My Favorite Murder Minisode 454 – September 22, 2025

Main Theme & Purpose

This episode of My Favorite Murder Minisode features beloved hosts Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark reading listener-submitted "hometown" stories – true (and sometimes bizarre) crime-adjacent tales from fans' own lives. The stories range from absurd family misadventures to chilling stalker accounts and urban legend reveals. As always, Karen and Georgia weave comedy, empathy, and genuine thrills into their reactions, inviting listeners to laugh, gasp, and connect over the weirdness of real life.

Key Stories & Insights

1. Rural Wisconsin Shenanigans, Alcoholism, and a Fire

(Starts at 02:07)

• Set-Up: A listener recounts a wild family hunting trip in rural Wisconsin, marked by heavy drinking from dawn (Jägermeister shots) and the gifting of beer to a 13-year-old.
• Chaos Ensues: The 13-year-old finishes twelve beers, then drunkenly answers the door to a frantic neighbor whose house is on fire. He closes the door on him.
• Heroics & Comedy: The adults, also drunk, eventually notice the commotion. Two uncles storm the burning house to save pets and turn off the gas.
• Musical Moment: The narrator’s grandfather tries to calm the panicked neighbor by serenading him with “This Little Light of Mine” as flames rage.
• Climax: The fire truck's arrival is blocked—by the passed-out 13-year-old, who has collapsed in the road.
• Resolution: Everyone survives without legal trouble, and the family looks back on the incident as a wild (if reckless) memory.
• Notable Quotes:
  • "Sorry, they were doing Jaeger shots before they go hunting?" – Karen, 03:05
  • "It's like swallowing your toothpaste spit and then going to kill animals." – Karen, 03:12
  • "Stay sexy and don't give your 13 year old a couple of six packs." – Georgia, 06:02

2. Sorority Stalker

(06:20)

• Set-Up: A listener shares a terrifying college experience involving an anonymous stalker targeting a group of sorority women with ominous texts and threats in upstate New York.
• Details: The texts escalate (“I'm in the house.” “Hope you don't wear anything that can stain.”) and the stalker seems to know the sorority's private plans.
• Harassment Escalates: He posts the women's phone numbers online, leading to sexual solicitations, and one woman receives drugs in the mail with the intention of getting her in trouble with authorities.
• Investigation: Despite university involvement and police tracing the number to an online generator, the harassment continues until the FBI gets involved.
• Resolution: The stalker is revealed to be one victim's ex-boyfriend from Long Island; he is caught with an AR-15 when arrested.
• Notable Quotes:
  • "At one point, he even texted one of the girls saying, 'I'm in the house.'" – Karen, 07:33
  • "To do it to an entire sorority is so Ted Bundy coded, if I may use that language." – Karen, 11:26
  • "Say sexy and don't terrorize an entire group of people just because you can't handle rejection." – Karen, 11:00

3. Trash Mom

(12:39)

• Set-Up: Listener recalls being sent home with a “courtesy driver” from Safeway at age 7 or 8, after their mother locked the keys in the car.
• Discussion: The hosts, baffled, try to unpack what a courtesy driver is and whether sending a child with a stranger for keys is preferable to risking car theft.
• Notable Quotes:
  • "What is a courtesy driver?...A weird stranger in a car who's like, I'll be the courtesy driver at the grocery store." – Georgia & Karen, 13:44
  • "Stay sexy and don't send your daughter with a strange man. Basic parenting. 101." – Georgia, 14:36

4. My Grandma Faked Her Death

(15:35)

• Set-Up: A listener shares how her abuelita Frances, bullied in rural Colorado circa 1941, faked her own death by laying in a ditch, mussing herself up, and smearing blood from scabbed shins.
• Execution: The mean girls, thinking she was dead, panicked, and the grandmother resurrected herself mid-prank.
• Aftermath: They never bullied her again. The grandma is celebrated as “feisty but kind.”
• Notable Quotes:
  • "She was feisty but kind. My favorite person. Thanks for the best podcast ever..." – Listener, read by Karen, 16:49
  • "Stay sexy and don't pick your scabs. You might need them to fake your own death." – Georgia, 17:20

