Hobsession

What happens when an innocent game spirals so far out of control that it ends up being international news?  Many people recognise the Cottingley fairy photographs as one of the greatest hoaxes of all time, but who were the girls behind it and what were their true intentions?  Why did such intellectual luminaries as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle give them such public support?  Do people have an inbuilt de...

Part 2.   A young girl born and raised in Western Mexico became an international celebrity in the mid-nineteenth century, yet now the name Julia Pastrana has fallen into near obscurity. An outcast from mainstream society, Pastrana became one of the most famous performers of her day, but never for the right reasons. We sift through the lies and rumours to find the real woman and the truth...

Part one.   A young girl born and raised in Western Mexico became an international celebrity in the mid-nineteenth century, yet now the name Julia Pastrana has fallen into near obscurity. An outcast from mainstream society, Pastrana became one of the most famous performers of her day, but never for the right reasons. We sift through the lies and rumours to find the real woman and the tru...

You wake up, yet you can't move.  A figure moves in the doorway, enters the room and sits on the bed. Demon?  Spirit?  Or something that can be neatly explained by science? This week the hobsessives delve into the intriguing topic of sleep paralysis - the science, the myths and the links to historical events and current pop culture mysteries.   Become, HOBSESSED.  

Lonely and neglected on her honeymoon, the young wife of Irish poet W.B.Yeats discovers that she has a talent for automatic writing. Believing that his bride is a channel for spirits and divine muses, Yeats is inspired and enchanted. A connection to the world of ghostly poets or the ruse of a frustrated and brilliant woman?