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Episode 21 - The Michigan Triangle and The Bloody Benders
12 Plays1 month ago
Intrigued by Nym's story of the Bermuda Triangle, Nylene dipped her toes into the mysterious waters of the Lake Michigan Triangle. Nym went back in time to pioneer days to find a very messed up family of serial killers - The Bloody Benders.
Enter the Nightmare for show notes, sources, transcripts, and more!
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:29
Speaker
Welcome to Nim and Nyleen's Nightmare Cottage, where we discuss dark locations, sinister media, and other tales of the macabre. I'm Nim. And I'm Nyleen. Let the nightmare begin.
Childhood Movie Memories
00:00:48
Speaker
followed into the nightmare if you dare.
00:00:54
Speaker
Hello I don't know why we're being old. and I was trying to do the hello for Miss Doubtfire, you know when she has the pie stuff on her face.
00:01:06
Speaker
I loved that movie when was little. I probably should not have been watching the movie when I was little, but I was. Oh my god, so many movies I shouldn't have watched when I was little. I can tell you that some of my favorite movies when I was little, one of them in particular, are you familiar with the movie Flashdance?
00:01:21
Speaker
I am, but I've never watched it. So it's about a chick who's like blue collar worker and she's she wants to be a ballet dancer, but she also like dances at like a gentleman's club sort of thing at night or whatever. And anyways, this whole thing.
00:01:32
Speaker
They're not strippers, but they're definitely- It's topless bar. They're provocative. Well, they're close. Look, I don't remember the boobs. It's actually been a lot of years since I've seen it. Anyways, was like little and I loved that movie. And even the music, the music from that movie is still like in my DNA now.
00:01:47
Speaker
And like the chorus line was one of my favorite musicals when I was little. And one of the songs in that musical is called Tits and Ass. actually i think it's called something else but she sings about tits and ass because she got them done anyways but i was like three singing that song running around my house like that's so i'm just saying mrs daft not not really as no controversial as some of the things us children of the 80s endured it's true this is true so how has your time been
00:02:18
Speaker
It's been
Balancing Work and Personal Life
00:02:19
Speaker
a lot. You all, if you have listened to us, know that I'm a very boring person who doesn't do a whole lot of stuff. And my job has gotten chaotic, which in a great way.
00:02:29
Speaker
You know, we've been building a new thing and it's been really cool. I got to sit in amidst these weeks worth of 12 hour days, six days a week, trying to get this thing ready in time.
00:02:43
Speaker
I had this moment where it was like just me. Monkey works with me. He was working on another part of the building. I was sitting in a booth and our graffiti artist who's helping us redesign the whole inside was like, he had his, his vibe music going and he had his respirator thing on his face. So he looks like a, like a fucking cartoon character.
00:03:00
Speaker
it just looks unreal. I felt like i was in a Gorillaz music video or something. I don't know. was just ah It was just really cool. Like watching him do this graffiti art on the wall in this like quiet arcade. And that's kind of being built. at I don't know. it's It was just kind of a moment. and It was a super vibe and it made all of the work I'd been putting into it just feel like worth it because it was like i get to be a part of this just a really cool experience the fruits of your labor the fruits of my well you know and it's even like the pre-fruits of the labor it was just like acknowledging that i get to be part of building something cool wouldn't that be a flower because it's a flower before it's a fruit that's i actually kind of love that
00:03:42
Speaker
Yes, it was flowering. i now it is a fruit. So yeah, it's it's been but but standing that up has definitely been a lot. It's been fun and cool, but I am not used to so much all at once anymore.
00:03:55
Speaker
ah It's been, you know, been a time but it's been great. How are
Homecoming Chaos
00:03:59
Speaker
you? oh my god. <unk> so tired. i I had a work trip to go to. So I flew to Iowa to do some stuff for work. And it was great. Really collaborative. Loved it.
00:04:11
Speaker
While I was gone, I was only gone for four days. Four days if you count like travel. It shouldn't have been as bad as it was. But like Ace called me. Quite a bit.
00:04:22
Speaker
Right before I had left, Sushi is still very much a kitten. And man, she has smelliest poops. My God. Like, and they're in the laundry room, which is fine. But like,
00:04:38
Speaker
It leads to like our bedroom and it just stinks so bad. And I've tried putting like air fresheners in there. But like I had unscented litter because I've heard scents can really kind of mess with them a little bit.
00:04:50
Speaker
And so I found one that was like the same brand that I've been getting because I've been like, you know, trying to figure out the litter situation for her. And there was one and it was lemongrass-scented.
00:05:01
Speaker
Now, I know cats don't like citrus, but I feel like lemongrass, I was like, it's not quite citrus. It's lemony, but it's not quite. And I was like, they made it for cats. And like, some of the reviews were like, this is great. Poop smells amazing. And then the other ones were like,
00:05:19
Speaker
Cat, no likey. And I was like, ah, well, we'll see what happens. So I bought it, changed it like literally the night before i got on the plane. And that night Ace gets home and he goes, apparently sushi shit on the carpet.
00:05:38
Speaker
I guess she didn't like the litter. So she peed in it, but she would not, she was like kind of pooping in it, but then she was like, no. And she would just poop on the floor. So she just did that once. And then i was like, okay, well, you know, just clean it up. And he got like a little green machine, cleaned it, everything. Great.
00:05:54
Speaker
Fantastic. And then apparently the next day without incident, everything was great. But Bash is doing this thing lately where he falls asleep in his room and then ends up in our bed.
00:06:06
Speaker
Well, apparently sushi shit in the hallway. And Sebastian stepped in on the way into the bed, didn't notice it, got in the bed with Ace because I wasn't here asked Ace for some water.
