After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal

Some estimates have it that Amelia Dyer killed more than 400 babies. It's hard to say for sure because so few victims were recovered. She was a phantom that grew up in a very dark corner of Victorian society where helpless mothers were given with no better options but to give their babies to 'baby farmers'. Anthony tells Maddy this painful history. Edited and produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Produ...

Have you ever wondered what the ancient origins of witchcraft is? How did the black-hat-broomstick stereotype emerge? And what causes the waves of witch trials throughout history, right up to the present day? Ronald Hutton is back on After Dark to discuss the history of the witch, in an episode from our sister podcast, Betwixt the Sheets. This podcast was mixed and produced by Stuart Beckwith. The...

The Victorians created the unsettling art of death photography - posing their deceased love ones in family portraits as if they were alive. How did they manage to make corpses strike poses? Why did they want to? Maddy and Anthony are joined by Brandy Schillace, author of Death’s Summer Coat - What Death and Dying Cal Tell Us about Life and Living to flick through the strangest, and most moving, of...

Did a Tudor prophetess correctly predict the English Civil War, the Crimean War, the sinking of the Titanic, World War One and the end of days? And what does she have to do with turning teddy bears into stone? Find out as Maddy and Anthony discuss Mother Shipton's life, legend and legacy. Written by Maddy Pelling Edited and produced by Freddy Chick. Senior producer is Charlotte Long. Discover the...

Witch hunts blazed across Europe from the 1400s right into the 1700s. Their terror has been burned into the collective memory. But how accurate are the pictures we have in our heads? For this episode, Anthony and Maddy are joined by Suzannah Lipscomb, host of Not Just the Tudor. She helps them delve deep into the realities of witches and witch trials in Early Modern Europe. Edited by Joseph Knight...

For Albert Pierrepoint, execution was a family affair. His father and uncle were hangmen and from the 1940s until the late 1950s Albert was Britain's "Number One" executioner. Which meant he was the one sent to hang the Nazis who ran the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at the end of the war. Who was Albert Pierrepoint? What does it take to be able to execute hundreds of people? And what is 'The D...

What is spectrophilia? Well, it's a fetish for ghosts (as well as mirrors), so being turned on by anything lurking in the non-physical realm. What are the historic origins of this fetish and phenomenon? And what real life stories can be told of it? Maddy and Anthony talked with Kate Lister, wonderful host of our sister podcast Betwixt the Sheets. This podcast was edited by Siobhan Dale and produce...

What lurks beneath the dark waters of Loch Ness? The legendary monster? A piece of Celtic folklore? A warning of the Nazis' rise to power? A fraudster? Today Anthony and Maddy are examining grainy photographs, picking over descriptions of monsters and trying to work out what it all means. Written by Anthony Delaney Edited by Tom Delargy. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long....

Other countries celebrate their victories and independence. But in Britain, we celebrate a bungling terrorist from the 17th century. Why? Who was Guy Fawkes? What was the Gunpowder Plot? And why must we Remember, Remember the 5th of November? Maddy Pelling and Anthony Delaney are joined by historian and author Steven Veerapen - author of (among other titles) Of Blood Descended: An Anthony Blanke T...

Can it be murder if you think you're killing a ghost? In 1804 the London suburb of Hammersmith was being terrorised by a ghost. One man set out to hunt down whoever, or whatever, this was. He almost swung from the end of a rope for his troubles. Join Anthony and Maddy for this ghostly Halloween episode. Written by Maddy Pelling. Edited by Tom Delargy. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is C...

Bodmin Jail can claim to be one of the most haunted buildings in Britain. Perhaps that's because of all the hangings that took place here. Or the postmortem punishment the jail dolled out to prisoners. Or perhaps it is because it's in Cornwall - land of giants, beasts and all things otherworldly. Maddy and Anthony are joined by Jess Marlton, manager of Bodmin Jail, to talk about life, death and af...

In 1727, Janet Horne of the Highland community of Dornoch became the last person in Britain to be tried and executed for witchcraft. As the poet Edwin Morgan put it; They tarred her and feathered her, bound her and barrelled her burning in the peat-smoke, while the good folk of Dornoch paused briefly for a look. But maybe the events aren’t quite as black and white as they seem? Maddy Pelling tells...

Today Siobhán McSweeney (Derry Girls) joins Anthony Delaney and Maddy Pelling for the story of the Banshee. In Irish folklore the Banshee heralds the death of a family member, usually by shrieking, or keening. Anthony tells us a story about one dying man - Charles Bunworth d.1772 - who was called to his death by a Banshee's wailing cries. Written by Anthony Delaney. Edited by Tom Delargy. Senior P...

Was ever a ship more aptly named? In 1845, HMS Terror (and its forgettably named sister ship HMS Erebus) set off from Victorian Britain. Their quest was to discover the fabled Northwest passage through the Arctic ice. The crew were heroes in waiting. Yet by the end the rules that govern life on board Royal Navy vessels collapsed into chaos and cannibalism. Maddy tells Anthony this story about life...

They’re the most famous grave-robbers in the world…except they never actually robbed any graves. Discover the true story of Burke and Hare’s murderous rampage through the streets of Edinburgh, all to serve the needs of the city’s scientific minds. Anthony tells Maddy the unnerving details about the infamous 19th century serial-killing duo. Written by Anthony Delaney. Edited by Tom Delargy. Produce...

This episode is a bloody delight: from flesh-eating fish and humiliating deaths inside sacks, to a deadly re-enactment of the Icarus myth. For a culture that is seen as an emblem of civilisation (whatever that means), the Romans expended a lot of creative energy on inventing new ways to kill people. And our guest today knows them all! Anthony Delaney and Maddy Pelling are joined by the one and onl...

From its prehistoric origins until today, Halloween has always had the Shiver of Terror running through it. First as a pagan festival of Winter-the-Bringer-of-Death. Then as a Catholic holy day dedicated to lost Souls in purgatory. Now as a celebration of horrifyingly bad fancy dress! Maddy and Anthony speak to the one-and-only Professor Ronald Hutton, a national treasure who is the author of too...

Laundress-turned-murderess, Sarah Malcolm horrified Georgian London in 1733 when she was found guilty of killing three women she worked for while they slept. For wealthy Georgians this was a nightmare come true: a servant killing the household they served. Sarah became a celebrity killer and was painted by none other than William Hogarth while she sat in jail. Anthony Delaney tells Maddy Pelling t...

Introducing After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal, the podcast that takes you to the shadiest corners of the past, unpicking history’s spookiest, strangest, and most sinister stories. Meet your hosts, historians Anthony Delaney and Maddy Pelling, who will be taking a look at the darker side of history. From haunted pubs and Houdini, to witch trials and weird UFO sightings. New episodes ever...