Malice in the Mitten

Deep in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, stands a Victorian mansion that once became a twenty-bed community hospital—and later one of Mid-Michigan's most enduring paranormal legends.

Harriet Chapman Hospital opened in 1918, founded by nurse Harriet Chapman alongside physicians Charles Stimson and Francis R. Blanchard. Less than a year later, tragedy struck when Dr. Blanchard stepped through an open elevator doorway and fell approximately twelve feet into the basement. He survived only minutes.

For decades afterward, the building remained a place of birth, illness, healing, loss, and eventually abandonment as a hospital. But when the patients and nu...

A black bear walks into an Alaska shopping mall, steals a peach, poops in the hallway, and leaves. Beavers in Poland destroy a sign warning people about… beavers. And a frightened monkey turns a Spirit Halloween store into its own personal jungle gym.

You seriously cannot make this shit up.

Because on Round Robin, sometimes we start with a bear taking a shit in a shopping mall...and somehow end up learning something.

#JoanBeauchampProcter #WomanOfTheWeek #WomenInScience #AnimalLovers #RoundRobinPodcast

Written, recorded, edited & produced by Tracy Preston

Original music created exclusively fo...

In December 1883, William Vanderhoof died after years of unexplained illness in Berrien County, Michigan.

His wife, Elizabeth, was accused of poisoning him with arsenic.

A jury convicted her of murder.

But William's attending physician believed he was suffering from heart disease, and the medical evidence was far from straightforward.

In 1888, the Michigan Supreme Court overturned Elizabeth's conviction, criticizing the handling of expert testimony and the jury's instructions.

Then, in April 1889, prosecutors abandoned the murder case entirely.

#MaliceInTheMitten #MichiganTrueCrime #HistoricalTrueCrime #WilliamVanderhoof #TrueCrimePodcast

Written, recorded, edited & Produced...

High above Kalamazoo, Michigan, stands a magnificent Victorian castle built in 1895. But according to decades of paranormal accounts, some of its former residents may never have left.

This week on F-Bomb Friday, Tracy Preston explores the fascinating history and chilling legends of Henderson Castle.

From Mary Henderson's mysterious missing jewelry and the Lady in White to the tragic legend of a little girl named Christine, the castle holds stories that blur the line between history and haunting.

We'll also uncover the real military record behind one alleged spirit, examine paranormal investigations conducted inside...

What happens when common sense takes a vacation? This week on Round Robin, Tracy, Christine, and Nina explore some of the most outrageous and extraordinary stories making headlines.

From a Disney World guest diving into an attraction's water to two men driving a couch down a public road, we're asking the question everyone seems to be thinking: What the hell is wrong with everybody?!

Discover why groups sometimes encourage risky behavior, how the human brain develops extraordinary physical abilities, and what separates reckless decisions from remarkable achievements.

Plus, meet Betty Bromage, the 97-year-old...

In 1883, sixty-year-old Michigan farmer John Guild transferred his property to a woman who promised him a home for the remainder of his life. Not long after the deal, he was dead.

An examination reportedly revealed arsenic. A neighbor testified about purchasing a product called Rough on Rats. And investigators questioned what happened to Guild's missing money.

Korun Larson was convicted of first-degree murder. Her husband, Ole, was acquitted.

But the story didn't end with the verdicts.

A campaign to secure Korun's pardon would raise further questions about one of Michigan's forgotten...

Deep in southwest Michigan, Purgatory Road cuts through woods, wetlands and the Three Rivers State Game Area—a place associated with strange local stories for years. By 2019, one legend had emerged clearly in writing: a mysterious Goat-Man said to roam Purgatory with an even stranger companion known as the Devil Dog. On this episode of F-Bomb Friday, Tracy explores what can actually be documented about Purgatory, where the written trail disappears, how Goat-Man folklore appears elsewhere in America, and why some legends survive even when nobody remembers exactly where they began.

#FBombFriday #MichiganFolklore #GoatMan #PurgatoryRoad #MaliceInTheMitten

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What do Malibu Beach, surfing, frozen bananas, John Wayne, Shirley Temple and Barbie have in common? More than you'd think. This week on Round Robin, Tracy, Christine and Nina head to Southern California to explore the Chumash origins of Malibu, the Hawaiian roots of modern surfing culture, Duke Kahanamoku, Gidget, Malibu Barbie, Balboa Island's frozen banana wars, John Wayne's surprising connection to bodysurfing, and the famous Shirley Temple drink its namesake couldn't stand. Then Shirley Temple Black takes center stage as Woman of the Week for the remarkable second act of her life as a U.S. diplomat and...

