch/
https://npg.si.edu/blog/orson-welles-and-70th-anniversary-war-worlds 
https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/welles-broadcasts-war-worlds 
https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2016/10/lcm-page-from-the-past-war-of-the-worlds/ 
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/october-30/welles-scares-nation 
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/infamous-war-worlds-radio-broadcast-was-magnificent-fluke-180955180/ 
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/misguided/202506/why-people-believe-conspiracy-theories 
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-savvy-psychologist/202007/why-we-believe-in-conspiracy-theories 
https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/how-to-apply 
https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF13130 
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachand ments/DA-99-1099A2.pdf 
https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/public_and_broadcasting_0.pdf 

Episode 30: Dear Darkness Society

In this Dear Darkness Society episode, I made the mistake of going on Reddit to see if anyone has experienced the same kind of creepy, unexplainable moments we talk about on here... and yeah, some of you are going THROUGH it.
 
I'm sharing real stories from people who were kind enough (and brave enough) to let me bring their experiences here. Some are unsettling, so are straight up weird and sine will have you sitting there like... that a no for me dawg.
 
Huge thank you to everyone who shared their stories and trusted me with them, I genuinely appreciate it.
 
If you've ever had a moment that didn't make sense, didn't sit right or still sticks with you... you're in the right place.
 
The diary is always open 

Cartoon Conspiracy Theories: The Lost Episodes We Remember That Never Existed

What happens when the internet starts reinterpreting childhood cartoons through a much darker lens?
In this episode I explore some of the most infamous cartoon conspiracy theories from the Rugrats imagination theory to the mysterious Squidward creepypasta and look at the psychology behind why people create them in the first place.
 
https://abc7.com/spongebob-kwarantined-crab-inappropriate-episodes-removed/10462487/
https://www.wired.com/1997/10/in-his-way-john-k-will-challenge-the-world/
https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/Events/1945-present/crossroads.htm
https://www.atomicarchive.com/media/photographs/testing/us/crossroads.html 
https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ahf/history/operation-crossroads/ 
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/usupress_pubs/35/
https://nyupress.org/9780814742815/convergence-culture/
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/spongebob-squarepants-mid-life-crustacean-episode-removed-from-paramount/1100-6489459/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC80580/ 
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/patternicity-finding-meaningful-patterns/
https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-023-05360-0
https://www.history.com/articles/nuclear-bomb-tests-bikini-atoll-facts 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Crossroads
https://time.com/4446927/rugrats-chuckie-mom-nickelodeon/ 
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/rugrats-never-happened-theory 
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/creepypasta 
https://www.washington.edu/news/2004/12/06/two-thirds-of-school-age-children-have-an-imaginary-companion-by-age-7/  
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/patternicity-finding-meaningful-patterns/ 
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050308101309.htm 
 

Episode 28 - The Mandela Effect: Did We Remember It Wrong... or Did Something Change?

What if thousands of people remember something that never happened?
This weeks episode I dive into the Mandela Effect, the strange phenomenon where large groups of people share the same incorrect memory. From The Berenstain Bears to famous movie quotes we all swear are real, I explore why our brains might be rewriting reality.
 
 
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-mandela-effect-4589394 
 
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/mandela-effect 
 
https://www.snopes.com/tag/mandela-effect/ 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXoWiIuB25o&t=19s 
 
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/entertainment/g28438966/mandela-effect-examples/ 
 
https://www.britannica.com/science/Mandela-effect 
 
https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/18/world/mandela-effect-collective-false-memory-scn 
 
https://aeon.co/ideas/on-shared-false-memories-what-lies-behind-the-mandela-effect 
 
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/sinbad-movie-shazaam/ 
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1416187 
https://search.catalog.loc.gov/search?option=keyword&pageNumber=1&query=Berenstein%20Bears&recordsPerPage=25 
https://www.jstor.org/stable/40063737 
https://news.feinberg.northwestern.edu/2004/10/01/false_memories 
https://collaborate.princeton.edu/en/publications/false-memories-and-aging 
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31088337/ 
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/totaling-recall 
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15327019eb0901_4 
https://www.simplypsychology.org/cognitive.html 
https://www.simplypsychology.org/flashbulb-memory.html 
https://research.edgehill.ac.uk/en/publications/schemas-and-memory-consolidation/ 
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0896627318308560
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/cognitive-map 
https://www.filmsite.org/empi3.html
https://www.simplypsychology.org/what-is-a-schema.html
 https://mechanism.ucsd.edu/bill/teaching/philpsych.w03/memory4class.pdf 
https://www.mheducation.ca/blog/series-classic-learning-science-reconstructive-memory-schema-theory/

Episode 27 - Victorian Era Mourning Practices

Our episode this week explores Victorian era mourning practices, like post-mortem photography and the strict mourning rituals that shaped how 19th-century families remembered and honored their dead. 
Far from being purely macabre, these practices include societal customs and cherished keepsakes, reflecting a culture tragically struck with repeated losses. Join us as we discuss how love and grief were preserved long after life had ended.
Thank you for joining us, we're so glad you're here!
 
Sources:
https://www.history.com/articles/post-mortem-photos-history
https://www.burnsarchive.com/historical-death-memorialhttps://victorianweb.org/photos/postmortem/index.htmlhttps://clarabartonmuseum.org/post-mortem-photographyhttps://artincontext.org/post-mortem-photographyhttps://familytreemagazine.com/photos/post-mortem-photographyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oF29vcZNMQY&utmhttps://allthatsinteresting.com/victorian-death-photoshttps://history.rcp.ac.uk/blog/good-death-and-after-post-mortem-photography-late-19th-centuryhttps://clements.umich.edu/exhibit/death-in-early-america/post-mortem-overview/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-36389581https://daily.jstor.org/the-history-of-postmortem-photography/https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7975931/https://www.notesfromthefrontier.com/post/death-photographyhttps://www.history.com/articles/post-mortem-photos-historyhttps://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/victorian-post-mortem-photographshttps://www.pbase.com/gregorysullivan/post_mortem_photographyhttps://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/understanding-grief/201812/death-and-mourning-practices-in-the-victorian-age?msockid=1c8ae275174a69d31c90ed5b16fa6870https://heritagemuseumoc.org/from-manicured-to-macabre-a-brief-history-of-dolls/#:~:text=Many%20Victorian%20children%20did%20not,know%20today%20as%20reborn%20dolls.https://victorianweb.org/history/mourning/6.htmlAriès, Philippe. Western Attitudes toward Death: From the Middle Ages to the Present. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1974Jalland, Pat. Death in the Victorian Family. Oxford University Press, 1996Lutz, Deborah. Relics of Death in Victorian Literature and Culture. Cambridge University Press, 2015Taylor, Lou. Mourning Dress: A Costume and Social History. Routledge, 1983Ruby, Jay. Secure the Shadow: Death and Photography in America. MIT Press, 1995Curl, James Stevens. The Victorian Celebration of Death. Sutton Publishing, 2000Woodyard, Chris. (2014) The Victorian Book of the Dead (The Ghosts of the Past 4). Dayton, Ohio. Kestrel Publications.Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), curatorial material on Victorian mourning objects.Bronte, Emily Ann. (2018) Victorian Mourning Jewelry. Amazon Digital Service: Emily Bronte.Manners and Rules of Good Society, Or, Solecisms to be Avoided by a Member of the Aristocracy. London: Frederick Warne, 1888.https://www.ancestry.com/c/ancestry-blog/13-fascinating-victorian-funeral-customs/https://thesolitaryhistorian.com/2020/11/06/mourning-the-dead-funeral-practices-in-1870-and-1900/https://heritagemuseumoc.org/from-manicured-to-macabre-a-brief-history-of-dolls/#:~:text=Many%20Victorian%20children%20did%20not,know%20today%20as%20reborn%20dolls.

Episode 26 - Haunted Objects: The Chair of Death, Peggy the Doll and Letta the Doll

This week, we’re unlocking the display case of the truly unsettling. From glassy-eyed dolls that seem to move when no one’s looking, to a seemingly ordinary chair with an unthinkable past, this episode dives into objects that have captivated people for decades and in some cases, centuries.
Are these just creepy coincidences… or do some objects really absorb evil?
 
Listener discretion is advised—because after this episode, you might never look at antiques the same way again.
Thank you for being here, we appreciate you!
Sources:
http://thirskmuseum.org/displays.htmlhttps://www.news18.com/viral/the-creepy-history-of-17th-century-cursed-pub-chair-in-uk-that-still-haunts-many-9015516.html#:~:text=In%20the%20quiet%20village%20of,cameras%2C%20joined%20by%20his%20friendshttps://www.google.com/search?q=documentaries+on+thomas+busbys+chair&sca_esv=ca362862dff82633&sxsrf=ANbL-n5xDiQSqRrAyrLp4hXWO64_OdT0Wg%3A1769495390784&source=hp&ei=Xlt4aYzOLemj0PEP547sgAc&iflsig=AFdpzrgAAAAAaXhpbtjTCdhwjrBJsHnayl_5ggnbjEMx&ved=0ahUKEwiM9cmBjKuSAxXpETQIHWcHG3AQ4dUDCCE&uact=5&oq=documentaries+on+thomas+busbys+chair&gs_lp=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-AM6N5IHBzExLjM3LjOgB8jqArIHBjIuMzcuM7gH6CjCBwkwLjE3LjMzLjHIB7kBgAgA&sclient=gws-wiz#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:ee5f2d98,vid:IdVFN18yvB8,st:0https://www.ndtv.com/offbeat/murderers-curse-haunts-british-pub-chair-for-over-300-years-report-6325689#:~:text=Read%20Time:%203%20mins,evidence%20of%20Thomas%20Busby's%20ghost.https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/history/15782452.tale-busby-stoop-thug-hanged-bludgeoning-goading-father-in-law-death/https://metro.co.uk/2024/08/11/gory-tale-behind-a-pub-chair-cursed-a-murderer-300-years-ago-21373597/https://www.spookyisles.com/busby-stoop/https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=thomas+busby+case&mid=32891141889BE6C2F70A32891141889BE6C2F70A&FORM=VIREhttps://hypnogoria.com/folklore_deathchair.html#:~:text=Eventually%20in%201978%2C%20the%20current,trying%20to%20sit%20in%20it.https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2015/04/19/watch-shropshire-paranormal-investigators-spooky-doll-video-can-make-you-ill/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXFyaB7AoRQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKn_SoMpZSIhttps://www.wonderfulmuseums.com/museum/zak-bagans-haunted-museum-showhttps://www.paranormalpopculture.com/2020/03/annabelle-and-other-real-life-haunted.htmlhttps://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/280533/haunted-doll-causes-nausea-and-chest-painshttps://regionriverina.com.au/riverina-rewind-doll-found-under-wagga-floor-continues-to-haunt-the-internet/78845https://thelibraryofghosts.wixsite.com/mysite/post/letta-me-out-australia-s-haunted-dollhttps://www.fabledcollective.com/haunted-dollshttps://paranorms.com/haunted-dollshttps://www.paranormalpopculture.com/2020/03/annabelle-and-other-real-life-haunted.htmlhttps://obscurban-legend.fandom.com/wiki/Letta_the_Dollhttps://thehawthornfiles.com/2022/08/17/3-haunted-dolls-who-arent-roberthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv4LzUefdpA&