Horrorwood: True Crime in Tinseltown

Actor Shelley Malil was best known for his role in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, but his life took a shocking turn when a troubled romance ended in a brutal stabbing. In August 2008, his former girlfriend, Kendra Beebe, barely survived a vicious attack at her California home.
 
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Episode Sources:
“Shelley Malil, '40-Year-Old Virgin' actor, granted parole after serving 8 years for stabbing ex-girlfriend” by ABC7, August 30, 201
“'40-Year-Old Virgin' Actor in Prison for Attempted Murder To Be Released” by NBC7 Staff, August 28, 2018, NBC7 San Diego
“Shelley Malil Attempted Murder Trial: Actor Charged with Stabbing Ex With a Butcher Knife” by Carlin Miller, September 1, 2010, CBS News
“'40-Year-Old Virgin' actor gets life in stabbing with data” by Elliot Spagat, December 17, 2010, NBC News
“'40-Year-Old Virgin' Actor: I Stabbed Girlfriend by Mistake” by Dahvi Shira, September 9, 2010, People
“'Virgin' Actor Found Guilty Of Attempted Murder” by The Associated Press, September 16, 2010, CBS News
“Shelley Malil Attorneys Question Ex Kendra Beebe's Credibility” by Caroline Black, September 2, 2010, CBS News
“Knife-Attack Survivor Featured on TV Series” by Eva Knott, July 12, 2012, San Diego Reader
"'40-year-old Virgin' actor's ex reacts to parole: 'I'll always have to watch my back'” from ABC News, September 22, 2018
“DA: 'Mountain of evidence' against 'Virgin' actor” by The Associated Press, September 15, 2010, Today
“Jurors Learn Lurid Details at ‘Virgin' Actor Trial” by Artie Ojeda, August 30, 2010, NBC7 San Diego
Shelley Malil Biography on IMDb
“Episode 79: Hollywood Horror” by Not Today, April 26, 2022
 
Creeptastic theme music by:
Nicholas Davio - nicholasdavio.com, @mr.nick.davio, @huron_coast
 
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Everyone knows the Sanderson sisters from Hocus Pocus, but could their story have a connection to three real sisters from Salem's dark past? Rebecca Nurse, Mary Eastey, and Sarah Cloyce were caught in the deadly witch trials of 1692, where accusations of witchcraft tore their family apart. Discover the tragic true story of the Towne sisters and their connection to the beloved Halloween classic.
 
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Episode Sources:
“Hocus Pocus” on Disney Wiki
“The Witchcraft Trial of Mary Easty” by Rebecca Beatrice Brooks, December 15, 2015, History of Massachusetts Blog
“The dark history behind the seasonal comedy Hocus Pocus” by Anna Parsons, October 29, 2020, The Uproar
“Towne Family” from Salem Links and Lore
“Sarah Cloyce: Accused in the Salem Witch Trials” by Jone Johnson Lewis, May 24, 2017, ThoughtCo.
“Rebecca Towne Nurse – Hanged as a Witch” from Legends of America
“Towne Family Celebrates Lineage at the House of the Seven Gables” by Kevin Letourneau, August 14, 2011, Updated August 21, 2011, Patch
“The Real Life Sanderson Sisters“ by The FilmFanTwins, October 30, 2025, The FilmFan Blog!!!
“The Woman Who May Have Inspired Hocus Pocus” by Veronika Lee, September 13, 2022, Grunge
“The Real Story Behind Hocus Pocus” by Mister D, September 30, 2025, Bootleg Betty - A DailyDose of the Divine Bette Midler
“Sarah and Peter Cloyce Home, Site of” from Salem Witch Museum
“The Baby Girl of the Towne Family, Sarah Cloyce Part 1” by WomenOfEssex, September 17, 2023, Medium
“Salem Village, Sarah Cloyce Part 2” by WomenOfEssex, September 27, 2023, Medium
“The Towne Sisters, Sarah Cloyce Part 3” by WomenOfEssex, October 23, 2023, Medium
“The Towne Sisters go to Trial, Sarah Cloyce Part 4” by WomenOfEssex, October 24, 2023, Medium
 
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Nicholas Davio - nicholasdavio.com, @mr.nick.davio, @huron_coast
 
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In 1878 a 13-year-old girl moved in with another family and lived with them for three months...as their dead daughter.
 
