Your holiday fun is here: for the first time on the main feed, we present The Yule Cat (premium episode 68). The holiday season has its fair share of critters, cryptids, and lore. Some of it is meant to frighten children into good behavior. In Iceland, the Yule Cat falls into the latter camp — but is a giant, child-eating cat monster actually as old, or as frightening, as it sounds?

Hosted by Laurah Norton

Research by Melissa Gold and Maura Currie

Written, Engineered & Produced by Maura Currie

Works Cited:

Christopher Mother, "Forget Santa and..." The Boston Globe, 2022.

NA, "Its Satan's..." Daily Star, 2021.

NA, "We wish you a..." Daily Star, 2019.

Danny Lewis, "Each Christmas, Iceland's..." Smithsonian Magazine, 2016.

Sue Weaver, "The Yule Goat," Hachette Book Group, ND.

Lauren Oster, "Meet the Yule..." Travel Channel, 2019.

Regína Hrönn Ragnarsdóttir, "Grýla and Leppalúði..." Guide To Iceland, ND.

NA, "All welcome when..." Reykjavik.is, 2024 (TRANSLATED)

Haukur S. Magnússon, "The Christmas Cat," The Reykjavik Grapevine, 2008.

Dustin Jones, "You've heard of Santa..." NPR, 2023.

Áki Guðni Karlsson, "The Yule Cat," University of Iceland/Icelandic Folklore, 2020.

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It's a very One Strange Thing Holiday as we count down to the season with re-releases of some of our favorite episodes--and a special treat awaits at the end. For two hundred years, a very famous poem has heralded the holiday season, and for some, the arrival of Santa Claus—but perhaps less known is the mystery it brings along with it. Whether you know it as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" or "A Visit from St. Nicholas," there's more to this one than mice and stockings and ho ho ho. This originally ran as Episode 81.

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's a very One Strange Thing Holiday as we count down to the season with re-releases of some of our favorite episodes--and a special treat awaits at the end. It's become a holiday tradition for us to tell you this one, strangers. . . though locals tell us that things have changed with the tree (see link below). Still, we enjoy the story: Episode 34—The Elves.

Arizona might not seem like the typical setting for holiday magic, but for decades, some mysterious local "elves" have turned a spherical, scrubby-looking desert juniper out on I-17 into what has to have been one of America's more unlikely Christmas spectacles; but who are they, and why are they so determined to light up the lonely landscape?

Hosted and Written by Laurah Norton

Researched by Bryan Worters and Laurah Norton

Engineered and Produced by Maura Currie

Christmas Tree update: https://www.kjzz.org/kjzz-news/2024-12-05/arizonas-i-17-mystery-tree-is-gone-the-state-balladeer-hopes-the-christmas-tradition-will-return

Sources on our website: https://www.onestrangethingpodcast.com/

Join us on Patreon for early release and ad-free episodes, exclusive stories, and bonus

episodes: https://www.patreon.com/OneStrangeThing

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Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@onestrangething

We have partnered with Libsyn to handle our advertising/sponsorship requests. They're great to work with and will help you advertise on our show. Please email ad-sales@libsyn.com or click the link below to get started. https://advertising.libsyn.com/OneStrangeThing

2025 All Rights Reserved One Strange Thing Podcast & The Fall Line Podcast LLC

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.