00:06:22
Speaker
and he wakes up and he's like, what is that smell? And Sebastian was like, I have poopy on my foot. And so he was like, oh, God, did you just shit the bed? No, the cat somehow got shit in the bed. And so like, it's like three in the morning. He's having to get this toddler out of bed, give him a shower,
00:06:39
Speaker
take all the sheets and everything off the bed, wash all of that, and then clean the floors. It was lot. I feel really bad for him. And the worst part is like when I would call him, he is trying to tell me the story and God help him. He looked so tired. Yeah.
00:06:57
Speaker
And he's just trying to hold it together. And I just see Sushi in the background going to the blinds and she would just jump into the blinds and she's just hanging there. She did this like three times while she's on the phone with me. She's never done this. And she just would like, just like just hanging in the blinds.
00:07:16
Speaker
And I'm like, what is happening? So apparently she just rioted when I left. um And yeah, every time I'd call, like, Dojo would just start doing his wine scream, I guess. He missed me too. i don't know. It was a lot.
00:07:32
Speaker
I felt really bad for him. i'm like, it was it was not, I was not gone that long. So I came home, changed the litter. to like the normal one. No problem since then.
00:07:44
Speaker
But the night I came home, landed on my flight 3pm. Took a shower, washed all the clothes, had to rewash all the bedding because apparently the bedding he did wash was still wet in the washer and the dryer.
00:07:58
Speaker
so I had to rewash all that because of the smell. Like I guess he just It got to be a lot. I understand. Yeah. So i rewash the bedding, put it on the bed. and at like two in the morning, Sebastian's in my bed and I hear him wake up and he just keeps asking me for water. i gave him some water a few times.
00:08:18
Speaker
And then all of a sudden i smell something and I hear him go, mama, ah fruit up. And then I hear him throw up again. And I catch it in my hands.
00:08:31
Speaker
but So I'm sitting on the bed with my CPAP mask on with a pile of throw up in my hands, a pile of throw up on the bed, trying to scream at Ace to wake up because he doesn't wake up or anything. And I'm like...
00:08:45
Speaker
i It's between throwing this vomit on him or just screaming. Because I don't know what to do. and Sebastian's crying. And I'm still like nudging him. He finally wakes up and I'm like, chaos, turn on the lights because it's dark while all of this is happening.
00:09:02
Speaker
And so he picks up Bash and takes him in the shower and I'm still sitting there holding throw up in my hands with my CPAP mask on and I can't take it off and I can't move because I'm attached.
00:09:13
Speaker
And I'm like, help. How awful. I just, I just finally just dropped the throw up because I'm like, well, it's already all over the bed. Like what, what do I do? Just, you know, and just put it with the rest of it. Exactly. And then had to rewash all of that again.
00:09:27
Speaker
i I am so tired. Like what the It's happening. I'm exhausted just hearing the story. Holy shit. Yeah. So sanitize the whole house. Everyone has stopped shitting and vomiting.
00:09:39
Speaker
Thank God. so now it's just back to normal. Oh, yeah. And so she dropped a lamp on Ace's head like two days after i came home. Like she just is trying to kill him. I don't.
00:09:52
Speaker
I don't know. But. But isn't she cute? Oh, yes. Yes. But I will say like something I
Finding Solace in Nature
00:10:00
Speaker
did miss. Like. I love like going away or when I'm away for like even a day where I've had a rough day.
00:10:08
Speaker
i love when it's like dark outside and I like sitting on my back porch and just like, even when it's not dark, even when it's light, I just like sitting back there and like staring at the trees and like the birds and just spacing out and.
00:10:21
Speaker
It's just ah because of where I live, it's so quiet, yet you can hear like the cars from the highway like way out. And you can hear like the cows moving every once in a while. love that.
00:10:34
Speaker
And that reminded me of you because of our trip to Fairfield. Yes. Yes. There are cows just losing their minds out there. But yeah. Oh, and then of course the music, my my background music that just plays over my house every once in a while.
00:10:51
Speaker
Because of the neighbors? We don't know where it's coming from. We think it might be like there's this farmhouse, like you can see it from like where we are, but they're like higher up on the hill and we're like down low on the hill in like a little valley. Yeah.
00:11:04
Speaker
And so I'm thinking like it's just projecting over, but there's also a bar down the street. So I'm like, maybe it's coming from the bar, but it's so clear. Like it sounds like I have the radio on, on my roof.
00:11:15
Speaker
Yeah. That can be fun. ah can be. It can also be kind of like eerie sometimes. Yeah. But we love eerie. It's true. Yeah. I love sitting. ah This old lady loves sitting on her back deck, looking at the trees and everything too. And the random animals that like to show up and,
00:11:34
Speaker
Yeah, no, that's definitely like the peaceful, the peaceful moment of all of the things is like when I get to sit on my deck and look at the way the garden has come in, the way the old ass trees in my neighborhood are like basically blocking all of the ugliness. Grossy of ass trees.
Productivity amidst Chaos
00:11:51
Speaker
i Do they smell or just look like that? Or do they shit everywhere? I mean... kind of i mean they definitely have a smell they definitely shit everywhere in the form of seed pods and whatnot but yeah same love that that's uh one of my favorite things is sitting and just looking at the backyard and observing yeah because i'm fucking old now yeah it's honestly it's weird because you know me i'm not one to sit in silence doing nothing yeah i can't
00:12:24
Speaker
um Yeah, you need to be doing at least three things to feel normal. But like, that's when I'm sitting back there, i can just stare for a very long time. And it's amazing.
00:12:38
Speaker
So think you've been through, you you you exist in chaos. i do I think, I do think like I thrive in chaos though. Like it sounds horrible to say. no that makes sense actually. Yeah. I just, I think like if things were not chaotic, I don't know. i think I would get bored.
00:12:56
Speaker
What happened with me when chaos minimized itself in my existence is got Because I'm actually i lived with such stress and bullshit for so long in my previous job and stuff. And that when I finally was removed from it, yeah yes, I became less productive. And i that's definitely not the greatest thing and I'm working on that.
00:13:22
Speaker
I just kind of expand to fill the space, right? Like, I don't know. i Jesus, you just work so hard forever and you finally get a reprieve. We all handle it different ways, but. Yeah. i I have noticed for me though, like when I do get too much of that reprieve,
00:13:38
Speaker
I think that's when I start getting depressed. Oh, for Because I feel useless. Even though it's like, it's okay to relax. Like Ace has to tell me that all the time. It's like, you can like do nothing. and You know, I'm like, I'm not doing anything today. I'm not doing laundry. I'm just, I'm just going to sit here and I'm going watch my show.
00:13:55
Speaker
And like, next thing he knows, he's in the room and I'm like cleaning or just going through stuff. He's like, you said you weren't doing anything. I'm like, oh this is fun. I'm just organizing. It's great. It's, it's fine.
00:14:07
Speaker
And that's legit too, though, because, you know, you can take on those little projects when, like on your own terms, so that doesn't feel like a chore. It's just, it's like, it's a project. That's fair.
00:14:18
Speaker
So i don't know. It's good stuff. I think that this is a lot of stressed out lady
Mysterious Places and Historical Interests
00:14:24
Speaker
talk. Let's, ah let's talk about some dark shit.
00:14:30
Speaker
but
00:14:35
Speaker
I don't know if mine is dark, more maybe mysterious. See, the way I see it is that if it's got any level of it that can be a nightmare, like if you're part of any of the mishaps or or whatever's going on, I don't know what you're covering. but But I have that argument with myself a lot of times when I'm like looking at the historical stuff that I like to cover.
00:14:56
Speaker
But I feel like if I can have a nightmare involving this shit, it counts. That's fair. Yeah, like I feel like I feel like I like looking at a lot of history stuff, which I'm like, I don't know if people like that, but I do.
00:15:07
Speaker
And I feel bad if people don't, but it's our podcast and we do what we want. And until y'all tell us to do something different. Nightmare cottage at gmail.com.
00:15:19
Speaker
You can also literally just go to like the web page, which is nightmare cottage.com and then go to the contact us and then just put something in there. if You don't want to email. Anyways.
00:15:32
Speaker
So you covered the Burbina Triangle, I think. Gosh, how long ago? I don't know. it it was It was one of those. It feels like years. Episode before last.
00:15:43
Speaker
I don't know. It made me want to look and see if like there were any other places where like strange things like that
The Disappearance of Le Griffon
00:15:49
Speaker
happen. Or just like you know stories of like strange happenstances.
00:15:54
Speaker
um So I came across the Lake Michigan Triangle. Have you heard of this? I don't think so. Okay. This area is defined to be from Ludington, Michigan to Benton Harbor, Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
00:16:09
Speaker
I want to say like, it's like, nobody can see this, but it's like, it's, it's a, it's a triangle with like the fat end almost like, completely landlocked in that lake area okay and with the way that lake michigan is it's very nestled into like a landlocked area so like there's just like a little bit of a tail that goes into more lakes and then that feeds into the ocean so it is very inset yet it's still part a very big part of the great lakes yeah Obviously, there's a lot that goes on on in that area without incident. You know, it's like any big dark body of water, like weird things are happening and reported. But there's also a lot of normal things that happen there every day, right?
00:16:48
Speaker
So there's been reports of like ships, planes, people disappearing without any trace. Also some really interesting like submerged relics, ah man-made or otherwise from another time.
00:16:59
Speaker
Do you have details of any of that? ah Yeah. Okay, cool. Sorry. Gosh, I'm getting there. I'm just kidding. So a little background on Lake Michigan. It is the third largest in size of the five Great Lakes, which we know are massive. um It's also mostly landlocked with the US, just the northeastern tip feeding into the Lake Huron through the Straits of Mackinick.
00:17:23
Speaker
um It's almost like teardrop shape with like the fat end is the landlocked bit like I was talking about. um And the top end feeds into the strait. Currents aren't really brisk in the lake. Encyclopedia Britannica calls out that it's generally a southward drift along the western side and then a northward drift along the eastern side. So it's just like at times it's like counterclockwise swirls in the southern basin around like Beaver Island group.
00:17:47
Speaker
So as mentioned earlier, there's a lot that goes on in the lake without incident. It does contain lots of ports of commerce, ferries that regularly cross the lake for public transit. Things are normal most of the time, right? Yeah.
00:17:58
Speaker
Now that we have a bit of background on the lake, we'll get to the strange happening surrounding the lake. One of the most well-known examples of strange disappearances is the disappearance of a fur trading ship called Le Griffon in 1679. This was a brand new ship built in 1679 specifically to tote furs around the Great Lakes area.
00:18:19
Speaker
um It was in use for about a month before it went missing. Wow. Yeah. So on September 18, 1679, the ship was loaded with 12,000 pounds of furs and was heading towards a French military trading post located where the St. Lawrence River leaves Lake Ontario. So that northeastern end.
00:18:39
Speaker
By the end of November 1679, the Griffin had not arrived and was considered to be lost. The disappearance was in route to Lake Erie, and they believe it was overcome in September by a storm maybe.
00:18:53
Speaker
But the odd thing was that it was a 45 foot ship, yet no trace or remnants of the crew, the cargo were ever found. Additionally, there's no possible way for the ship to have made its way out of the Great Lakes area without being noticed because of the shape and surrounding landmarks of the area. Like it wouldn't have been able to just leave.
00:19:12
Speaker
But with the currents that I described earlier, I think it's really likely it sunk in a storm. But again, Why has there never been any trace of like the ship or any of the furs or evidence of it found?
00:19:23
Speaker
You mentioned that the currents kind of swirl almost. Is it not? i mean, how, where could it have gone? That's the weird thing. That's what they're saying. Like, they're like, they have found a lot of shipwrecks, like, in the bottom. Right.
