DiscoverThe Q Files
The Q Files
Claim Ownership

The Q Files

Author: Shane McClelland & Lori Gum

Subscribed: 162Played: 4,034
Share

Description

A paranormal podcast about the highly strange and weirdly unknown. Join us on our queer adventures as we explore the people, places, and phenomena, outside popular consciousness. 
61 Episodes
Reverse
Happy Halloween and welcome to the file room, where we keep all prior episodes of The Q Files. You may have heard this episode previously, but it's worth another listen while we work on bringing you fantastic new episodes. Let's get spookgay and return to the very first episode of The Q Files! Halloween isn’t just a holiday for LGBTQ people — it’s an institution. But why? Join us on our inaugural episode as we enjoy a glass of wine on Lori's porch and discuss what makes Halloween so queer. We'll cover the history, and we'll share the stories of our first queer Halloweens. The Q Files is a personal, purposeful, paranormal podcast about the highly strange and weirdly unknown. Join us on our queer adventures as we explore the people, places, and phenomena, outside popular consciousness. The documentary series features astonishing stories about the paranormal, the supernatural, occulture, forgotten history, and the strange. Be Weird. Stay Curious. These are The Q Files. If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Stay in touch: Facebook: The Q Files Podcast, Twitter: TheQFilesPod, Instagram: TheQFilesPod The music for The Q Files is provided by Sounds Like An Earful.
Welcome to the file room, where we keep all prior episodes of The Q Files. You may have heard this episode previously, but it's worth another listen while we work on bringing you fantastic new episodes. In honor of the 130th anniversary of Lizzie Borden Murder Day, August 4, 1892, we hacked through the archives to give you the first episode in our three part Lizzie Borden series. The story of Lizzie Borden as only we could tell it. You've heard it before, but never like this. Like the story of The Donner Party, Lizzie Borden captured the American imagination and stole the headlines of the papers that shared the news of their times. It was one of the most covered criminal cases in American history.  At the end of last season, we told you the tale of discovering Hester Foster's true story, a woman who history had turned its back upon. Nothing had been written about her. Lizzie Borden, the woman at the heart of this episode, had entirely the opposite treatment.  It seems too much has been written about her; TV shows, movies, books, chronicles and particularly fictional tales that have muddied and muddled her real story.  And in many of them, she is often portrayed as a monster. Maybe she was.  However, in the 1890s, in Fall River, Massachusetts, a white, upper-middle class, unmarried woman, forbidden to work for pay by family and society...had only two options to obtain financial security, freedom from sexual coercion and independence....She could either inherit it....or steal it.   And then there WAS, one could say...that third bloody option. The Q Files is a personal, purposeful, paranormal podcast about the highly strange and weirdly unknown. Join us on our queer adventures as we explore the people, places, and phenomena, outside popular consciousness. The documentary series features astonishing stories about the paranormal, the supernatural, occulture, forgotten history, and the strange. Be Weird. Stay Curious. These are The Q Files. If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Stay in touch: Facebook: The Q Files Podcast, Twitter: TheQFilesPod, Instagram: TheQFilesPod The music for The Q Files is provided by Sounds Like An Earful.
Welcome to the file room, where we keep all prior episodes of The Q Files. You may have heard this episode previously, but it's worth another listen while we work on bringing you fantastic new episodes. Ancient Indian Burial Grounds - Oh My! was originally a Thanksgiving episode of The Q Files, in it we examined the American pop-culture trope of "Ancient Indian Burial Grounds" and how it has deeply woven its way into countless horror films and books since the late 1970s. We'll investigate how it even seems to have infiltrated the oral histories of our local communities and how it undeniably influences our own individual attempts to explain the unexplainable around us, often,  even,  when it happens in our own backyards. We were lucky enough to get writer Colin Dickey to talk with us. He is the author of four books, two of which we will discuss here, "Ghostland" published in 2016 and "The Unidentified" released just this year. Both of his books thoroughly break down the roots and causes of tropes like the Ancient Indian Burial Grounds. Dickey is a regular contributor to the LA Review of Books, and is the co-editor of The Morbid Anatomy Anthology. He is also a member of the Order of the Good Death, a collective of artists, writers, and death industry professionals interested in improving the Western world's relationship with mortality.   And Dickey's own website describes him as a....  "Cultural Historian and Tour Guide of the Weird." The Q Files is a personal, purposeful, paranormal podcast about the highly strange and weirdly unknown. Join us on our queer adventures as we explore the people, places, and phenomena, outside popular consciousness. The documentary series features astonishing stories about the paranormal, the supernatural, occulture, forgotten history, and the strange. Be Weird. Stay Curious. These are The Q Files. If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Stay in touch: Facebook: The Q Files Podcast, Twitter: TheQFilesPod, Instagram: TheQFilesPod The music for The Q Files is provided by Sounds Like An Earful.
Atlantis

