American Hysteria

...And This is American Hysteria [Five Year Anniversary Special]

13 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

To celebrate five long years of American Hysteria, our producer Miranda Zickler interviews Chelsey about the origins of the podcast and how their own ...

Our Dearest Fears with Sarah Marshall of 'You're Wrong About'

30 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For our very special two-part Halloween conversation, Sarah Marshall and I are going to be sharing the less serious things that scare us: our favorite...

THE 12 FT SKELETON

23 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Home Depot's 12 ft. Skeleton decoration first premiered in the fall of 2020 and sold out immediately, the nationwide obsession fueling an underground ...

Context Clues: Who's Your Bone Daddy?

16 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Our Halloween special will cover the 12 ft. Skeleton craze and the history of skeleton decorations in America. This episode will give some extra conte...

Haunted Dolls [rewind]

09 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Please enjoy this rewind of last year's Halloween special called Haunted Dolls. Coming up next week we'll start our Halloween series called 'The 12 ft...

Lemuria: The Strangest Place to Never Exist with Author Justin McHenry

18 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Justin McHenry, author of the forthcoming book Lemuria: A True Story of a Fake Place, tells me an expansive tale of an alleged long lost continent fir...

The Killer Crossdresser with Horror Analysts BJ and Harmony Colangelo

11 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

To unpack the movie trope of the Murderous Man in a Dress, prolific horror film analysts and writers BJ and Harmony Colangelo discuss with me all the ...

EARLY DRAG QUEENS (part two)

04 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For part two of our series, we are starting in the anti-gay moral panic of the 50s and 60s to see how the drag scene continued to transform undergroun...

EARLY DRAG QUEENS (part one)

28 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This series will cover the moral panics and cultural crazes that have long followed the controversial art form once called "female impersonation." For...

Context Clues: Long Live the Queens

21 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Our upcoming series, Early Drag Queens, will cover the surprising relationship between "female impersonation" and American masculinity in the time bef...

Love in the Time of Leprosy with Advocate José Ramirez, Jr.

14 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As the social media and the news got word of the new cases of leprosy found in Florida, a slew of misinformation and stigmatization followed. José P....

Blame It on Barbie with Entertainment Journalist BJ Colangelo

24 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

BJ Colangelo is an editor at Slash Film and the writer of “The Only Guide To Barbie Lore You Will Ever Need,” a comprehensive look at the cultural...

Furby's Revenge with "Unspookable" Podcast

17 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is a collaborative look at the panics around Furby with the podcast Unspookable, a show much like ours that takes a more kid-friendly approach to...

Hot Dog Urban Legends with Comedian Jamie Loftus

03 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jamie Loftus is the author of the recent New York Times bestselling book 'Raw Dog: The Naked Truth about Hot Dogs.' Together we discuss some very weir...

THE CANNIBAL PIG PEOPLE OF PIG HILL

26 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

*Urban Legends Hotline* The inbred cannibal pig people who are said to inhabit Pig Hill in Meadville, PA attack teenagers who park on its lovers lane....

My Pronouns are Jack/Ass with Podcaster Harmony Colangelo of 'This Ends at Prom'

12 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Harmony Colangelo is one of the hosts of This Ends at Prom, a podcast that analyzes coming of age teen girl movies through a queer feminist lens, usin...

JACKASS

05 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the year 2000, a group of rowdy skateboarders and loosely defined "performers" came to MTV with a pitch that would showcase their vulgar antics—o...

Context Clues: Welcome to Jackass

29 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This episode will give context for our upcoming series on Jackass, an early reality show starring a group of skateboarders and unorthodox performers t...

Unabandoned with Podcaster Blake Pfeil of 'All-American Ruins'

15 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Blake Pfeil is the host of 'abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast,' a multimedia travelogue exploring abandoned spaces across the United States. T...

THE GHOST CHILDREN OF MUNGER ROAD

08 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

*Urban Legends Hotline* Lauren's story: On a rural road outside Chicago, the ghosts of children killed in a school bus-train collision are said to pus...

Interview with the Ex-Vampire (pt. 2) with Sarah Marshall of 'You're Wrong About'

17 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For part two of my conversation with Sarah, I finish telling her about a satanic panic era "memoir" published by Chick Publications in the early 1990s...

Interview with the Ex-Vampire (pt. 1) with Sarah Marshall of 'You're Wrong About'

10 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Over the next two episodes, I tell Sarah the story of another one of Jack Chick's occult experts using his "memoir" published by Chick Publications in...

CHICK TRACTS (part three)

03 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Who was Jack Chick, really? For the final episode in our series we will explore his childhood, his time in WWII, the comic moral panic happening at th...

CHICK TRACTS (part two)

27 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

An ex-druid grand priest for the illuminati, an undercover Jesuit agent of destruction, a woman married to the devil, and a doctor who battled demons ...

