Dark Histories

Behind the doors of an isolated farmhouse on the outskirts of Plainfield, Wisconsin, a trove of macabre secrets were stashed out of sight of the locals that blurred the line between reality and nightmare. Unearthed in 1957, the world of quiet, shy farmer, Edward Theodore Gein, revealed a bizarre story of grave robbing, body parts fashioned into household items, and a fascination with death that wa...

From Jonestown to Heaven’s Gate, to the Octopus Murders and the Waco Siege, the world is full of deception, manipulation, and destruction. Listen to Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes every Wednesday as we explore the real people at the center of the world’s most shocking secrets and nefarious organizations. Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes is a Crime House original powered by PAVE Studi...

In 1913, a St. Louis housewife named Pearl Curran sat down at a Ouija board and claimed to make contact with a spirit called Patience Worth—a seventeenth-century Englishwoman who spoke in archaic language and spun tales with uncanny speed. What began as a parlor amusement soon erupted into a literary mystery: novels, poems, and dialogues flowed effortlessly through Pearl, though she had no known t...

This week we're taking a quick look at the end of the second World War in teh Pacific, as well as rummaging through a host of summer ghost stories from the 19th century. There's also a small story that would go on to foreshadow the "autumn of fear" in London, 1888. ------ For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at ⁠darkhistories.com ⁠ Support the show by using our link when you sign up...

In the summer of 1849, Patrick O’Connor, a prosperous London customs officer, vanished without warning. His trail ended in a quiet Bermondsey house, home to Frederick and Maria Manning—a married couple bound to him by secrets and suspicion. When O’Connor’s body was found buried beneath their kitchen floor, whispers of greed, betrayal, and hidden passions spread across London. SOURCES Buckley, Ange...

It's that time of year where the sun is out for more than 10 minutes a day over here in England, so that must mean it's summer holiday! I'll be off for just a short two weeks, but until then, I thought I'd introduce a podcast to you. It's a great, Dark History podcast, which I shall leave to their own words: Macabrium Lore & Legends Subscribe here: https://podfollow.com/1695858163 “The 13th Child:...

Welcome back to Dark Histories and Yesterday Today, where this week we're going all the way back to 1776 to have a quick look at the declaration of independence, before zipping ahead to 1947 and the weird reprts coming from Roswell of Flying Saucers! ------ 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:/...

When you pick up a dictionary and look up a word, have you ever stopped to consider who it was that compiled such meticulous work? Was it a scholar, or group of scholars, holed up in a musty backroom somewhere dedicating their lives to the task, or a wide group of volunteers, crowdsourcing an otherwise unthinkable workload? Or was it perhaps, a madman and murderer, working at leisure from the comf...

Back with another off-shoot episode of Dark Histories, this time digging up some old ghost stories, the Queen's coronation, and some rather solid advice from Beatrice Fairfax, an advice columnist from 1914. ------ 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...

In the murky-corners of Cold War history, beneath layers of radio static,  the chilling tale of the Judica-Cordiglia brothers emerges. Armed with makeshift radio equipment and relentless curiosity, they claimed to capture ghostly transmissions from doomed Soviet cosmonauts, voices never acknowledged by any official record. Were these lost transmissions evidence of a buried truth, or the echoes of...

This week, I'm back with another episode of Yesterday Today. We have storiesmarking the original publication or Orwells 1984, the strange resurrection of a murderer and the bizarre concept of mailing babies. ------ 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 ou...

In the 1920’s and 30s, shark attacks off the coast of New South Wales, Australia were not an especially uncommon event. In 1935, however, Sydney’s peaceful coastal charm was shattered by a grotesque discovery at the Coogee Aquarium that was anything but normal. A captured tiger shark, put on public display, vomited up a human arm—severed, tattooed, and unmistakably out of place. What began as a cu...

Hi everyone, I'm back with another mini-episode of Yesterday Today, where this week we dig into the first ever non-stop Transatlantic Flight, the first ever sightings of the Loch Ness Monster and a delightfully weird romance story from teh pages of yesterdays papers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the quiet elegance of 1880s Cheltenham, a spectral presence stirred unease in a grand old family mansion in the centre of town. The ghost—described as a tall, veiled woman in black—appeared repeatedly to the daughters of the Despard family, moving silently through the house and vanishing without trace. Witnessed by multiple family members over several years, the haunting became one of Britain’s...

Back with another episode of Yesterday Today, the shoot off podcast for Dark Histories. ------- 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 avail...

In 1971, in the quiet town of Hexham, England, two small stone heads were unearthed — and with them, a series of strange and unsettling events began to unfold. Shadows moved where none should be, and visitors spoke of an unseen presence lingering in the air. Were the heads simple curiosities, ancient artifacts, or did they hold a deeper, forgotten power? Or were they simply modern toys, made by a...

Back with another episode of Yesterday Today, the shoot off podcast for Dark Histories. This week we're looking at one of the more epic boxing matches of the past, a few adverts for wind pills and hair tonics, and a couple of ghost stories dug from deep in the19th century.   ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you...

In 1933, within the quiet corridors of the palace of the Pakur Raj, a death of the young Raja stirred more than grief—it raised suspicions. What seemed at first a tragic illness soon unraveled into one of India’s most chilling and unusual murder cases, when the Raja’s own, elder half-brother was accused of using a deadly germ as a weapon, turning modern science into a tool of silent assassination....

The return of Yesterday Today! For those that remember, this is a little side episode for a bit of fun, focusing on old news reports through history. In this episode, I thought I'd focus on April Fools Day and see what we had to say about that back in the day. ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audi...

Amid the chaos of World War II, a secret project emerged from the depths of military innovation—Project X-Ray. It was an idea so strange, so deceptively simple, it bordered on madness: an army of bats, each carrying a hidden firestorm. Under the cover of night, they would infiltrate enemy cities, vanishing into eaves and rafters—silent and unseen. Without warning, flames would erupt from the shado...

In 1909, the discovery of a young woman, pale and emaciated, lying lifeless in a bathtub marked the start of an investigation into what seemed like a tragic story with a bleak ending. Just beneath the surface, however, lurked something far darker. As investigators pulled back the curtain, they uncovered a twisted tale of manipulation, greed, and murder. At its heart, the eerie, calculating Wardlaw...

By the time Japanese launched their air attack force on the US Naval base of Pearl Harbour, in Hawaii, raining down a hail of metal from the Pacific sky, the US had already been quietly preparing an Oceania invasion force, flooding troops into hastily prepared Army bases in Eastern Australia. With over a million American troops passing through the country, statistics might suggest that some would...

In the heart of the Pacific in the late 19th century, an expedition planned by Frederick and Elizabeth Walker, turned into a nightmare. In the dead of night, their ship, The Wandering Minstrel, struck the jagged reefs of Midway Atoll, splintering beneath their feet. With no way to escape, they were stranded on a barren, wind-lashed island, surrounded by endless water and lurking predators. Days st...

In the windswept town of Islandmagee, County Antrim, in the year 1711, fear took root, and hysteria fanned the flames of injustice. Eight women—healers, widows, and outcasts—stood accused of witchcraft, charged with tormenting a young girl through dark sorcery. In an Ireland largely untouched by witch trials, this case became an eerie echo of Salem’s horrors. As whispers turned to accusations, the...

Beneath the blazing Californian sun, in a world teetering on the edge of war and wonder, one man dared to ignite the stars. Jack Parsons, a visionary rocket scientist, fused the fiery realms of science and the esoteric, dreaming of propelling humanity into the cosmos. By day, he crafted engines that defied gravity; by night, he conjured rituals steeped in occult lore. A trailblazer, a heretic, and...