The Box of Oddities

Inbox of Oddities returns with a collection of listener stories that live in the unsettling space between coincidence and something more. A clock that refuses to keep proper time after changing hands. An apartment with footsteps, furniture sounds, and faint classical music—despite being officially unoccupied. A sleep paralysis experience involving a towering shadow figure with blinding white eyes. A lone dress shoe appearing in a hospital elevator with no explanation. From strange childhood remarks about “dead people” in the yard to soft, familiar knocks heard years after a loved one’s passing, these stories aren’t about monsters or jump sc...

In this episode of The Box of Oddities, Kat and Jethro explore how some mysteries don’t announce themselves with screaming headlines or dramatic hauntings—but instead settle in quietly and refuse to leave. The episode slips into dark territory with the true and well-documented case of the Hexham Heads—two crude stone carvings unearthed by children in a backyard in 1970s England. What followed were subtle but persistent disturbances: unexplained knocking, moving objects, and a growing sense that the house itself was reacting to something that should never have been brought inside. Investigated by mem...

What happens when a town disappears—but the dead are left behind? This episode begins with a familiar American disaster: Centralia, Pennsylvania, the coal town that has been burning underground since 1962. Most people know the story of the smoke, the buckling roads, and the evacuation. Far fewer know what happened after the living left—when the cemeteries remained, sitting directly above an active underground fire. We explore how burial grounds like the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cemetery slowly began to shift. Headstones tilted. Graves rotated. Steam vented from the soil. Over decades, officials were...

Sometimes the strangest stories aren’t dramatic. They’re subtle. Ordinary. And impossible to shake. In this episode of Inbox of Oddities, Kat and Jethro share listener stories that live in the uncomfortable space between coincidence, memory, and something quietly off. These are not tales of screaming ghosts or shadow figures—but moments where reality seems to hesitate, update itself, or fail to line up the way it used to. Listeners write in about objects reappearing exactly where they were already searched for, buildings that forget which lights should be on, paintings that appear to change...

What if two of America’s most infamous unsolved murders were never separate at all? In this episode of The Box of Oddities, Jethro explores a startling new claim that uses artificial intelligence, cryptography, and old-fashioned detective work to suggest a single suspect may link the Zodiac Killer and the Black Dahlia—two crimes long thought to belong to different eras and different monsters. At the center of the theory is the Zodiac’s infamous Z13 cipher, a short, taunting code that promised to reveal the killer’s name and resisted decryption for more than 50 years. A...

What do carnival sideshows, government paperwork, and half-billion-year-old nightmare creatures have in common? In this episode of The Box of Oddities, Kat and Jethro explore three very different corners of history where certainty was offered in place of understanding—and where things were far stranger than advertised. First, they step into the vanished world of early 20th-century hygiene exhibits: traveling carnival attractions that promised education but delivered fear. Set up alongside Ferris wheels and midway games, these sterile tents used wax models, shock imagery, and moral absolutism to teach the public what would happen if th...

Inbox of Oddities is back with another lovingly chaotic collection of listener stories, strange coincidences, quiet creepiness, and accidental comedy. In this episode, Kat and Jethro share a perfectly timed real-life oddity involving a disappearing blood bus, because sometimes the universe has a sense of humor—and it’s not always kind. From there, the Freak Fam delivers. A childhood bedroom that made everyone feel watched—but never threatened. A night security guard who hears a humming tune no one else should know. A smart speaker that apologizes unprompted at 3:14 a.m. A Nevada rest stop that leaves...

What if reality doesn’t fully exist unless you’re paying attention to it? In this episode of The Box of Oddities, Kat and Jethro tumble headfirst into some of the strangest intersections of consciousness, physics, philosophy, and fatal laughter. We explore the unsettling ideas of nuclear physicist Thomas Campbell, whose “My Big TOE (Theory of Everything)” proposes that reality itself may function more like a simulation—rendered only when observed, driven not by matter, but by consciousness itself. Is the universe a data stream? Are we avatars logged into a system designed to test our choices? And if so…...

What if a haunting didn’t involve ghosts — but the lingering smell of carnival food? This episode of The Box of Oddities opens with an unsettling sensory mystery tied to a long-demolished amusement park, then plunges into one of the most stubborn and controversial archaeological puzzles of modern times: the tridactyl mummies of Peru. Discovered near the Nazca region, these small humanoid mummies feature three fingers, three toes, elongated skulls, and internal anatomy that does not appear to be the result of a simple hoax. CT scans and MRIs show articulated skeletons with no apparent signs of asse...

This week on Inbox of Oddities, Kat and Jethro open the mailbag to stories that blur the line between coincidence, consciousness, and the truly unexplainable. From an apartment building where the elevator refuses to stop on one occupied floor, to a deeply moving firsthand account of near-death experience, angelic visitation, and spiritual awakening, these listener submissions linger long after the episode ends. You’ll also hear eerie workplace anomalies that feel like time slips, mysterious recurring figures appearing in years of photographs, intimate moments of human-animal connection, and reflections on how trauma, survival, and compassion can reshape a...

