Loreplay

n this episode of Loreplay, host Dayna Pereira ventures into the snowy, unsettling heart of Alpine folklore to meet one of Europe’s most iconic winter figures: Frau Perchta—a goddess, witch, and domestic compliance auditor who absolutely did not come to play.

Known for roaming the countryside during the Twelve Nights of Christmas, Perchta rewarded the diligent, punished the lazy, and allegedly slit open the bellies of naughty children to stuff them with straw and rocks. Festive! But beneath the gore and goat-footed nightmare fuel lies a fascinating story of pre-Christian goddesses, household rituals, seasonal transition, and...

Duration: 00:29:51

Tonight on Loreplay, we’re diving deep into one of the most fascinating, eerie, and unexplained medieval mysteries ever recorded: The Green Children of Woolpit. This legendary twelfth-century case from Suffolk, England, has baffled historians, folklorists, and paranormal researchers for centuries. Two mysterious green-skinned children appeared out of nowhere near a wolf pit in Woolpit, speaking an unknown language, wearing unfamiliar clothing, and describing a twilight world unlike anything in recorded English folklore.

In this episode, we explore the historical accounts from medieval chroniclers William of Newburgh and Ralph of Coggeshall, examine the children’s strange behavior, and...

Duration: 00:31:12

Tonight on Loreplay, we’re headed straight into the misty hills of Lancashire to unravel one of the most infamous witchcraft trials in history — the 1612 Pendle Witch Trials.

This episode dives into the crumbling social order of early-17th-century England, where famine, disease, political paranoia, and neighborly grudges created the perfect storm for witchcraft accusations. We unpack the lives of Demdike, Chattox, Alizon Device, Old Mother Nutter, and the rest of the so-called witches who were swept up in a tale of curses, confessions, and good old-fashioned government fearmongering.

From “soft torture” in the Lancaster Gaol, to...

Duration: 00:36:30

This week on Loreplay, your host Dayna Pereira drags you—lovingly, chaotically, and with a full set of trigger warnings—into one of New York’s darkest intersections of myth and reality. We’re talking Cropsey, Staten Island’s OG boogeyman… and the very real institutional nightmare that fed the legend: the Willowbrook State School.

From childhood dares in the woods… to abandoned tunnels… to unethical medical experiments… to the disappearances of multiple children… this episode unpacks how an urban legend stopped being folklore and started feeling uncomfortably real.

Dayna dives into:

The original pre–Andre Rand versi...

Duration: 00:36:20

In this spine-tingling (and side-splitting) episode of Loreplay, host Dayna Pereira dives deep into the unbelievable true story of the Greenbrier Ghost—the only documented case in American history where a ghost’s testimony helped convict a murderer. Yep. Court of law. Sworn statement. Medium-grade Victorian drama. Full-body chills.

Travel back to 1897 in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, where newlywed Zona Heaster Shue dies under suspicious circumstances… and her mother refuses to buy the “it was natural causes” excuse that the town doctor offered while he was practically doing a speed-run autopsy in reverse. After four nights of bone-crack...

Duration: 00:33:56

The Blood Countess of Cachtice: Elizabeth Báthory — Monster, Myth, or Misogyny?

Hey hey, my lore-loving fiends — tonight we’re heading back to 16th-century Hungary, where leeches were skincare, torture was trending, and one noblewoman’s beauty routine allegedly involved… her staff.

Elizabeth Báthory — better known as The Blood Countess — has been called history’s most prolific female serial killer, accused of torturing and murdering hundreds of girls to preserve her youth. But how much of it is true… and how much was cooked up by jealous nobles, political rivals, and a patriarchal empire that didn’t love a w...

Duration: 00:35:24

You’ve heard of haunted dolls, cursed mirrors, and demons that slide into your DMs — but few haunted objects have ever captured the world’s attention like the Dybbuk Box.
A simple wooden wine cabinet turned viral nightmare, this thing went from folklore-inspired hoax to a full-blown paranormal phenomenon involving Ghost Adventures, Post Malone, and the internet’s collective fear of “what’s in the box.”

In this episode of Loreplay, Dayna Pereira dives deep into the origins of the Dybbuk legend in Jewish mysticism, the true story behind Kevin Mannis’s eBay listing, and the chaos that follo...

Duration: 00:26:30

Hey hey, my lore-loving weirdos… grab your lanterns, your lace bonnets, and your emotional support gin — because tonight, we’re heading back to 1803 London, where a ghost panic got so real it ended with an actual murder trial.

Before the Tube, before streetlights, and definitely before therapy, the sleepy village of Hammersmith found itself haunted — not by one restless spirit, but by a whole lot of mass hysteria.

It started with an elderly woman scared literally to death near the churchyard… then a brewer’s servant named Thomas Groom who got hands-on with the ghost (and lived to...

Duration: 00:27:06

In 1950s England, tragedy struck the Pollock family when their two young daughters, Joanna and Jacqueline, were killed in a horrific car accident. A year later, Florence Pollock gave birth to twin girls — and that’s when things got weird.

The twins, Gillian and Jennifer, began recalling memories, places, and experiences they couldn’t possibly have known. They recognized landmarks in a town they’d never visited, talked about “their other lives,” and one even bore the same birthmarks and scars as her late sister. Was this the most compelling modern case of reincarnation — or a story shaped by grie...

Duration: 00:31:08

When the hangman fails, history gets juicy.
 This week on Loreplay, host Dayna Pereira dives into the true, twisted, and totally unbelievable 18th-century story of Maggie Dickson — the Scottish fishwife who was hanged… and then walked away alive.

From the gallows of Edinburgh’s Grassmarket to the birth of her legend as “Half-Hangit Maggie,” this episode blends dark history with gallows humor (literally). You’ll learn how a young woman’s secret, a botched execution, and a very loose understanding of “death” turned her into one of Scotland’s most enduring folk heroines.

Was it divine interventio...

Duration: 00:33:22

In this episode of Loreplay, Dayna Pereira dives deep into the real-life horror story that inspired The Exorcist. Forget the spinning heads and pea soup—this is the true 1949 case of Roland Doe, the boy whose alleged demonic possession terrified priests, shook the Church, and changed how America viewed exorcisms forever.

From Cottage City, Maryland to St. Louis, Missouri, follow the chilling (and occasionally ridiculous) journey of a family haunted by unexplained scratches, flying furniture, guttural voices, and a bed that wouldn’t stop shaking. Meet the real priests behind the ritual—Father Albert Hughes, Father Raymond Bishop...

Duration: 00:38:33

Episode Title: The Amityville Horror: Haunted House or Hoax?

What really happened inside the most famous haunted house in America? In this episode of Loreplay, host Dayna Pereira digs into the chilling story of the Amityville Horror—where true crime meets the paranormal.

First, we revisit the shocking 1974 DeFeo family murders that left six dead inside 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York. Then we dive into the terrifying claims of George and Kathy Lutz, who lasted only 28 days before fleeing the house in fear. From swarms of flies in winter, to walls that oozed slime, to...

Duration: 00:43:15

West Virginia, 1966. Four terrified teenagers tear down a dark back road in a Chevy Bel Air with something massive chasing them through the sky — glowing red eyes, a ten-foot wingspan, and a story that would forever haunt Point Pleasant. Over the next thirteen months, dozens of locals reported the same winged figure, strange lights in the sky, prophetic dreams, and even creepy Men in Black knocking at their doors. And then, in December 1967, the Silver Bridge collapsed, killing 46 people and cementing Mothman’s place in American legend.

In this episode of Loreplay, your host Dayna Pereira dives deep...

Duration: 00:35:41

In this chilling episode of Loreplay, host Dayna Pereira dives deep into the terrifying urban legend of the Black Eyed Children — the mysterious paranormal figures with solid black eyes who knock on doors and beg to be let inside. From journalist Brian Bethel’s 1996 encounter in Abilene, Texas to spine-tingling reports in Portland, Oregon, Vermont, and the UK, we explore the most infamous Black Eyed Kid stories that have fueled decades of fear. Listeners will hear how these eerie children are tied to legends of demons, vampires, changelings, ghosts, alien-human hybrids, and government experiments, and why the rule is alwa...

Duration: 00:28:46

Step inside one of America’s strangest and most haunted mansions—the Winchester Mystery House. Built by Sarah Winchester, the widow of the heir to the Winchester Repeating Arms fortune, this sprawling, bizarre labyrinth in San Jose, California is filled with staircases that lead to nowhere, doors that open into walls, and enough ghostly legends to keep paranormal investigators buzzing for over a century.

In this episode of Loreplay, Dayna Pereira dives deep into the history, heartbreak, and haunted lore behind Sarah Winchester and her endlessly expanding Victorian mansion. Was she cursed by the spirits of those kill...

Duration: 00:27:01

Welcome to Loreplay—the comedy-paranormal podcast where haunted history meets hot takes. In this episode, host Dayna Pereira dives deep into one of America’s most infamous ghost stories: The Bell Witch of Adams, Tennessee.

From John Bell Sr.’s mysterious illness to Lucy Bell’s eerie protection, and from Kate Batts’ petty neighbor drama to the witchy shenanigans that terrified Andrew Jackson himself, this story has everything: curses, poltergeist activity, demonic sass, and enough Tennessee gossip to fuel a century of spooky sleepovers.

With a mix of historical research, folklore, and laugh-out-loud commentary, we unpack why...

Duration: 00:29:15

In this episode of Loregasm, we explore:

The 1970 haunting of Donna and Angie and the disturbing Annabelle Higgins spirit backstory.The infamous “Help Us” and “Help Lou” notes — and why no physical evidence exists.Lou’s violent scratching and claims of demonic attack.The psychic medium’s misread and the Warren investigation.Annabelle’s decades in the Warren Occult Museum and the blessing rituals meant to “contain” her.Real-life Annabelle curse stories — accidents and deaths linked to mocking her.Annabelle’s tour appearances at haunted prisons, plantations, and paranormal conventions.How Matt Rife and Elton Castee became Annabelle’s legal guardians in 2025...

Duration: 00:26:27

Do you love spooky—but not like emo, turn it into your entire personality spooky? Do you make jokes at wildly inappropriate times just to cover up your crippling social anxiety? Then Loreplay might be for you.

I’m Dayna Pereira, your tour guide down a rabbit hole of lores, myths, ghost stories, and haunted history. But like, make it fun. Some of these tales you’ve definitely heard before, some you definitely haven’t—but I promise you’ve never heard them like this.

Check out Loreplay—where haunted gets hot and bothered with comedy, and th...

Duration: 00:01:05