
Every town has a strange file.
The gist
Small Town Secrets works town by town, pairing place names with cases of high strangeness: Mattoon and Pascagoula, Eagle River and High Bridge, Carlisle and Palos Verdes. The show favors old newspaper weirdness, contactee lore, exorcism-linked crime, and cryptid-adjacent puzzles with a plainspoken, late-night curiosity.
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About Small Town Secrets
Small Town Secrets makes geography feel suspicious. Each episode anchors itself in a town or paired towns, then follows the case that made the place feel stranger than its size suggests. The recent run moves from Mattoon, Illinois and Pascagoula, Mississippi to Granite Falls, Washington and Kapahulu, Hawaii, then on to Eagle River, High Bridge, Rollingstone, La Fria, Ossett, Brookfield, Carlisle, Palos Verdes, and Adams. The subjects shift sharply, but the organizing instinct stays consistent. Local history becomes the entry point for paranormal claims, violent crime, odd photographs, cryptid lore, and stories that sit awkwardly between testimony and legend. The Mad Gasser and Phantom Barber share space with contactee cases, alien encounters, exorcisms, the Bellwitch Farm, the Minnesota Iceman, and a disputed ape story. It is not a cleanly divided true crime show or a straight paranormal show. It is more like a file box where the labels have started to overlap. The host often sounds amused by the absurdity without dismissing the pull of the case. A hoax can still be interesting. A bad explanation can still reveal why a town remembers something. The show is at its best when it lets competing possibilities sit together: prank, panic, trauma, folklore, misidentification, and something harder to explain. The language is conversational and unvarnished, with digressions about recording late, noisy shirts, social media handles, and upcoming Backroads stories. That looseness gives the stranger material a lived-in quality. The stories are researched enough to carry dates, names, locations, and competing interpretations, but the delivery stays closer to a late-night desk full of clippings than a polished documentary voiceover. It suits listeners who want small-town weirdness with true crime weight, paranormal curiosity, and enough dry humor to keep the room from getting too solemn.
Made for: Suits a listener who likes paranormal cases, true crime detours, and local legends told with curiosity rather than certainty. It is a fit for someone comfortable with eerie material, loose conversational pacing, and unresolved endings.
What sets it apart: Small Town Secrets stands out by keeping the town itself at the center, letting place names guide the jump from crime to cryptids to contactee lore. The show’s appeal comes from that overlap: a case can be grim, ridiculous, doubtful, and still memorable.
In their own words
Small Town Secrets is a podcast that explores the secrets and strangenss of small towns across the globe. Be it Paranormal, True Crime or just plain weird. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/small-town-secrets. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Episodes
- 1
ANOTHER SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT (SMALL TOWN SECRETS IN THE BIG CITY)
Jan 7, 2022·4m - 2
A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT (I'M GOING ON A BREAK)
Dec 11, 2021·5m - 3
Matton, IL/ Pascagoula, MS
Hidden gemSmall Town Secrets pairs the Mad Gasser of Mattoon, Illinois with the Phantom Barber of Pascagoula, Mississippi, then closes with two Reddit stories about a voice outside a window and a black cow with neon green eyes.
Nov 20, 2021·43m·4 clips - 4
Granite Falls, WA/ Kapahulu, HI
Hidden gem["A Kapahulu, Hawaii, resident starts seeing tourists as KGB spies, while Granite Falls, Washington, turns a neighbor dispute over new construction into a shooting.", "The Granite Falls segment follows Martin Frank, Gaia Frank, Kenneth Jensen, and land developer Jay as arguments over the next-door property move through court delays and a 2001 death.", "The Kapahulu segment tracks Yoroslav Jerry Pinnell, later called Jaroslav Hanel, as he racks up restraining orders against Warren Daniel and Rebecca Atkinson and spirals after Butch the dog dies.", "The episode closes with a black-mist account, a 1974 prescription bottle found in a kitchen cabinet, and the host's Transformers story."]
Nov 6, 2021·45m·3 clips - 5
Eagle River, WI/ High Bridge, NJ
Hidden gemSmall Town Secrets pairs Joe Simonton's April 18, 1961 Eagle River, Wisconsin space-pancake story with Howard Menger's High Bridge, New Jersey contactee claims.
Oct 24, 2021·49m·4 clips - 6
STS Back Roads Freebie #3 (Hansen's Hunting Trip)
Oct 21, 2021·24m - 7
Rollingstone, MN/ La Fria, VEN
Hidden gemSmall Town Secrets season 7, episode 3 centers on the Minnesota Iceman from Rolling Stone, Minnesota, and Deloitte's Ape from La Freya, Venezuela, with the host calling both stories "Bigfoot-adjacent." Bernard Heuvelmans and Ivan T.
Oct 3, 2021·1h 27m·5 clips - 8
Ossett, ENG/ Brookfield, CT
["Small Town Secrets opens with Michael Taylor in Ossett, England, where chronic back pain, depression, and a neighbor-led Christian fellowship set up the episode's first exorcism story.", "The host says the Ossett deliverance ran for eight hours and claims 40 demons were involved, then uses the case to question how much ritual and group belief can reshape a person.", "The Brookfield, Connecticut half follows Arnie Johnson, Debbie Glatzel, David Glatzel, and the Warrens through a rental house, an old man vision, a shaking home, and a later court fight over the story.", "After that, the episode jumps to a Kentucky hotel shooting blamed on aliens, a Loch Ness sonar report, and a Reddit account of missing time in Calaveras Big Trees National Park."]