In this episode of The Box of Oddities, Kat and Jethro Gilligan-Toth begin the new year by pulling apart something we all use but rarely question: the calendar. From Julius Caesar’s ego-driven timekeeping decisions to the leap year, misplaced months, and how entire civilizations quietly agreed on when the year should begin, it’s a surprisingly strange history of how humans try — and often fail — to organize time itself. But once the clock runs out, the episode takes a much darker turn. Jethro dives into the true story of the Memorial Mound in Bessemer, Alabama...

This week on The Box of Oddities, Kat and Jethro Gilligan-Toth open the lid on some of the strangest true stories the world has to offer — from bizarre smuggling schemes that absolutely should not have worked, to an island so dangerous Brazil made it illegal to visit. You’ll hear verified cases of smugglers hiding gold, drugs, wildlife, and even live animals in places that defy both logic and anatomy. From marijuana disguised as carrots and cocaine packed inside frozen shark carcasses, to turtles smuggled through airport security inside a fast-food sandwich, these are real criminal attempts that...

his Christmas Box contains a fine selection of fascinating topics you can bring up during awkward moments at holiday parties. (or anytime, really) Jethro discusses the bizarre and intriguing histories of common foods while Kat shows us how numbers can be weird. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Christmas, Freak Fam! 🎄✨ From the bottom of our weird little hearts, thank you for another year of curiosity, kindness, and glorious oddity. You make this community what it is, and we’re endlessly grateful to share the strange with you. May your days be filled with joy, your nights be peaceful, and your holidays come with just the right amount of mystery. With love and appreciation,Kat & Jethro 🖤 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Holiday Oddities: Stolen Santa Bones, Pooping Logs, and the Strangest Christmas Traditions on Earth This holiday bonus episode of The Box of Oddities unwraps the weirdest, darkest, and most unexpectedly heartwarming Christmas stories from history. Kat and Jethro explore the true fate of Saint Nicholas’s bones, including the medieval relic theft that scattered Santa’s remains across Europe—and the unsettling legend of “Santa juice” still collected from his tomb. From there, the episode sleighs straight into bizarre holiday traditions from around the world: Catalonia’s infamous pooping nativity figure, the gift-pooping Christmas log that childre...

In one ICU room, patients repeatedly report seeing the same silent man standing in the same corner—often just before sudden clarity, recovery, or death. Nurses notice the pattern. Doctors document an unusual concentration of terminal lucidity. The room keeps being used. In this episode of The Box of Oddities, Kat and Jethro explore a real medical mystery involving repeating end-of-life visions tied to a single hospital room, and why science struggles to explain why place—not patient—seems to matter. Then, we examine ancient Christmas folklore warning that animals speak at midnight—and that overhear...

From roadside alligators and paranormal children to phantom music in office vents, this Inbox of Oddities is packed with listener stories that blur the line between coincidence, the paranormal, and pure “what the hell just happened?” Kat and Jethro share unsettling and heartfelt emails from the Freak Fam, including a young child casually chatting with a grandmother who passed before he was born, a mysterious 1940s ballad heard only by one overnight janitor, and a chilling brain-surgery encounter where a deceased loved one may have appeared in the operating room. You’ll also hear classic BOO Ef...

Why do we still dial phones with no dials, roll down windows that don’t roll, and store things in cupboards that hold no cups? In this episode of The Box of Oddities, Kat and Jethro explore linguistic ghost limbs—words and phrases that outlived the objects they once described. From cupboard, dashboard, and glove box to carbon copy, footage, horsepower, and deadlines, language refuses to let go of the past. These verbal fossils reveal how history lingers in everyday speech through semantic shift, fossilized metaphors, and semantic bleaching. Then the show heads deep into New...

Awake brain surgery sounds impossible—until you hear about musicians who play instruments while surgeons operate on their exposed brains. In this episode of The Box of Oddities, Kat and Jethro explore the true medical phenomenon of awake craniotomy, including the astonishing case of a professional violinist who played during brain tumor removal to protect the neural pathways that control her music. Then, things take a historical turn as we dive into the bizarre wellness craze known as the Grape Cure, once promoted as a treatment for cancer, tuberculosis, and nearly everything else—despite zero scie...

Inbox of Oddities: Holiday Hauntings, Freak Flags & Fiery Volcanoes In this festive Inbox of Oddities, Kat and JG unwrap a sleigh-load of eerie encounters, laugh-out-loud listener mishaps, and heartwarming Freak Fam moments just in time for the holidays. From a funeral home organ that plays itself long after burial (yes, really) to a mysterious roadside prophet who triggers a time-slip radio broadcast in the desert, this episode is packed with true stories that are as strange as they are unforgettable. Listeners share everything from a ghost calmly straightening sheet music hours after her service, to...