Cabinet of Curiosities: “A Sticky Situation”

Host: Aaron Mahnke
Date: January 8, 2026
Produced by: iHeartPodcasts & Grim & Mild

Episode Overview

In this episode of Cabinet of Curiosities, Aaron Mahnke unseals two tales balancing the bizarre and the unsettling.

• First Story: The catastrophic 1919 Boston Molasses Flood—a disaster both tragic and odd—explores how poor engineering led to a deadly tsunami of syrup and sweeping reforms.
• Second Story: The birth of the Mothman legend in 1960s West Virginia—a chilling encounter that blurs folklore, mass hysteria, and the unexplained, leaving a cryptid mystery that lingers today.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Great Molasses Flood (00:20–06:10)

• Setting the Scene
  • On an unusually warm January afternoon in 1919, Boston’s North End bustled: “Firefighters were playing cards in the garage of the engine house… children were gathering firewood for their families when they heard a strange metallic groan.” (00:22)
• Disaster Unfolds
  • The neighborhood’s infamous molasses tank gave out under pressure from expanding syrup—“with a sudden bang, the rivets shot out of the tank… sending a 25-foot wave of molasses crashing down the street.” (01:20)
  • The molasses wave sped at “about 35 miles an hour,” destroying buildings, derailing a train, and hurling a truck into Boston Harbor. (01:45)
• Human Toll & Aftermath
  • Survivors and first responders struggled through deepening sludge: “The firefighters at the engine house ducked for cover as the walls collapsed around them, leaving them trapped in a waist deep puddle of molasses.” (02:05)
  • Final toll: 21 dead, 150 injured. Rescue and cleanup were grueling; the harbor was stained brown until summer, and “for decades after… the syrupy smell of molasses lingered.” (03:30)
• Legacy & Learning
  • The disaster prompted “massive changes in construction laws… including a new requirement that engineers and building inspectors sign off on every project.” (04:30)
  • Mahnke concludes: “More than a hundred years later, those new regulations have successfully ensured that such a sticky tragedy will never happen again.” (05:00)

2. The Mothman Incident (06:11–13:45)

• Atmospheric Introduction
  • On November 15, 1966, two couples in West Virginia encountered the bizarre near an abandoned armory: “It was a dark night, with only the headlights on their car to guide them… As they traveled along the highway, something strange came into focus.” (06:18)
• Eyewitness Account
  • The group saw “two bright red pinpricks of light” that turned out to be “buggish orbs set into the gray fur covered head with no neck.” (06:58)
  • The creature took to the air: “They plunged forward… this hideous creature simply jumped up into the sky… flapping its wings with ease… it seemed to keep up with them with no problem.” (07:25)
• Spread of the Legend
  • The story grew as “several other people claimed to see the exact same thing in the coming days before the initial sighting was well reported on.” (08:10)
  • Additional lore includes a man who “claimed that it ate his dog.” (08:30)
• Mothman, UFOs, and Tragedy
  • Journalist John Keel cataloged sightings and linked them to other strange phenomena, infamously on the night the Silver Bridge collapsed in 1967, “killing over 40 people”—with Mothman said to be seen before the disaster. (09:40)
  • Keel theorized extra-dimensional beings causing hallucinations: “John Keel ultimately came to a conclusion that's arguably stranger than the initial phenomena.” (10:33)
• Skepticism and Culture
  • Rational explanations—structural failure, paranoia—but, “the Mothman is harder to explain away… those rapid initial sightings when the individuals involved had no chance to build off each other's stories.” (11:02)
  • “Point Pleasant… embraced the legend by erecting a statue… and holding an annual Mothman festival.” (12:10)
  • The Mothman is now “a beloved cryptid on par with Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster… more likely to see it as a cutesy plushie on Etsy than as something sinister.” (12:27)
• Unanswered Mystery
  • “With no satisfying answers to the original sightings, folks always will be curious about whether the monster could have been real or not.” (13:10)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Great Molasses Flood:
  “The quiet groan grew into a deep growl and then with a sudden bang, the rivets shot out of the tank… sending a 25 foot wave of molasses crashing down the street.” (01:22, Aaron Mahnke)
• On the chaos of disaster:
  “A truck was picked up and hurtled all the way into Boston harbor and down the block. A man woke up in his third story bedroom to see a flood of molasses several feet deep surrounding his bed.” (01:55, Mahnke)
• On Mothman’s initial sighting:
  “At first they thought these might be the taillights of another car, but… the red lights hovered off the ground as if they weren't attached to any vehicle at all. Because they weren't lights. They were eyes.” (07:05, Mahnke)
• On folklore’s enduring power:
  “Maybe the people of Point Pleasant… were just primed by those earlier stories and ready to create a monster of their own. After seeing a large owl or a crane in the dark…” (12:00, Mahnke)
• Cultural legacy:
  “The people of Point Pleasant have fully embraced the legend by erecting a statue in the center of town and holding an annual Mothman festival.” (12:12, Mahnke)
• Final reflection:
  “With no satisfying answers to the original sightings, folks always will be curious about whether the monster could have been real or not. Maybe it will come back one day to chase down some more cars or to warn us of impending doom.” (13:12, Mahnke)

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|------------------------------------------| | 00:20 | Setting the Boston scene | | 01:20 | Molasses tank bursts | | 03:30 | Aftermath and lingering effects | | 04:30 | Lasting reforms from the tragedy | | 06:11 | Introduction to Mothman story | | 06:58 | The first Mothman sighting | | 09:40 | The Silver Bridge collapse | | 12:10 | Mothman’s cultural legacy | | 13:10 | Reflections on unresolved mysteries |

Episode Tone

Aaron Mahnke delivers these stories with his signature blend of atmospheric, fact-driven narration and eerie curiosity. The tone is both informative and captivating, seamlessly navigating between historical tragedy and folklore mystery—always inviting listeners to stay curious.