Explore every episode of the podcast Loreplay
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lizzie Borden: The Actual Story Behind Netflix’s Monster | 22 Sep 2026 | 00:54:58 | |
Everyone knows the rhyme. Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks. The problem is that almost every word of it is bullshit. In this episode, Dayna heads to Fall River, Massachusetts, to uncover the actual story behind one of America’s most infamous unsolved murders. We’re talking family resentment, inheritance drama, a mysterious note, an alleged attempt to buy poison, a suspiciously burned dress, a spectacularly messy investigation, and the courtroom decision to bring Andrew and Abby Borden’s actual skulls to trial. Because apparently cyanide testimony was too prejudicial, but placing Daddy’s skull on the prosecution table was perfectly reasonable. We’ll separate documented history from folklore, fact-check Netflix’s Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, examine the evidence against Lizzie, and explore how gender, wealth, class, and Christian respectability shaped her acquittal. Was Lizzie an innocent woman destroyed by suspicion, a calculating murderer who got away with it, or something history can no longer prove? 📲 Come hang out with me outside the void: Prefer to Watch 👀 👀 GOT A STORY? (I know you do…) 📩 Submit here: loreplaypod@gmail.com ⚠️ Listener Discretion: 💀 If you liked this episode: | |||
| The Whaley House After Dark with Bekah Page | 17 Sep 2026 | 00:31:26 | |
Bekah Page joins Dayna to talk about her paranormal investigations at The Whaley House. Bekah has always been sensitive to energies and drawn to the paranormal. As a child, she visited the Whaley house and has been called back to it several times since. In this bonus episode, Dayna and Bekah discuss Violet Whaley, how a house can hold both grief and joy, Bekah's relationship with Violet Whaley, and what her paranormal investigation journey has looked like. Find Bekahon Instagram @itsbekahpage and @beksboos 📲 Come hang out with me outside the void: Prefer to Watch 👀 👀 GOT A STORY? (I know you do…) 📩 Submit here: loreplaypod@gmail.com ⚠️ Listener Discretion: 💀 If you liked this episode: | |||
| The Whaley House: Built On Death | 15 Sep 2026 | 00:35:35 | |
A hanged man, two tragic young deaths, and a whole lot of frontier judgment. The Whaley House, built on top of a killing ground, had no choice but to be haunted. This week, Dayna tells the story of all the tragedy one house can hold. But if it can hold that much sorrow, can't it also hold that much joy? The Whaley House still stands today and is widely recognized as one of the most haunted houses in America. And THIS is why. 📲 Come hang out with me outside the void: Prefer to Watch 👀 👀 GOT A STORY? (I know you do…) 📩 Submit here: loreplaypod@gmail.com ⚠️ Listener Discretion: 💀 If you liked this episode: | |||
| Reincarnation with Jenn Scott Pickett | 10 Sep 2026 | 00:56:13 | |
For the first time in Loreplay HISTORY, we have a guest on the show! Jenn Scott Pickett has been deep diving reincarnation and sharing the stories for years. She is an author, podcaster, and social media creator. In this episode, Dayna and Jenn talk about past life regressions, if it's woo woo bullshit, the many cases of past lives, scars, memories and more. Find Jenn on social media @jennscottpickett For her book, "Reincarnation Explained without Religion": https://a.co/d/01lxb7ou Prefer to Watch 👀 👀 GOT A STORY? (I know you do…) 📩 Submit here: loreplaypod@gmail.com ⚠️ Listener Discretion: 💀 If you liked this episode: | |||
| Past Life Detective: Robert L. Snow | 08 Sep 2026 | 00:34:49 | |
Imagine you're a hard boiled cop that doesn't believe in woo woo nonsense, and then you are forced to face that the woo woo nonsense might be on to something. Robert L. Snow, a police detective, was essentially dared to do a past life regression session. He went into the experience fully determined to debunk it all, even bringing his own recorder to the session, and ended up on a journey that took him to very unexplained places. With a list of 28 things that could be proved or disproved, Bob investigated his own PAST life. And what he found, changed his whole view on past lives. This episodes primary source was from The Psychic and The Doc Youtube. found here: https://youtu.be/mfIBLHwHAao?si=pY4K-fCPnzr__6F0 Robert Snow's Book: https://a.co/d/0bCpl03o 📲 Come hang out with me outside the void: Prefer to Watch 👀 👀 GOT A STORY? (I know you do…) 📩 Submit here: loreplaypod@gmail.com ⚠️ Listener Discretion: 💀 If you liked this episode: | |||
| The Ghosts Left Behind by the North Berwick Witch Trials | 03 Sep 2026 | 00:10:27 | |
The trials ended. The executions stopped. But according to the ghost stories, some of North Berwick’s dead never really left. In this bonus episode of Loreplay, we’re heading back to Scotland to dig into the hauntings and paranormal legends that linger in the shadow of the North Berwick Witch Trials. From Agnes Sampson, better known in ghost lore as “Bald Agnes”, and her alleged appearances at Holyrood Palace, to the spirits, strange encounters, and centuries-old stories attached to the places touched by Scotland’s witch-hunting past, we’re looking at what happened when horrific history eventually became haunted history. And this time, there’s an important question hanging over all of it: are these really ghost stories… or are they one of the ways we’ve kept the memories of people like Agnes alive after history tried so damn hard to erase them? Either way, if anyone earned the right to haunt a royal palace, it’s Agnes fucking Sampson. Welcome back to North Berwick. 📲 Come hang out with me outside the void: Prefer to Watch 👀 👀 GOT A STORY? (I know you do…) 📩 Submit here: loreplaypod@gmail.com ⚠️ Listener Discretion: 💀 If you liked this episode: | |||
| The North Berwick Witch Trials | 01 Sep 2026 | 00:48:08 | |
Season 2 is HERE, and apparently we’re kicking things off with Satan’s cold ass, witches sailing the Scottish seas in kitchen colanders, a weaponized cat, and one very paranoid king. The North Berwick Witch Trials started with a royal wedding, some seriously shitty weather, and King James VI becoming convinced that witches were personally trying to murder him. What followed was one of Scotland’s most infamous witch hunts. This week, we’re getting into the stories of Geillis Duncan, Agnes Sampson, John Fian, Euphame MacCalzean, and the other real people who found themselves accused of belonging to an enormous satanic conspiracy. There’s torture. Forced confessions. A Devil who apparently takes attendance. A supernatural assassination attempt involving a toad. And yes, an alarming amount of discussion about the Devil’s bare ass. But underneath all of that ridiculousness is a story that gets very real, very fast—because once powerful people decided the conspiracy existed, every denial became evidence, every confession created another suspect, and innocent people paid for it with their lives. Welcome back, my feral little lore lovers. Season 2 is about to get fucking weird.
