Dark Histories

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 &

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 A

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,

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

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 Carr

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 eve

“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) S

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 Adverti

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. Socia

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 a

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

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!

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

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://

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

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 he

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

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

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. W

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 Englis