Deep in the remote wilderness of Alaska and the shadowy forests of Massachusetts, something mysterious may be lurking among the trees.

In this episode of States of Strange, we dive into Mad Mike's chilling firsthand eyewitness account of an encounter with something extraordinary in Alaska. Was it Bigfoot or could he have witnessed a surviving relative of Gigantopithecus, the enormous prehistoric ape believed to have gone extinct hundreds of thousands of years ago?

Then we travel to the Berkshires of Massachusetts, where reports of towering, hairy figures, eerie howls, and unexplained encounters have haunted the woods for decades.

Two distant wildernesses. One enduring mystery.

What are people really seeing—and could something ancient still be hiding in the forests?

The Little People: Alaska’s Ircenrraat & New England’s Pukwudgies

For generations, people have warned of something living just beyond the places we call home, small, humanlike beings glimpsed between the trees, hidden in the marshes, and disappearing into the wilderness before anyone can get too close.

In New England, we trace Wampanoag Little People traditions and the legend of the Pukwudgie. To ancient Cape Cod stories to mysterious lights, Freetown State Forest, chilling modern encounters, and even Harry Potter.

Then we head north into the vast Alaskan wilderness, where roads disappear, settlements grow distant, and miles of tundra, mountains, and river country stretch beyond the horizon. Here, Yup’ik traditions tell of the Ircenrraat, elusive Little People said to inhabit the wild places beyond the villages.

Different cultures. Different landscapes. Similar stories.

Why do people separated by thousands of miles tell stories about Little People living just beyond our world?

From the cold, unforgiving waters of Alaska to the rocky shores of New England, the sea has carried sailors, fishermen, and travelers for centuries, but not every vessel has made it home.

In Episode 3 of States of Strange, we head into haunted waters to explore ghost ships, tragic shipwrecks, vanished vessels, phantom apparitions, and eerie maritime legends from two regions with long and storied relationships with the sea.

Are these tales simply folklore born from generations of dangerous voyages and devastating losses or could something still be lingering out there, just beyond the shoreline?

Join us as we uncover the strange stories the sea refuses to give up.