00:19:39
Speaker
This one has yet to be found. Huh. Mm-hmm. So yeah, that's ah that's a weird thing. But um one of the theories is that the Ottawa's are put a what Tommy tribe members of the area of the time, like could have maybe murdered the crew, taken first, set the boat ablaze. But again, it's just a theory.
00:19:58
Speaker
You know, it's more likely that a fire of that size would have been noticed, but it would explain why it was never found. I mean, this is the sixteen hundred Yes. Would it have been seen fire that size?
00:20:13
Speaker
I mean, how populated is that area? I mean, it's a lake though. Like you would see the fire over the lake. Yeah, I suppose that's true. Yeah. At least because it would be dark. Yeah. Like that whole area would be really, really dark.
00:20:26
Speaker
Huh? Okay. So another nautical mystery occurred in 1875 and 1921 with two masted schooner named the
The Enigma of the Schooner Roosevelt
00:20:35
Speaker
Roosevelt. The ship was used to transport materials around the area.
00:20:39
Speaker
In 1875, a car ferry was crossing the lake and found the schooner floating upside down in the water. The 10-man crew never found, and they turned the boat over, returned it to a port in Milwaukee, and then continued using it.
00:20:55
Speaker
Just like, oh, guess they just fell off. Almost 50 years later, in October of 1921, the ship was loaded up with potatoes and maple lumber and ready to set sail for another short trip across the lake.
00:21:06
Speaker
And the ship's captain, Ed Johnson, refused to board the schooner. He said that he had a premonition or a really bad feeling that something horrible was going to happen. So he refused to get on the boat.
00:21:18
Speaker
The crew ended up leaving without him a few days later. And that was the real beginning of final destination. Yes. ah So it actually was found to have been capsized again. And again, the whole crew was missing.
00:21:33
Speaker
This is an odd one for me, since it seems that this boat maybe just tips over in certain conditions. Maybe the captain saw bad weather coming and no one believed him or he knew something that we didn't. But again, like, I feel like and i'm going to go into this later. Like, I like to look for actual reasons why things happen. Yes.
00:21:52
Speaker
um Which I think is what kills this a lot of this stuff for me. I'm like, oh, spooky. Well, actually. But yeah, I'll talk a little bit about some of like the things that I think could be causing these things.
The Vanishing of Captain George Donner
00:22:04
Speaker
So a few years later, April 28th, 1937, the O.M. McFarland, a coal hauler, picked up about 9,800 tons of coal from Erie, Pennsylvania, and traveled through the lakes headed for Wisconsin.
00:22:19
Speaker
The captain, George R. Donner, was on the deck directing the crew through the icy water. Once they reached Lake Michigan, Donner retired to the cabin and instructed the crew to let him know once the ship was getting close to their destination.
00:22:31
Speaker
Three hours later, the second mate went to Donner's cabin to alert him that they were getting close to their destination. But he found the cabin door was locked from the inside and there was no response from the captain.
00:22:43
Speaker
The crew eventually broke down the door to the cabin, but found no one inside. The only other way out was through small portholes that the captain could not have been able to fit through. So apparently there was no sign of him that was ever found on the boat or off.
00:22:58
Speaker
I personally think there was a mutiny, um but I have no proof of that. But yeah, just a weird disappearance. They don't know what happened.
Flight 2501: A 1950 Mystery
00:23:05
Speaker
Fast forward 20 years to June 23, 1950, Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501 was in flight carrying 55 passengers and three crew members from New York LaGuardia Airport to Seattle, Washington.
00:23:20
Speaker
The plane was in flight for about 3,500 feet over Lake Michigan, the last time ground control made contact with them. The pilot of the plane requested a descent of 2,500 feet before they lost contact due to severe electrical storm over the lake.
00:23:35
Speaker
Apparently, the pilot was denied permission to descend by air control because there was too much traffic at the lower altitudes below them. People in the area at the time reported hearing the engine sputtering and a flash of light around the time that the last transmission was recorded.
00:23:50
Speaker
58 people were lost on this flight. What's odd is that the human remains that were found and washed ashore along with some of the upholstery from the plane, but there is no sizable plane debris of the plane or its engines.
00:24:04
Speaker
It's reported that most of the debris that was found was no larger than a person's hand. So they never found like parts to the plane or anything like that. Rescue teams even completed a search of the lake using sonar.
00:24:17
Speaker
They dragged the bottom of the lake. Still not one trace of the plane was ever found. There is even a search effort that's completed annually by Michigan Shipwreck a Research Associates, MSRA, that started in 2004. And they use sonar as well as other means of tracking.
00:24:33
Speaker
But still, nothing has been found in terms of this plane or that boat that I was talking about. What year did this plane go So they did find a few mass unmarked graves that were said to contain some of the remnants of the victims that washed ashore, which is horrible because like they were just washing ashore all over Lake Michigan and the the local cemeteries would gather it and just kind of throw it all in a grave and yeah, call it a day.
00:25:03
Speaker
While it's suspected that the plane lost control and nose dived into the water at high velocity, again, no large pieces of the plane were found. The fragmentations of debris that were found would suggest maybe like an explosion from like lightning or something possibly, but none of the debris that was found had burn marks on it.
00:25:20
Speaker
So it's just like nobody knows like how or what happened. And then, of course, there's the whole UFO theory, which always comes about in these types of cases. But that's what I'll say about that. Aliens.
00:25:34
Speaker
Yeah. Some interesting finds in Lake Michigan are craters.
Lake Michigan's Mysterious Formations
00:25:39
Speaker
and Stonehenge type formation. In 2022, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, found about 40 craters ranging from 300 to 600 feet across, about 450 feet below the surface of the lake, and roughly laid out in a line. One of the theories for the craters is that these were sinkholes that formed the limestone at the bottom of the lake, basically erosion in the limestone forming caverns in the lake.
00:26:06
Speaker
And then collapse of the ceiling of the caverns i find this theory really interesting because it could account for some of the missing boats people planes over the years yeah uh weird tides in the area as there is an arrangement of stones with two rings the outer ring is about 40 feet wide and the inner ring is 20 feet wide the stones are arranged about 40 feet beneath the surface and are dated to be about 9 000 years old And that's about 5,000 years older than actual Stonehenge.
00:26:36
Speaker
Wow. Yeah. So what's cool about some of the stones that they have carvings on them, one of them in particular, they see like a mastodon on it. um The stones are smaller around the size of like basketball to a small car. So not quite the size of Stonehenge.
00:26:50
Speaker
But it's just, i don't know, it's fascinating to me because it just goes to show like there's so much out there. Like this, before this lake was full, you know, and filled up over time, like there's so much that so much unexplained, right? Right. Like it's mysterious. It's scary. There's so much speculation to it. But there's just so much that we just continue to find as we start researching. It's like not quite so mysterious. And yet, still, or even more so. Yeah. Yeah.
00:27:17
Speaker
So yeah, I just thought that was really interesting. Just like the weird little ones, especially like the the plane. That was a weird one for me. But I do feel like the sinkholes could explain a lot. Yeah. Yeah.
00:27:28
Speaker
That feels really similar to the Bermuda Triangle stuff that there's, there's something there that could yeah explain it. We aren't 100% sure, but i mean, maybe.
00:27:39
Speaker
Yeah. Maybe. mean, we used to think medicine was witchcraft and magic at one point. So, I mean, it's still kind of it. Yeah.
The Bloody Benders in Kansas
00:27:53
Speaker
Much gah. Are you familiar with the Bloody Benders? My guess is that with as much true crime stuff as you've listened to, you've probably come across them before. It doesn't sound familiar, but I'm wondering if once you start talking about it, I will.
00:28:07
Speaker
See, now for me, i will say that when I found this story, I did think it sounded familiar. And then I realized why. And I will definitely, you know, I'm interested to see if you also pull that out. So I'll see if you respond the same way I did. And if not, then I'll talk about it at the end. Are those pumpkins on your glasses or are they flowers? There flowers and skulls. Oh, I thought they were like little pumpkins. That's what was trying to like hand it to you so you could look at them so your eyes could actually see what was there. But yeah, they're cute. I like them.
00:28:37
Speaker
Picture it. Cherryville, Kansas, 1871. The United States is still recovering from the Civil War. Manifest destiny and her friend, the Homestead Act of 1862, has Americans traveling less with dreams of freedom and independence.
00:28:52
Speaker
This is the pioneer days. Go out and claim your several many acres of land for cheap or absolutely nothing to start a life for your family. Kansas and is in a bit of an awkward place at this time. The initial Indian reservation area started at at the border of Texas, Oklahoma and extended north into the Dakotas.
00:29:09
Speaker
But as they are wont to do, the white man needed more space for stuff. So the Dakotas, Nebraska and Kansas got claimed and the natives were pushed south into Oklahoma and Texas. Okay. On top of this, everyone was very spread out.
00:29:21
Speaker
The legal system was still growing. Bandits, horse thieves and more were a constant and real danger out on the frontier. This was 1871. And then even once you got your plot and got settled, you still had to travel treacherous lands to do anything. yeah You had to you know go get supplies or whatever, to trade with people.
00:29:39
Speaker
So that's kind of the the area that we're looking at. Pioneer times, people settling, trying to carve out space when there's not really a lot of rules. It's still the wild, wild west. It is still the wild, wild west, but there is still structure...
00:29:53
Speaker
structured wild wild west from the side right and they're trying to implement right anyways it's like it's kind of it's a chaotic yeah it's weird time so in 1870 john bender and john gebhart arrived in independence kansas to claim their homestead just outside of cherry vale which was near independence okay the man who worked with them to find their plot described john bender as old crotchety and pretty much only spoke german kind of a dick and just mumbled to himself in german this is not a saying that german people are dicks No, I'm German.
00:30:23
Speaker
I'm just saying. I can say this. In case that anyone was concerned. No, no, this is this man was... He was just brilliant. He was a grumpy old man who mumbled in German and just sounded angry.
00:30:35
Speaker
John Gebhardt was younger. he was friendly and charming, but he was a little bit off. He apparently had a little weird laugh that he used like punctuation, which honestly... Same.
00:30:47
Speaker
Anyway, they chose 160 acre plot on the Osage Trail, which was a really frequently used travel area. a frequently traveled area with a really large hill.
00:30:58
Speaker
um In fact, this trail was the primary connection to travel further west from that area. Gebhardt seemed amused at the idea of building their home at the base of a hill. If there were no lights or fires, no one would know that there was a house there at all when it was dark.
00:31:11
Speaker
When did electricity come around? I mean, yeah these were definitely lanterns and, yeah you know, wood stoves and stuff.
Kate Bender's Spiritualism
00:31:20
Speaker
But soon after the Johns built the house on the land, two women joined them.
00:31:25
Speaker
One I will refer to as Ma Bender, because honestly, nobody ever really knew her name because she was also a cantankerous bitch that nobody wanted to talk to. you I have seen it mentioned as maybe Elvira and maybe Kate.
00:31:36
Speaker
um But honestly, nobody really. Those are two completely different. There's reasons why those are attached. then Then the other one was also Kate Bender. She was young and charismatic and stuff. But so there's there's many theories about the relationships of this group.
00:31:53
Speaker
Kate and Gebhard claim to be brother and sister, but frequently acted closer than that. Cute, cute. It seemed that Ma Bender was in fact Kate's mother, but the rest of the connections are a little unclear.
00:32:06
Speaker
But Ma and Pa Bender were seen as grumpy and antisocial. I already mentioned that Gebhardt was charming and weird. Kate was charming and pretty and charismatic. Everybody in town loved her. until they didn't. The Bender's property, as I mentioned, was along the Osage Trail.
00:32:21
Speaker
They used their home as an inn for travelers to rest and stock up on supplies. They split the one-room cabin with an old wagon canvas. They lived in the back half, and the inn and the store were in the front.
00:32:32
Speaker
Kate and Gebhard were active in their community. They went to church and socialized with town people. Soon, Kate began to put out advertisements as Professor Katie Bender, a spiritualist medium and healer. Hmm.
00:32:44
Speaker
She would give speeches about spiritualism. She would include support of free love, which and he was especially scandalous in this time in general. Like free love as in like polyamory or free love as in like... As in free love, love as ah well, you know, in these speeches, she was even, however, quoted as saying that, shall we continue ourselves to a single love and deny our nature their proper sway, even though it be a brother's passion for his own sister?
00:33:11
Speaker
I say it should not be smothered. Oh, okay. Well, that's a take. That it is ah People knew them for being a little off, but Kate had a bit of a following with her spiritualism.
00:33:25
Speaker
Julia Hessler, who worked at the same hotel as Kate as a server, was really drawn to her. ah She had a strong interest in spiritualism, so when Kate invited her home for a seance, she was all about it.
00:33:37
Speaker
She hitched a ride on a stagecoach rather than taking her horse as she intended to stay the night. Julia was a little taken aback when she arrived to see that only she and Kate were there for the seance. These are normally attended by several people, but Kate brushed it off saying that the spirits won't talk when non-believers are present.
00:33:53
Speaker
So she basically... It's okay. Just to make sure that I am. So Kate and this other girl work at a hotel together. Kate got her interested in possibly doing a seance. So she went over to Kate's house that night.
00:34:09
Speaker
And now she's just alone with Kate in this house. That is where we are. To do a seance. Okay. Yes. Yeah, so so Kate did brush that off saying that, you know, with no non-believers present, they'd have a better chance at success.
00:34:20
Speaker
But Julia was also a bit shocked at how run down the place seemed to be. Like, it was just seemed really... gross and unkept but she you know or less had a girl crush on kate so she didn't want to offend her so she didn't say anything she just went with it they said at a table that was positioned in the back of that the area of the front area near the curtain with julia at the seat of honor back to the curtain while trying to settle for the seance julia was distracted by several fat flies and a strange smell
00:34:51
Speaker
Oh no. Again, she didn't want to offend Kate. So she just kind of sat through it. At one point though, she was distracted enough that she tried to peek behind the curtain. She thought better of it and turned back.
00:35:04
Speaker
And when she did, Kate was staring at her with no emotion. Kate insisted they continue. She closed her eyes and held Kate's hand while Kate was speaking to call the spirits. Something about her chanting seemed off. So Julia panicked and opened her eyes behind Kate stood John, Ma and Gebhardt.
00:35:25
Speaker
She mumbled something about needing to relieve herself and started to head towards the door. She saw John holding something heavy that shone a bit in the candlelight. Kate lunched for her and she took off out the door. She ran under the cover of darkness, but she could see the lanterns behind her.
00:35:40
Speaker
She kept looking for a place to make cover, but knew that they would catch up with her. But she did actually make it out. I was wondering. Why we have these details. That's I like, wait, how did we get all these details? Okay. That makes sense.
00:35:53
Speaker
It just really seemed like an eccentricity of these people. Like they just seemed like simple, weird people. Nothing really came out of that scenario yet at that point, because there was no real...
Investigations into the Benders
00:36:03
Speaker
maliciousness happening feel like you still should have reported that to someone well let's remember that this is a female a single female it's easy to overlook stuff people are too busy for that kind of bullshit nobody really looked into this there's dead bodies in there not yet well not in there we're gonna get to that yeah
00:36:26
Speaker
So when people first started going missing, it didn't really surprise anybody. Traveling was hard and the threats of bandits and horse thieves were real. There were communities of criminals that were basically Old West organized crime.
00:36:37
Speaker
It was not unusual people to just leave town to never be heard from again. Yeah, because I mean, people were traveling to like try to find their... fortune right yeah and the you know communication was spotty anyways even if you were sending a letter you know that that letter could get intercepted yeah you know pony express kind of stuff is you're hoping that that makes it all the way there with with no bandits or anything switching gears just a bit george longcore and his wife marianne lost their one-year-old son robert to pneumonia this was understandably heartbreaking and world-rocking for them
00:37:12
Speaker
Things began to improve when Marianne got pregnant with with their daughter. They had claimed their plot of land and were ready to start building their lives together. Unfortunately, Marianne died with complications in childbirth.
00:37:24
Speaker
Having lost his son and wife, George was distraught. He did what he could to care for his daughter, who he also named Marianne. His wife's parents begged him to move back to Ohio to be with them and let them help raise Marianne and let her be with family.
00:37:37
Speaker
For a year and a half, he was able to make it work still in Kansas. He befriended Dr. William York and his family. York came from a prominent family and was and his brother was a state senator.
00:37:49
Speaker
He and his wife had three kids and did what they could to treat George and his daughter as family. When William's wife, Mary, became pregnant with their fourth, it became more difficult for them to care for Marianne while George worked.
00:38:02
Speaker
He decided it was time to head back to Ohio for Marianne's benefit. The York sold him a wagon and helped him get supplies. Him and Marianne were on their way home. This is the last they were ever seen alive.
00:38:14
Speaker
Mm-hmm. York became concerned for his friend when he received word from George's wife's family in Ohio that they had not arrived and that they hadn't received any correspondence.
00:38:25
Speaker
Later on, he was traveling to the Osage area for his work as a doctor. While there, he asked after his friend. No one had any news for him, but one family invited him over for dinner.
