After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal – Details, episodes & analysis

A skull a day! People ate people in the name of medicine across Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. Charles II kept powdered skull in a bag on his belt and mummified corpses were the greatest cure of all... but why? Maddy Pelling and Anthony Delaney visit the apothecary with guide Hannah Slajus, whose PhD was on human ingredients in medicinal remedies in seventeenth century.

Edited by Max Hennessy. Produced by Freddy Chick. The senior producer is Charlotte Long.

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After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.

Picture a serial killer in your mind’s eye. What do you see... Is it your gran?

Today is the story of one of America’s most notorious female serial killers: Nannie Doss, aka the Giggling Granny. She killed 11 people, four of which were husbands. This lead to her also being known as the Lonely Hearts Killer, due to her supposed search for love.

This is an episode from our sister-podcast Betwixt the Sheets with host Kate Lister. Kate was joined by Tori Telfer, author of Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History.

Produced by Sophie Gee. Mixed by Stuart Beckwith. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

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After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.

"The internet is full of dark and wicked things" said a police chief after a shocking crime by two children claiming to be acolytes of the Slenderman. Today we unpick the origins of Slenderman - the internet's scariest creation - and link it back to the pre-internet urban legend of the Mothman. Strap in for a wild ride!

Maddy Pelling and Anthony Delaney are joined by Ceri Houlbrook, folklorist and lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire.

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

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After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast

In 1860 Britain was rocked by the brutal murder of 3-year-old Francis Kent inside his family home. Scotland Yard sent their finest but when a teenage sister, Constance Kent, was accused there was outcry. How could a well-mannered young lady be guilty of murder? It was a crime against class and gender to suggest such a thing. The detective was sent packing, but was he right all along?

Anthony Delaney tells Maddy Pelling the story this week.

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

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After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast

There really was a secret society called the Illuminati that aimed to create a New World Order. This is true story of the Illuminati and how they were transformed into the world's first conspiracy theory by the French revolution.

Maddy Pelling and Anthony Delaney are joined by Michael Taylor whose new book is called Impossible Monsters: Dinosaurs, Darwin, and the War between Science and Religion and who is working on a full length history of the Illuminati.

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

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After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast

In 1810 a valet called Joseph Sellis was found dead in St James's Palace. All eyes turned to his master the Duke of Cumberland, fifth son of George III. The scandal that would follow hounded the Duke for decades.

Maddy Pelling tells Anthony Delaney this story about royal scandals and the freedom of the press that rings a lot of bells today!

Written by Maddy Pelling, Produced by Freddy Chick, Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

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After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast

Untimely deaths followed the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb by Howard Carter. Coincidence or ancient curse? When the tomb of King Tutankhamun was sealed more than 3000 years ago, it was rumoured to be protected by a curse, which would ruin the life of anyone who disturbed the pharaoh's final resting place. A mere two weeks after the tomb was discovered in 1922, one of the explorers died from a fatal mosquito bite. This wasn't the end of the bad luck, there was more to come... Anthony and Maddy are joined by Egyptologist Campbell Price to unpick fact from fiction, and get to the bottom of one of the most notorious curses in the world.

Edited by Tomos Delargy. Produced by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

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After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast

It's America's greatest ghost story: the 1817-1821 haunting of a rural family by a mysterious entity—sometimes violent, sometimes mischievous, even offering marriage advice. Poltergeist? Witch? Hoax? Or pure legend from the beginning?

Maddy Pelling tells Anthony Delaney the story this week.

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

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After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast

"You've got to pick a pocket or two" says Fagan to Oliver Twist about the foggy streets of Victorian London where poverty and oppression abounded. Today we look at the every day crimes of Victorian London from pickpockets on omnibuses to the trauma of domestic violence with the help of Drew Gray, author of Nether World: Crime and the Police Courts in Victorian London.

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After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast

Would you have gone? Would you have drunk with the condemned? Paid your way into their prison the night before? Public executions in London were big business with hundreds of thousands carousing through the streets alongside the condemned as they went from Newgate prison to Tyburn's infamous gallows. It was a grisly performance but one that many revelled in. Perhaps you would have too.

Anthony Delaney takes Maddy Pelling out for a day at the hangings.

Written by Anthony Delaney. Edited and produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign here for up to 50% for 3 months using code AFTERDARK

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After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.