In 1895, a young Englishwoman named Emily Hall crossed the Atlantic and arrived at a house on Lincoln Avenue in Detroit while pregnant. Less than two weeks later, she was dead.

But Emily Hall wasn't the name written on her death certificate.

She became “Myrtle Cook”—a supposedly New York-born woman said to have died of pneumonia at an address where Emily had never lived.

Then her embalmed body remained unburied for more than two months.

When a newspaper reporter discovered it, the strange death began to unravel. Investigators uncovered letters from Englan...

This week on F-Bomb Friday, we uncover one of Michigan's darkest medical history stories: the resurrectionists, grave robbing, and the unclaimed dead who supplied 19th-century anatomy rooms in Detroit and Ann Arbor.  From Detroit Medical College and Michigan's 1881 Anatomy Act to Willie Brown, the "friendless dead," and the shocking 1893 discovery of two human skeletons in Detroit's garbage, this true story reveals a chilling real-world parallel to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.  Join Tracy and Todd as they explore the forgotten people behind Michigan's medical progress and ask the unsettling question at the heart of Frankenstein:  Just because science can do something, sho...

What happened to basic human behavior—especially at 30,000 feet? This week on Round Robin, Tracy, Christine, and Nina dive into the wild case of an American Airlines first-class passenger who became so disruptive that fellow passengers restrained him with zip ties and duct tape before the flight diverted for an emergency landing. He later claimed he couldn’t remember what happened.

But this story opens a much bigger conversation: Have people always behaved this badly, or did something fundamentally change during the COVID-19 pandemic? From airline meltdowns and public confrontations to declining patience, alcohol, stress, entitlement, and the...

Between 1908 and 1911, four men from Michigan's Sparling family died after suffering eerily similar illnesses. When arsenic was discovered, suspicion fell on their family physician, Dr. Robert MacGregor. In 1912, MacGregor was convicted of murdering twenty-year-old Scyrel Sparling and sentenced to life in Michigan State Prison. Four years later, Governor Woodbridge Ferris declared MacGregor innocent and granted him a full pardon—after conducting a secret investigation whose findings were never made public. Then came one final unbelievable twist: MacGregor returned to the same prison as its physician. Malice in the Mitten investigates the Sparling family poisonings, the disputed toxicology, the insurance mo...

Detroit has a monster of its own—and according to generations of folklore, he appears when something terrible is coming. In this episode of F-Bomb Friday, Tracy and Todd explore the legend of the Nain Rouge, Detroit’s mysterious Red Dwarf and alleged harbinger of disaster. From Cadillac and Bloody Run to the Great Fire of Detroit, the War of 1812, and a haunting 1964 folklore account describing the creature openly sobbing during Detroit’s 1943 racial violence, the legend changes with every generation. Along the way, we uncover the much older Indigenous history beneath Historic Fort Wayne and separate documented history from t...

This week on Round Robin, Tracy, Christine and Nina chase the chaos through some of the strangest stories of the week. A boa constrictor auditions for the Metropolitan Opera, competitive grave diggers race in Hungary and Brach's creates candy-corn perfume. Plus, the ladies remember the things they thought were fancy as kids, reveal their useless superpowers, battle over controversial foods and resurrect discontinued childhood favorites.

Dr. Temple Grandin is honored as Woman of the Week.  

#RoundRobinPodcast #FunnyPodcast #WeirdNews #PopCulture #KeepSpinning

Hosted, edited, produced & written by Tracy Preston, featuring Christine & Nina Mulligan

Or...

In January 1889, Jackson widow Mary H. Latimer was found murdered inside her home. Her only son, young druggist Robert Irving Latimer, appeared to have an extraordinary alibi: he was in Detroit, where hotel workers and others had seen him. But an unused hotel bed, railroad timetables, blood evidence and financial questions began telling another story.

Latimer's conviction was only the beginning. Months later came an explosive prison-break plot. Four years later came poisoned food, cyanide-laced lemonade, the death of Deputy Gate Keeper George W. Haight and a successful escape from Michigan State Prison. Then, after forty-six years...

Deep in Michigan’s Omer Plains, near the winding Rifle River, an old legend tells of strange wolf-like guardians said to watch over the resting places of the dead. Some describe shadowy animals. Others remember an eerie, laughing bark coming from somewhere beyond the trees. And over the decades, curious visitors have reported scratches, unexplained sounds, and the unnerving feeling that something was following them.

#WitchyWolves #MichiganFolklore #OmerMichigan #MichiganLegends #FBombFriday

Hosted, edited and produced by Tracy Preston, featuring Todd Preston

Researched and written by Todd Preston

Original music created exclusively by Tr...

The Lindsay Clancy mistrial has reopened a difficult national conversation about postpartum mental health. In this special Round Robin, Tracy, Christine and Nina talk about depression, postpartum anxiety and OCD, postpartum psychosis, severe insomnia, intrusive thoughts, hallucinations and the warning signs families may miss. This episode is not about sensationalizing tragedy or deciding criminal guilt. It's about helping women recognize when something isn't right — and making sure mothers and families know where to find help.

#PostpartumMentalHealth #PostpartumPsychosis #MaternalMentalHealth #MomsSupportingMoms
#RoundRobinPodcast

Hosted, edited and produced by Tracy Preston, featuring Christine & Nina Mulligan

Written by...

Martin “Marty” Duram survived a devastating 1995 car crash, a coma and life-changing brain injuries before rebuilding his life in West Michigan. Years later, he reunited with his teenage love, Glenna Duram. But on May 12, 2015, Marty was shot five times inside their Newaygo County home. Glenna was found beside him with gunshot wounds to her head — and survived.

Investigators uncovered foreclosure problems, gambling, goodbye letters, disturbing cellphone searches involving the murder weapon and evidence prosecutors argued pointed toward a failed murder-suicide.

Then Marty's African grey parrot, Bud, began talking.

According to Marty's ex-wife, the bird r...

Three Michigan brides. Three futures cut tragically short. At Morris Chapel near Niles, Kathryn is said to wait where her wedding should have begun. Along Milan-Oakville Road, a woman in white searches for help after a fatal crash. And inside Central Lake’s Blue Pelican Inn, a young bride may still be trying to complete the escape that ended with her death. This week on F-Bomb Friday, Tracy and Todd explore the history, folklore, and heartbreak behind Michigan’s ghostly brides—and ask why some promises refuse to stay buried.

#FBombFriday #MichiganGhostStories #HauntedMichigan #GhostlyBrides #MaliceInTheMitten

Hosted...

This week on Round Robin, Tracy, Christine and Nina dig into the surprisingly strange history of bridal and couples showers—from Dutch dowry legends and Victorian gift-filled parasols to outdated etiquette rules, toilet-paper wedding dresses and the rise of modern Jack and Jill parties.

#RoundRobinPodcast #WeddingHistory #BridalShower #WeddingTraditions #CouplesShower

Hosted, edited and produced by Tracy Preston, featuring Christine and Nina Mulligan

Written by Tracy Preston

Original music created exclusively for Round Robin by Tracy Preston

Original artwork by Todd Preston

Sources:

“Bridal Shower.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Founda...

In July 1999, Patricia “Patty” Artz disappeared from the Jackson County restaurant she owned with her husband, Kevin “Kip” Artz. What investigators discovered inside Kipp's Pizza and Taco became one of Michigan's most disturbing murder cases—and eventually spawned an enduring urban legend. But behind the sensational stories was a documented history of marital violence, statements about murder, a recent brain hemorrhage, an insanity defense, and a later claim of marijuana-induced psychosis. Malice in the Mitten separates court-documented fact from folklore and puts Patty back at the center of her own story.

#MaliceInTheMitten #PattyArtz #MichiganTrueCrime #JacksonMichigan #TrueCrimePodcast

Hosted...

Michigan's Hatchet Man Road is a lonely stretch of 28th Avenue near Gobles where an unverified legend tells of a Cold War-era bunker, a murdered family and a killer with a hatchet. But the real mystery may be what visitors have reported since: disappearing headlights, shadow figures, stalled cars, strange lights, whistling from the woods—and the pale face of a child among the trees. On this episode of F-Bomb Friday, Tracy separates documented history from folklore and asks why this southwest Michigan back road continues to terrify the people who dare to drive it after dark.

#Ha...

Twenty tons of squid on a Rhode Island roadway. A lucky pinkie ring that picked a $250,000 lottery ticket. contradictory personalities and manifesting!

Plus, meet 82-year-old Guinness World Records powerhouse Annie Judis, our Woman of the Week!

#RoundRobinPodcast #Squidpocalypse #FunnyConversations #WomanOfTheWeek #PodcastRecommendations

Hosted, edited and produced by Tracy Preston, featuring Christine and Nina Mulligan

Written by Tracy Preston

Original music created exclusively for Round Robin by Tracy Preston

Original Artwork by Todd Preston

Sources:

El-Bawab, Nadine, and Luke Barr. “Over 20 Tons of Squid Spill on...