00:38:35
Speaker
He declined, stating that he'd stop at the Bender's for dinner and stay in Cherryvale. He too would never be seen alive again. Ugh. His state senator brother, Alexander, took immediate action when William did not return home to his family.
00:38:50
Speaker
He gathered an entourage and headed out to question everyone he could about the whereabouts of his brother. After following the trail of tips, they wound up at the Benders. Gebhardt answered the door. he said he remembered the good doctor, said he had stopped for lunch and headed out soon after.
00:39:05
Speaker
you remembered his fancy horse and said that Kate always remembers the handsome guests. Gebhardt said he guessed that Dr. York was killed out by Drum Creek, as he himself had been shot out out there recently.
00:39:17
Speaker
He offered to take the entourage, and so they went. They found several bullet marks and some trees, and they also found a fresh grave, but when they dug it up, it was a pig that they found. yeah When they returned to the Bender cabin, Alexander York told Kate what they were looking for.
00:39:33
Speaker
She told him that if he came back alone, she would do a seance for him to reach out to his brother. He declined. Writing off the Benders as simple, they moved on and continued the search.
00:39:44
Speaker
There was even a town meeting in Cherryville to discuss the disappearances. William York and George Longcore were definitely not the only ones to go missing. John Bender and and John Gebhardt were both present for this meeting.
00:39:56
Speaker
Weeks later, it was discovered that the Bender cabin had been abandoned. o Their livestock was found starving and wandering aimlessly.
Discovery of the Benders' Crimes
00:40:05
Speaker
Some lawmen, Alexander York, and and a few others descended upon the Bender property for a proper search.
00:40:12
Speaker
There was an intense smell of blood in the cabin that they traced to the cellar. There were no bodies in the cellar, but there were bloodstains and pools of blood present. It was likely where they killed he killed the people.
00:40:24
Speaker
They found three hammers and a bloody knife. Finally, someone found some disturbed loose dirt in the Bender's orchard. That's when they started to discover the bodies. All in all, they found bodies and miscellaneous body parts to account for at least 20 victims. Oh my gosh The primary cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head paired with a slit throat.
00:40:45
Speaker
William York was identified by his clothing, as was George Longcore, paired with the fact that he was buried with his 18-month-old daughter. no, no, no, no. She appeared to have been buried alive. Oh my god. Oh, horrible.
00:41:01
Speaker
It seemed that Kate would distract their visitors while they were sitting at the head of the table. While they were focused on her, John or Gebhardt would strike them with a hammer from behind the curtain, and then they would slit their throat for good measure.
00:41:12
Speaker
They targeted mostly people that have been holding large amounts of cash for the purpose of starting their homestead. Some seemed to be targeted for the sake of killing. was about to say, like... Yeah. The search from the benders came with a hefty reward of $2,000, which is $50,000 today. Mm-hmm.
00:41:29
Speaker
There's evidence that they traveled north and detoured south to end up being sheltered by one of those previously mentioned organized crime communities. Several people were either outed as hiding the benders or claimed to be them.
00:41:42
Speaker
ah None of these had enough evidence to support that they were actually in fact the benders. Oh yeah, because I mean I guess they didn't have good pictures at the time. They didn't have any pictures them. I've got a couple of sketches in here that were composite sketches from everybody's descriptions and stuff. So I'll show you those. You really could just disappear at that time. You really, really could. It was so easy.
The Benders' Escape and Legacy
00:42:02
Speaker
There was a heavy a rumor that some vigilante justice was served and that the vendors were murdered by a lynch mob. There's several people that were quoted to say they'll never find them. Or there was also people that strangely stopped caring so hard about finding them. So that's probably what happened.
00:42:20
Speaker
In the end, there is no concrete proof of what happened to the bloody vendors and the $2,000 reward was never claimed. I will note that the Bender property was purchased a few years ago and the new owner, Bob Miller, is working with Kansas University on an archaeological dig of the site in an attempt to find more pieces to the puzzle.
00:42:36
Speaker
How that's cool. Yeah. So there's and there's so much to this story. i actually... There's a book called the Hell's Half Acre that will be part of my nightmare fuel.
00:42:47
Speaker
I listened to it twice. Oh, wow. It was doing it while i was doing the construction on the, while we were doing the build. And so I had a lot of time to just listen to it And so I soaked in and the stories. There are so many details that are so fascinating about the story that,
00:43:00
Speaker
I really think more people should look into it. There are more detailed accounts of some of the other victims and ah near victims of the vendors. There's more context to all of the players and the investigations. If you want to know more, it's again called hell's half acre from Susan Jonas's.
00:43:16
Speaker
And just to show you the pictures, this is an actual picture of them doing the looking for the, the, the, The bodies.
00:43:27
Speaker
There's the $2,000 reward thing. That's the composite sketches. Wow. There's the thing. That's the historical marker that's there now. That's the three hammers. And the knife.
00:43:40
Speaker
That's the layout of the cabin. Gosh. The cabin. The reason... Okay, so you mentioned that it was giving you Texas Chainsaw Massacre vibes. Yeah. Did you ever watch House of affair Thousand Corpses? Yes. Or Devil's Rejects? Yes.
00:43:54
Speaker
So that's the vibes it was giving me with Kate charming people and luring them in like like Baby did. And then... the the men of the family doing the murdering or whatnot. And then there being the, like the crazy mom figure, it felt very that to me. And so I then looked it up and yes, Rob Zombie used the story as inspiration for that.
00:44:15
Speaker
Oh, that's cool. So
00:44:21
Speaker
having said that my nightmare fuel is all of those things I just mentioned. Hell's Half Acre by Susan Jonas. It's, it reads like a story. It's like prose and and not, it's like a narrative instead of like just like case facts or something like that. So it's kind of easy to follow for people who are less into something more clinical.
