Tales of the Unexpected: A Grab Bag of Odd Stories

People can be pretty strange. And not just people—as we’ll see in one story of this week’s episode, you can add all our extended family of primates to that. If you have a big brain and opposable thumbs, there’s a good chance you’ll be getting up to shenanigans. But as we’ll see in our other story, human beings still wear the crown for weird, ridiculously confident nonsense. Join us live at Wet Hot Bad Magic Summer Camp in Equinunk, PA, September 10-13th! Visit ⁠badmagicproductions.com⁠ for more info and to buy tickets. Tickets are on sale now for CrimeWave 2.0! Visit crimewaveatsea.com/CAMPFIRE to get your discount code for $100 off your cabin and a private meet-and-greet with us! The cruise is Feb. 8-12, 2027. Sources, Monkey Invasion case: Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-170-wild-monkeys-escaped-from-a-jungle-camp-and-terrorized-new-york-180985537/ NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/1935/08/23/archives/monkey-runaways-still-number-111-32-simian-flagpole-sitters-are.html https://www.nytimes.com/1935/08/22/archives/150-monkeys-flee-camp-stop-train-simians-escape-from-frank-bucks.html Farmingdale Local History Blog: https://farmingdalelocalhistory.blogspot.com/2018/07/frank-bucks-jungle-campmassapequa-zoo.html https://omeka.hofstra.edu/exhibits/show/long-island-business-and-indus/frank-buck-collection--1935-19 https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1935/08/30/issue.html https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-174-monkeys-skip-jail/159743530/ https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn84026749/1935-08-24/ed-1/?sp=1&q=MASSAPEQUA&r=0.241,0.976,0.311,0.229,0 Sources, Alison Gu case: U.S. Court of Appeals filings: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-2nd-circuit/2140129.html https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/6943f1bbcfa51735e29ca3b7 Bennington Banner: https://www.benningtonbanner.com/local-news/former-winhall-woman-back-in-court-more-fraud-charges/article_f37d8ad2-dd24-11ec-94e0-4f8b05aedbae.html "Lowering the Bar," Kevin Underhill: https://www.loweringthebar.net/2025/07/defendant-recruited-seven-actors-to-testify-in-fraud-trial.html Manchester Journal: https://www.manchesterjournal.com/local-news/former-winhall-woman-headed-back-to-prison/article_63203790-1e66-11ed-ba8a-77d4d5eff5ee.html Follow us, campers!Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfirehttps://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/Facebook: True Crime CampfireInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/truecrimecampfire/?hl=enTwitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfireEmail: truecrimecampfirepod@gmail.comMERCH! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices