Step back in time with me to a Thanksgiving unlike any other, deep in the Smoky Mountains with the enigmatic Dipweed family. My father, tasked with documenting their unique lifestyle for a major magazine, brought me along for an experience that still lingers in my memory. From the self-sufficiency of the Dipweeds to the authoritative yet Bigfoot-believing Bubba, this episode serves up a feast for the senses. We'll regale you with tales of wild, foraged banquets, and a Thanksgiving dinner shrouded in mystery, orchestrated by Bubba himself, complete with a secret hunt that promised to be nothing short of 'epic'.
As the night falls on that fateful gathering, I'll reveal the eerie aftermath of a celestial encounter that left us all questioning the very fabric of reality. Imagine our astonishment when we discovered the fate of a pig, wrapped in a material neither from our wardrobe nor our world, and the smoky flavor of an extraterrestrial crash site that seasoned our meal. Join us for the spine-tingling conclusion of this unforgettable Thanksgiving story, and maybe, just maybe, you'll find yourself looking up at the stars with a new sense of wonder—and a hint of trepidation—long after our voices have faded into the whispering shadows of the night.
Step back in time with me to a Thanksgiving unlike any other, deep in the Smoky Mountains with the enigmatic Dipweed family. My father, tasked with documenting their unique lifestyle for a major magazine, brought me along for an experience that still lingers in my memory. From the self-sufficiency of the Dipweeds to the authoritative yet Bigfoot-believing Bubba, this episode serves up a feast for the senses. We'll regale you with tales of wild, foraged banquets, and a Thanksgiving dinner shrouded in mystery, orchestrated by Bubba himself, complete with a secret hunt that promised to be nothing short of 'epic'.
As the night falls on that fateful gathering, I'll reveal the eerie aftermath of a celestial encounter that left us all questioning the very fabric of reality. Imagine our astonishment when we discovered the fate of a pig, wrapped in a material neither from our wardrobe nor our world, and the smoky flavor of an extraterrestrial crash site that seasoned our meal. Join us for the spine-tingling conclusion of this unforgettable Thanksgiving story, and maybe, just maybe, you'll find yourself looking up at the stars with a new sense of wonder—and a hint of trepidation—long after our voices have faded into the whispering shadows of the night.
Well, hello, my little creepies. Oh, yes, it's that time again. We talk about UFOs and Bigfoot, paranormal true crime and conspiracy stories and all things creepy. Yes, this is the Creepy Show. You can find us online at creepyshow and I'm your host, the Master of Creep.
Speaker 2:Well, hello my little creepies. It is I, the Master of Creep. I'm recording this episode on November, the 22nd 2022. And it's just two days before Thanksgiving. I thought this would be the perfect time to tell you about tonight's episode, and it's called Thanksgiving Dinner Was Out of this world.
Speaker 2:It was in the late 1960s and my father was a photographer for a popular magazine which will remain nameless, but, trust me, you've heard of it. Anyway, he was on assignment in Tennessee working on documenting the simple people of America, sometimes known as hillbillies. As part of his job, he was asked to follow a particular family for several months so he could photograph and document exactly how these mountain people survived off the land, why. I was only 14 years old and I was allowed to visit my dad on location at his assigned family. This is the story of the Dipweed family of Tennessee, and the head of the Dipweed family was Bubba. Everybody just called him Crazy Bubba. My name is Jason and this is my story. It was the third week in November 1966. We were getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving with the dipweeds. My father, jay, was the photographer for this assignment. His colleague Marty was chief editor, who was writing the article which was scheduled to be released the following February of 1967.
Speaker 2:We were living with the dipweed family who owned land in the Smoky Mountains just south of Gatlinburg, tennessee. The dipweed family had lived completely off the land. Family had lived completely off the land, eating only what they could catch, kill or grow in their garden. Their only source of income was from moonshine and the sale of extra vegetables they produced off the land. They built their own house on a clearing. This, it was a true mountain family, very simple. I wouldn't call them stupid, but let's just say they do things differently. The Dipweed family really knew how to cook, why they could rival any Manhattan restaurant in the heart of New York City. In the heart of New York City. Their meals were exceptional, with flavor of secret family recipes handed down throughout the generations of past dipweed family members. These people would eat anything that could walk, crawl, swim or fly.
Speaker 2:Bubba Dipweed had 11 kids ranging from age 14 up to 52. Bubba was 70 years old and he was the king of the castle. Most of his kids made their home nearby. It was like their own little town on the side of a mountain. Each family member was assigned a different task and Bubba would make sure that things got done.
Speaker 2:When it was dinner time, everyone would meet outside around the fire pit, where there were more than two dozen wooden picnic tables. Every meal was like a big family reunion. The meals were enormous. No one ever went hungry. An average meal would consist of fresh meat and garden vegetables. There were never leftovers, because whatever didn't get consumed at their mealtime was thrown into a wild animal pit and would be eaten before the sun came up the next day, usually by possums and raccoons, rats, birds, foxes, coyotes, things of that nature. As Bubba would say, the eaters become the eaten by feeding wild animals. They never had to go very far for tomorrow's dinner. Many times wild animals would just be waiting for the after dinner feast.
Speaker 2:Bubba was a big believer in Bigfoot. He would often tease his grandkids around dinner time. He would say things like if you don't do what I say, I'm gonna feed you to Bigfoot. And the grandkids would take his threat seriously, because when Bubba spoke you better pay attention, and often he would guide the conversation to Bigfoot sightings and stories. At night, after dinner, bubba would sit down with all the children and tell them spooky stories while the womenfolk cleaned up the after-dinner mess, washed the dishes in the pots and pans. Bubba's stories were extra creepy and he claims that they are true. It was usually about a past family member who was caught and eaten alive by Bigfoot. When Bubba was in the middle of one of his Bigfoot stories, you better keep your mouth shut and just listen. If anyone were ever to interrupt his story, he would give them his evil Bubba stare. That could paralyze them in terror. If you crossed Bubba, you better be in the next county for your own safety.
Speaker 2:After dinner each night, bubba would pass out the next day's assignments. His older adult kids would gather around for the nightly family meeting and it usually sounded something like this family meeting and it usually sounded something like this Jared, go to the creek and catch us some catfish tomorrow. Also, try to get some crawdads too. Billy, I want you to gather enough firewood for the next three days. Go up to the mountains where the wood is drier, and take your boy with you. Michael, I want you to repair the roof of our houses. Some of them are leaking and they need attention. Use the tar we have left over from the parking lot job. This would go on for about 15 minutes and at the end of the meeting everyone knew what was expected of them. You see, bubba really was the boss.
Speaker 2:Thanksgiving was going to be epic. Bubba had everything planned out what they were going to eat and what they were going to do. He even arranged for some family members to put on a Thanksgiving show to entertain everyone. This usually consisted of playing music and acting out comedy skits. For Thanksgiving dinner, bubba was planning a secret meal that he promised would be memorable. He talked about a special hunt that he had planned and the meal was going to be a big surprise. Of course there were other items, such as pies and cakes, chicken roasted vegetables and a wild turkey with stuffing. Some of the grandkids asked Bubba what's the surprise? And Bubba said well, if I told you it wouldn't be a surprise now, would it? Maybe it will be a McHenry meal. The McHenrys were another family that lived over the next mountain and Bubba often had a feud going on with them about something and the kids would squeal no, grandpa, you can't be eating people. Of course Bubba was just kidding. Maybe it will be a Bigfoot meal. You'll just have to wait and see.
Speaker 2:Finally, it was Thanksgiving and the meal was the meal of the century. I have never seen a spread in my life like this. This banquet took up three complete picnic tables. There were different kinds of meats and pies, bread and vegetables with all the fixings. We ate and ate, and ate until we were completely full. Half the time I had no idea what I was eating, but it all tasted really good. The meal, along with the family entertainment, lasted for several hours and when it was all done, everyone was exhausted. We all went to sleep about the time the sun started setting.
