Twisted Tales with Heidi Wong

Twisted Tales with Heidi Wong

Reality is the real horror. Every Monday, poet and paranormal obsessive Heidi Wong unearths the chilling true stories behind the world’s most terrifying legends. From haunted dolls to cursed houses, each episode of Twisted Tales reveals the disturbing real-life events that inspired horror’s biggest blockbusters and the ones too twisted to make it to screen. Some stories are stranger than fiction. These are darker. New episodes every Monday. Twisted Tales is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios. Watch on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Episodes

The Scientific Expedition That Ended in Madness (Annihilation Explained!)

February 16, 2026 • 28 mins
A nuclear blast disguised as a meteor. A room that reads your mind. And three men who saved the world underwater. Heidi Wong dives into the real events and films that shaped Annihilation from the secret of the Kyshtym disaster to the Chernobyl divers who saved the world underwater. Head over to our Twisted Tales YouTube channel to WATCH this episode: https://www.youtube.com/@crimehousestudios If you’re new here, don’t forget to ...
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The Chilling UFO Encounter That Shocked a Family

February 9, 2026 • 29 mins
A town where people vanish without a trace. A pilot stalked by lights no one else could see. And a sky filled with secrets that defy explanation. Heidi Wong uncovers the true stories behind The Fourth Kind: from Nome’s disappearances and the Alaska Triangle to the JAL 1628 UFO encounter, owl lore, HAARP conspiracies, and the legend of Alaska’s Dark Pyramid. Head over to our Twisted Tales YouTube channel to WATCH this episode: http...
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Deadly Chefs and Kitchen Horrors (The Menu Explained!)

February 2, 2026 • 29 mins
A gravedigger and chef who stewed a man’s body. A husband who disposed of his wife through culinary skill. And a celebrated caterer who killed for money.Heidi Wong reveals the true crimes that mirror The Menu: the shocking cases of Philippe Schneider, David Viens, Stephen Port, and Nancy Brophy, proving that some chefs take their craft far too far. Head over to our Twisted Tales YouTube channel to WATCH this episode: https://www.y...
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A Powerful Family, a Trail of Deaths, and a House Built on Secrets (Mike Flanagan's The Fall of the House of Usher Explained!)

January 26, 2026 • 33 mins
A family built on blood money. A curse born in a colonial basement. And a mansion that swallowed its sins. Heidi Wong uncovers everything from the real family history behind Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” to the Sackler family that inspired Mike Flanagan’s modern retelling. Head over to our Twisted Tales YouTube channel to WATCH this episode: https://www.youtube.com/@crimehousestudios If you’re new here, don’t...
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The Mining Disaster That Turned a Town Into a Death Trap (Return to Silent Hill Cheat Sheet!)

January 19, 2026 • 28 mins
A town cursed by murder. A fire that’s been burning for 60 years. And a community swallowed by the earth. Heidi Wong uncovers the true story behind Silent Hill: the Pennsylvania mining town of Centralia, where greed, tragedy, and flame turned reality into a nightmare. Head over to our Twisted Tales YouTube channel to WATCH this episode: https://www.youtube.com/@crimehousestudios If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Twisted ...
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A Family Surrounded by Death (Longlegs Explained!)

January 12, 2026 • 29 mins
A filmmaker haunted by his family’s past. A doll that mirrored a tragedy. And a story born from grief, faith, and fear. Heidi Wong explores the real inspirations behind Osgood Perkins’s Longlegs: from Anthony Perkins’s hidden legacy to the JonBenét Ramsey “My Twinn” doll and the dark folklore of sympathetic magic. Head over to our Twisted Tales YouTube channel to WATCH this episode: https://www.youtube.com/@crimehousestudios If y...
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Crimes So Disturbing They Were Almost Unfilmable

January 5, 2026 • 30 mins
A killer who turned skin into furniture. A journalist murdered for a story. And a podcaster killed by her biggest fan. Heidi Wong uncovers the real stories behind Kevin Smith’s Tusk, from Ed Gein’s skin suits to Kim Wall’s submarine murder and Zohreh Sadeghi’s tragic death, where obsession turned fatal. Head over to our Twisted Tales YouTube channel to WATCH this episode: https://www.youtube.com/@crimehousestudios If you’re new h...
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Crime House Best of 2025 - MISSING: The Martin Family from Clues with Morgan Absher and Kaelyn Moore

January 3, 2026 • 71 mins
Happy New Year! This year across Crime House, we released over 600 episodes. While we are proud of all of them, one episode rose above the rest and was voted on as Crime House’s Best Episode of 2025. It’s the case of the missing Martin Family, from Clues with Morgan Absher and Kaelyn Moore.  This episode takes us back to December 1958. The Martin Family was as picture-perfect as they come during the holidays: Santa suits, candy c...
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The Crimes Behind Japan’s Curse Legends (The Grudge Explained!)

