Short Stuff: Two Scary True Shorties!

Summary

Summary of "Short Stuff: Two Scary True Shorties!" – Stuff You Should Know

In the Halloween-themed episode titled "Short Stuff: Two Scary True Shorties!", hosts Josh and Chuck delve into two chilling real-life stories that blend mystery, folklore, and true crime. This summary captures the essence of their discussions, highlighting key points, intriguing insights, and memorable quotes with appropriate timestamps.

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1. The Bricius Family and the Pennsylvania Dutch Powwow

A Creepy Discovery

At the outset, Josh introduces the first spooky tale involving the Bricius family from Auburn, Pennsylvania. The family, comprising six members, embarked on renovating their new home. During the demolition of a living room wall to install insulation, they unearthed a disturbing array of dead animal carcasses, bones, and skeletons. These remnants were peculiarly wrapped in newspapers dating back to the 1930s and 40s ([00:55] Josh).

Unraveling the Mystery

As Josh states, “...everything they opened up to put insulation in was packed with not only dead animals but also some spices, artifacts” ([02:05] Josh). Although the exact nature of these artifacts remains unclear, the family sought local insights to understand the bizarre findings.

Pennsylvania Dutch Powwow Magic

Chuck provides the cultural context, explaining that the house resides in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country, where a form of folk magic known as Powwow is prevalent. This tradition combines Christianity with folk healing remedies and is rooted in the 1820 book "The Long Lost Friends" by John George Homan ([02:40] Chuck).

Josh elaborates on the nature of Powwow, emphasizing its protective and defensive spells designed to ward off curses rather than cast them. “Nothing in the book is for casting spells against somebody or for hexing somebody. It's all protective or defensive to, like, undo some hex somebody did on you” ([03:28] Josh). Powwow doctors, serving as conduits between God and those needing healing, offer their services without charge, accepting only tokens of gratitude ([04:19] Josh).

A Haunted Backstory

Delving deeper, Chuck recounts a creepy backstory linked to the Powwow book. In 1928, a murderer named John Blymire possessed the book while trying to lift a curse placed by a neighbor, leading to a gruesome confrontation with a local witch, Nellie Knoll ([04:36] Chuck). This incident, though unrelated to the Bricius family’s findings, underscores the ominous aura surrounding the Powwow rituals.

Consequences and Costs

The Bricius family faced significant financial strain, investing around $20,000 to address the mysterious issues, which their insurance refused to cover, citing the anomalies as pre-existing conditions ([05:14] Josh). This left the family bewildered and deeply unsettled by the unexplained phenomena within their home.

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2. Derek and Maria Brodus vs. The Watcher

A Dream Home Turned Nightmare

The second story revolves around Derek and Maria Brodus, who in 2014, purchased a $1.4 million Dutch Colonial home in Westfield, New Jersey. Built in 1905, the house boasted six bedrooms and four bathrooms, embodying the Brodus's dream home aspirations ([08:30] Josh).

First Contact with The Watcher

Shortly after closing, the Woods family, previous owners, received an alarming letter from an anonymous individual identifying themselves as "the Watcher". This individual claimed to have been observing the house since its construction in 1905 ([09:09] Chuck). The Broduses began receiving similar letters, heightening their unease.

Chuck humorously suggests, “Maybe we could have some scary music when we read these letters” ([11:11] Chuck), emphasizing the eerie tone of the correspondence.

Disturbing Messages

The letters from The Watcher became increasingly sinister. The second letter revealed intimate details about the Brodus children and ominously requested information about their bedrooms, stating, “...it will help me to know who is in which bedroom. Then I can plan better, man” ([11:26] Chuck). This intrusion into their personal lives terrified the family, especially with mentions of needing "young blood."

Escalating Paranoia and Investigation

In an attempt to safeguard their home, Derek installed webcams, but the harassment continued. Josh notes, “They moved some of their stuff in, but given what was happening, they were slow rolling it” ([12:44] Josh). Over a year elapsed without them fully moving in, leading to heightened paranoia and suspicions that The Watcher might be one of the previous bidders or a neighbor seeking retribution ([15:07] Josh).

