MFM Minisode 459

Summary

My Favorite Murder Minisode 459 – Summary

Podcast: My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
Episode: Minisode 459
Date: October 27, 2025

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Episode Overview

This special Halloween-themed minisode features Karen and Georgia reading listener-submitted "hometown" stories that fit the season's spooky vibe. The stories range from historical vampire panics and explosive pumpkin parties to haunted Ouija board sessions, near-tragic costume mishaps, creepy mall discoveries, and legendary prankster teachers. Delivered in the show’s trademark blend of empathy, humor, and irreverence, the hosts bring these anecdotes to life with their own commentary and laughter, celebrating both the terror and the hilarity of real-life weirdness.

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Key Discussion Points & Stories

1. Introduction and Halloween Vibes

• Hosts greet listeners, joke about minisode intros, and comment on aging during video podcasting.
• Georgia dons a vintage, candy-corn inspired Halloween shirt, while Karen confides about “the ghost of your teenage years”—a sudden zit breaking out from touring.
• Notable Quote:
  • Georgia: “The bags under my eyes… hilarious… no one’s ever gonna mention that I have huge, like, exhaustion bags.” (02:40)

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2. [03:08] The Woodstock Vampire Panic

• Story: Listener Kat recounts a local legend from Woodstock, Vermont, about the Ransom family in 1834. After a son’s death, the family suspects vampirism when another son falls ill. They exhume and burn the body, then feed ashes from the heart to the sick three-year-old.
• Urban Legend: Later students try to dig up the ashes' resting place, only to be scared off by rumbling and screams.
• Modern Twist: Listener’s friend’s mom goes on a date with a man claiming Ransom ancestry—and that he’s a vampire.
• Hosts’ Commentary:
  • Georgia laughs at the absurdity of 19th-century medicine and folklore, noting it was likely tuberculosis.
  • Karen: “Elected official with like a fucking M.D.” (06:19)

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3. [06:22] The Exploding Pumpkin Party

• Story: Laura from Ontario shares a family Halloween tradition: blowing up giant pumpkins with her uncle (who has access to explosives). One year, the explosion is so intense, rocks become projectiles, windows shatter, and neighbors fear a plane crash.
• Aftermath: No injuries, but a legendary ending—no more pumpkin parties.
• Notable Quote:
  • Georgia: "'Stunned, scared and mortified, I stood in the driveway as I started to hear chunks of pumpkin and rocks rain down on and around me, including in my hair, on all the cars, in the trees and on the roof.'” (08:22)
• Hosts' Reaction:
  • Karen: "People with explosives. Yeah, terrible idea." (08:26)
  • Georgia: "Needless to say, that was the last year they grew pumpkins, exploded them, or even had a Halloween party." (10:02)

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4. [13:05] The Ouija Board and the Reservoir

• Story: An anonymous listener remembers a 14th birthday party with classic spooky activities: tarot readings, haunted hayrides, and an uncle as Michael Myers. The group uses a Ouija board that spells out “help,” “water,” and “res,” the night before a missing woman is discovered in her car in a reservoir.
• Reflection: The experience remains both chilling and unresolved for the storyteller.
• Notable Quote:
  • Karen: “It’s not a lot, but it’s enough to be fucking creepy as shit.” (15:06)
  • Georgia: "That hooks you into another person’s mortality.” (15:09)

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5. [15:16] Halloween Costume Closet Fall

• Story: Ava recalls an 8-year-old’s Halloween spent at her grandpa’s new (and unfamiliar) house in Albany, NY. Her creative ghoul makeup needed a dark test—Grandpa absentmindedly leads her to a "closet"—actually a basement stairwell. Ava tumbles down, frightened but unharmed.
• Hosts' Commentary:
  • Georgia: “He survived getting hit by a trolley on two separate occasions.” (17:56)
  • Karen: “Accident prone? That's what they called it back then.” (18:08)
• Memorable Moment: Ava later thanks Karen for the "You're Too High" song, noting it gets her through edible mishaps.

