Dark Histories

30/09/2024

Smile, it’s international podcast day apparently. I’m not sure what that means but it’s apparently true.

22/03/2024

ICYMI - this week we dive back into Victorian England for a murder that was worthy of the sensational headlines given by the press.

https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-e7hqy-15b31c9

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 ju...

06/03/2024

The story of a British psychiatrist who wants to save the world. Sorta.

https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-bc3sd-159e0c0

“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, w...

19/02/2024

Lies, a double life, bizarre allegations and a faked death - all in this week’s episode of DH!
https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-pb4yy-1586923

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....

14/02/2024

This week’s episode is a bit grim, but interesting nonetheless. https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-9vugv-157a4ea

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 fight...

23/01/2024

Dipping into a bit of cryptozoology this episode! It’s a winged and wild!
https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-6xdfs-155ae74

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...

12/01/2024

We’re kicking off Season 8 with a banger of an episode! Thank you ALL for for listening!!

https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-k94fm-15496a1

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, th...

04/12/2023

A few more images from the 1982 Unexplained magazine with a piece in Gef. The article itself was quite brief but the images were fantastic. We have from left to right, Gef’s “footprints”cast in plasticine by James, Voirrey and Mona and the farmhouse at Doarlish Cashen where the whole story played out.

20/11/2023

It was just a matter of time before Gef made it to DH.

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....

20/11/2023

This weeks episode is digging into an old Fortean favourite with Gef, the very clever little mongoose. I was lucky enough to snag this old magazine off eBay that covered Gef way back in 1982. It turned out to not be that useful as a source, but you know, it’s good to be thorough and it had some really nice hi res photos which were great.

31/10/2023

This is one that I had been meaning to get to but kept putting off - seems Halloween is the perfect time to get it done.
https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-kw5y2-14e634b

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 rippi...

18/10/2023

It’s that time of year again, nights are drawing in, days getting colder and Halloween round the corner. I read this book every year in autumn and I never really get bored of it. Any autumn/fall favourites for you?

🍁

18/10/2023

Considered as the crime of the century and unparallelled in the fear and panic these murders 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. Enjoy?!

https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-suudg-14d3b22

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...

02/10/2023

I reckoned we should start October with nothing less than a good old-fashioned possession, exorcism and ex*****on!
https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-rckjh-14bcb98 *****on *****on

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 unde...

18/09/2023

This week we’re just outside Chichester, on the South coast of England at the HInton Ampner Manor House. Settle in for a ghost story that took place long before its time.

https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-xv68q-14a9dd4

In an old estate situated just outside Chichester, on the South coast of England sits the HInton Ampner manor house. Rebuilt several times over its 1000 year existence, its current iteration is an innocuous brick building with little in common with the Tudor mansion that stood before and no hints to...

14/09/2023

Dark Histories has been shortlisted for the Independent Podcast Awards in the categories Horror/Supernatural & True Crime! So exciting! I’m super proud that the podcast has always managed to stay indie all these years, thanks to all the kind support of everyone who listens to the show, thanks a ton!!

06/09/2023

This episode we stay in France but do a 400 year time jump into hypnotism, murder & a pot of honey. 😏
https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-nimw6-149a85e

Amid the opulence of Belle Époque France, a trial took place that threatened to unravel the very meaning of human legal justice. Michel Eyraud and Gabrielle Bompard, two French citizens living their lives quietly in Paris were launched into the spotlight following the discovery of a decomposing cor...

23/08/2023

For this episode we go back - WAY back - to the Medieval times with a surprisingly modern twist of an investigation.

https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-9z7sc-1487fa8

On the eve of the worst winter for over a century and with France on the brink of war with the English, the 1400s in Paris were a tumultuous period. With a mentally unstable king and a collection of dukes, lords and nobles all vying for power in the background, catastrophe was only a single assassin...