Horrorwood: True Crime in Tinseltown
**2025 Ambie Award Nominee: Best Indie Podcast Hosts** Kate and Kevin met way back when they worked together at a (likely haunted) theatre and the two became fast friends. Skip ahead a few years to present day, where they mostly sit around and talk about true crime. From horrific homicides to unsolved mysteries, spooky haunts to behind-the-scenes secrets, these two are here to bring you all the drama - and trauma - of Tinseltown. Settle in, Misfits.
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Episodes
4 hours ago
4 hours ago
When Frank Sinatra, Jr. checked into his motel room in Lake Tahoe, he never could have predicted the circumstances in which he'd be checking out. What ensued was a comedy of errors involving a snowstorm, a musical legend, and a hapless kidnapper with a heart of gold.
Episode Sources:
“The Grand Scheme: Snatching Sinatra” hosted by John Stamos
“The True Story of the 1963 Kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr.” by Lauren Kranc, Esquire, Jul 27, 2021
“Frank Sinatra, Jr., Kidnapping” FBI
“Kidnapping As Plan B” Hosted by Ira Glass, This American Life
“61 Years Ago Today, Frank Sinatra Jr. Was Kidnapped: Why His Dad Began Carrying Dimes in His Pockets” by Corin Cesaric, People, Dec 08, 2024
“Frank Sinatra Jr: 'I was living in his shadow’” by Nick Duerden, The Guardian, Aug 31, 2012
“Frank Sinatra Jr. abducted from Tahoe motel” Reno Gazette Journal, Dec 9, 1963
“A Kidnapper's Story: Can Crime Pay?” By Rene Sanchez, The Washington Post, Dec 21, 1999
“There’s Nothing to Be Sorry For” TIME, Dec 20, 1963
“MYSTERIOUS FINANCIER: Dean Torrence and the Kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr.” by Mark A. Moore, Jan Berry Official Site, Dec 30, 2017
“Regrets, Sinatra Jr. kidnapper has had a few” by Michael Corcoran, Feb 2001
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Monday Jun 02, 2025
Monday Jun 02, 2025
Garrett Warren was at the top of his game when he was gunned down in the doorway of his home - and in front of his mother, no less. But why would anyone want to murder a man described as a kind, generous friend and focused professional? This case has some wild twists and turns involving a pizza parlor, a picture taken at a party and...Home Alone's Joe Pesci???? And how did one misspelled word put the nail in the coffin, so to speak?
Episode Sources:
Dateline: The Plot Thickens, S21 E1
“When It Mattered: Garrett Warren” hosted by Chitra Ragavan
“Private eye drops suit against Pesci” by the Associated Press
Interview with Garrett Warren by Brad Curran
“Husband Tells Story of Hitman Attack” - transcript, Nancy Grace
“Did Joe Pesci’s Ex Hire a Hitman?” By Christine Pelisek
"Primed for Pain" by Chitra Ragavan
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Nicholas Davio - nicholasdavio.com, @mr.nick.davio, @huron_coast
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Monday May 26, 2025
Monday May 26, 2025
The infamous Annabelle doll may have become a Hollywood horror icon thanks to The Conjuring universe, but her real story is even creepier. Originally a possessed…ahem, manipulated…Raggedy Ann doll, Annabelle was investigated by paranormal legends Ed and Lorraine Warren in the 1970s. From her eerie beginnings with two nurses to her terrifying reputation for causing harm and death, Annabelle’s legend has only grown—especially now that she’s hitting the road, drawing crowds across America.
Episode Sources:
“Here’s how the nighttime escape of 10 Louisiana inmates from a New Orleans jail unfolded” by TuAnh Dam and Rafael Romo, May 18, 2025, CNN US
“Why Is Annabelle Touring the US? Quick Facts About the Doll and 'Devils on the Run'” by Shyna Mae Deang, May 20, 2025, International Business Times UK
“Annabelle Comes Home cast tells us why the set may have been haunted” by SyFy Wire Staff, July 1, 2019, SyFy
“What Caused the Nottoway Plantation Fire and Why is Annabelle The Doll Being Linked To It?” by Shyna Mae Deang, May 20, 2025, MSN
“Real ‘Annabelle’ story shared by Lorraine Warren at Milford’s Lauralton Hall” by Pam McLoughin, October 4, 2014, New Haven Register
“Annabelle The Haunted Doll” from Boston Ghosts, Posted May 26, 2025, updated February 7, 2025
“Johnny Gruelle: A Biography of the Illustrator” from Pook Press
“Inside The Warren Museum, Ed And Lorraine Warren’s Peculiar Collection Of Occult Artifacts” by Austin Harvey, Edited by Jaclyn Anglis, Published June 10, 2024, Updated February 12, 2025, All That’s Interesting (ATI)
“True Story of the Annabelle Doll | Real Annabelle Doll from the Conjuring” from Haunted Rooms
“Meet The Real Haunted Doll Behind ‘Annabelle’” by Katie Serena, October 1, 2023, All That’s Interesting (ATI)
“Everything to know about Annabelle, Ed and Lorraine Warren and 'The Conjuring'” by Andrew DaRosa, May 16, 2025, CT Insider
“Annabelle” from the New England Society for Psychic Research
“Annabelle True Story & What The Conjuring Movies Changed” by Charles Nicholas Raymond and Dani Kessel Odom, July 2, 2024, Screen Rant
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Wednesday May 21, 2025
Wednesday May 21, 2025
"There's trouble in Room 100." Those were the words muttered by a male caller to the man working the front desk of the Chelsea Hotel the morning of October 12, 1978. The "trouble" was that 20-year-old Nancy Spungen was dead in the bathroom from a single stab wound to her abdomen. Multiple people had been in and out of the room throughout the previous night, but only one was considered a suspect: Sid Vicious.
Episode Sources:
“In Search of Sid” - Radio 4 Documentary about Sid Vicious with Jah Wobble
“Sad Vacation: The Last Days of Sid and Nancy” dir. Danny Garcia, 2015
“The Not So Lonesome Death of Nancy Spungen” by Ann Louise Bardach, Oct 26, 1978
“Cop Treated Sid Vicious Like A Regular Punk” - transcripts from grand jury presentation, The Smoking Gun
“25 Up: Punk’s Silver Jubilee: So Tough: The Boy Behind the Sid Vicious Myth” by Charlotte Robinson, PopMatters, Nov 08, 2001
“Sid: By Those Who Knew Him” - documentary
“And I Don’t Want to Live This Life: A Mother’s Story of Her Daughter’s Murder” by Deborah Spungen, 1983
“ABO Incompatibility in a Newborn: Why Blood Type Matters in Pregnancy” by Alicia Stevens, MD and Karla Robinson, MD, GoodRx, Apr 3, 2023
“My New York: Sid & Nancy” by Reed Tucker, New York Post, Jul 25, 2010
“Flashback: Nancy Spungen Found Dead at Chelsea Hotel” by Jessica Wakeman, Rolling Stone, Oct 12, 2017
“The Not So Lonesome Death of Nancy Spungen” by Ann Bardach, SoHo Weekly News, Oct 26, 1978
“‘He Said He Was Going To Kill’” by David Hershkovits & Lesley Vinson, SoHo Weekly News, Oct 19-25, 1978
“Nancy and Sid: A punk mystery story” by Deborah Orr, The Independent, Oct 11, 2003
“Sid’s Way: The Life and Death of Sid Vicious” by Keith Bateson & Alan Parker, 1991
“Freedom, festivity and dead by sunrise: Inside Sid Vicious’s drug-fuelled last party” The Independent, May 28, 2024
“The Day Punk Died” by Karen Schoemer, New York Magazine, October 17, 2008
“1978: Sex Pistol Vicious on murder charge” BBC, Oct 12, 1978
“The Jaw-Dropping Story Behind Sid and Nancy, Punk Rock's Most Tragic Romance” by Natalie Finn, E News, Nov 6, 2021
“When I Lived Across the Hall From Sid Vicious” by Donna Florio, Literary Hub, Mar 9, 2021
“Who Killed Nancy?” dir. Alan Parker, 2010
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Wednesday May 21, 2025
Wednesday May 21, 2025
When we ended Part 1, Nancy had just moved from New York to London and met The Sex Pistols' bassist Sid Vicious. In Nancy's opinion, Sid was an incredibly talented musician and wonderful boyfriend, but Sid had a violent side...
Episode Sources:
“In Search of Sid” - Radio 4 Documentary about Sid Vicious with Jah Wobble
“Sad Vacation: The Last Days of Sid and Nancy” dir. Danny Garcia, 2015
“The Not So Lonesome Death of Nancy Spungen” by Ann Louise Bardach, Oct 26, 1978
“Cop Treated Sid Vicious Like A Regular Punk” - transcripts from grand jury presentation, The Smoking Gun
“25 Up: Punk’s Silver Jubilee: So Tough: The Boy Behind the Sid Vicious Myth” by Charlotte Robinson, PopMatters, Nov 08, 2001
“Sid: By Those Who Knew Him” - documentary
“And I Don’t Want to Live This Life: A Mother’s Story of Her Daughter’s Murder” by Deborah Spungen, 1983
“ABO Incompatibility in a Newborn: Why Blood Type Matters in Pregnancy” by Alicia Stevens, MD and Karla Robinson, MD, GoodRx, Apr 3, 2023
“My New York: Sid & Nancy” by Reed Tucker, New York Post, Jul 25, 2010
“Flashback: Nancy Spungen Found Dead at Chelsea Hotel” by Jessica Wakeman, Rolling Stone, Oct 12, 2017
“The Not So Lonesome Death of Nancy Spungen” by Ann Bardach, SoHo Weekly News, Oct 26, 1978
“‘He Said He Was Going To Kill’” by David Hershkovits & Lesley Vinson, SoHo Weekly News, Oct 19-25, 1978
“Nancy and Sid: A punk mystery story” by Deborah Orr, The Independent, Oct 11, 2003
“Sid’s Way: The Life and Death of Sid Vicious” by Keith Bateson & Alan Parker, 1991
“Freedom, festivity and dead by sunrise: Inside Sid Vicious’s drug-fuelled last party” The Independent, May 28, 2024
“The Day Punk Died” by Karen Schoemer, New York Magazine, October 17, 2008
“1978: Sex Pistol Vicious on murder charge” BBC, Oct 12, 1978
“The Jaw-Dropping Story Behind Sid and Nancy, Punk Rock's Most Tragic Romance” by Natalie Finn, E News, Nov 6, 2021
“When I Lived Across the Hall From Sid Vicious” by Donna Florio, Literary Hub, Mar 9, 2021
“Who Killed Nancy?” dir. Alan Parker, 2010
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Monday May 12, 2025
Monday May 12, 2025
There was nothing simple about Nancy Spungen, punk rock fanatic and girlfriend of "The Sex Pistols" bassist Sid Vicious. Her life was a revolving door of psychiatric clinics, prescription-happy physicians and an undiagnosed mental illness stemming from a traumatic birth. The details of her death have remained a topic of discussion for decades. Police say it was a murder and Sid is the one to blame, but did he do it?
Episode Sources:
“And I Don’t Want to Live This Life: A Mother’s Story of Her Daughter’s Murder” by Deborah Spungen, 1983
“ABO Incompatibility in a Newborn: Why Blood Type Matters in Pregnancy” by Alicia Stevens, MD and Karla Robinson, MD, GoodRx, Apr 3, 2023
“My New York: Sid & Nancy” by Reed Tucker, New York Post, Jul 25, 2010
“Flashback: Nancy Spungen Found Dead at Chelsea Hotel” by Jessica Wakeman, Rolling Stone, Oct 12, 2017
“The Not So Lonesome Death of Nancy Spungen” by Ann Bardach, SoHo Weekly News, Oct 26, 1978
“‘He Said He Was Going To Kill’” by David Hershkovits & Lesley Vinson, SoHo Weekly News, Oct 19-25, 1978
“Nancy and Sid: A punk mystery story” by Deborah Orr, The Independent, Oct 11, 2003
“Sid’s Way: The Life and Death of Sid Vicious” by Keith Bateson & Alan Parker, 1991
“Freedom, festivity and dead by sunrise: Inside Sid Vicious’s drug-fuelled last party” The Independent, May 28, 2024
“The Day Punk Died” by Karen Schoemer, New York Magazine, October 17, 2008
“1978: Sex Pistol Vicious on murder charge” BBC, Oct 12, 1978
“The Jaw-Dropping Story Behind Sid and Nancy, Punk Rock's Most Tragic Romance” by Natalie Finn, E News, Nov 6, 2021
“When I Lived Across the Hall From Sid Vicious” by Donna Florio, Literary Hub, Mar 9, 2021
“Who Killed Nancy?” dir. Alan Parker, 2010
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horrorwoodpodcast@gmail.com
Creeptastic theme music by:
Nicholas Davio - nicholasdavio.com, @mr.nick.davio, @huron_coast
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Monday May 05, 2025
Monday May 05, 2025
Welcome to the life of Benjamin Jonson—widely regarded as the second-best playwright of the Elizabethan era and ALWAYS in competition with Shakespeare. Before rising to literary fame, Jonson was part of the Admiral’s Men acting troupe in London, where he found himself caught in deadly dramas on and offstage. In 1598, he killed actor Gabriel Spencer in a duel—an encounter that turned fatal with a man already known for his violent streak.
