Dark Histories

In the 1970s, the shadowy depths of Highgate Cemetery, London became the centre of what would go on to become an enduring urban legend. As two men, both with their own views on what the cemetery was hiding, dug deep into their investigations of the grounds, reports spread of a dark, otherworldly figure stalking its overgrown graves. Sometimes tall, sometimes with glowing red eyes, and other times with a dark, top hat, the press reports of the unknown figure stoked a public fear of a secret occult world that lay just out of sight, crawling beneath the surface of an otherwise decent society. SOURCES Saker, hugh (1958) Baby Sacrifice Probe By CID. The Daily Mirror, Fri 19 Dec 1958, p3. London, UK. Lucas, Norman (1958) Baby Sacrificed: Probe Starts. Daily News, Fri 19 Dec 1958, p5. London, UK. Farrant, Della (2015) Haunted highgate. The History Press, London, UK. Adams, Paul (2014) Written in Blood: A Cultural History of the British Vampire. The History Press, London, UK. Ellis, Bill (1993) The Highgate Cemetery Vampire Hunt: The Anglo-American Connection in Satanic Cult Lore. Folklore, Vol 104, 1993. The Folklore Society, Worthing, UK. The People (1895) The Highgate “Ghost”. The People, Sun 29 Sep 1895, p3. London, UK. Manchester, Sean (1975) The Highgate vampire: the infernal world of the undead unearthed at London's famous Highgate Cemetery and environs. London, UK. Farrant, David (1997) Beyond the Highgate Vampire: A True Case of Supernatural Occurrences and Vampirism That Centred Around London's Highgate Cemetery. London, UK. Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail (1970) Vampire Hunt In London. Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail, Sat 14 March 1970, p1. Hartlepool, UK. ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the streets of Regency London,the young servant, Elizabeth Fenning, faced a sinister charge - attempted murder by poison. Accused of lacing her employer’s dinner with arsenic, the 21-year-old cook quickly found herself trapped in an increasingly lopsided courtroom, where any hope of the justice she had held whilst awaiting trial seemed to recede with every new witness brought to the stand. The case caused widespread public consternation and outrage that lasted months, coming close to sparking riots in the streets, as the debate raged on, that never truly ended. SOURCES Clarke, Kate (2020) Trial of Elizabeth Fenning. Mango Books, London, UK. Watkins, John (1815) The Important Results of an Elaborate Investigation into the Mysterious Case of Elizabeth Fenning. William Hone, London, UK. The Globe (1815) The Globe. Sat 25 March 1815, p4. London, UK. The Globe (1815) The Globe. Mon 27 March 1815, p4. London, UK. The Star (1815) Charge Of Poisoning Family. Tues 28 March 1815, p4. London, UK. The Globe (1815) Charge OF Poisoning A Whole Family. Fri 31 March 1815, p1. London, UK. ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The life and times of George Albert Smith are not particularly well known. Despite working for several years as a stage hypnotist and psychic, the owner of a popular pleasure park and then eventually a pioneering inventor and filmmaker, there are few who could reel off a biography based on nothing more than a name. Perhaps even more obscure, however, was his time spent as a ghost hunter for the Society for Psychical Research, which, whilst a relatively short career in comparison, was no less groundbreaking, when he took tenancy of a haunted house for more than a whole year in order to investigate the reported phenomena. SOURCES Gray, Frank (2019) The Brighton School & The Birth of British Film. Palgrave Macmillan, London, UK. Gray, Frank (1998) Smith the showman: The early years of George Albert Smith. Film History, Vol. 10, No. 1, Cinema Pioneers (1998), pp. 8-20. John Libby & Co., Sydney, Australia. Hall, Trevor (1964) The Strange Case of Edmund Gurney. Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd, London, UK. Blackburn, Douglas (1883) Thought Reading Extraordinary. Light, No 86, Vol II. London, UK. Smith, George Albert (1884) Report on a Haunted House at Norwich. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, Vol I, 1884-5. London, UK. Podmore, Frank (1890) Phantasms of the Dead from Another Point of View. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, Vol VI, 1889-90. London, UK. Gauld, Alan & Cornell, Tony (1979) Poltergeists. White Crow Books, London, UK. Sussex Advertiser (1879) Suicide By Hanging. Sussex Advertiser, Sat 5 April 1879, p2. Brighton, UK. ------- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month.   ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In France during the 17th Century, a string of unexpected deaths lead to a murder inquiry that uncovered the dark practices of a serial poisoner, who had plied her trade in the streets of Paris, using the popular alchemy and astrology social circles for cover. The eventual arrests shocked the nation, when it was discovered that far from common rabble, the poisoners had hailed from a more well bred class of citizen. Unfortunately, for the Royal Court, the case was only the start of what would turn out to be an unravelling scandal, fueled by a moral panic and the wild imaginations of those accused, that saw witchcraft, occultism, poison and assassination infest the entirety of French society, from the bottom, all the way to the very top. SOURCES Somerset, Anne (2004) The Affair Of The Poisons: Murder, Infanticide, And Satanism At The Court Of Louis XIV. St Martin’s Press, NY, USA. Duramy, Benedetta Faedi (2012) Women & Poisons in 20th Century France. Golden Gate University School of Law, CA, USA. Zacharias, Gerhard (1964) Der dunkle Gott: Satanskult und Schwarze Messe. Wiesbaden, Germany. Duc de Louis de Rouvroy Saint-Simon (2016) Memoirs of Louis XIV and His Court and of the Regency — Complete. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week I'm off on my Summer holiday for a trip in the woods, so what better episode to do than read a few stories from Algernon Blackwood, all about weird woods. What was I thinking... ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When one thinks  of exorcisms, it’s hard to get past the infamous imagery published to the world in 1973, of a young girl, floating above a bed, flanked by two priests, flinging holy water and yelling about the power of Christ. At the same time as the Exorcist movie was hitting the cinemas, however, there was one, real life exorcist doing very different work. With several decades of banishing evil under his belt, he was taking on far bigger tasks, with vampires, the Loch Ness Monster and even the Bermuda Triangle all within his sights. SOURCES Ewing, William (1914) Annals of the Free Church of Scotland, 1843-1900. T&T Clark, Edinburgh, UK. Omand, Donald (1970) Experiences of a Present Day Exorcist. Harper Collins, London, UK. Alexander, Marc (1981) The Devil Hunter: The Incredible Account of the Work of a Modern Day Exorcist. Sphere, London, UK. Alexander, Marc (1980) The Man Who Exorcised the Bermuda Triangle. A.S Barnes, New York, USA. Young, Francis (2018) A History of Anglican Exorcism: Deliverance & Demonology in Church Ritual. I.B. Taurus & Co., London, UK. Underwood, Peter (1990) Exorcism! Robert Hale Ltd, London, UK. The Sunday Mirror (1977) The Devil Hunter. The Sunday Mirror, Sun 20 Nov 1977, p10, London, UK. BBC Archive (2024) 1973: EXORCISING the LOCH NESS MONSTER | Nationwide | Weird and Wonderful | BBC Archive. Youtube, https://youtu.be/BNZ1dNWMh7c?si=FB6dipQ_oWTU3CeJ Miami Herald (1950) Sea's Puzzles Still Baffle Men In Pushbutton Age. The Miami Herald, Sun 17 Sep 1950, p6, Miami, USA.  ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.       Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the heart of Devon, in the quaint village of Sampford Peverell, an information board refers the curious tourist to a now demolished building that had once been known as “The Ghost House.” The scene of an early 19th century haunting that had shook the walls for several months, before falling to a curious silence, the history of the ghost house told the story of a terrifying haunting. Or did it? It seemed the house had more history to it than the new owners liked to admit. SOURCES Colton, C. (1810) Sampford Ghost, A Plain & Authentic Narrative. T. Smith, Tiverton, UK. Colton, C. (1810) Sampford Ghost, Stubborn Facts Against Vague Assertions. T. Smith, Tiverton, UK. Marriott, John (1810) Sampford Ghost!!! I, Norris, Taunton, UK. York Herald (1810) Sampford Ghost. York Herald, Sat 01 Sep 1810, p2. York, UK. The Morning Chronicle (1810) Tale of Mystery. The Morning Chronicle, Thur 2 Aug 1810, p2. London, UK. Law, Susan C. (2023) The Dark Side of the Cut. The History Press, Gloucestershire, UK. Bristol Times & Mirror (1811) Alarming Riot at Sampford Peverell. Bristol Times & Mirror, p2, Bristol, UK. Salisbury & Winchester Journal (1811) Salisbury. Salisbury & Winchester Journal, Mon 6 May 1811, p4. Salisbury, UK. Harding, William (1845) The HIstory of Tiverton Vol. I. UK. Dent, Susie (2012) Brewers Dictionary of Phrase & Fable 19th Edition. Chambers Harrap Publishers. UK Davies, Owen (2007) The Haunted: A Social History of Ghosts. Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire, UK. ------- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month.   ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the humid nights of New Orleans in the early years of the 1900’s, a shadowy figure prowled the moonlit streets.  “They have never caught me and they never will. They have never seen me, for I am invisible, even as the ether which surrounds your earth. I am not a human being, but a spirit and a fell demon from hottest hell. I am what you Orleanians and your foolish police call the axman.”  Whilst almost certainly not written by any real Axeman, this letter, published in the press during the peak of a series of attacks by a violent perpetrator, struck fear into the hearts of citizens who were already terrified of the brutal, seemingly random violence that had been wrapping the city in a terrifying mystery for almost a decade. SOURCES Davos, Miriam C. (2017) The Axeman Of New Orleans. Chicago Review Press Inc., Chicago, USA.  Tallant, Robert (1952) Ready To Hang. Pelican Publishing Co., New Orleans, USA. New Orleans Dept. of Police (1911) Report of Homicide. Report No.29. New Orleans, USA. The Times Democrat (1910) Mysterious Assault. Sun 14 Aug 1910, p4. New Orleans, USA. The Times Democrat (1910) New Clew To Assailant Of Rissetto’s. Wed 21 Sep 1910, p4. New Orleans, USA. The Times Democrat (1910) She Wore No.4 Shoe. Thurs 22 Sep 1910, p4. New Orleans, USA. The Times Democrat (1910) Rissetto Assault Remains A Mystery. Fri 23 Sep 1910, p5. New Orleans, USA. ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the eerie stillness of a moonlit Atlantic night in 1896, aboard the doomed Herbert Fuller, a savage cry pierced the darkness. What followed was a chilling discovery: The Captain, his wife, and the second mate lay brutally murdered in their blood-streaked cabins. Panic seized the crew as suspicions and paranoia grew, turning the once peaceful vessel into a floating nightmare, hundreds of miles from port. SOURCES Hiam, C. Michael (2019) Murder Aboard: The Herbert Fuller Tragedy and the Ordeal of Thomas Bram. Lyons Press, CT, USA. Morddel, Anne (2020) American Merchant Seamen of the Early Nineteenth Century: A Researcher’s Guide. Self Published.  The New York Times (1896) Triple Murder At Sea. Wed July 22 1896, p1. NY, USA. The Boston Globe (1896) Mutiny And Murder. Wed July 22 1896, p1. Boston, USA. The Boston Globe (1896) Bram Talks. Fri July 24 1896, p1. Boston, USA. The Boston Globe (1896) His Life In Their Hands. Tues Dec 15 1896, p5. Boston, USA. The Boston Globe (1896) For Murder. Wed Dec 16 1896, p5. Boston, USA. The Boston Globe (1897) Guilty OF Wilful Murder. Sun July 03 1897, p1. Boston, USA. ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1741, amidst the treacherous waters of Cape Horn, on the southernmost tip of South America, the British warship HMS Wager pushed through a violent storm, hoping to carry out a mission against the Spanish to alleviate them of one it’s trade ships, enriched with gold and silver, and bring the bounty home to England. It was a time of great pomp amongst the British Navy, whose continual wars with the Spanish were prompting the great rise of British Sea Power. Surely nothing could possibly go wrong. Years later, the same men sent out to fight the Spanish, were arriving back on English shores, after making a perilous escape attempt from a deserted island, following a harrowing ordeal of starvation, disease, and mutiny and murder. Far from the great victory that the admiralty had imagined, it had instead turned into a nightmarish tale of human endurance in the face of the bleakest of situations. SOURCES Grann, David (2023) The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny & Murder. Simon & Schuster Ltd. NY, USA. Marshall, P. J. (1998) Rodger, N. A. M., 'Sea-Power and Empire, 1688–1793 in The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume II: The Eighteenth Century. Oxford University Press. Oxford, UK. River Editors, Charles (2016) The HMS Wager: The History of the 18th Century’s Most Famous Shipwreck and Mutiny. Createspace Independent Publishing. USA. Bulkeley, John & Cummins, John (1757) A voyage to the South Seas. Jacob Robinson, London, UK. Byron, John (1768) Narrative of the Hon. John Byron; Being an Account of the Shipwreck of The Wager; and the Subsequent Adventures of Her Crew. London, UK. ------- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month.   ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.       Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the last twenty-five years, ghost hunting has entered something of a golden age, with all sorts of technology playing its part and filling up an investigators kit bag. Cameras, EMF metres, InfraRed thermometers and spirit boxes all help to carve a science out of a difficult premise, with differing levels of credibility. In the early 1800s, things were a little bit different. It was a simpler time. All you needed back then was a stiff drink, or maybe two, and a loaded revolver, because as we all know, if you want to catch a ghost, you need to shoot it first. All well and good, provided the ghost you shoot isn’t just a man in his work overalls. SOURCES Old Bailey Proceedings Online (1804) Trial of FRANCIS SMITH (t18040111-79). Available at: https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/record/t18040111-79. Kirby, R.S. (1804) Kirby’s Wonderful & Scientific Museum. Barnard & Sultzer, London, UK. Taylor, Joseph (1815) Apparitions; Or, The Meaning of Ghosts, Hobgoblins & Haunted Houses, Developed. Macdonald & Son, London, UK. Waters, Thomas. (2015) Magic and the British Middle Classes, 1750–1900. Journal of British Studies, vol. 54, no. 3, 2015, pp. 632–53.  Mitchell, Valentine (1926) The Newgate Calendar. Garden City Publishing CO. NY, USA. The Star (1804) Coroner’s Inquests. The Star, Fri 06 Jan 1804, p4. London, UK. The Star (1804) The Hammersmith Ghost. The Star, Mon 09 Jan 1804, p2. London, UK. Morning Post (1804) The Ghost of Hammersmith. Morning Post, Fri 06 Jan 1804, p3. London, UK. Kentish Gazette (1804) The Real Hammersmith Ghost. Kentish Gazette, Fri 13 Jan 1804, p3. London, UK. Johnson’s Sunday Monitor (1804) Hammersmith Ghost. Johnson’s Sunday Monitor, Sun 15 Jan 1804, p3. London, UK. Illustrated Police News (1937) Ghost Shot Dead In Village Cemetery. Illustrated Police News, Thurs 04 March 1937, p1. London, UK. For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the first half of the 19th century, there was a single murder that, having ensnared the English countryside in a web of scandal, permeated throughout society and popular culture for decades after its conclusion. Having all the elements of a story written as a gothic thriller, theso-named Red Barn murder sparked a year-long mystery, culminating in a revelation that exposed a history of darkness, hidden beneath a façade of respectability that shocked the nation to its core. SOURCES Harley, Laurence (1988) The Church And Parish of Polstead, Suffolk. BGA Print, Suffolk, UK. McCorristine, Shane (2014) William Corder & The Red Barn Murder: Journeys of the Criminal Body. Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire, UK. Maggs, Peter (2015) Murder in the Red Barn: The Tragic Story of Maria Martin and William Corder. Mirli Books Ltd. Essex, UK. Foster, George (1828) An Accurate Account of the Trial of William Corder. George Foster, London, UK. Gibbs, Dorothy & Maltby, Herbert (1949) The True Story of Maria Marten. East Anglian Magazine, UK. Morning Chronicle (1828) Horrible Murder. Morning Chronicle, Thurs 24 April 1828, p3. London, UK. Morning Chronicle (1828) The Mysterious Murder. Morning Chronicle, Sat 26 April 1828, p3. London, UK. Morning Chronicle (1828) Murder At Polstead. Morning Chronicle, Mon 28 April 1828, p3. London, UK. For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Following the first world war, Germany, having never found its feet economically throughout the conflict, now found itself crumbling under the further weight of heavy reparations. Many of those that had survived the fighting found themselves in a desperate state, carrying out all sorts of underground, legally dubious, or just straight up illegal activities, in order to get by. There were some that thrived in the lawless environment, profiteering from others misfortune, and then there were others, a very select few, who not only thrived, but positively excelled at breaking the law, and amongst those, there were one or two who did so in some very dark ways. Friedrich Haarmann was one such individual. Trading used clothing by day, he carried out a series of brutal murders that would earn him the monikers of “The Butcher of Hanover,” “The Wolf Man,” and “The Vampire of Hanover.” Perhaps even more frightening than his nicknames, was the attitude of the man himself, who once told a shocked audience, “Oh believe me, I’m not ill, it’s only that I occasionally have funny turns.” SOURCES Theodor, Lessing (1925) Monsters of Weimar. Haarmann - The Story of a Werewolf. Nemesis Books, London, UK. Daily News (1924) Behead Me! Vampire Slayer Cries, Raving, Tossing In Cell. Daily News, Sun 13 July 1924, p36. NY, USA The Muncie Morning Star (1925) Germany To Behead Both Murderers. The Muncie Morning Star, Fri 6 Feb 1925, p1. IN, USA. ------- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month.   ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.         Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi everyone, something a little different this week, but I'll be back as usual with next episode. Thanks as always! ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The ingenuity of the criminal class has rarely been criticised for lacking in imagination. One of the finer examples of this concept was put on full display in America, on the eve of the presidential election in 1876, When a group of shady crooks, who took the American Dream of making money a little too literally, decided they needed to bust one of their own from prison. The affair that unfurled led to one of the strangest stories in criminal history, featuring a small bag of relatively useless tools, an undercover secret service informant and the remains of a dead president. SOURCES Stahlman Speer, Bonnie (1997) The Great Abraham Lincoln Hijack. Reliance Press, USA. Craughwell, Thomas J. (2009) Stealing Lincoln’s Body. Belknap Press, USA. Rhodes, Karl (2012) The Counterfeiting Weapon. Econ Focus, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, vol. 16(1Q), pages 34-37. Tarnoff, Ben (2011) Moneymakers: The Wicked Lives and Surprising Adventures of Three Notorious Counterfeiters. Penguin Press, London, UK. Power, John Carroll (1875) Abraham Lincoln: His Life, Public Services, Death & Great Funeral Cortege… Edwin A. Wilson & Co. Springfield, USA. Glaser, Lynn (1960) Counterfeiting In America. Clarkson N. Potter, USA The Rock Island Argus (1875) The Counterfeit Plates Found. The Rock Island Argus, Wed 3 Nov 1875, p2. Illinois, USA. Chicago Tribune (1876) Horrible - Dastardly Attempt To Despoil The Lincoln Monument. Chicago Tribune, Wed 8 Nov 1876, p5. Chicago, USA. Chicago Tribune (1876) Lincoln - The Violators Of His Tomb Arrested In This City. Chicago Tribune, Sat 18 Nov 1876, p1. Chicago, USA. Chicago Tribune (1876) Lincoln’s Remains. Chicago Tribune, Sun 19 Nov 1876, p8. Chicago, USA. ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Victorian England, the press were never shy of calling a crime the “sensation of the century” or a murder, “the most astonishing the world had ever seen.” When the body of a young woman showed up on the beach of a popular seaside resort town, no-one would have imagined it would provoke just such proclamations. As the story unravelled, and the winding, and at times, explosive court case drew on, however, it became clear that not only would it provoke such headlines, but it would also be entirely worthy of many of them. SOURCES Majoribanks, Edward (1929) The Life of Sir Edward Marshall Hall. Victor Gollanz Ltd. London, UK. Donovan, Kim (2024) The Mysterious Mrs Hood. Seven Dials Publishing, London, UK. Hulme, Mike (2010) ‘Telling a different tale’ literary, historical and meteorological readings of a Norfolk heatwave. Climactic Change, UK. Dade, Richard (2007) Photographs and information about Great Yarmouth Rows. Retrieved March 12, 2024, from http://www.ourgreatyarmouth.org.uk/page_id__54.aspx Eastern evening News (1900) Terrible Crime At Yarmouth. Eastern Evening News, Mon 24 Sep, 1900.  P3. Norfolk, UK. Eastern evening News (1900) Yarmouth Beach Tragedy. Eastern Evening News, Tues 25 Sep, 1900. P3. Norfolk, UK. Eastern evening News (1900) Yarmouth Beach Tragedy. Eastern Evening News, Wed 26 Sep, 1900. P3. Norfolk, UK. Eastern evening News (1900) Yarmouth Beach Tragedy. Eastern Evening News, Thurs 27 Sep, 1900. P3. Norfolk, UK. Eastern evening News (1900) The Tragedy On Yarmouth Sands. Eastern Evening News, Fri 28 Sep, 1900. P3. Norfolk, UK. East Anglian Times (1900) Funeral Of The Victim. East Anglian Times, Sat 29 Sep, 1900. P3. Norfolk, UK. Weekly Dispatch (1900) Yarmouth Murder Mystery. Weekly Dispatch, Sun 30 Sep, 1900. P11. London, UK. Evening Star (1900) Yarmouth Denes Murder. Evening Star, Thurs 8 Nov, 1900. P2. London, UK. Sleaford Gazette (1900) The Yarmouth Tragedy. Sleaford Gazette, Sat 24 Nov, 1900. P7. UK. Echo (1900) Yarmouth Mystery. Echo, Sat 10 Nov 1900, P2. London, UK. Liverpool Echo (1901) The Yarmouth Murder. Mon 25 Feb, 1901, P3. Liverpool, UK. Echo (1901) Bennett Trial. Echo, Tues 26 Feb 1901, P3. London, UK. Echo (1901) Bennett On Trial. Echo, Fri 1 Mar 1901, P3. London, UK. Echo (1901) Bennett’s Sentence. Echo, Mon 4 Mar 1901, P2. London, UK. Norfolk News (1901) Bennett At The Old Bailey. Norfolk News, Sat 2 Mar, 1901, P6. Norfolk, UK. Norfolk News (1901) The Convict Bennett. Norfolk News, Sat 9 Mar, 1901, P13. Norfolk, UK. ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“As to the divination which takes place in sleep, and is said to be based on dreams, we cannot lightly either dismiss it with contempt or give it implicit confidence.” These were the words of Aristotle, written in 350 BCE, and taken very much to heart by a British psychiatrist in the 1960’s, when he took on the monumental task of collecting and collating hundreds of premonitions from across the country, with the ultimate goal of not only researching the phenomena, but then also using the data to avert disaster and perhaps even to save the world. SOURCES Knight, Sam (2022) The Premonitions Bureau: A True Account of Death Foretold. Penguin Press, NY, USA. Ulanowski, Krzysztof (2014) Mesopotamian Divination. Some Historical, Religious and Anthropological Remarks. Miscellanea Anthropologica et Sociologica 2014, 15 (4): 13–28.  Martin, Martin (1719) A description of the Western Islands of Scotland. A. Bell, London, UK. Dunne, J. W. (1927) An Experiment With Time. A & C Black, London, UK. Barker, John (1968) Scared To Death. Dell Publishing, London, UK. Psychic News (1968) Doctor Who Studied Premonitions Dies. Psychic News, Thurs 31 Aug 1968, p1. London, UK. Fairley, Peter (1966) Did Anyone Have A Genuine Premonition OF Aberfan Disaster? Evening Standard, Fri 28 Oct 1966, p13. London, UK. Fairley, Peter (1967) If You Dream Of Disaster… . Evening Standard, Wed 4 Jan 1967, p19. London, UK. Barnes, Michael (1966) Learning To Hate Your Bad Habits. The Daily Telegraph, Fri 30 Dec 1966, p5. London, UK. Birmingham Evening Mail (1967) 124 Killed In Holiday Air Crash. Birmingham Evening Mail. Thurs 20 April 1967, p1. Birmingham, UK. The Guardian (1967) As Torrey Canyon Breaks Up Oil Battle Is Extended To Strait Of Dover. Tues 28 March 1967, p1. Manchester, UK. Evening Standard (1967) Giant Tanker On Reef. Evening Standard, Sat 18 March 1967, p9. London, UK. Birmingham Daily Post (1968) A Bureau To Avert Disasters? Birmingham Daily Post, Fri 23 Feb 1968, p34. Birmingham, UK. Fairley, Peter (1968) The Londoners Who Believe They Saw Disaster In Advance. Evening Standard, Mon 11 March 1968, p8. London, UK. Fairley, Peter (1968) Did Mr Hencher Forecast The Hither Green Rail Disaster? Evening Standard, Tues 12 March 1968, p7. London, UK. Psychic News (1968) Doctor Who Studied Premontions Dies. Psychic News, Aug 31 1968, p1. London, UK. ------- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month.   ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cases of stolen, mistaken and fraudulent identity were not an entirely uncommon thing in Victorian Britain. Somewhat more unusual was the bizarre allegation that an English aristocrat, the 5th Duke of Portland, had lived a double life and eventually faked his own death in order to escape the web of lies he had concocted over the years. It all sounded very far-fetched, but when interested parties attempted to bring the case to court, they found themselves cut off by shadowy powers that led to some deciding that the whole affair was akin to a mysterious conspiracy. In truth, it very well may have been, but perhaps not for the reasons the prosecutors originally claimed. SOURCES Eatwell, Piu Marie (2014) The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife & The Missing Corpse. Head of Zeus Ltd. London, UK. Westminster Gazette (1898) An Alleged Bogus Burial. Westminster Gazette, Thur 10 March 1898, p5. Westminster, UK. Weekly Dispatch (1898) Mrs Druce & Her Bonds. Weekly Dispatch, Sun 25 Dec 1898, p4. London, UK. The Advertiser (1908) The Druce Grave. The Advertiser, Tues 4 Feb 1908, p4. Adelaide, Australia. The Advertiser (1908) The Druce Drama. The Advertiser, Wed 1 Jan 1908, p7. Adelaide, Australia. Thomason’s Weekly News (1908) Secret Of The Druce Vault Revealed. Thomason’s Weekly News, Sat 4 Jan 1908, p8. London, UK. Morning Post (1908) Druce Shareholders To Meet. Morning Post, Tues 7 Jan 1908. London, UK. Daily Mirror (1908) End OF Druce Perjury Case. Daily Mirror Tues 7 Jan 1908, London, UK ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.       Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hungary during the first world war was a difficult place to live, especially if you happened to live in one of the many rural villages, far away from the grand city of Budapest, where the harsh conditions imposed on a country losing a war bit the hardest. Even if you managed to survive all the fighting, the riots, the violent occupations, or the Spanish Flu, there was always the possibility that your wife, daughter-in-law, or neighbour might decide that they had had enough of you and pay a visit to “Aunty Suzy,” the friendly local midwife. Outside of her duties as a medical practitioner, veterinary surgeon and fortune teller, Zsusanna Fazekas just so happened to run a booming business turning flypaper into poison, taking the term “pest control” to a whole new level. SOURCES McCracken, Patti (2023) The Angel Makers: The True Crime Story of the Most Astonishing Murder Ring in History. Mudlark, London, UK. Kemény, István (2005) History of Roma in Hungary. Issue 123 of Atlantic studies on society in change. Social Science Monographs, Michigan, USA. Valentiny, Pál (2020) Spanish Flu, Budapest, 1918.  Hull Daily Mail (1929) Wholesale Exhumations. Hull Daily Mail, Fri 09 Aug 1929, p.7. Hull, UK. Evening Chronicle (1929) Arsenic Epidemic. Evening Chronicle, Fri 09 Aug 1929, p.14. USA. Omaha Sunday Bee (1929) One Hundred Self-Made Widows In One Jail - Husband Poisoners. Omaha Sunday Bee, Sun 24 Nov 1929, p43. Omaha, USA. The Morning Call (1931) Woman Convicted As A Mass Poisoner Is Hanged In Hungary. Wed 14 Jan 1931, p2. Patteson, USA. ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sightings of winged creatures flying through the sky have long been a staple of folklore, mythology and legend across the world and across time and cultures. In the ancient world, Gods and monsters were depicted with enormous, scaled and feathered wings, whilst in modern times, sightings have become more and more diverse, from thunderbirds, to the mysterious Mothman. Three years before the one of the most famous sightings of a mysterious flying creature in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, there was a sighting almost 4,000 miles away, across the Atlantic in a quiet market town in the south-east of England that bore a remarkable resemblance and whilst it caused far less of a stir, it certainly drew just as much confusion. SOURCES Keel, John (1970) Strange Creatures From Time & Space. London Sphere, London, UK. Keel, John (1975) The Mothman Prophecies. Saturday Review Press, USA. Bowen, Charles (1974) The Humanoids. Futura Productions, London, UK Waters, Thomas (2019) Cursed Britain: A History of Witchcraft and Black Magic in Modern Times. Yale University Press. CT, USA. Point Pleasant Register (1966) Couples See Man Sized Bird…Creature…Something! Point Pleasant Register, 16 Nov 1966, p1. VA, USA Tombstone Weekly Epitaph (1890) Found On The Desert. Tombstone Weekly Epitaph, 26 April 1890, p.3. Tombstone, AZ, USA. The New York Sun (1877) Was It An Angel? The New York Sun, 21 Sep. 1877, p2. NY, USA. The New York Times (1880) An Aerial Mystery. The New York Times, 12 Sep. 1880, p6. NY, USA The Daily Mirror (1963) Rector Hunts Ghost Of Love Lane. The Daily Mirror, 25 Nov 1963, p25. London, UK. The Kentish Express (1963) Rector Hunts Saltwood Ghost. The Kentish Express, 29 Nov 1963, p1. Kent, UK.  Maidstone Telegraph (1963) Ghost Scares Teenagers. Maidstone Telegraph, 29 Nov 1963, p3. Kent, UK. Maidstone Telegraph (1963) Was Red Ball Of Fire A Flying Saucer? Maidstone Telegraph, 13 Dec 1963, p1. Kent, UK. The Kentish Express (1963) Ghost A Flying Saucer? The Kentish Express, 13 Dec 1963, p1. Kent, UK.  Nottingham Evening Post (1903) Buried On An Island. Nottingham Evening Post, 27 Aug 1903, p3. Nottingham, UK. Folkestone Express, Sandgate, Shorncliffe & Hythe Advertiser (1903) Death & Funeral of Mr W. T. Tournay. Folkestone Express, Sandgate, Shorncliffe & Hythe Advertiser, 29 Aug 1903, p5. Kent, UK. Girvan, Waveney (1963) World Round-Up. Flying Saucer Review, Vol. 9, No. 6. Nov-Dec 1963. London, UK. Girvan, Waveney (1964) The Saltwod Mystery. Flying Saucer Review, Vol. 10, No. 2. Mar-Apr 1964. London, UK. Clarke, David (2016) A New Demonology: John Keel and The Mothman Prophecies. In: Hunter, Jack, (ed.) Damned Facts : Fortean Essays on Religion, Folklore and the Paranormal. Cyprus, Aporetic Press, 54-68. Arnold, Neil (2023) The Hythe Mothman, Monster, Ghost or UFO? Fortean Times, FT439 Christmas 2023. Diamond Publishing LTD, London, UK.  ------- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month.   Also sponsored by Factor, America's No.1 Ready to eat meal delivery service. Check out factormeals.com/darkhistories50 for 50% off using code darkhistories50. ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the 1960s California has always been a place associated with alternative beliefs, countercultural movements and alternative lifestyles. The hippy movement, with it’s summer of love, fueled by the west coast psychedelic music scene will always be a highlight from the era, but the truth is, the state of California’s links to alternative beliefs go back much further and manifested in much stranger ways than a bunch of long haired students having a good time. Labour movements, civil rights activism and the gold rush era can all be associated with California’s ties to alternative living, as can its long history with cult groups who have thrived in the area throughout history. With the boom of New Thought, Eastern Spirituality and alternative religions, countless groups have emerged to furnish the world with their peculiar beliefs and practices. One group known as The Divine Order of the Royal Arms of the Great Eleven, however, trumps many with its utterly nonsensical story of animal sacrifice, ritual worship, mysterious disappearances and elusive publications. SOURCES Fort, Samuel (2014) Cult of the Great Eleven. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. South Carolina, USA. The Los Angeles Times (1925) Angel Gabriel Girls Quizzed. The Los Angeles Times, Feb 7 1925, p17. LA, USA. The Los Angeles Times (1925) Cult Leaders Face Charges. The Los Angeles Times, Oct 4 1929, p8. LA, USA. The Los Angeles Times (1925) Police On Search At Venice Cottage For Secret Grave Of Young Cult Priestess. The Los Angeles Times, Oct 6 1929, p2. LA, USA. Stark, Rodney. Sims Bainbridge, William & Doyle, Daniel P. (1979) Cults of America: A Reconnaissance in Space and Time. Sociological Analysis, Vol. 40, No. 4, Sects, Cults and Religious Movements (Winter, 1979), pp. 347-359. Oxford University Press. Oxford, UK. Gordon Melton, J. (1993) Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America. Routledge, NY, USA. Barghusen, J. D. (1998) Cults. Lucent Books, CA, USA. ------------------ For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.         Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part two of this years Christmas Campfire is here! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and wishing you a very happy and healthy New Year! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Merry Christmas everyone! Thank you so much for your kind support throughout the year, to wrap us up for Christmas, here is this years campfire stories episode. There were loads of great submissions again this year, certainly enough for two episodes, so here is the first part and the second shall follow on shortly! Cheers and Merry Christmas to you and yours xx Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the final episode of this season, at least until the Christmas Campfire episode, here's a little extra from the Patreon bonus feed, originally recorded around Halloween. Thanks so much for all your support this season, here's to season eight (!!) starting in January. ------- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month.   Also sponsored by Factor, America's No.1 Ready to eat meal delivery service. Check out factormeals.com/darkhistories50 for 50% off using code darkhistories50. ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Having risen to the status of international newspaper sensation, The Dalby Spook, or Gef the talking mongoose to those that knew him, was now poised to meet some of the world’s most infamous psychical researchers. Unfortunately, Gef was as shy amongst company as he was talkative to the Irvings. Yet still the story of Gef persisted until eventually, his name ended up associated with a debate that took place in the highest office of the land. SOURCES Josiffe, Christopher (2017) Gef! The Strange Tale of an Extra-Special Talking Mongoose. Strange Attractor Press, London, UK. Price, Harry & Lambert, R.S. (1936) The Haunting of Cashen’s Gap. Unknown Press. Fodor, Nandor (1964) Between Two Worlds. Parker Publishing Co. London, UK. Carrington, Hereward & Fodor, Nandor (1953) The Story of the Poltergeist Down the Centuries. Rider, London, UK. The Muswellbrook Chronicle (1932) Strange Doings on Isle of Man. The Muswellbrook Chronicle, Tues, 3 May 1932, p1. Sydney, Australia The Isle of Man Examiner (1932) Dalby Sensation. The Isle of Man Examiner, Fri, February 19, 1932. Isle of Man. Peel City Guardian And Chronicle (1932) The Dorlish Cashen Buggane. Peel City Guardian And Chronicle. Sat, February 20, 1932. Isle of Man. Josiffe, Christopher (2014) British Voodoo: the Black art of Rollo Ahmed. Fortean Times, July 2014. London, UK. Josiffe, Christopher (2014) British Voodoo: the Black art of Rollo Ahmed. Fortean Times, August 2014. London, UK. Harris, Melvin (1982) The Mongoose That Talked. The Unexplained, Vol. 9, Issue 97. Orbis Publishing Ltd. London, UK. Harris, Melvin (1982) Lost For Words. The Unexplained, Vol. 9, Issue 98. Orbis Publishing Ltd. London, UK. Isle of Man Times (1936) Manxland’s 1000 Year Old Custom Once Again Observed. Isle of Man Times, Sat Jul 11, 1936. Isle of Man. Isle of Man Times (1936) Personal. Isle of Man Times, Sat Jul 11, 1936. Isle of Man. Isle of Man Times (1936) Mr Rollo ahmed. Isle of Man Times, Tues Jul 14, 1936. Isle of Man. Daily Herald (1936) BBC Editors Slander Action. Daily Herald, Thurs Nov 5 1936. London, UK. The Times (1936) Law Report, Nov. 4. The Times, Thurs Nov 5 1936. London, UK. The Times (1936) Law Report, Nov. 5. The Times, Fri Nov 6 1936. London, UK. The Times (1936) Law Report, Nov. 6. The Times, Sat Nov 7 1936. London, UK. The Isle of Man Examiner (1947) Talking Mongoose Killed. The Isle of Man Examiner, Fri February 21, 1947. Isle of Man. ------- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month.   Also sponsored by Factor, America's No.1 Ready to eat meal delivery service. Check out factormeals.com/darkhistories50 for 50% off using code darkhistories50. ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 1930s a peculiar story began filtering out from the towns and villages surrounding a small farm on the western coast of the Isle of Man. Reports of a talking animal, a local spook that could sing the Manx national anthem, engross itself in the local gossip and hunt rabbits better than any of the local poachers, had made their rounds locally and shot out into the wilder world, confounding anyone who gave the story the time of day. If only those interested in the affair had been as smart as the spook itself, who had cheerfully told the owner of the farm one evening, “If you knew what I know, you’d know a hell of a lot!” For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.         Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For over a century, 19th century criminal history has been dominated by a single name. With his murders so violent, his acts so senseless, his victims so vulnerable and his legacy so profound, Jack the Ripper is as synonymous with Victorian London as the Queen herself. But whilst Jack was busy ripping, there was another series of murders being carried out that were equally as gruesome, executed by a killer equally as mysterious and whose story shared all the same traits of the Ripper, though despite it all, it is a story that has forever remained in the shadow of Jack, whose reign of terror consumed everything in its path, relegating all other mysteries to the back pages, for well over a hundred years. SOURCES Hebbert, Charles A. (1889) An Exercise in Forensic Medicine.  