5. Unhinged Team Building Questions

(18:50)

• Set-Up: A softball coach hosts “unhinged” daily questions to bond her team. Questions escalate from innocent to darkly funny, including “If you became a serial killer, what childhood behavior would family blame?”
• Reveals: Answers include wire-stripping a cat’s tail (cat survived), collecting Roly Polys, being terrified of bowling alley pressure, and the horror of never-ending Zoom calls.
• Hosts’ Reflections: Karen and Georgia swap own childhood animal stories—washing a cat (Karen) and covering a cat in barrettes (Georgia).
• Notable Quotes:
  • "My answer. When I was five years old, I stripped my cat's tail with wire strippers. What the actual fuck?" – Listener, read by Georgia, 21:10
  • "But that's how you learn to treat animals nicely—as you see the results of what you do." – Karen, 22:42

6. I Married an Urban Legend

(23:01)

• Set-Up: A Connecticut listener reveals her mom told a warning story of a boy who punctured his lung jumping onto scissors as a child. Fifteen years later, in Oregon, she becomes friends with this boy’s sister and eventually marries him.
• Revelation: Only after dating does she realize her husband is the urban legend from her childhood.
• Resolution: They’ve been together 25 years and just celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary.
• Notable Quotes:
  • "You're dating an urban legend." – Listener's brother, relayed by Karen, 25:39
  • "I love you, Billy Brown, and I'm so glad you survived your injuries 40 something years ago." – Listener, read by Karen, 26:08
  • "Tell us your urban legend town stories." – Georgia, 26:32

Discussion & Memorable Moments

Hosts' Signature Banter

• Karen and Georgia keep the energy light and comedic, even when the stories touch on serious themes.
• "Do you know that the first time I went bowling, I was very stoned?" – Karen, 19:50
• "There's so many layers. It's so many layers of questions." – Karen, 14:45

Interactive Prompts to Listeners

• Listeners are invited to submit their own stories about "the one thing you did as a kid that would be used as a warning sign in a documentary," embarrassing or regretful childhood moments, and urban legend tales.

Timestamps for Notable Segments

• [02:07] Wild Wisconsin hunting, family drinking, and fire story
• [06:20] Chilling college stalker saga
• [12:39] Courtesy driver parenting fail ("Trash Mom")
• [15:35] Grandma faked death to prank bullies
• [18:50] Softball bonding with dark questions
• [23:01] Urban legend husband reveal

Quotes & Attributions

• "It's like swallowing your toothpaste spit and then going to kill animals."
  Karen Kilgariff, 03:12

• "To do it to an entire sorority is so Ted Bundy coded, if I may use that language."
  Karen Kilgariff, 11:26

• "Stay sexy and don't send your daughter with a strange man. Basic parenting. 101."
  Georgia Hardstark, 14:36

• "Stay sexy and don’t pick your scabs. You might need them to fake your own death."
  Georgia Hardstark, 17:20

• "You're dating an urban legend."
  Listener's brother, 25:39

Overall Tone & Takeaways

Karen and Georgia maintain their distinctive mix of comedy, warmth, and genuine interest in the bizarre and darkly funny. The episode’s stories blend nostalgia, absurdity, true-crime terror, and heartfelt shoutouts, all delivered with the hosts’ trademark banter and listener community spirit. Listeners are left both entertained and eager to send in their own wild stories.

Closing Prompt:
"Tell us your urban legend town stories... or the thing you did as a kid that would be the first sign something was wrong." (26:32–27:01)

Classic Sign-Off:
"Stay sexy and don't get murdered." (27:19)

This episode perfectly embodies the quintessential My Favorite Murder minisode: funny, unsettling, surprising, and endearingly human.