After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal

A four thousand(ish) year old murder trial. A procession of the dead. Kings who believed they could escape the gods by dressing gardeners in royal clothes...then killing them. Welcome to the Dark Side of Ancient Mesopotamia! Guiding Maddy and Anthony through this most ancient and most fascinating civilisation is the incredible Professor Amanda Podany, author of 'Weavers, Scribes and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East'.

'Strike, man, strike!' were the last words of Sir Walter Raleigh as his neck lay on the block. After thirteen years in the Tower of London, (multiple) expeditions to find a city of gold, and a plot to kill the king, Walter Raleigh finally met his end. Maddy Pelling tells Anthony Delaney the story of how it all played out.

Edited by Tomos Delargy. Research by Phoebe Joyce. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Lo...

Beneath the streets of the French capitol lurks a city of the dead: the Paris Catacombs.

Why they were piled up there is a dark and fascinating story, that includes everything from the bloody days of the French Revolution, to the making of 'corpse candles' and a mystery man found amongst its passageways.

Joining Anthony and Maddy for today's episode is the fantastic Cat Irving, Human Remains Conservator for Surgeons’ Hall in ...

It was one of the most gruesome crimes of the Victorian era... and it ended up in David Attenborough's garden! Kate Webster, a servant, killed and dismembered her mistress, Julia Martha Thomas in 1879. It's a story that show us the everyday life of Victorian Londoners, and how that world can be turned upside down.

Edited by Tomos Delargy, Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

You can now watch After Dar...

*TW: This episode contains references to sexual violence.*

Mary Queen of Scots' life was defined by violence, heartbreak and ultimately, betrayal.

Since her bloody death at the hands of her cousin, Elizabeth I, many have claimed to have seen chilling sightings of her ghost.

What are these sightings like? And what do they say about the tragic events of her life? And what do they say about the history of Scottish ghost cultu...

Why are the Knights Templar surrounded by myths and legends? Is there any truth to the tales of the Holy Grail or that the Knights survived? Why does this medieval order, which disappeared in the 14th century, continue to enthral us today?

To uncover the real history of the Knights Templar we are joined by Dan Jones - historian, author, podcaster and host of This Is History, whose series The Iron King is all ...

One split second - and one individual - can upturn an entire nation.

This was definitely the case when John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre on the night of 14th April 1865.

What were the final days leading up to this huge moment like? How did the nation, and the future of enslaved African Americans, hang in the balance? And how did that long night after the gun was fired unfold?

You can now wa...

The lost colonists left behind one clue, the word "Croatoan" carved into a tree. Who were the Croatans? What were their lives like? How can we see this whole story differently if we examine it from their perspective?

Maddy Pelling and Anthony Delaney are joined today by Professor Robbie Richardson, author of The Savage and Modern Self: North American Indians in Eighteenth-Century British Literature and Culture.

You can now wa...

When people talk about Ancient Egypt, they often focus on the amazing pyramids, mummies, and the advanced civilisation.

At After Dark, we love to explore the grim reality of all of this: what was life like for the people who built those pyramids? What happened if you stole from the Valley of the Kings? And how common were dark arts and sorcery?

Today Anthony and Maddy are joined by Egyptologist Campbell Price, to uncover the...

WTF happened to Virginia Dare, America's first English child? How did her and her mother's legend grow over time? Did mysterious carvings found on stones hold the answers? Anthony and Maddy explore the mysterious after life of Virginia Dare with Dr Misha Ewen, author of The Virginia Venture: American Colonization and English Society, 1580-1660

You can now watch After Dark on Youtube: www.youtube.com/@afterdarkhistoryhit

Produ...

It was a murder that shook Edwardian Britain, and became a media sensation around the world.

Joining Maddy and Anthony today is the best-selling historian and author, Hallie Rubehold, to explore one of the most infamous murders of the 20th century, and the rapidly changing world it took place in.

You can now watch After Dark on Youtube: www.youtube.com/@afterdarkhistoryhit

Produced by Freddy Chick. Edited by Tomos Delargy....

As a lot of new listeners have joined us, and it's a bank holiday in the UK, we thought we'd re-run one of our earliest, goriest episodes. Trust us, this episode is a bloody delight: from flesh-eating fish and humiliating deaths inside sacks, to a deadly re-enactment of the Icarus myth. For a culture that is seen as an emblem of civilisation (whatever that means), the Romans expended a lot of creative energy on inventing new ways t...

The grimy streets of Victorian London were stalked by a shadowy menace: Spring-Heeled Jack! He had glowing eyes and blue flames came out his mouth. He had claws, wings. He had a tail. He had smart boots. He had literal springs in his heels. Confusing...who was Spring-Heeled Jack?

Maddy Pelling and Anthony Delaney are joined by Ceri Houlbrook, whose new book "Folklore: A Journey Through the Past and Present" with Owen Davies will...

A spectral Black Dog with hellish eyes; a homicidal water spirit who drowns children; a mermaid who takes revenge on a vile cad. Maddy Pelling takes Anthony Delaney on a tour through the dark side of English folklore.

The episode also features thoughts from artist, author and filmmaker, Ben Edge. Find out more about Ben's work here: https://www.benedge.co.uk/

Edited by Tomos Delargy. Produced by Stuart Beckwith. Senior Produc...

How did George III die? Was it raving in a straightjacket? Who stayed with him at the end of his long illness? Today we uncover the truth about George III, the man unfairly remembered as the mad King who lost America.

Produced by Freddy Chick. Edited by Tomos Delargy. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. S...

Can it be murder if you think you're killing a ghost? In 1804 the London suburb of Hammersmith was being terrorised by a ghost. One man set out to hunt down whoever, or whatever, this was. He almost swung from the end of a rope for his troubles.

Join Anthony and Maddy for this ghostly Halloween episode.

Written by Maddy Pelling.

Edited by Tom Delargy. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

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Wales is set apart from a lot of countries, with one of its folk tales - the Red Dragon - featuring in its flag. 

What are the mythical origins of Wales, and other dark folk tales and traditions, such as the Cŵn Annwn; the hounds of the otherworld? Why does the skull of a dead horse, the Mari Lwyd, visit people at Christmas? And how did Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks play a part in Welsh folklore? 

Taking Anthony and ...

*TW: This episode contains discussions and themes of infertility.*

Fairies have long been part of Irish folkloric history, with its landscape dotted with thousands of 'fairy forts'. But there's a dark side to these beliefs.

Changelings are thought to be evil fairies who steal humans from families, taking them to the fairy world and replacing them with weak, disfigured fairy lookalikes.

It taps into a dark history of diseas...

Alice Arden wanted her husband Thomas dead. So did the rest of the village of Faversham. What followed was a twisted dance of passion, poison, insane plots and dastardly assassins. A tale so macabre that it became a true crime sensation in its own day.

Returning to help tell the story is Dr Blessin Adams whose new book Thou Savage Woman: Female Killers in Early Modern Britain is out now.

Edited by Tomos Delargy. Produced by F...