Trow, M. J. (2011) The Thames Torso Murders. Pen & Sword Books, LTD. Yorkshire, UK. Stubley, Peter (2012) 1888: London Murders in the Year of the Ripper. The History Press, Gloucestershire, UK. The London Evening Standard (1887) To-Days Telegrams. The London Evening Standard, Wed 11 May 1887, p4. London, UK. Bradford Daily Telegraph (1887) The Rainham Mystery. Bradford Daily Telegraph, Mon 16 May 1887, p3. Bradford, UK. Essex Newsman (1887) Horrible Discovery At Rainham. Essex Newsman, Sat 21 May 1887, London, UK. Essex Standard (1887) The Rainham Mystery. Essex Newsman, Sat 13 Aug 1887, London, UK. Tavistock Gazette (1888) A Thames Mystery. Tavistock Gazette, Fri 14 Sep 1888, Tavistock, UK. Daily Telegraph & Courier (1888) The Whitehall Murder. Daily Telegraph & Courier, Wed 3 Oct 1888, London, UK. Newcastle Daily Chronicle (1888) More Remains Discovered. Newcastle Daily Chronicle, Sat 6 Oct 1888, Newcastle, UK. Birmingham Mail (1888) The Whitehall Mystery. Birmingham Mail, Tues 9 Oct 1888, Birmingham, UK. Tamworth Herald (1888) The Whitehall Mystery. Tamworth Herald, Sat 27 Oct 1888, Tamworth, UK. Dundee Courier (1889) The Victim Identified. Dundee Courier, Wed 26 June 1889, Dundee, UK. Derbyshire Courier (1889) The Battersea Mystery. Derbyshire Courier, Sat 29 June 1889, Dundee, UK. Illustrated Police News (1889) The Latest Thames Horror. Illustrated Police News, Sat 15 June 1889, London, UK. Northern Daily Telegraph (1889) The Inquest. Northern Daily Telegraph, Wed 11 Sep 1889, Lancashire, UK. Glasgow Evening Post (1889) Whitechapel In Panic. Glasgow Evening Post, Tues 10 Sep 1889, Glasgow, UK. Shields Daily Gazette (1889) The Pinchin Street Mystery. Shields Daily Gazette, Tues 24 Sep 1889, London, UK. ------- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month. -------   For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.         Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Follow MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge the first 8 episodes, early and ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. The human body is a miracle. But when it’s not working, it can be the stuff of nightmares. On this new series from master storyteller MrBallen, we’re sharing medical horror stories and diagnostic mysteries that are surgically calibrated to make your blood run cold. From bizarre, unheard-of diseases and miraculous recoveries to strange medical mishaps and unexplainable deaths — you’ll never hear the phrase “heart-stopping” in the same way again. MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries is a first of its kind collaboration between MrBallen and Wondery, the award-winning company behind Dr. Death. Listen Now: Wondery.fm/MBMM_DH Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1811 a series of brutal murders on the Ratcliffe Highway in the east end of London shook the locals to the very core with their unrivalled brutality and seemingly random, everyday targets. The murders exposed a fear in the city that had been bubbling away beneath the surface for several years and made some of the first inroads into the long debate over the reform of the way the police operated throughout the country. Considered as the crime of the century and unparallelled in the fear and panic it provoked amongst the population of the city, it was only overshadowed by a group of five murders in Whitechapel during the summer and autumn of 1888, attributed to the elusive and infamous Jack the Ripper. SOURCES Flanders, Judith (2011) The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime. Harper Press, London, UK James, P.D. & Critchley, T.A. (2010) The Maul and The Pear Tree. Faber & Faber, London, UK. Phillips, Watts (1855) The Wild Tribes of London. Ward & Lock, London, UK. King, Peter (2010) The Impact of Urbanization on Murder Rates and on the Geography of Homicide in England and Wales, 1780-1850. The Historical Journal, Vol. 53, No. 3 (SEPTEMBER 2010), pp. 671-698, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. Morning Chronicle (1811) Horrid And Unparalleled Murders. Mon 9 Dec, 1811, p3. London, UK. Morning Chronicle (1811) Depositions Before The Magistrates. Sat 21 Dec, 1811, p3. London, UK Morning Post (1811) The Late Horrible Murders. Wed 25 Dec, 1811, p3, London, UK. ------- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month. -------   For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.       Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the late 1500s, Britain was, spiritually speaking, in something of a confusing place for the average citizen. With the protestant reform in full swing, many old traditions were being unceremoniously cast aside by the officials, whilst still being clung to by the public, leading to a thriving underground trade in charms and trinkets and the quiet trade of conjurers, folk healers and those ministers willing to indulge the old Catholic rituals. In Cleworth Hall, an estate manor on the outskirts of Manchester, the owner, Nicholas Starkie was forced to dig into this deep underground market, when he found his household ravaged by a host of demons. Fortunately there was an exorcist willing to help, though with his ministry as controversial as it was, it would not be long before the officials would sweep him away with all the other traditions that they felt no longer had a place in a society that was rapidly changing, seemingly at times, without a rudder. SOURCES Darrell, John (1600) A True Narration…. The English Secret Press, London, UK. More, George (1600) A True Discourse…. Richard Schilders, London, UK. Harland, John & Wilkinson, T. T. (1867) Lancashire Folk-Lore. Frederick Warne & Co. London, UK. Almond, Philip C. (2004) Demonic Possession & Exorcism in Early Modern England. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. Orchard Halliwell, James (1642) The Private Diary of Dr John Dee. John Bowyer Nichols & Son, London, UK. Young, Francis (2014) A History of Anglican Exorcism. I.B. Tauris, London, UK. Walsh, Brendan C. (2021) The English Exorcist: John Darrell & The Shaping of Early Modern English Protestant Demonology. Routledge, London, UK. ------- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month. -------   For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In an old estate situated just outside Chichester, on the South coast of England sits the HInton Ampner manor house. Rebuilt several times over its 1000 year existence, its current iteration is an innocuous brick building with little in common with the Tudor mansion that stood before and no hints to its creepy past. Once considered by the locals to be haunted, it was the site of an old gothic style haunting, a hundred years before they were all the rage of Victorian readers. Suggested by many to be the influence for Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw, the haunting of Hinton Ampner was a ghost story that took place long before its time. SOURCES Doubleday, Herbert Arthur (1901) A History of Hampshire & The Isle of Wight, Vol I. Victoria County History, London, UK. Page, William (1908) A History of the County of Hampshire, Vol III. Victoria County History, London, UK. Price, Harry (1945) Poltergeist Over England: Three Centuries of Mischievous Ghosts. Country Life Ltd. London, UK. Parsil, Tim (2022) Certain Nocturnal Disturbances: Ghost Hunting Before the Victorians. Brom Bones Books, UK. The Gentleman’s Magazine (1872) A Hampshite ghost Story. The Gentleman’s Magazine, v.233 1872 Jul-Dec. London, UK. Lindley, Charles, Lord Halifax (1936) Lord Halifax’s Ghost Book. Geoffrey Bles, London, UK. Howard, Catherine Mary (1838) Reminiscences For My Children. Charles Thurnham, London, UK. Barnham, Richard (1870) The Life and Letters of the Rev. Richard Harris Barnham. Richard Bentley, London, UK. ------- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month. -------   For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.       Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amid the opulence of Belle Époque France, a trial took place that threatened to unravel the very meaning of human legal justice. Michel Eyraud and Gabrielle Bompard, two French citizens living their lives quietly in Paris were launched into the spotlight following the discovery of a decomposing corpse, the reconstruction of a destroyed wooden trunk and an international manhunt. Whilst their names eventually disappeared into obscurity, the crime they were involved in left an indelible mark of legal history, as the first case using hypnosis as defence for murder, offering the jury the unique opportunity to not only decide the fate of the convicted, but to reshape the legal definition of free will in a courtroom forever. SOURCES Levingston, Stephen (2014) Little Demon in the City of Light. Doubleday Publishing, London, UK. The Daily Telegraph (1889) Paris Day By Day. The Daily Telegraph, Wed 25 Dec 1889, p5. London, UK. The Standard (1890) The Trial of Michel Eyraud and Gabrielle Bompard. Wed 17 Dec 1890, p5. London, UK. The Pall Mall Gazette (1890) The Extraordinary Paris Murder Trial. Thurs 18 Dec 1890, p6. London, UK. The Pall Mall Gazette (1890) The Eyraud-Bompard Murder Trial. Fri 19 Dec 1890, p6. London, UK. The Pall Mall Gazette (1890) The Eyraud-Bompard Murder Trial. Sat 20 Dec 1890, p5. London, UK. The Pall Mall Gazette (1890) Eyraud-Bompard Murder Trial - Sentences. Mon 22 Dec 1890, p7. London, UK. Corydon Hammond, D. (2013) A Review of the History of Hypnosis Through the 19th Century. American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, Routledge, USA. ------- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month. -------   For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the eve of the worst winter for over a century and with France on the brink of war with the English, the 1400s in Paris were a tumultuous period. With a mentally unstable king and a collection of dukes, lords and nobles all vying for power in the background, catastrophe was only a single assassination away. Which is exactly what happened on the night of St Clements Day, 1407, when the Duke of Orleans was jumped by a gang of mysterious hooded men on his way to the palace, leaving the head of the investigation with a difficult choice to make, turn a blind eye to the crime and forgo any semblance of integrity, or uphold the law and throw the country into civil war. SOURCES Adams, Tracy & Rechtschaffen, Glenn (2013) Isabeau of Bavaria, Anne of France, and the History of Female Regency in France. Early Modern Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal, Volume 8, Fall 2013. Jager, Eric (2014) Blood Royal: A True Tale of Crime and Detection in Medieval Paris. Little Brown & Co. NY, USA. ------- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month. -------   For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the winter of 1922, a bizarre series of events fell across an isolated Nova Scotian farmhouse, leaving the locals grappling with a set of mysteries that were as terrifying as they were exciting. Unseen forces braided horses' tails and moved livestock, while bluish lights danced eerily around the property and soon, the situation escalated to a series of unexplained fires igniting within the farmhouse, forcing the occupants to flee their home amidst the harsh Canadian winter. As the press descended onto the farm, a series of investigations sought to dig deeper into the events, hoping to find answers for the phenomena and exonerate the occupants in the eyes of the locals, though their successes were mixed in their results and the answers given would prove to be inconclusive for many, leaving Canadian folklore with a new mystery. SOURCES Prince, Walter F. (1922) An Investigation of Poltergeist & Other Phenomena Near Antigonish. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research. Volume 16. pp.422-441. ASPR. NY, USA. Whidden, Harold B. (1922) Statement of Fact of My Experiences at the MacDonald Homestead. Self Published. Canada Graham, Monica (2013) Fire Spook: The Mysterious Nova Scotia Haunting. Nimbus Publishing, Canada. Colombo, John Robert (2000) Ghost Stories of Canada. Dundurn Press, Toronto, Canada. Whidden, David Graham (1930) Genealogical Record of the Antigonish Whiddens. NS, Canada. The Evening Mail (1922) Antigonish Farming Community Is Aroused By Mysterious Actions Believed To Be The Work Of Spooks. The Evening Mail, 19 Jan 1922. Canada. The Evening Mail (1922) Story Of Spooks Setting Fires In Antigonish Farmers Home Confirmed. The Evening Mail, 24 Jan 1922. Canada. The Evening Mail (1922) Eye Witnesses Tell Of Mysterious Fires In Home Of Antigonish Farmer. The Evening Mail, 25 Jan 1922. Canada. The Evening Mail (1922) Antigonish Chief Of Police Puzzled Over Mysterious Fires. The Evening Mail, 03 Feb 1922. Canada. The Evening Mail (1922) Where Detective And Reporter Will Live Until Mystery Is Solved. The Evening Mail, 04 Feb 1922. Canada. The Evening Mail (1922) Detective Carroll Becomes More Mystified Over Mysterious Fires At Caledonia Mills. The Evening Mail, 06 Feb 1922. Canada. The Evening Mail (1922) Detective And Reporter Leave For House Of Mystery As New Rumours Of FIre Origin Open Up. The Evening Mail, 07 Feb 1922. Canada. The Evening Mail (1922) Detective And Reporter Are Mystified As They Probe Mysterious Fires And Play Forty-Fives In House Of Mystery. The Evening Mail, 11 Feb 1922. Canada. The Evening Mail (1922) Mystery At Caledonia Mills Deepens As Detective And Reporter Get Slap. The Evening Mail, 13 Feb 1922. Canada. The Evening Mail (1922) Detective And Reporter Driven From House Of Mystery And Move To Barn To Start Probe Into Strange Antics There. The Evening Mail, 14 Feb 1922. Canada. The New York Times (1922) Scientist To Seek Antigonish Ghost. The New York Times, 26 Feb 1922. NY, USA. ------------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 1920s as the world reeled from the first world war and the great flu pandemic, people in their collective grief turned to alternative systems of belief. Spiritualism, already making a new rise, was launched into the spotlight as proponents like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle waltzed around the globe giving lectures on the benefits of communicating with the dead. At the same time, there were others who found the subject altogether distasteful. The infamous magician Houdini had a particular fondness for uncovering false mediums, a past time that would wind up causing some heavy controversy when one of America’s oldest magazines proposed a competition, to pay $2,500 to the first medium that they could prove to be genuine. SOURCES Jaher, David (2016) The Witch of Lime Street: Séance, Seduction, and Houdini in the Spirit World. Crown Publishing Group, NY, USA. Conan Doyle, Arthur (1917) The New Revelation. Hodder & Stoughton LTD. UK. Conan Doyle, Arthur (1922) The Coming of The Faeries. Hodder & Stoughton LTD. UK. Conan Doyle, Arthur (1923) Our American Adventure. Hodder & Stoughton LTD. UK. Kuritz, Hyman. (1981) The Popularization of Science in Nineteenth-Century America. History of Education Quarterly, 21(3), 259–274. https://doi.org/10.2307/367698 Bird, J. Malcolm. A Square Deal for the Psychics. Scientific American 127, no. 6 (1922): 388–445.  Bird, J. Malcolm. Our Psychic Investigation. Scientific American 128, no. 1 (1923): 6-7. New York Times (1923) To test Mediums Psychic Control. Friday April 6 1923, p.10. NY, USA. New York Times (1923) Spirit Messages Impress Scientists. Wednesday October 17 1923, p.1. NY, USA. Bird, J. Malcolm (1923) Another Mediumistic Failure. Scientific American 129, no. 6 (1923): 6-7. New York Times (1923) Tie Up Boy Medium; Find Trance Is Real. Wednesday December 19 1923, p.1. NY, USA. Houdini, H (1924) “Margery” The Medium Exposed. USA New York Times (1924) Margery Passes All Psychic tests. Wednesday July 22 1924, p.19. NY, USA. Bird, J. Malcom (1928) The Margery mediumship. Proceedings of the American Society for Psychical Research. New York: American Society for Psychical Research. USA Dingwall, E.J. (1928). A report on a series of sittings with the medium Margery. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research 36, 79-158. --------------------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi everyone! Thanks for bearing with me over the short summer break! It's good to be back and I've got a cracking episode to launch into the second half of the season. This one has it all, ghosts, murder... well alright, it's got ghosts and murder, but that's not bad! It is a darker one and has some fairly brutal murdery bits, but I don't think it's especially worse than what we've seen before. Little heads up though. I hope you enjoy! In the heart of Boston, Massachusetts, lies a 281 acre wooded parkland area known as Arnold’s Arboretum. A beautiful botanical garden and research institution planted in naturalistic style, its serene park walks bely a history before its life as the arboretum, where dark events in its past stained the ground and transformed a popular picnic spot into an ugly memorial that few wished to visit. Several years later, these events in Boston found themselves tied into a story of a murderer that the contemporary press called “The most monstrous and inhuman criminal of modern times - or indeed any time,” though despite their shocking nature, they have somehow become largely forgotten, if not for a bizarre report of a ghost sighting that keeps the linked cases alive, sparking the public imagination. ------- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month. ------- SOURCES   Brent, Henry Johnson (1868) Was it a Ghost? The murders in Bussey's wood. An extraordinary narrative. Loring, USA.   Bangor Daily Whig & Courier (1865) A Terrible Tragedy In Roxbury. Bangor Daily Whig & Courier, Tuesday, 20 June 1865, p.3. USA   New York Daily Herald (1865) Horrible Tragedy In Roxbury. New York Daily Herald, Tuesday, 20 June 1865, p.8. USA   Hartford Courant (1865) Horrible Murder And Outrage. Hartford Courant, Tuesday, 20 June 1865, p.2. USA   The Burlington Free Press (1865) Tragedy In Roxbury. The Burlington Free Press, Wednesday, 21 June 1865, p.2. USA   The Enterprise & Vermonter (1865) Horrid Murder At West Roxbury, Mass. The Enterprise & Vermonter, Friday, 23 June 1865, p.2. USA   The Indianapolis Star (1865) The Roxbury Tragedy. The Indianapolis Star, Monday, 26 June 1865, p.2. USA   Boston Evening Transcript (1865) Coroner’s Inquest In The Case Of The Murdered Children. Boston Evening Transcript, Tuesday, 27 June 1865, p.4. USA   Boston Evening Transcript (1865) Reward. Boston Evening Transcript, Wednesday, 28 June 1865, p.3. USA   The Buffalo Commercial (1865) Arrest Of The Supposed Murderer Of The Joyce Children. The Buffalo Commercial, Wednesday, 12 July 1865, p.2. USA   The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (1865) AIsabella Joyce - The Late Boston Tragedy. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Friday, 14 July 1865, p.1. USA   Boston Evening Transcript (1865) The Recent Tragedy In West Roxbury. Boston Evening Transcript, Wednesday, 19 July 1865, p.4. USA   New York Daily Herald (1865) The Roxbury Tragedy. New York Daily Herald, Friday, 21 July 1865, p.8. USA   Boston Evening Transcript (1865) The West Roxbury Tragedy. Boston Evening Transcript, Monday, 24 July 1865, p.3. USA   DeWolfe, Byron (1872) Georgiana Lovering, Or The Northwood Tragedy. New Hampshire, USA.   Spirit of the Age (1874) Franklin B. Evans. Spirit of the Age, Thursday 26 February 1874, p.3, USA.   Brown, Janice (2004) Early History of Town of Strafford, Strafford County, New Hampshire. USA.   St Johnsbury Caledonian (1873) The New Hampshire Murder. St Johnsbury Caledonian, Friday 14 February 1843, p.2. USA.   Lewis, John B. (1896) Stratagems and conspiracies to defraud life insurance companies. J. H. McLellan, USA.   Schecter, Harold (2012) Psycho USA, Famous American Killers You Never Heard Of. Ballantine Books, USA.   Boston Evening Transcript (1872) A Young Girl Outraged And Murdered By Her Uncle. Boston Evening Transcript, Monday, 04 November 1872, p.1. USA   The Boston Globe (1872) The Northwood Tragedy. The Boston Globe, Friday, 08 November 1872, p.5. USA   The Argus & Patriot (1872) Summary Of News. The Argus & Patriot, Thursday, 14 November 1872, p.5. USA   North Star (1872) The Northwood Murder. North Star, Friday 29 November 1872, p.2. USA.   Boston Evening Transcript (1873) The Northwood, N.H, Murder. Monday 03 February 1873, p.4. USA.   Boston Evening Transcript (1873) The Murder Trial At Exeter, N.H.. Tuesday 04 February 1873, p.4. USA.   Boston Evening Transcript (1873) The Murder Trial At Exeter, N.H.. Wednesday 05 February 1873, p.4. USA.   Rutland Independent (1873) Confessions Of Evans. Rutland Independent, Saturday 08 February 1873. P.8. USA   For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   aa4541908247c2084f5dc715198cf917ef95e812 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's time for a mid-season summer break and to tide us over I've got a couple of tales for you from the genius of M.R. James. I've picked two of my favourites to read, I hope you enjoy them! ------- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month. This episode is also sponsored by Babbel, check out babbel.com/darkhistories to get 55% off your subscription. ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Deep in the Pacific Ocean, 350 miles off the coast of Central America sits a small, unimposing island, surrounded in natural beauty. One of the island's lesser known claims to fame is that its tropical climate and lost-world appearance were the original inspiration for Jurassic Park's fictional Isla Nublar. Better known, however, are the myths and legends that pertain to the hoards of pirate treasure, buried beneath the surface and lost for over two centuries. Hundreds, if not thousands, of expeditions have sailed to its isolated shores in the hope of uncovering the untold riches, with little to show for their efforts but the wild stories that have helped to continue the legend of the Lost Treasure of Lima for over two hundred years. SOURCES Pim, Bedford & Seemann, Berthold (1869) Dottings on the Roadside in Panama, Nicaragua and Mosquito. Chapman & Hall, London, UK. Montmorency, Hervey (1904) On the Track of a Treasure. Hurst & Blackett Ltd. London, UK. Plumpton, James (1935) Treasure Cruise. Witherby Publishing, London, UK. The Buffalo Commercial (1854) The Cocos Island Treasure. The Buffalo Commercial, 12 Dec 1854, p1. USA. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (1854) The Cocos Island Treasures. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 12 Dec 1854, p2, USA. Smith, David (1932) El Dorado. Blackwood's Magazine  July-December 1932: Vol 232, The Leonard Scott Publication Co. NY, USA. Cooper, Stephen (2017) Cocos Island & The Treasure of Lima. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. The New York Times (1855) News from the Cocos Expedition. The New York Times, 9 Feb 1855, USA. Bangor Daily Whig & Courier (1855) The Buried Treasure at Cocos Islands. Bangor Daily Whig & Courier, 13 Jun 1855, p2. USA. ------- This episode is sponsored by Hello Fresh, check out hellofresh.com/darkhistories16 to get 16 free meals & free shipping. This episode is also sponsored by The Art of Crime Podcast, check it out anywhere you get your podcasts! ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When a young woman was found lying on her hearth rug, foaming at the mouth on New Years Day of 1845, few would have guessed that the winding path leading up to her death would result in a mystery that would become entwined with one of the key moments in the history of communication as well as one of the earliest cases of murder by Prussic Acid. In the long catalogue of Victorian poisonings, the case of Sarah Hart remains prominent not just because of its twists and turns, but equally because of its long reaching influences on the adoption of a device that would help to shape the modern world.   SOURCES   Carol, Baxter (2014) The peculiar case of the electric constable: a true tale of passion, poison & pursuit. Oneworld, London, UK.   South Eastern Gazette (1845) Alleged Murder At Slough. South Eastern Gazette, Tues 7 January 1845. UK   The Examiner (1845) Suspected Murder. The Examiner, Sat 4 January 1845. UK.   Bell's Weekly Messenger (1845) Apprehension Of A Quaker On A Charge Of Murder. Bell's Weekly Messenger, Mon 06 January 1845. UK.   Bell's Weekly Messenger (1845) The Murder At Salt Hill. Bell's Weekly Messenger, Sat 11 January 1845. UK.   Church & State Gazette (1845) The Supposed Murder At Slough. Church & State Gazette, Fri 10 January 1845. UK.   Morning Chronicle (1845) The Salt Hill Murder trial of John Tawell. Morning Chronicle, Thurs 13 March 1845. UK   Morning Chronicle (1845) The Salt Hill Murder trial of John Tawell. Morning Chronicle, Fri 14 March 1845. UK   Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper (1845) Execution of Tawell. Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper, Sunday 30 March, 1845. UK. ------- This episode is sponsored by Babbel, check out babbel.com/darkhistories to get 55% off a subscription. This episode is also sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/darkhistories and get on your way to being your best self. ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1812, in the Manchester settlement of Vermont, a local man named Russell Colvin mysteriously vanished, and despite extensive searches, no trace of him was found. Years later, rumours began to circulate that Russell had been murdered and buried in a cellar on a piece of local farmland. Ghosts were seen, arrests were made, confessions witnessed and convictions completed, before Colvin strolled back into town, dashing the whole thing against the rocks and creating a case that would go on to be remembered for well over a century as “The Manchester Mystery.” SOURCES McFarland, Gerald (1990) The Counterfeit Man. Pantheon Books, NY, USA.   Boorn, Jesse & Boorn, Stephen (1820) Trial of Stephen and Jesse Boorn, for the Murder of Russell Colvin. Fay & Burt, VT, USA.   Sergeant, Leonard (1873) The Trial, Confessions and Conviction of Jesse and Stephen Boorn, for the Murder of Russell Colvin. Journal Book & Job Office, VT, USA.   Manchester Historical Society (1930) Early History of Manchester. The Society, VT, USA.   ------- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/darkhistories and get on your way to being your best self.   ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

19th century London saw two of the most sensational public scares in its long history when the enigmatic Spring Heeled Jack stalked the alleyways of the capital city and in 1888, when Jack the Ripper enacted his reign of the streets, bringing about an autumn of terror that has since become infamous. One hundred years earlier, however, the streets were stalked by another threat, one that many consider a precursor to both Spring Heeled Jack and Jack The Ripper, and one that remains, to this day, one of the strangest, most bizarre cases in the entire criminal history of London. Sources Ranger, H. (1793) Harris’s List of Covent Garden Ladies; or Men of Pleasure kalender for the year of 1793. H Ranger, London, UK.   Swift, Theophilus (1790) The Monster at Large: Or, the Innocence of Rhynwick Williams Vindicated. J. Ridgeway, London, UK.   Bondeson, Jan (2000) The London Monster: A Sanguinary Tale. Free Association Books, London, UK.   Bartholomew, Robert & Evans, Hilary (2009) Outbreak! The Encyclopaedia of Extraordinary Social Behaviour. Anomalist Books, TX, USA   Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette (1790) St James’s, Jan 19th. Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, Tuesday 21 Jan 1790, p.3, Bath, UK.   The Public Advertiser (1790) A Reward. The Public Advertiser, Thursday 15 April 1790, p.1. London, UK.   The Public Advertiser (1790) The Monster. The Public Advertiser, Wednesday 16 June 1790, p.3. London, UK.   The Bath Chronicle (1790) The Monster Detected. The Bath Chronicle, Thursday 17 June 1790, p.3. Bath, UK.   Jackson’s Oxford Chronicle (1790) The Monster. Jackson’s Oxford Chronicle, Saturday 19 June 1790, p.1. Oxford, UK.   The Derby Mercury (1790) Trial Of The Monster. The Derby Mercury, Thursday 8 July 1790, p.2. Derby, UK   ------- This episode is sponsored by Babbel, check out babbel.com/darkhistories to get 55% off a subscription. ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During the First World War, the Ottoman Empire established a wide network of camps to house prisoners of war from the allied powers. Like most, the conditions were often poor, the treatment often harsh and the complexes often established in some of the most remote, rural and desolate landscapes. Yozgat was one such camp, comprising a small collection of buildings in a rural town commandeered by the Ottoman Army to house British officers. Whilst its conditions were not the harshest, nor its prisoners the most dangerous, it became the scene for one of the most bizarre tales of escape that the first world war and just about any incarceration, anywhere in the world, would ever see, involving buried treasure, a Ouija board and an audacious pair of pranksters with a strong desire to get home. Sources Jones, Elias Henry (1919) The Road to En-Dor. Anchor Press LTD, Essex, UK. Hill, Cedric Waters (1975) The Spook and the Commandant. William Kimber, London, UK. Fox, Margalit (2021) The Confidence Men. Profile Books LTD, London, UK. Ritchie, John (1996) Australian Dictionary of Biography: Vol 14, 1940-1980. Melbourne University Press, Australia. ------- This episode is sponsored by Hello Fresh, check out hellofresh.com/darkhistories50 and use the code darkhistories50 to get 50% off your first order. ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Almost thirty years before the opening of the tomb of Tutankhamun and the fabled “curse of the pharaohs” was unleashed upon an excitable population, rumours and stories of another curse, attached to an ancient object, had been weaving its way into myth and legend as a complicated tangle of truth and fabrication. The “Anger of the Priestess of Amen-Ra” has links to several high profile deaths and even the sinking of the Titanic. It was potentially responsible for thousands of deaths in the few decades since its discovery, far overshadowing the famous curse of the boy king in scope, even if it would never quite match it in fame. SOURCES Luckhurst, Roger (2012) The Mummy’s Curse: The True History of a Dark Fantasy. Oxford University Press, UK.   Breckin, Edmun (2020) The Unlucky Mummy: A Concise History of the Legend. Independently Published.   Alcott, Louisa May (2019) Curse of the Mummy: Victorian Tales of Ancient Egyptian Terror. Fox Editing Classics, UK.   Bulfin, Ailise (2011) The Fiction of Gothic Egypt and British Imperial Paranoia: The Curse of the Suez Canal. Trinity College Dublin.   Barbados Agricultural Reporter (1904) A priestess of Death. Barbados Agricultural Reporter, 11 July 1904, p4.   Shaw, I & Nicholson, P (1995) British Museum Dictionary of Ancient Egypt. BMP, London.   Summers, Montague (1946) Witchcraft & Black Magic. Dover Publications, NY, USA.   Goodrich-Freer, Ada (1913) The Priestess of Amen-Ra. The Occult Review, Vol. 17, Jan 1913, p.11. London, UK.   O’Donnell, Elliott (1911) Haunted Houses of London. London, UK.   Stead, William (1909) Ghost of Egyptian Mummy Haunts British Museum. San Francisco Examiner, 15 Aug 1909, p.1. San Francisco, USA.   Cheiro (1928) True Ghost Stories. The London Publishing Company, London, UK. ------- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/darkhistories and get on your way to being your best self.   ------- Click the link to hit up Vessi Footwear and use my code, DARKHISTORIES at checkout for 15% off your entire order! Free shipping to CA, US, AU,JP, TW, KR, SGP ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1866 a gruesome murder on a rural farm in the centre of Scotland shocked the local community. With little clues to go on outside of a bloody axe, a boiled egg and a missing door key, the police would eventually be left having to rely heavily on a string of unreliable testimony to do their job, a factor that would go some way in creating what would wind up as Scotland’s longest running cold case. SOURCES National Records of Scotland (1861) Perth Census. https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files//research/census-records/street-indexes/1861/1861-perth.pdf Paton, Chris (2012) The Mount Stewart Murder. The History Press, UK. Erikson, Arvel B. (1961) The Cattle Plague in England, 1865-1867. Agricultural History, Vol. 35, No. 2 (Apr., 1961), pp. 94-103. UK. Dundee Courier (1866) The Murder At Mount Stewart Near Perth. Dundee Courier, Mon 2 Apr 1866, p.2. Dundee, Scotland. Dundee Advertiser (1866) A Murder of a Most Atrocious... Dundee Advertiser, Mon 2 Apr 1866, p.2. Dundee, Scotland. Dundee Courier (1866) The Murder At Mount Stewart Near Perth. Dundee Courier, Thurs 5 Apr 1866, p.2. Dundee, Scotland. Perthshire Constitutional & Journal (1866) Proclamation. Reward of £100. Perthshire Constitutional & Journal. Thurs 12 April 1866, p.1. Perth, Scotland. Perthshire Advertiser (1866) The Mount Stewart Murder. Perthshire Advertiser, Thurs 26 July 1866, p.2. Perthshire, Scotland. Perthshire Advertiser (1867) Murder Near Bridge of Earn. Perthshire Advertiser, Thurs 11 Apr 1867, p.2. Perthshire, Scotland. ------- Click the link to hit up Vessi Footwear and use my code, DARKHISTORIES at checkout for 15% off your entire order! Free shipping to CA, US, AU,JP, TW, KR, SGP ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cover Up is a series of investigative stories that take us on a journey into a world of subterfuge and secrecy - a world where the truth is concealed under a blanket of lies. From corrupt individuals to clandestine institutions, Cover Up exposes deceit, deception and the abuse of power. Season one uncovers the story of The Ministry of Secrets, one of the great unsolved mysteries of the Cold War. At its heart is a missing person — a wartime hero and international celebrity. But that’s just the starting point. It involves the royal family, MI6, the CIA and the KGB. There’s conspiracies. And lies. This story is so sensitive, so secret - that the truth is being withheld for 100 years, until 2057. Presenter Giles Milton and producer Sarah Peters are on a quest to find out why… Want the full story? Unlock all episodes of Cover Up: Ministry of Secrets, ad-free right now by subscribing to The Binge — All Episodes. All at Once. Plus, you’ll unlock brand new stories, dropping on the first of every month — that’s all episodes, all at once, all ad-free. Just click ‘Subscribe’ on the top of the Cover Up show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you listen. A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Forty years before the infamous witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, Hugh Parsons stepped out of his dirty, disease ridden prison cell in Boston and was carted off towards the courthouse in order to stand trial as a witch. He’d come from a small settlement named Springfield over a hundred miles away and spent the last year cooped up in a concrete prison with his life in the balance. The previous few years had seen the fear of witches spread like a disease throughout New England, with cases springing up like boils on a plague victim. Accused, tried and sent to prison to await a verdict, Parsons had survived the cold winter drinking filthy water and eating gruel in the overcrowded gaol and finally, he was to find out if he was to be lanced. SOURCES Pynchon, William (1651) Testimony Against Hugh Parsons Charged With Witchcraft. The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1650 - 1651. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/3ca63410-c627-0139-9efd-0242ac110004 Gaskill, Malcolm (2021) The Ruin Of All Witches: Life And Death In The New World. Allen Lane, UK. Handlin, Lilian (1985) Dissent In A Small Community. The New England Quarterly, Vol. 58, No. 2 (Jun., 1985), pp. 193-220 (28 pages). New England, USA. Evans, Hillary & Bartholomew, Robert (2015) Outbreak: The Encyclopedia of Extraordinary Social Behavior. Anomalist Books, UK. ------- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/darkhistories and get on your way to being your best self. ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By the 1930s forensic police work had just begun to come into its own. The late 1920s had introduced advancements that had seen investigations using more than simple fingerprint evidence to solve crime and in America the FBI’s technical crime lab would firmly establish itself over the first half of the decade. Both in the UK and the USA experts from outside of the police or detective agencies were routinely drafted in to help on cases and in the UK there were none more qualified than the professors in the medical universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. In 1935 a grim discovery in a rural Scottish town opened a sensational case that would see the country's finest experts challenged to not only help the police to solve a murder case, but to pioneer multiple new forensic techniques along the way, creating innovative methods that would go on to be used right up to the modern day. SOURCES Craddock, Jermey (2021) The Jigsaw Murders. The History Press, Cheltenham, UK   Dundee Courier (1935) Moffat Crime: Devil’s Beef Tub Searched. Dundee Courier, Mon 07 Oct 1935. Dundee, UK.   Aberdeen Press and Journal (1935) Grim Discovery Made in Ravine. Aberdeen Press and Journal, Mon 30 Sep 1935. Aberdeen, UK.   Evening Sentinel (1935) Moffat Ravine Mystery. Evening Sentinel, 01 Oct 1935. Staffordshire, UK.   Aberdeen Press & Journal (1935) Nurse Girl Disappears. Aberdeen Press & Journal, 09 Oct 1935, Aberdeen, UK.   Dundee Courier (1935) Mr Buck Ruxton Charged With Murder. Dundee Courier, 14 Oct 1935. Dundee, UK.   ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1818 Mary Shelley published her infamous novel, “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus”. More than just a work of gothic fiction, it represented a host of fears and concerns that the public held after viewing experiments by the natural philosophers of the day. In the same year, in a lecture theatre in Glasgow, the dissection and supposed resurrection of an executed criminal took place. As electrodes were placed on the body, it jumped and danced, its fingers moved “nimbly, like those of a violin player,” all for the amazement of the excited audience members. It was the dawn of electricity and a period of wild experimentation in an age of divisive and dangerous theories. SOURCES Rhys Morus, Iwan (2011) Shocking Bodies: Life, Death & Electricity in Victorian England. The History Press, UK.   Oxford University & City Herald (1918) Country News. Oxford University & City Herald, Sat 15 May 1918. p4. Oxford, UK.   Oxford University & City Herald (1918) Shocking Murder. Oxford University & City Herald, Sat 15 May 1918. p4. Oxford, UK.   Cambridge Chronicle & Journal (1918) Execution of Weems. Cambridge Chronicle & Journal, Fri 13 Aug 1918. p3. Cambridge, UK.   Cambridge Chronicle & Journal (1918) Trial For Murder. Cambridge Chronicle & Journal, Fri 6 Aug 1918. p3. Cambridge, UK.   Haley, Christopher D., & Archer, Mary D. (2005) The 1702 Chair of Chemistry at Cambridge: Transformation and Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.   Mackenzie, Peter (1865) Reminiscences of Glasgow & The West of Scotland. John Tweed, Glasgow, UK.   Rhys Morus, Iwan (2009) Radicals, Romantics & Electrical Showmen: Placing Galvanism at the End of The English Enlightenment. Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 63, No. 3, Thomas Beddoes, 1760-1808 (20 September 2009), pp. 263-275. Royal Society Publishing, UK.   Bostock, John (1818) An account of the history and present state of galvanism. Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, London, UK   ------- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/darkhistories and get on your way to being your best self. ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 19th century moving images were everywhere. Illusionists cast tricks using mirrors and shadows, whilst flick books, magic lanterns and Zoopraxiscopes unveiled the hidden mysteries of motion to a wide-eyed audience. By the later part of the century, new advancements in photography had made the dream of motion pictures reachable for a few genius inventors, who toiled away in dingy workshops, setting fire to volatile chemicals as they cranked the handles of their machines, hoping to capture moments in time. Most now attribute the birth of cinema to either Thomas Edison, the famous American inventor, or the French Lumiere Brothers, whose projection of a train pulling into a station terrified its excited audience. But there was another man who had been working on the problem of moving photographs and had seemingly cracked it several years earlier. On the dawn of his machine's great unveiling, however, he disappeared, leaving those behind to question, where in the world was Louis Le Prince? Sources Leeds Mercury (1930) Inventor Who Vanished. Leeds Mercury, Tues 09 Dec 1930. p1. Leeds, UK. Yorkshire Evening Post (1930) Leeds Street In First Successful Moving Picture. Thurs 11 Dec 1930. p6. UK. Fischer, Paul (2022) The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures. Faber & Faber Ltd. London, UK. Rawlence, Christopher (1990) The Missing Reel: The Untold Story of the Lost Inventor of Moving Pictures. Atheneum. London, UK. New York Sun (1891) The Kinetograph. New York Sun, Thurs 28 May, 1891. P1. New York, USA. ------- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/darkhistories and get on your way to being your best self. ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From ancient origins, to Churchill, who popularised the Victorian phrase “The black dog on your back”, the concept of the spectral black dog as a portent of doom, death and catastrophe is one that has maintained, with a constant slow progression throughout centuries. From musty old tomes maintained in cold damp monasteries, to the pages of Harry Potter, the Black Dog, Old Shuck, the Barghest, the Guytrash and the Skriker have haunted the stories of our rural landscapes and worked their way into the global imagination like almost nothing else in popular folklore.   This weeks episode was sponsored by The Art of Crime Podcast, check them out here: https://www.artofcrimepodcast.com/ Sources Chambers, Robert (1894) The Book of Days: A Miscellany of Popular Antiquities… W & R Chambers, London, UK.   Waldron, David & Reeve, Christopher (2010) Shock! The Black Dog of Bungay. Hidden Publishing, London, UK.   Waldron, George (1744) The History and Description of the Isle of Man. W.Bickerton, UK.   Dutt, W. A. (1901) Highways and Byways in East Anglia. Macmillan and Co. LTD. UK.   L’Estrange Ewen, C. (1929) Witch Hunting & Witch Trials. Routledge, London, UK.   E.S.T. (1850) Notes & Queries 1850-05-18: Vol 1 Iss 29. Oxford Publishing Limited, UK.   Brown, Theo (1978) The Black Dog in English Folklore. D. S. Brewer, UK.   Parkinson, Thomas (1888) Yorkshire Legends & traditions.   ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi everyone, I hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas or at least a nice bit of time off work... Here's part 2 of the 2022 Campfire episode, which should hopefully be something to help pass the time in these strange limbo days. ---------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.       Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if California seceded from the United States? If it did, what would happen? The Last Resort is a new documentary podcast about the rise, fall, and rebirth of CAL-EXIT: the campaign for Californian Independence. Join our host Xiuhtezcatl (pronounced shoo-TEZ-kah) as the story unfolds about dreaming of a new progressive West Coast utopia, fighting for America’s future, and ending up in the middle of a still-unfolding global criminal conspiracy. Binge all episodes of The Last Resort available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi everyone, Christmas Campfire is back for it's 6th year! A big thank you to everyone who wrote in and shared their personal stories. There were tons this year, so I've split it into two episodes and part 2 will be out next week. Until then, I hope you enjoy part 1 and have a wonderful Christmas and holiday period. My very best wishes to you and your loved ones, thanks for listening for another year and all your kind support. Merry Christmas! ---------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.       Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if someone close to you just … vanished one day? That happens to tens of thousands of families a year in Japan, and it happened to Jake Adelstein, too, back in 2018 — when his accountant disappeared, just before tax day. Adelstein, the author of Tokyo Vice, and co-host Shoko Plambeck go in search of that missing accountant, and take us on a  journey into the fascinating and bizarre world of Japan’s johatsu, or “evaporated” people. The Evaporated: Gone With The Gods is a Campside Media & Sony Music Entertainment production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite the number of documented cases, the poltergeist has consistently been one of the most difficult forms of paranormal phenomena to define with very little consensus over what they are actually supposed to be. Spirits, invisible, unknown energy or childish hoaxes all form the basis of the most common theories that have been presented. In England, the Enfield case is without doubt the most famous poltergeist case and has, over the decades, had all three theories put forward by those that investigated the small, London house. Hundreds of miles north and over the Scottish border in a tiny village named Sauchie is another case that has proven just as difficult to define, despite the contemporary investigator, George Owen concluding, “In my opinion the Sauchie case must be regarded as establishing beyond all reasonable doubt the objective reality of some poltergeist phenomena”. SOURCES Robinson, Malcolm (2020) The Sauchie Poltergeist: (And other Scottish ghostly tales). Independently Published. Glanvill, Joseph (1872) Saducismus Triumphatus: or, full and plain evidence concerning witches and apparitions. With some account of Mr. Glanvil's life and writings. A Bettesworth & J. Batley, London, UK. Owen, A.R.G. (1967) Can We Explain The Poltergeist. BBC, 1967. Sims, Victor (1965) Poltergeist Terror. The Sunday Mirror, Sun 13 June, 1965. London, UK. Sims, Victor (1965) Case Of The Haunted Schoolgirl. The Sunday Mirror, Sun 20 June, 1965. London, UK. Sims, Victor (1965) Virginia Was Possessed By A Wild Unknown Force. The Sunday Mirror, Sun 27 June, 1965. London, UK. The Alloa Journal (1960) Ghost - Poltergeist - Or What! The Alloa Journal, Fri Dec 2 1960, Scotland, UK. ---------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.       Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1838 a violent murder took place in the Lambeth area of London that set a trend for the stories of the Victorian penny papers for decades to come. Inspiring Charles Dickens, who paid close interest to the case, supplying him with the details he would later adapt to in several of his murder scenes, it was a grim affair that made headlines for months whilst the murderer was blindly chased across London. But was it really an isolated crime or part of something much bigger? Murder, confession and conspiracy all manage to play a role in what would become known as The Grimwood Murder.   SOURCES   Somerville, Alexander (1841) Eliza Grimwood: A Domestic Legend of the Waterloo Road. B. D. Cousins, London, UK   Bondeson, Jan (2017) The Ripper of Waterloo Road. The History Press, Gloucestershire, UK.   Bracebridge, Hemyng (1851) Prostitution in London. Griffin, Bohn & Co. London, UK.   Mayhew, Henry. Et al. (2005) The London Underworld In The Victorian Period. Dover Publications, USA.   Ion, J.L. (1838) Post Mortem Appearances of Eliza Grimwood. The Lancet, Volume 30, Issue 772, P399-400, June 16, 1838. UK.   Kelly, Debra & Cornick, Martyn (2013) A history of the French in london. University of London School of Advanced Study Institute of Historical Research. London, UK.   The Morning Chronicle (1838) Murder and Suicide. The Morning Chronicle, Mon 28 May 1838, p.3. London, UK.   Aberdeen Press & Journal (1840) Murder fo Lord William Russel. Aberdeen Press & Journal, Wednesday 13 May 1840, p.4. Aberdeen, UK.   The Globe (1840) Re-Examination of The Valet Corvoisier at Bow Street. The Globe, 14 May 1840, p.3, London, UK.   London Evening Standard (1840) Murder of Lord William Russel. London Evening Standard, 11 May 1840, p.3. London, UK.   Edinburgh Witness (1840) Confession of Courvoisier. Edinburgh Witness, 1 July 1840, p.2. Edinburgh, UK.   ---------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A hiker terrorized for days by two unknown figures… A man stalked through the woods while camping, who barely escaped with his life… two cops who quit their job at a local theater because of unexplained encounters with an alleged demon… These are just some of the unbelievable cases you’ll hear on the MrBallen Podcast on Amazon Music. Each week you’ll get new inexplicable encounters, shocking disappearances and other strange, dark and mysterious stories. Hey Prime Members, listen to the Amazon Music exclusive podcast, MRBALLEN PODCAST: STRANGE, DARK & MYSTERIOUS STORIES, in the Amazon Music App. Download the app today: www.amazon.com/BALL_us_pfd_AA_110122 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nothing is as terrifying as the sounds we hear in the dark. The slow creak of a door opening late at night... or a whisper in a room when you thought you were alone... or a distant scream in the wind. One noise at the wrong time or place can scare us for days. Each episode of I HEAR FEAR plunges the listener into a tale inspired by real events, from a deadly dance party to a cursed film set. Join host and two-time Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan for six immersive stories designed to jangle your nerves and haunt your dreams. Listen – if you dare. Only on Amazon Music. Listen to I Hear Fear: www.amazon.com/IHF_us_pfd_AA_110122 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

According to the late Father Gabrielle Amorth, co-founder of the International Association of Exorcists, Hitler, Stalin, ISIS, Harry Potter and Yoga were all, in one way or another, touched by demonic influence, This does perhaps go some way towards explaining how he managed to rack up over 150,000 exorcisms throughout his long life. Of all of these cases, however, he admitted openly that only a small minority had been true, legitimate cases of demonic possession. Despite this, exorcism remains more popular today than in any other time in history, where it has existed as a long running ritual spanning centuries, continents and cultures. From personal demons to group possessions, humans battle with the Devil is a long, winding history of violence, perversion and projectile vomit. SOURCES St. Louis Globe Democrat (1949) Priest Frees Boy Reported To Be Possessed By Devil. St. Louis Globe Democrat, Sat, 20 Aug 1949, p.3. USA. Laycock, Joseph P. (2020) The Penguin Book of Exorcisms. Penguin Random House, UK. Foys, Martin, et al., eds. (2022) Old English Poetry in Facsimile 2.0 (Center for the History of Print and Digital Culture, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2019-): https://oepoetryfacsimile.org. The University of Edinburgh School of History, Classics and Archaeology (2017) The Role of Psychological Distress and Social Contagion in Demonic Possession in Early Modern England. The University of Edinburgh, UK. Baker, Ernest Edward, ed. (2009) A True And Most Dreadful Discourse Of A Woman Possessed With The Devil: At Dichet, In Sommersetshire. Kessinger Publishing, UK. Rev. Father Sinistrari (2019) Demoniality: Incubi & Succubi. Quick Time Press, UK. Goldsmid, Edmund (2018) The History of the Devils of Loudun. Read Books Ltd., UK Evans, Hilary & Bartholomew, Robert (2009) Outbreak: The Encyclopedia of Extraordinary  Social behaviour. Anomalist Books, USA. Reis, Elizabeth, ed. (1998) Spellbound: Women & Witchcraft in America. SR Books, USA. Pitkin, Joseph (1740) The Diary of Joseph Pitkin. Connecticut State Library, USA. Marianhill Mission Society (1927) Are There Devils Today? An Authentic Report on Two Cases of Exorcism Performed in Recent Years. Marianhill Mission Society, USA. ---------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whether it be hidden messages transmitted around the world from the hundreds of operating number stations, or the bizarre illustrations on the sheepskin pages of a medieval manuscript, unsolved ciphers and codes have been a compelling source of mystery for centuries. In the annals of true crime, cold cases like the Zodiac killer and the Somerton man have inspired people from around the world to come together and take up the challenge of solving their peculiar riddles. From national intelligence agencies, to armchair enthusiasts, breakthroughs have been made by individuals from across the spectrum of experience. One similar case has largely managed to escape the limelight, however, that of a late 19th Century man whose true identity was never known, hanged for murdering his wife, who left the world a series of unsolved ciphers that promised to unmask the whole mysterious affair. SOURCES Farnsworth, Cheri (2010) “Adirondack Enigma: The Depraved Intellect and Mysterious Life of North Country Wife Killer Henry Debosnys” The History Press, UK. The Citizen Examiner (1882) “Debosnys the tramp…” The Citizen Examiner, Wed 15 Nov, 1882. P.4. Alabama, USA. The Buffalo Commercial (1882) “One Debosnys, confined in Essex…” TheBuffalo Commercial, Wed 15 Nov, 1882. P.1. New York, USA. The Tribune (1882) “A SIngular Story” The Tribune, Mon 7 Aug, 1882. P.1. Pennsylvania, USA. The Swanton Courier (1883) “Over the Lake” The Swanton Courier, Sat 20 Jan, 1883. P.3. Vermont, USA. St Albans Daily Messenger (1883) “A Remarkable Career” St Albans Daily Messenger, Wed 18 Apr, 1883. P.3. Vermont, USA. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (1883) “Last Hours Of A Wife Murderer” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Fri 27 Apr, 1883. P.1. New York, USA. The Sentinel (1883) “Hangman's Day” The Sentinel, Sat 28 Apr, 1883. P.3. Pennsylvania, USA. ---------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dating in the 21st century can be a tricky path to manoeuvre, but in reality, the difficulties pale in comparison when compared to the complex etiquette and social pressures that one was doomed to follow in the Victorian period. One couple found this out in a unique way when their romantic love affair took a hard swipe left and turned into a tale of arsenic, scandal and mystery that could probably have been avoided had ghosting been a thing.   SOURCES   MacGowan, Douglas (2021) The Strange Affair of Madeline Smith. Polygon, London, UK.   Phegley, Jennifer (2012) Courtship & Marriage in Victorian England. Praeger, Cambridge, UK.   The Globe (1857) A Strange Story. The Globe, Sat 4th March 1857, p.4. London, UK ---------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.     Dublin Weekly Nation (1857) The Glasgow Poisoning. Dublin Weekly nation, Sat 11th July 1857, p.13. Dublin, Ireland. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Far from being a modern, internet crackpot idea, hollow earth theory has walked a long and winding path, many centuries old. From the mythological pits of hell, to the pseudo-scientific theories of the enlightenment, right through to modern science fiction, founding philosophies of utopian cults and even tenuous links with the Nazis, the proponents have been many and the theories varied, though whether or not they were ever anything other than crackpot is a different question altogether.   SOURCES   Standish, David (2007) Hollow Earth. Da Capo Press, IN, USA.   Bernard, Raymond (1963) The Hollow Earth. Fieldcrest Publishing Co., NY, USA.   Griffin A., Duane (2004) Hollow & Habitable Within: Symmes’s Theory of Earth’s Internal Structure & Polar Geography. Physical Geography, Sep 2004. USA.   Kollerstrom, Nicholas (1992) The Hollow World of Edmond Halley. Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 23 Issue 3, August 1992. USA   Halley, Edmond (1692) An account of the cause of the change of the variation of the magnetical needle with an hypothesis of the structure of the internal parts of the Earth. Philosophical transac­tions, xvi (1692), 563-87. UK   Alexandria Gazette (1818) Food For Philosophers. 13 Aug 1818, p.2. VA, USA   Teed, Cyrus (1899) The Illumination of Koresh: Marvelous Experiences of the Great Alchemist Thirty Years Ago, at Utica, NY. Guiding Star, Chicago, USA.   Goodricke-Clarke, Nicholas (2004) The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and their Influence on Nazi Ideology. Tauris Parke Paperbacks, NY, USA. ---------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Widely mischaracterized in popular understanding, the early 20th century world of the occult has never failed to serve up a plethora of intriguing tales. From stories of new age magic, otherworldly realms, alchemy and psychic abilities, all practised in shady back rooms of the temples belonging to secretive societies, our imaginations have often run wild, crossing victorian gothic aesthetic with the lure of a shadowy underworld. This common theme has been a driving factor in the continuing propagation of one of the 1920’s most famous mysteries, when a young woman, seeking the entrance into another realm, was found dead on an isolated Scottish island and a series of links were uncovered, tying her to some of the ages most infamous occult societies. But how much of the story is grounded in reality, and how much is the work of overactive imaginations, is perhaps as much of a mystery as the case itself.   SOURCES   Adamnan. (1874) Life of Saint Columba, Founder of Hy. edmonston & Douglas, Edinburgh, UK.   McNeill, F. Marion (1920) Iona: A HIstory of the Island. Lochar Publishing Ltd, Scotland.   Owen, Alex (2004) The Place of Enchantment: British Occultism and the Culture of the Modern. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, USA.   Tyler, Mac (1928) The Use of Imagination in Art, Science and Business. The Occult Review v48 n1 Jul 1928.   Fortune, Dion. (1930) Psychic Self Defence. The Classic Instruction Manual for ProtectingYourself Against Paranormal Attack. Weiser Books, UK.   Aberdeen Press & Journal (1929) The Iona Tragedy. Aberdeen Press & Journal, Mon 25 Nov, 1929, P.4. Scotland, UK.   The Scotsman (1929) Iona Mystery. The Scotsman. Wed, 27 Nov, 1929, P.10. Scotland, UK.   ---------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In England, the Tyne River, famously flowing through the centre of Newcastle on its way to the North Eastern coast, has for many centuries been a vein of industry. In the early 19th Century the banks were filled with shipbuilders, rope makers and flour, grain, textile and corn mills, creaking and grinding with the constant industrial din. On the Eastern outskirts of Newcastle stood Willington Mill, a flour mill built in 1801 with a local reputation. For decades folks had talked about the old mill house, of how a witch had once lived in an old cottage on the land and of the spirit of Old Jefferey. The stories eventually seeped out into national publications after a pair of curious locals carried out an overnight vigil which ended in chaos, earning the mill the title of “most haunted house in England”, but were the stories anything more than just local rumour and legend? SOURCES Proctor, Edmund (1894) The Haunted House At Willington. Journal for The Society of Psychical Research, Vol 5, 1891-92. The Society’s Books, London, UK.   