Legal and Investigative Developments

The situation escalated to involve law enforcement. DNA tests revealed female DNA on the envelopes ([18:00] Josh), hinting at a possible female perpetrator. The Broduses faced challenges in selling the house, eventually incurring a $400,000 loss when they sold it five years later ([19:00] Chuck).

Cultural Impact and Media Portrayal

Chuck draws parallels to the Netflix series "The Watcher", noting, “It’s good... It gets nuts, man. It’s off the rails” ([19:17] Josh), highlighting how the true story has been dramatized for television, albeit without a clear resolution.

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Conclusion

Josh and Chuck effectively weave together folklore, true crime, and eerie coincidences to present two haunting narratives. From the Pennsylvania Dutch Powwow protecting a family's home to the unrelenting stalking by The Watcher in New Jersey, these stories exemplify how mystery and fear can infiltrate everyday lives. The hosts interject humor and insightful commentary, making the chilling tales both engaging and thought-provoking for listeners.

Notable Quotes:

• Josh [00:55]: "I'm Josh and there's Chuck. And Jerry's here too, skulking around like a real ghoul who just wants to dig up a grave and eat the corpse inside."

• Josh [02:05]: "So spices, newspapers, and dead animals. And they're like, I don't know what's going on here."

• Josh [03:28]: "Nothing in the book is for casting spells against somebody or for hexing somebody. It's all protective or defensive to, like, undo some hex somebody did on you."

• Chuck [16:58]: "Violent winds and bitter cold to the vile and spiteful Derek and his wench of a wife, Maria. You wonder who the Watcher is? Turn around, idiots."

• Chuck [19:17]: "How does it end? Well, don't tell me how it ends, I guess, on air."

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For those intrigued by these spine-chilling stories, tuning into "Stuff You Should Know" offers a captivating exploration of the unknown, blending historical context with modern-day mysteries.

Transcript

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[Josh]

Hey, and welcome to the Short stuff. I should say, hey, and welcome to the short stuff. I'm Josh and there's Chuck. And Jerry's here too, skulking around like a real ghoul who just wants to dig up a grave and eat the corpse inside. That's what Jerry does around this time of year. And this is short stuff. So let's get going because it's basically Halloween.

[Chuck]

That's right, the day before Halloween. We're going to talk about two scary stories. Big thanks to Medium, People magazine, Cult of Weird and the Cut and other places for these two scary stories. The first one about the Bricius family of Auburn, Pennsylvania, who moved into a home for their family of six. They were like, let me. Let's renovate a little bit. Let's take down this wall in the living room. And oh my God, what is that? Basically because what they found within the walls of the home were dead animal carcasses, bones and skeletons.

[Josh]

Yes. And very quizzically, they were wrapped in newspaper that dated from the 1930s and 40s. And apparently every wall that they opened up to put insulation in, they found it packed with not only like dead animals, but also some spices, artifacts. And by God, I searched high and low for an example of what the artifacts were, but everybody just followed the example of whoever first wrote artifacts and that's all you can get. So I have no idea what the artifacts are.

[Chuck]

Maybe that was the newspapers.

[Josh]

I guess those qualify as artifacts. Yeah, yeah. All right, we'll just say that. So spices, newspapers, and dead animals. And they're like, I don't know what's going on here. So let's ask some locals what they think is happening. And it turns out that these people bought their house smack dab in the middle of Pennsylvania Dutch country. And it turns out what had happened is they discovered that their house was being protected via a kind of Dutch magic, Pennsylvania Dutch magic called Powwow.

[Chuck]

That's right. It has its roots in Pennsylvania there. And it's sort of like, I mean, Christianity is part of it because they do use the Christian or I don't know if they're still around. Or maybe did use the Christian Bible.

[Josh]

I think it is still around.

[Chuck]

Okay. But there's definitely folk magic, healing remedies, stuff like that. Powwow refers to. Or it actually came from this German book called the Long Lost Friends by John George homan, published in 1820. And they believe that it wasn't called powwow at first, but it was renamed that later after the Algonquin word for, you know, powwow, gathering of medicine men. And that was it. It was this book, basically, that also has kind of a creepy backstory, though, right?

[Josh]

Well, yeah. So just a little more about the book. It's a bunch of folk remedies and spells and recipes and, hey, use this cat's paw to ward off this thing. And very importantly to me, nothing in the book is for casting spells against somebody or for hexing somebody. It's all protective or defensive to, like, undo some hex somebody did on you. So it's basically all positive. And powwow doctors, who, again, are still around today, they don't take a cent for what they're doing. If you want to give them something as a token of thanks, they'll accept it, but they do not charge for their services, or else it won't work. And to the people that they're working with and themselves, they are a conduit through from God to this person who needs healing. And that's what they're serving as. Which is where the Christianity part comes in.

[Chuck]

That's right. And I mentioned the creepy backstory of that book here is that because in 1928, it was found in the possession of a guy, a murderer, named John Blymire. And there was a local witch in this story named Nellie Knoll.

[Josh]

Great name.

[Chuck]

And what. Great name. Nellie Knoll. Yeah.

[Josh]

For a witch.

[Chuck]

Yeah, absolutely. John Blymire was convinced that he was cursed by one of his neighbors, and so he went to break into that neighbor's house to find the spell book and try and reverse this curse. But when he broke in, his neighbor was actually there. They just killed him. They mutilated him, and they thought maybe that will lift the curse. So that has nothing to do with actually what's in the book, because, like you said, it's a. It's a positive book of protection spells, mainly. But it is Halloween, so I thought it was worth mentioning.

[Josh]

Yeah. And also reverse the curse. Sounds like a Cubs T shirt from the 90s, you know?

[Chuck]

Yeah, yeah, totally. Or Red Sox, maybe.

[Josh]

So, yeah, it turns out that the house of Nelson Reemeyer, the neighbor who was killed by John Blymire. It's still around. And his great grandson lives there. And the part of the floor where Reemeyer was burned alive is still singed. And the guy has cut it out and put plexiglass over it and gives tours of the house.

[Chuck]

That's right. And again, has nothing to do with this home or the dead animals in the wall. They're just dead animals in the wall. And by all appearances, it was part of a powwow protection ritual. They don't know what that house might have been trying to be protected from. That's kind of creepy. Yeah, but they took care of everything to the tune of about $20,000. Because insurance would not cover it.

[Josh]

No, they said this existed before your policy. So TS for you, the spookiest part of the story. Exactly. So let's take a break and we'll come back and talk about a second real life horror story. How about that?

[Chuck]

Let's do.

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Stuff you should know.

[Chuck]

Stuff you should know.

[Josh]

Okay, Chuck, so for this second real life scary story, we're going to talk about the saga of Derek and Maria Brodus who bought a dream home essentially in Westfield, New Jersey. In 2014, they paid over asking for it, which is also very scary. They paid 1.4 million for it. And this house was a four bathroom, six bedroom Dutch Colonial, which should be the opposite. It was built in 1905 and they loved the house. They thought it was amazing. What they didn't know is that there was a stalker watching the house who called themselves appropriately, the Watcher.

[Chuck]

That's right. This is of course, the basis of the Netflix show the Watcher. And we should also say we're going to cover this in about six or seven minutes. And this is a very dense story. So there is a lot more out there about the Watcher. And this is the broadest of overviews about the broadest family. You like that. But this house was originally built in 1905. About a month before closing, the woods family, who was selling it, got a letter from someone that called themselves the Watcher.

[Josh]

Sure.

[Chuck]

It was hand typed. And they claimed to be watching the house in one of a long line of people in their family that had been watching the house since 1905.

[Josh]

Yeah, and one little note about the letters. The letters were typed, but the envelopes were hand hand written in a block of script. Yes. And that to me suggests strongly that the Watcher couldn't figure out how to type onto an envelope, which I final.

[Chuck]

Yeah, that's pretty funny. So 657 Boulevard is where this house is. And the woods family had lived there for 23 years. They were like, this letter is kind of weird. It's a little creepy, but we're selling it and let's just not tell anybody that.

