By Tim Binnall
Haunted prisons, searching for cryptids, and vampire mythology were among the fascinating topics explored this past week on Coast to Coast AM. Meanwhile, at the C2C website, we told you about ravenous rats ruining Halloween in an Idaho community, an MLB player welcoming potential paranormal activity at Milwaukee's notoriously haunted Pfister Hotel, and a piece of D.B. Cooper ransom money that was sold for a massive sum at an auction. Check out our round-up of highlights from the past week ... In Coast You Missed It.
Befitting spooky season, vampire mythology was explored on Sunday night's program as paranormal researcher Steven J. Rolfes detailed the evolution of such entities from ancient times to today. He indicated that the character was first depicted in Sumerian pottery as a winged female demon that stole the proverbial life force of people in their sleep, and it was only later that the desire for blood became the entity's primary motivation. Rolfes credited 19th-century literature with developing what has become the modern version of the cape-wearing vampire, with the poet Lord Byron serving as something of a template for the character.
In what has become something of a Halloween tradition, this past week featured stories involving decorations gone awry. In Iowa, a giant inflatable pumpkin managed to break free from a front yard and barreled down a road, where it narrowly missed a motorist who had to swerve to avoid the faux gourd heading her way. Then, in Idaho, residents of a neighborhood sounded off about an unsettling invasion of rats that have laid waste to their carved pumpkins and turned decorative bales of straw into makeshift shelters. At their wit's end over the ravenous rodents, people in the community pleaded with officials to do something about the issue that has made their spooky season particularly unsettling.
Curious cryptids took center stage on Monday night's program as wildlife biologist Pat Spain shared insights from his investigations into unknown animals around the world. He recalled one particularly strange expedition in search of the Mapinguari, a legendary creature said to resemble a giant ground sloth. While looking for the beast in the Amazon rainforest, his group heard an eerie sound that sent the native guides running for their lives, leaving him convinced that they had nearly encountered the frightening cryptid. On the subject of Bigfoot, Spain discussed the need for a scientific approach to proving Bigfoot's existence and recounted a recent expedition to Kentucky that produced some rather intriguing possible evidence.
Two legendary aviation mysteries made headlines this past week, beginning with a closely watched Purdue-backed expedition in search of Amelia Earhart's lost plane. Providing an update on the project that launched earlier this month, the team indicated that they had reached their target, the remote island of Nikumaroro, and would soon be examining an intriguing anomaly that could be the pioneering pilot's downed Lockheed Electra sitting in a lagoon. Meanwhile, a largely intact piece of ransom money from the notorious D.B. Cooper skyjacking sold for a staggering $134,200 at an auction of unique currencies and coins.
If one were to seek out spirits, it stands to reason that prisons would be a particularly fruitful place to look. To that end, on Tuesday night's program, author Ross Allison talked about paranormal activity at correctional facilities. He mused that these locations appear to be prime spots for ghosts who either do not want to journey to the 'other side' out of fear of judgment or they have become so accustomed to the site that they cannot fully pass over. He also suggested that residual energy may play a part in the paranormal activity reported at such locations. During his appearance, Allison also highlighted some of the more infamous haunted prisons, including Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia and Brushy Mountain Prison in Tennessee.
A pair of notoriously haunted locations found their way into the news this past week. With the Los Angeles Dodgers visiting Milwaukee for an MLB playoff series, the team's peculiar history with the city's legendarily spooky Pfister Hotel became the subject of conversation once again as star Max Muncy reflected on his teammates' reticence to stay at the site and welcomed the possibility that a ghost may visit him during his stay. Later in the week, a creepy piece of security footage from what has been called England's most haunted pub showed a baby carriage seemingly move on its own, and some theorized that the eerie incident was the work of one of the resident spirits.
Coast Insiders can check out all this week's shows as well as the last seven years of C2C programs in our enormous archive. Not a Coast Insider yet? Sign up today.