Sylvia True joined us to discuss her excellent book "Where Madness Lies." We talk about mental illness during the rise of the Nazi regime, eugenics, and how this played a part in Sylvia’s family. Sylvia is also an avid seeker of the paranormal and we talked about how often mental illness and the paranormal often overlap. We had a fantastic conversation and hope to have Sylvia back on the show in the future.
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Sylvia was born in England to parents who were refugees from Germany. She moved to the US when she was five. Growing up with parents from different cultures, a mother who was a Swiss champion figure skater, and a father who was a theoretical nuclear physicist gave her varied and unique perspectives. During her summer breaks, Sylvia likes to travel to the Amazon with students and do research in the rainforest. She has raised two daughters, who are both pursuing their passions. Presently, she lives in Massachusetts with her husband and two very spoiled dogs, where she is a high school chemistry teacher. "Where Madness Lies" is available from Top Hat books and from wherever books are sold.

Ghostly Talk Project III

Ep 153 - Sylvia True | "Where Madness Lies"

Scott L. sits down with author, researcher, and filmmaker Mike Ricksecker to talk about “Alaska’s Mysterious Triangle” and a bunch of other strange stuff. Mike Ricksecker has been featured on Travel Channel’s “The Alaska Triangle”, History Channel’s “Ancient Aliens” and “The UnExplained,” Animal Planet’s “The Haunted” and more.

Ep 186 - Mike Ricksecker | The Alaska Triangle

John Brassard Jr. joins us again for a conversation about paranormal and dark tourism and a lot more! We really let ourselves just wander on this one and it was so much fun. 
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John Brassard Jr. is an author, host, and podcaster behind the Kitchen Table Historian. He grew up on the stories of America’s past told to him by family and friends. He was always intrigued by the strange and unusual stories that his grandfather and father told him. He decided to turn it into a life-long interest. Since that time, he has authored three books and numerous articles detailing forgotten stories from the nooks and crannies of history. In 2019, John started the Kitchen Table Historian podcast, bringing these weird and wonderful tales into the ears of eager listeners all over the nation.

Ep 187 - John Brassard Jr. | Paranormal and Dark Tourism

Yes, sending Christmas cards of dead birds was a thing the Victorians did. We discuss this kind of Christmas strangeness and so much more with Craig Kringle, the creator of Weird Christmas. Learn more about Christmas and holiday weirdness with Craig's podcast "Weird Christmas."

Bio
Craig started collecting vintage Victorian Christmas cards years ago and sharing them with friends online, and the whole thing exploded. This site began with a Tumblr blog, but there were stories to tell about those images, and Tumblr’s not the best for text. Craig decided he didn’t enjoy having free time, so he started a podcast. Weird Christmas can be found at www.weirdchristmas.com.


Stream the show below or use your favorite podcast app to listen and subscribe. Search "Ghostly Talk." Enjoy the show? Leave a positive review for us!

Ep 188 - Craig Kringle | Weird Christmas

For our last show of the year, we continue our foray into the high strangeness that is Christmas, Yule, and the dark winter months. Author and Ghostly Talk's very own "writer in residence" Mark Onspaugh shares some strange tales, folklore and of course his original story specially written for this show, "The Best Gift Ever" and a retelling of the heartstring puller "Vulpecula."  Isolated versions of Mark's stories are available at www.ghostlytalk.com. Make sure to check out Mark's books on Amazon!

Bio:
Mark Onspaugh is a native Californian who grew up on a steady diet of horror, science fiction and DC Comics. He’s a proud member of the Horror Writers Association and the International Thriller Writers association. In addition to the produced film Kill Katie Malone, he has several other screenplays in various stages of development, and was also one of the writers of the cult favorite “Flight of the Living Dead”. While Onspaugh is definitely a fan of the horror genre, he also writes science fiction and comedy.  He polished his comedy writing (and improv skills) at the Groundlings Theater in L.A., where he studied under Lisa Kudrow (“Friends”), Michael McDonald (“Mad TV”) and Heather Morgan (“The Dana Carvey Show”).

