The Monster Missive: Sn. 21 Ep. 11 & Sn. 21 Ep. 12 (Patreon)

Our weekly newsletter, brought to you by MAU team members, Delainey Bowers and Conor Ryan, every Friday.

-Show Notes Spotlight-

A more in-depth look at some of the research covered in this week's Tuesday and Thursday episodes.

The Monster Missive - Our Supernatural Selections

Grab bag episodes are light on research, but we’re still committed to providing you with the most bang for your buck. Plus, since you probably still have the blues from Tuesday’s episode, we didn’t want to let you down on delivering our weekly Monster Missive. So instead of our usual info-dumps, we’re going to take off our rubber Halloween masks and get a little personal. So, here’s what Conor and Delainey are currently watching, reading, and listening to!

Delainey’s Picks

Widow’s Bay: 💀💀💀💀 / 💀💀💀💀

I had to stop myself from composing a multiparagraph essay on why you should immediately stop whatever you are doing and binge this 10-episode series about a cursed island on the New England coast. The writing is sharp, innovative, and damn funny. “Horror comedy” isn’t usually a genre I seek out intentionally, but Widow’s Bay has proven to be a surprising exception. I’m obsessed. 

The Bog Wife: 💀💀💀💀 / 💀💀💀💀

Appalachian folk horror? Say no more. A beautifully written gothic narrative about a West Virginia family’s generational (and supernatural) pact with a cranberry bog. (Yeah. A cranberry bog.) Truth be told, I read this book last year, but it’s stuck with me ever since, and I think that’s worth something! A quick, easy, enjoyable read. 

P.S. Conor jumping in here to say that I also read this on Delainey’s recommendation and I can confirm everything here. It’s a page-turner!

The Faithful Executioner: Life and Death, Honor and Shame in the Turbulent Sixteenth Century: 💀💀💀 / 💀💀💀💀

An exhaustively researched manuscript about Meister Frantz Schmidt, Nuremberg’s premier executioner who flogged, maimed, tortured, and executed 394 people over the course of his four-decade career. I’ve been listening to the audiobook version, which has tinged my evening walks with a level of gore I never before thought possible. One skull taken off in warning of disturbing content and for an academic tone that makes for some dry listening. 

Conor’s Picks

Catastrophe: And Other Stories: 💀💀💀💀 / 💀💀💀💀

I went into this expecting a pretty straight-shooting short story collection, but what I got instead were stories that read more like Twilight Zone spec scripts. Dino Buzzati was an Italian author whose lifelong day-job was as a journalist. Although every one of these stories has surrealist elements, they are made even creepier by the dry objective perspective the narrators often take. Don’t judge a book by its cover on this one - these pages are filled with disfigured monsters hidden away in attics, trains hurtling towards an unnamed impending doom, and wealthy hunters that get more than they bargained for when setting off to kill a dragon.

Not Here Not Gone: 💀💀💀💀 / 💀💀💀💀

The doom metal band Blackwater Holylight put this record out at the end of January, but I was late to the party and only first listened to it about a month ago. However, it’s been on repeat for me since then and has proven to be the perfect soundtrack for some of the oppressively hot early summer weather we’ve already had. It’s a longer album, but the way the band blends shoegaze, psych, and post-punk with the standard sonic offerings of doom makes it an “all rippers no skippers” listen from front to back. I dare you to put on “Spades” while driving down the highway and not accidentally cruise a little too far over the speed limit.

Chronicles of a Wandering Saint: 💀💀💀 / 💀💀💀💀

While at first this may not seem an obvious fit for a “spooky” list - I promise you that the back half of this movie will satiate all of your paranormal desires. This film centers around Rita, a pious woman that lives in a small town in Argentina who hatches an idea to stage a miracle after discovering a dust-covered statue in the town’s church. Director Tomás Gómez Bustillo did an amazing job balancing humor, drama, and light horror elements to make something that lingers long after the credits roll. If I have to be a touch critical - it could have been edited down slightly as there are a few moments that drag, but it’s still well worth a watch.

We hope that we were at least able to provide you with something to soundtrack your late night walks while keeping an eye on the sky, or something to watch to distract yourself from those weird tapping sounds in your walls. Do you have a recommendation for the team? Be sure to drop it in the comments! We’d love to hear what you all have been loving (besides MAU, of course)!

-Here There Be Headlines-

A round-up of bizarre, curious, head-scratching news stories that leave you saying "huh."

Well, it’s time for us to go wander around the nearest park and ask strangers to scoop our brains out of our skulls when we die. But we like to think that along with our recommendations these strange stories below will keep you entertained until next week when we return with our regularly-scheduled Monster Missive!

Extreme weather event or displeased ancient god? (Both?)

Scoop the brains and whittle the bones!

“Put down the cockroaches, and nobody gets hurt.”

Real life goblin (shark) captured on camera

Haunted Historical Headline