Sep 19, 2021·57m·4 clips - 9
STS Backroads Freebie #2 (The Zanfretta Encounter)!
Sep 15, 2021·27m - 10
Carlisle, ENG/ Palos Verdes, CA
Hidden gemSmall Town Secrets opens Season 7 with alleged alien encounters involving Jim Templeton's 1964 Solway Firth photograph and John Hodges's 1971 Palos Verdes account of floating blue brains.
Sep 7, 2021·47m·3 clips - 11
Adams, TN Part 2
Hidden gemSmall Town Secrets: Adams, TN Part 2 examines modern reports connected to Bell Witch Cave and the former Bell farm in Adams, Tennessee.
Aug 15, 2021·1h 21m·5 clips - 12
Adams, TN Part 1
Aug 1, 2021·1h 8m - 13
Coyame, MEX/ Aztec, NM
Jul 18, 2021·1h 15m - 14
Jackson, MN/ Collinsville, IL
Jul 5, 2021·50m - 15
Port Henry, NY/ Kelowna, BC
Jun 20, 2021·1h 4m - 16
STS Backroads Freebee!
Jun 12, 2021·17m - 17
Carmel, IN
Jun 6, 2021·1h 16m - 18
Santa Paula, CA/ Bladenboro, NC
May 16, 2021·1h 37m - 19
Troy, OH/ Tadmor, OH
May 2, 2021·1h 7m - 20
Charleston, TN/Exeter, RI
Apr 18, 2021·50m - 21
Villisca, IA/ Elk Creek WI
Apr 4, 2021·1h 40m - 22
Rendlesham, ENG Part 2
Mar 14, 2021·1h 18m - 23
Rendlesham, ENG Part 1
Feb 28, 2021·57m - 24
Weston, WV/ Milledgeville, GA
Feb 14, 2021·1h 21m - 25
Rittman, OH/ Statesville, NC
Jan 31, 2021·51m - 26
Socorro, NM/ Dayton TX
Jan 17, 2021·1h 3m - 27
Tilly, AR/ Wilmington, OH
Jan 3, 2021·45m - 28
2020 Holiday Special: TNT Area Estes Method Session
Dec 26, 2020·1h 26m - 29
STS Backroads Ep. 5 (Full Patreon Episode)
Dec 25, 2020·39m - 30
Lily Dale, NY/ Scole ENG
Dec 20, 2020·1h 4m - 31
Boulia, AUS/ Hessdalen Norway
Dec 6, 2020·1h 10m - 32
Enfield ENG, Humpty Doo AUS
Nov 27, 2020·1h 20m - 33
Battle Creek MI, Olalla WA
Nov 7, 2020·58m - 34
Bloody Bridge Estes Method Session, Halloween Special
Oct 31, 2020·52m - 35
Straight Up Strange Productions Presents, The Monkey's Paw
Oct 31, 2020·28m - 36
Gulf Breeze FL, Part Two
Oct 17, 2020·1h 19m - 37
STS Back Roads preview #4 (A Patreon Exclusive Podcast)
Oct 15, 2020·3m - 38
Gulf Breeze FL, Part One
This episode explores the Gulf Breeze UFO sightings in Florida, part of a series on small town secrets and high strangeness.
Oct 4, 2020·1h 11m - 39
Yuba City, CA/ Big Timber, MO
This episode covers the Yuba County Five missing persons case and the disappearance of Aaron Hedges in Big Timber, Montana.
Sep 19, 2020·1h 4m - 40
Niagara Falls, NY/ Delcambre, LA
A podcast exploring secrets, paranormal events, and true crime stories from small towns around the world.
Sep 4, 2020·1h 9m - 41
STS Back Roads preview #3 (A Patreon Exclusive Podcast)
Aug 29, 2020·3m - 42
Celebration, FL/ Ong's Hat, NJ
The episode explores strange secrets and mysteries of small towns like Celebration, Florida and Ong's Hat, New Jersey.
Aug 22, 2020·1h 30m - 43
Patterson, NJ/ Bay Village, OH
This episode explores classic tales of wrongfully convicted individuals from Patterson, New Jersey and Bay Village, Ohio.
Aug 8, 2020·1h 7m - 44
STS Back Roads preview #2 (A Patreon Exclusive Podcast)
Aug 1, 2020·4m - 45
Farrar, IA/ New London, TX
This episode explores strange and tragic schoolyard tales from Farrar, Iowa and New London, Texas.
Jul 25, 2020·1h 18m - 46
Elkhorn, WI/ Gévaudan, France
This episode compares two famous cryptids: the Beast of Bray Road and the Beast of Gévaudan.
Jul 11, 2020·1h - 47
STS Back Roads preview #1 (A Patreon Exclusive Podcast)
Jul 2, 2020·7m - 48
Estes Park, CO/ Austin, TX
This episode explores spooky hotels in Estes Park, Colorado and Austin, Texas, delving into their strange and mysterious histories.
Jun 27, 2020·59m - 49
Buckeye, AZ/ Sedona, Az
Jun 13, 2020·1h 51m - 50
Amityville,NY Part Two
May 22, 2020·1h 38m