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
Monday Jan 23, 2023
Monday Jan 23, 2023
This episode has quite the cast of characters: a French showgirl-turned-actress, a legendary singer, an Olympian...even a Kennedy has a cameo. It was the magical time of the 60s and 70s when people were just VIBING. But the party would come to a screeching halt when one day Claudine Longet - the ex-wife of Andy Williams and girlfriend of skier Spider Sabich - was feeling a little "ringy" and shot her Olympian boyfriend dead. She claimed it was a terrible accident. Unfortunately investigators turned the crime scene into such a clusterfuck that prosecutors had a tricky time proving their case. Pour yourself some champagne because this one is a doozy.
*Hi! Kate here. I just want to note that in this episode I mention Claudine admitted to pulling the trigger. I misspoke. ACTUALLY, she only admitted to shooting him. There is a difference. ;)
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Episode Sources:
Court TV's "Power, Privilege and Justice" with Dominick Dunne - 'The Starlet and the Skier'
"Claudine Longet: Aspen's Femme Fatale" by Robert Chalmers
"Murder, Cocaine, Money, Olympics, & Skiing" by Miles Clark
"The Incandescent Life and Untimely Death of Spider Sabich" by Matthew Renda
"Spider Sabich ‘Lives’ on in Film and Party"
"The Legacy of Spider Sabich"
"Miss Longet Weeps at an Autopsy Report on Sabich"
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Creeptastic theme music by:
Nicholas Davio - nicholasdavio.com, @mr.nick.davio, @huron_coast
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Monday Jan 09, 2023
Monday Jan 09, 2023
Dorothy Stratten never thought of herself as beautiful, claiming she had a plain face and big hands. But Playboy would disagree. Dorothy's undeniable good looks and natural acting ability caught not only the attention of Hugh Hefner but folks all around the country. Kate takes us through Dorothy's path to success - from scooping ice cream at a Dairy Queen to Playboy's Playmate of the Year. Tragically, the one man who should have been happiest for her grew increasingly jealous and controlling the more fame Dorothy achieved.
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Episode Sources:
Dorothy Stratten website
"Death of a Playmate" by Teresa Carpenter - won the Pulitzer Prize in Journalism
"The Horrific Murder of a Playboy Playmate" by Lauren Effron and Anthony Rivas
"Who Was Dorothy Stratten?" by Emma Carey
"How Sopranos star Peter Bogdanovich married his Playboy lover’s baby sister" by George Harrison
"The grisly murder of B.C.-born Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten still resonates 40 years later" by Jon Azpiri
"Paul Snider, The Predatory Pimp Who Murdered Dorothy Stratten" by William DeLong
"Dorothy Stratten Crime Scene: What the Coroner Found"
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Creeptastic theme music by:
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Monday Dec 19, 2022
Monday Dec 19, 2022
In this conclusion of our Brittany Murphy episodes Kate gives us some background on Simon Monjack, including some disturbing patterns of behavior that should have red flags waving at every turn. She also discusses the 911 calls Sharon Murphy made for both Brittany and Simon and goes through the theories surrounding their deaths. It's a tragic tale made even more horrific by the fact that it was all preventable.
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Episode Sources:
Brittany recording "Somebody to Love" from "Happy Feet"
The 911 call for Brittany
The 911 call for Simon
Brittany's autopsy report
Simon's autopsy report
The creepy Larry King interview
"The Chilling Story Of Simon Monjack, The ‘Disturbed’ Husband Of Brittany Murphy" by Bernadette Giacomazzo
"Did Brittany Murphy marry a ‘con man’? His ex says she barely escaped a similar fate" by Amy Kaufman
"The Final Difficult Days of Brittany Murphy" by Alex Ben Block
Info on Simon from his very own mama
"E! News" article about the HBO doc
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Creeptastic theme music by:
Nicholas Davio - nicholasdavio.com, @mr.nick.davio, @huron_coast
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Monday Dec 12, 2022
Monday Dec 12, 2022
Brittany Murphy had a range and fearlessness that even the most experienced performers can only dream of. Comedy? She’s hilarious. Drama? She should have received an Oscar nomination. Need her to play the tuba? Yeah, she can do that, too. In Part 1 Kate takes us through Brittany's early years in Los Angeles, highlighting her undeniable talent and magnetic personality that was irresistible to everyone lucky enough to meet her.