I went down a DEEP rabbit hole for this one. If you want to join me—or just make sure I’m not personally inventing Satan’s cold ass—here are some of the main sources used for this episode:
A note on the history: A lot of what survives from North Berwick comes from interrogations, accusations, legal records and Newes from Scotland. So when I say someone “confessed” to sailing across the sea in a sieve, kissing the Devil's ass, raising storms or doing some other absolutely unhinged shit, I'm describing what the historical record claims they confessed to—often after torture—not suggesting those things actually happened. Torture was used to obtain confessions during Scottish witch investigations, and the North Berwick panic was particularly notorious for physical torture.
Prefer to Watch 👀 👀 GOT A STORY? (I know you do…) 📩 Submit here: loreplaypod@gmail.com ⚠️ Listener Discretion: 💀 If you liked this episode: | |||
| The Hex Hollow Murder | 04 May 2026 | 00:32:29 | |
In 1928, on the night before Thanksgiving, a sixty-year-old Pennsylvania folk healer named Nelson Rehmeyer was beaten to death in his farmhouse by three men who believed he had cursed them. The house they tried to burn wouldn't burn. The clock above the stove stopped at 12:01. And the trial that followed became one of the most surreal legal spectacles in American history — partly because the judge edited the word "witch" out of the murder confession before the jury ever heard it. This week: Hex Hollow, Pennsylvania Powwow, the grimoire you can still buy on Amazon (four and a half stars), and the question of what happens when a community's entire system for understanding suffering points to a person. Dark, accurate, and genuinely strange. Key Sources Arthur Lewis, Hex (1969) — foundational narrative account. Still widely cited. David W. Kriebel, Powwowing Among the Pennsylvania Dutch (Penn State University Press, 2007) — definitive academic treatment of Braucherei. Source for cure specifics (wound chant, hog bladder remedy, dollar bill vision test). Johann Georg Hohman, Pow-Wows; or, Long Lost Friend (1820, multiple editions) — free on Internet Archive; annotated academic edition from Penn State University Press; also Amazon. Shane Free, dir., Hex Hollow: Witchcraft and Murder in Pennsylvania (2015) — free to stream; features descendants of all parties and modern Powwow practitioners. Highly recommended companion viewing. CrimeReads (2021), "A Tale of Witchcraft and Murder in Jazz Age America" — best single account of the trial proceedings and courtroom dynamics. Wikipedia, Rehmeyer's Hollow — for baseline fact-check. Note: some popular sources contain errors on dates and childhood healer details; trial transcripts are the more reliable source. Hey hey, my fellow Lore Lovers… welcome to Loreplay. 🖤 This is the podcast where history gets messy, folklore gets questionable, and I willingly spiral so you don’t have to. I’m your host, Dayna Pereira—your resident investigator of all things creepy, cursed, and deeply side-eye worthy. Each week, we dig into the stories that make you go “wait… what the hell actually happened?”—from haunted places and urban legends to true crime and historical chaos. We separate fact from fiction… and then stare directly into the uncomfortable space in between. 📲 Come hang out with me outside the void: Prefer to Watch 👀 👀 GOT A STORY? (I know you do…) 📩 Submit here: loreplaypod@gmail.com ⚠️ Listener Discretion: 💀 If you liked this episode: And remember… | |||
| Jack Ketch and the Botched Beheadings | 27 Apr 2026 | 00:31:42 | |
Public executions were already brutal… but then came Jack Ketch—the executioner who somehow made death worse. Known across 17th-century England for his shockingly bad aim, Ketch didn’t just take lives—he botched them, turning executions into slow, horrifying spectacles that crowds couldn’t look away from. From nobles begging for mercy to audiences watching in disbelief, this is the story of the man who became infamous not for killing… but for how badly he did it. Because nothing says “career failure” like needing multiple swings of an axe. Hey hey, my fellow weirdos… welcome to Loreplay. 🖤 This is the podcast where history gets messy, folklore gets questionable, and I willingly spiral so you don’t have to. I’m your host, Dayna Pereira—your resident investigator of all things creepy, cursed, and deeply side-eye worthy. Each week, we dig into the stories that make you go “wait… what the hell actually happened?”—from haunted places and urban legends to true crime and historical chaos. We separate fact from fiction… and then stare directly into the uncomfortable space in between. 📲 Come hang out with me outside the void: Prefer to Watch 👀 👀 GOT A STORY? (I know you do…) 📩 Submit here: loreplaypod@gmail.com ⚠️ Listener Discretion: 💀 If you liked this episode: And remember…
Secondary Sources
Online / Reference Sources Used in Research
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| Exploding Teeth: Your New Phobia Unlocked | 20 Apr 2026 | 00:31:42 | |
In this absolutely chaotic slice of history, we dive into one of the strangest—and most painful—medical mysteries ever recorded: exploding teeth. Yes. Actual human teeth. Exploding. Inside people’s mouths. Set in the early-to-mid 1800s, this episode centers around several documented cases—most famously that of Reverend D.A. Spriggs—whose sudden, violent dental pain didn’t just throb… it detonated. Victims reported intense pressure, unbearable agony, and then—BANG—teeth cracking, shattering, or even bursting apart with an audible pop. We follow the timeline of these bizarre incidents, focusing on personal accounts that read more like horror fiction than medical documentation. People described flashes of light, gunshot-like sounds, and immediate relief after the explosion—as if their mouth just rage-quit. So what the hell was happening? We break down the leading theories:
…and why none of these explanations fully hold up under scrutiny. Because here’s the thing: even modern dentistry can’t fully explain how a tooth could generate enough internal pressure to literally explode. So was this a weird cluster of misdiagnosed dental abscesses? A case of experimental dentistry gone wrong? Or something even stranger—something we just don’t understand anymore? Either way, this episode will make you:
