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/darkhisto ..read more

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 ..read more

“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 Bur ..read more

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 hav ..read more

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, veter ..read more

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 o ..read more

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 c ..read more

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 ..read more

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 & Lam ..read more

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 co ..read more