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Dark Histories

Fortnightly narratives on the unsolved and the unexplained, mysteries, historical true crime, touches of the paranormal and cultural peculiarities.

history

All Episodes

01:01:57

Death Raft: The Wreck of The Medusa

Dark Histories ·

2019/09/01

As The Medusa sailed from Rochefort in 1816, many aboard saw bright futures ahead for themselves. They were escaping a country torn asunder, harshly divided by war, revolution and eventual restoration. With the French Empire floundering and a band of Hard-Right ultra-royalists creating laws in France, the promise of a new start in a fresh land was enticing for many. Little did they expect to meet such a high degree of incompetency on their voyage, had they foreseen even a fraction of the horrors

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01:12:27

James Dunham & The McGlincy Murders

Dark Histories ·

2019/08/18

Campbell, California. Lying in the heart of Santa Clara County, a periphery city of Silicon Valley and the birthplace of E-Bay. In 1896, 100 years before websites facilitating the auctioning of used underwear and haunted paintings had been dreamt up, Campbell was the scene for a gruesome family killing that saw posses of bounty hunters and bloodhounds, looking to cash in on the reward placed on the head of the murderer, embark on manhunt across mountains and valleys that would span years and

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01:02:46

William Cragh: The Not So Hanged Man

Dark Histories ·

2019/08/04

William the Scabby was lead out to the scaffold on which he was to be hanged. A rebel against the Anglo-Norman rule, he had been sentenced to death on 13 counts of Homicide. Now it was time for him to meet his maker. Except, that is not how the story ends, for though William was hanged “until dead”, he was not to stay as such and later in the day, his miraculous resurrection was witnessed by a large proportion of the population of Swansea, including the highly experienced executioner

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49:14

Lost & Found: The Mysterious case of Pauline Picard

Dark Histories ·

2019/07/21

When Pauline went missing in 1922, all hope was initially lost of her return, until a month later, when she showed up 200 miles away. Her parents collected her, took her home and lived with her for several weeks before a body showed up just 800 metres from their house. The body alone was shocking enough, but quickly became doubly so as it was identified as the body of the lost & found Pauline. SOURCES: ‘Whose Child?’ (1922, May 27), The Pall Mall Gazette, London. P.8. ‘Killed & Stripped by Foxes’

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01:29:33

Belle Gunness: Lady Bluebeard & The Murder Farm

Dark Histories ·

2019/07/07

When the Altic Farm House, on the outskirts of La Porte, Indiana burnt down in 1908, locals thought it a tragedy that claimed the lives of three children and their heroic mother, who had died trying to protect them from the flames. During the excavation of the debris, the story flipped on its head as far more than the 4 bodies expected were eventually found. Butchered and cast into pits they were victims of Belle Gunness, a woman the newspapers would come to call the La Porte Ghoul, The Indiana

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01:27:57

The Dodleston Messages: Ghost in the Machine

Dark Histories ·

2019/06/23

On Dark Histories, we hear the words of people lost to history, echoing through the writings of labourers, servants, judges, juries, maids and mistresses exactly as they were written in decades and centuries past. This one way communication with history is always limited by it’s very definition and no matter how much we dig, we can never ask the writers what were they feeling as they wrote each line, and whilst we judge them by the information they give, we can never invite them to ask what they

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01:21:25

The Curious Case of Not Townsend

Dark Histories ·

2019/06/09

Getting away with murder has always been a difficult, and ultimately, unlikely affair, even in the 19th Century, before DNA analysis, fingerprint databases, or even any real, proper detective agencies, it was still a challenge that many criminals tried and failed. There were some however, that did manage to achieve the feat, whether it be through cool calculation, or dumb luck, there was always opportunity for the enthusiastic murderer willing to think outside the box. In Canada during the mid-19th

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01:27:27

Detective Whicher & The Road Hill House Mystery

Dark Histories ·

2019/05/26

The events that took place in the village of Road during the year 1860 would seem straight out of Victorian detective fiction. The characters played their roles as the family, the live in staff, the day staff and all with their own lives and their own secrets entwined inside the gated middle class household of Road House, one of them guilty of a shocking murder. With all its twists, turns and bombastic, final unravelling, the Murder of Road Hill House is the original whodunnit. Sources: Summerscale,