In February 1895, Detroit dentist Dr. Horace Eliot Pope was brutally murdered with an axe inside his Michigan Avenue home. William Brusseau admitted wielding the weapon—but after first claiming self-defense, he changed his story and accused Horace's wife, Nellie Pope, of planning the killing for insurance money. The sensational trial transformed Nellie into one of Detroit's most infamous “murderesses” and sent her to prison for life.

After more than two decades behind bars, Nellie walked free, still insisting she had nothing to do with her husband's murder. Then, in 1928, Michigan Governor Fred W. Green granted her a full p...

Lake Superior is massive, freezing, unpredictable—and according to more than a century of strange stories, something enormous may be moving beneath its surface. On this episode of F-Bomb Friday, Tracy dives into the legend of Pressie, the Presque Isle Monster, a serpent-like creature reportedly seen across Lake Superior since the late 1800s.

From steamship crews describing enormous humps rising from the water to an alleged attack near Duluth, frightened fishermen, a bizarre deer encounter, and Randy Braun’s famous 1977 photograph, the stories surrounding Pressie are as murky as the lake itself.

Could witnesses have seen...

This week on Round Robin, Tracy, Christine, and Nina are clocking in for some of the strangest jobs on Earth—and nobody told Christine and Nina what those jobs actually are.

Would you do them? How much would someone have to pay you? And if you absolutely HAD to choose one as your new career—which job are you taking?

It's weird. It's fascinating. It's occasionally disgusting. And somehow... that's a job.

#RoundRobinPodcast #StrangeJobs #WeirdJobs #WaitThatsAJob #PodcastComedy

Hosted, edited and produced by Tracy Preston, featuring Christine and Nina Mulligan

Writ...

In the early morning hours of July 22, 1997, 26-year-old Steven Alexander Clark disappeared while walking home in Bay City, Michigan.

Steven was a son, a brother, a best friend, and a musician who loved heavy metal and played guitar. He had disappeared for days at a time before, but he always eventually returned. This time, he didn't.

Steven was never seen again.

This story was brought to Malice in the Mitten by a listener in Bay City who asked us to help bring renewed attention to Steven's case.

Steven Clark remains listed...

What if Michigan had a glitch in reality?

On this episode of F-Bomb Friday, we explore the strange modern legend of Michigan Blue Hell — a mysterious place said to exist outside the boundaries of our world. Inspired by video-game glitches, abandoned buildings, underground tunnels, the Great Lakes, internet folklore, and stories of people disappearing into places they were never meant to find.  Blue Hell has evolved into one of Michigan’s strangest modern legends.

Because sometimes the creepiest part of folklore isn’t whether the legend is true.

It’s watching the legend become re...

We celebrate National Lazy Day and National S'mores Day before tackling the $10 Million Challenge: would you take the money if it meant leaving home behind? Then we're heading back to the days of classic Nintendo after a remarkable discovery of old video games raises the possibility of a massive collector payday.
What would it take for you to pack up your life and move away forever — $10 million? 
It's money, memories, movies, nostalgia, weird internet theories, and plenty of laughs as the wheel takes us wherever the conversation lands.

#RoundRobinPodcast #PopCulture #Nostalgia #MaliceintheMitten 

Hosted and...

When 52-year-old Michigan mother, grandmother, farmer, and businesswoman Dee Warner missed Sunday breakfast with her daughter in April 2021, her family immediately knew something was wrong.

Dee's vehicles remained behind. Her young daughter was waiting for her. And as days became months and then years, those closest to Dee refused to accept the suggestion that she had simply walked away.

What followed was an extraordinary fight for answers involving a troubled marriage, business and financial conflict, digital evidence, a murder prosecution begun without a body—and, more than three years after Dee disappeared, the discovery that ch...

Every small town has secrets—but some monsters do not hide in forests, cemeteries, or abandoned buildings.
On this episode of F-Bomb Friday, Tracy Preston introduces the UH-vintling, a green-eyed creature born from envy, jealousy, and resentment. Disguised as an ordinary, helpful member of the community, she gathers information, plants suspicion, spreads half-truths, and convinces good people to carry darkness for her.
Where the UH-vintling lingers, friendships fracture, families choose sides, and rumors begin to sound like concern. But according to the legend, this monster can be weakened by something she cannot understand: gratitude, shared success, and pe...

Come aboard—we’re expecting you! This week, Round Robin continues its nostalgic television voyage with a trip aboard The Love Boat. Tracy, Christine, Nina, Angela and Todd revisit Captain Stubing, Julie, Isaac, Doc and Gopher; the unforgettable theme song; the weekly parade of celebrity passengers; and the wonderfully fast-moving romances of the Pacific Princess.