Speaker 2:I remember it was a night of very strange dreams. I fell asleep about 7 pm, but I kept waking up all night long, just about every couple of hours, waking up all night long just about every couple of hours. I would wake up staring at the ceiling, but I was unable to move. It seemed that I was paralyzed laying in my bed and I would just drift off to sleep again. Was this a dream or was this actually happening? The next morning I finally woke up, up and I was able to move again. Wow, what a night. I wondered if I ate some sort of psychedelic mushrooms or something. What caused those crazy dreams and why did I wake up so much?
Speaker 2:I asked my father, who seemed to suffer the same symptoms, and so did Marty, the chief editor of the project. I started comparing notes, and it seems that we all ate the same thing, and all of us kept waking up paralyzed every couple of hours throughout the night. Well, it had to be something that we ate. What else could it have been? We compared our meals and the only thing that really stood out was a slice of smoked meat. What was this meat? Was it a goat? Maybe a small animal that we were not used to eating? Or maybe a squirrel, I don't know.
Speaker 2:We asked Bubba about it. He said it was a complete surprise, and that's what I was talking about before. It was a special meat that he had found a month ago, and it was smoked in the meat locker for the past month. My dad asked him what do you mean? You found it? You mean you shot and killed an animal? Bubba said no, this is the meat that Jared found. What do you mean found? Is it something that he shot and killed? Bubba said no, I don't think so. I think it was already dead when he found it.
Speaker 2:Oh that sounds disgusting. What the hell was it? Well, it seems that hillbillies will try anything if it looks good, even if it's already dead. Bubba went on to say that Jared had found this and that it was already just a carcass without any limbs. Probably a wolf or a mountain lion had already separated the limbs, so it could have been a goat, or it might have been a wild pig, who knows. But he thought it was somebody's pet. Maybe oh my gosh, you mean like a pet dog. Now, as gross as that sounds, it didn't taste bad. But then again, if you smoke a pair of tennis shoes for a month, they would probably taste pretty good. Just the thought of this made me sick to my stomach. I told my dad okay, I'm done, I'm ready to go back home now. And my dad asked Bubba, why did you think this was somebody's pet? And Bubba said because it had on a little outfit you know the kind of thing that people dress their pets in. And Bubba said I'm thinking it's maybe someone's pet pig.
Speaker 2:We discovered the origin of the mystery meat. Bubba asked Jared, where did you find this meat? And Jared said it's on the other side of the creek. Bubba said well, take us there. I want to see this myself. So we put on our hockey boots and we started following Jared to the spot where he found the pet pig carcass. He pointed to a little hill and it seemed to be burnt like an area, like someone had started a fire.
Speaker 2:We looked around and we found the outfit that the pig was wearing, and it was a silver colored material that looked a little bit like aluminum foil, but it had the consistency of expensive silk. What the hell is this stuff? I've never seen material like this before. We saw a burned out hole in the ground. Look at this. What the hell is this? It looks like it fell out of the sky and buried itself about four feet into the ground. Why? This looks like some kind of spaceship, a UFO crash site. Are you telling me that we just ate an alien? And Bubba said well, don't worry, it won't hurt you. It was smoked for about a month. My dad asked so, bubba, let me get this straight. A space alien traveled from a planet hundreds of light years away and we ate him. And then Bubba just wiped off his chin and said Yep, and it was right. Good too.
Speaker 1:As the casket closes on another creepy episode, we bid you farewell to the shadows that danced upon your fears. Oh, and thank you for joining us on this creepy journey into the unknown, where the darkness whispers secrets and the silence echoes within your soul. Find us online for some extra creepy content at creepyshow and if you happen to make it through the night, don't forget to share this podcast with someone you want to terrorize. Good night, my little creepies. With someone you want to terrorize. Good night, my little creepies. Sleep with one eye open, for the night is long and full of horror. Ha ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha ha ha.