Dark Histories

Faeries, changelings and herbalist doctors might seem like characters in a winding tale of medieval folklore today, but in 1895, Ireland bore witness to a case that saw these facets of folk tradition flare up in a very real way when Michael Cleary, a skilled tradesman of County Tipperary set fire to his wife, burning her to death. As the body of Bridget Cleary was placed in the ground, her husband...

We take a deep look at the Victorian press and in particular, hone in on the wonder that was The Illustrated Police News. Most famous today for its coverage of Jack the Ripper, the paper covered all manner of Victorian crime, punishment, murder, suicide and cultural oddities. Aimed at the masses, it was sensationalist, scandalous and wildly popular, much to the chagrin of the established press. St...

Bit of a massive cock-up this week, all is explained, but instead of skipping a week, I'm putting out this episode instead. Apologies, back to usual programming from next week! 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...

It was the summer of 1919, in a leafy rural region of Leicestershire that we turn our focus towards today and a woman named Bella Wright, who was found lying dead by the roadside one quiet, Saturday evening. At first, police assumed her death to have been an accident, but things escalated quickly, when a gunshot wound was later discovered and the last man seen with Bella alive appeared to have dis...

We're back for 2018 with more listener stories sent in specially for this Christmas Bonus. Thank you so much to all the contributors and to everyone for listening this year. Merry Christmas. The music in this episode was used under Creative Commons License. made by Composer Myuu, you can find his YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiSKnkKCKAQVxMUWpZQobuQ The very last song at t...

Victorian England, an age of great industry, enlightenment, of learning and of advancement. Equally, it was the age of spiritualism, parapsychology, and restrictive social practices. In the chaotic streets of the suburbs of London, the first Victorian Urban Legend was waiting to be born, beating out Sweeney Todd by a full 9 years, Spring Heeled Jack brewed in the fears of an uncertain populace and...

The Lodging houses of Victorian London held no shortage of scandal and intrigue for the more imaginative Londoners in the 19th Century. The Maids and their masters, the comings and goings of a transient household and the very concept of strangers living together under one roof in an age when such situations were not seen as natural. Still, even the most imaginative of passers by could not have exp...

The tale of room 1046 of the President Hotel in Kansas City is a strange one. A murder mystery with almost no clues and no evidence at the crime scene, but a victim with three names, left beaten, possibly tortured and a trail of several peculiar phone calls. For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign u...

This week, we have a tale of Devilry and witchcraft, demonic possessions and a good dose of Persecution on all fronts! Pre-dating Salem by 3 years, Ann Glover was an Irish immigrant living in Boston in 1688, hung for witchcraft, an event which laid the groundwork for what would happen up the road a few years later. For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistor...

Happy Halloween! As a special bonus episode to celebrate the good Hallows Eve, I decided to dig up and re-write five old folk horror tales from around the world. The stories span the last 500 years and show that no matter what time you lived in or which language you spoke, we all have a fascination with telling a good scary tale. Usual schedule will commence with a new episode this coming Sunday....

In 1941, a man named Phillip Peters was found murdered in his home in Denver, Colorado. The doors and windows to the house showed no signs of forced entry and were locked when neighbours discovered the body. Strange stories of odd sightings flew around the neighbourhood, with the attack becoming known in the papers as “The Denver ghost house slayings”. The truth however, was to be something far st...

Part 2 of 2 In 1946, The American twin city of Texarkana was plunged into the depths of panic and fear. The population of the postwar suburb was subjected to a series of murders that shook the dual cities to their core, prompting curfews, rumours and unease to spread through the area like the rail tracks that crept from it’s central hub. Nights of midnight movies, drive-in cafes, the songs of Duke...

Part 1 of 2 In 1946, The American twin city of Texarkana was plunged into the depths of panic and fear. The population of the postwar suburb was subjected to a series of murders that shook the dual cities to their core, prompting curfews, rumours and unease to spread through the area like the rail tracks that crept from it’s central hub. Nights of midnight movies, drive-in cafes, the songs of Duke...

In 2011, Russia bore witness to one of the most bizarre cases in the countries criminal history. A story of Black magic, the Occult and one man's unusual hobby. 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 Ea...

Half a century before the Fox Sisters showed up on the scene to propel mainstream spiritualism onto the populace of America, there was a much lesser known haunting taking place in the cellar of a small frontier settlement, named Sullivan in Maine. Though it was extensively documented at the time, the many eye-witness testimonies fell to the back pages of history. Despite its relatively unknown sta...

All aboard, we're going back to the Victorian era to shed some light on the first ever murder on a train in Britain at a time when people were already terrified on this crazy new technology. It's not all high speed steam trains though, we've even got a super slow-mo police chase across the Atlantic! For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support...

We're crashing back to earth this week with the lesser known story of William Herbert Wallace and his wife Julia. This is a case named over and over again as the quintessential murder mystery, despite its relatively unknown status. 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://audibl...

Starting off in 1890, we take a look back at the history of secret radio transmissions, leading up until today and unravel some of the mystery, whilst uncovering some new oddities, of what are known as 'Numbers Stations'. 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...

We head to the Yorkshire moors to take a look at one story of a mysterious death and then through bizarre coincidence, a second story of lights in the sky and little men with lamp like heads. 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 Pa...

We take a look at Roch Theriault, the brutal leader of the Canadian cult, The Ant Hill Kids. More than mere eccentric, Theriualt brutally abused his followers in the name of God, going to depths of depravity that is rarely seen even for this podcast. For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com This episode is sponsered by sudio.com headphones, use cod...

The Grisly story of one of Americas most evasive Serial Killers Vs one of Americas most famous crime fighters. The mad butcher carved up his victims throughout the 1930's, evading capture from an entire police department, headed up by none other than the infamous Eliot Ness. During the Great Depression times were hard and in Cleveland, they were all the more dificult as the dank, dark streets of t...

In 1845, Emilie Sagée took a job at the Neuwelcke boarding school. It was her 18th teaching position in 16 years. The girls of the school would soon find out why, when on numerous occasions, Emilie was seen wandering the halls or sitting at the front of class, even when she was known to be elsewhere. Often claimed to be the most well documented case of a doppelgänger, this week we dig deep to find...

This episode I get stuck into The Crabb Affair, a strange disappearance from 1956, surrounded by Cold War suspicion and government cover-ups. Who doesn't love a good spy tale? Especially one that is as suspicious as this. The intro to this episode contains a clip from a short British Pathe film that you can see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uojs8GU3NpI For extended show notes, including ma...

We dig up the life and times of Matthew Hopkins, the self-proclaimed Witchfinder General. A man that, in just 2 years, was responsible for around 60% of all witch trials in England spanning 3 centuries. He hailed from a Puritan, East Anglian background, an area of England that would later see heavy emigration to America and a people that would carry their beliefs into the Salem Witch Trials. For e...

In this weeks episode, Sally and I don our sceptic hats and delve into 1920s Egypt to dig up the story of Tutankhamun and the crazy publicity storm that followed Howard Carter after his uncovering of the tomb. 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/darkhistori...