Pack your bags, grab a seat by the pool and prepare for a joyful journey back to the days when Saturday night meant The Love Boat followed by Fantasy Island.

#TheLoveBoat #ClassicTelevision #TelevisionNostalgia #RoundRobinPodcast #MaliceInTheMitten

Hosted and Produced by T...

In this episode of Malice in the Mitten, Tracy and Christine return to 1920s Lansing to investigate the violence hidden behind an ordinary fruit stand, carefully separating verified court history from the mythology surrounding La Cosa Nostra and Michigan’s produce trade.

Most importantly, they remember the people nearly erased beneath the legend: John Ciardullo, who lost his life, and the unnamed Mrs. Rosse, who survived a bullet wound while attempting to reclaim control of her future.

Because before Lansing’s Fruit War became local folklore—it was someone’s life.

#MaliceInTheMitten #REOTown #LansingH...

A lonely stretch of Gratiot Road. A violent rainstorm. And a young woman in a faded yellow raincoat standing motionless on the shoulder.

For generations, drivers have shared stories of the Northbound Girl—a mysterious hitchhiker who appears along Gratiot Road when the weather turns dark. Some say she silently accepts a ride before vanishing from the vehicle. Others describe fogged windows, the smell of stagnant water and copper, and a scream that seems to come from another time.

Is she the spirit of someone who never made it home? A warning left behind on on...

This week on Round Robin, we are traveling back to one of television’s most unforgettable destinations—the original Fantasy Island.

Tracy, Christine and Nina revisit the mysterious Mr. Roarke, the lovable Tattoo, the glamorous guest-star arrivals and the fantasies that rarely unfolded the way anyone expected. We remember the magic of Saturday-night appointment television, explore the hidden life lessons behind the island’s wishes and ask the ultimate question: What fantasy would each of us request if Mr. Roarke invited us aboard the plane?  Pack carefully, choose your fantasy wisely and remember—on Fantasy Island, every wish may...

Christian Longo appeared to have everything—a devoted wife, three beautiful children, faith, and the promise of a successful future. But behind the carefully crafted image was a lifetime of deception, financial fraud, infidelity, and a desperate need to reinvent himself whenever reality caught up.

Malice in the Mitten follows Longo's journey from his years living in Michigan through the collapse of his marriage, the murders of his wife MaryJane and their three young children, the international manhunt that ended in Mexico, and the courtroom battle that exposed one of the most chilling family annihilation cases in mo...

Deep within the marshlands of Grosse Ile, Michigan, locals have whispered for generations about something lurking beneath the reeds. Is the mysterious Mud-Walker simply another cryptid born from fear and folklore—or could there be something far stranger hiding in the wetlands?

Whether you believe in cryptids or not, one thing is certain...

The marsh remembers.

If you enjoy Michigan folklore, cryptids, mysterious creatures, haunted places, urban legends, and unexplained history, be sure to follow Malice in the Mitten. Every follow helps more people discover Michigan's forgotten stories

#MaliceInTheMitten #FBombFriday #MichiganFolklore #Mu...

What did we all used to do that would seem completely unbelievable today? What inventions did we expect to have by 2026? Which decade would you visit if time travel were possible?

This week on Round Robin, Tracy, Christine, and Nina take a hilarious trip through the past, present, and future. From riding in the back of pickup trucks and recording songs off the radio to debating flying cars, robot maids, and the one modern convenience we couldn't live without, this episode is packed with laughter, nostalgia, and unforgettable memories.

The ladies also celebrate Woman of...

Jordan Wheeler did everything experts tell victims of domestic violence to do.

She left the relationship.  She filed for divorce.  She answered her frightened son's phone call.  She called 911.  She got her children to safety.

Yet on that October night in Clinton Township, Michigan, Jordan Wheeler was murdered inside the home she once shared with her husband, Steven Bryce Wheeler.

This is not a story about the man who took a life.

It is the story of the woman whose life mattered.

At Malice in the Mitten, we believe forg...

Deep in the forests surrounding White Cloud, Michigan, something is said to walk upright between the trees.

Witnesses and local storytellers describe a towering creature with the body of a man, the head of a wild boar, and dark, intelligent eyes that watch from beyond the reach of the firelight. Known as the Pig Man of White Cloud, this obscure Michigan cryptid has haunted the campfire stories of hunters, hikers, and thrill-seeking teenagers for generations.

But where did the legend begin?

Was the Pig Man once an angry farmer transformed by a horrific...