December 29, 2025 • 27 mins
A curse born in blood. A spirit fueled by rage. And three ghosts who never rest. Heidi Wong uncovers the real Japanese ghost stories behind The Grudge and Ju-On — from Okiku’s haunted well to Oiwa’s poisoned face and Otsuyu’s deadly lantern. Head over to our Twisted Tales YouTube channel to WATCH this episode: https://www.youtube.com/@crimehousestudios If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Twisted Tales to never miss a case!...
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Haunted Hotels and Unexplained Deaths

December 22, 2025 • 30 mins
A woman found dead at a seaside resort. A man murdered in a locked hotel room. And two ghosts who never checked out. Heidi Wong uncovers the terrifying true stories behind Stephen King’s 1408: from Kate Morgan’s haunted room at the Hotel del Coronado to the unsolved killing of Artemus Ogletree at the Hotel President. Head over to our Twisted Tales YouTube channel to WATCH this episode: https://www.youtube.com/@crimehousestudios ...
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People Who Predicted Their Own Deaths (The Final Destination Universe Explained!)

December 15, 2025 • 26 mins
A writer who predicted the Titanic disaster. A child who dreamed of her own death. And a president haunted by a vision of his own funeral. Heidi Wong uncovers the chilling true stories from the Titanic premonition to the Aberfan disaster and Abraham Lincoln’s prophetic dream that prove Final Destination might not be fiction after all. Head over to our Twisted Tales YouTube channel to WATCH this episode: https://www.youtube.com/@...
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Ancient Rituals That Still Haunt Modern Crime (Midsommar Explained!)

December 8, 2025 • 27 mins
A Swedish legend of dancing with the devil. A medieval plague that made people dance to death. And a modern town haunted by a phantom attacker. Heidi Wong uncovers how real cases of hysteria, ritual, and belief inspired Midsommar and prove that madness spreads faster than any curse. Head over to our Twisted Tales YouTube channel to WATCH this episode: https://www.youtube.com/@crimehousestudios If you’re new here, don’t forget t...
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The Cult That Turned Deadly

December 1, 2025 • 30 mins
A leader worshiped as a god. A paradise built on lies. And a thousand followers led to their deaths. Heidi Wong reveals how Jim Jones’s Jonestown became one of history’s deadliest cults — and how its horrors were mirrored in Ti West’s The Sacrament. Head over to our Twisted Tales YouTube channel to WATCH this episode: https://www.youtube.com/@crimehousestudios If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Twisted Tales to never mi...
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Lives Destroyed by the Pursuit of Perfection (The Substance Explained!)

November 24, 2025 • 32 mins
A bodybuilder who murdered for love. A beauty influencer killed for her fame. And a countess who bathed in blood to stay young. Heidi Wong uncovers the terrifying true stories of obsession, vanity, and violence that mirror the nightmare of The Substance: where the pursuit of perfection turns deadly. Twisted Tales with Heidi Wong is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. D...
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The Camping Trip That Turned Fatal (Friday the 13th Explained!)

November 17, 2025 • 32 mins
A lakeside camping trip ends in blood. A quiet cabin becomes a house of horrors. And the killers were never caught. Heidi Wong tells the real stories that inspired Friday the 13th and The Strangers: the true tales of isolation, fear, and murder that haunt horror’s most famous cabins. Twisted Tales with Heidi Wong is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t Miss out o...
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Doppelgänger Encounters That Turned Deadly (Get Out Explained!)

November 10, 2025 • 31 mins
A vanished child returns as a stranger. A beauty blogger’s twin becomes her killer. A man’s life is stolen by his lookalike. Heidi Wong exposes the real doppelgänger cases that turned myth into murder, and inspired Jordan Peele’s Us, where the scariest enemy is your own reflection.Episode Sponsor:Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance. Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specializ...
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The Cases That Put Exorcism Under Investigation (The Conjuring Universe Revisited!)

November 3, 2025 • 30 mins
Step beyond the screen and into the real-life terror behind The Conjuring Universe. Heidi explores the Perron family’s decade-long haunting in a Rhode Island farmhouse and the sinister origins of Annabelle the Doll. From ghostly apparitions to demonic encounters, these true horror stories prove that reality can be far scarier than fiction. Episode Sponsor: Step into the holiday season with layers made to feel good, look polishe...
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Cursed Objects and Cannibal Wastelands (The Ring & The Hills Have Eyes Explained!)

October 27, 2025 • 25 mins
A servant murdered and thrown into a castle well. A ghost story that cursed generations. And a family of cannibals who devoured travelers in the night. Heidi uncovers the folklore of Okiku and Sawney Beane, the true stories that inspired Ringu, The Ring, and Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes. Twisted Tales with Heidi Wong is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t Mis...
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The Dark Truths Behind a Notorious Witchcraft Panic (American Horror Story: Coven Explained!)

October 20, 2025 • 31 mins
The Voodoo Queen of New Orleans. A sadistic aristocrat with a torture chamber. And a crazed killer with an axe. Heidi uncovers the real stories of Marie Laveau, Madame LaLaurie, and the Axeman of New Orleans: the real people that inspired American Horror Story: Coven. Twisted Tales with Heidi Wong is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t Miss out on all things Twis...
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When Real Crimes Turned Buildings Into Haunted Legends (The Shining and The Amityville Horror Explained!)

October 13, 2025 • 28 mins
A luxury hotel in the Colorado mountains where ghostly music still echoes. A quiet Long Island home where six family members were murdered in their sleep. Heidi uncovers the chilling true stories of the Stanley Hotel and 112 Ocean Avenue: the real-life terrors that inspired The Shining and The Amityville Horror. Twisted Tales with Heidi Wong is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios. Listen wherever you get your...
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