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Episode Sources:
“The Watseka Wonder” by Dr. E. Winchester Stevens, 1878
“Lurancy Vennum (Watseka Wonder)” PSI Encyclopedia
“Ghost Brothers: Lights Out” S1E1 - Roff Family Rituals
“Buried Secrets” NBC, 1996
“The Watseka Wonder” by Monica Otoide, Univ. of IL Urbana-Champaign, Oct 29, 2018
“Through a glass darkly: patients of the Illinois State Hospital for the Insane at Jacksonville, USA (1854–80)”
“Nevins v. the City of Peoria” Supreme Court of IL, 1866
Asa Berry Roff Biography - Iroquois County Genealogical Society
Roff House - 2020 Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award for Restoration
“The Water-Cure Journal and Herald of Reform” by Rachel Williams, Jan 31, 2017
 
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Nicholas Davio - nicholasdavio.com, @mr.nick.davio, @huron_coast
 
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*Special Announcement* We've got a little something for ya in this episode. Be sure to listen!
 
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On a chilly December evening in 1926, British crime author Agatha Christie walked out of her house, got in her car and drove away. When she didn't return home that night her house staff grew concerned. When her car was found the following morning, halfway down a grassy embankment with her driver's license and other belongings still inside, the entire nation waited on pins and needles to learn her fate.
 
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Episode Sources:
“Agatha Christie and the 11 Missing Days” by Jared Cade, 1998
“Mrs. Agatha Christie, Novelist, Disappears In Strange Way From Her Home in England” The New York Times, Dec 6, 1926
“Mrs. Agatha Christie: Her Own Story of Her Disappearance” Daily Mail, 1928
“The Curious Disappearance of Agatha Christie” by Ben Johnson, Historic UK, Dec 19, 2014
“The Original Gone Girl: Agatha Christie’s Mysterious Disappearance” by Catherine Ostler, The Independent, Nov 4, 2014
“Christie's most famous mystery solved at last” by Vanessa Thorpe, The Guardian, Oct 14, 2006
Agatha Christie Website
 
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Nicholas Davio - nicholasdavio.com, @mr.nick.davio, @huron_coast
 
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We're back with Part 2 of the Hull-House Devil Baby, and this week we're talking all about its influence on "Rosemary''s Baby" and the tragedies that seemed to curse those involved with the film.
 
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Episode Sources:
“Rosemary’s Baby” on IMDb
“11 Allegedly Cursed Movie Productions And The Eerie Incidents That Surrounded Them” by Austin Henry, Edited by John Kuroski, Published October 10, 2023, Updated July 2, 2026, All Things Interesting
“Rosemary’s Baby: The Devil Was Not Only in the Details” by Wojciech Oleksiak, Published March 26, 2015, Updated April 16, 2015, Culture.Pl
“Dissecting the curse of Roman Polanski’s horror classic ‘Rosemary’s Baby’” by Swapnil Dhruv Bose, November 24, 2020, Far Out Magazine
“The Most Cursed Hit Movie Ever Made” by Rosemary Counter, June 1, 2017, Vanity Fair
““Stuck with Satan”: Ira Levin on the Origins of Rosemary’s Baby” by Ira Levin, April 2003, November 5, 2012, Criterion
“Bill Stoner and the Cotton Club Case” by Steven Powell, June 14, 2024, The Venetian Vase
“4 CONVICTED IN SLAYING OF THEATRICAL PRODUCER” by Deseret News, July 23, 1991
 
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Nicholas Davio - nicholasdavio.com, @mr.nick.davio, @huron_coast
 
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Jane Addams opened Hull-House in 1889 with a mission to help Chicago’s immigrant communities. There were stories of ghosts to begin with, but nothing caused more chaos than the legend of a demonic baby supposedly hidden inside. Thousands came looking for a child that Addams insisted never existed, and decades later the story inspired the horror classic "Rosemary's Baby." More than a century later, the history and hauntings of Hull-House remain tangled together in one of Chicago’s strangest stories.
 
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Episode Sources:
“Our History” from the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
“History” from the Jane Addams Hull House Association
“Chicago Hauntings: Ghosts, A Portal, And A Devil Baby At Jane Addams' Hull House” by Adam Harrington, October 28, 2021, CBS Chicago
“Hull House Haunting” by JAPP, October 23, 2015, Jane Addams Papers Project
“The Haunted Lore of Hull-House” by Nadia Maragha, August 14, 2026, Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
“The Hull House Museum” by Windy City Ghosts, Posted November 13, 2019, Updated April 22, 2026
“The Devil Baby at Hull-House” by Tim Nealon, Ghost City Tours
“The Devil Baby of Hull-House” by Adam Selzer, March 3, 2008, Adam Chicago Tours
“The Haunted History of Hull House Chicago & the Devil Baby” by American Ghost Walks, February 10, 2022
“The Devil Baby at Hull House” by Jane Addams, October 1916 Issue, The Atlantic
“Jane Addams Hull-House Museum” added by Avalon, Atlas Obscura
 
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Nicholas Davio - nicholasdavio.com, @mr.nick.davio, @huron_coast
 
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Zelig Williams was no stranger to the stage. By age 28 he had already performed on Broadway in "Hamilton" and "MJ: The Musical," and toured with Hugh Jackman in "The Man. The Music. The Show." He then made his film debut in the Will Ferrel-led flick "Spirited." But during a brief hiatus in his hometown of Columbia, SC, Zelig vanished.
If you have any information on this case, you can contact:
Richland County Sheriff's Department: 1-803-576-3000
Midland Crimestoppers: 1-888-Crime SC  (1-888-274-6372) or CrimeSC.com
#bringzelighome
 
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Episode Sources:
Zelig Williams Website
Missing Link Website
“Family of missing Broadway dancer Zelig Williams holding faith he will return home safe” by Doha Madani, NBC News, Oct 14, 2024
“Broadway Dancer Zelig Williams Missing In South Carolina; Hugh Jackman Appeals For Help” by Greg Evans, Deadline, Oct 11, 2024
“New podcast aims to bring greater attention to missing Broadway dancer Zelig Williams, who vanished from South Carolina in October 2024” by Veronica Fulton, NBC News, Mar 11 2026
“The Day Zelig Vanished” Dateline: Missing in America, July 27, 2026
“Distraught mother of missing Broadway dancer Zelig Williams pleads for his return: ‘He’s all I got’” by Chelsea Bailey, CNN, Oct 16, 2024
“One year later, still no sign of missing Broadway star Zelig Williams” by Tatiana Carter, WACH Fox 57, Oct 3, 2025
“A Broadway dancer vanished from his home over three months ago. His distraught family ‘absolutely’ believes foul play is involved” by Andrea Cavallier, The Independent, Jan 18, 2025
“Behind the “Hu•Man in the Mirror” — The Vanishing of Zelig Williams” by Troy Styles, Blunt Force Media, Oct 14, 2024
“Zelig Williams: Details Surface About Missing Dancer” by Callie Lyons, FitsNews, Oct 14, 2024
MIssing: Zelig Williams, Crime Junkie, Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat, Nov 27, 2025
Zelig Williams: Broadway and Worldwide Performer, A Time to Live with Amanda Jane Cooper, May 16, 2023
“Family of missing Broadway dancer hires private investigator to assist in desperate search” by Chelsea Bailey, ABC7 Eyewitness News, Oct 15, 2024
 
Creeptastic theme music by:
Nicholas Davio - nicholasdavio.com, @mr.nick.davio, @huron_coast
 
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