Category: Experts

Pagan
Experts, NZGeekChic, Psychology

Creepy Towns of America – Behind the Tulip Curtain

Every spring, the town of Pella, Iowa erupts in a riot of tulips, tens of thousands of blooms in cheerful red, yellow, and white, drawing tourists from across the Midwest to its Tulip Time Festival. Windmills creak pleasantly in the breeze. Church spires pierce a wide, flat sky. On the surface, Pella looks like a Hallmark movie set, scrubbed clean and picture-perfect.

But linger past the festival weekend, and a different kind of atmosphere settles in one that feels less like small-town charm and more like the opening act of something you can’t quite name.

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Horror - Serial Killer
Experts, NZGeekChic, Serial Killers & Murders

The Truck, the Scream, the Telephone ( The Night Angela went Missing)

Picture it: a spring night in small-town Missouri, April 1991.

Angela Hammond, twenty years old, four months along, ring on her finger, whole life ahead of her like a long country road with the porch light on at the end. She drops her fiancé Rob at his folks’ place, swings by a payphone because that’s how you stayed in love before the internet, eh and rings him up just to keep talking a little longer.

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Eastern State Penitentiary
Experts, Haunted, Kaylee Fowler, Paranormal

The Chilling History of Eastern State Penitentiary

Eastern State Penitentiary is considered to be the world’s first penitentiary prison, built in 1822 near Philadelphia, PA. Today, we explore its eerie design and history.

In the early 1800s, a penal code debate raged across the United States, and at its core was the same question that we still wrestle with today: punishment or rehabilitation? The state of Pennsylvania was one of the earliest in advocating for rehabilitation-based reform using separate incarceration. Though the method was experimental, Eastern State Penitentiary (then called Cherry Hill Prison) was opened on October 25th, 1829, for male inmates only.

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Unknown's avatarKaylee FowlerLeave a comment
Cemetery
Experts, NZGeekChic, Vampires

Richmond Vampire In Virginia

An ancient predator, a collapsed tunnel, and the mausoleum that refuses to give up its secrets

Right, so picture this: it’s a perfectly ordinary Tuesday in Richmond, Virginia – autumn light doing that amber thing through the oak trees and underneath the Church Hill neighbourhood, the earth simply decides it has had enough. Workers boring through the old railway tunnel in 1925 hear a groan so deep it belongs to the geological record, not any sound a human throat should make. Then the tunnel collapses, and the world above swallows three men whole. If you grew up reading Lovecraft under the duvet with a torch, you already know where this is going.

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DC Comics - The Penguin
Arkham Asylum Files, Experts, OCD Vampire

The Penguin Arkham File: The Dark Psychology Behind Gotham’s Criminal Aristocrat

The Penguin’s Arkham File traces Oswald Cobblepot’s rise from social ridicule to criminal aristocracy. Explore the dark psychology behind his obsession with legitimacy, resentment toward Gotham’s elite, and the insecurities that transformed rejection into ruthless ambition.

The Penguin is one of Arkham Asylum’s most underestimated inmates. Unlike Gotham’s theatrical psychopaths or chaos-driven criminals, Oswald Cobblepot operates with calculation, ambition, and a deeply personal need for control.

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Guitar - Music
Anika Luna LeFay, Experts, Goth Culture, Musicians

A Different Kind Of New Goth Music Era

Can goth evolve beyond its post-punk roots, or must it remain confined to tradition? Through the dark sounds of DeathbyRomy, one writer explores what a broader, more open-minded “5th Wave of Goth” could look like.

The goth community had its first wave of goth, which spawned from post-punk, though what its founding members actually were is still debatable depending on who you ask, honestly.

As for me, goth nowadays can bridge gaps beyond a strict “goth only” box and into a broader spectrum of music. That is something the goth community sometimes has a hard time accepting, but fuck it. I’ll write this the way I see fit. I like what I like. I am not an elitist and accept artists for what they are.

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Unknown's avatarAnika Harley LeFayLeave a comment
Gothic Medieval Castle Remains
Experts, Haunted, Kaylee Fowler, Paranormal

The Haunted Well of Himeji Castle

Dating back to 1333, Himeji Castle is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s considered the pinnacle of traditional Japanese architecture. But no great palace is without its ghosts.