Hallowell, Michael J. & Ritson, Darren W. (2011) The Haunting of Willington Mill. The History Press, London, UK.   Summers, Montague (1927) The Geography of Witchcraft. A.A. Knopf; K. Paul, Trench, Trubner, London, UK.   Hudson, Tom (1887) The Monthly Chronicle of North Country Lore and Legend. Walter Scott, Newcastle, UK   Richardson, M.A. (1842) Authentic Account of a Visit to The Haunted House at Willington near Newcastle Upon Tyne. M.A. Richardson, Newcastle, UK   Crowe, Catherine (1850) The Night Side of Nature. J.S. Redfield, New York, USA.   Sidgwick, Eleanor (1892) On The Evidence For Clairvoyance. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research Vol VII, 1891-92. Kegan Paul, Trench & Turner LTD. London, UK.   Stead, William Thomas (1897) Real Ghost Stories. G. Richards. London, UK   Newcastle Guardian & Tyne Mercury (1867) Local and District News. 26 January 1867, p.2. Newcastle, UK.   Newcastle Guardian & Tyne Mercury (1867) Local and District News. 23 February 1867, p.6. Newcastle, UK.   Beck, Ben. (2022) Children of Elizabeth and Joseph Procter.[online] Benbeck.co.uk. Available at:   ---------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Sir Roger Tichborne was shipwrecked and lost at sea in 1854, his mother fell into a deep state of mourning, both devastated by the loss of her son and insistent that he was still alive. As much as the rest of her family tried their best to convince her that Roger was not ever coming back, she just refused to stop searching. It was a stance that paid off handsomely then, when her long lost son made his triumphant return to England 12 years later with a plan to reclaim the family estate. It would be a claim that would make it to court and eventually be the longest running trial in English legal history, holding the title for over a hundred years and would light up the Victorian press with scandal, humour and class warfare that would last decades. SOURCES   Annear, Robyn. (2002) The Man Who Lost Himself: The Unbelievable Story of the Tichborne Claimant. Constable & Robinson Ltd. London, UK.   McWilliam, Rohan (2007) The Tichborne Claimant: A Victorian Sensation. Hambledon Continuum, London, UK.   Kinsley, William, J. (1911) The Tichborne Case. The Yale Law Journal, Vol. 20, No. 7 (May, 1911), pp. 563-569.   Saunders News-Letter (1867) From Our Own Correspondent. Monday 14 January 1867, Dublin, Ireland.   Yorkshire Gazette (1867) Arrival of Sir Roger Tichborne Bart. Saturday 5 January 1867. Yorkshire, UK.   London Evening Standard (1867) The Tichborne Baronetcy. Wednesday 23 January 1867. London, UK   London Evening Standard (1872) A Last Appeal From The Claimant. Wednesday 27 March 1872. London, UK   ---------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Broadstone station in Dublin, Ireland creaked, clanked and clattered with the din of everyday rail traffic. In 19th Century Ireland, it was one of the grandest buildings in the country's capital, and every day hundreds of people worked to ensure that its trains, serving over 500 miles of track from one coast of Ireland to the other, were running as efficiently as they could. It was an imposing machine that stood on the hillside of the city, pulsing away, day after day. In 1856, however, it became famous for more than just its trains and vast profits, when the cashier was found dead, locked in an office full of money. The investigation that followed struggled to solve the mystery for a full year, with a conclusion that pretty much no one who had followed the case, which was more or less the whole of Dublin, would find satisfactory.   SOURCES   Dublin Evening Post (1856) Shocking Occurence - Supposed Suicide. Dublin Evening Post, 15 Nov, 1856, p2. Dublin, Ireland.   London Evening Standard (1856) Murder Of The Cahsier Of The Great Midwestern Railway Company. London Evening Standard, p4. London, UK.   Dublin Evening Mail (1856) Terrible Tragedy At The Midland Railway. Dublin Evening Post, 17 Nov, 1856, p3. Dublin, Ireland.   Dublin Evening Post (1856) This Day. Dublin Evening Post, 20 Nov, 1856, p3. Dublin, Ireland.   London Evening Standard (1856) The Broadstone Tragedy. London Evening Standard, 12 Dec, 1856. p3. London, UK.   Leeds Mercury (1857) The Broadstone Tragedy. Leeds Mercury, 1 Jan, 1857. p4. Leeds, UK.   Saunders’s News Letter (1857) Murder Of The Late Mr Little. Saunders’s News Letter, 24 June, 1857. p1. London, UK.   Manchester Times (1857) The Arrest Of The Suspected Murderer Of Mr Little. Manchester Times, 27 Jun, 1857. p7. Manchester, UK.   Freeman’s Journal (1857) The Murder Of Mr Little. Freeman’s Journal, 29 Jun, 1857. p3. Dublin, Ireland.   Freeman’s Journal (1857) Trial Of Spollen For The Murder Of Mr Little. Freeman’s Journal, 10 Aug, 1857. p4. Dublin, Ireland.   Freeman’s Journal (1857) Trial Of Spollen For The Murder Of Mr Little. Freeman’s Journal, 12 Aug, 1857. p4. Dublin, Ireland.   Greenock Telegraph and Clyde Shipping Gazette (1857) Re-Arrest Of Spollen. Greenock Telegraph and Clyde Shipping Gazette, 26 Aug, 1857. p4. Scotland.   Premium.weatherweb.net (2022) Weather in History 1850 to 1899 AD. [online] Available at:   KBC, S. (2022) Virtual Reality Tour: Explore this grand former railway station in Dublin... with its own murder mystery. [online] TheJournal.ie. Available at: ---------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“The manifestations described in this story commenced one year ago. No person has yet been able to ascertain their cause. Scientific men from all parts of Canada and the United States have investigated them in vain. Some people think that electricity is the principal agent; others, mesmerism; whilst others again, are sure they are produced by the devil. Of the three supposed causes, the latter is certainly the most plausible theory, for some of the manifestations are remarkably devilish in their appearance and effect.” The opening lines of an account that describes an event that perplexed, excited and angered the citizens of the small, Canadian town of Amherst in the 19th Century. It probably comes as no surprise that the man who wrote them had a professional flair for dramatics, though the events were hardly short of drama to begin with. A young girl, haunted by demons, whose story book-ended a series of supernormal events with an assault and a conviction for arson. SOURCES Hubbell, Walter (1879) The Great Amherst Mystery. "Daily News" Steam Publishing Office, Canada. Prince, Walter F. (1919) A Critical Study of The Great Amherst Mystery. Journal of the American Society of Psychical Research, Vol. XIII. NY, USA. Carrington, Hereward (1913) Personal Experiences in Spiritualism. Read Books Ltd. UK. Brooklyn Daily Eagle (1897) Long Island’s Hamlet. Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 15 Dec. 1897, p.7, NY, USA. The Montreal Star (1881) Strange Doings. The Montreal Star, 25 May. 1881, p.3, Montreal, Canada. The Daily Expositor (1879) Esther Cox The Medium: Is She A Humbug? The Daily Expositor, 15 Jul 1879, p.1. Ontario, Canada. The Montreal Star (1879) The Amherst Mystery. The Montreal Star, 18 Jul 1879, p.2, Montreal, Canada. The Montreal Star (1879) The Amherst Mystery. The Montreal Star, 10 May 1879, p.3, Montreal, Canada. The Montreal Star (1879) The Amherst Mystery. The Montreal Star, 19 May 1879, p.3, Montreal, Canada. Ottawa Daily Citizen (1879) The Amherst Mystery Revived. Ottawa Daily Citizen, 7 May 1879, p.1, Ottawa, Canada. The Montreal Star (1879) The Amherst Mystery Further Developments. The Montreal Star, 25 Jan 1879, p.3, Montreal, Canada. The Montreal Star (1878) The Amherst Mystery A Puzzle For Scientists. The Montreal Star, 21 Nov 1878, p.3, Montreal, Canada. Ottawa Daily Citizen (1878) The Amherst Mystery. Ottawa Daily Citizen, 23 Nov 1878, p.1, Ottawa, Canada. The Montreal Star (1878) The Amherst Mystery. The Montreal Star, 13 Dec 1878, p.3, Montreal, Canada. Evansville Courier and Press (1888) A Wonderful Book. 23 Apr 1888, p.1. Indiana, USA. ---------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The belief of extraterrestrial life is one of the most exotic, exciting and long endearing throughout human history. Mars in particular has always proven to be of particular interest. One of our nearest planetary neighbours, the red planet has inspired thousands of works ranging from the earliest science fiction, all the way to contemporary fringe theology. In the late 19th Century, interest in the planet saw a boom, as astronomers battled with one another over their beliefs of the existence of a great Martian civilization, creating a scientific debate that crossed over into far more fringe elements. Spiritualism, with it’s equal boom, became far more interested in the interstellar than one might expect and one case in particular, of a young, Swiss medium named Catherine Elise muller, would charge out in front, presenting the world with not only surreal images of the hypercolour martian landscape, but with descriptions of an alien society and a working language to boot. SOURCES Flournoy, Theodore (1900) From India to the Planet Mars. Harper & Bros, London, UK Keep, Christopher (2020) Life on Mars?: Hélène Smith, Clairvoyance, and Occult Media. Journal of Victorian Culture , Volume 25 (4) – Nov 16, 2020. Leeds Trinity University, Oxford University Press, UK. Clerke, Agnes Mary (2011) A Popular History of Astronomy During the Nineteenth Century. Cambridge University Press, UK. Greg, Percy (1880) Across the  Zodiac: The Story of a Wrecked Record. Ballantyne Press, London, UK.   Crossley, Robert (2011) Imagining Mars: A Literary History. Wesleyan University Press, CT, USA. Tipler, F.J. (1981) A Brief History of the Extraterrestrial Intelligence Concept. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 22, P. 133, 1981. ---------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 19th Century, the Elysian Fields in New Jersey, lay just a short boat trip away for New Yorkers looking to stretch their legs, take in some rural, countryside air or relax on the lawn of a riverside refreshment house with a glass of lemonade. Mostly famous for being the birthplace of modern baseball, the fields have another, somewhat less well-known story connected to their dense thickets and green walkways. Far from the straightforward drubbing of that first game of baseball, this story is, of course far darker, full of more twists and turns and has no winners. Hailed as one of the greatest criminal mysteries of 19th Century New York, the case of Mary Rogers is at once perfectly well solved and at the same time, completely wide open.   SOURCES   Stashower, Daniel (2006) The Beautiful Cigar Girl: Mary Rogers, Edgar Allen Poe & The Invention of Murder. Berkley Publishing Group, NY, USA   Bowery News Office (1841) Trial of Madame Restell, alias Ann Lohman, for abortion and causing the death of Mrs. Purdy : being a full account of all the proceedings on the trial, together with the suppressed evidence and editorial remarks. Bowery News Office, NY, USA.   Poe, Edgar Allen (2014) The Complete Tales & Poems of Edgar Allen Poe. Race Point Publishing, NY, USA   Abbot, Karen (2012) Madame Restell: The Abortionist of Fifth Avenue. Smithsonian Magazine [online] Smithsonian Magazine. Available at: [Accessed 6 May 2022].   The Buffalo Daily Republic (1851) Riot In Hoboken. The Buffalo Daily Republic, Thursday 29 May, 1851, p.2. NY, USA.   New York Daily Herald (1838) Beautiful Girls Serving In Stores. New York Daily Herald, Monday 8 October, 1838, p.2. NY, USA.   The Evening Post (1841) The Mysterious Death of Miss Rogers. The Evening Post, Monday 16 August, 1841, p.2. NY, USA.   The Evening Post (1841) Murder of Miss Rogers. The Evening Post, Saturday 21 August, 1841, p.2. NY, USA.   The New York Tribune (1842) The Mary Rogers Mystery Explained. 18 November, 1942. P.2. NY, USA   ---------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the Allied forces hit the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, in June of 1944, everyone was well aware of the importance of success. Gaining a foothold on the beaches was the first step in the liberation of France, placing a force on the ground that would go on to steamroll to Berlin, ending the war outright. The plan was vast. multi-faceted and was as audacious as it was complicated, hinging on the cooperation of every level of the joint military system. Included in this system was a man named Garbo, a man who, squirrelled away in a London office, not only had the job of convincing the Nazis that the invasion force didn’t exist but of also conjuring an entirely fictional force one million strong from thin air and presenting them as living and breathing, flesh and blood. Of course, one man could not hope to do such a thing alone, fortunately, Garbo had 27 spies under his command to help him. That was the story as far as the Nazis were concerned at least. In truth, Garbo's agents were only as real as the stories that he, himself created for them. Out of sight, in his small office, Garbo weaved a cast of characters into a plausible tapestry of espionage that, even years after the war had ended and the truth was out, many of the people involved struggled to believe.   SOURCES   Talty, Stephen (2012) Agent Garbo: The Brilliant, eccentric secret agent who tricked Hitler and saved D-Day. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, USA.   West, Nigel & Pujol, Jean (1985) Operation GARBO: The Personal Story of the Most Successful Double Agent of World War II. Random House, London, UK.   Liverpool Daily News (1942) Deaths. Liverpool Daily News, 24 Nov. 1942, p.4. Liverpool, UK.   ---------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some time around the turn of the fifteenth century, a Cistercian monk of Byland Abbey took it upon himself to pen a series of ghost stories on the empty pages of a folio containing some of the library's more prestigious works. A medieval monk scribbling down ghost stories was, in truth, not entirely unusual. In the case of the Byland monk, however, the stories seemed to be less concerned with religious matters and more with grisly details of the spirits themselves. Undead rising from the graves, shapeshifting from human to animal and back again, hunting down the living to gouge their eyes from their skulls. The monk was, in his way, reporting on the folklore of the day, leaving behind one of the middle ages' more unique documents on belief in the afterlife. Republished in its original Latin by medievalist and author M.R. James in 1922, the stories had, perhaps, more in common with his own writings than they did that of the church and opened a window on the prevalence of Pagan beliefs and folklore tradition that maintained throughout medieval Europe.   SOURCES   Scmitt, Jean-Claude (1998) Ghosts in the Middle Ages: The Living and the Dead in Medieval Society. The University of Chicago Press, London, UK.   Bartlett, Robert (2008) The Natural and the Supernatural in the Middle Ages. Cambridge Universtoy Press, Cambridge, UK.   Joynes, Andrew (2001) Medieval Ghost Stories. The Boydell Press, Woodbridge, UK.   Grant, A.J. (1924) Twelve Medieval Ghost Stories. Yorkshire Archeological Journal, Vol. XXVII. Yorkshire, UK.   Fleischhack, Maria & Schenkel, Elmar (2016) Ghosts - or the (Nearly) Invisible: Spectral Phenomena in Literature and the Media. Peter Lang, NY, USA.   Harrison, Stuart (2022) History of Byland Abbey. [online] English Heritage. Available at:   ---------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Depression-era New York was a tough time for a guy just looking to get by. The pressure of feeding a family, the lack of available work, the poor conditions suffered from much of the work that was available and at the end of the day, you couldn’t even relax with a drink or drown your sorrows in the bottom of a bottle. At least, not legally. Whilst laws attempted to stop people from drinking alcohol, the culture of the speakeasy ripped through the underground. It was a place where one could relax and unwind, listen to some live music, play some cards, or set up an insurance fraud with a few of the friendly locals. It was the latter that took place in a small dive in The Bronx over several months in 1933 that would highlight how desperate the times could really be. It would also prove to be one of the most catastrophic displays of disorganised crime that the 19th-century newspapers would ever write about in what was dubbed as New York’s “most fantastic” murder. SOURCES   Read, Simon (2005) On The House: The Bizarre Killing of Michael Malloy. Berkly Publishing Group, NY, USA.   Funderburg, Anne (2014) Bootleggers and Beer Barons of the Prohibition Era. McFarland Incorporated Publishers, NC, USA.   Brooklyn Times Union (1933) Gang Murderers “Rub Out” 4 Men, Wound Another. Brooklyn Times Union, 20 March, 1933. P.3. NY, USA.   Brooklyn Times Union (1933) Two Gun Girl Seized In Bronx Holdup. Brooklyn Times Union, 17 April, 1933. P.1. NY, USA.   Daily News (1933) 5 Indicted As Murderers In Insurance Ring Probe. Daily News, 17 May, 1933. NY, USA.   Daily News (1933) When Justice Triumphed. Daily News, 29 October, 1933, P.42. Daily News, NY, USA.   ---------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An evolution of centuries-long efforts to contact and communicate with the dead, the practice of recording voices from the great beyond was attempted almost as soon as radio and tape recording technology became widely available in consumer devices. From garbled electrical chirps emanating out of swathes of white noise, to perfectly clear, eloquent speech, the results across the years have been as varied as they have been numerous. Up there with the capturing of “orbs” on camera in regards to its plausibility, EVP Research has somehow survived sceptical analysis and become a surprisingly persistent area of parapsychology. Though there were several pioneers in the space, there was one man who was supposedly so invested in the subject by the time of his death that he decided to come back and continue the job from the afterlife, through the medium of the telephone. SOURCES Jürgenson, Friedrich (1967) Voice Transmissions with the Deceased. Firework, Sweden. Raudive, Konstantin. (1971) Breakthrough: An Amazing Experiment in Electronic Communication with the Dead. Smythe, UK. Roach, Mary. (2005). Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife. W.W. Norton & Co. UK. Banks, Joe (2001) Rorschach Audio: Ghost Voices and Perceptual Creativity. Leonardo Music Journal, Vol. 11, pp 77-83. MIT Press, USA. Estep, Sarah (1988) Voices of Eternity. Fawcett Gold Medal, NY, USA. Estep, Sarah (2005) Roads to Eternity. Glade Press, MN, USA. Moreman, Christopher M. (2013) The Spiritualist Movement: Speaking with the Dead in America and Around the World. ABC-CLIO, CA, USA. ---------- For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Given a certain degree of infamy thanks to Charles Darwin, the Galapagos Islands are far less famous for their role in playing host to a tiny, isolated German ex-pat community in the 1930s, living quietly, surrounded by the unending blue of the Pacific Ocean. The motley crew of settlers included a doctor with philosophical aspirations, a pregnant housewife and an eccentric Baroness bent on creating a hotel for millionaires, complete with her doting entourage of love interests. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the ideologically disparate factions often failed to see eye to eye whilst they precariously shared the island's few natural springs, a situation that rose more than a few suspicions to those that watched on from the outside, after a series of unexplained deaths and disappearances tore the quiet island life apart from the inside, leaving the survivors to shrink off into quiet obscurity. SOURCES Treherne, John (1983) The Galapagos Affair. Random House, NY, USA. Beebe, William (1924) Galapagos: World’s End. G. P. Putnam's Sons, NY, USA. Strauch, Dore (1936) Satan Came to Eden: A Survivor's Account of the "Galapagos Affair". Harper & Bros, London, UK. The San Fransisco Examiner (1930) Two Modern Robinson Crusoes. Sun 06 April, 1930. P103. CA, USA. The Montreal Star (1932) Hunt For Priates Hoard. 29 December, 1932. Quebec, Canada.  The Miami News (1934) Ritter, Galapagos Nudist, Dies Without Telling Orgy secrets. 06 December 1934, P.21. FL, USA. ---------- For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 1940s the Bahamas was something of a tropical paradise for the world’s rich. Used as a tax haven and an island getaway far removed from the battlefields of war, it was an idyllic retreat for those that could afford it. Its society had a somewhat darker underbelly, however, with ties to money launderers, smugglers, spies and mobsters. At least, that was how it started to appear in stories after one of the richest men in the world wound up dead in his Bahamian home in the summer of 1943. The fact that all of this happened under the nose of the island's governor, the one time King of England, Edward, the Duke of Windsor, who was at the time a suspected Nazi sympathiser, made it all the more intriguing, becoming the only story to ever knock the news of the war from the front pages of the Daily Telegraph. SOURCES Craton, Michael (1962) A History Of The Bahamas. Collins, UK. Owen, James (2008) A Serpent In Eden. Hachette Digital, UK. Daily News (1943) Didn’t Murder Oakes. Daily News, 11 July, 1943, P1. New York, USA. The Province, (1944) Acquittal Of De Marigny Leaves Oakes Murder Unsolved Mystery. The Province, 12 November 1944. P1. Vancouver, Canada. Le Grand, Cathleen (2010) Another Look at a Bahamian Mystery: The Murder of Sir Harry Oakes: A Critical Literature Review. International Journal of Bahamian Studies, Vol.16, The College of The Bahamas, The Bahamas. ---------- For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

