After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal
This is After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds and the Paranormal. The podcast that takes you to the shadiest corners of the past, unpicking history’s spookiest, strangest, and most sinister stories. Join historians Anthony Delaney and Maddy Pelling, every Monday and Thursday to take a look at the darker side of history. From haunted pubs and Houdini, to witch trials and weird UFO sightings. After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds and the Paranormal - a podcast by History Hit, the world's best history channel and creators of award-winning podcasts Dan Snow's History Hit, Gone Medieval, and Betwixt the Sheets. Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
For Medieval Europe, the Apocalypse wasn’t just a metaphor - it was very real and very imminent.
We are talking about the four horsemen, locusts the size of horses, the beast of the abyss, the Whore of Babylon, and, obviously, the anti-christ.
We’re going to go through the medieval apocalypse blow-by-blow to see how this obsession with the end led to bizarre real-world cults like the Flagellants, who abandoned all norms for group sex...
In 1540 Henry VIII was getting old, and his eyes turned to teenager Catherine Howard.
He fell hard and fast for Catherine - his "rose without a thorn" - but when he found out about her past, all hell broke loose.
Amidst all the panic and confusion, who was this young woman who rose to be queen? Why did Henry VIII want her killed? And how should we remember her?
Joining Anthony and Maddy is author and historian Gareth Russe...
Did Nostradamus really predict everything from the Great Fire of London to the rise of Hitler?
We predict that you'll find out in this episode...
Join Anthony and Maddy as they explore the life of 16th century astrologer and so-called seer, Nostradamus, to find out if he really had the ability to see into the future.
This episode was edited by Tim Artsall and produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Freddy Chic...
Did they wear black hoods? Whose axe did they use? How did you get the job in the first place? Today Anthony Delaney takes Maddy Pelling inside the world of the Tudor Executioner.
Research by Phoebe Joyce, edited by Tim Arstall, produced by Freddy Chick.
You can now watch After Dark on Youtube! www.youtube.com/@afterdarkhistoryhit
Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new rel...
Henry VIII was a monarch everyone was excited for, and turned into someone who weaponised his powers for murder.
What happened in his life that caused the death toll to suddenly rise?
In this episode, Anthony and Maddy are joined by historian and author, Gareth Russell, to unpack the warning signs that led to beheadings, burnings and savagery in the Tudor court.
Find out more about Gareth's work: https://www.garethrussell....
Deep in Renaissance Rome, it is said that a woman called Giulia Tofana supplied poison to kill some 500 abusive men.
Is this the stuff of myth and folklore? What historical truth is there to be found? And how was Santa involved in this story?!
Join Anthony and Maddy as they go back to the 17th century to explore this story more.
This podcast was edited by Tim Arstall and produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was...
Reality is the real horror.
Every Monday, poet and paranormal obsessive Heidi Wong unearths the chilling true stories behind the world’s most terrifying legends. From haunted dolls to cursed houses, each episode of Twisted Tales reveals the disturbing real-life events that inspired horror’s biggest blockbusters and the ones too twisted to make it to screen. Some stories are stranger than fiction. These are darker.
New episodes every ...
What are the origins of keening for the dead? What is the history of Irish wakes? And why must you never put a coffin down on the way to the funeral?
Anthony tells Maddy and special guest Dan Snow about the history of Irish funerary traditions.
Edited by Tomos Delargy. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.
You can now watch After Dark on Youtube! www.youtube.com/@afterdarkhistoryhit
Sarah Dazley was one of the most infamous women in the world for a moment in 1843 when she was accused of poisoning not one but two former husbands. Our guest today is Nat Doig - creator of the podcast Weird in the Wade - a podcast about all that's weird and wonderful in/around the town of Biggleswade, Bedfordshire.
You can now watch After Dark on Youtube! www.youtube.com/@afterdarkhistoryhit
From the spookiest corner of the British isles, comes two stories of witches. Stories of fairies and magical powers, of skeletons and haunted history. Our guest is the manager of Bodmin Jail in Cornwall - Jess Marlton - https://www.bodminjail.org/.