Because in the 1800s, a toothache wasn’t just annoying. It might have been a ticking time bomb. SOURCES Primary Source "Explosion of Teeth With Audible Report" W.H. Atkinson. The Dental Cosmos, Vol. 2, January 1861. University of Michigan / Hathi Trust digital archive. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/d/dencos/acf8385.0002.001/333:78 Note: The archive page is image-based and requires institutional access. The Atkinson quotes used in this episode are reproduced via the secondary sources below, both of which cite this original directly. Secondary Sources "The gruesome and mysterious case of exploding teeth" BBC Future, 1 March 2016. Includes expert commentary from Hugh Devlin (Professor of Restorative Dentistry, University of Manchester) and Andrea Sella (Professor of Inorganic Chemistry, UCL). https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160301-the-gruesome-and-mysterious-case-of-exploding-teeth Note: This URL was blocked from direct fetch during production. Content confirmed via the Amusing Planet piece below, which reproduces both expert quotes and cites BBC Future as source. "From the archive: The mysterious case of 'exploding teeth'" British Dental Journal, vol. 219, pp. 376–377. Published 23 October 2015. https://www.nature.com/articles/sj.bdj.2015.809 Reproduces BDJ correspondence originally published 1965–1966: Cyril Tomes (21 Sept 1965), B. Eady (5 Oct 1965), Basil G. Bibby / University of Pennsylvania (Dec 1965), Louis I. Grossman / University of Pennsylvania (Feb 1966). The Grossman letter quotes directly from J. Phelps Hibler's 1874 book. Directly fetched and verified. "The Case of The Exploding Teeth" Amusing Planet, 21 February 2023. https://www.amusingplanet.com/2023/02/the-case-of-exploding-teeth.html Reproduces the full Atkinson quote from The Dental Cosmos, summarizes the Hibler and BDJ cases, and includes the Devlin and Sella quotes from BBC Future. Directly fetched and verified. Used as the primary route to Atkinson's text. Hey hey, my fellow lore lovers… welcome to Loreplay. 🖤 This is the podcast where history gets messy, folklore gets questionable, and I willingly spiral so you don’t have to. I’m your host, Dayna Pereira—your resident investigator of all things creepy, cursed, and deeply side-eye worthy. Each week, we dig into the stories that make you go “wait… what the hell actually happened?”—from haunted places and urban legends to true crime and historical chaos. We separate fact from fiction… and then stare directly into the uncomfortable space in between. 📲 Come hang out with me outside the void: Prefer to Watch 👀 👀 GOT A STORY? (I know you do…) 📩 Submit here: loreplaypod@gmail.com ⚠️ Listener Discretion: 💀 If you liked this episode: And remember… | |||
| Spring Heeled Jack: The Terror of London | 06 Apr 2026 | 00:35:27 | |
In 1837, something started terrorizing the outskirts of London. It had eyes like red balls of fire, metallic claws, and a deeply unsettling habit of vomiting blue flame directly into women's faces. It leapt over nine-foot walls. It slapped soldiers and laughed at bullets. It turned up in Devon as a four-legged bear-thing, starred in Victorian penny dreadfuls, got adopted as a bogeyman for misbehaving children, and then — after 67 years of sightings across England and into Scotland — simply vanished into the dark. This week on Loreplay, we're covering Spring Heeled Jack: England's most chaotic urban legend and the Victorian era's most aggressively uncatchable public menace. We'll dig into the documented 1838 attacks on Jane Alsop and Lucy Scales — two women whose detailed, police-recorded accounts are the closest thing this legend has to a paper trail. We'll meet the Lord Mayor of London, who had a very bad January trying to explain all of this to a crowded public session at Mansion House. We'll examine the mountain of press coverage that turned a probable aristocratic prank into a national panic. And we'll spend some quality time with Henry de la Poer Beresford, the 3rd Marquess of Waterford — known to his contemporaries as the Mad Marquis — who is either the most compelling suspect in Victorian folklore history, or just a very convenient scapegoat. Nobody was ever convicted of being Spring Heeled Jack. This is going to bother us both. SOURCES Academic and book sources Bell, Karl. The Legend of Spring-Heeled Jack: Victorian Urban Folklore and Popular Cultures. Boydell Press, 2012. The definitive academic study. Bell's analysis of the class-based disparity in press coverage of the Alsop and Scales cases is essential. Dash, Mike. "Spring-heeled Jack: To Victorian Bugaboo from Suburban Ghost." Fortean Studies, vol. 3, 1996. The most rigorous forensic accounting of which sightings are documented vs. fabricated. The necessary corrective to Haining. Haining, Peter. The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring-Heeled Jack. Frederick Muller Ltd, 1977. Influential but unreliable in places. Read alongside Dash. Contemporary newspaper accounts The Times (London), January 9–11, 1838. Coverage of the Mansion House public session, the Peckham letter, and the volume of correspondence from suburban London. The Times (London), March 2, 1838. "The Late Outrage at Old Ford." The Jane Alsop attack and the Thomas Millbank trial. The Morning Post, March 7, 1838. The Lucy Scales attack in Limehouse. The Examiner, March 4, 1838. The Millbank case and magistrates' questioning. The Times (London), April 14, 1838. Reprint of the Brighton Gazette report on the Rosehill, Sussex gardener incident. Reference and secondary sources Wikipedia contributors. "Spring-heeled Jack." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed April 2026. Wikipedia contributors. "Henry Beresford, 3rd Marquess of Waterford." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed April 2026. Upton, Chris. "Spring-Heeled Jack." BBC Legacies (archived). Black Country sightings and local context. Mackley, Jon. "The Return of Spring-Heeled Jack: The Terror of London." jonmackley.com, 2020. Traces the legend's documentation history and flags Haining's fabrications in detail. Castleton, David. "Spring-Heeled Jack — Did a Fire-Breathing Phantom Haunt Victorian London?" The Serpent's Pen, 2023. Unresolved.me. "Spring-Heeled Jack." Detailed on the Turner Street incident and the embroidered coat of arms. Waterford Treasures. "Spring Heeled Jack: Notorious Urban Legend or the Work of the 'Mad Marquess' of Waterford?" waterfordtreasures.com, 2020. Brewer, E. Cobham. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1880 edition. First published naming of the Marquess of Waterford as the Spring Heeled Jack suspect. Hey hey, my fellow weirdos… welcome to Loreplay. 🖤 This is the podcast where history gets messy, folklore gets questionable, and I willingly spiral so you don’t have to. I’m your host, Dayna Pereira—your resident investigator of all things creepy, cursed, and deeply side-eye worthy. Each week, we dig into the stories that make you go “wait… what the hell actually happened?”—from haunted places and urban legends to true crime and historical chaos. We separate fact from fiction… and then stare directly into the uncomfortable space in between. 📲 Come hang out with me outside the void: Prefer to Watch 👀 👀 GOT A STORY? (I know you do…) 📩 Submit here: loreplaypod@gmail.com ⚠️ Listener Discretion: 💀 If you liked this episode: And remember… | |||
| Bárbara of The Pleasures: Rio's Myth, Murder, and Folklore | 30 Mar 2026 | 00:28:49 | |
In the shadow of colonial Rio de Janeiro, beneath the historic Arco do Teles, lives the legend of Bárbara dos Prazeres—a woman remembered as beautiful, powerful… and possibly monstrous. Said to have lived between the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Bárbara’s story blends documented history with chilling folklore. Some versions claim she murdered her husband and lover, escaped justice through wealth and influence, and later became the center of horrifying rumors involving missing children and blood rituals tied to youth and beauty. But here’s the truth: very little of this is firmly documented.