High up in the peaks of the Himalayas, a footprint in the snow baffles a mountaineer as he attempts to climb Everest for the first time. Pulling out his camera, he prepares to snap a shot, eyeing the horizon nervously before placing his icepick down alongside the print for scale and bringing the viewfinder up to his eye. In India, a tea planter reads about the photograph in a local newspaper and turns over the idea of going to hunt the creature that made the tracks, completely unaware that he was about to start what would eventually become a lifelong mission. On the other side of the world, a Texas oil baron reads about tales of adventure high up in the mountains of Nepal, a mystical land of incense and meditation, and dreams of uncovering the mysteries of the wilds. The trio was, it's safe to say, a fairly unlikely crew, but their fates would become intimately linked by a search that would carry them halfway around the world, hole up in damp caves for days on end and pull off one of the most unusual heists in all of history. It was a search for a myth, a symbol and a monster. It was a search for the Yeti.   SOURCES   Coleman, Loren (2002) Tom Slick: True Life Encounters in Cryptozoology. Craven Street Books, Fresno, CA, USA.   Taylor, Daniel C. (2018) Yeti: The Ecology of a Mystery. Oxford University Press, UK.   Waddell, Laurance A. (1899) Among The Himalayas. Archibald Constable & Co. UK.   Liechty, Mark (2017) Far Out: Countercultural Seekers and the Tourist Encounter in Nepal. The University of Chicago Press, IL, USA.   McGarr, Paul M. (2013) The Cold War in South Asia: Britain, The United States & The Indian Subcontinent, 1945-1965. Cambridge University Press, UK.   Princep, James (1832) The Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 1. Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta, India.   Redfern, Nick (2016) The Bigfoot Book: The Encyclopaedia of Sasquatch, Yeti, and Cryptid Primates. Visible Ink Press, MI, USA.   Dundee Courier (1951) Everest Has A Monster: Britons Find Footprints. Dundee Courier, Tuesday 04 December 1951, Page 3. Dundee, UK.   Star Tribune (1921) Snowman! Star Tribune, Saturday 17 December 1921, p.20. Minneapolis, MN, USA.   The Sphere (1954) The Abominable Snowman. Saturday 02 January 1954, p14. London, UK.   The Press and Sun Bulletin (1961) Yeti Belongs in Legend Says Hillary, Disposing of Track, Scalp Evidence. The Press and Sun Bulletin, 10th January 1961, p.49. New York, USA   ---------- For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy New Year! Here is part of the Christmas (New year? Holiday?) Campfire episode! This year's campfire was a brilliant collection of stories, thank you so much to everyone who sent in stories and got involved. Onwards and upwards, here's to 2022! x Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Holidays everyone! Here is the first part of this years Christmas Campfire episode and I have to say a massive thank you to everyone who sent stories in! This year the Campfire episode had overwhelming interest from everyone and there were so many great stories from everyone, it was such an enjoyable experience reading them and collating them for the episode, so thank you so much! I hope you all enjoy some creepy for the holiday season and have a great holiday, best wishes to you and all your family! Thank you so much for another great season of Dark Histories! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the ancient pages of the Old Norse Edda to the interwar pages of American adventure magazines, the depths of our oceans have, in imagination, been host to unspeakable monsters for many hundreds of years. In modern times, the phrase “Here Be Dragons” has been absorbed into popular culture as titles for books, films, TV shows, bands and video games, all this despite the fact that it only ever appeared on the unknown seas of a single 16th Century Globe. Far more common were the giant sea monsters that adorned maps for hundreds of years, existing only as illustrations and in the minds of those that viewed them. In the summer of 1817, just off the coast of Massachusetts, however, these illustrations became flesh and blood for several weeks when witnesses of a Giant Sea Serpent numbered into the hundreds, in what the 19th Century Harvard Professor Jacob Bigelow called “the most interesting problem in the science of natural history.”   SOURCES   France, Robert L. (2021) Ethnozoology of Egede’s “Most Dreadful Monster,” The Foundational Sea Serpent. Society of Ethnobiology, Boston, MA, USA.   Egede, Hans (1818) A Description of Greenland. T & J Allman, London, UK.   Paxton, C. G. M. & Knatterud, E. (2005) Cetaceans, sex and sea serpents: an analysis of the Egede accounts of a “most dreadful monster” seen off the coast of Greenland in 1734. Archives of Natural History, London, UK.   Nickell, Joe (2019) Gloucester Sea-Serpent Mystery: Solved after Two Centuries. Skeptical Enquirer, Vol. 43, No. 5. https://skepticalinquirer.org/2019/09/gloucester-sea-serpent-mystery-solved-after-two-centuries/   Magnus, Olaus (1658) A compendious history of the Goths, Swedes, & Vandals, and other northern nations. J. Streater, London, UK.   Pontoppidan, Erik (1755) The Natural history of Norway. A. Linde, London, UK.   Linnæan Society of New England (1817) Report of a committee of the Linnæan society of New England, relative to a large marine animal, supposed to be a serpent, seen near Cape Ann, Massachusetts, in August 1817. Cummings & Hilliard, Boston, USA   Brown, Chandos Michael (1990) A Natural History of the Gloucester Sea Serpent: Knowledge, Power, and the Culture of Science in Antebellum America. American Quarterly Vol. 42, No. 3 (Sep., 1990), pp. 402-436. The Johns Hopkins University Press, USA   The Long Island Star (1817) A Frightful Fish! The Long Island Star, 20 August, 1817, p.3. NY, USA.   Dublin Evening Mail (1842) The Missouri Leviathan. Monday 07 November, 1842, p.3. Dublin, ROI.   The Illustrated London News (1848) The Great Sea Serpent. The Illustrated London News, 28 October, 1848, p.8. London, UK.   ---------- For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New York journalism in 1897 was in a pretty technicolor space. Newspapers, so long the grey, stolid, medium of the merchants and businessman, were instead being filled with lurid stories of murder, scandal and drunken debauchery and the public were loving it. As papers fought for readers in the streets, sometimes quite literally, the stories that filled the pages and the methods utilised on order to write the stories grew more and more sensational by the day. It all came to something of a boiling point in the high temperatures of Summer, when a body washed up in the East River, carved up and lacking a head. The investigation that followed was carried out just as much by the journalists as it was the police, as the lines between who was who became increasingly blurred.   SOURCES   Collins, Paul (2011) Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized a City and Sparked the Tabloid Wars. Broadway Books, NY, USA.   Reagan, L. J. (1995). Linking Midwives and Abortion in the Progressive Era. Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 69(4), 569–598. John Hopkins University Press, USA   The World (1897) Boys Ghastly Find. 27 June 1897, p1, NY, USA   The World (1897) The Fragments of a Body Make a Mystery. 28 June 1897, p1, NY, USA   The World (1897) World Men Find A Clue. 28 June 1897, p1, NY, USA   The World (1897) The Murder Mystery is a Mystery Still. 01 July 1897, p1, NY, USA   The World (1897) Murder Will Out. 03 July 1897, p1, NY, USA   The World (1897) Mrs Nack’s Confession. 04 July 1897, p1, NY, USA   The World (1897) Supposed Thorn is Captured. 07 July 1897, p1, NY, USA   The World (1897) Thorn’s Friend Betrays Him. 08 July 1897, p3, NY, USA   The World (1897) Mrs Nack Talk Freely to The World. 06 August 1897, p1, NY, USA   The Journal (1897) Mrs Nack: Murderess! 01 July 1897, p1, NY, USA   Buffalo Evening News (1897) Says He Bought Corpses. 14 January 1897, p1, NY, USA   ---------- For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prior to the First World War, ghostly apparitions across battlefields tended to be confined to large scale skirmishes fought in the skies. In America, Modern folklore has helped to spawn a cottage industry within the tourist trade of Civil War battlefields. The equation of such high death rates, paired with intense levels of trauma seems to equate to an acceptance that wars were surely the perfect breeding grounds for the supernatural. Though this doesn’t always appear to ring true, war is, nevertheless, a ripe area for some very bizarre stories.   SOURCES   R. Machen A., (1915) The Angel of Mons: The Bowmen and Other Legends of the War. London, 1915.   Runcorn Guardian (1915) Angel At Mons. 27 August, 1915. P.5. UK.   Davies, Owen (2018) A Supernatural War: Magic, Divination and Faith during the First World War. Oxford University Press, UK.   Carrington, Hereward (1918) Physical Phenomenon and The War. Dodd, Mead and Co. New York, USA.   Liverpool Echo (1916) The Trench Ghost. 21 November, 1916. P.3. Liverpool, UK   Bird, William R. (1930) And We Go On: A Memoir of The Great War. The HUnter Rose Co. LTD. Toronto, Canada.   Psychic News (1941) Edition No. 455, 08 Feb 1941.   Vu Hong Van, Nguyen Trong Long, Trinh Thi Thanh, Tong Kim Dong & Pham Van Luong (2020) Folk Beliefs of Vietnamese People. Book Publisher International, UK.   BBC Witness History (2017) US Psychological Warfare in Vietnam. BBC World Service, 21 July, 2017. ---------- For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Harry Price published his first book covering Borley Rectory in 1940, he would have been well aware of how sensational, and potentially controversial, the title would appear. “The Most Haunted House in England” shot Borley Rectory to fame, cementing the name in history with the likes of Jack the Ripper, The Salem Witch Trials and later, The Amityville Horror. That the contents of the book stirred up so many years of controversy is an outcome that was bound to have materialised regardless of the title, with stories of spectral nuns, monks and horse-drawn carriages, ghostly writings on the wall and secret passages, all set in the spiritualist boom between the wars. Tables tipped, planchettes moved, bells rang and eventually the house burnt to the ground. Eighty years later, the legend of Borley still lives on fighting against allegations of fraud all the way. Sources Price, Harry (1940) The Most Haunted House in England. Longmans, Green, UK Price, Harry (1946) The End of Borley Rectory. George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd., UK. Dingwall, Eric J., Goldney, Kathleen M. & Hall, Trevor H. (1956) The Haunting of Borley Rectory - A Critical Survey of the Evidence. Proceedings for the Society for Psychical Research, Vol. 51, Part 186, January, 1956. UK. Adams, Paul, Brazil, Eddie & Underwood, Peter (2009) The Borley Rectory Companium. The History Press, UK `Ωcv|”aqTabori, Paul & Underwood, Peter (2017) The Ghosts of Borley. UK. Wall, V.C. (1929) Ghost Visits to a Rectory. The Daily Mirror, 10th June 1929, UK Wall, V.C. (1929) Weird Night in Haunted House. The Daily Mirror, 14th June 1929, UK Clarke, Andrew (2021) The Bones of Borley Rectory. [online] Foxearth.org.uk. Available at: [Accessed 11 August 2021]. ---------- For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1938 saw one of the world's most famous media hoaxes terrify a nation of unexpecting listeners when the original War of the Worlds radio broadcast was sent out across the airwaves unannounced, leading many to believe it to be a genuine news item. Somewhat more obscure is the tale of its precursor, when 103 years earlier in August of 1835, daily New York newspaper The Sun ran a week-long series of articles concerning the discovery of life on the moon. The paper’s “Lunarians” were a bizarre species of temple building man-bats living in perfect harmony with the animals that surrounded them. It was a humbug to match the audacity from any of the exhibits in P.T.  Barnum's American Museum and as unbelievable as it may sound today, at the time there were many who firmly believed it, fueling debates that raged across all levels of society. Sources Goodman, Matthew (2008) The Sun and The Moon. Basic Books, NY, USA. Adams Locke, Richard (1835) Great Astronomical Discoveries Lately Made By Sir John Herschel, LLD FRS &c At the Cape of Good Hope. New York Sun, NY, USA Allen Poe, Edgar (1846) Some Honest Opinions at Random Respecting Their Autorial Merits, With Occasional Words of Personality. The Literati of New york City - Vol VI. USA. Liverpool Mercury (1835) Alleged Discovery of Men, Animals, Vegetables Etc. In The Moon. Friday 25th September, 1835, p.8. Liverpool, UK Herschel, John F. W. (1834) A Treatise on Astronomy. Carey, Lea & Blanchard, London, UK. ---------- For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The North American mineral rushes of the 19th Century saw hundreds of thousands flock to mountains and mines across the continent in search of fame and fortune, from panning for gold to working long, dangerous shifts down poorly run mines, entire industries exploded overnight, sucking in workers from around the world. During the San Juan Silver Rush of the 1870s, one of these workers was a young man named Alfred Packer, an epileptic, military cast-off, who drifted across America looking for his passport to a new life. He had lived a reasonably anonymous existence, until one fateful expedition saw him wind up almost starving to death, only surviving by eating his fellow party members, a surprisingly common occurrence in the Old West. SOURCES Keller, David (2015) The Story of Camp Douglas: Chicago's Forgotten Civil War Prison. The History Press, UK Schechter, Harold (2015) Man-Eater: The Saga of Alfred G. Packer, American Cannibal. Head of Zeus, London, UK. Brown, Robert Leaman (1965) An Empire of Silver: A History of the San Juan Silver Rush. Caldwell, Idaho, USA. Randolph, John A. (1874) A Colorado Tragedy. Harper’s Weekly, Sunday 17th October, 1874. New York City, USA The Cincinnati Enquirer (1874) Revelation of a Horrible Crime - Sequel to a Recent Cannibalistic Sensation! The Cincinnati Enquirer, 9th September, 1874. p.1. USA The Abingdon Virginian (1874) A Horrible Diet. The Abingdon Virgianian, 25th September, 1874. p.1. USA  El Paso Herald (1901) Packer Released. El Paso Herald, 8th January, 1901. p.1. USA The Herald (1989) Scientists Uncover Skull Bone. 19 July, 1989. p.22, USA. The Orlando Sentinel (1989) Cannibal. 23 July, 1989, p.12, USA. Christensen, Mike (1989) Final Word: Packer Guilty as Sin. The Daily Sentinal, 13 October, 1989, p.1. USA. ---------- For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi everyone, I'm taking a small summer break for a couple of weeks, so to cover the gap I have a few older patreon bonus episodes to put out for the main feed and give everyone a chance to hear them. Here is an interview I did with Professor Derek Abbott on the recent news about the Exhumation efforts in the Somerton Man case.  Professor Derek Abbott is Director of the Centre for Biomedical Engineering at the University of Adelaide, Australia, Somerton Man expert and all-round bloody nice bloke. You can find out more about him here: http://www.eleceng.adelaide.edu.au/Personal/dabbott/ ---------- For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Victorian England, fishing all manner of filth, detritus and human body parts from the Thames River in London was not such an unusual affair. Used for centuries as a dumping ground and waste disposal, it became so bad by the mid 19th Century that it was renamed “The Great Stink”. In 1879, a coal porter pulled out an old wooden box and unearthed one of the more macabre treats the river has tossed up over the years when he opened it to discover a heavily mutilated body. The mutilations might have been somewhat notable, but far more so was the killer, who once tracked down was found to be a woman, a fact that rocketed it straight into the spotlight of public attention.   SOURCES   O’Donnell, Elliot (1925) Trial of Kate Webster. W. Hodge, London, UK.   Court Transcript (1879) Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 8.0, 30 June 2021), June 1879, trial of CATHERINE WEBSTER (29) (t18790630-653).   Fuller, Katie Lisette (2009) Victorian airbrushing: cultural, physical and artistic representations of upper-class women of then and today. Graduate Theses and Dissertations, 11105. Iowa State University, USA.   Wilkes, David (2011) Cut up and boiled to feed street children: Horrific fate of Victorian murder victim whose skull was found in David Attenborough's garden. The Daily Mail, 6th July, 2011, London, UK   The Execution of Kate Webster and its Lessons. South Wales Daily News, p.2, 30th July 1879, Wales, UK.   The Barnes Mystery. Wolverhampton Express and Star, p.3, 12th March 1879, Wolverhampton, UK.   Mysterious Package from the Thames. The Daily Review, p.3, 11th March 1879, Edinburgh, UK.   Extraordinary Discovery. The Nottingham Evening post, p.3, 10th march 1879, Nottingham, UK.   Home News. Paisley & Renfrewshire Gazette, p.2, 8th March 1879, UK.   ---------- For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1628, the Batavia, a flagship Dutch Indiaman left the port of Texel in the Netherlands bound for the Dutch capital in the East Indies filled to the upper decks with gold, silver, gems and jewellery, along with a crew made up of a host of down and out soldiers, sailors and officers. Life in the Dutch East India Company was notoriously hard, but the crew aboard the Batavia were in for a special kind of torture, when the ship was wrecked off the Western Coast of Australia, leading to several months of indescribable bloodshed and violence at the hands of an especially twisted Commander.   SOURCES   van Duivenvoorde, Wendy (2015) Dutch East India Company Shipbuilding: The Archaeological Study of Batavia and Other Seventeenth-Century VOC Ships. Texas A&M University Press, USA.   