Episode Sources:
“The Revels Plays: The Alchemist” by Ben Jonson, edited by F.H. Mares, Manchester University Press, copyright F.H. Mares 1967, published by Methuen & Co., pg. xvii - xxvii, accessed through Google Books May 2, 2025
“Ben Johnson A Life” by Ian Donaldson, Published by Oxford University Press, copyright Ian Doanldson 2011, accessed through Google Books May 2, 2025
“A History of London’s Prisons” by Geoffrey Howse, published by Grub Street Publishers, accessed via Google Books on May 2, 2025
“Middlesex County Records” from Middlesex County Record Society, accessed through Google Books on May 2, 2025
“Playwright Ben Jonson Duels to the Death” by Mathew Lyons, Volume 73, Issue 9, September 9, 2023, History Today
“Elizabethan playwright Ben Jonson once beat a murder charge by translating some Latin” by Olivia Rutigliano, February 21, 2020, Lit Hub
“Ben Jonson’s Murder Charge” by Mike Paterson, November 21, 2018, London Historians’ Blog
“Isle of Dogs, The” from Lost Plays Database
“Psalm 51, New International Version” from BibleGateway
“Category: Gabriel Spencer” from Lost Plays Database
“Gabriel Spencer” from Find A Grave
“Ben Jonson and Shakespeare” with Greg Doran, Shakespeare birthplace trust
“Gunpowder, treason and Jonson” by Rosalind Miles, November 20, 2005, Prospect
“Privy Council” The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica, 1 Apr. 2025
“Benefit of clergy” by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Sep. 2007
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Monday Apr 28, 2025
Monday Apr 28, 2025
We're talking today about the beloved children's classic that features a demonic recluse who delights in the torture of children, while his enslaved factory workers are forced to sing and dance in unison. Believe it or not I actually love this film. Come with me, Misfits. It'll be a scrumdiddlyumtious good time!
Episode Sources:
“Pure Imagination: The Making of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” by director Mel Stuart with Josh Young, 2002
“The Real Story Behind Roald Dahl’s ‘Black Charlie’” by Maria Russo, The New York Times, Sep 22, 2017
“The Troubled History of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” Yesterworld Entertainment, Mar 10, 2022
“Gene Wilder obituary: Willy Wonka and Blazing Saddles star who grew to dislike the business of ‘show’" by Tom Vallance, Independent, Aug 29 2016
“30 Deliciously Surprising Facts About 'Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory’” by Haley Adams Raymond, Good Housekeeping, Dec 12 , 2023
“My life as an Oompa Loompa: 'Willy Wonka was my first and favourite film’” by Rusty Goff, The Guardian, July 27, 2005
“Berry Happy” by Michelle Tauber, People, Jan 22, 2001
“‘Willy Wonka’ at 50: Child Stars Recall the Making of the Film” by Seth Abramovitch, The Hollywood Reporter, June 30, 2021
“Strange Stories From Behind The Scenes Of Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory” by Erin McCann, Ranker, Apr 24, 2024
“Pure Imagination: The Story of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” documentary
“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory hero 'was originally black’” by Haroon Siddique, The Guardian, Sep 13, 2017
“The Strange Case of ‘The Miracle’” by Bosley Crowther, The Atlantic, Apr 1951
“A Century in Exhibition – The 1960s: The Collapse of the Studio System” Box Office Pro, Aug 12, 2020
“Cadbury faces fresh accusations of child labour on cocoa farms in Ghana” by Jon Ungoed-Thomas, The Guardian, Apr 3, 2022
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Nicholas Davio - nicholasdavio.com, @mr.nick.davio, @huron_coast
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