00:44:40
Speaker
Definitely recommend that. And then, so how do you feel about the Rob Zombie movies? I like them. Okay. There's a lot of hate from the horror community, I feel.
00:44:51
Speaker
And so I looked up to see what people were mad about. And it's, and it really kind of seems to be different things. And i'm I'm actually going to chalk it up to like, it's just not their style of horror. There's so many different styles of horror.
00:45:01
Speaker
But I rewatched House of a Thousand Corpses and Devil's Rejects after I finished the story. And i I still stand by my love of them. I think they're excellent. I think that I will i understand a lot of the references, which helps because, you know, you may not understand a choice if you don't know where it comes from. Yeah. So that's that's fair. That's fair. It's not for everybody. But I think that both of those movies are two excellent examples of really well done horror.
00:45:26
Speaker
And they're both completely different from each other. So they're disturbing and dark. So if you don't like disturbing and dark, first of all, why are you here? Second of all, probably skip these.
00:45:37
Speaker
But they're my nightmare fuel. That's that's what i've I've been just, you know me, I like to obsess about the things I'm obsessing about. So I've been just all up in the benders and then now the fireflies through the the Rob Zombie stuff. But that's been my life.
00:45:51
Speaker
Would you say you went on a bender?
00:45:57
Speaker
No.
00:46:05
Speaker
I have two questions for you today. Okay. For our palate cleanser. Cleansing of the palate. Yes. Question number one. If you had to lose one of your sensations, so like touch, taste, sight, hearing, there's something else I'm missing, smell, which one would it be and why?
00:46:28
Speaker
If you had to choose one to lose, That's a really hard question. question Follow-up question. Because taste and smell are so intricately... You can only keep one.
00:46:40
Speaker
But if you don't have smell... You can only keep one. I'm asking a clarification here. If you don't have smell, do you still taste things then? Probably not the same. So think of like COVID...
00:46:51
Speaker
you're right like where it kind of things just kind of tasted salty got it if i don't have the feel of touch does that mean i don't feel pain i guess so don't think that we're gonna go with that one okay because i can't not have music and i can't not see i really like food a lot so see that was my big one i was like if i had to keep one i felt could only keep one you could only keep one yeah then it would be sound what about you if you could only keep one This is the real nightmare.
00:47:21
Speaker
To me, sound is just so descriptive. Does that make sense? Like I can listen to something and i can I can see it. I can smell it. I can taste it. It's for me, the way...
00:47:33
Speaker
when things are described or it's why i love poetry and and prose. And I just, I like reading like, right. Yeah. It's just, I know that sounds weird because that's not sound, but to me, like those, you wouldn't have sight. So you'd have to listen to your books.
00:47:48
Speaker
That's true. I'm getting used to it. Nice. It's just, for me, it's the distractions that I can't. That's the only reason I can't. Cause like every five seconds I have a child coming up to me and I'm like, what?
00:47:58
Speaker
Pause. Yeah. I feel like I could get behind hearing as well. And that might just be because of my assumption that my hearing would be my eyes at that point.
00:48:13
Speaker
Like in Daredevil. Yeah, no, I'd say the same. Okay. If I had to only have one. Question number two. Okay. In an apocalypse where there are only zombies and vampires left, which, for lack of a better word, virus wins?
00:48:32
Speaker
can a zombie virus overtake vampirism or will vampirism take over a zombie virus? So that feels like a complex question because how can you kill what is already dead?
00:48:46
Speaker
They're both dead. That's what I'm saying. Yeah. So. So you don't think that vampires would be able to be infected the way, same way humans are for a zombie virus.
00:48:56
Speaker
And then same thing with, That zombies feels correct. I mean, well, and it's also kind of, you know, which lore are you talking about? Because there's no blood for the zombies to drain, for the vampires to drain out of the zombies.
00:49:09
Speaker
I mean, they're bloody. Coagulated depends on, i mean, if we're to the point where that's all that's left, what's regenerating their blood? like That's true. But like, if you watch like all the zombie horror, like you cut off a limb, they they squirt.
00:49:24
Speaker
I'm just picturing like a rotted, like an actual rotted body. Yeah. I'm thinking of a real life decomp here.
00:49:33
Speaker
And just thinking about the the actual physiological. So you think they'll both kind of die out because neither of them can survive on the other. Yeah. they' yeah There's just not a food source. I mean, ah feel like zombies just need brains and vampires still have brains.
00:49:48
Speaker
Do zombies poop?
00:49:52
Speaker
do zombies poop? Yeah. I imagine their digestive system is also not alive. Well then, like, how are they eating people? I think... zomb Zombie is supposed to be, like, an unchecked hunger. Right. Well, it depends, again, on your lore, but yes, a flesh eater or one who is attempting to get to brains.
00:50:13
Speaker
So I guess it depends on which of those you're looking at. If it's a brain zombie, I would think that, yeah, maybe you're right. Maybe they could overtake the vampires because the vampires have brains, but the zombies don't really have blood.
00:50:24
Speaker
But I've also heard that in a pinch, um I think it's coconut milk can be substituted for plasma if you need a transfusion in an emergency.
00:50:37
Speaker
So maybe they can survive off of coconut milk instead of blood. That sounds weird. you imagine a vegan vampire?
00:50:49
Speaker
Oh, that's funny. It's kind of like Marceline, actually, from Adventure Time. love Marceline. yes She just sucks red out of things. Yes. Love it. That's all I have.
00:51:02
Speaker
like that. Actually, I kind of hate it a little bit though, because i don't like making hard, to hard hypothetical decisions that don't matter.
00:51:11
Speaker
i guess that's enough for this nightmare. It is sweet dreams. If you dare. If you have topic requests, book or movie recommendations, or just want to say hi, email us at nightmare cottage at gmail.com or visit our website at nightmare cottage.com sweet dreams.
00:51:31
Speaker
Bye bye.