It's gonna be May! Okay, okay, we shall cease and desist with the boy band GIFs and on to the show! All over Europe and other areas we celebrate May Day, Beltane, Walpurgis night, whatever you call it it's all about fire, coming together, and making babies! Or new life, shall we say, new beginnings. First spring has sprung. 

So we dive into some celebrations and traditions from Bavaria, Germany, Scandinavia, which mostly call it Walpurgis night or some variation, and celebrate a Saint, a She-saint in fact! Then we get into Beltane, the Celtic pagan holy day, and have some fun, fire and feasts with Goddesses and Green Men. Put on your flower crowns and grab a maypole for this festive, fertile, fire-filled episode! No Fire Fest Fiasco here my friends, just good times and good intentions! Happy May-ing!

Sorry for the late posting, we are doing our best and putting up a new Patreon ep as well so watch out for that! Happy Listening!





212: Beltane and Walpurgisnacht Fire Festivals

The Story of the Pot Princess of Beverly Hills and Other Weed Stories

It’s the WEED-kend, my hot, high cannabis crew! Happy 420, in honor of all who celebrate we brought a collection of cannabis-related capers this time!

Kelsey kicks us off with some anecdotes about people who took or toked or ate too many pot brownies, and hey, we’ve all been there! Everyone seems to have a story about edibles gone wild, and we have some other embarrassing revelations that people admit to. Think using your phone flashlight to look for your phone. Relatable, right?

Covering Lisette Lee gets the gals giggling about stupid con artists and what you should never call your BFF, and big Justin Timberlake energy. This lady was a messy mean girl who inspired her former friend/assistant/drug mule to write a memoir with the longest subtitle we’ve ever seen! Bust out your brownies, it’s time to blaze it up with Cannabis Cons!

PS. Enjoy Pat’s cackle caught on the outtakes and excuse any messiness by the end of the ep! We had fun and hope you do too!

Darkcast Network Promo of the Week: The Final Trace podcast

211: 420 Cannabis Cons + Pot Princesses

This episode is just extra, sorry, not sorry! It’s extra-long, extra-cursed, and took us extra-long to get out on this long weekend, so a bit sorry ‘bout that part, to be fair!

Kelsey covers a curse on US Presidents with many names caused by a long-ago battle with Shawnee people. The Curse of Tippecanoe, Tecumseh’s Curse and the Zero-year Curse are some of them, and the list of incidents and deaths is certainly one that’s going to need to simmer for sec. The assassination count alone is a lot, and George W and that grenade thing? Shocking stuff.

From possible curse or conspiracy to the wonderful world of the honeybee! Through history they have loved to have us spill them all the tea. Or the booze, bees LOVE booze. The vibes of the hive are chatty and silly in this segment but people have been mad for honey for ages we learned.

Some Saints did some weird stuff; honey was the remedy for every ailment from eyestrain to erectile dysfunction, and it makes great mead too. Side stories include cats who drool, are surprised by owls, ridiculously expensive scented candles, and rampant accusations of people and things being AI. Do you love bees too? Let us know and hope you enjoy this very buzzed episode! I got one bee pun!

Darkcast Promo: Stop! Who Does That podcast

210: The Curse of Tippecanoe + Spill the Bee Tea, too!

So clearly this is a very sensitive topic, like most true crime, so please be aware this will contain mentions of child death,  child sexual abuse and other very violent topics. No explicit details are included but be forewarned it's a rough one. "we observe, but we must not need absorb" about bearing witness to trauma survivors in crime cases. 

So first we learn about a William Cook from Kelsey, and he was born to a big family and grew up to be a man who made very poor choices. He had a terrible temper, a penchant for kidnapping instead of just carjacking, and had too many children, who surely hated their father. To make a semi-Minecraft reference, no his children did not, in fact, yearn for the mines. Who wants to live underground but worms, anyway?

Alanna covers the Dunblane Massacre, a school massacre in 1990's Scotland that sent the small  town and nation into grief. What causes such impulses, we discuss, and what effects must it have on a vulnerable section of people? our kids are prepped for everything from drunk driving to school shooting these days, and we wonder what the consequences on our mental health must be. 

But then also, we find the light that shines through the cracks sometimes, when Alanna messes up musical numbers NOT from Hamilton, etc. So tune in and clutch a stress toy if you can, such is the joy of life, and we love you for being here with us!

Happy Listening and Keep it Cryptic!

Darkcast Promos of the Week!: Murder Unscripted, Psychology of the Strange



209: Mass Murders + Killings sprees

We are back, back again (just like Kelsey's hearing and voice) and we are ready to dive into some lore about creatures around the UK. First we have British Flying Rods, known for their segmented and wavy motions, they move fast and are incredibly rare with only 2 known sightings. Next, Kelsey covers the Boneless, featuring the phrase "undulating mass of gelatinous flesh", it's a segment you don't want to miss. 

Alanna caps things off with Sam the Sandown Clown, a ghost clown who may or may not also be an alien or a robot. Listen to the strange encounter 2 kids had with Sam before he vanished forever and let us know what you think he is.  

