Mysterious Universe

What if one of the most iconic characters in pop culture wasn’t just a fictional hero, but a living archetype, an entity with its own will, forged in the minds of millions and fed by the imagination of its creators? Legendary comic book writer Alvin Schwartz thought his time with Superman was long over. But when a mysterious seven-foot-tall monk appeared at his doorstep claiming to be a tulpa, Schwartz was thrown into a mind-bending journey through the strange borderlands of reality and fiction. The monk, calling himself Thongden, insisted he was real… and fading. And he needed Schwartz to keep him alive. In this season finale, we explore the metaphysical memoir An Unlikely Prophet, uncovering Schwartz’s hidden memories of psychic events, spontaneous channeling, and paranormal influences that began the moment he took on the mantle of Superman’s writer. We hear bizarre tales of supernatural inspiration involving Jackson Pollock, mystic paintings of Hindu deities, and even a Hawaiian shaman who claims Tulpa S