In this episode, we dive into the baffling case of David Glenn Lewis, a Texas attorney who vanished in 1993 and was later struck and killed along a highway in Moxee, Washington, over 1,600 miles from home. For 11 years, he remained a John Doe, with no clear explanation for how or why he ended up there.What makes this case even stranger is what was happening before he disappeared: an upcoming legal deposition, unexplained travel, and a timeline that still doesn’t quite add up.We explore this case from a local Washington perspective, adding details that often get overlooked and examining the lingering questions surrounding Lewis’s death. Was this a tragic accident, or is there more beneath the surface?A huge thank you to Amanda for suggesting this case, it’s one that continues to haunt both Texas and Washington locals to this day.

Hey friends! Quick update episode.We’re officially switching our release day from Mondays to Tuesdays, starting now. So if you were looking for a new episode today, don’t worry, it’s still coming, just dropping on Tuesdays from here on out. Same show, same chaos, just a better day for everyone.We also go off on a little side tangent (because of course we do) about alligator lore… and whether that makes any sense at all for Northern Idaho. It’s short, it’s weird, and it’s very on brand for us.Thanks for sticking with us, thanks for listening, and we’ll see you tomorrow, and every Tuesday after that.

When the justice system failed her, Miriam Rodríguez Martínez became her own investigator.After her daughter, Karen Alejandra Rodríguez Martínez, was kidnapped and murdered by cartel members in Mexico, Miriam refused to accept silence, corruption, or inaction. Instead, she spent years tracking down those responsible, gathering evidence, identifying suspects, and forcing authorities to make arrests in one of the most dangerous environments imaginable.In this episode, we walk through Karen’s disappearance, the devastating aftermath, and how Miriam transformed grief into an all-out pursuit of justice, one that would ultimately make her a target herself.This is a story about loss, courage, and what happens when a mother refuses to let her child be forgotten.

In this episode, we dive into the disturbing and deeply mysterious murder of Cassidy Rainwater, a missing woman from Missouri whose case spiraled into dark web rumors, gruesome allegations, and a wave of conspiracy theories.

We break down the timeline of Cassidy’s disappearance, the chilling discovery that linked suspects James Phelps and Timothy Norton to her murder, and the cabin photographs that fueled nationwide speculation about cannibalism and organized dark web activity.

We also discuss the ongoing questions surrounding Cassidy’s family, the disappearance of her mother years earlier, and why so many believe this case reveals something bigger happening in the Ozarks. This is one of Missouri’s most unsettling and talked-about true crime cases, and today, we’re unpacking every detail.

In June of 1999, a man named Ricky McCormick was found in a Missouri field… and nothing about the case has made sense since. Not the location. Not the circumstances. And especially not the two handwritten notes found in his pockets, notes filled with symbols, numbers, and codes that even the FBI’s top cryptanalysts couldn’t break.Tonight, we’re diving into one of America’s strangest unsolved mysteries: Who was Ricky McCormick? What did those coded notes mean? And why has this case stayed officially “open” for more than two decades?But because this is The Treehouse in the Woods… you know we’re taking a detour. And yes, somehow, along the way, we end up with a man known only as Mr. Pancakes. Don’t worry. It’ll make sense. Kind of.So grab a snack, lock your doors, and settle in.This is Missouri Mysteries: The Unbreakable Code… and Mr. Pancakes.

Grigori Rasputin wasn’t just a mystic, he was a walking fever dream of a man whose life reads like someone mixed a soap opera with a horror movie and said, “Yeah, that’ll work.”In this episode, we break down the real Rasputin: his chaotic rise from a troubled kid in Siberia, to wandering holy man, to member of a sex cult, to somehow becoming besties with the Romanovs… all while surviving more assassination attempts than should be medically possible.But heads up: this isn’t a rigid, snooze-worthy history lecture. This is the fun retelling of the “we got curious, fell down a rabbit hole, and now you have to hear about it too” version. Expect weird facts, questionable choices, royal drama, and Rasputin being Rasputin.If you love chaotic historical figures, dark humor, cults, conspiracies, or stories that make you go “WHAT the hell?!”, you’re in the right place.

This week we’re covering the tragic and deeply unsettling case of actor Johnny Lewis — better known to most as “Half-Sack” from Sons of Anarchy.His final days were a whirlwind of arrests, erratic behavior, and escalating instability that ended in a shocking and violent crime that stunned fans and Hollywood alike.We walk through Johnny’s early acting success, the warning signs that appeared long before the tragedy, and the strange industry connections surrounding the case.It’s a fast-moving, chaotic story m, part true crime, part Hollywood cautionary tale, and one of the wildest cases we’ve covered in a while.

This week, we cover the chilling case of Justin Mohn, who murdered his father, decapitated him, and uploaded a YouTube video detailing his motives.

We walk through the timeline, his extremist beliefs, and how authorities responded to a crime that unfolded publicly online.And because our brains needed a palate cleanser after that, we also share the surprisingly adorable WWII-era mission that involved dropping beavers out of airplanes to repopulate Idaho. (We don’t make the news, we just question it.)A shorter episode, but… this one didn’t require embellishment.

In this episode, we unpack the disturbing case of Robert “Awake the Rapper” Crimo III — the SoundCloud-aesthetic musician turned mass shooter behind the Highland Park 4th of July parade attack.

We walk through the red flags leading up to the tragedy, the system failures that let him slip through, and the internet’s obsession with linking his story to MK-Ultra and government cover-up theories.

We keep it balanced, factual, and grounded… with just enough tinfoil hat energy to acknowledge the conspiracy chatter without living in it.