Thanks for listening, head over to our Patreon to catch up on all our bonus eps and be sure to leave us a review. 

Until next time, keep it cryptic!



This weeks promo is for Murder Shelf Book Club!

208: UK Cryptids & Creatures

Hey you lovely listeners, today we have a wee episode to tide you over while our co-host is on the mend. Alanna is reading some local ghost stories to you!   To be fair, it's since she feels bad she switched topics and delayed recording, sorry! Send help lol.

We pulled from the book by Barbara Smith, previously featured on the McKay Museum Hometown Haunts  episode, so listen to that one too if you haven't( between ep 165-166 in the feed.) Smith has researched ghost stories and legends from all across the province, from Native warrior Chief spirit stories to haunted hotels. We hear about a haunted bookstore, The Banff Springs Hotel (which they deny is haunted but we know better, don't we?), a ghost arsonist captured on camera, and some Shining-style hotel ghosts. 

Let's get ghosting! If you want more Castles and Cryptids content, try our Patreon to support the show! Plug over now lol. Love you all and happy hauntings! 

Ghost Stories of Alberta- A Haunted Minisode

It's been a minute since we did a castle haunt or horror, so here are two very cool, eerie castles to live up to our name!

Quick into of obligatory bitch session and catch-up, this time we go on about annoying and aging bodies, can anyone relate to that? Taking meds with side effects and lucky if they don't hurt your damn liver! Side shout-out to a couple comments from last episode and we're off to Germany!

Kelsey takes us to Eltz Castle, Wierschem, Germany, and it's long, long history that we skip over for the good parts. One medieval family lived here forever somehow, if only we had a mockumentary called Medieval Family! Ghosts, George R.R. Martin bashing, and stolen kisses com into conversation and that's normal for us.

On to Bran Castle and Bram Stoker's Dracula. A tangential connection maybe, but Vlad Dracule has had our fascination for a long time too so we hope you don't mind the side quests into Dracula, haunts and a little history. Plus the great Question: Do you get impaled up the ass??Torso? do you all know??

Darkcast Promo of the Week: Love and Murder Podcast

207: Creepy Medieval Castles

Hey cryptic cuties, hope your 2026 is treating you well and we are so excited to be back. We have a fun episode for you, diving into the fascinating world of counterfeiting, forgeries and replicas, featuring everything from the well done, all the way to the bizarre and laughable. 

Starting with the arrest of Frank Bourassa, Kelsey covers how a life of crime led one man on a path to printing millions and becoming named the world's greatest counterfeiter. 

Alanna closes out the ep with a collection of expensive forgeries that shook the world, as well as some failed restorations that made the 2 of us question if some things should just be left alone. 

Happy listening and catch up with you all next time! Join our patron for exclusive episodes, videos and even more banter and tangents!



Darkcast spotlight: Box in the Basement 



206: Fakes, Forgeries and Phonies

Happy Holidays, here is your second helping of psychic stuff! We love talking about parapsychology, and of course, we are not the only ones. So Alanna's topic of the day is telepathy; trying to test it, a brief history of our fascination with it, and into the most recent claims and controversies! 

After some minor Game of Thrones spoilers (its old, come on, it's ok ), we dig into some topics discussed on the Telepathy Tapes Podcast and the response to both it's popularity, and some pushback against it.  So some spoilers for that podcast too, as we talk about how we can try and do better in testing in the future, and in education for people with special needs.  We did our best to be respectful as we navigated this touchy subject, so please listen with care as well, as you all do!  There's a mention of a banned Ted Talk, which can happen, we guess! Don't ban us lol, we are just asking some questions and trying to teach ourselves lol. Don't put us on the dark web! We love you all and hope you have a safe and Happy New Year!  

205: Telepathy Talk: Claims and Controversy

Hello Cryptic Crew, and welcome back to our latest episode! 

This time its Kelsey's turn to deliver a curious case of a man who had some very prophetic dreams. Chris Robinson (not the one married to Amanda Knox, not to be confused with Canadian icon Christopher Robin either, you're welcome :) 

He was often accurate at predicting disasters like airplane crashes and received the information through dreams. He even had a working relationship with local police. Theories include other worldly guides giving him advance knowledge, but you be the judge! We like to try and keep our minds open, and don't forget the movie talk, has anyone else seen Tron: Ares lol or ... what are you all watching this season? 

Part two will be a dive into Telepathy Tests and  Controversies too! Stay tuned, it's dropping soon as a Yule treat! Keep it Cryptic! 

Head to Patreon.com for bonus content monthly and a backlog of hundreds of hours of creepy and cool stories!  



204:  Psi Phenomena: Premonition Man

Welcome to Castles & Cryptids,  a paranormal podcast hosted by a couple of Canadian chickies! Follow Alanna and Kelsey  down the rabbit hole as we explore lore and legends, murder and mysteries, the unsolved and the unexplained.  Where the castles are haunted and the cryptids are cryptic AF! 