This episode was edited by Tom Delargy and produced by Freddy Chick. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.
You can now watch After Dark on Youtube! www.youtube.com/@afterdarkh...
Eugene Aram was an 18th century schoolmaster who got away with murder for fourteen years. Then a skeleton was unearthed and a case that had been forgotten burst into life & created a legend.
Maddy Pelling tells Anthony Delaney the story this week.
Research by Phoebe Joyce. Edited by Tomos Delargy. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.
You can now watch After Dark on Youtube! www.youtube.com/@after...
What did Medieval people think about rats? Did they have any idea that they were the cause of the Black Death? How did they use charms and poisons to try to get rid of them? Today we explore the world of the Black Death Rat with Kathleen Walker-Meikle, historian of Medieval pets and animals whose books include 'Medieval Pets', 'Cats in Medieval Manuscripts', 'Dogs in Medieval Manuscripts'.
This episode was edited by Tom Delargy ...
Behind the current display of celebrity waxworks lies the dark and bloody history of Madam Tussauds.
Join Anthony and Maddy as they go back to the 18th century, when Marie Tussaud escapes the guillotines of Revolutionary France to carve (and mould) her fortune and legacy in wax.
This episode was edited by Tom Delargy and produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.
The Tudor court was dangerous and high stakes at the best of times, where survival could often mean betraying others.
Enter: Jane Boleyn, thrust into the Tudor limelight when her sister-in-law, Anne Boleyn, marries Henry VIII.
Did she really contribute to the axe falling on Anne Boleyn's neck? Was she a spy for Thomas Cromwell? Was all of this just what it took to survive as a woman in this world?
It's 1864 and the height of industrialisation. The thrill of railway travel is shattered with the first murder that takes place on it.
Join Anthony and Maddy as they pick apart the murder of wealthy banker John Briggs, that takes them from a blood-stained first class carriage in London to a police chase to New York.
This episode was edited by Tom Delargy, and produced by Stuart Beckwith. Research by Phoebe Joyce. The senior p...
Dan Snow joins After Dark to reveal the brutal reality of life of sailors during the golden age of sail. From the cat o' nine tails, to the pressgang, from scurvy to mutineers. How did people survive the most extreme conditions imaginable?
Edited by Tomos Delargy. Produced by Freddy Chick and Mariana Des Forges. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.
You can now watch After Dark on Youtube! www.youtube.com/@afterdarkhistoryhit
The end of Elizabeth I's life was shrouded in darkness and plots as powerful figures circled her throne. How did Elizabeth hold off contenders reaching for the crown? And did James VI & I steal it in the end?
Our guest today is Dr Tracy Borman whose new book The Stolen Crown: Treachery, Deceit and the Death of the Tudor Dynasty is out now.
Edited by Tom Delargy. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.
We often think of Egyptian Pharaohs as a glamorous god-king of Ancient times, yet the truth of these people is a lot, lot darker.
Who was the first Pharaoh? What shocking, violent stories surround some of these figures? How did their rule of Ancient Egypt come to an end?
Joining Anthony and Maddy today is the always-fantastic Campbell Price, Egyptologist at University of Liverpool, and curator of Egypt and Sudan at the Manche...
There are a disturbingly high number of contenders for the title of Rome's Darkest Emperor - so as you can imagine, things get extremely disturbing in this episode.
Joining Anthony and Maddy to introduce you to a couple of them, is Rome-based historian and tour guide, Alexander Meddings.
Edited by Tom Delargy. Produced by Stuart Beckwith. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.
You can now watch After Dark on Youtube! www.yo...
Join Anthony and Maddy as they spend a day - or should that be night? - in the life of a 19th century body snatcher.
Find out which months they favoured for body snatching, why they never stole the dead body's possessions, and why they would never steal a body under a full moon - all referenced from a real-life grave robber's diary.
Edited by Tom Delargy. Produced by Stuart Beckwith. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.
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