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6. [21:46] Secret Mall Holes & Spirit Halloween

• Story: Ari, a Spirit Halloween worker, recounts discovering evidence of a squatter—bed, food, gun holster—in an old Forever 21 space. She’s later shown hidden tunnels and doors crafted into the store.
• Hosts' Take:
  • Georgia: “People being able to be squatters in malls is like the easiest thing. Seriously—nobody’s there.” (24:47)
  • Karen: "Just do not close alone." (25:06)

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7. [26:07] Legendary Prankster Teacher – Mr. Bream

• Story: Listener Shauna reminisces about her 7th grade history teacher, who each Halloween told a fabricated, spine-chilling tale of revenge and mysterious deaths. Each year, the ruse continued with the complicity of former students.
• Emotional Note: The tradition built school camaraderie and became a rite of passage.
• Notable Quotes:
  • Georgia: "That's like, true unity...keep your innocence with you a little bit." (28:46)
  • Karen: "Here's the reach that a really good teacher who cares can have. It's like, yes, amazing." (28:53)
• Listener’s Epilogue: Shauna credits MFM for inspiring her to pursue therapy as a profession.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Halloween Magic and Folklore:

• “The townspeople gathered together at the green with a blacksmith forged to burn the body. Because as we all know, this is how you release a curse.” – Karen (04:33)
• “Daniel is only three years old, which means they're fucking force feeding this baby.” – Karen (04:45)
• “Cool. I have been to the cemetery that Frederick was originally buried at, even on school field trips. But his grave is gone.” – Karen (05:00)

On Family Mishaps:

• “No one could say anything from shock for several moments. And then my uncle frantically started yelling, is everyone okay? Miraculously and thankfully, everyone was drunk.” – Laura (08:26)

On Teachers Who Make a Difference:

• "I went back and listened to him tell that story as one of the former students until I graduated high school. I even got to be the one to turn off the lights a few times." – Shauna (28:28)
• “I've never been happier. Stay sexy and be awesome enough that your students will forgive you for scaring the shit out of them.” – Shauna (29:38)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:08] The Woodstock Vampire Panic
• [06:22] Exploding Pumpkin Party
• [13:05] Ouija Board Prediction and Real-Life Tragedy
• [15:16] Glow-in-the-Dark Ghoul and the Basement Tumble
• [21:46] Secret Squatter Tunnels at Spirit Halloween
• [26:07] Prankster Teacher Mr. Bream’s Annual Halloween Scare

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Tone & Style

• Language: Conversational and comedic, with frequent profanity, friendly banter, and genuine empathy for listeners’ stories.
• Tone: Warm, irreverent, spooky-but-fun, with hosts often pausing to laugh, share relatable anecdotes, or riff on the absurdity of situations.

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Takeaways

• The episode is a showcase of how the MFM community celebrates Halloween: by sharing creepy, funny, and sometimes heartfelt hometown tales.
• Karen and Georgia’s commentary is as much a highlight as the stories themselves, often blending practical safety advice with comic relief.
• The episode invites listeners to reflect on their own memorable teachers and spooky hometown tales—and to cherish community in all its weird, messy glory.

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Closing:
Karen and Georgia urge listeners to support teachers, wish everyone a spooky Halloween, and, as always, remind them to "Stay sexy and don't get murdered."

Transcript

[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

Hello and welcome to my favorite murder.

[Georgia Hardstark]

That's Georgia Heartstark.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's Karen Kilgariff.

[Georgia Hardstark]

This is a minisode. God damn it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's okay. We can still introduce ourselves in a minisode. Maybe we should start doing that type.

[Georgia Hardstark]

No, I think we should be. Yeah. Ten years in. Let's keep it mysterious. Oh, I think you go first this time.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay. We have special Halloween hometowns for you guys because it's spooky season.

[Georgia Hardstark]

And if you're watching the video, you can see that Georgia has a very special Halloween inspired T shirt on right now.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I found this at a vintage shop when we were in Denver and it reminded me of candy corn. And I was like, this is perfect for the show. Want to see something really spooky?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Look at the size of that fucking zit on my phone.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Oh, my God. It's the ghost of your teenage years. Where'd that come from?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Where did that?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Bags.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I don't know. Touring breaks me out so bad, dude.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Here's the thing. I watched the other day, and the bags under my eyes, like, the. It was hilarious. I was just like, no one's ever gonna mention that I have huge, like, exhaustion bags.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Because only you think that.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah, but. Good Lord, I could slap some fucking restrictor on there. Do something.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's all bad. It's all bad.

[Georgia Hardstark]

We're doing a lot of things. We're aging. We decided to. Why don't we go ahead and record this for posterity?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Idea.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Us. All right. This one's called Perfect Halloween. Hometown. MFM crew, let me jump right in. I went to middle and high school in a small Vermont town called Woodstock. It's quiet, historical, no stoplights kind of town, and it reeks of its Puritan past. Central to the town is a green, like a small park where most of the community events take place, including farmers markets, Snow sculpture contests, etc. It sounds like a Hallmark movie, doesn't it?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Snow sculpture.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Like, just. I'm going to give you a couple examples. Snow sculpture.

[Karen Kilgariff]

But there is one community event in particular I'd like to tell you about. In 1834, the eldest brother of the Ransom family, Frederick, age 20, died of an illness that made him very pale and lose his appetite for food. Three months after his death, the younger brother, Daniel, became ill with the same symptoms and began to waste away. The family feared that the dead son was a vampire draining his little brother from beyond the grave. I feel like 1834 is a little late in the game to be believing that, right?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yes, agreed.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Like 16 something, maybe.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah, it's like. Or if you lived out in the country, late 1700s, but. Yeah, come on now.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So this is on them. The family dug Frederick up, and upon examining the decaying corpse, one Dr. Frost determined that there was fresh blood in Frederick's heart and that he had likely sucked it from his brother.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Okay, sir, sir, we need a second opinion on this one.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. The townspeople gathered together at the green with a blacksmith forged to burn the body. Because as we all know, this is how you release a curse. Yeah, but this got me. The younger brother, Daniel, eats the ashes of his brother's vampiric heart to try to cure him. Daniel is only three years old, which means they're fucking force feeding this baby. The rest of the ashes were buried in a box in the center of the Woodstock green.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Good Lord.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Cool. I have been to the cemetery that Frederick was originally buried at, even on school field Trips. But his grave is gone. Urban legend says that some students from the high school dug up the spot in the green that was supposed to house Frederick's ashes. When they reached 6ft, the earth shook and they heard screams and a deep rumbling. Needless to say, no one has fucked with digging up that shit since. But my best friend's mom still lives in town and recently went out on a blind date. The guy was good looking and younger than her, so they went out a few times. That's all it takes. Good looking, younger, especially, you know, in Woodstock in a small town.

[Georgia Hardstark]

That's right.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's how you fucking die.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Is he dumb? Stop talking about that. Does he have any common interest in you? I don't know why you keep asking.

[Karen Kilgariff]

These questions until he said that he thinks he's a distant relative of the Ransom family and that he's a vampire too. Stay sexy and dump him if he wants to drink your blood, Cat. As an afterword, it is likely that the real cause of Frederick and the rest of his family's eventual death was tuberculosis. I sent this in once before and forgot to sign it, so. Kachina.

[Georgia Hardstark]

You nailed it. You nailed it, Kat. Oh, that was really good.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So fucked up.

[Georgia Hardstark]

But also it just makes you think of like that stuff that used to happen back then where it's like one old guy with a beard and he's just like, yeah, you know what this is? And no one checked me on this one.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Elected official with like a fucking md.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah. Okay, I'm not gonna read you the subject line of this one. It says, hey, MFM fam. Let's give her something. They legit say in my hometown. I grew up in rural farmland, Ontario, Canada, where my par. Ridiculous and hideous town fair award winning giant pumpkins. We're talking the over 300 pound variety. And back in those days, their place was also the local party house slash barn, where they hosted among all the other festivities, an annual Halloween rager. My uncle, who works for the government, doing not sure what but has access to explosives, got the great idea to blow up that year's biggest pumpkin as a way to end the night with a bang. I love it. This. That's the person I want to meet. Yeah, for a couple years without incident, just chunks of pumpkin all over the yard. Then came the year we barely speak of. Still to this day, my uncle decided to up the ante that year. I need to meet this man.

[Karen Kilgariff]

He's fun.

[Georgia Hardstark]

He is what it's about. Yeah, this is just making life fun and explosive and basically Accidentally built a pipe bomb. Oops. I was always too cool as a teenager to attend these parties. So I was just arriving home that night, high as hell. And when I stepped out of the car in long driveway before the barnyard, I heard, don't move. Stay back. It's pumpkin time. I noticed my parents, friends and family cowering in the barn, all dressed up like lunatics. Then came the blinding white light and the loudest bang that hit me in the chest and echoed throughout the surrounding woods. Stunned, scared and mortified, I stood in the driveway as. Also stoned. Yeah, right, stone. Stunned, scared, mortified, I stood in the driveway as I started to hear chunks of pumpkin and rocks rain down on and around me, including in my hair, on all the cars, in the trees and on the roof. No one could say anything from shock for several moments. And then my uncle frantically started yelling, is everyone okay? Miraculously and thankfully, everyone was drunk.

[Karen Kilgariff]

People with explosives. Yeah, terrible idea.

[Georgia Hardstark]

It's bad enough when they're just firecrackers. Family and friends, wide eyed and in shock, started to look at one another and basically pat down their bodies in search of damage. Among all the fake blood and ridiculous costumes, they had exploded the pumpkin in our massive fire pit, which was surrounded by big boulders. These rocks had exploded in the blast and became projectiles.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Holy shit.

[Georgia Hardstark]

One went through the barn doors like a cannonball close to my aunt's head. Everyone just mumbled quietly and the party was, without saying, officially over. Still in shock and as the bitchy teenager I was, I stormed into the house and up to my room.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's so embarrassing.

[Georgia Hardstark]

This is about me.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Stupid, right?

[Georgia Hardstark]

You blew up a boulder and it hurts me the worst.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's my problem now.

[Georgia Hardstark]

So they stormed into the house and up to their room, only to find the shock from the blast had blown out my bedroom window and all the windows on the backside of the house.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh my fucking God.

[Georgia Hardstark]

How's that for a bratty teenager, you fucking idiot. I stormed downstairs where a small remainder of my family was gathered basically in tears, saying, you guys went too far. And everyone knew this to be true. The silence was still so eerie, no one knew what to say. Then the phone started ringing. The neighbors were all calling around to each other. The town had come to the conclusion that an airplane had crashed in our fields and were asking, should we call the cops? My mom had to nervously talk them down, muttering something about homemade fireworks. Needless to say, that was the last year they grew pumpkins, exploded them, or even had a Halloween party. We can finally chuckle about the absurdity and the thankfully injury free outcome of that fateful Halloween night that went off with a real bang. Stay sexy and don't accidentally build a pipe bomb with stolen explosives to blow shit up as a party trick.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Laura oh, that's amazing. Can't you just chunk those puppies? Punkin Chunkin. You know when they like make slingshots, just do that.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I know you don't need explosives. You can do any manner of slingshot. Or I mean, if you're out on a farm, how about a shotgun? I don't know.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So many ideas.

[Georgia Hardstark]

So many violent ideas to replace the other violent idea. Women's bodies are amazing and mysterious and.

[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

Hormone replacement therapies are not FDA approved for the treatment of perimenopause, but may be prescribed off label for perimenopausal symptoms at a provider's discretion.

[Georgia Hardstark]

See website for full details, important safety information and restrictions. Goodbye Fall is the season of crunchy leaves, hot drinks and the realization that you've run out of nice sweaters.

[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

Their wool coats look designer level but cost a fraction of the price and the quality just as good, if not better. I feel like I need to apologize to people because I have one of those Quince Mongolian sweaters in the dark gray and I think I wear it every day or every other day. It's just like such a simple, perfect looking piece. But then it is the coziest sweater.

[Karen Kilgariff]

We should get seven of the same color for you so you can wear different ones every day of the week.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I mean I absolutely will.

[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com mfm to get free shipping and 365 day returns.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Quince.com mfm Goodbye.

