How Haunted? Podcast | Horrible Histories, Real Life Ghost Stories, and Paranormal Investigations from Some of the Most Haunted Places on Earth

How Haunted? Podcast | Horrible Histories, Real Life Ghost Stories, and Paranormal Investigations from Some of the Most Haunted Places on Earth

Welcome to How Haunted? the paranormal podcast where each episode we explore the horrible history, and terrifying ghost stories of one of the most haunted places on planet Earth. I’m Rob Kirkup. Author, paranormal historian, and ghost hunter from the north-east of England. Allow me to be your guide as we dare to investigate in depth the, often dark and troubled, history of each location, and of course, the chilling tales of the ghosts that reside within.

Episodes

February 13, 2026 11 mins
In the 43rd Patreon bonus podcast, you join me on the second of two nights staying in a historic hotel all alone with no one for company, that is other than two dolls which are claimed to be haunted. So what did I experience – if anything – when I attempted to make contact with the spirits of these tragic female phantoms said to be inhabit these two children’s dolls on my second night with them? Let’s find out. Join me as we a...
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In episode 129, we return to a city of secrets—a place built on modern ideals, yet haunted by whispers of its past. York House in Milton Keynes may appear an ordinary community centre by day, but behind its relatively-modern walls something may stir, something unseen, something unexplainable. I’m joined once again by Dr. Steph Lay, who has been delving into the hidden folklore of Milton Keynes, collecting the ghost stories that sh...
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January 30, 2026 253 mins
Originally released for Patreons in November 2024 I hope you enjoy this very special episode. In the 27th Patreon bonus podcast you join me on location in October of this year, 2024, in the Scottish borders at a jail built in 1823 that would house the very worst of the prisoners in the area. What would happen when fellow Geordie podcaster, Icy Sedgwick, and I joined a public ghost hunt at this jail built atop the site of a castle...
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In episode 128, we confront a question sent in by a listener: is the north or the south of England more haunted? From fog-laden streets where shadowy figures seem to linger just out of sight, to ancient halls where the air itself feels thick with memory, this is a land where the past never quite lets go. Darkened castles, abandoned prisons, and lonely manor houses all tell their stories if you know how to listen—and sometimes, if y...
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In the 42nd Patreon bonus podcast, you join me doing something I had vowed never to do again. Previously—also for the podcast—I spent two nights with a supposedly haunted doll and got far more than I bargained for. Yet, a little under two years later, I find myself checking into a hotel with not one, but two dolls for company. So what did I experience on a dark, stormy night with two allegedly haunted dolls at my side? Would they ...
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January 9, 2026 38 mins
In episode 127, we kick off 2026 by tackling the questions that you want answering, whether they be related to the paranormal, the podcast, or something else entirely. Let’s jump in and for the fourth time in an episode like this I answer your questions. Support How Haunted? by subscribing and leaving a review. Check out the official merch store at ⁠⁠⁠⁠how-haunted.dashery.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ where you can buy t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, hat...
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December 31, 2025 93 mins
As we bid farewell to 2025 and begin an exciting new year, allow me to bring you one final dose of How Haunted? for the year as we pick up where we left off in our Nightmare Before Christmas special, and I bring you real life ghost stories from listeners just like you, as well as a few polterguests dropping by to tell us a spooky tale of their own. So without further ado, let the New Year’s Evil begin. Thanks so much to Claire, S...
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Originally released for Patreons in October 2024 I hope you enjoy this very special episode. In the 26th Patreon bonus podcast you join me for a very special Halloween Patreon episode as I am on location in the Scottish Borders. You will come with me as I walk these ancient streets and ramparts, and tell you the dark history and ghost stories of the most northern town in England. And of course this October is Vampire Month on the ...
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Something a little bit different, this isn't an episode of How Haunted? but rather an episode of a podcast I'm a huge fan of, and we agreed to do a feed swap. So I bring you episode 606 of History Goes Bump. I hope you enjoy it. Episode 606 - There are two main Spiritualist Camps in America dating back to the Victorian Era: Lilydale in New York and Cassadaga in Florida. We've visited Cassadaga several times, which is known as the...