Atlantis

2022-05-1621:121

Atlantis - the great, mythological lost civilization. Maybe you've noticed, but we've had a few episodes that have touched on Atlantis - Paschal Beverly Randolph, Occultist, Ghosts in Antarctica, and even The Ten Deadly Plagues...Plated. While admittedly unintentional, we thought it could be fun to talk about some of the stories about Atlantis. The Ancient Greek philosopher Plato is who we draw all of our knowledge on Atlantis from, and Atlantis is one of his most enduring stories. His writings are full of lasting truths about the human condition, and that is how he is most commonly discussed, but Atlantis captures our imaginations as a great myth. Lurking on the edges of mystery and possibility. After all we DO routinely find the remains of ancient, lost civilizations. The Q Files is a personal, purposeful, paranormal podcast about the highly strange and weirdly unknown. Join us on our queer adventures as we explore the people, places, and phenomena, outside popular consciousness. The documentary series features astonishing stories about the paranormal, the supernatural, occulture, forgotten history, and the strange. Be Weird. Stay Curious. These are The Q Files. If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Stay in touch: Facebook: The Q Files Podcast, Twitter: TheQFilesPod, Instagram: TheQFilesPod The music for The Q Files is provided by Sounds Like An Earful.
Welcome to the file room, where we keep all prior episodes of The Q Files. You may have heard this episode previously, but it's worth another listen. This week we're taking a twisted turn on Mother's Day by diving into the murderous true crime tale of Ethel Geller Yeldem. Ethel's story is one of a woman at her wits' end and a society that failed her. Any honest account of her life, and one not told just for morbid murder porn, makes it clear that her story and life, and the stories and lives of her victims, should have been much different. The Q Files is a personal, purposeful, paranormal podcast about the highly strange and weirdly unknown. Join us on our queer adventures as we explore the people, places, and phenomena, outside popular consciousness. The documentary series features astonishing stories about the paranormal, the supernatural, occulture, forgotten history, and the strange. Be Weird. Stay Curious. These are The Q Files. If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Stay in touch: Facebook: The Q Files Podcast, Twitter: TheQFilesPod, Instagram: TheQFilesPod The music for The Q Files is provided by Sounds Like An Earful, this episode also includes music from Myuu. You can learn more about Bucky Cutright, or take one of his tours by visiting Columbus Ghost Tours.
The Ten Deadly Plagues of Egypt are a paranormal allegory of power, redemption, and faith. An adventure, born deeply within the notion of resistance. Join us on a culinary tour through the plagues as we explain that this powerful tale is more than just a story, and may in fact be rooted in real life, historical events, of biblical proportions. The Q Files is a personal, purposeful, paranormal podcast about the highly strange and weirdly unknown. Join us on our queer adventures as we explore the people, places, and phenomena, outside popular consciousness. The documentary series features astonishing stories about the paranormal, the supernatural, occulture, forgotten history, and the strange. Be Weird. Stay Curious. These are The Q Files. If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Stay in touch: Facebook: The Q Files Podcast, Twitter: TheQFilesPod, Instagram: TheQFilesPod The music for The Q Files is provided by Sounds Like An Earful.
Ghosts of Antarctica