Today, the Arco do Teles remains a real historical site—by day, a bustling corridor; by night, a place many claim still carries echoes of the past. So was Bárbara a killer… a scapegoat… or something much harder to define? Let’s step under the arch and find out. Sources:
NXNPWBny51NDXRIArKi3 | |||
| The Witch of Yazoo: She Said What She Said | 16 Mar 2026 | 00:32:27 | |
This week we're going fully unhinged in the Mississippi Delta, and I need you to be prepared for that emotionally. We're covering the Witch of Yazoo — a nameless woman, a swamp shack, a very unfortunate boy on a raft, and a dying curse so specific it included a date, a year, a time of day, and somehow still got dismissed by an entire town. We'll get into the legend itself (fishermen, arsenic, skeletons on the ceiling, yes really), the fire of 1904 that happened on the exact date she said it would, the chained grave in Glenwood Cemetery that someone is literally employed to maintain to this day, and what this legend is actually about underneath all the chaos. Also Willie Morris, who chose to be buried thirteen paces from her grave and is an icon for it. Spooky? Yes. Funny? Absolutely. A little bit sad if you think about it too hard? Unfortunately also yes. Sources: Morris, Willie. Good Old Boy and the Witch of Yazoo. Oxford, MS: Yoknapatawpha Press, 1989. — The sequel, in which Willie and his friends get tangled up with a woman rumored to be the witch's granddaughter and chaos ensues. A delight. McElreath, Leisa S. and Lindsley, Ashley McElreath. "1904 Destruction of Yazoo City: A Case Study of Community Resilience." 2018. — A genuinely fascinating academic paper about the fire itself and how the town recovered. Available via ResearchGate. If you want the non-supernatural account of what happened, start here. Yazoo County Convention and Visitors Bureau — The Legend of the Witch of Yazoo. visityazoo.org — The official tourism page, which is somehow both completely earnest and deeply charming. Also has a downloadable map to the grave. Yes, really. The Clarion-Ledger — "Great fire in Yazoo City." May 25, 1904. — The contemporary newspaper account of the fire. Available digitized via various Mississippi newspaper archives. The Clarion-Ledger — "The Witch of Yazoo still haunts the town she burned." Therese Apel. October 28, 2014. — A lovely modern piece on how the legend lives in Yazoo City today. The Yazoo Herald — "It's Time To Bury the Witch of Yazoo for Good." April 4, 1998. — The editorial that prompted Willie Morris to write a letter to the editor at age 63 defending the witch. Iconic behavior. The Yazoo Herald — "Chained Grave Holds Jealous Wife, Says Longtime Yazoo City Resident." July 5, 1978. — The alternate theory that the grave is actually a woman buried by a controlling husband. Somehow more disturbing than the witch. Hinds Community College LibGuide — Paranormal Mississippi Case Files: The Witch of Yazoo. libguides.hindscc.edu — A well-sourced academic overview of the legend with the Willie Morris short story text. Great starting point for research. Country Roads Magazine — "The Witch of Yazoo." September 2025. — A recent retelling with good detail on the oral tradition and the grave itself. Mississippi Folklore (msfolklore.wordpress.com) — "The Witch of Yazoo." August 2022. — Thorough overview with good historical context on Yazoo City before the legend. Only in Your State — "The Witch of Yazoo City Is a Mississippi Legend." — Accessible overview with details on the grave's current state. OTIS (Odd Things I've Seen) — "Deadknobs and Broomsticks: The Witch Grave of Yazoo City." September 2014. — A firsthand account of visiting the grave. I read this one at midnight and do not recommend that. WANT MORE? Subscribe to Loreplay wherever you get your podcasts. Rate and review if you're feeling generous — it helps more than you know and costs you nothing except thirty seconds and a little love, which I will accept gratefully and without shame. Follow along on socials for episode updates, behind-the-scenes chaos, and me spiraling at 1am about whatever legend I'm currently researching. And if you've ever been to the Witch of Yazoo's grave — if you've rattled those chains or stood in that cemetery at night — I want to hear about it. Slide into my DMs. Tell me everything. | |||
| The Werewolf Trials | 09 Mar 2026 | 00:42:27 | |
Hey hey, lore-loving weirdos — before Salem, before witch trials became a cultural shorthand for mass hysteria, Europe spent roughly two hundred years putting people on trial for turning into wolves. And executing them. Tens of thousands of them. In this episode of Loreplay, host Dayna Pereira dives into the real, documented, court-certified history of the European werewolf trials — the paranoia, the pamphlets, the torture, the confessions, and the people ground up inside the machinery. We're talking official government decrees authorizing citizens to hunt werewolves (yes, that was a real legal document), the most sensationalized and brutal execution of the sixteenth century, and — the story Dayna cannot stop thinking about — the eighty-year-old man who showed up to his own werewolf trial, admitted everything cheerfully, and walked away with twenty lashes because he was simply too chaotic for the court to deal with. Primary Sources:
Modern Scholarly Works:
Accessible Articles & Further Reading:
🎙️ ABOUT LOREPLAY Loreplay is the comedy-paranormal podcast where haunted history meets hot takes. Host Dayna Pereira is equal parts storyteller and skeptic — blending dark humor, spooky vibes, and genuine historical research into binge-worthy deep dives on ghost stories, folklore, paranormal history, and the weird, dark corners of the past. | |||
| The Dancing Plague of 1518 | 02 Mar 2026 | 00:23:21 | |
