Creeps, Crimes & Cryptids

New Orleans: Superdome Cemetery, Mumford Execution, and the Rougarou | Creeps, Crimes & Cryptids

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0500

A stadium that may still be sitting on human remains. A Civil War stunt that ends on a gallows. A Cajun “werewolf” story that doubles as a cultural rulebook. New Orleans doesn’t just have spooky tales, it has history with teeth, and we go looking for it on the ground instead of only behind a microphone.

We kick things off with our CREEP at the Caesars Superdome, digging into the creepy claim that it was built over the old Girod Street Cemetery and that not every body was fully relocated. From the Saints “curse” jokes to the very real Hurricane Katrina aftermath, we talk about why certain places in New Orleans feel charged, even before you add ghosts. We also get into the nasty legacy of John B. Weller, a name tied to violence in the 1800s that some people still connect to the Superdome’s uneasy vibe.

Then we head to the old U.S. Mint building (today the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Museum) for a true CRIME moment from 1862: William Bruce Mumford climbs the building, rips down the American flag, and hands out pieces like souvenirs before the Union finds him and makes a brutal example out of it. It’s a reminder that the city’s haunted reputation often comes from what happened in public, not what happened in the dark.

Finally, we bring it home with Louisiana folklore with this week's CRYPTID: the Rougarou legend. We trace its loup-garou roots, how it travels with Acadian migration into Cajun culture, and the Catholic Lent rules that helped keep the story alive.

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Creeps, Crimes & Cryptids is a podcast by Ghost City Tours, exploring the strange, sinister, and unexplained history lurking beneath America’s most haunted cities. If you'd like to take a ghost tour in this episode's featured city, or to find tours in a city nearest you, visit www.ghostcitytours.com!

Key West: Robert the Doll, Carl Tanzler, and Florida Keys Cryptids | Creeps, Crimes & Cryptids

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0500

Key West looks like paradise until you listen closely. We begin with the Creeps that give the island its edge, from the folklore-soaked walls of Captain Tony’s Saloon to the legend of Robert the Doll, one of the most infamous haunted objects in America. Stories of permission, bad luck, and eerie encounters have followed the doll for decades, but we also examine when those claims actually began and how a single artifact can evolve into a full-blown legend. Along the way, we touch on the Conch Republic and the island’s talent for turning history, rebellion, and humor into something that feels larger than life.

The Crime pulls us into one of Key West’s most disturbing true stories: Count Carl von Cosel, also known as Carl Tanzer. A man who presented himself as a doctor, became obsessed with a young woman who died of tuberculosis, and crossed boundaries that still shock nearly a century later. It is a case that blurs delusion, control, and obsession in a way that feels almost unreal.

We close with the Cryptids and sea legends of the Florida Keys, including the Lusca, the Key West Sea Ape, Goat Man, and the Wrecker’s Phantom, stories born from deep water, isolation, and imagination.

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Boston: Lady in Black, Whitey Bulger, and the Dover Demon | Creeps, Crimes & Cryptids

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0500

Boston has a way of turning every street corner into a story. We begin with the Creeps and the legend of the Lady in Black, a Civil War era ghost tale tied to heartbreak, imprisonment, and one of the city’s most enduring haunted fort stories. The details sound perfect for a classic haunting, but when we look closer at the historical record the story begins to unravel. We explore how ghost legends take shape, why communities embrace them, and how a compelling narrative can grow even when the documentation stays thin.

The Crime brings us to one of Boston’s most notorious figures, Whitey Bulger of the Winter Hill Gang. His decades long relationship as an FBI informant allowed him to eliminate rivals and operate with remarkable protection while the city absorbed the consequences. The story opens the door to broader questions about secrecy and power, touching on conspiracies surrounding elite societies and the lasting mistrust created by programs like MKUltra.

We close with the Cryptid that briefly turned Massachusetts into a hotspot for high strangeness: the Dover Demon. Reported by three teenagers over two nights in 1977, the creature’s glowing eyes and spindly form sparked theories ranging from misidentified wildlife to something far stranger.

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Charleston: Old City Jail, Lavinia Fisher, and the Boo Hag | Creeps, Crimes & Cryptids

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0500

Charleston’s pastel facades and cobblestone streets hide a darker story just beneath the polish. We begin with the Creeps at the Old City Jail, a fortress that once held pirates, prisoners of war, and people caught in a justice system that often blurred the line between order and cruelty. Bread and water rations, solitary cells in swamp heat, and the weight of centuries have turned the jail into one of the city’s most persistent haunted landmarks. We also trace Charleston’s pirate past, from the misadventures of the Gentleman Pirate Steed Bonnet to the fierce reputation of Anne Bonny and her ties to Calico Jack, stories that helped shape the city’s maritime legend.

The Crime centers on Charleston’s most infamous figure tied to the jail, Lavinia Fisher. Official records describe highway robbery, but legend paints a darker picture involving poison, trap beds, and a chilling final speech delivered in a wedding dress before execution. We examine the thin historical record and why certain stories grow louder with time as communities shape identity through myth. To close, we turn to the Cryptid of the Lowcountry: the Boo Hag, a Gullah Geechee spirit said to slip through keyholes, wear borrowed skin, and ride sleeping victims through the night. The legend carries a striking modern parallel in sleep paralysis, showing how folklore and lived experience intertwine.

If you love haunted history, pirate lore, and the crossroads of myth and evidence, hit play and come along. Then share your take: legend-builder or record-keeper—where do you stand? Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us which city or story you want next.

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Savannah: The Sorrell-Weed House, Jim Williams Trial, and Altamaha River Monster | Creeps, Crimes & Cryptids

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0500

Savannah does not just set the scene. It shifts your balance. We begin with the Creeps inside the Sorrell-Weed House, where grief, scandal, and centuries of rumor fuel one of America’s most famous hauntings. Reports of floating candlesticks, uneasy mirrors, and a heavy presence in the basement sit alongside a harder truth about how thin the historical record can be, especially when power shaped what was preserved. We examine how that silence invites storytelling and how responsible ghost tours navigate the tension between a thrilling legend and a verifiable source.

The Crime brings us to the 1981 shooting of Danny Hansford by antiques dealer Jim Williams, a case that unfolded through four trials, overturned convictions, a hung jury, and finally an acquittal. A toppled grandfather clock, a jammed pistol, and a half hour delay became the foundation of a courtroom saga shaped by wealth, identity, and narrative control. We close with the Cryptid known as Alti, the Altamaha River Monster, whose serpentine sightings in Georgia’s brackish waters collide with biology, misidentification, and a century of newspaper flare-ups.

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Nashville: The Ryman Hauntings, 2020 Christmas Bombing, and Tennessee Wildman | Creeps, Crimes & Cryptids

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0600

Nashville hums with more than guitars. We begin with the Creeps inside the Ryman Auditorium, a building born as a tabernacle and later crowned home of the Grand Ole Opry. Staff tell stories of balcony watchers, shifting objects, cold pockets of air, and a presence that lingers in the wood grain of a room steeped in hymnals and radio waves. We explore how the Ryman helped turn Music City into the capital of country music, tracing the sound from Celtic roots and Black string traditions to record labels and comedy stages, and ask whether heavy history alone can charge a space or if something else keeps the air buzzing after the lights go down.

The Crimes pull us into both myth and modern tragedy, from George Jones’ infamous lawn mower ride that blurred self destruction and legend, to the stark Christmas morning bombing of December 25, 2020. An RV, recorded warnings, a countdown, and a blast that shook downtown raised questions about conspiracy, illness, and grievance, revealing how quickly fear and fragmented facts become narrative. We close with the Cryptids of Tennessee folklore: the Wildman roaming Appalachian hills and the enduring legend of the Bell Witch, whose whispers and scratches still echo through American storytelling.

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Galveston: The Face of UTMB, Robert Durst, and Gulf Coast Cryptids | Creeps, Crimes & Cryptids

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0600

A hospital wall grows a face that won’t wash away. A millionaire heir hides as a mute old woman by the bay. In Galveston, Texas, legends cling like salt on skin. We begin with the Creeps: UTMB’s Ewing Hall and the infamous “Face of Galveston,” a stubborn stain locals have photographed for decades. Acid washes haven’t erased it, air conditioners didn’t conceal it, and whispers tie it to a defiant landowner or even William “Bigfoot” Wallace. What lingers most is the hush—blocked sightlines, reluctant staff, and the strange fact that the clearest view may be from the water. Whether mineral bloom, trick of light, or ghostly grudge, the story reveals how a city manages a mystery it can’t quite scrub clean.