CHICK TRACTS (part one)

20 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Cartoons of satanic witch cults, Illuminati world domination, demonic homosexuals, and the pressing choice of hell or salvation were the horror hallma...

Context Clues: A Cartoonish Hell Awaits You

13 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Chick Tracts, what are they? You'll find out in our upcoming three-part series that covers a fundamentalist comic artist who was a hidden architect of...

OMG WTF UFOs with Jim Perry of Euphomet

20 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Are we being invaded?? I sure thought so. Today we are talking quite animatedly to our official paranormal correspondent Jim Perry of the podcast Euph...

TALKING ANGELA

13 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 2014, an urban legend formed around a cartoon cat chatbot when rumors spread across social media that a child predator was operating the app, actua...

Urban Legends in the Internet Wilderness with the Digital Folklore Podcast

06 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For this episode we chat about the sensational tales of cyberspace, from Slenderman to the Momo suicide game, with the guys behind the new podcast Dig...

When Naked Swimming was Required in Gym Class with Journalist Robin Washington

23 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Nope, it's not an urban legend! Today we are talking to journalist and filmmaker Robin Washington who, like a huge number of boys in high school betwe...

THE STREAKING CRAZE

16 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 1974, running naked in public became a major fad led by students on college campuses across the nation. This provocative prank was surprisingly wel...

Context Clues: Naked or Afraid

09 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This episode will give context for our upcoming topic called The Streaking Craze using excerpts from previous shows including: Terrorism Pt. 1 Mind Co...

Toy Riots (Rerun)

26 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Tickle Me Elmo, Beanie Babies, Cabbage Patch Kids, Pokemon cards. These trendy toys all inspired parental parking lot brawls and suburban shadow econo...

The Horror of Hallmark with Podcasters Sarah Marshall and Alex Steed of 'You Are Good'

19 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Because so many Hallmark writers and directors also make horror movies, I called in podcasters Sarah Marshall and Alex Steed of 'You're Wrong About' a...

HALLMARK CHRISTMAS MOVIES

12 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

They usually go something like this: A cranky career woman from the big city who has lost the true meaning of Christmas arrives in a small town where ...

Context Clues: The Hallmarks of Hallmark's "Hallmark Christmas"

05 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This episode gives context to our upcoming series on Hallmark Christmas Movies using excerpts from previous topics including The War on Christmas, The...

Land of Delusion with Cultural Historian Colin Dickey

28 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Colin Dickey is one of American Hysteria's biggest influences—our episodes called Talking to the Dead and Alien Abductions relied on his books Ghost...

Haunted Objects of Our Affection with Podcaster Jim Perry of Euphomet

07 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Paranormal podcast host (and major buddy) Jim Perry of Euphomet returns to discuss a couple of the many experiences that have made it impossible for u...

Our Halloween Open Mic

31 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Featuring poems, fiction, nonfiction, AND A GROUP SONG with work by Sarah Marshall (You're Wrong About, You Are Good), Alex Steed (You Are Good), BJ C...

Halloween Sadism from Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

28 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Here’s a preview from a podcast that's right up your dark alley! On Cautionary Tales, bestselling author Tim Harford finds the morals in moments fro...

HAUNTED DOLLS

24 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We'll see how possessed playthings have crept their way into the dark attic of America: Thomas Edison's little monsters, a demonic Raggedy Ann, a livi...

Context Clues: The Uncanny Valley of the Dolls

17 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

To get you ready for our upcoming episode called Haunted Dolls, we have selected some excerpts on Furby urban legends, demon-possessed toys, and uncan...

Rainbow Fentanyl: Poisoned Halloween Candy Rerelease

11 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Our most classic American urban legend is back with a vengeance, promising to ruin Halloween yet again. With an updated introduction to our 2018 episo...

Halloween is Millennial Christmas with Podcaster Sarah Marshall of You're Wrong About

03 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

To get an extended director's cut of this episode, become a patron: patreon.com/americanhysteria For this Halloween Party, we are joined by our favori...

FLORIDA SCAM

19 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Not unlike the bubble markets of Beanie Babies and Cryptocurrency, the Florida Land Boom of the 1920s was a chaotic craze that caused the largest migr...

FLORIDA MAN

12 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Florida Man meme, with its bizarre crime headlines and mugshots, has become one of our most popular and long-lasting social media staples. This ep...

Context Clues: Feeling Like a Freak on a Beach

05 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This episode will provide some context for our upcoming series on Florida Man. The excerpts are from Trash Talk Shows, Drugs, and Rednecks. Become a ...

An Irresistible Movement with Reproductive Justice Activist Loretta J. Ross

15 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

CW: Sexual violence. Since the 1970s, Loretta J. Ross has been an instrumental activist in the fight for 'Reproductive Justice', a framework she and h...