[Karen Kilgariff]

All right, this is a Ouija Board story. Hi Karen and Georgia. A friend of mine in middle school was obsessed with all things scary and had an October birthday. So naturally her 14th birthday party was Halloween themed. There were about 10 girls in attendance and my friend's parents, two of the nicest people I've ever met had planned tons of hilarious now, but terrifying at the time activities. Think haunted hayride, tarot card readings, an uncle dressed as Michael Myers. His fucking uncles, man. Love the uncles.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Just kind of standing in the doorway with a hockey mask on and a.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Seance tent that was rigged with a fake rat on a string to rattle leaves and scare the shit out of us when we thought we were summoning dead celebrities.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Wow, they're doing real work.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, I bet that she was an only child. To cap off the night we broke out the Ouija board, we played around for a few minutes, then began receiving the words help, water and res R e s. We were freaked out, but not as freaked out as we were when a woman was found in her car in a retaining pond reservoir perhaps two days later. The woman was said to have gone missing on Friday and was found on Monday. The party was Saturday night. I've never believed much in supernatural forces and even at 14 was the asshole of the group trying to rationalize away the messages. But I still get chills thinking about it. We're from a very small town and rumors about the woman's death ran wild. It doesn't seem that there was any serious criminal investigation and sadly no justice was ever served for the woman or her family. Her mother is adamant that she was murdered and 16 years later she is still trying to solve the case. Thank you for all you do researching, writing and producing this podcast. It's gotten me through many long drives slash days at work. You rock. Anonymous Anonymous Yeah. Doesn't want to spread the town's gossip.

[Georgia Hardstark]

That is.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's spooky.

[Georgia Hardstark]

That's quite something to carry if you're a 14 year old. Even if it can be written off as coincidence.

[Advertisement Voice]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's like not a lot, but it's enough to be fucking creepy as shit.

[Georgia Hardstark]

And it hooks you into another person's mortality.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Which I think that once that happens to you at a young enough age, you're just like, well, now I can't stop thinking about it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Totally.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Wow. Okay. I'm not gonna read you this subject line. This email starts, just travel with me, won't you? Back to Halloween 1980, where I'm 8 years old and my sister and I are preparing to get ready to go trick or treating in my grandpa Leo's new neighborhood. He had recently moved in with his girlfriend Beverly, who had a huge old house on a nice tree lined street that was bound to have better candy than we could get where we lived. That's what it was all about.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Hell yeah.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Which was above our dad's store in the main commercial drag in downtown Albany, New York. Okay, that's badass.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Georgia Hardstark]

To grow up over your dad's store in Albany.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Beautiful. Albany.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Come. It's beautiful. I think it is. Must be, right? It's like upstate.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Georgia Hardstark]

But I had another reason to be excited this year. I had dreamed up a creative and terrifying Halloween costume. I was going to be a ghoul inspired by the episodes of Scooby Doo and inspired by episodes of Scooby Doo and perhaps the movie Young Frankenstein. I had it all figured out. Hunchback made of balled up socks. Check. Matted hair, courtesy of one of my mom's old hair pieces from the 60s. Check. Deep circles drawn around my with my mom's brownish lipstick. Check. However, the best part of this costume, the part that would get everyone's attention as I lurched terrifyingly from porch to porch, was the green glow in the dark body paint that I had persuaded my mom to get us. And then parentheses it says my sister was going to be a glow in the dark witch. Not very creative if you ask me. I was dressed ready to go. Glow paint applied not just to my face, but to my hands as well, so that unsuspecting homeowners would see an eerie green hand reaching out from the darkness for what would hopefully be a full size Snicker bar. But it was still frustratingly light outside. We've gotta go at six. We gotta get you back by eight.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I put a jacket on it's cold. No.

[Georgia Hardstark]

No way. I was gonna be able to wait for the sun to set before I could gaze upon the full effect of my truly terrifying glowing ghoul get up. It's such a kid story. So I asked my grandpa if there was a, quote, closet or someplace dark in this as yet unfamiliar house that I could step into so that I could see how glowy in fact my glow in the dark skin was. He said there was and walked me to a door just off the dining room. A word about my grandpa. He probably had adhd. I know I do. But back in the olden days, they just called him absentminded and accident prone. He survived getting hit by a trolley on two separate occasions.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh my God. I feel it.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Those Albany trolleys are real fast. Careful. He also, a few years after this Halloween, cut off a bunch of his fingers while operating a jigsaw. They were successfully reattached.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh my God. Accident prone? That's what they called it back then.

[Georgia Hardstark]

No, just on Halloween though. So it's perhaps not the biggest surprise that grandpa opened this door for me, closed it behind me, and then realized that he should perhaps have told me that this was not a door to a closet, but the door to the stairs leading to the basement. I remember a moment of confusing weightlessness and then the hard slam of my butt on the earth packed floor.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh my God.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I remember seeing the silhouette of my grandpa at the top of the stairs, frozen in horror.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh my God.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Convinced that he had killed his granddaughter. I was fine. I only cried when I realized how freaked out everybody else was. But the next year I played it safe and dressed up as Cleopatra. It's been sexy lady costumes every year since.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's safer.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Stay sexy and trust but verify ava.ps A special thanks to Karen for her your're Too High song. Imagine a middle aged woman, me curled in a fetal position, whisper singing, you're gonna be fine after an ill advised second brownie.

[Karen Kilgariff]

No second brownie.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Never a second brownie.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I'm not that high. I'm gonna have another one.

[Georgia Hardstark]

No one's ever that high.

[Karen Kilgariff]

You're gonna be fine.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Oh. Oh. And then it says, love you ladies.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I love Trust but verify. Yeah, that's a good one.

[Georgia Hardstark]

That's an old saying.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Is it? Let's steal it. Every cat owner, including myself, swears that their house quote, doesn't smell like cat.

[Georgia Hardstark]

And yes, it always kind of does.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, with Pretty Litter, you'll never have to think about it again.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Pretty Litter is formulated with silica gel crystals that are Safe for cats and people alike.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Advanced odor control means your home smells like home, not a litter box.

[Georgia Hardstark]

It also helps monitor your cat's health, detecting abnormalities in your cat's urine by testing acidity and alkalinity levels and the visible presence of blood. I mean, we were joking in the beginning, but Pretty Litter actually does solve this problem.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It does.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I used to have cats too, so I have no judgment. But I mean, like, that is a tough problem to solve. And this is a cat litter that not only has solved that problem, but a couple more.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, Vince and I are always like, it doesn't smell like cat pee in here. Right. It doesn't look like. We're always obsessed about it and worried about it and sniffing around the house and like, knowing that Pretty Litter is there and just taking care of it and we don't even have to think about it is huge peace of mind.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Right. Now save 20% on your first order order and get a free cat toy.

[Georgia Hardstark]

At PrettyLitter.com MFM that's PrettyLittleitter.com MFM to save 20% on your first order and get a free cat toy.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Pretty Litter.com MFM Pretty Litter cannot detect.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Every feline health issue or prevent or diagnose diseases. A diagnosis can only come from a licensed veterinarian. Terms and conditions apply. Csype for details Goodbye.

[Karen Kilgariff]

A sleek professional website makes you look very put together, even when you're wearing sweatpants and eating cereal out of a mug.

[Georgia Hardstark]

And that's where Squarespace comes in.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Squarespace gives you everything you need to offer your services and get paid all in one place.

[Georgia Hardstark]

From consultations to experiences. Showcase your services with a customizable website designed to attract clients and grow your business.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And managing those payments is a breeze. In just a few clicks, you'll be able to accept payments with options like Klarna, Apple Pay, afterpay, and more.

[Georgia Hardstark]

You'll get paid on time with professional on brand invoices and online payments. Plus streamline your workflow with built in appointment scheduling and email marketing tools and.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Get discovered faster with Squarespace's built in SEO tools. With meta descriptions and auto generated site maps, you'll rank higher in search results globally.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Go to squarespace.com murder for a free trial and when you're ready to launch, use offer code murder to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's squarespace.com murder codemurder Goodbye.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Goodbye.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Secret holes in walls oh hell yes. Ready? Hi Karen and Georgia. I've always loved listening to your podcast first played it for me when I was 15 and I loved it, but I was too busy being 15 to listen consistently. It's only now that I'm going through every episode from the beginning and I'm hoping you still want stories of secret slash spooky holes.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Always, in every way.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Never question yourself. Because being the big kid that I am now 17, I work at Spirit Halloween. How fucking fun is that? And this year, and this year, we've seen a lot of weird shit. We're in an old forever 21 this year because they're always in, like abandoned. They were like in our abandoned CVS last year.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yes.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay. Well, this year we're in an old forever 21 which has both an upstairs and a downstairs. We only use the upper level. The downstairs is closed off from us completely and shut off from the rest of the mall as well. So it's like an old mall. It's upstairs only, but the whole upstairs and downstairs used to be forever 21.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Wow. So you enter on a. I'm just trying to. Yes.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Burbank Mall. You know how like they closed the Bed Bath and Beyond that was two floors?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Oh, yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Probably only use the top floor now for whatever it is.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Got it. Spirit Halloween.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Let's do something very specific that only like a handful of people who listen would understand.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I can only understand things like this if you explain them to me in terms of Burbank.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, I can tell you all about Burbank.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Oh, I get it. I totally get it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

