In the winter of 1897, Elva Zona Heaster Shue—known as Zona—was found dead inside her Greenbrier County, West Virginia, home just months after marrying Edward “Trout” Shue. At first, Zona’s death was treated as natural. But her mother, Mary Jane Heaster, did not believe it. She noticed the strange circumstances around Zona’s body. She questioned Trout’s behavior. And then, according to one of America’s most enduring ghost legends, Zona came back. Mary Jane said her daughter appeared to her on four consecutive nights and revealed that Trout had killed her by breaking her neck. Authorities reopened the case. Zona’s grave was opened. And a post-mortem examination found severe neck injuries, including a broken or dislocated neck and a crushed windpipe. Edward “Trout” Shue was convicted of first-degree murder in 1897. But did a ghost truly help solve the case—or did a grieving mother’s suspicion, persistence, and refusal to accept an impossible explanation finally force people to look closer? In this spooky bonus episode, we explore the Greenbrier Ghost: the murder of Zona Heaster Shue, Mary Jane’s alleged visitations, the exhumation, the trial, and the line between documented history and Appalachian legend. The West Virginia historical marker near Zona’s burial site calls it the only known case in which testimony from a ghost helped convict a murderer 📧 Send us case suggestions and listener stories: monstroustcpod@gmail.com 📱 Follow us on all social media links here: https://linktr.ee/monstrouspod
A bottle of pain reliever. A familiar brand. A normal morning. In late September 1982, seven people across the Chicago area took Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules for everyday reasons. But within days, all seven were dead. The capsules had been contaminated with potassium cyanide. Mary Kellerman was 12 years old. Adam Janus was 27. Adam’s brother, Stanley Janus, and Stanley’s wife, Theresa, both took capsules from the same bottle and became victims, too. Mary McFarland, Lynn Reiner, and Paula Prince were also killed. Investigators ultimately recovered eight cyanide-tainted bottles and identified 56 contaminated capsules. The evidence pointed to tampering after the product had left the manufacturer and entered the retail system—but the person, or people, responsible have never been identified. In this episode of Monstrous, we examine the Chicago Tylenol murders: the victims, the terrifying realization that ordinary medicine had become a weapon, the national panic, the massive recall, the investigation into James Lewis and Roger Arnold, the changes to packaging and federal law, and the question that remains more than four decades later. Who did it? 📧 Send us case suggestions and listener stories: monstroustcpod@gmail.com 📱 Follow us on all social media links here: https://linktr.ee/monstrouspod
It’s our first spooky-season bonus episode, and we’re heading into the forests, wetlands, and winding roads of southern New Jersey. For nearly three centuries, people have told stories about a creature said to live in the Pine Barrens. It has been described as a winged beast with hooves, a long tail, glowing eyes, and a horse-like head. Some know it as the Jersey Devil. Others call it the Leeds Devil—or simply the Devil in the Pine Barrens. According to the best-known legend, the creature was born in the 1730s as the thirteenth child of a woman remembered as Mother Leeds. But the story did not stay in the past. In January 1909, reports of a strange winged figure, unexplained tracks, terrified animals, and eerie screams spread across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware—causing a regional panic and turning local folklore into a national legend. Was it a cursed child? A creature hidden in the woods? Misidentified wildlife? A hoax? Or a story that grew stronger every time someone heard something moving beyond the trees? In this bonus episode, we explore the Mother Leeds legend, the history of the Pine Barrens, the infamous 1909 sightings, and why the Jersey Devil remains one of America’s most enduring cryptid mysteries. Keep your lights on. Watch the tree line. And whatever you do, do not follow the sound in the woods. 📧 Send us case suggestions and listener stories: monstroustcpod@gmail.com 📱 Follow us on all social media links here: https://linktr.ee/monstrouspod
It’s officially spooky season, and we’re kicking things off with one of the strangest UFO encounters in American history. On the night of August 21, 1955, a group of people near Kelly and Hopkinsville, Kentucky, claimed that their farmhouse was surrounded by small, strange figures. The beings were described as silver or gray, with large heads, long arms, pointed ears, and glowing eyes. According to the witnesses, the creatures approached the windows, appeared on the roof, and repeatedly returned even after the family fired at them. The frightened group eventually went to the Hopkinsville police station and asked officers to come back with them. Police found evidence that weapons had been fired, but no physical evidence of the alleged creatures. Were the witnesses attacked by extraterrestrial visitors? Did they mistake animals, shadows, or other ordinary sights for something impossible? Was the story exaggerated over time—or did something truly unknown appear outside that Kentucky farmhouse? In this episode, we examine the Kelly-Hopkinsville encounter, the witness accounts, the police investigation, the Project Blue Book connection, the major theories, and the case’s transformation into one of America’s most enduring paranormal legends. This is our first full episode of spooky season. Listen now—and keep your eyes on the windows. 📧 Send us case suggestions and listener stories: monstroustcpod@gmail.com 📱 Follow us on all social media links here: https://linktr.ee/monstrouspod