Inside the Himeji Castle complex is a large water well surrounded by stone pillars. This well is supposedly home to the ghost of Okiku, a beautiful servant girl who turned into one of the yūrei after her brutal death. In particular, Okiku is an onryō, a vengeful spirit of a person who died with a grudge. Like other onryō, she wears a white kimono, and her long black hair hangs disheveled over her shoulders. Her legend is widespread: the story of Okiku and the Well is regarded as one of the Three Great Yūrei (San O-Yūrei) in Japanese folklore. Okiku’s story has been adapted to bunraku and kabuki theatre, manga, and even illustrated by Katsushika Hokusai, the artist behind the famous Great Wave off Kanagawa.

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Unknown's avatarKaylee FowlerLeave a comment
Horror - Knife
Experts, NZGeekChic, Serial Killers & Murders

The Murder of Reet Jurvetson

Kia ora, my beautifully morbid lot, pull your black wool cape a little tighter, because tonight we’re headed somewhere dark. Not Rotorua-at-midnight dark. Not Wellington-in-winter dark. We’re talking Mulholland Drive in November 1969 dark.  the kind of dark that swallows a nineteen-year-old girl whole and spits out only silence.

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Eye Horror
Experts, Kaylee Fowler, News

Remembering Koji Suzuki

Ring and Dark Water author Koji Suzuki, one of the defining figures of J-horror, has died at 68.

On May 8, 2026, Koji Suzuki passed away at a Tokyo hospital at the age of 68. The horror world lost one of its most quietly revolutionary architects: a man who, almost by accident, rewired the global imagination for fear.

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Unknown's avatarKaylee FowlerLeave a comment
Hands Horror
Experts, Middle Ages, NZGeekChic

The Devil’s Handshake

Picture this: it’s the middle of winter in New Zealand. You’re rugged up on the couch in your best black hoodie, doom-scrolling TikTok while the rain hammers the windows. And there, between a satisfying slime video and a Tauranga café review, an absolute unit of a medieval torture device appears on your screen. Welcome, my ghoulishly curious friends, to the very strange second life of the thumbscrew or as history’s more dramatic corners prefer to call it, the Devil’s Handshake.

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Guitar - Music
Anika Luna LeFay, Experts, Musicians

A Raw Expression Gone Wrong: A Critical Look at an Unpolished Video

Attempting to present raw emotion and shock value, this video aims for self-expression through chaos and intensity. Unfortunately, what it delivers falls far short of even the most basic expectations of music or visual storytelling.

The Video in Its Entirety: What Is It About?

The video appears to depict a form of self-expression centered around love, rejection, and the emotional anguish that comes with it. However, it is not very well put together at all. It feels rushed, as though it was assembled in seconds rather than with any real time or care. The video is not even several minutes long and lacks any real visual appeal.

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Unknown's avatarAnika Harley LeFayLeave a comment
Horror - Ghost - Eyes
Experts, Haunted, Kaylee Fowler

The Ghosts of Galveston Island

From colonialism to cruise ships, Galveston has a long and tumultuous history. And in 1900, a single hurricane made sure that there would be lingering haunts to match.

Galveston Island was first settled by Europeans in 1816, though some scholars say that Spanish explorer Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca made a pit stop here in 1537 before traveling across the U.S. Southwest. Famous privateer Jean Lafitte soon settled on the island from Louisiana and used the island as a base for piracy and slave smuggling, though he was forced to leave in 1821 by the U.S. Navy after he attacked an American ship. It changed hands several times during the Mexican Revolution, the Texas Revolution, and the American Civil War, but it remained a major port in the Gulf of Mexico.

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Unknown's avatarKaylee FowlerLeave a comment
Meat Hook
Experts, Medicality, NZGeekChic

The Hungriest Man in History: The Bizarre Case of Charles Domery

Some people eat to live. Charles Domery lived to eat  and then ate some more.

If you thought your mate who demolishes an entire pizza after a night out had an impressive appetite, allow us to introduce you to Charles Domery: an 18th-century Polish-born soldier whose stomach appeared to operate by entirely different rules than the rest of humanity.

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Guitar - Music
Anika Luna LeFay, Experts, Musicians

A Slow-Burning Descent: UZU’s Ichi EP Review

A blend of industrial tones, haunting vocals, and emotional weight—UZU’s Ichi unfolds as a slow-burning experience. But does its atmosphere and sound fully carry the album from start to finish?