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Episode Sources:
Drew Barrymore interviews Brittany
"Britney Spears Feared There Were Spirits In Her Mansion" by Gina Tron
"Brittany Murphy: Better Than Ever" by Lesley Rotchford
"Melanie Lynskey Remembers Brittany Murphy’s Self-Image Issues" by Elizabeth Logan
"What We Learned From the New Brittany Murphy Documentary" by Danielle Cohen
"Living Magazine" article
Creepy David Letterman
"Faster Kill Pussycat" music video
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Creeptastic theme music by:
Nicholas Davio - nicholasdavio.com, @mr.nick.davio, @huron_coast
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Monday Nov 28, 2022
Monday Nov 28, 2022
Hello, Misfits! Thanksgiving is over and Kate isn't wasting any time getting back to all things dark and dreary. Today she walks us through the case of Monica Burgos - a striking, vibrant, successful woman who was found murdered while vacationing with her family in Cancun. The prime suspect? Her husband - reality TV producer and three-time Emmy nominee Bruce Beresford-Redman. Bruce wasn't exactly Husband of the Year and his behavior around the time of Monica's death was questionable, but did he actually commit murder? We're not so sure.
View photos from the episode
Episode Sources:
"Bruce Beresford-Redman: The Verdict" by Troy Roberts
"The Hollywood Reporter" - Scott Johnson
Summary of the extradition proceedings
Case study re: DNA collection under fingernails
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Nicholas Davio - nicholasdavio.com, @mr.nick.davio, @huron_coast
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Monday Nov 21, 2022
Monday Nov 21, 2022
Since it's a holiday week we didn't want to dive into anything TOO dark for this one, but have no fear - this episode still involves plenty of mystery and spook. Kate kicks off a new series of haunted theatres with the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, IL. It first opened in 1889, then eventually fell into disrepair, but was restored decades later as part of Roosevelt University. It even obtained National Historic Landmark status in the mid-1970s. However, as with any building that is old AF and just happens to be built upon land where a bunch of people died, the Auditorium has certainly seen its share of uninvited guests.
Take a Virtual Tour of the Historic Auditorium Theatre
View photos from the episode
Episode Sources:
"Who You Gonna Call? - The Haunting of the Auditorium Theatre" by Lynn Weiner
"No. 2738: Sarah Bernhardt" by Andrew Boyd
"The Unbelievable Story of the Chicago Congress Plaza Hotel"
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Creeptastic theme music by:
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Monday Nov 14, 2022
Monday Nov 14, 2022
Stephanie Moseley was the whole package: beautiful, kind, generous and goofy - she knew how to make you laugh. Not to mention she was insanely talented. Her resume in Hollywood seemed to be growing by the day - TV, movies, national tours - she was at the top of her game. The show she was on - "Hit the Floor" - had just been picked up for a third season, and her relationship with her husband, though it had hit a rough patch, was on the mend. Then early one Monday morning, in December of 2014, everything came crashing down.
View photos from the episode
Episode Sources:
Black Girl Tragic website: https://www.blackgirltragic.com/
Black Girl Tragic IG: @blkgirltragic
"Stephanie Moseley Was Star Dancer at Burnaby B.C. Studio" by Joe O'Connor
"Who Is Stephanie Moseley?" - BET photo gallery
"'She Had a Dream': Friends, Family Mourn Slain B.C.-Born Dancer" - CTV News
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Monday Nov 07, 2022
Monday Nov 07, 2022
Thomas Harper Ince was kind of a big deal. Known as "The Father of the Western" (because he made So. Many. Westerns.), Ince was instrumental in how the Hollywood studio system would eventually run. He built the first major film studio AND created the role of producer. His career was boomin' and he seemed on top of his game, which is why when he suddenly died after partying on a yacht people assumed his death occurred under mysterious circumstances. Was he shot in the head in a case of mistaken identity, or did he just have terrible indigestion? And what the heck does Charlie Chaplin have to do with all this?
View photos from the episode
Episode Sources:
"Thomas Ince: Hollywood's Independent Pioneer" by Brian Taves
"The Myth and Mystery of Thomas Ince" by Anita Hamilton
"Inceville: Hollywood History on the Road to Topanga" by Suzanne Guldimann
For further reading: https://laghosttour.com/culver-studios/
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Creeptastic theme music by:
Nicholas Davio - nicholasdavio.com, @mr.nick.davio, @huron_coast
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