The downstairs is closed off and shut off and rest the mall. One day, my coworker nonchalantly mentioned that during a walk through, they found an old dressing room downstairs with bed sheets, food, liquor, a fucking gun holster, and signs that someone had been hanging out in there for quite some time, but no one was actually there. I was creeped out, but I moved on with my life. 17 year olds. @ least for a few weeks. Then my manager casually asked me if I'd, quote, seen the holes we found in the walls yet me, trying to hide the fact that I was low key excited, asked her where she led me to them. And let me tell you, there is a whole fucking shitty man made creepy tunnel. One end is hidden behind an old fridge. Not sure why there's a fridge. It's just sitting there in a poorly lit unused storage room with cords and random crap everywhere.

[Georgia Hardstark]

It's the perfect thing to cover a big hole that a person can go through.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's perfect. And the other end of the tunnel opens into a room with all the ventilation and pipes. There's also a whole secret door in another wall made with a saw, hinges and pegboard. So someone like was there long enough to make a door they could open A house. A house. A home. Yeah. And this is all upstairs, totally separate from what we downstairs. I hate the thought of people secretly inside a fucking wall because girl, get your peeping Tom ass out of there. I apologize if this is too long, but I thought maybe you'd give it a chance. I love you guys. Thank you for keeping me company while I work this scary ass job.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yes.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Stay sexy heart emoji. Love, Ari.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Ari, I would like for you to check in every once in a while because the spooky season is upon us. But also there have been stories over the years. People being able to be squatters in malls is like the easiest thing. Seriously, nobody's there.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Also like, I bet she hasn't told her parents and like later they're going to be like, why the didn't you tell like that we would have made you stop working there, right? Or we would have, you know, had some. But it's just like, oh yeah, you didn't. I didn't tell you.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Just do not close alone. Cuz that's the thing that those like businesses where they're just like, oh, this 17 year old assistant manager, she can close by herself. It's like, absolutely not. No.

[Karen Kilgariff]

100% no.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Hopefully, since everyone knows there's holes in the walls.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, they have the security and someone walking under their car.

[Georgia Hardstark]

But I do want to hear like all the things that happen in Spirit Halloween.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, I bet it's good.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I bet it's fun times. Okay, but you have to listen to that like the one weird witch at the front, like make noise over and over. Reach out. Do you work at Spirit Halloween? What store did your job replace a store of. Okay, the subject line of this is, no, I'm not gonna read it. Okay, so it says, hello, murder besties. I have a zillion things to thank you for, but I'll save them for the end and try to truncate this email so it isn't horrifyingly long. I'm catching up on episodes and heard something about prankster teachers and I had to talk about Mr. Bream. Do you remember prankster teachers? No, but we're bringing it all back with Mr. Bream.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Let's do it.

[Georgia Hardstark]

He was the legendary seventh grade history teacher at my combined middle high school and he always made his classes fun, interactive and truly a joy. I have no idea how this man tolerated seventh graders all day, but he was clearly a saint. Halloween hit and I had history for third period. A bunch of kids from the earlier classes said that Mr. Bream was gonn give a pop quiz that day, which felt unusual for such a fun loving teacher on the auspicious candy based holiday that was October 31st. But oh well, my anxious ass was all ready for that quiz. When we walked in, he looked distracted and weird and he said that he had something he needed to get off his chest before we started the quiz and that he'd called down some of his older former students there because he wanted them to know too. He then proceeded to tell us a story about his three best friends and him going on a backpacking trip in Germany decades earlier and that they had an injured mountain climber. As a snowstorm hit, they weren't able to rescue him and they had to leave him behind. It had been 40 years since then and he'd always regretted it. But in the past three months, those three friends have died mysteriously on the last day of each month. So good the last had been stabbed with a ptah, a metal spike used for mountain climbing. And Mr. Breen was terrified he was going to be. He knew that the climber had come back for revenge for being left for dead. At the end of the story, the lights suddenly went off and Mr. Bream screamed. Oh my God.