[Josh]

Right? So, yeah, apparently it was the first letter they ever got. No one ever seems to have intimated that they got one prior to this. So they just kind of threw it away and were just like, whatever. And then over the course of the next month, as the Brodesses start moving their stuff, in three days after closing in June, they received a letter, their first letter. And it was essentially the Watcher introducing themselves to this new family who'd moved into this house at 657 Boulevard. That the watcher was the third generation to watch this house.

[Chuck]

Hey, Dave, maybe we could. Dave producer Dave for the shorties. Maybe we'd have some scary music when we read these letters.

[Josh]

Great idea.

[Chuck]

So cue the scary music. And here we go with letter two. My grandfather watched the house in the 1920s and my father watched in the 1960s. It is, have, be. And of course put the little parenthetical sic in there, which.

[Josh]

Which means I'M not the dummy, they're the dummy.

[Chuck]

It is have be put in charge of watching and waiting for its second coming. You don't want to make unhappy talking about the house. Do you need to fill the house with the young blood I requested? I asked the previous owners to bring me young blood.

[Josh]

So this is not the kind of letter you would want to get when you're moving into your new house, especially because you have kids. And this person is this anonymous letter writer is mentioning young blood that you apparently brought to them. And the watcher said that the woods had sold the house because the watcher asked them to. And they were doing the watcher's bidding. Something that the watcher liked to apparently think about themselves, that they were in control of everything that happened with this house. And two weeks later, another letter arrived. It was addressed to Mr. And Mrs. Braddis. They left the O out this time. And it got even more detailed about the kids.

[Chuck]

Yeah, it was talking about their birth order, their nicknames, and this is very creepy. But it asked who would be in the street facing rooms and said, it will help me to know who is in which bedroom. Then I can plan better, man.

[Josh]

Don't forget the music there, Dave. Yeah. So Derek Broadus did what every normal father and husband would do in 2014. He set up webcams in the house.

[Chuck]

Yeah, yeah. And they hadn't moved in, by the way. In fact, never moved in. They had moved some of their stuff in, but given what was happening, they were slow rolling it, I think.

[Josh]

Yeah. So weeks after the second letter, so this is a couple months after they closed on the house, they got another letter that said, where have you gone to? 657 Boulevard is missing you. And that's fairly creepy. But at least it wasn't a threatening letter this time. But it also showed that the watcher was clearly watching the house. And so a year went by, a year, Chuck, where these people who paid almost one and a half million dollars for their house never moved into it because they were too scared of whoever this person was. And they also grew very paranoid. I don't think the Netflix special took any liberties with that. I think it was like an actual depiction of like how this family, especially the dad, kind of descended into paranoia and suspecting anyone and everyone of being the watcher, they just couldn't take this at all. So they just never moved in the house. And they tried to sell it and it did not go very well.

[Chuck]

I thought a second ago you were going to say these people did move into their 1.4 million million dollar house for a year because they were too scared and privileged. Yeah, we just won't move in.

[Josh]

So one other thing, too. I called it a Netflix special, which I think kind of outed me. Is almost 50, right?

[Chuck]

A program.

[Josh]

It was the Netflix movie of the week.

[Chuck]

You watching your programs? So they went to court and said, hey, these woods people got this. They knew about this. They didn't disclose this. Now we've got this scary haunted house, or maybe not haunted, maybe being stalked by a real dangerous person. And the woods were like, no, no, no, that's not true. That didn't happen. And so news started getting hold of this, they started reporting it. They actually did DNA testing and found that woman's DNA on the envelopes and letters and that they had Kearney postmarks on them.

[Josh]

Yeah, that's 20 miles away and closer to New York. I don't know if we said this. This whole thing takes place in. What is it, Westfield, New Jersey, Right?

[Chuck]

Yeah, of course, New Jersey.

[Josh]

Okay, so the cops are involved now. The prosecutor's office is actually involved. They're spending money testing this stuff for DNA, like you said, and they started theorizing of who it could be. And they thought that maybe it was one of the other prospective buyers who was mad that they'd been outbid by the Brodesses.

[Chuck]

Maybe they get them out of there.