Earlier in his career, Onspaugh studied Special Effects Makeup in college and continued to pursue this passion under the tutelage of premier makeup artist Thomas R. Burman (“Invasion of the Body Snatchers”,” Cat People”, “Scrooged”) with additional lectures by such notables, among others as Oscar-winning makeup artist Rick Baker (“American Werewolf in London”, “Men in Black”, “Planet of the Apes”).  An active member of the Horror Writers Association, Onspaugh has won recognition for his screenwriting and a novel, Kushtaka, at the Austin Film Festival and the Writers Network competition, respectively. In 2003, his feature scripts, RAZORFISH and STRANGERS both made the second round at the Austin Film Festival. In 2007, his script THE DEAD LIFE was a quarterfinalist in the 9th annual Scriptapalooza competition. STRANGERS is a backdoor pilot for a series of the same name. Onspaugh has written the STRANGERS bible, debut episode and a regular episode. Onspaugh’s previous television credits, include episodes for Night Man (“Burning Love”), X-Men Animated (“Secrets, Not Long Buried”) and Street Fighter Animated (“Getting in Guile”).

Mark knows people expect horror writers to be lurking misanthropes, but hasn’t lurked since leaving L.A.  A native Angeleno, he now lives on the central coast of California with his wife, author/artist Tobey Crockett and two off-kilter cats.

Ep 189 - Mark Onspaugh | More Christmas Strangeness

Our first show of 2023 starts off with that everlasting discussion of evil in our world, what happens after we die, NDE (Near Death Experience) stories, and much more. Pastor turned horror writer Ezekiel Kincaid updates us on his work and ongoing paranormal explorations. Inspired by Bruce Campbell and characters like Tucker and Dale, Kincaid is also an unapologetic, witty writer of horror comedy so naturally when he introduced and explained one of his latest titles, we exploded into childish laughter. 

We also discussed an upcoming format change to Ghostly Talk. While we still plan to have guests on the show, we may venture into more conversational territories between us (Scott and Amber) and whatever strange and fun topics we want to explore.

Visit our website for show notes with links to books and movies we talked about.

Ep 190 - Ezekiel Kincaid

We keep it conversational and go all over the place with the duo that is Dye Paranormal: Chad Dye and Heather Hansen. Just in time for Valentine's Day, we share how the paranormal all brought us together in it's fun and strange way. Chad and Heather are also the resident paranormal investigators at The Whitney, a historic and stunning 19th century mansion in Detroit, Michigan with an upscale restaruant and a few ghosts! They are also the event managers of the Midwest Parafest which is in its fourth year. Give them a follow to keep up-to-date with the latest paranormal events they have planned.

Ep 191 - Dye Paranormal

Scott L. and Amber attempt to explain and discuss the Phil Schneider story and other things related to him such as the Philadelphia Experiment and Valient Thor. Phil's story is often too fantastical for many to believe. Alien wars in Dulce, New Mexico, underground cave bases, government-planned murders - it all sounds like something from an action novel. But was there some truth to the shocking story that Phil Schneider began to tell eight months before his mysterious death?

Ep 192 - The Phil Schneider Story

David Flora is the super entertaining, funny, and talented host of the Blurry Photos Podcast. Blurry Photos explores everything from ghosts, cryptids, to conspiracy, and whatever else is weird and wonderful. We go all over the paranormal with David and had a blast! Blurry Photos will be one of your new favorite podcasts if you are not already a fan. 