If you’ve ever wondered how a walking SoundCloud stereotype sparked both horror and conspiracy at the same time, this is the episode.

This week’s installment of The Real Faces of Horror dives face-first into the greasepaint with one of the most infamous killers in history, John Wayne Gacy, the suburban businessman, party clown, and serial murderer who forever turned our fear of clowns into a national pastime. Join us (and my day-six migraine) as we untangle Gacy’s double life, explore his chilling connection to Stephen King’s IT, and unpack how he became the ultimate real-world boogeyman hiding behind a painted smile.This episode is jam-packed with disturbing details, a few bad puns, and maybe the start of a conspiracy rabbit hole that could use its own tinfoil-hat sequel.

Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate are often remembered as the murderous teenage couple who terrorized Nebraska in 1958… but what if that story isn’t quite right?

In this week’s Real Faces of Horror, we take a closer look at whether Caril was a willing partner or just a terrified 14-year-old caught in a nightmare.

Think Natural Born Killers, but make it “maybe she didn’t even want to be there.

In one of the weirdest true crime stories to come out of the 1980s, a Domino’s Pizza mascot became the accidental target of a real-life hostage situation.This week, we’re talking about the 1989 Chamblee, Georgia Domino’s incident, where a man named Kenneth Lamar Noid stormed a restaurant at gunpoint, all because he believed the “Avoid the Noid” campaign was a personal attack.We unpack the bizarre mix of marketing gone wrong, corporate chaos, and mental health tragedy that followed, with plenty of jokes, Mothman theories, and our son’s first-ever guest appearance to balance it out.So grab a slice, lock the door, and join us for this delightfully unhinged Weird Wednesday.

The Real Faces of Horror: The Gainesville Ripper — The Man Who Made Us ScreamDescription:In the third installment of our Real Faces of Horror series, we’re pulling off the Ghostface mask to meet the real killer who inspired Scream.Before the phone calls, the popcorn, and the rules of surviving a horror movie, there was Danny Rolling, the Gainesville Ripper.We’re diving into the crimes that terrorized Florida in the ‘90s, his twisted motivations, and how his real-life rampage became one of horror’s most iconic blueprints.

Grab your snacks… just maybe don’t answer the phone.

This week’s Weird Wednesday takes a detour from folklore into something far more chilling, the real-life horror story of Ilse Koch, the so-called Witch of Buchenwald.Once a Nazi war wife living in luxury on the edge of a concentration camp, Ilse’s name became synonymous with cruelty, sadism, and disturbing rumors of human-skin souvenirs. But how much of what we’ve heard is fact, and how much is dark myth born from unimaginable evil?Join us as we separate history from horror and dive into one of World War II’s most infamous figures.

Step into part two of our October series, The Real Faces of Horror, where we uncover the true crimes that inspired some of horror’s most twisted tales.This week, we’re heading back to 1870s Kansas to meet The Bloody Benders, a family of innkeepers with a deadly secret beneath their floorboards. Their story of deception, violence, and disappearance would go on to inspire horror classics like The Hills Have Eyes, the banned X-Files episode “Home,” and countless other tales of terror.From rumors of the family’s escape to legends of hauntings on “Hell’s Half Acre,” we explore how one frontier family’s crimes became part of American folklore, and why their ghosts might still linger today.Lock your wagon doors and grab a lantern, it’s going to be a dark ride.

This Weird Wednesday starts with a bizarre true story from the Nevada desert, illegally dumped cremains. But the real deep dive? The Japanese Kappa: water-dwelling tricksters with turtle shells, creepy heads, and a strange obsession with cucumbers. Folklore, true crime, and just enough weirdness to get you through the week.

In the first installment of our October special series The Real Faces of Horror, we dive into the chilling life and crimes of Ed Gein, the real-life murderer and grave robber who inspired some of the most infamous horror films of all time, including Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs.From his disturbing childhood in rural Wisconsin to the shocking discoveries made at his farmhouse in Plainfield, we unravel the twisted psychology behind the “Butcher of Plainfield.” We’ll also explore his suspected role in his brother’s death, the murders of Mary Hogan and Bernice Worden, what happened to his infamous property, and the eerie haunted legends that still surround it today.This is more than true crime, it’s the real story behind a cultural nightmare that still terrifies us decades later.

For this weeks special bonus episode we dive into the brutal and bizarre story of Princess Olga of Kiev.

From burning cities with birds to burying her enemies alive, Olga’s revenge was legendary. But here’s the twist—this ruthless ruler later became a saint. Was she a holy woman, a savage queen, or something in between?Join us as we unravel Olga’s story.

In 1966, two men were discovered dead on a hillside near Rio de Janeiro. Dressed in formal suits, wearing strange lead masks, and carrying a cryptic notebook with instructions like “be at the place determined” and “ingest capsules, wait for the effect”, their deaths remain one of the strangest unsolved mysteries in modern history. Were they victims of a secret ritual, government experiments, UFO contact… or something else entirely?In this episode, we dive into the bizarre story known as The Lead Masks Case, unraveling the facts, the theories, and the unsettling questions that linger almost 60 years later.

In January 1935, a young man checked into the Hotel President in Kansas City under the name Roland T. Owen. Days later, he was found brutally beaten and stabbed inside his locked hotel room—Room 1046. What followed was a bizarre and haunting investigation filled with false names, mysterious phone calls, cryptic last words, and even a stranger who paid for his funeral.In this episode, we dive into one of the most enduring unsolved cases in true crime history. Was Roland a victim of organized crime, a love affair gone wrong, or something even darker? Join us as we unravel the strange details, chilling clues, and the unsettling mystery that still haunts Room 1046.