WOMB WARS (part two)

08 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Featuring yet another flamboyant abortionist, sideshow fetuses, Mother with a capital M, eugenic suspicions, and plenty more population panics. We'll ...

WOMB WARS (part one)

01 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Featuring flamboyant abortionists, dangerously determined doctors, problematic feminists, opportunist politicians, and one sneaky pope, this two-part ...

Context Clues: Maybe it Ain't About the Babies

25 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Our upcoming series is about the origins of the anti-abortion movement in the time before Roe vs Wade. This Context Clues episode combines clips from ...

Postcolonial Astrology with Alice Sparkly Kat

05 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Alice Sparkly Kat (who goes by Ace) is an astrologer and the author of the book ‘Postcolonial Astrology: Reading the Planets through Capital, Power,...

THE PLANETARY PROPAGANDA OF THE ANTI-NAZI ASTROLOGER

27 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In 1941, hundreds of British secret agents were sent to the United States to spread creative anti-Nazi propaganda with the hopes of convincing the Ame...

The Supernatural Imaginary of the Third Reich with Historian Eric Kurlander

20 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Eric Kurlander is the author of Hitler’s Monsters: A Supernatural History of the Third Reich which details the occult practices and pseudoscienc...

ASTROLOGY

13 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is not about debunking astrology, it’s about something far more interesting: the role that star-gazing soothsaying advisors have played...

All the Other Snuff with Sarah Marshall of 'You're Wrong About'

23 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

*CW: Brief description of animal abuse, some brief descriptions of death* Sarah Marshall is the host of our sibling podcasts You’re Wrong About and ...

ROTTEN.COM

16 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Rotten.com was a shock website from the late 90s and early 2000s that collected the most gruesome and explicit photos on the early internet. After a s...

SNUFF FILMS

09 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Snuff films are alleged murders filmed for the purpose of distribution, an urban legend that has been circulating since the porn wars of the 1970s. We...

Context Clues: Pornography

02 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This rerelease will give some context for next week's new episode called Snuff Films. Become a Patron and support our show! Follow American Hysteria...

Hear ye! Hear ye! Extra extra hear all about it!

04 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Just a handful of little announcements as we take a few weeks off (back in late April). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Séance of Selena with Poet Melissa Lozada-Oliva

28 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Melissa Lozada-Oliva is a Guatemalan-Colombian-American poet, screenwriter, and educator, and co-host of the podcast Say More. She is the author of a ...

Scene Queens with Podcasters BJ and Harmony Colangelo of 'This Ends at Prom'

21 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

'This Ends at Prom' is a podcast that dives deep into coming-of-age and teen girl movies from the queer, feminist cisgender and transgender perspectiv...

BOY BANDS

07 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Behind every manufactured boy band there is what the press calls a Svengali, a puppet master who assembles the group and styles everything about them....

FANGIRLS

21 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Hysterical fangirls have become so commonplace in popular music that we hardly pay attention to them anymore, no matter how loud they scream. But ther...

Context Clues: Teenage Sex

14 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

To prepare for our series called Fangirls and Boy Bands, we are heading back to the fantastical realm of the teenager and the reactionary moral panics...

Twitter Saves Megan from the Westboro Baptist Church

31 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

*Please listen to our Westboro Baptist Church episode first!!* Megan Phelps-Roper was born and raised in the WBC, a fervent believer and lover of crue...

THE WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH

24 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Westboro Baptist Church outraged both sides of the political spectrum throughout the 90s, 2000s and 2010s, picketing the funerals of AIDS victims ...

Context Clues: Televangelists

17 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Next week we will be covering the Westboro Baptist Church, the small family clan and hyper-Calvinist group who have long outraged both the left and th...

E.T. Phone Hollywood: 'Hysteria Home Companion' Patreon Sneak Peek

10 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This is a sneak peek of our new Patrons-only podcast Hysteria Home Companion, where we share with you all the hottest gossip from the cutting room flo...

Normalizing the Paranormal with Podcaster Jim Perry of Euphomet

03 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today we're talking to podcaster Jim Perry, the host of Euphomet, a paranormal documentary series that explores the unknown and our relationship to it...

WAR ON CHRISTMAS (Rerelease)

26 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this classic episode, learn about the battles fought for and against this controversial American holiday from the Puritans to the present as well a...

ALIEN ABDUCTIONS (part two)

20 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For part two of our series, we will look at skeptics' explanations for the alien abduction phenomenon to see what factors they believe may be creating...

ALIEN ABDUCTIONS (part one)

13 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For part one of our two-part series, we will learn about the lives of some of the most influential abductees and the people who've studied them in ord...

Context Clues: Satanic Ritual Abuse

06 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Satanic Ritual Abuse in Space? To get us ready for our two-part series on Alien Abductions, we are talking about the flurry of spurious satanic ritual...

The Polyamorous Cult of Ayn Rand: 'Hysteria Home Companion' Patreon Sneak Peak

02 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Here's a little more information about our new Patron's-only talk show Hysteria Home Companion, in which producer Miranda Zickler and I dive deeper in...

Am I Good? With 'You Are Good' Podcast Hosts Sarah Marshall and Alex Steed

22 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Sarah Marshall and Alex Steed host the feelings/movie podcast 'You Are Good'. On this episode, we talk about our own self-esteem, the movies that made...

THE SELF-ESTEEM MOVEMENT

15 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the late 1980s, a New Age America began telling children that they were special, that if they just believed in themselves all their dreams would co...

Context Clues: Get Rich Quick

08 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This rerelease episode is about America's lifelong obsession with Get Rich Quick magical thinking. It will help us put into context next week's brand ...

NEW PATREON SHOW: Hysteria Home Companion

01 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

If you want to learn more about the topics covered on American Hysteria, subscribe to our Patreon talk show with myself and producer Miranda Zickler i...

Haunting From the Heart with Renowned Scare Actor Shar Mayer

25 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we talk to the wonderful Shar Mayer, a 45-year veteran of Scare Acting known in the haunt community as "The Mother of Monsters". Become a Patro...

HAUNTED ATTRACTIONS

18 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we'll be talking about the fake-blood-covered history of Haunted Attractions, their raucous origins wrangling violent pranksters, the gory chari...

Context Clues: Talking to the Dead

11 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This ghostly re-release (with a new introduction) is here to help us fit next week's brand-new episode 'Haunted House Attractions' into a larger Ameri...

We're Baaaaack: 'Haunted House Attractions' Coming October 18th

04 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Join us October 18th for our spooky season premiere on Haunted House Attractions and learn a little more our show's new structure. Click here to becom...

#ELSAGATE

16 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In 2017, YouTube Kids was embroiled in a major scandal when it was discovered that a dark underbelly of inappropriate cartoons, computer animations, a...

Rewind: The Mandela Effect

09 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In preparation for our upcoming *Weirdest Episode of All Time*, we are rereleasing this minisode on a mysterious phenomenon where large numbers of peo...

Talking to Strangers with Comedian Chris Gethard (Part Two)

19 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

(Make sure you listen to part one first!) Today, Chris shares his experience becoming a sudden villain in the fringe conspiratorial zeitgeist, and the...

Dangerous Attractions with Comedian Chris Gethard (Part One)

12 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Gethard is a stand-up comedian, podcaster, actor, filmmaker and author of Weird New York as well as an editor at Weird New Jersey and Weird US, ...

Gender Lies and Liberation with Trans Historian Susan Stryker

28 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Susan Styker is the author of Transgender History: The Roots of Today’s Revolution as well as a filmmaker, distinguished professor, and longtime act...

GENDER REVEAL PARTIES

14 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Over the last ten years, Gender Reveal Parties have exploded, figuratively and literally. Parents, communities, and social media followers alike can w...

Rewind: Talking to My Christian Friends About Gay Stuff

07 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Pride Rerelease! This is a listener favorite. Back in 2018, I had my two Christian friends on the show, who wished to remain anonymous, as they shared...

THE GAY AGENDA (Pride Re-release)

01 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Listen or re-listen to learn all about our panics surrounding what amounts to the queer illuminati and their evil plans to recruit children and overth...

The Skeleton of Chelsey Weber-Smith

10 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Finally, it is ME CHELSEY WEBER-SMITH as our interview guest, questioned lovingly by our producer Miranda Zickler. We will discuss season four, what I...

URBAN LEGENDS

03 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The kids' book series Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was based largely on urban legends, and when I read them for the first time I realized that I ...

Rewind: The Momo Suicide Challenge

26 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In preparation for our season finale next week on Urban Legends, we wanted to replay our deep dive into the 2018 viral internet urban legend about "Mo...

HORROR MOVIES (part two)

19 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The genres of modern scary movies known as slashers, meta-horror, torture porn, and social thrillers, each tell us about the anxieties of the generati...

Rewind: Monsters

12 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We need a little extra time for Horror Movies II, so here is a re-release of a very related and very important episode. Monsters come from the darknes...

On Haunted Houses with Carmen Maria Machado

05 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Carmen Maria Machado is the author of three books, the award-winning Her Body and Other Parties, a collection of vibrantly haunting short stories, In ...

HORROR MOVIES (part one)

29 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Horror movies, consistently written-off by critics, exist unbound from mainstream respectability and because of this, they can often tell us the bruta...

Unmasking Matilda with Mara Wilson

15 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Mara Wilson is a writer, actor, and the former star of the 1996 classic movie Matilda as well as the author of the memoir 'Where Am I Now? True Storie...

INFLUENCERS

08 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The new American archetype known as the “Influencer” has existed in various forms long before the advent of social media, and long before Kendall ...