“[Blurry photos is] A podcast that explores the unexplained and explains the unexplored, Blurry Photos seeks the facts behind the fiction of the world’s most fascinating, unbelievable, and chilling mysteries and legends. Focusing on lesser-known topics of Forteana, conspiracy, history, and folklore, Blurry Photos is driven by the desire for a better understanding of fringe subjects through research, storytelling, and rational thinking. Listeners have said it’s like a contemporary audio version of “In Search Of,” and it’s “like Lore with a personality and a better narrator.” Prepare your butts, because it’s time to learn something weird.” – From Blurryphotos.org

GHOSTLY TALK EP 128 – DAVID FLORA – HOST OF THE BLURRY PHOTOS PODCAST

GHOSTLY TALK EP 129 – MARK ONSPAUGH – SCIENCE FICTION AND GHOSTS “What if?” This is the big question Science Fiction asks. Writers of the beloved genre have been exploring that question since the time of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Writer and producer Mark Onspaugh returns to discuss Science Fiction and how it has tackled the concept of ghosts. Mark also wrote and read two brand new short stories just for the show – The Ghost Gate and Captain Ballard and the Space Wraith. Both stories have been isolated on our website so you can listen to them on their own. Scroll down to listen.
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Mark Onspaugh is a native Californian who grew up on a steady diet of horror, science fiction, and DC Comics. He’s a proud member of the Horror Writers Association and the International Thriller Writers association. In addition to the produced film Kill Katie Malone, he has several other screenplays in various stages of development and was also one of the writers of the cult favorite Flight of the Living Dead. While Onspaugh is definitely a fan of the horror genre, he also writes science fiction and comedy.  He polished his comedy writing (and improv skills) at the Groundlings Theater in L.A., where he studied under Lisa Kudrow (“Friends”), Michael McDonald (“Mad TV”), and Heather Morgan (“The Dana Carvey Show”).

Earlier in his career, Onspaugh studied Special Effects Makeup in college and continued to pursue this passion under the tutelage of premier makeup artist Thomas R. Burman (“Invasion of the Body Snatchers”,” Cat People”, “Scrooged”) with additional lectures by such notables, among others as Oscar-winning makeup artist Rick Baker (“American Werewolf in London”, “Men in Black”, “Planet of the Apes”).

GHOSTLY TALK EP 129 – MARK ONSPAUGH – SCIENCE FICTION AND GHOSTS

Becky Ray is a writer, researcher, and guide for American Hauntings. By day she works as a librarian, and by night she has been actively investigating the unknown for over 35 years. Becky's knowledge of the paranormal has been featured on NPR, in the Wall Street Journal, and on several local media outlets, including radio, television, and print. Her new book, "Kansas City Hauntings: History and Mystery of the Paris of the Plains" is out wherever books are sold or directly through her for a signed copy! Ghostly Talk encourages everyone to purchase directly from authors if they can. It helps all of our awesome paranormal researchers and authors continue to do what they do. We've known Becky for years so enjoy are very laid pack conversation talking about some of the history, hauntings, and old true crime in Kansas City. Stay tuned to the end of the show to find out what happened to the former Ghostly Talk "Haunted Winery Studio."

Ep 139 - Becky Ray | Haunted Kansas City

Exploring the paranormal since 2002. 

Ghostly Talk History

Let’s travel back to the early days of the internet, back in 2002, when streaming paranormal shows were scarcer than unicorn sightings and the word “podcast” didn’t exist. But there was one show that stood out from the eerie crowd: Ghostly Talk! Hosted by Doug Semig and Scott Lambert from the Detroit area, this show was the ultimate hangout spot for all things paranormal. They talked about their adventures, shared their interests, and brought in some seriously cool guests. From rockstars like Henry Rollins and Dee Snyder, UFO experts like Stanton Friedman, Giorgio Tsoukalos from Ancient Aliens to haunted house legends like George Lutz of Amityville fame – Ghostly Talk had them all! The show retired in 2009, but like a ghostly apparition, it came back to life in 2016 with hosts Scott Lambert and Amberrose Hammond. They continue to uncover the mysteries of the supernatural with fascinating interviews, discussions and a sense of humor.

Ep 153 - Sylvia True | "Where Madness Lies"

Ghostly Talk Podcast

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