After nearly two decades of fear, missed opportunities, and unanswered questions, the Green River Killer investigation finally reached its breaking point. In the final episode of our Green River Killer series, DNA evidence brings detectives back to a name that had appeared in their files for years: Gary Ridgway. We break down the moments investigators came dangerously close to catching him, including the disappearance of Marie Malvar, survivor Rebecca Garde’s identification of Ridgway, the 1987 search of his home, and the DNA breakthrough that ultimately led to his arrest in 2001. Then, we examine the plea agreement that spared Ridgway the death penalty in exchange for information about the women he murdered. Ridgway pleaded guilty to 48 murders in 2003 and later received a 49th conviction—but he claimed there were many more victims whose cases may never be fully resolved. Thank you for following this five-part series with us. Above all, we want to remember the women and girls whose lives were stolen—and the families who spent years fighting for answers. 📧 Send us case suggestions and listener stories: monstroustcpod@gmail.com 📱 Follow us on all social media links here: https://linktr.ee/monstrouspod
Years into the Green River investigation, detectives still did not know the identity of the man responsible—but the discoveries were far from over. In Part 4, we follow the cases of Tracy Winston, Maureen Feeney, Kimberly Nelson, Cindy Smith, Debra Estes, Andrea Childers, Marta Reeves, Roberta Hayes, Patricia Barczak, and Patricia Yellowrobe. Some were found years after they disappeared. Others were not immediately connected to the Green River case at all. As the case dragged on, the task force faced shrinking resources, pressure from above, and the painful reality that women and girls were still being overlooked—even as evidence suggested the killer had not truly stopped. This episode also explores the warning signs investigators missed, the victims whose identities and stories were lost in paperwork and assumptions, and the long silence before new technology finally brought Gary Ridgway into focus. Part 4 ends just before the breakthrough that would finally bring the Green River Killer’s name to light. 📧 Send us case suggestions and listener stories: monstroustcpod@gmail.com 📱 Follow us on all social media links here: https://linktr.ee/monstrouspod
Now debuting: “This is Monstrous” — the official theme song for the podcast. Some stories are buried beneath small-town roads, old houses, forgotten headlines, and the silence left behind. But the truth has a way of lingering. “This is Monstrous” is an eerie tribute to the murders, mysteries, disappearances, hauntings, and dark legends explored on this show. It’s for the names that still deserve to be spoken, the questions that remain unanswered, and the shadows that never quite leave. Turn down the lights, listen closely, and step into the dark. Every town has something buried. Every shadow has a name. This is Monstrous. Check out our TikTok to hear the full song.
In Part 3 of our Green River Killer series, the discoveries keep coming—and each one reveals more about the scale of the horror unfolding around Seattle. As investigators search wooded areas, airport-adjacent fields, and remote dump sites, more victims are found. Some are identified quickly. Others remain known only as “Bones” for decades before DNA and forensic genealogy finally give them their names back. We talk about the women and girls at the center of this case, including Wendy Stephens, Cheryl Wims, Colleen Brockman, Mary Sue Bello, Martina Authorlee, Carrie Ann Rois, Sandra Major, and Lori Anne Razpotnik. And then there is Ted Bundy. While sitting on death row in Florida, Bundy reached out to investigators with supposed insight into the Green River Killer. Was he helping—or was he using the investigation as another opportunity to talk about himself, delay his execution, and manipulate the people across the table from him? 📧 Send us case suggestions and listener stories: monstroustcpod@gmail.com 📱 Follow us on all social media links here: https://linktr.ee/monstrouspod Ted Bundy: Dialogue with the Devil: https://www.hulu.com/series/e8344893-aef9-4085-bdd0-0bb5f4b25828?play=false&utm_source=shared_link
The Green River Task Force is reaching a breaking point. As the victim count rises through late 1983, investigators shift from reacting to bodies to flooding Pacific Highway South with undercover surveillance, decoys, and early computer databases. But despite tracking leads on primed pickup trucks and ordinary-looking drivers, the killer manages to blend into the background. In this episode, we trace the heartbreaking stories of Gail Matthews, Mary Bridget Meehan, and other young women lost to this spree. We examine the moment police stood face-to-face with Gary Leon Ridgway at his front door—and how an anonymous, cryptic letter sent to a local reporter held the truth decades before anyone realized it. 📧 Send us case suggestions and listener stories: monstroustcpod@gmail.com 📱 Follow us on all social media links here: https://linktr.ee/monstrouspod
Before the Green River Killer became one of the most infamous serial killers in American history, he was just a name no one suspected — while bodies were already beginning to surface. In Part 1 of our Gary Ridgway series, we trace the terrifying early timeline of the Green River case, from the first victims to the moment investigators realized they were facing something far darker than a string of disappearances. This is where the case begins, and where the pattern starts to emerge. 📧 Send us case suggestions and listener stories: monstroustcpod@gmail.com 📱 Follow us on all social media links here: https://linktr.ee/monstrouspod