The EP’s Sound:

The album starts off with a quiet instrumental and expands into good sounds from the artist throughout. Even though at times the songs tend to drag, the vocals remain strong across the tracks. The band reminds me of earlier industrial rock sounds from the ’90s, with a mix of low, slow vocals backed by real instruments and electronic beats.

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Unknown's avatarAnika Harley LeFayLeave a comment
DC Comics - Mr. Freeze
Arkham Asylum Files, Experts, OCD Vampire, Psychology

Mr. Freeze Arkham File: The Dark Psychology Behind Gotham’s Frozen Mind

Mr. Freeze’s Arkham File follows Victor Fries’ transformation from an accomplished scientist into a man defined entirely by devotion. This deep psychological breakdown uncovers his misanthropy, obsessive grief, and intense experiments that turn science into obsession. Explore how Mr. Freeze transforms his pain into a personal crusade, using cryogenics as both a weapon and shield against Batman.

Mr. Freeze isn’t the typical inmate at Arkham Asylum. He may be the most emotionally burdened of them all. Unlike Gotham’s other criminals, who act on impulse, revenge, or entitlement, Fries operates with obsessive grief. He is not a madman consumed by chaos but a widow and scientist consumed by torment and obsession.

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Doll - Horror
Experts, Kaylee Fowler, Paranormal

Mexico’s Island Of The Dolls

Isla de las Muñecas holds the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of haunted dolls. But who was the eccentric owner of the island, and why did he collect so many?

Technically, Isla de las Muñecas is not an island at all. It’s a chinampa, or a small rectangle of fertile arable land built up on wetlands for agricultural purposes. Thie particular chinampa is located in the ancient Aztec canals of Xochimilco in Mexico City, Mexico. Don Julian Santana Barrera was the owner of the island until his death in 2001. The island was used as the location of the film María Candelaria, the first Mexican film to be screened at the Cannes International Film Festival. Barrera moved to the island in the early 1950s, and from there, things took a strange turn.

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Unknown's avatarKaylee FowlerLeave a comment
Horror Drowning
Experts, NZGeekChic, Paranormal

Where The Wilderness Swallows Souls: The Alaska Triangle

There are places on this earth where the veil between the known and the unknowable grows thin  where civilisation frays at its edges and something older, darker, and profoundly indifferent waits just beyond the treeline. The Alaska Triangle is one such place. 

Stretching its skeletal fingers between the port city of Anchorage, the fog-draped capital of Juneau, and the remote, wind-scoured settlement of Utqiagvik  once known as Barrow, a name that itself conjures images of burial mounds and cold earth, this vast and brooding region has been consuming human lives for decades. Since the 1970s, more than 20,000 souls have vanished within its borders. Not merely lost. Vanished. As though the land itself reached up and simply… took them.

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DC Comics - Scarecrow
Arkham Asylum Files, Experts, OCD Vampire, Psychology

The Scarecrow Arkham File: The Dark Psychology Behind Gotham’s Ruler of Fear

Scarecrow’s Arkham File exposes Dr. Jonathan Crane’s terrifying evolution from abused victim to Gotham’s master of fear. This deep psychological breakdown uncovers his antisocial traits, obsessive fears, and escalating experiments that turn terror into science. Explore how Scarecrow wages a chilling war of ideology against Batman through weaponized fear.

Dr. Jonathan Crane isn’t just another inmate at Arkham Asylum, he’s its most devoted scholar. Unlike Gotham’s other criminals, who act on impulse, revenge, or delusion, Crane operates with methodical precision. He is not a madman consumed by chaos but a scientist consumed by obsession.

Step inside the Arkham File and explore the psychology behind Gotham’s most terrifying adversary.

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Horror - Serial Killer
Experts, Kaylee Fowler, Serial Killers & Murders

Because You Were Home”: The True Story Behind “The Strangers

Welcome back to Reel Horror! Today, we’re looking at the case that inspired “The Strangers”: Charles Manson and the Tate-LaBianca Murders.

Charles Manson was born on November 12th, 1934, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Ada Kathleen Maddox, an unmarried 16-year-old. She later married William Eugene Manson, though the couple divorced in 1939. His early life was unstable: his mother was frequently absent or incarcerated, and Charles was shuffled between relatives and reform schools for much of his childhood. He spent the better part of his teens and twenties cycling in and out of prison. After the divorce, he took his stepfather’s surname due to Maddox’s neglect.

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Unknown's avatarKaylee FowlerLeave a comment