Episodes
Welcome back to the Nightmare Cottage, dearest listener... Or if you're seeing this, I suppose reader may be more apropos? Arbitrary labels aside, let's talk about stuff that is actually appropriate: Today's topics!
Pop quiz! What's the first plant that comes to mind when you hear the words "Nightmare Cottage"? If you answered anything other than "big sentient venus fly trap with a taste for human meat", you have unfortunately failed the quiz. Don't fret, precious. Summer school is in session, and your teacher Ms. Nym has got all the necessary information on Carnivorous plants to get you out from under that dunce cap and back on the dean's list. Hey, here's a fun fact! Did you know that plants are susceptible to Staph Infections? It's true!
You know what ELSE is susceptible to staph infections? Humans are! Horribly so, in fact!... Yep... Okay, now that we've got that totally normal and not at all jarring segue out of the way, Nym's cottage boo-mate Nylene is bringing us the story of a real life nightmare roommate - Janie Lynn Ridd. And y'all? Nightmare is an understatement on this piece of work. Talk about an evil, evil woman, huh? Thank goodness she's behind bars, eh? ... What's that? WHAT?! She's FREE!?! HOW?!
... Okay. Well. If you want to know how absolutely insane it is that this woman is out of the pokey, you'll need to listen in to todays episode. For my part, I'll be drafting a formal apology letter to the very scary lady for all those horrible, terrible things I said about her in the last paragraph. I'm sure she's a lovely person, and that all this was just blown out of proportions... right.
Welp. Sweet dreams, Listener/Reader... unless you have a roommate, in which case FLEE FOR YOUR LIFE BECAUSE THE WORLD IS SCARY AND APPARENTLY NOBODY CAN BE TRUSTED, ESPECIALLY NOT THE PERSON YOU TRUST MOST.
Carnivorous Plants by Nym
Sundew is a sticky trap carnivorous plant.
Butterwort is a sticky trap carnivorous plant.
Roridula Plant
Pitcher Plant
Bladderwort Plant
Venus Fly Trap
Nepenthes lowii is one of the toilet bowl Nepenthes. It is found in the wild on high mountains in Borneo where tree shrews perch on the pitcher and eat snail eggs laid among the hairs of the upright pitcher lid. While sitting there, shrews do what shrews do. Photo © Barry Rice
Cephalotus follicularis is found in southwest Australia.
Janie Lynn Ridd by Nylene
Janie (Left) & Rachel (Right) when they met in their 20s.
Janie (Left) & Rachel (Right) friends for 20 years.
House in Utah where Janie attempted to kill Rachel over time.
Janie Lynn Ridd Arrest Photo
Rachel in court during the trial.
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A Utah woman tried to poison her best friend with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. How she got caught. (2024, June 26). TODAY.com.
Brittnacher, J. (2010, January). What are Carnivorous Plants? ICPS.
Carnivorous plants - Big Thicket National Preserve (U.S. National Park Service). (n.d.).
Carnivorous plants / insectivorous plants. (n.d.).
Carnivorous plants: the meat-eaters of the plant world | Natural History Museum. (2021, July 2).
Laskow, S. (2025, August 7). The mythical Man-Eating plants that paved the way for 'Little Shop of Horrors' Atlas Obscura.
Magazine, S. P. K. (2022, March 10). How carnivorous plants evolved. Smithsonian Magazine.
MRSA infection - Symptoms & causes - Mayo Clinic. (2022, November 8). Mayo Clinic.
Schaefer, J. R. (2022, January 28). From poetry to pulp fiction: carnivorous plants in popular culture. Biodiversity Heritage Library.
The Savage Garden: Cultivating carnivorous plants. (n.d.). Goodreads.
“Worst roommate ever” My BFF Tried to Kill Me (TV episode 2024) ⭐ 7.2 | Documentary, crime, thriller. (2024, June 26). IMDb.