[Josh]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Could have been one of the neighbors, like the watcher essentially intimated. And then there was a lot of suspicion on the Broadus family, too, that they were essentially like the family from the Amityville horror that they had. They were trying to basically create a sellable story, which is what turned out to be the case, actually. Yeah, or buyer's remorse, too. That's another one, too. But that would be a terrible, terrible thing to do if you just wanted to sell the house. And there were other people who had offered over asking, why would you saddle it with a now famous stalker? Rather than just being like, we're going to sell it and we'll try to sell it, at least break even.

[Chuck]

Yeah, yeah, for sure. That doesn't make much Sense. So in 2016, they tried to subdivide the property into a couple of lots, get rid of that house, build two more. The zoning board in the town said no, big slap in the face, and they rented the place. And the renter was like, yeah, I mean, I know about this Watcher thing, but, like, I wasn't too freaked out. It was fine. It was a good house to rent. And I did have a clause, an out clause in my lease in case another letter popped up.

[Josh]

Smart.

[Chuck]

And another letter did pop up, and this was a really creepy one. And I think you should read this one.

[Josh]

Oh, the whole thing. Okay. Violent winds and bitter cold to the vile and spiteful Derek and his wench of a wife, Maria. You wonder who the Watcher is? Turn around, idiots. Maybe you even spoke to me. One of the so called neighbors who has no idea who the Watcher could be. Or maybe you do know and are too scared to tell anyone. Good move. I walked by the news trucks, remember? This whole thing had become like a media circus by now when they took over my neighborhood and mocked me. I watched as you watched from the dark house in an attempt to find me. Telescopes and binoculars are wonderful inventions. 657 Boulevard survived your attempted assault and stood strong with its army of supporters barricading its gates. My soldiers of the Boulevard followed my orders to a te. They carried out their mission and saved the soul of 657 Boulevard with my orders. All hail the Watcher. Pretty full of themselves, right?

[Chuck]

Yeah, he kind of came across as a smarmy a hole in that one. Whoever this Watcher is, he or she.

[Josh]

Don'T forget they found female DNA on the envelope.

[Chuck]

Oh, yeah, that's true. It sounds like something a guy would do. Though they did mention the Renter in that letter. The Renter was a little bit spooked, but was like, but I'll stay here. I like this place. Get some of those cameras in there and I'll be fine. And then there was one last spooky, spooky tag on this letter about the revenge that might befall them. Maybe a car accident, maybe a fire. Maybe something as simple as a mild illness that never seems to go away, but makes you feel sick day after day after day after day after day. Maybe the mysterious death of a pet. Loved ones suddenly die. Planes and cars and bicycles crash. Bones break.

[Josh]

They threaten to make a plane crash.

[Chuck]

Hey, that's pretty scary.

[Josh]

So how'd the whole thing end up? The Broadus family finally did sell the house about five years after they bought it, right?

[Chuck]

Yeah, at a $400,000 loss. And that is the end of the story. What I don't know is how the Netflix show that. Surely it just doesn't wrap up that way. There's.

[Josh]

Oh, you haven't seen it?

[Chuck]

No. Have you?

[Josh]

Yeah, it's good.

[Chuck]

Oh, is it good? Do you watch the whole thing?

[Josh]

Yeah.

[Chuck]

How does it end? Well, don't tell me how it ends, I guess, on air.

[Josh]

I honestly don't remember how it ends, but I don't. It didn't seem. It didn't seem to be like a succinct ending. Like everything was wrapped up, if I remember correctly. But it gets nuts, man. It's off the rails.

[Chuck]

It's got. And, you know, I'm sure they fictionalized a lot of it, but it's got. What's his name? The guy like Rose Byrne's husband, Bobby Cannavale.

[Josh]

Oh, he's married to Rose Byrne. I didn't know that.

[Chuck]

Yeah, one of my favorite couples and I sat next to him in a Lounge at LaGuardia Airport one time and he smiled at me. So, yeah, I think we got something brewing there, friendship wise.

[Josh]

I think so too. Well, then you should definitely watch the Netflix special on the Watcher because you need something to talk about with them.

[Chuck]

That's right. And thanks to everyone for indulging this extra long, two part shorty. And be safe tomorrow. Happy Halloween, everybody.

[Josh]

Happy Halloween, everybody. Short stuff's out.

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[Chuck]

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[Chuck]

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