[Karen Kilgariff]

How do you keep a straight face if you're Mr. Bream?

[Georgia Hardstark]

I mean, you've got to have the passion of a prankster in you where you're like, this is gonna scare the fuck out of them. I just can't give it away.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I was supposed to be an actor, not a teacher. But let's make the best of it.

[Georgia Hardstark]

You have to. Maybe he's deep down supposed to be an actor cause he's tapping into something real.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Seriously.

[Georgia Hardstark]

So he screams, oh my God. All the seventh graders scream before realizing that he's been fucking with us. Everyone laughed and he checked in to see how we were all feeling after the story, making sure no one was too scared. While in retrospect, the story was far fetched enough that we should have all known it was a prank. I was and am very gullible and believed every word right till the end. He then told us to make sure to tell kids in later classes that we had a pop quiz so as not to spoil the joke.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Love it.

[Georgia Hardstark]

This teacher was also beloved enough that no one spoiled the pita man's story for the other classes. For Years.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, shit.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I went back and listened to him tell that story as one of the former students until I graduated high school. I even got to be the one to turn off the lights a few times.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, my God.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Older kids didn't spoil it for their younger siblings. And Mr. Bream told that story every year until he retired.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, my God. I'm, like, gonna cry.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I know. It's really good. That's like, true unity of like, we're gonna keep your intention innocence and with you a little bit. And like.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. But also, like, here's the reach that a really good teacher who cares can have. It's like, yes, amazing.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yes. It's fun to be in it. Clearly, it's not upsetting. Everybody loves a good story.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Georgia Hardstark]

And the rest of the year was always fun and involved. Zero traumatizing. I'll always be thankful that I had a teacher who was so invested in his students having special and memorable experiences in the healthcare that was middle school. God, I remember mine.

[Karen Kilgariff]

They were amazing.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I mean, thank you for all you do in creating a space to talk about mental health and your experiences with therapy. Your podcast was no small part of the reason I left the entertainment industry. Me too. Wow.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Seriously.

[Georgia Hardstark]

And I went back to grad school to become a therapist myself. Wow.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Amazing.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I've never been happier. Stay sexy and be awesome enough that your students will forgive you for scaring the shit out of them. Showing. Shauna, Shauna, Shauna.

[Karen Kilgariff]

What a beautiful story.

[Georgia Hardstark]

So good.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Tell us about your memorable teachers. We want to hear all about them.

[Georgia Hardstark]

And, like, legendary teachers.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, for sure.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Because that's amazing.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's beautiful. That's a great Halloween app.

[Georgia Hardstark]

It is.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I've ever heard of one.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Also, we started posting some teacher wish lists. I'm sure those teacher wish lists are. There's still plenty.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Georgia Hardstark]

So if you. There's probably some on our social media, but take a look around and see if you can't donate some bucks here or there, because that's. That's like, those are the people it's going to.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Totally. Totally amazing. Well, thanks for listening, you guys. Spooky Halloween. We do it.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Oh, yeah. A spooky Halloween.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Thank you.

[Georgia Hardstark]

You've been waiting all my life. Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And stay sexy and don't get murdered. Goodbye, Elvis. Do you want a cookie?

[Georgia Hardstark]

This has been an exactly right production.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Our senior producers are Alejandra Keck and Molly Smith.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Our editor is Aristotle Acevedo.

[Karen Kilgariff]

This episode was mixed by Leona Squillacci.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Email your hometowns to my favorite murdermail.com.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And follow the show on Instagram at.

[Georgia Hardstark]

My favorite Murder Listen to my favorite murder on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And now you can watch us on exactly right's YouTube page. And while you're there, please like and subscribe.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Goodbye Goodbye.

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