The Crime carries us into Robert Durst’s Galveston chapter: a rented duplex, a disguise, a confrontation, and a body dismembered and dumped into the bay. We trace the legal twists that led to a conviction for improper disposal rather than murder and examine how The Jinx reframed the case with a chilling hot-mic moment that blurred performance and confession. To close, we wade into the Cryptids of the Gulf Coast—a local sea serpent, the cautionary Deer Woman, and the kind of barroom folklore that thrives on storm-soaked nights along The Strand. Creeps, Crimes & Cryptids is a podcast by Ghost City Tours, exploring the strange, sinister, and unexplained history lurking beneath America’s most atmospheric cities.

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Las Vegas: Area 51 Flights, Ted Binion, and Giant Space Clams | Creeps, Crimes & Cryptids

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0600

Las Vegas is built on spectacle, but the desert has a way of making secrets surface. This episode opens with the Creeps: unmarked planes spotted at Harry Reid International and the long-whispered commute to Area 51, followed by Lake Mead’s receding shoreline revealing rusted cars, human remains, and mob-era timelines once thought buried for good. From there, we step beneath the Strip into the city’s flood-control tunnels—an underground world shaped by survival, sudden floods, and the human cost of a city engineered for excess. We also explore a classic Vegas haunt: rumors of cremation urns beneath the El Cortez, where Fremont Street’s neon hum may be just the kind of noise spirits like to linger in.

The Crime at the center of the episode is pure Vegas mythmaking turned real: the rise and fall of Ted Binion. A charismatic casino heir, a buried fortune in silver, a strip-club romance, a staged overdose, and a midnight excavation that unraveled everything—convictions collapse, motives blur, and the truth feels as rehearsed as a casino floor show. We close with a Cryptid curveball worthy of Nevada’s wide skies: the legend of giant space clams, a strange blend of UFO lore and biological fever dream that captures the state’s talent for turning big horizons into bigger questions.

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Chicago: H. H. Holmes, Adolf Luetgert, and the Enfield Horror | Creeps, Crimes & Cryptids

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0600

Chicago’s legends are loud, but the truth beneath them is even more revealing. This episode begins with the Creeps: stripping away the yellow-journalism spectacle surrounding H. H. Holmes to examine what actually stands up—insurance fraud, manipulation, botched medical procedures, and a sensational story that outgrew the evidence. From there, we move into the Crime that shocked the nation: the case of Adolf Luetgert, the so-called Sausage King, whose missing wife, disputed bones, and infamous caustic vat exposed how industrial power, gender dynamics, and newspaper hysteria can shape a verdict and permanently brand a city.

To close, we turn to the Cryptid that briefly turned rural Illinois into a frenzy: the Enfield Horror. A gray, three-legged creature with tiny chest arms drew reporters, armed locals, and thrill-seekers into the night, revealing how fear spreads when mystery collides with headlines. Together, these stories trace how myth, media, and memory intertwine—and how careful investigation can still cut through the noise.

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New Orleans: The Carter Brothers, Zach & Addy, and the Grunch | Creeps, Crimes & Cryptids

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 15:00:00 -0600

New Orleans has always lived where myth and reality bleed together, and this episode walks that line. We begin with the Creeps: the infamous Carter Brothers “vampire” legend of 1932—a story of chains, blood, and whispered truths—examined through missing records, unreliable archives, and a city that knows how to turn theater into history. From there, the episode turns grimly real with the Crime at its center: the post-Katrina murder of Zach and Addy, a tragedy that unfolded above a voodoo shop, played out in rooftop footage and headlines, and revealed how trauma, systemic failure, and a battered city can collide with devastating consequences.

To close the night, we head into the bayous for the Cryptid that still keeps kids close to home: the Grunch. Small, clawed, and blazing-eyed, this creature’s folklore—often tied to Marie Laveau, railroad tracks, and cautionary rituals—shows how New Orleans uses monsters to enforce boundaries when rules fail. Along the way, we separate voodoo faith from tourism, challenge the city’s “vampire” reputation, and confront why some stories endure even when the records don’t.

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