Imagine being alone in a glass box on top of a mountain, a hundred feet in the air, with nothing but a radio, a pair of binoculars, and a single ladder going up, and at 2 a.m., something starts climbing the ladder. In this episode we're taking you inside the strange, lonely, and quietly haunted world of America's fire lookouts.

This week we unpack real, first-person accounts from people who spent their summers alone in fire towers across the Pacific Northwest and the Canadian boreal forest, including the legendary Fire Tower Road encounter, a documented BFRO report from Oregon's Ochoco National Forest, the eerie radio voice heard by writer Trina Moyles, and the unsolved 2006 disappearance of fire lookout Stephanie Stewart.

Whether you believe in Bigfoot, Missing 411, or just the slow, weird power of isolation on the human mind, this one will keep you up at night. Subscribe to catch all new episodes every other Thursday. Send your own wild and crazy experiences in to mothy@talltalesocialclub.com for a chance to have your story read in an episode of Tall Tale Social Club!

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TIME STAMPS:

0:00 - This Week on Tall Tale Social Club

2:03 - We Are Climbing The Ladder

3:08 - Theme Song

4:41 - Fire Lookout Stories Coming In Hot

7:15 - What Are Fire Lookouts?

10:45 - STORY: Something's On The Ladder (Washington)

15:00 - Lil Bit Of Squatchy Nip Action (Y'like That?)

21:10 - Oregon Intermission

22:07 - Intentionally Cringy Thumbnail Photos

22:56 - STORY: The Thing Under Tower Point (Oregon)

29:10 - Literary Hotspots For Famous Authors

35:37 - STORY: The Voice On The Radio

40:44 - Camera Reset Intermission (Edit This Out)

43:10 - Go Play Flight of the Mothman | www.talltalesocialclub.com

45:12 - STORY - The Woman Who Vanished From Her Tower

50:00 - No Listener Story Today (Or Is There?)

51:08 - Don't Answer The Voice

53:51 - Recreation.gov - AirBnB Stay In an Old Fire Tower

55:35 - THEORIES, YO.

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Before the Wendigo became every horror movie's favorite antlered skeleton boy, it was a real fear in real communities, and people kept ending up in actual courtrooms over it. We pulled four documented Wendigo encounters spanning almost 400 years, from a Jesuit missionary's letter in 1636 to a Wisconsin bow hunter who emailed a paranormal blog in 2019. Somewhere in the middle is a guy named Swift Runner who confessed to being possessed by one before they hanged him. Court records. Trial transcripts. Witness testimony. No anonymous Reddit posts, no creator fan-fic, and the cases get worse the closer you read them.

If you're into Wendigo lore, Algonquian folklore, true paranormal encounters, cryptid deep dives, or the general genre of "North America has older monsters than the country itself," this one's for you. We cover the origin of the Wendigo legend, Wendigo psychosis as a documented phenomenon, the Swift Runner case, the Jack Fiddler trial, the Manitowoc County sighting, and one of the earliest written paranormal accounts on the continent. Headphones recommended. Daylight also recommended. Drop a comment if any of these happened in your backyard, because at this point we're collecting. New episodes weekly on Tall Tale Social Club, your home for true cryptid stories, paranormal history, and weirdos who can't leave well enough alone.

TIME STAMPS:

0:00 - Origins of the Wendigo / A Masterclass in Mispronunciations

5:50 - INTRO THEME

7:15 - Is Marilyn Manson a Wendigo? (Probably, Yes)

13:10 - STORY: Swift Runner's Confession — Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, 1879

12:44 - Similar Community Hive Mentality to the Witch Trials?

21:10 - It Was Sylvester The Cat, Guy (The Intermission)

21:35 - STORY: The Trial of Jack Fiddler — Sandy Lake / Norway House, 190

31:10:37 - STORY: David W. — Nipissing Swamp, Wisconsin, 2019

34:05 - Nipissing Intermission BRB

40:10 - STORY: Paul Le Jeune's Letter — Quebec, 1636

50:05 - LISTENER STORY From Jessica

54:55 - Top 5% Of Podcasts Worldwide = D-List Podcaster

57:35 - Wendigo Sighting in Alaska's Seward Peninsula

58:35 - Christian Derails Yet Another Outro

59:30 - Goodbye

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This week on Tall Tale Social Club, the boys are cracking open four true stories from realtors, home inspectors, and appraisers who walked into empty houses and walked out shaken. Of lesser importance, Christian attempts to mansplain the economy and Scott call out Mickey Mouse for being conceited af.

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TIME STAMPS:

0:00 - This Week on Tall Tale Social Club

2:00 - THEME SONG BOP

3:30 - It's Unbecoming

4:52 - STORY 1: No Denying It's Haunted

8:00 - Oopsie Daisy, I'm Sorry Son / BRB

9:36 - We're Back

11:27 - STORY 2: The Old Lady & The Young Bride

18:13 - BRB

18:48 - Mickey Mouse is Conceited

20:00 - Comment Your Thoughts

22:09 - STORY 3: Silence & Static

26:20 - There's Something Scary In That Static

32:00 - Christian Mansplains The Economy / Fighting The Power

32:45 - STORY 4: The Closet Pushed Back

37:30 - Christian Loses The Audience w/ Moisturizer

40:20 - LISTENER STORY from Garrett (Thanks, G)

42:00 - The Rest is Tangents. You're Welcome.

44:00 - Music now, I guess?

45:15 - K love you bye.

47:26 - After party

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