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01:16:49

Terror in Gévaudan: The Beast

Dark Histories ·

2019/05/12

In 1764, France was a tumultuous place. On the eve of Revolution, the peasant farmers of the remote region of Gévaudan were suffering from decades of difficulties, brought about by war, poverty, poor agricultural conditions and plague. As the Summer brought about favourable weather and life for the population of the barren and sparse region should have begun an upswing in fortune, a series of attacks marked the beginning of a reign of terror that would last almost three years, headed by a monster

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01:25:20

The Balham Mystery: The Death of Charles Bravo

Dark Histories ·

2019/04/28

In April, 1876, Charles Bravo took to his bedroom, rubbed a dose of laudanum into his gums and poured himself a glass of water from the jug on his nightstand. Within minutes of retiring to bed, Charles Bravo fell desperately ill. Within two days, he would be pronounced dead, the victim of Antimony poisoning. Suicide, manslaughter and murder have been cast forward by amateur historians and famous crime writers alike. 145 years on, some have claimed to have solved the mystery of the death of Charles

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59:52

Waverly Hills: The History & The Hauntings

Dark Histories ·

2019/03/31

A much requested episode on the history of Waverly Hills, a Tuberculosis Sanatorium in Kentucky. These days, it features in just about every bad cable TV show on ghosts all around the world, but whats the reality behind the decrepit walls that are left standing today? And how much truth is there to the ghosts that allegedly walk the halls? Sources: Thomas, C. C. (2007) With their dying breaths: A history of Waverly Hills Tuberculosis Sanatorium. C C Thomas, 2007 Opening of Waverly Hill Sanatorium

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01:06:28

Lurancy Vennum & The Watseka Wonder

Dark Histories ·

2019/03/17

This week, we have a story of a 19th Century spiritual possession, when 14 year old Lurancy Vennum began suffering from fits that eventually led her to visiting heaven, speaking with angels and finally, taking in the spirit of deceased 19 year old Mary Roff, the daughter of local spiritualists. Sources: The demonism of the ages, spirit obsessions so common in spiritism, … Peebles, J. M. (James Martin), 1822-1922. The Watseka wonder; a startling and instructive psychological …Stevens, E. Winchester,

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01:19:51

The Disappearance of Lord Lucan

Dark Histories ·

2019/03/03

Lord Lucan, a name of considerable infamy, not as a member of the aristocracy, but for the murder of his children's nanny in a house in the elitist district of Belgravia, London in 1973 and his subsequent disappearance. It was a story that the press went to town on, a classic us vs them tale of Class superiority and those that would seek to protect the hierarchy at all costs, but how much of it was based on truth and how much just a convenient narrative for the journalists that covered the case? It

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01:50:16

Bridget Cleary: Away with the Fairies

Dark Histories ·

2019/02/17

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 was convinced that he would see his wife again, riding on the back of a grey horse as she emerged from

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51:31

Everyday Sensationalism in Victorian Britain: The...

Dark Histories ·

2019/02/03

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. Stay tuned to the end of the episode for a special announcement, or if you like spoiling surprises, take

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23:52

Bonus Episode? January Patreon AMA

Dark Histories ·

2019/01/27

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 episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories Connect with us on Facebook:

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01:37:27

Bella Wright & The Green Bicycle Mystery

Dark Histories ·

2019/01/13

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 disappeared completely. For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to

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50:51

BONUS: Christmas Campfire 2018

Dark Histories ·

2018/12/24

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 the end was my band's improv, and possibly the most horrendous, rendition of Silent Night. Ho Ho Ho.

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58:27

The Rise & Fall of Spring Heeled Jack

Dark Histories ·

2018/12/16

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 burst onto the scene, metal claw and all, stirring a sensation that was far too ripe for anyone to

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01:26:15

The Euston Square Mystery

Dark Histories ·

2018/12/02

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 expected the stories that would soon come flooding out from one particular household, when in 1879, the

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