Psychology of the Strange

Dark triad personality traits, narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism, may be the hidden ingredient of every superhero story you've ever loved. In this psychology deep dive, I'm using Amazon Prime's The Boys to explore what separates a hero from a monster and whether the answer is psychology, circumstance, or just really good branding.

Homelander is a clinical portrai...

Baba Yaga is one of the most enduring figures in Slavic Folklore, but she was never just a monster. In this episode I explore three different tellings of her tale and uncover what she reveals about the darkest corners of psychology. I trace her origins from ancient Slavic tradition to modern psychological theory, examining her through Carl Jung's Crone archetype, Arnold van Gennep's concept of liminality, and Albert Bandura's resea...

Urban Legends, conspiracy theories, creepypasta, and internet horror explained through psychology because folklore isn't dead it just evolved.  In this episode I explore why scary stories, modern myths, and online conspiracy theories spread.  Long before the internet, people gathered around fires and told stories to make sense of a world they couldn't control. Today we do the same thing in the comment sections, Reddit threads, and ...

After Jim Carrey’s recent public appearance at the César Awards in Paris, the internet did what the internet does best: zoomed in, compared old footage, and started asking questions. Almost immediately, conspiracy theories exploded online. Some people believe he’s simply changed. Others think cosmetic procedures altered his appearance. And some are convinced something much stranger is going on including theories connecting him to t...

What makes the Backrooms so unsettling — and why do they linger long after you stop listening?

In this episode of Psychology of the Strange, I explore the psychology behind the Backrooms, the internet’s most disturbing modern myth, and why endless hallways, fluorescent lights, and empty rooms trigger such deep unease. This isn’t a story about monsters or jump scares. It’s a story about liminal spaces, de...

Haunted People Syndrome, recurring paranormal experiences, and the psychology of feeling watched — why do some individuals report unexplained events across different homes and stages of life, and what does psychology reveal about ghost experiences and perception?

In this episode of Psychology of the Strange, I explore the idea of haunted people through cognitive science, perception, and meaning-making. I...

What happens when the rules stop working? In this episode of Psychology of the Strange, we step into thin places, liminal spaces in Celtic lore where the boundary between worlds weakens, identity destabilizes, and moral certainty begins to fracture. These are places of power, not comfort. Places where choice carries weight, and where survival often demands more than virtue can offer.

At the center of thi...

What happens when the line between good and evil stops being clear? Season 3 is about thresholds the thin places where fear, folklore, and morality blur.

In this new season of Psychology of the Strange, I explore the psychology behind liminal spaces, dark myths, and the figures who live between good and evil. From ancient folklore to modern horror, each episode uses story and psychological science to ask...

Moltbook is a new social platform where artificial intelligence talks to artificial intelligence. No humans posting, no prompts guiding the conversation. We’re allowed to watch, but we’re not allowed to post.

And something about that feels deeply unsettling.

In this episode of Psychology of the Strange, I explore why Moltbook has captured so much attention, discomfort, and fascination. From...

Why do winter myths across cultures share the same psychological patterns?

In this closing episode of Psychology of the Strange Season Two, we explore how fear functions as a social force—shaping morality, identity, and survival during prolonged darkness, scarcity, and isolation.

This episode brings together the core themes of the season: winter folklore, psychological fear ...

In this episode of Psychology of the Strange, we explore one of the most disturbing and enduring mysteries of the 20th century: the Dyatlov Pass Incident.

In February 1959, nine experienced hikers vanished in the Ural Mountains under conditions they were fully trained to survive. What rescuers found weeks later defied logic—

a tent cut open from the inside, bodies scattered ...

What happens to the human mind when hunger becomes unbearable, winter cuts off all escape, and survival demands the unthinkable?

In this episode of Psychology of the Strange, we explore the Wendigo—one of the most haunting and psychologically complex winter legends in North American folklore. Often depicted as a supernatural monster stalking frozen forests, the Wendigo is rooted in Indige...

In this episode of Psychology of the Strange, we journey into the cold, liminal nights of winter Wales to meet Mari Lwyd...the eerie Grey Mare who knocks at the door with a horse’s skull, snapping jaws, and a song that demands an answer.

Through immersive storytelling and psychological insight, this episode explores the Mari Lwyd folklore, its origins in Welsh winter traditions, and why rituals involving...

Across Eastern Europe, children born during the Twelve Nights of Christmas were said to be marked by winter itself caught between worlds, watched by spirits, or destined for a second, shadowed nature. In tonight’s episode, we explore the legend of the “winterborn,” those liminal children whose quietness, stillness, or difference became the source of unsettling tales.

But beneath the folklore lies somethi...

Fear doesn’t always arrive as a threat.

Sometimes it arrives as attention.

On a winter night, a woman and her teenage daughter begin to notice a figure standing outside their home. It doesn’t approach. It doesn’t knock. It doesn’t try to enter. It simply watches.

What follows isn’t a story about violence or intrusion, but about something quieter and often more disturbing: the ...

The Yule Log is one of the oldest winter rituals in Europe—a carved beam of wood burned slowly through the longest nights to protect the household and usher in the return of the sun. But beneath the folklore and tradition lies something deeply human: our need to create meaning, especially in seasons marked by scarcity, darkness, and uncertainty.

In this bonus episode, we explore the origi...

Elf on the Shelf is often dismissed as a modern, commercial tradition cute, harmless, and far removed from older winter folklore. But while researching the Yule Lads, I started noticing something unexpected happening in my own home.

Today’s elves don’t just watch. They move. They make messes. They steal food. They leave evidence behind.

In this short bonus reflection, I explore how Elf on t...

The Yule Lads are often remembered as mischievous Icelandic tricksters of thirteen strange figures who descend from the mountains each December. But behind the playful reputation lies a much older, darker tradition rooted in scarcity, winter anxiety, and the human tendency to project fear onto the unknown.

In this episode, we explore the folklore behind the Yule Lads and their monstrous parents, uncoveri...

When the tide pulls back farther than it should, old things rise from the sea. In the windswept folklore of the Orkney Islands, that warning is tied to a single creature: the Nuckelavee (a skinless, relentless being said to crawl out of the ocean on the darkest nights), bringing with it illness, fear, and the sense that something ancient is watching from the shoreline.

In this episode of ...