I wrote an article investigating the infamous "Women-Only Wonder Woman" screenings in 2017. It was a fascinating hoax that exploited social media and social justice, reaping huge publicity and lawsuits--and an apology from the theater. The long-delayed,...
Hoaxes
Squaring the Strange #134: he Ghost Army and Military Deceptio
For a episode of Squaring the Strange we have a discussion on the legendary "Ghost Army" of WWII. These very alive flesh-and-blood soldiers were plucked from art schools and theater groups, and their very dangerous job was to hoax their way across Europe and put on...
Quoted in a Vox article: ‘Conspiracies Explained’
It seems I'm quoted in a new article on conspiracy theories, including Covid-19 and QAnon. (Or at least that's what I *want* you to think...) You can check it out HERE!
The Bad Clowns Return… Because It’s 2020
According to a Newsweek article: "Two YouTubers in Belgium have been fined for dressing up as scary clowns and carrying a fake AK-47 assault rifle while trying to film a prank video back in January 2020. Following their arrest, the 24-year-old men from the...
The Blue Whale Game Resurfaces–Again!
A folklore colleague sent me a news story about the sinister-yet-fictional Blue Whale Game rumor, which is once again circulating after I and others debunked it back in 2017... I'm not going to link to it, to avoid rewarding poor journalism with clicks, but the...
Where Racism, Anti-Vaccination, And COVID-19 Conspiracy Meet
The twin plagues of COVID-19 and racism have come to the fore globally over the past few months, and as with any such afflictions there’s a social desire to scapegoat, finding someone (or some group) to blame. Parallels between the pandemic and racism are not hard to...
Squaring the Strange # 124: Snuff Films: Menace or Myth?
The recent episode of Squaring the Strange is out! This time around we examine the legend of snuff films--movies in which one or more of the actors are (really) killed! We are joined by filmmaker and encyclopedia of weird film knowledge Erik Kristopher Myers....
Squaring the Strange # 112: Literary Hoaxes!
Our recent episode of Squaring the Strange is about literary hoaxes! I discuss some "misery memoirs," stories of victims triumphing over incredible hardships (Spoiler: "Go Ask Alice" was fiction). Celestia discusses newspaper reports of horny bat-people on the moon,...
Squaring the Strange #114: The Minnesota Iceman
The recent Squaring the Strange is even more awesome than most! We talk with expert Ron Pine about the Minnesota Iceman, a "sasquatchcicle" hoax of truly epic proportions. How did a sideshow gaffe fool two prominent cryptid researchers, and make it all the way to the...
‘Ghost Hunting For Dummies By Zak Bagans—And Many Others’
My buddy Kenny Biddle recently did a great investigation into a new book by TV ghost hunter Zak Bagans. You can read it HERE. Below is an excerpt: I really did not want to read the book this article is about. I know that will likely give away the...