Episodes
Welcome to the Nightmare Cottage, dear listeners!
Between anticipation for the upcoming Halloween season and a blissfully drama-free couple of weeks, hostesses Nym and Nylene are enjoying some much needed peace before the holidays kick into high gear. After a bit of banter around toddler trick-or-treat prep and costume conundrums, it's onto today's topics!
First, Nym's bringing us the second entry in her Grave Encounters series! This time she's recounting her trip to Salem, MA, where she and friend of the show, Maira, were able to take a walk through the Old Burying Point. Established in 1637 and beautifully maintained since as early as the 1700's, the land also known as the Charter Street Cemetery is chock-full of history and character for those with the will (and the morbid curiosity) to look... And since Nym is nothing if not a willful woman suffering from a terminal case of morbid curiosity, you can bet that she's got some interesting information to share about everything from witch trials to walking trails.
Then, Nylene is bringing us right back to the present day with her coverage of Erin Trudi Patterson. A self-appointed internet sleuth, true-crime junky, homemaker, fungal forager, and amateur chef, Ms. Patterson on paper sounds a lot like she could be the long-lost third hostess of this very podcast… If she weren't just sentenced to life in prison for her part in the truly horrific Leongatha Mushroom Murders, I'd say she should tryout at the next Nightmare Cottage Combine. As it stands, you’ll absolutely want to hear how this mother turned multi-murderer tries (and fails) spectacularly to commit the perfect crime.
If you have any issues with bodily functions, or your name is Gordon Ramsey and you might be troubled by the weaponization of Beef Wellington, listener discretion advised.
The Old Burying Point by Nym
Grave of Richard More - the last original gravestone still standing of the original Mayflower pilgrims.
Grimshawe House
A beautiful tree near the center of The Old Burying Point. Legend is that it is struck by lightning every 22 years - but there is no evidence that this is true.
The Pickman House
The Salem Witch Trial Memorial
Erin Patterson Mushroom Murderess by Nylene
The areas of Australia where Erin carried out her crimes.
Relationship of all of the family involved in the murders.
Erin’s house where the poisonings took place.
Website where Erin was able to find locations to forage for death cap mushrooms.
Death cap mushrooms on a scale. One of many pictures found on Erin’s ipad.
Dehydrated death cap mushrooms. One of many pictures found on Erin’s ipad.
The beef wellington covered with death cap mushrooms submitted into evidence.
Erin on the hospital camera discussing the contents of the poisoned lunch and condition of her guests.
Erin handing over a phone to police. This phone was later found to have been recently purchased. Her original phone was never recovered.
Erin caught on camera disposing of the dehydrator she denied purchasing.
Dehydrator with death cap mushroom residue recovered by the police at the local disposal center.
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Charter Street Cemetery | Salem MA Witch Trial historical locations. (2024, February 12). Salem Witch Museum.
Database — Charter Street Cemetery Welcome Center. (n.d.). Charter Street Cemetery Welcome Center.
Dunstan, J., Ortolan, M., & Chwasta, M. (2025, July 7). See the evidence used to convict Erin Patterson in the mushroom murder trial. ABC News.
Goodreads. (n.d.). If These Stones Could Speak.
R v Patterson (Sentence) [2025] VSC 557 (8 September 2025). (n.d.).
Turnbull, T. (2025a, July 7). Australian woman guilty of murdering relatives with toxic mushroom meal.
Turnbull, T. (2025b, July 7). Erin Patterson trial: Nine weeks of testimony that gripped a courtroom.
Wikipedia contributors. (2025, October 5). Leongatha mushroom murders.
Witch Trials Memorial — Charter Street Cemetery Welcome Center. (n.d.). Charter Street Cemetery Welcome Center.