Low Strangeness

Sometimes the most fascinating curiosities aren't to be found in the skies above our heads, or even in the dark woods beyond our doorstep. Sometimes they're right under our feet. A reader passed along this immersive story: A resident who plummeted “into the abyss” below a New England home that…
July 2, 202014 Comments
High Strangeness Hits Home

High Strangeness Hits Home

An unexpected but welcome development arising from my high strangeness posts has been the occasional reader who writes me to share his own tale of the unexplained. Audience participation is a major benefit of blogging, and it's fun to hear from my readers. Recently though, these posts took an unsettling…
May 27, 202014 Comments
One Break-in, One Angel

One Break-in, One Angel

A reader passes along this story. The story about the visitor to the Kildalton Old Parish Church struck a cord with me. I thought I might tell you a story from my family. I believe in angels. I believe in them because the Scriptures speaks of them. I also believe…
May 5, 202016 Comments
An Awakened Presence

An Awakened Presence

Emboldened by the tales of high strangeness posted on this blog, a reader shares a remarkable personal experience. I had a different kind of chill and encounter about a year ago.  We took a long-planned and long-delayed trip to Scotland, which included a day trip to the Isle of Islay…
April 28, 2020
The Two Disappearances of Ian Hamilton

The Two Disappearances of Ian Hamilton

Soldier. Activist. Lawyer. Rector. Scottish nationalist Ian Hamilton has worn all of these hats throughout his notorious career. Hamilton distinguished himself as one of those flitting gadflies who always shows up in the middle of some outlandish controversy. Two episodes in his colorful life have attained legendary status: a pair…
April 20, 20206 Comments
The Other Black Panther

The Other Black Panther

A reader of yesterday's cryptid post responded with a comment that blew my sighting out of the water: I've heard and seen one of the anomalous big cats during one of my excursions to visit family in Missouri, but I don't think it was any sort of phantom. They do…
March 25, 20209 Comments
Phantom Animals

Phantom Animals

Cataloging reports of unknown animals--cryptids to folks in the business--is one of my guilty pleasures. Who doesn't love a goose bump-raising tale of giant footprints in a creek bed or anomalous shrieks in the night? Sometimes, though, the juxtaposition of familiar critters in impossible places can be just as unnerving. It’s…
March 24, 20208 Comments
The Beale Cipher

The Beale Cipher

The human drive to plumb the depths of mysteries has led to astonishing achievements. It has also driven untold souls to obsession, madness, and ruin. According to frontier legend, hunter Thomas J. Beale struck out from Bedford County, Virginia at the head of a thirty-man expedition headed west. Legend has…
March 16, 202011 Comments
Someone Was Watching

Someone Was Watching

His parents told him the strange noises coming from the wall vent were just the normal sounds of an old house settling. They said the sour smells were fumes from the nearby plant wafting through the drafty windows. They didn't believe him when he told them of finding chairs and…
March 12, 20204 Comments
Return to Mel’s Hole

Return to Mel’s Hole

Art by Chris Holm Continued from our previous tale of high strangeness. In December of 1999, Mel Waters returned to the United States after two years of running a wombat rescue in Australia. He'd intended to visit friends and family for the holidays, but the government had other plans. They…
February 7, 20207 Comments