Ghosts of Antarctica

2022-04-1126:58

Antarctica is the most haunted place on earth. Located at the liminal edge of our maps. A place where there is one endless day of light, and one endless day of dark - both 6 months long. It's the only continent whose land is without a creation myth, because it never had an indigenous population. It's never had its own language, culture, history, or legends. It is a land of literal and proverbial emptiness - a canvas that its transient inhabitants can fill not only with dreams and ideas, but with nightmarish stories. The Q Files is a personal, purposeful, paranormal podcast about the highly strange and weirdly unknown. Join us on our queer adventures as we explore the people, places, and phenomena, outside popular consciousness. The documentary series features astonishing stories about the paranormal, the supernatural, occulture, forgotten history, and the strange. Be Weird. Stay Curious. These are The Q Files. If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Stay in touch: Facebook: The Q Files Podcast, Twitter: TheQFilesPod, Instagram: TheQFilesPod The music for The Q Files is provided by Sounds Like An Earful.
Lake Erie Monster

Lake Erie Monster

2022-03-2121:06

It's our 50th episode and this time we're covering The Lake Erie Monster, also known as Lem or Lemmy (acronymically derived from Lake Erie Monster), and perhaps most popularly, as Bessie. Bessie has been described as snake-like, 30-40 feet long, over a foot around. Her colour has been reported as grey, copper, and silver. Some say she has a dog-like head and large fins. Others say she has human-like arms. She has been the subject of superstitious sailors, drunk tourists, and newspaper hoaxes over the centuries. But the legend of the serpentine creature living in Lake Erie likely originated in Native American culture. The Q Files is a personal, purposeful, paranormal podcast about the highly strange and weirdly unknown. Join us on our queer adventures as we explore the people, places, and phenomena, outside popular consciousness. The documentary series features astonishing stories about the paranormal, the supernatural, occulture, forgotten history, and the strange. Be Weird. Stay Curious. These are The Q Files. If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Stay in touch: Facebook: The Q Files Podcast, Twitter: TheQFilesPod, Instagram: TheQFilesPod The music for The Q Files is provided by Sounds Like An Earful.
Perchance to Dream

Perchance to Dream

2022-03-0735:25

This episode won't put you to sleep, but it may make you want to - in "Perchance to Dream," we will examine the scientific and mystical elements of sleep or more accurately...the lack of such. Humans are the only animal species in the world that purposely stays awake and research clearly shows that Mother Nature has not nearly had enough time to assist us in adapting our bodies and minds to what has become the one of the most catastrophic habits of our modern times. And while lack of sleep indeed damages our bodies, potentially resulting in death... simply put... sleeplessness does some very, very strange things to our minds and can induce what could only be described as an internal journey into the paranormal. The Q Files is a personal, purposeful, paranormal podcast about the highly strange and weirdly unknown. Join us on our queer adventures as we explore the people, places, and phenomena, outside popular consciousness. The documentary series features astonishing stories about the paranormal, the supernatural, occulture, forgotten history, and the strange. Be Weird. Stay Curious. These are The Q Files. If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Stay in touch: Facebook: The Q Files Podcast, Twitter: TheQFilesPod, Instagram: TheQFilesPod The music for The Q Files is provided by Sounds Like An Earful.
Paschal Beverly Randolph was a grand master occultist. He was a black man that was a close confidant of Abraham Lincoln, arguably the largest cannabis importer of his time, a sex magician, and possibly the inspiration behind Marvel's Dr. Strange. He is notable as the first person to introduce the principles of erotic alchemy to North America, and, according to A.E. Waite (the tarot card guy), establishing the earliest known Rosicrucian order in the United States. For more powerful episodes, consider listening to a few of these: Witness - minorities and the UFO phenomenon, When Lincoln Could Fly, Ghost Train, Digging Up The Dead, and our 2 part series on Hester Foster. The Q Files is a personal, purposeful, paranormal podcast about the highly strange and weirdly unknown. Join us on our queer adventures as we explore the people, places, and phenomena, outside popular consciousness. The documentary series features astonishing stories about the paranormal, the supernatural, occulture, forgotten history, and the strange. Be Weird. Stay Curious. These are The Q Files. If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Stay in touch: Facebook: The Q Files Podcast, Twitter: TheQFilesPod, Instagram: TheQFilesPod The music for The Q Files is provided by Sounds Like An Earful.
Birds Aren't Real

