A Snail, A Zombie, 2 Twins, 2 Ships, A Whale and A Goat

In this episode of The Oddities Department, Gavin and Suzi crack open another drawer in the archives and wander straight into the wonderfully weird corners of history, biology, coincidence, and human incompetence.We kick things off with a parasite that hijacks snails and turns their eyeballs into psychedelic “eat me” billboards for birds. Then we head to 1915 South Carolina, where Essie Dunbar sat up in her own coffin and sent an entire funeral sprinting for their lives. From there, we dive into the case of the “Jim Twins” — two strangers living parallel lives so identical it feels like the universe copy-pasted a man by mistake. Gavin then unpacks the Halifax Explosion, one of the most devastating man-made blasts before the atomic age. And finally: Oregon. A whale. Dynamite. And a decision so catastrophically ill-advised it became legend.It’s an episode full of biological chaos, historical mayhem, uncanny coincidences, and government choices that absolutely should’ve gone through another meeting.If you love strange science, impossible-seeming stories, dark humor, and those “wait… WHAT?” moments, this one’s for you.Stay curious. Stay weird. And welcome to The Oddities Department.Send us Fan Mail