E5: Mary Celeste – Sails, Silence, and the Sea

A ship found adrift. No crew. No lifeboat. No signs of struggle. Just canvas, timber, and silence.

In this episode, Jenn tells Jared the haunting story of the Mary Celeste — one of the most enduring maritime mysteries in history. What was supposed to be a routine voyage to Italy ended with a ghost ship drifting through the Atlantic. Theories abound, but the facts are stranger than fiction.

🎙️ In this episode:

• The eerie discovery by the Dei Gratia
• Clues left behind (and what wasn’t there)
• A messy salvage trial that made things worse
• Mutiny? Murder? Sea monster??
• The legend… and the lies

🗝️ Want more?

Bonus content includes:

• What the Mary Celeste was called before she got cursed
• A breakdown of the crew (and why we’re sad this part didn’t make the main ep)
• Why Sir Arthur Conan Doyle made everything worse
• Jenn going too far with a joke
• Oddities and fun facts — which is really just… all of it

🎧 Get bonus material & support the show:

patreon.com/HouseofSyx

📱 Follow us for more:

TikTok: @house_of_syx

YouTube: @houseofsyx

🎤 New episodes every week.

History is weird. Come get lost in it.

• The Mary Celeste: the history of a mystery / Historical Association
• J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement - Wikipedia
• What Happened to the Mary Celeste? | HISTORY
• Archive.org
• Mary Celeste - Wikipedia
• Smithsonian Mag
• Old Dartmouth Historical Sketches
• Campfire Stories Podcast

Summary: She was rich, religious, and respectable—or so they thought. In 1892, the quiet town of Fall River was shattered by a gruesome double murder and the trial of a woman who became a legend. Was Lizzy Borden a misunderstood spinster… or a killer with a pear-shaped alibi?

In this episode of The House of Syx, Jenn and Jared take their hatchets to the truth behind the Borden murders. We explore the bizarre timeline, the forensic fumbles, the pear that became Exhibit A, and how society’s expectations of women collided with a bloody crime scene. With historical context, hard facts, and the usual dose of skeptical side-eye, we try to answer the question: Did she do it?

Stick around for the outro as I sing the creepy childrens' nursery rhyme (unfortunately)

Timestamps:

00:00 – Cold Open: “It begins, not with a scream…”

01:10 – Intro & Opening Banter

03:05 – Meet the Borden Family

07:32 – Social Class, Schedules, and Sibling Tensions

13:14 – Morning of the Murders: Who Was Where

17:58 – Discovery of Abby & Andrew

23:10 – The Pear, the Barn, and the Timeline Problem

28:44 – Police Failures and Forensics (or Lack Thereof)

32:19 – Lizzy’s Many Versions of Events

35:03 – The Inquest and Arrest

38:00 – Trial Highlights: The Skull Reveal and the Faint Heard 'Round the World

41:35 – Acquittal and Aftermath: Sisters, Secrets, and Maplecroft

47:00 – Final Thoughts: Did She Do It?

49:42 – Housekeeping & Outro

50:45 – Creepy Closing Verse

Sources & Recommended Viewing:

• Lizzie Borden: A Case Book of Family and Crime in the 1890s – Joyce Williams, Edward T. Radin
• The Triial of Lizzie Borden – Cara Robertson
• Forty Whacks – David Kent
• American Experience: The Borden Murders (PBS)
• The Curious Life and Death of Lizzie Borden (Smithsonian)
• Lizzie Borden Took an Ax (Lifetime)

🔗 Follow & Support:

• TikTok: @house_of_syx
• YouTube: @houseofsyx
• Patreon: patreon.com/HouseofSyx

👻 Rate & Review

If you enjoyed this episode, leave us a review on your podcast app—it helps more than you know (and may or may not prevent hauntings).

⚠️ Content Warning: This episode contains descriptions of violent crimes, including axe murders and forensic details. While we aim to keep things thoughtful and respectful, some material may be disturbing—listener discretion is advised.

• Lizzie Borden - Wikipedia
• Lizzie Borden Collections – Fall River Historical Society
• The Lizzie Borden Trial of 1892 | National Women's History Museum
• Lizzie Borden Trial
• Lizzie Andrew Borden Virtual Museum and Library

Summary:

On a gray October day in 1849, Edgar Allan Poe was found delirious on the streets of Baltimore, wearing another man's clothes and whispering a single name: "Reynolds." He would die four days later without ever explaining what happened. In this episode, we unravel the final, mysterious days of one of history’s most haunted minds.

E3: Ravens, Ruin, and Reynolds

The House of Syx | Episode 3

He gave us haunted houses, lost loves, and a raven that wouldn’t shut up—and then left us with a death more mysterious than anything he ever wrote. In this episode, Jenn leads Jared through the strange final days of Edgar Allan Poe: the man, the myth, and the mystery he left behind.

Was Poe the victim of cooping, poisoning, heartbreak, or something more bizarre? We explore the evidence, the medical theories, the historical weirdness of 1849, and all the delicious contradictions that make this one of the greatest unsolved deaths in literary history. Plus: Jared rants about the medical industry (again), Jenn gets personally offended by bad recordkeeping, and Reynolds becomes the most mysterious man in Baltimore.

Timestamps:

00:00 – Cold Open: Collapse and Mystery

01:30 – Who Was Edgar Allan Poe?

04:20 – Poe’s Life and Struggles

10:10 – A Trip to Richmond

15:30 – The Final Days Begin

18:50 – The Disappearance Window

23:15 – Found in the Street

25:10 – Theories on His Condition

28:30 – Cooping: Voter Fraud or Conspiracy?

33:00 – Alcohol, Illness, or… Syphilis?

38:00 – That Damn Doctor

40:10 – Who Was Reynolds?

44:45 – Final Days and Death

50:20 – Jared Loses His Mind

52:00 – Legacy, Irony, and Impact

Support the Show:

🎙 Patreon: patreon.com/HouseofSyx

🎭 TikTok: @houseofsyx

📺 YouTube: @houseofsyx

Credits:

Written, hosted, and produced by Jenn Syx

Co-hosted by Jared Syx

Trigger Warning:

Includes discussion of historical medical conditions, death, alcohol abuse, and theories involving mental illness. Listener discretion advised.