Are curses real, or are they only coincidence and suspicion? A look at beliefs about curses and their occurrence in local and state history.

The witching hour is upon us once again, listeners. 2020 has been a frightful year and I haven't done much work on the podcast. But if I'm going to record at all, it's going to be the annual Halloween episode. Tune in to hear a few tales of the dark, morbid and macabre...Happy Halloween!

For hundreds of years, Texans have been reporting sightings of strange crafts and alien visitors across the Lone Star State. Some of the most incredible of these encounters have taken place right here in East Texas. Tune into this episode of the Dispatch to learn about mysterious sightings, unexplained aerial phenomena and otherworldly visitors here behind the Pine Curtain.

The time of spooks and shadows has descended upon nowhere once again, listeners. In this third installment of my spooky stories episodes, tune in to hear six tales of ghosts, mysterious figures and the morbid, fascinating burial and mourning traditions of the South. Just in time for Halloween, follow me across Texas and the South with these macabre stories to get you in the mood for the eeriest (and best) season of the year.

Murders leave a legacy. Even out here in the middle of nowhere, they leave echoes, reaching across time and through memory to haunt us. The stories of infamous murders are shared and shared again as a way of preserving the lives of those taken too soon, as a way of warning others and as a way of making sense of sudden tragedy. In this episode, I'll share with you stories of three infamous East Texas murders and the strange circumstances surrounding them. Tune in, and remember the stories of those who were struck down before their time.

Some magic is born of necessity. Instead of a wand or staff, folks were more likely to use a forked twig or a piece of silverware. Instead of elaborate potions and elixirs, common people would use water, herbs and river stones. Instead of an ancient, leather-bound grimoire or tome, more people than you’d expect would look to the Holy Bible for spellwork.This magic is as real to the people who practice it as making a phone call or bandaging a paper cut is to you or me. It’s been practiced since the dawn of humankind, it’s still practiced today and it’s been going on right here in East Texas from the very beginning.In this episode, tune in to learn about the strange history of folk magic in East Texas and the South and some of the legends about these mysterious practices.

For more than 200 years, Texas has used the death penalty to punish its worst criminals and to dissuade others from committing similar crimes. From hemp rope and gallows poles to lethal injection, the Lone Star State has made history in this grim practice and now executes more prisoners than any other state in the country. The practice has changed over time and the process has never been as simple or straightforward as some might think. On this episode of the Dispatch, I'll tell you about the long and dark history of capital punishment in Texas and several death penalty cases which made their way to this part of the state.

In 1999, a man named John Joe Gray was arrested near Trinidad, Texas. He resisted arrest and was booked but never returned for his court date. He returned to his property and fortified it into a compound. What followed was the longest armed standoff in US history. Tune in it this episode of the Dispatch to learn about the standoff, Gray's allegiance to sovereign citizen and separatist groups and the state of the country then, and now, that leads to situations like this.

In October 2006, the burning body of a young woman was found on an oil lease road in Kilgore, Texas. For the next 12 years, investigators, internet sleuths and police searched for her name, her identity and her killer. Progress was made but never fully realized...until very recently. Tune in to this episode of the Dispatch to learn about the tragic case of Lavender Doe and the amazing technology that may lead to her identification.

It's the early 1840s in East Texas and a gang of gun-toting outlaws have taken over Shelby County. Led by a violent, bloodthirsty colonel, the band does as they please and punishes all who oppose them. The penalty for opposing Regulator rule is death and their only enemy, the Moderators, have been driven underground. But, as so often happens, corruption and power soon reach their limits. In a story populated by characters, both wicked and wretched, who could only be found on the bloodstained pages of backwoods lore, all is nearly lost for settlers in the deep frontier, trying to find their place and purpose among the pines. Tune in for the conclusion to a two-part series on this dark, eerie chapter of my local history: the Regulator-Moderator War.