Dash, Mike (2003) Batavia’s Graveyard: The True Story of the Mad Heretic Who Led History's Bloodiest Mutiny. Crown Publishing Group, NY, USA.   Fitzsimmons, Peter (2011) Batavia. William Heinemann Publishing, Australia ---------- For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.        Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The life of Percy Harrison Fawcett was never short of adventure. An amateur explorer who obtained a gold medal for his services to the Royal Geographical Society, in a time long before planes, GPS and radio communication. He was a man with a story and a character so much larger than life, that popular fiction has drawn influence on them for years, from Arthur Conan Doyle's “The Lost World” to the Hollywood archeology of Indiana Jones, even making an appearance in TinTin & The Broken Ear as a blowpipe wielding hermit. For over twenty years his career saw him delve deep into the Amazon, until, in 1925, just months before newspapers printed their headlines that the city of Atlantis had been found, he set off into the forest in search of a lost city he had christened simply “Z”. SOURCES Grann, David (2009) The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon. Doubleday Publishing, USA. Fawcett, Percy (1953) Lost Trails, Lost Cities. Funk & Wagnalls, NY, USA. Thorpe, Vanessa (2004) Veil lifts on jungle mystery of the colonel who vanished. The Observer, Sun 21 March, 2004. UK Williams, Misha (2004) AmaZonia. Kennedy, Dane (2007) British Exploration in the Nineteenth Century: A Historiographical Survey. History Compass, 5: 1879-1900. UK The Atlanta Constitution (1925) Daring Exploration Party Sets Forth To Find Site of Cradle of Civilization. The Atlanta Constitution, p.14, 12 Jan, 1925. Atlanta, USA. The Leader post (1927) Fear for Col. Fawcett, Missing in Brazillian Jungle Nearly 2 Years. The Leader Post, p.1. 14 Feb, 1927. Canada The Spokesman Review (1927) Colonel Fawcett Thought Alive. The Spokesman Review, p.67, 24 July, 1927. USA. ---------- For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1885 a terrifying string of attacks in Austin, Texas erupted through the city, preying on the servant class. An unknown attacker, or band of attackers, broke into the residences of servants across the city, striking many of them in the head with an axe. The attacks carried on for months with police making little advancement until the night of Christmas Eve saw two of the city's gentry struck down forcing the authorities to act. Queue a flock of noseblind bloodhounds, a trio of fake Pinkertons and a mayor with far too much on his plate.   SOURCES   Galloway, J.R. (2010) The Servant Girl Murders: Austin, Texas 1885. Booklocker.com, inc. USA.   Galloway, J.R. (2021) About The Victims | The Servant Girl Murders Austin, Texas 1885. [online] Servantgirlmurders.com. Available at: [Accessed 23 May 2021].   Hollandsworth, Skip (2017) The Midnight Assassin: Panic, Scandal, and The Hunt For America’s First Serial Killer. Picador Publishing, USA.   Fort Worth Daily Gazette (1885) A Colored Woman Murdered - Birth of the Daily Sun. 01 Jan, 1885, p.5. TX, USA   Austin American Statesman (1885) Bloody Work. 01 Jan, 1885, p.4. TX, USA   Austin American Statesman (1885) Still A Mystery. 02 Jan, 1885, p.4. TX, USA   Austin American Statesman (1885) A Day And Deed. 03 March, 1885, p.4. TX, USA   Austin American Statesman (1885) At It Again. 30 April, 1885, p.4. TX, USA   Austin American Statesman (1885) More Butchery. 23 May, 1885, p.4. TX, USA   Austin American Statesman (1885) Slain Servants. 30 Sep, 1885, p.4. TX, USA   Austin American Statesman (1885) Blood! Blood! Blood! 26 Dec, 1885, p.4. TX, USA   Austin American Statesman (1885) The Assassinations. 14 Jan, 1885, p.4. TX, USA   A collection of historical Photographs and Maps were found here: https://texashistory.unt.edu/explore/collections/AHCP/browse/?fq=untl_decade%3A1880-1889&start=24   ---------- For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1953, a strange story crept out of the Philippines, when newspapers began reporting on the Dracula Girl, a young, Filipino vagrant, who had been arrested for prostitution and who now appeared to be facing even darker powers, as she battled with a pair of tormentors, collectively known as The Thing. For over two weeks, doctors, reporters, prison guards and inmates watched over the strange behaviour of the young girl, completely at a loss for what to do, until eventually, in stepped a Protestant Pastor with a penchant for evangelism and a conviction that he knew exactly what to do in the situation. SOURCES Sumrall, Lester (1987) Bitten By Devils: The Supernatural Account of a Young Girl Bitten by Unseen Demons, Documented by Medical Doctors & Her Miraculous Deliverance That Would Bring Revival to a Nation. Sumrall Publishing, USA. Sumrall, Lester (1987) The Deliverance of Clarita Villanueva: Bitten by Demons. Sumrall Publishing, USA. The Yuma Daily Sun (1953) Evil Spirits Attack Girl Even When Mayor Near. The Yuma Daily Sun, Tuesday 19 May, 1953. P.1. Yuma, USA. Guzman, Leonoro S. de (1964) The Philippines' social welfare administration: A historical account of its formation, 1946-1956. University of Southern California, USA. The Barrier Miner (1953) Dracula Girl. Thursday 28 May, 1953, p.1. NSW, Australia. Singleton Argus (1953) Playful Ghost Has A Familiar Face. Friday 22 May, 1953, p.1. Sydney, Australia. The Argus (1953) Dracula Victim Can Be Cured. Thursday 21 May, 1953, p.5. Melbourne, Australia.  The Argus (1953) Prelate May Fight Dracula. Wednesday 20 May, 1953, p.7. Melbourne, Australia.  The Truth (1953) Vampire! Sunday 24 May, 1953, p.13. Sydney, Australia. Beaver Valley Times (1953) Wednesday 20 May, 1953, p.8. PA, USA. The Sydney Morning Herald (1953) Wednesday 20 May, 1953, p.3, Sydney, Australia. ---------- For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey everyone, just a quick message and to let you all know that all the recent technical difficulties the podcast has been having that has been stopping the feed from distributing the podcast should be all fixed! Huzzah! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The end of the 18th Century saw the birth of a long line of religious movements focused on the end of days and the biblical second coming. Central to this string of beliefs was an unimposing domestic servant who began to have visions in her mid-life, which she claimed were divine in nature, eventually leading to her insistence that she was a prophetess and at the young age of 64, was pregnant with the new messiah. Far from fading away after the holy childs due date came and went, the movement continued under several different guises for hundreds of years, culminating with the belief in a holy book of dinner etiquette and a mysterious wooden box, the contents of which were lying in wait until called upon to rescue Britain from its catastrophic end.   SOURCES   The TImes (1815) The TImes, Monday 2 Jan, 1815, London, UK   The Stamford Mercury (1815) Dissection of Joanna Southcott. Monday 2 Jan, 1815, UK.   Madden, Deborah (2016) Prophecy in the Age of Revolution. Prophecy and Eschatology in the Transatlantic World, 1550 - 1800 (pp.259-281), University of Brighton, UK.   Cross, George (1915) Millenarianism in Christian History. The Biblical World, Jul., 1915, Vol. 46, No. 1 (Jul., 1915), pp. 3-8. The University of Chicago Press, USA.   Lockley, Philip (2012) Visionary Religion and Radicalism in Early Industrial England: From Southcott to Socialism. Oxford University Press, UK   Southcott, Joanna (1792) The Strange Effects of Faith: With Remarkable Prophecies. T. Brice, Exeter, UK.   Southcott, Joanna (1814) The Third Book of Wonders: Announcing the Coming of Shiloh. Exeter, UK.   Shaw, Jane (2012) Octavia, Daughter of God. Vintage Books, UK.   Price, Harry (1933) Leaves From a Psychist’s Case-Book. Victor Gollancz Ltd, UK   ---------- For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the late Spring of 1937, the murder of a young Italian immigrant stormed the Paris headlines. The first murder to have taken place on the Metro, it was a baffling affair with no witnesses and a murder of unusual precision. As the country mired in political turmoil, newspapers filled their columns with rumours of the victims life, quickly filling the information void with sensational stories of divey music halls, gangsters and allusions to sordid affairs. The truth, however, would turn out to be far more bombastic than even the most spurious rumours, leading to the slow unravelling of a story of clandestine intelligence, assassinations and a plot to overthrow the government.   SOURCES   Tuohy, Ferdinand (1937) Mystery In The Metro. The Sphere, Sat 12 June, 1937, p.18. UK   Nottingham Evening Post (1937) The 60 second Murder. Fri 21 May, 1937, p.5. UK   Brunelle, Gayle K. & Finnley-Crosswhite, Anette (2012) Murder in the Metro: Laetitia Toureaux and the Cagoule in 1930s France. LSU Press, USA.   Furlough, Ellen (1998) Making Mass Vacations: Tourism and Consumer Culture in France, 1930s to 1970s, Comparative Studies in Society and History Vol. 40, No. 2 (Apr., 1998), pp. 247-286, Cambridge University Press, UK   ---------- For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“In war, one of our great protections against the dangers of air attack after nightfall will be the "blackout". On the outbreak of hostilities all external lights and street lighting would be totally extinguished so as to give hostile aircraft no indication as to their whereabouts. But this will not be fully effective unless you do your part, and see to it that no lighting in the house where you live is visible from the outside. The motto for safety will be 'Keep it dark!'” So read the opening paragraph from Public Information Leaflet No.2, published in England on the eve of war, 1939. What may have kept people safe from German bombs, however, had its own disadvantages. Criminality thrived in the gloomy, empty streets. In 1942, as the German bombs began to fall less frequently, a new threat opened up on the streets of London, altogether more silent, emerging from the shadows with a rye smile and unrelenting charm. SOURCES The Daily Herald (1942) Waiting Woman is Murdered. Feb 10, 1942. p.3. London, UK The Daily Mirror (1942) Three Women Murdered In Two Days. Feb 11, 1942. P.8. London, UK. The Daily Mirror (1942) Razorblade Killed Ex-Soho Actress. Feb 12, 1942. P.8. London, UK. The Daily Mirror (1942) Fifth Woman Murder In Week. Feb 14, 1942. P.8. London, UK. Civil Defense (1939) Public Information Leaflet No.2. Lord Privy Seal’s Office, UK Read, Simon (2006) In The Dark. Berkeley Publishing Group, USA. Thomas, Donald (2003) An Underworld at War: Spivs, Deserters, Racketeers and Civilians in the Second World War. John Murray, UK. ---------- For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the winter of 1896, a spate of airship sightings spread out from California, stampeding across the United States until, in the Spring of 1897, they hit a wall in the midwest, after a brief flirtation on the East Coast. The sightings totalled in their tens of thousands and many included fantastical descriptions of both the ship and the people riding it. As the ships flew from state to state, the stories often grew bolder in their claims until they were heavily dovetailing with the science fiction of the day. With airships still incapable of sustained flight in 1896, were any of the sightings true? Or were the witnesses seeing something else in the sky? Are some of the more outrageous stories, actually far closer to the truth than they may at first seem, or was the whole affair just one big medley of lies, hoax and misidentifications? SOURCES   Evans, Hillary & Bartholomew, Robert (2009) The Encyclopedia of Extraordinary Social Behaviour. Anomalist Books, Texas, USA   Cohen, Daniel (1981) The Great Airship Mystery: A UFO of the 1890s. Dodd, Mead & Co. New York, USA.   The San Francisco Examiner (1896) Nations May Yet Fight In The Air. 16th Feb 1896, p.32. San Francisco, USA.   The Record Union (1896) What Was It? 18 Nov 1896, p.4. Sacramento, USA.   The San Francisco Call (1896) Claim They Saw A Flying Airship. 18 Nov 1896, p.3. San Francisco, USA.   The San Francisco Call (1896) Strange Craft Of The Sky. 19 Nov 1896, p.3. San Francisco, USA.   Sacramento Bee (1896) Air Ship Or What? 19 Nov 1896, p.1. Sacramento, USA.   The San Francisco Call (1896) A Winged Ship In The Sky. 23 Nov 1896, p.1. San Francisco, USA.   The San Francisco Examiner (1896) Airships Now Fly In Flocks. 25 Nov 1896, p.5. San Francisco, USA.   The Evening Mail (1896) Three Strange Visitors. 27 Nov 1896, p.1. Stockton, USA.   The Nebraska State Journal (1897) An Airship or Ill Omen. 23 Feb 18977, p.5. Nebraska, USA.   The Leavenworth TImes (1897) Like The Sea Serpent. 28 Feb 1897, p.1. Kansas, USA.   The Times Herald (1897) Not An Airship. 10 Apr 1897, p.1. Michigan, USA.   The Times Herald (1897) Airship In Michigan. 13 Apr 1897, p.8. Michigan, USA.   The Evening Times (1897) The Airship Coming Here. 13 Apr 1897, p.5. Washington, USA.   The Boston Globe (1897) Airship Was A Hoax. 15 Apr 1897, p.6. Boston, USA.   San Francisco Chronicle (1897) How The Airship Drops Letters. 19 Apr 1897, San Francisco, USA.   The Dallas Morning News (1897) A Windmill Demolishes It. 19 Apr 1897, Texas, USA.   ---------- For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Haunted human remains are a trope popular in modern horror, from the twisted ivory puppet in the House on Haunted Hill to the skeletal corpses, floating in the swimming pool of Poltergeist, human bones have long held a place of fear, worship and power throughout history and cultures, eventually manifesting within the horror genre of the 20th Century. At the time of the English Civil War, the whisperings of an emergent folk tradition seeded its place in the popular imagination, when stories of skulls with seemingly supernatural powers began to seep from the large, rural manor houses throughout Britain. Screaming Skulls, as they became known, were kept in farm houses, rectories and family estates both for protection and through fear of what might happen if they were mistreated, a situation which sent stories spinning through the local vicinity.   ----------   SOURCES   Hutchinson, John (1809) Hutchinson’s Tour Through The High Peak of Derbyshire. J. Wilson, Macclesfield, UK.   Laycock, Samuel (1863) An Address to Dickie. The Ashton Weekly Reporter and Stalybridge and Dukinfield Chronicle, Saturday 18 July, 1863, p.4.   Ingram, John H. (1897) The Haunted Homes and Family Traditions of Great Britain. Gibbing & Co. LTD, London, UK.   Collinson, John. (1791) HIstory and Antiquities of the County of Somerset, Vol II. R. Crutwell, Bath, UK   Udal, John S. (1910) Concerning the legend of the skull of Bettiscombe manor. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society Volume 31, 1910. UK   Chilton Cantelo and Ashington Parish Website. 2021. Home - Chilton Cantelo and Ashington Parish Website. [online] Available at: [Accessed 2 February 2021].   Clarke, David (1999) The head cult: tradition and folklore surrounding the symbol of the severed human head in the British Isles. University of Sheffield, UK.   Underwood, Peter (1988) Ghosts of Dorset. Bossiney Books, UK   Bord, Janet (2009) Screaming Skulls: Haunting Headbones or Ghostly Guardians? Paranormal Magazine, Issue 37, July 2009.   ---------- For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With a long and winding path through history from ancient times, to the renaissance and beyond, Alchemy was a vast subject with a multitude of practitioners, from the legendary and mythical to established medical gentry and scholarly clergy. In fact and fiction, they were men and women obsessed by the magical bending of the laws of nature to their will, creating gold, the elixir of life, stones that shone like the sun or offered immortality. Another sect of the sprawling tradition, however, found its interest in a far stranger creation, that of the homunculus, or “the little man”. Their writings can today be seen as some of the strangest works to exist in the history of scientific advancement and have far more in line with the publications of Gothic Horror that would eventually follow, centuries later.   ------   SOURCES   Maxwell-Stuart, P.G (2012) The Chemical Choir: A History of Alchemy. Continuum International Publishing, London, UK.   Lindsay, Jack (1970) The origins of alchemy in Graeco-Roman Egypt. Barnes & Noble, NY, USA.   Saif, Liana (2016) The Cows and the Bees: Arabic Sources and Parallels for Pseudo-Plato's Liber Vaccae (Kitab al-Nawamis). Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 2016, pp. 1-47(47). Warburg Institute, University of London, UK.   Van Der Lugt, Maaike (2009) Abominable Mixtures: The Liber Vaccae in the Medieval West, or the Dangers and Attractions of Natural Magic. Traditio: Studies in Ancient and Medieval History, Thought, and Religion, Vol. 64 (2009), pp. 229-277. Cambridge University Press, UK   Newman, William R. (2005) Promethean Ambitions: Alchemy and the Quest to Perfect Nature. University of Chicago Press, USA.   Grafton, Anthony. Siraisi, Nancy (1999) Natural particulars: nature and the disciplines in Renaissance Europe. MIT Press, USA.   Besetzny, Emil (1873) Die Sphinx Freimaurerisches Taschenbuch. L. Rosner, Vienna.   ---------- For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The mid 19th Century newspaper headlines saw no shortage of cases involving poison. Unsurprisingly, given the relative ease of obtaining such deadly materials, a long narrative of death, whether by accident or design, formed throughout the period and still today the Victorian period is often characterised as something of a heyday for poisons and poisoners. From time to time, salacious stories of a murderer utilising these violent compounds broke out and captured the public's attention, stacking up a list of names of cold, calculated criminality. In 1855, William Doves name was added to the list after he killed his wife, Doves name drew attention over many of his fellow poisoners, however, when it was uncovered that he had killed her after taking advice from a local wizard, had sold his soul to the devil at a young age and later went on to write a letter to the Prince of Darkness in his own blood, inviting him to collect on his side of the bargain. ---------- SOURCES The Leicester Journal (1856) Execution of William Dove. The Leicester Journal, Friday 15th August, 1856.  Sheffield Daily Telegraph (1856) The poisoning of a Lady By Strychnine, At Leeds. Sheffield Daily Telegraph, Thursday 13th March, 1856. The Morning Post (1856) Serious Charge Of Slow Poisoning From Strychnine, At Leeds. The Morning post, Monday 10th March, 1856.  Davies, Owen (2005) Murder, Magic & Madness: The Victorian Trials of Dove and the Wizard. Pearson Education Limited, UK Davies, Owen (2008) Cunning-Folk in England and Wales during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. Rural History, Volume 8, Issue 1, April 1997, pp. 91 - 107 Davies, Owen (2007) Popular Magic: Cunning-folk in English History. Hambledon Continuum, UK      ---------- If you'd like to send in a submission for the Christmas Campfire episode this year as I mentioned at the start of the episode, the email address to send to is: social@darkhistories.com For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.            Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Heya! I hope you had a great Christmas and are relaxing and taking it easy before the New Year. Here's the second part to this years Christmas Campfire. I messed up the timing a little bit and so this episode is not as long as I thought it was going to be, but it was nice to have it in two parts anyhow! I hope you enjoy it, here's to 2021 and a much better year than the mess that was 2020! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices