{"podcast":{"title":"Paranormia","slug":"paranormia-7042297","podcast_index_feed_id":7042297,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6704e5211a3de581c6a143cd","website_url":"https://audioalways.lnk.to/ParanormiaPod","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/6704e5211a3de581c6a143cd/1763990919190-2853c3a9-b9fd-45c3-9bc1-5cebe474cb24.jpeg","author":"Audio Always","episode_count":34,"summary":"Are you ever awake in the cruellest hours of the night, when the world is quiet, but your mind isn’t? That’s where Paranormia begins. Hosted by journalist and parapsychologist Elizabeth McCafferty, Paranormia is a weekly storytelling podcast where true crime collides with the supernatural, the psychological, and the macabre. Each episode explores real cases where belief in something unseen becomes dangerous, cursed objects drive people to violence, psychic visions predict tragedy, cults where worship turns deadly, and hauntings blur into guilt, obsession, or faith. Elizabeth blends rigorous research with cinematic storytelling to uncover what happens when reason falters and fear takes hold. Because these aren’t just ghost stories, they’re stories about us: about the human need to explain the inexplicable, to find meaning in the dark. Paranormia: where paranoia meets the paranormal. Subscribe, and stay awake with us. If you have a story where crime and the otherworldly intertwine, something strange, unexplained or just plain haunted, get in touch at paranormia@alwaystruecrime.com . For more true crime that you'll be obsessed with head to AlwaysTrueCrime.com . Hosted on Acast. See a…","last_synced_at":"2026-07-22T10:19:11.404372+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/paranormia-7042297"},"episode":{"title":"Cursed Objects: The Crying Boy Painting","slug":"cursed-objects-the-crying-boy-painting","published_at":"2026-04-15T13:17:15+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/paranormia-7042297/cursed-objects-the-crying-boy-painting","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/paranormia-7042297","url":"https://shows.acast.com/paranormia/episodes/cursed-objects-the-crying-boy-painting","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/6704e5211a3de581c6a143cd/e/69df8fdb59baa7e22896e2fd/media.mp3","summary":"In the 1980s a kitsch mass-produced painting of a tearful child was linked to a spate of unexplained house fires across the UK in the 1980s. Firefighters noticed that when they attended house fires there was often one object left intact, the big blue eyes of a little crying boy, its edges singed, the frame sooty. But surviving seemingly countless fires. So how did the legend of the crying boy painting lead to a massive tabloid bonfire? Find out, on this episode of Paranormia. *** If you have a story where crime and the otherworldly intertwine, something strange, unexplained or just plain haunted, get in touch at paranormia@alwaystruecrime.com . Paranormia is an Audio Always production. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","meta_description":"In the 1980s a kitsch mass-produced painting of a tearful child was linked to a spate of unexplained house fires across the UK in the 1980s. Firefighters…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1632,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/paranormia-7042297/episodes/cursed-objects-the-crying-boy-painting/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/paranormia-7042297/cursed-objects-the-crying-boy-painting.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}