Birds Aren't Real

2022-01-3127:23

Birds Aren't Real and pigeons are liars - wake up sheeple! In this episode, we'll dive into what makes a conspiracy theory and we'll also get you up to date on the latest big conspiracy theory - Birds Aren't Real. The Birds Aren't Real movement, is a parody conspiracy theory with a purpose. In our post truth world, we true believers of The Birds Aren't Real movement, have dove down the conspiracy rabbit hole and filled it with absurdism. A way to fight the overwhelming lunacy of the modern world...with lunacy. The idea is meant to be so preposterous that it isn't believable - though, aren't many conspiracy theories already like that? You can find out more about the Birds Aren't Real movement here. The Q Files is a personal, purposeful, paranormal podcast about the highly strange and weirdly unknown. Join us on our queer adventures as we explore the people, places, and phenomena, outside popular consciousness. The documentary series features astonishing stories about the paranormal, the supernatural, occulture, forgotten history, and the strange. Be Weird. Stay Curious. These are The Q Files. If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Stay in touch: Facebook: The Q Files Podcast, Twitter: TheQFilesPod, Instagram: TheQFilesPod The music for The Q Files is provided by Sounds Like An Earful.
Told After Supper

Told After Supper

2021-12-2101:12:00

This year, for our annual spooky holiday episode, we're diving into a very victorian ghost story - Told After Supper by Jerome K. Jerome. Told After Supper is a collection of short stories, all told on Christmas Eve. To help us tell the tales, we invited a few friends to join us. In this holiday haunts treat, you'll hear from Cam Gibson, John E.L. Tenney, and Michelle Belanger. So, Gather 'round, get comfortable, light a fire and make some hot chocolate (maybe add some peppermint vodka to it), and ask your friends to join you in listening from wherever they are. Cam Gibson will share Teddy Biffles' Story. You may know Cam from her podcast Old Gods of Appalachia. You can find Cam on social media under Cammycat. John E.L. Tenney will share Mr. Coombe's story. You may know John from his podcast, What's Up, Weirdo, his many lectures and books, or even from TV. You can find John on social media under JohnELTenney. Michelle Belanger will share My Uncle's Story. You may know Michelle from their many books or the shows Paranormal State and Portals to Hell. You can find Michelle on social media under SethAnikeem Lori and Shane will share the part of the narrator. The Q Files is a personal, purposeful, paranormal podcast about the highly strange and weirdly unknown. Join us on our queer adventures as we explore the people, places, and phenomena, outside popular consciousness. The documentary series features astonishing stories about the paranormal, the supernatural, occulture, forgotten history, and the strange. Be Weird. Stay Curious. These are The Q Files. If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Stay in touch: Facebook: The Q Files Podcast, Twitter: TheQFilesPod, Instagram: TheQFilesPod The music for this episode of The Q Files was provided by Myuu & Sounds Like An Earful
A Brave Little Soldier

A Brave Little Soldier

2021-12-0632:16

In belated honor of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, which occurs on November 20th, we offer this tale of Irish-born immigrant, Albert DJ Cashier, a Union private who served during the Civil War.  And as we mark this season of remembrance, it is indeed  a cruel irony that Albert himself, in the end, due to dementia and mental illness, would not even be able to remember his own remarkable story. But we do. The Q Files is a personal, purposeful, paranormal podcast about the highly strange and weirdly unknown. Join us on our queer adventures as we explore the people, places, and phenomena, outside popular consciousness. The documentary series features astonishing stories about the paranormal, the supernatural, occulture, forgotten history, and the strange. Be Weird. Stay Curious. These are The Q Files. If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Stay in touch: Facebook: The Q Files Podcast, Twitter: TheQFilesPod, Instagram: TheQFilesPod  The music for The Q Files is provided by Sounds Like An Earful. You can read Mary Catherine Lannon's paper entitled "Albert D. J. Cashier and the Ninety-fifth Illinois Infantry," here.
Our final conversation on Lizbeth (Lizzie) Borden. After concluding our 3 part series, we felt there was still so much to cover, that would further explain the life of Lizzie Borden. So, we turned to our friend Leigh of the "History Is Gay" podcast to dive into the society and culture of Lizbeth Borden's world. This conversation can be enjoyed alone or after listening to the 3 other Lizzie Borden episodes: The Third Bloody Option, Still Afraid, and The Last Option - Love. Lizzie Borden like you've never heard before. The Q Files is a personal, purposeful, paranormal podcast about the highly strange and weirdly unknown. Join us on our queer adventures as we explore the people, places, and phenomena, outside popular consciousness. The documentary series features astonishing stories about the paranormal, the supernatural, occulture, forgotten history, and the strange. Be Weird. Stay Curious. These are The Q Files. If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Stay in touch: Facebook: The Q Files Podcast, Twitter: TheQFilesPod, Instagram: TheQFilesPod  The music for The Q Files is provided by Sounds Like An Earful.
The Last Option - Love

The Last Option - Love

2021-11-0849:30

Lizzie Borden like you've never heard before. Part three, of a magically murderous three part series on Lizzie Borden. Part one was previously released as "The Third Bloody Option." Part two was released as "Still Afraid - Lizzie Borden." In this episode we pick up the story in the middle of Lizzie Borden's trial for the murder of her parents. Then we dive back into our paranormal investigation and conversation with who we believe was Lizzie Borden - we of course ask her the questions you'd most expect - and receive answers you'd never believe. Finally, we conclude with what may have been the queer reason Lizzie and Emma separated later in life, and share our theory of the case. The Q Files is a personal, purposeful, paranormal podcast about the highly strange and weirdly unknown. Join us on our queer adventures as we explore the people, places, and phenomena, outside popular consciousness. The documentary series features astonishing stories about the paranormal, the supernatural, occulture, forgotten history, and the strange. Be Weird. Stay Curious. These are The Q Files. If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Stay in touch: Facebook: The Q Files Podcast, Twitter: TheQFilesPod, Instagram: TheQFilesPod The music for The Q Files is provided by Sounds Like An Earful.
The Lizzie Borden story like you've never heard before. Part two, of a magically murderous three part series on Lizzie Borden. Part one was previously released as "The Third Bloody Option." In this episode we dive head first into conversation with what we believe is the spirit of Lizzie Borden - using classic tools like dowsing rods and revolutionary techniques like the Estes Method. What we discover, and confirm, is truly astounding. Then, we get our hands dirty with the real story of what happened at the Borden house and during the trial that captured the attention of the world. The Q Files is a personal, purposeful, paranormal podcast about the highly strange and weirdly unknown. Join us on our queer adventures as we explore the people, places, and phenomena, outside popular consciousness. The documentary series features astonishing stories about the paranormal, the supernatural, occulture, forgotten history, and the strange. Be Weird. Stay Curious. These are The Q Files. If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Stay in touch: Facebook: The Q Files Podcast, Twitter: TheQFilesPod, Instagram: TheQFilesPod  The music for The Q Files is provided by Sounds Like An Earful.
The Third Bloody Option

The Third Bloody Option

2021-10-1138:201

The story of Lizzie Borden as only we could tell it. You've heard it before, but never like this. Part one, of a stunning three part series. Like the story of The Donner Party, Lizzie Borden captured the American imagination and stole the headlines of the papers that shared the news of their times. It was one of the most covered criminal cases in American history.  At the end of last season, we told you the tale of discovering Hester Foster's true story, a woman who history had turned its back upon. Nothing had been written about her. Lizzie Borden, the woman at the heart of this episode, had entirely the opposite treatment.  It seems too much has been written about her; TV shows, movies, books, chronicles and particularly fictional tales that have muddied and muddled her real story.  And in many of them, she is often portrayed as a monster. Maybe she was.  However, in the 1890s, in Fall River, Massachusetts, a white, upper-middle class, unmarried woman, forbidden to work for pay by family and society...had only two options to obtain financial security, freedom from sexual coercion and independence....She could either inherit it....or steal it.  And then there WAS, one could say...that third bloody option. The Q Files is a personal, purposeful, paranormal podcast about the highly strange and weirdly unknown. Join us on our queer adventures as we explore the people, places, and phenomena, outside popular consciousness. The documentary series features astonishing stories about the paranormal, the supernatural, occulture, forgotten history, and the strange. Be Weird. Stay Curious. These are The Q Files. If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Stay in touch: Facebook: The Q Files Podcast, Twitter: TheQFilesPod, Instagram: TheQFilesPod The music for The Q Files is provided by Sounds Like An Earful.
Season 3 of The Q Files is fast approaching and we want you to be a part of it! All you have to do is record a 15-20 second audio file, easily done on your phone, and submit it to us at theqfilespodcast@gmail.com no later than Wednesday, September 22nd. Tell us what you love about the show, your favorite episode, or just whatever keeps you tuning in. We'll pick a few of our favorites and include them in the trailer for season 3. The Q Files is a personal, purposeful, paranormal podcast about the highly strange and weirdly unknown. Join us on our queer adventures as we explore the people, places, and phenomena, outside popular consciousness. The documentary series features astonishing stories about the paranormal, the supernatural, occulture, forgotten history, and the strange. Be Weird. Stay Curious. These are The Q Files. If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Stay in touch: Facebook: The Q Files Podcast, Twitter: TheQFilesPod, Instagram: TheQFilesPod The music for The Q Files is provided by Sounds Like An Earful.
This week, we will continue the search for the 19-year-old African American woman, Hester Foster. It has seemed, for the most part, that Hester Foster had been left out of the history books. Nothing existed about her life story except for some scanty newspaper articles about her execution and a mention or two in several Ohio history books. However, in this exciting follow up and season ending episode, we reveal Hester's authentic story and change history - all with the help of Hester herself. Well, her ghost anyway. You'll never believe what we discover, in finding Hester Foster! The Q Files is a personal, purposeful, paranormal podcast about the highly strange and weirdly unknown. Join us on our queer adventures as we explore the people, places, and phenomena, outside popular consciousness. The documentary series features astonishing stories about the paranormal, the supernatural, occulture, forgotten history, and the strange. Be Weird. Stay Curious. These are The Q Files. If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Stay in touch: Facebook: The Q Files Podcast, Twitter: TheQFilesPod, Instagram: TheQFilesPod The music for The Q Files is provided by Sounds Like An Earful. You can learn more about Bucky Cutright, or take one of his tours by visiting Columbus Ghost Tours.
Finding Hester Foster

Finding Hester Foster

2021-06-0136:00

This week, we explore the story of Hester Foster. In what may be our most important episode to date, and one that will undoubtedly rewrite the history books, we tell you the story of Hester's life. In our attempts at contacting her spirit by investigating a building she is said to haunt, we make a miraculous discovery that leads us down some surprising paths and eventually solves a nearly 200 year old mystery. Hester Foster was a 19-year-old, African-American woman, or so the official story goes, who was not only the first woman executed by the state of Ohio but along with William Clark, the first person EVER put to death upon the gallows that once stood at the intersection of the southwest corner of Mound and 2nd St in downtown Columbus.  It is estimated that between 12-20,000 people came to see her hang by the neck until dead on February 9th, 1844  but... did they have any clue who this woman really was?  Did they even care? And beyond the cursory mentions of her in several Ohio history books and newspapers, it seems that absolutely no one, knows her story or even how her life ended in such notorious fashion.  We decided it was high time... to find... the real Hester Foster. The Q Files is a personal, purposeful, paranormal podcast about the highly strange and weirdly unknown. Join us on our queer adventures as we explore the people, places, and phenomena, outside popular consciousness. The documentary series features astonishing stories about the paranormal, the supernatural, occulture, forgotten history, and the strange. Be Weird. Stay Curious. These are The Q Files. If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Stay in touch: Facebook: The Q Files Podcast, Twitter: TheQFilesPod, Instagram: TheQFilesPod The music for The Q Files is provided by Sounds Like An Earful. You can learn more about Bucky Cutright, or take one of his tours by visiting Columbus Ghost Tours.
loading