Unsolved-ish: True Crime & Mysteries

The Thames Torso Murders: Were They Connected to Jack the Ripper? | Unsolved-ish A Strange History Podcast

In Victorian London, human torsos began appearing in and around the River Thames. Carefully dismembered, deliberately unidentified, and quietly dismissed by authorities, these cases became known as the Thames Torso Murders. At the same time, the city was gripped by fear over another unsolved series of killings — the crimes attributed to Jack the Ripper. In this episode of Unsolved-ish: A Strange History Podcast, we explore whether these two mysteries could be connected, and why Victorian investigators were so determined to insist they were not. We examine the differences in method, the overlap in time and place, and the institutional pressure to contain panic during one of London’s most unstable periods. Rather than asking who the killer was, this episode asks a different question: what happens when authorities decide not to look too closely? Was the separation of these cases based on evidence — or convenience? This is a story about Victorian crime, investigative failure, and the dangers of confidence without proof. Not solved. Not ruled out. Just… Unsolved-ish.

The Mad Gasser of Mattoon (1944): America’s Phantom Gas Attacks | Unsolved-ish A The Strange History Podcast

In the summer of 1944, residents of a small Illinois town began reporting terrifying nighttime attacks. People woke up unable to move, nauseous, dizzy, and convinced a mysterious figure was releasing gas into their homes. Some claimed to see a shadowy man outside their windows. Others reported strange smells and physical symptoms that doctors couldn’t fully explain. The town was Mattoon, and the mystery became known as The Mad Gasser of Mattoon. In this episode of The Strange History Podcast, we explore one of America’s strangest crime waves — a case that was never truly solved, but instead officially explained away as mass hysteria during World War II. We examine the historical context of wartime fear, chemical weapon anxiety, conflicting medical reports, and why the attacks stopped as suddenly as they began. Was the Mad Gasser a real criminal exploiting panic? Was it a psychological phenomenon fueled by stress and suggestion? Or was it something authorities couldn’t explain — or didn’t want to? This episode dives into an overlooked chapter of strange history where fear itself may have been the most powerful weapon, leaving behind no arrests, no evidence, and no clear answers. Not solved. Not disproven. Just… solved-ish.