My fascination with serial killers comes with a heaping load of shame, except for in one instance: Ed Gein. That's because without Gein, we might not have Norman Bates. Or Leatherface. Or Buffalo Bill. Or the Firefly family. So my shame load was only a mild one as I visited sites related to him in his hometown of Plainfield, Wisconsin. With my wife and two kids.

• See photos from our visit to Plainfield here.
• Hardware Store Address: 110 S. Main St., Plainfield, WI. 
• Plainfield Cemetery Address: 6590 5th Ave, Plainfield, WI.
• Property Address: Archer Avenue and Second Avenue.
• Want to learn about the oddities I visit in real time? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon.
• I also write spooky books, including my latest The Smashed Man of Dread End.

On February 3, 1959, a small plane carrying pop stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper crashed into an Iowa cornfield, killing all three instantly and inspiring Don McLean to write American Pie. We trudge into that cornfield, to see the place where the music died.

• See images from our jaunt to the death site here.
• Death site address: 315 St. and Gull Ave., Clear Lake, Iowa.
• More information on The Smashed Man of Dread End sticker offer.
• Want to learn about the oddities I visit in real time? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon.
• I also write spooky books.

In this special on-location episode, I head to North and South Dakota to see a couple of gigantic cryptid statues. In Bismarck, North Dakota, a quartet of Thunderbirds glower above a lightning storm on the banks of the Missouri. Then I drive five hours southwest through snow and rain and flocks of pheasants to Keystone, South Dakota, to see the world's largest Bigfoot statue, right in the shadow of Mount Rushmore. Come with me.

• See images of the world's largest wooden Bigfoot statue.
• See images of the Thunderbird statue of Bismarck.
• Bigfoot statue address: 121 Roy Street Highway 16A, Keystone, SD.
• Thunderbird statue address: 1605 River Rd, Bismarck, ND
• Want to learn about the oddities I visit in real time? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon.
• I also write spooky books.