New England Vampires & the Alien Intelligence of Octopuses

In this Halloween-season episode of Box of Oddities, Kat and Jethro explore a grisly chapter of New England folklore: the 1817 exhumation of Dartmouth student Frederick Ransom. As tuberculosis—then called consumption—devastated his Vermont family, his father followed a desperate “vampire” remedy: Frederick’s heart was removed from his grave and burned in a blacksmith’s forge. Then, from the frighteningly human to the wonderfully alien: octopuses can edit their RNA in response to changing water temperatures, have neurons spread throughout their arms, solve problems, use tools, and may be far more emotionally complex than we ever imagined. Plus, the greatest horror-movie screams of all time. A tale of vampire panic, Victorian-era disease, eerie folklore, sentient cephalopods, and very questionable mayonnaise-jar security—because normal is overrated. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices