It's Halloweentime in the Mojave and that means tales of madness, chaos, strange rituals in the mountains. A time of social contagion, evil behaviors at the tail end of Age of Dionysus. Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver.

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Night has fallen on the desert. So let’s settle ourselves around the campfire and maybe cook up a big cauldron of Hobo Stew . . . otherwise known as Slumgullion Stew! Our pot includes Gila Monster venom, Yucca Man tales, and the various mysteries of Divine Wisdom. Here's how ol’ Cactus Ed Abbey describes such a feast of scraps:

“Slumgullion stew is the name of a dish popular among hoboes and other knights of the open road. Into a big pot over an open fire, each man throws whatever he has to contribute: a stolen chicken, a hambone, a can of beans, a jar of salsa, an old shoe — anything edible. Like any serious stew, like human society itself, slumgullion should be stirred up frequently, or you’ll get a lot of scum on top.”

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The Gold Hill Sandman was sighted on September 15, 1980. Location? Just off Nevada State Route 341, north of Silver City, just past Devil’s Gate and to the left, part of the old American Flats Comstock silver mine, as you’re coming up on Gold Hill. The witnesses worked for the mining company, as security guards. A busy job because the various ruins of the old mining complex, which closed down by 1927, were the favorite hangout of kids and teenagers and hippies and whole families from the small-town desert hills. In part because there’s a swimmin’ hole in the creek there, down in the trees beneath the old mill. People would come in on dirt bikes and ATVs, driving pickups and hotrods, to escape the summer heat in the cool shade of riparian cottonwoods and willows. The creature watched them, from above . . . .

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Tonight we are walking across the desert, out of the canyons, over the rivers, to another kind of country. Another place, another time. Trying to trail behind the slow-walking souls of the dearly departed. Even though we are still alive. Desert myths and strange tales for this hottest time of Mojave Summer.

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Night has fallen on the desert, and that’s a joyous time in the heat of Southwest Summer. Too hot, too dry, and we long for the cool misty tales of primeval forest, of strange creatures, of great mysteries!

Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Thanks to our patrons; become a patron tonight and support the radio show you love! This is EPISODE #266: PETRIFIED FORESTS AND GHOSTLY GOBLINS.

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With every passing day, scorcher or not, we are on the march towards Autumn, towards cooler days and longer nights, the time of graveyards and ghost stories. But it’s always time for ghost stories, of course. Especially on Desert Oracle Radio. So tonight, after the exciting Monsoon Season forecast and report, we spend a chilling evening in an old mansion with a writer who just wants some peace and quiet so he can finish his book . . . .

Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Thanks to our too-few patrons for keeping the lights on, for now.

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We're back with Midsummer Tidings from the Mojave, with solstice verse from Sam Clemens & Shakespeare, too. Plus a new campfire story from our recently concluded springtime series in Joshua Tree.

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From our Campfire Stories in Joshua Tree on May 23, 2026, here’s a special one-hour edition of Desert Oracle Radio live from the desert behind the Joshua Tree Retreat Center, with the High Desert's own Herb Benham IV opening the campfire festivities with a couple of proper cowboy songs. Ravens, rattlesnakes and other characters appear early and often in the stories & fables that follow.

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