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In this, the 41st Patreon bonus episode, with it being Christmas, we're starting a brand new annual tradition. I'll read you a ghost story first published in 1925, 100 years ago, in the London Mercury—a classic tale from the master himself, M.R. James. Christmas is a time for ghost stories, so allow me to share one with you. So, turn the lights down low, pour yourself a drink, make yourself comfortable, and let’s begin this year’s...
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December 19, 2025 103 mins
Christmas is here once again, and in this – the fourth annual Nightmare Before Christmas special I will once again read real ghost stories from listeners, and there’ll also be a number of very special polterguests dropping by to tell you of their own scary experiences, in their own words. So, let us get this year’s Nightmare Before Christmas underway. Thanks so much to Carl, Emma, Mikkoulf, Oivind, Janet, Anonymous and Anonymous ...
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December 12, 2025 52 mins
In episode 124 we continue to focus on a bleak, isolated island where those infected during the black death were brought here and simply left to die. Then on top of that there was the psychiatric hospital which opened in 1922 and rumours of a mad doctor who carried out all manner of inhumane experiments on patients. Today this island is off limits and very few people on earth have stepped foot on in this plague island, but I’m go...
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To be in with a chance of winning either a copy of my book Ghosts of the North East or one of two haunted dolls, check out the merch store at https://how-haunted.dashery.com/ and the Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/cw/HowHauntedPod For more information about Ghosts of the North East take a look at it on Amazon Ghosts of the North East: Amazon.co.uk: Kirkup, Rob: 9781398121676: Books Good luck, and thanks so much for supporting...
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In episode 123 we set sail for a small, abandoned island which is infamous the world over. Once a quarantine station for plague victims in the 18th century, it later became home to a psychiatric hospital with disturbing rumours of mistreatment and eerie experiments. Over centuries, tens of thousands of lives ended here, their stories lost to time—but many believe their presence remains in the form of the ghosts that have claimed th...
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Originally released for Patreons in September 2024 I hope you enjoy this very special episode. In the 25th Patreon bonus podcast you join below Edinburgh’s famous Royal Mile, where a historic close lies that was once a thriving community in it’s own right. It was open to the skies above, and named, unusually for the 17th century for a woman who was the most successful businesswoman here until her death in 1644. The building of t...
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November 14, 2025 63 mins
In episode 122 we head to Devon and into a castle that is known the world over by those with an interest in the paranormal. I won’t be alone for this one as I will be joined by someone who has visited this ruined fortress on multiple occasions, as fan-favourite Emma from the Weird Wiltshire Blog joins me to delve deep into the spirits that are believed by some to remain here. So join Emma and I and let us ask together, just how ha...
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In the 39th Patreon bonus podcast you join me on my way north into the remote wilderness of Northumberland in pursuit of an eight foot tall hairy monster who made headlines across Britain in the early 2000s. The sightings were considered so credible that a team of professional monster hunters came in search of the beast. And saw it. But what would my good friend John and I experience as we enter Bolam Lake Country Park just as ...
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Halloween is here... Over the past few weeks, we’ve scoured the misty shores of Loch Ness, tracked elusive footprints through Pacific Northwest forests, and followed blood-curdling tales from the deserts of the Americas. From Nessie to Bigfoot to the Chupacabra, we’ve crossed continents chasing the creatures that stalk our imaginations. But tonight… tonight, we’ve saved the strangest for last. This story isn’t just a legend—it’s...
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Originally released for Patreons in August 2024 I hope you enjoy this very special episode. In the 24th Patreon bonus podcast you join me at a magnificent building we visited back in episode 21 of the podcast, but we're doing something a little bit special. In April I found a hard drive containing audio from four investigations that I conducted in 2011 and 2012. Dozens of hours of audio that I lost around a decade ago, and I thoug...
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In episode 120 we go in search of towering, hairy beasts that are said to stalk the wilderness. From the snow-covered slopes of the Himalayas to the dense forests of North America, reports of upright, ape-like creatures have refused to die, no matter how much science tries to bury them. In this episode, we’re taking on the heavyweights of cryptid folklore — creatures with names so iconic they barely need introduction. As Monster M...
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