In July of 1518, one woman in Strasbourg walked into the street and began to dance. She didn’t stop. Within days, dozens joined her. Within weeks, hundreds were convulsing, leaping, and collapsing in the streets. And instead of stopping it… local authorities encouraged it. They hired musicians. They built stages. They prescribed more dancing. By the end of the summer, people were reportedly dying from exhaustion, heart attacks, and strokes. Was it ergot poisoning? Religious hysteria? A psychological contagion? A trauma response to famine and disease? Or something darker moving through a population already stretched to its breaking point? In this episode of Loreplay, Dayna dives into the Dancing Plague of 1518 — the bizarre historical event where 400 people allegedly danced for weeks, and no one knew how to stop it. We unpack the timeline, the death peak, the cultural panic, the failed “treatment,” and the modern psychological theories that might explain it. Because if there’s one thing history has taught us… it’s that humans will absolutely panic in groups. Sources: Robert Bartholomew & Erich Goode, Mass Hysteria in Schools and Workplaces (2000) Hecker, Justus Friedrich Karl, The Epidemics of the Middle Ages (1832) BBC Future – “The Dancing Plague of 1518” History.com – “Dancing Plague of 1518” University of Michigan Medical History Center – archival analysis of medieval epidemics | |||
| The Dark Origins of Fairy Tales | 23 Feb 2026 | 00:22:00 | |
Think fairy tales were written for children? Think again. In this episode of Loreplay, Dayna Pereira dives deep into the dark, disturbing, and wildly misunderstood origins of classic fairy tales like Cinderella, Snow White, and The Juniper Tree. Long before Disney softened the edges, these stories were filled with mutilation, cannibalism, eye-pecking birds, and stepmothers who absolutely chose violence. We explore how fairy tales began as oral folklore told among adults, and how these stories functioned as psychological survival manuals in a brutal pre-modern world. From blood-soaked slippers to baked-into-a-pie revenge plots, this episode unpacks the historical, psychological, and cultural roots of the stories we thought we knew. Spoiler: They were never about the prince. They were about survival. If you love folklore, dark history, fairy tale origins, mythology, cultural psychology, and the real stories behind Disney classics — this one’s for you. Sources: Zipes, Jack. The Brothers Grimm: From Enchanted Forests to the Modern World. Routledge, 1988. Tatar, Maria. The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales. Princeton University Press, 1987. Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. 1976. Jung, Carl. The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. 1959. Bottigheimer, Ruth B. Fairy Tales: A New History. SUNY Press, 2009. Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. Kinder- und Hausmärchen. 1812–1857 editions. Perrault, Charles. Histoires ou contes du temps passé. 1697. | |||
| The Hinterkaifeck Murders | 16 Feb 2026 | 00:38:03 | |
In 1922, six people were brutally murdered on a remote German farm known as Hinterkaifeck. There were no witnesses. No arrests. No clear motive. But what makes this case one of the creepiest unsolved murders in history isn’t just the violence — it’s what happened after. Neighbors reported footsteps in the attic before the murders. Footprints appeared in the snow leading to the farmhouse… but never away. And after the family was killed, someone stayed behind — feeding the livestock, eating the food, and living in the house with the bodies for days. In this episode of Loreplay, we dive into the timeline, suspects, disturbing clues, and the enduring mystery of the Hinterkaifeck Murders — the case where the killer may never have truly left. Primary historical / investigative
Books
Reliable modern summaries
Academic / criminology discussion
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| The LaLaurie Mansion: True Horror on Royal Street | 09 Feb 2026 | 00:46:12 | |
New Orleans is known for jazz, ghosts, cocktails, and bad decisions made after midnight—but one house on Royal Street manages to out-traumatize them all. In this episode of Loreplay, Dayna Pereira dives into the chilling true history and twisted folklore surrounding the infamous LaLaurie Mansion and its most notorious resident, Delphine LaLaurie.
From enslaved victims whose voices were erased, to reports of screaming walls, shadow figures, and restless spirits, this episode asks the uncomfortable question: When a house witnesses evil… does it remember? Listener discretion advised—this one’s dark, historical, and not for the faint of heart.
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| The Curse of The Pharaoh | 02 Feb 2026 | 00:28:16 | |
In 1922, archaeologists opened the tomb of Tutankhamun, and almost immediately, people started dying. Coincidence? Bad luck? Or did they anger something ancient, royal, and deeply petty? In this episode of Loreplay, Dayna Pereira cracks open the legend of The Curse of the Pharaoh—the supposed supernatural punishment that followed those who disturbed King Tut’s tomb. We trace how the curse myth began, who actually died (and who absolutely did not), and why the media latched onto the story like it was the original clickbait headline. Was this divine revenge from beyond the grave—or just a perfect storm of bad timing, poor medical care, and dramatic storytelling? Grab your emotional support scarab and join us as we separate myth from mummy dust in one of history’s most enduring spooky legends. Sources & Further Reading
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| Poveglia Island and The Black Death | 26 Jan 2026 | 00:41:34 | |
A normal ship docks. Europe panics. History absolutely spirals. In this episode of Loreplay, Dayna Pereira unpacks the chaos of the Black Death—the pandemic that wiped out up to half of Europe—and the extreme (and often unhinged) ways people tried to survive it. From bloodletting and snake remedies to emeralds, unicorn lore, and cooked chicken applied to plague sores, medieval medicine was doing its most… experimental. As Venice struggled to protect itself, it pioneered quarantine and sent the sick to a small island in the lagoon: Poveglia Island. Over centuries, the island became a quarantine zone, mass burial ground, and later the site of a psychiatric hospital—cementing its reputation as one of the most haunted places in the world. Plague, paranoia, ghost stories, and generational trauma baked into the soil—this is the story of how fear shaped public health, folklore, and one island no one wants to visit. Dark history. Questionable medicine. Lingering ghosts.
Poveglia Island History
Quarantine & Venetian Public Health
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| The Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum | 19 Jan 2026 | 00:39:23 | |
In this episode of Loreplay, we step inside the massive stone walls of the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum—a building that was never meant to hold the suffering it ultimately swallowed. Opened in the mid-1800s as a progressive mental health hospital, the asylum was designed to heal through light, fresh air, and compassion. What it became instead was a cautionary monument to overcrowding, neglect, and what happens when care turns into control. As patient numbers exploded from a few hundred to well over two thousand, treatment methods shifted from moral therapy to restraint, sedation, and experimentation. Patients slept in hallways. Violent and non-violent individuals were mixed together. Understaffed wards relied on isolation cells, forced labor, electroshock therapy, insulin shock therapy, and lobotomies—often performed on people whose greatest crime was being inconvenient, impoverished, traumatized, or simply different. We explore documented patient cases, the rise of medical “solutions” that caused more harm than healing, and how the asylum’s history reflects broader societal fears about mental illness, gender, class, and control. And, because this is Loreplay, we also examine what lingered after the doors closed—reported hauntings, unexplained phenomena, and why so many believe the building never truly emptied. This isn’t just a ghost story.
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| Don't Judge a Book by It's Skin | 12 Jan 2026 | 00:31:18 | |
In this episode of Loreplay, we dive into one of the most unsettling intersections of medicine, power, and history: anthropodermic bibliopegy, the practice of binding books in human skin. While it sounds like folklore or horror fiction, this practice was very real—occurring primarily between the 17th and 19th centuries in Europe and the United States. It was most often carried out not by occultists or criminals, but by doctors, judges, and institutions with legal and social power. 🧍♀️ Mary Lynch & Dr. John Stockton Hough Mary Lynch was a young Irish immigrant who died in 1869 at Philadelphia General Hospital. She was poor, severely ill with tuberculosis, and unclaimed at death—circumstances that made her body legally accessible to medical authorities. After performing her autopsy, physician Dr. John Stockton Hough removed portions of her skin and later used it to bind three medical books, all dealing with female reproduction and health. Hough wrote inscriptions inside the books identifying the bindings as human skin and referencing Mary’s death. There is no evidence Mary consented to this use of her body. These books are now held by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and have been scientifically tested and confirmed to be bound in human skin. 🏛️ Harvard & Des destinées de l’âme One of the most well-known anthropodermic books is Des destinées de l’âme (The Destinies of the Soul), a 19th-century philosophical work by Arsène Houssaye. The book was gifted to physician Ludovic Bouland, who later bound it in the skin of an unnamed female patient who died in a French psychiatric hospital. Bouland left a handwritten note stating that “a book about the human soul deserved a human covering.” In 2014, Harvard University used peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF) to scientifically confirm that the binding was human skin. After extensive ethical review, Harvard announced in 2024 that the human skin had been removed from the book and placed into respectful care, acknowledging past mishandling of human remains. 🔪 Criminal Punishment & Skin Binding Some anthropodermic books were created using the skin of executed criminals, often bound around:
This practice was intended as an extension of punishment beyond death and was widely accepted within certain legal and medical frameworks of the time. One example discussed is William Corder, convicted of the Red Barn Murder, whose skin was used to bind books about his crime after his execution. 🛣️ James Allen (George Walton): Consent Case James Allen, a 19th-century highwayman also known as George Walton, represents a rare documented case of explicit consent. After attempting to rob John Fenno and being sentenced to life in prison, Allen wrote a detailed confession and requested that his own skin be used to bind the manuscript after his death. The request was honored in 1837, and the finished book was delivered to Fenno—Allen’s intended victim. This book still exists and is often cited as the clearest example of voluntary anthropodermic bibliopegy. 🧠 Burke & Hare In 1820s Edinburgh, William Burke and William Hare murdered at least sixteen people to sell their bodies to anatomists. After Burke’s execution in 1829, his body was publicly dissected, and portions of his skin were preserved and used to create at least one book attributed to his remains. Fragments of Burke’s body, including his skeleton and skin artifacts, are still held in Scottish collections today. 👻 Hauntings & Cultural Aftermath There are no verified paranormal hauntings directly associated with anthropodermic books. However, museum staff and visitors have reported feelings of unease, nausea, emotional heaviness, or discomfort when handling or viewing such objects—particularly after learning their origins. Modern scholars emphasize that the true “haunting” lies not in ghosts, but in how long these objects were treated as curiosities rather than human remains. 🔗 SOURCES & FURTHER READING (Highly credible, museum- and academic-backed) Primary & Academic Sources
Journalism & Secondary Sources
Historical Cases
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| The Red Barn Murder | 05 Jan 2026 | 00:26:24 | |
In early 19th-century England, scandal traveled faster than truth—and women paid the price for both. This episode of Loreplay dives into the infamous Red Barn Murder, the brutal killing of Maria Marten, a young woman from Polstead, Suffolk, whose disappearance was blamed on shame, gossip, and her own supposed moral failings… until her body was discovered buried beneath the floor of a blood-red barn. Maria had been involved with William Corder, a serial liar, emotional manipulator, and walking red flag in breeches. Pregnant and under immense social pressure, Maria was persuaded to meet Corder at the Red Barn under the pretense that they would elope. She was told to disguise herself as a man to avoid scandal—a choice that would later be twisted into suspicion against her. She was never seen alive again. For months, Corder sent letters to Maria’s family claiming she was safe, married, and living happily elsewhere. Meanwhile, her stepmother began having vivid dreams—dreams that repeatedly pointed to the Red Barn as Maria’s final resting place. When authorities finally searched the barn, they uncovered Maria’s remains, wrapped and buried beneath the floor. Corder fled, was captured, and put on trial in 1828. The case became a full-blown media frenzy: courtroom drama, pamphlets, ballads, stage plays, souvenirs, and public spectacle. After his execution by hanging, Corder’s body was dissected—and in a final macabre twist, portions of his skin were reportedly used to bind a book documenting his crime. This episode examines the murder itself, the circus that followed, and the deeper truth beneath the sensationalism: Maria Marten was not careless or foolish—she was trapped by class, gender, and a society that offered men exits and women dead ends. The Red Barn didn’t kill Maria. It just became the place where everything that failed her finally met. Show Sources: Wikipedia – Red Barn Murder Mental Floss – The Chilling Story of the Red Barn Murder Historic UK – The Red Barn Murder The British Library – Crime broadsides & execution ephemera related to the Red Barn Murder | |||
| Krampus | 22 Dec 2025 | 00:21:25 | |
Forget cozy cocoa and wholesome carols—this episode of Loreplay drags Christmas straight into the Alps and leaves it screaming. In this darkly festive deep dive, host Dayna Pereira unwraps the chilling folklore of Krampus, the horned, chain-rattling nightmare who shows up every December not to deliver gifts—but to dish out consequences. Long before Santa became a jolly capitalist mascot, Krampus was roaming Alpine villages, terrorizing children, beating the naughty with birch rods, stuffing the worst offenders into his sack, and, depending on the legend, dragging them off to hell… or something arguably worse. This episode explores the brutal folklore behind Krampusnacht, the cultural role of fear in child-rearing, and why European Christmas traditions were historically less “holiday cheer” and more “behave or be taken into the mountains.” We dig into centuries-old stories of children who vanished after misbehaving, the symbolism behind Krampus’ animalistic appearance, and how pagan winter spirits survived Christianization by simply putting on a festive disguise. Along the way, we examine Krampus’ possible connections to older Alpine figures like Frau Perchta, unpack the rise (and chaos) of modern Krampuslauf celebrations, and ask the most important question of all: Dark, creepy, historically grounded—and just unhinged enough to make you grateful your parents only threatened to call Santa—this episode proves once again that the holidays used to be feral. So light a candle, lock your doors, and remember: Santa watches… Sources: Smithsonian Magazine – The Alpine Origins of Krampus Britannica – Krampus: European Folklore Jacob Grimm – Teutonic Mythology Alpine Folklore Archives (Austria & Bavaria) University of Innsbruck Folklore Studies Hilda Ellis Davidson – Roles of the Northern Goddess Maria Tatar – The Hard Facts of the Grimms’ Fairy Tales | |||
| Frau Perchta | 15 Dec 2025 | 00:29:51 | |
n this episode of Loreplay, host Dayna Pereira ventures into the snowy, unsettling heart of Alpine folklore to meet one of Europe’s most iconic winter figures: Frau Perchta—a goddess, witch, and domestic compliance auditor who absolutely did not come to play. Known for roaming the countryside during the Twelve Nights of Christmas, Perchta rewarded the diligent, punished the lazy, and allegedly slit open the bellies of naughty children to stuff them with straw and rocks. Festive! But beneath the gore and goat-footed nightmare fuel lies a fascinating story of pre-Christian goddesses, household rituals, seasonal transition, and the Church’s long tradition of demonizing powerful women. This episode explores Perchta’s many forms—from radiant White Lady to grotesque belly-slasher—her connection to spinning, fertility, and the Wild Hunt, and how she slowly morphed from respected folkloric figure into holiday horror icon. Along the way, we unpack why medieval Europe was so obsessed with winter demons, why chores were apparently a matter of life and death, and how Perchta may have helped inspire figures like Krampus, Frau Holle, and even the concept of Santa’s “naughty list.” So grab a warm drink, finish your spinning, and prepare to be judged—because Frau Perchta is coming, and she will be checking your vibes. Sources & Further Reading
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| The Green Children of Woolpit | 08 Dec 2025 | 00:31:12 | |
Tonight on Loreplay, we’re diving deep into one of the most fascinating, eerie, and unexplained medieval mysteries ever recorded: The Green Children of Woolpit. This legendary twelfth-century case from Suffolk, England, has baffled historians, folklorists, and paranormal researchers for centuries. Two mysterious green-skinned children appeared out of nowhere near a wolf pit in Woolpit, speaking an unknown language, wearing unfamiliar clothing, and describing a twilight world unlike anything in recorded English folklore. In this episode, we explore the historical accounts from medieval chroniclers William of Newburgh and Ralph of Coggeshall, examine the children’s strange behavior, and unpack the girl’s chilling description of her homeland — a dim world known as the Land of St. Martin where the sun never shines and everyone has green skin. We break down the most compelling explanations behind this unsolved historical mystery, including:
Was this a case of misunderstood medieval immigration? A brush with the fairy realm? A supernatural phenomenon? A glitch in reality? Or one of the earliest recorded examples of interdimensional travelers in British history? If you’re obsessed with unsolved historical cases, English folklore, paranormal mysteries, fairy lore, or stories that make you go “What the actual medieval hell did I just listen to?”, this episode of Loreplay is going to be your new favorite rabbit hole. Step into one of the strangest folklore mysteries ever documented: the Green Children of Woolpit, a real historical event recorded by twelfth-century chroniclers that continues to stump historians, folklorists, and paranormal researchers today. In this Loreplay episode, we uncover the truth behind the mysterious green-skinned children who appeared in Woolpit, England, speaking an unknown language and claiming to come from a land of eternal twilight. Was this bizarre medieval event rooted in fairy folklore, a parallel dimension, a hidden isolated community, or a supernatural glitch in the fabric of reality? Perfect for fans of: weird history, folklore podcasts, paranormal podcasts, unsolved enigmas, English legends, mysterious children legends, and medieval supernatural encounters. Keywords: Green Children of Woolpit, folklore podcast, paranormal podcast, supernatural folklore, weird history podcast, medieval legends, mysterious children story, English paranormal history, fairy realm folklore, historical mysteries explained.
Folklore & History Scholarship
Modern Analyses
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| The Pendle Witch Trials | 01 Dec 2025 | 00:36:30 | |
Tonight on Loreplay, we’re headed straight into the misty hills of Lancashire to unravel one of the most infamous witchcraft trials in history — the 1612 Pendle Witch Trials. This episode dives into the crumbling social order of early-17th-century England, where famine, disease, political paranoia, and neighborly grudges created the perfect storm for witchcraft accusations. We unpack the lives of Demdike, Chattox, Alizon Device, Old Mother Nutter, and the rest of the so-called witches who were swept up in a tale of curses, confessions, and good old-fashioned government fearmongering. From “soft torture” in the Lancaster Gaol, to a ten-year-old child testifying against her entire family, to King James I obsessively hunting witches like he was trying to complete some kind of satanic Pokémon set — this story has everything. It’s eerie. It’s tragic. It’s wildly human.
Academic Books & Articles
Modern Summaries & Museum Resources
Secondary Sources / Journalism
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| Cropsey and The Willowbrook State School | 24 Nov 2025 | 00:36:20 | |
This week on Loreplay, your host Dayna Pereira drags you—lovingly, chaotically, and with a full set of trigger warnings—into one of New York’s darkest intersections of myth and reality. We’re talking Cropsey, Staten Island’s OG boogeyman… and the very real institutional nightmare that fed the legend: the Willowbrook State School. From childhood dares in the woods… to abandoned tunnels… to unethical medical experiments… to the disappearances of multiple children… this episode unpacks how an urban legend stopped being folklore and started feeling uncomfortably real. Dayna dives into:
Equal parts horror, heartbreak, and “holy-shit-how-was-this-real,” this episode is a reminder that sometimes the scariest legends are built on top of real places where real people were failed. Turn off the lights. Lock your doors. And let’s go find the line where folklore ends… and monsters begin. SHOW NOTES Trigger Warnings: This episode contains discussions of child abuse, neglect, institutional abuse, unethical medical experiments, kidnapping, and the deaths/disappearances of children. Topics Covered:
Sources & Further Reading: (Note: these are clean, reputable sources suitable for show notes. No need for academic citation formatting.)
Support the Show: If this episode creeped you out, educated you, or ruined your ability to walk near a storm drain ever again, leave Loreplay a 5-star review and share the episode with your favorite spooky-loving friend. Send your WTF Wednesday stories to loreplaypod@gmail.com | |||
| The Greenbrier Ghost | 17 Nov 2025 | 00:33:56 | |
In this spine-tingling (and side-splitting) episode of Loreplay, host Dayna Pereira dives deep into the unbelievable true story of the Greenbrier Ghost—the only documented case in American history where a ghost’s testimony helped convict a murderer. Yep. Court of law. Sworn statement. Medium-grade Victorian drama. Full-body chills. Travel back to 1897 in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, where newlywed Zona Heaster Shue dies under suspicious circumstances… and her mother refuses to buy the “it was natural causes” excuse that the town doctor offered while he was practically doing a speed-run autopsy in reverse. After four nights of bone-cracking ghostly visits, Zona reveals the truth: her husband killed her, and she wants justice. This episode blends historical research, paranormal evidence, Appalachian folklore, and classic Loreplay humor, taking you through everything from the shady husband’s red flags to the séance-level mother-daughter determination that cracked the case wide open. If you love haunted history, true crime with a paranormal twist, Appalachian ghost stories, or tales of women who refuse to be quiet even in death—this one’s a must-listen. Perfect for fans of: ghost stories, historical hauntings, creepy folklore, murder mysteries, supernatural investigations, Appalachian legends, true crime meets paranormal podcasts. 📚 Sources for This Episode Primary Historical Sources
Books & Academic References
Articles, Essays & Museum Resources
Local & Cultural Sources
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| The Blood Countess | 10 Nov 2025 | 00:35:24 | |
The Blood Countess of Cachtice: Elizabeth Báthory — Monster, Myth, or Misogyny? Hey hey, my lore-loving fiends — tonight we’re heading back to 16th-century Hungary, where leeches were skincare, torture was trending, and one noblewoman’s beauty routine allegedly involved… her staff. Elizabeth Báthory — better known as The Blood Countess — has been called history’s most prolific female serial killer, accused of torturing and murdering hundreds of girls to preserve her youth. But how much of it is true… and how much was cooked up by jealous nobles, political rivals, and a patriarchal empire that didn’t love a woman with her own money and opinions? In this full-bodied (and occasionally blood-soaked) deep dive, we unravel the legend — from her aristocratic upbringing and dark castle years, to the sensational trial that never was, and the centuries of myth-making that turned her into the world’s most infamous vampire countess. Was she a monster? A myth? Or just a woman whose story bled out of control? Primary Sources: Secondary Sources: Pop Culture & Media: | |||
| The Dybbuk Box | 03 Nov 2025 | 00:26:30 | |
You’ve heard of haunted dolls, cursed mirrors, and demons that slide into your DMs — but few haunted objects have ever captured the world’s attention like the Dybbuk Box. In this episode of Loreplay, Dayna Pereira dives deep into the origins of the Dybbuk legend in Jewish mysticism, the true story behind Kevin Mannis’s eBay listing, and the chaos that followed — from Jason Haxton’s museum hauntings to Zak Bagans’s on-camera meltdown and the infamous Post Malone curse. We break down the folklore, the fear, and the fine line between cultural myth and collective psychosis — because when enough people believe in something, even the internet can make it real. Mannis, Kevin. Original eBay Listing for “Haunted Dybbuk Box.” (2003, archived on paranormal-collector forums and Wayback Machine) Haxton, Jason. The Dibbuk Box. Truman State University Press, 2011. Ansky, S. The Dybbuk, or Between Two Worlds. (1914; English translation, 1926) The Jewish Virtual Library. “Dybbuk (Dibbuk).” JewishVirtualLibrary.org Zak Bagans. Ghost Adventures: Quarantine — Episode 4, “Dybbuk Box: The Opening.” Discovery+, 2020. Bagans, Zak & Haxton, Jason. Interviews via Las Vegas Review-Journal (June 2020). Post Malone on Late Night with Seth Meyers. NBC, Oct. 2018. Snopes.com. “Was the Dybbuk Box a Real Jewish Relic?” (2021). LiveScience. “The Science of Haunted Objects and the Nocebo Effect.” (2022). Haaretz. “The Real Story of the Dybbuk and How Pop Culture Got It Wrong.” (2019). | |||
| The Hammersmith Ghost Murder | 27 Oct 2025 | 00:27:06 | |
Hey hey, my lore-loving weirdos… grab your lanterns, your lace bonnets, and your emotional support gin — because tonight, we’re heading back to 1803 London, where a ghost panic got so real it ended with an actual murder trial. Before the Tube, before streetlights, and definitely before therapy, the sleepy village of Hammersmith found itself haunted — not by one restless spirit, but by a whole lot of mass hysteria. It started with an elderly woman scared literally to death near the churchyard… then a brewer’s servant named Thomas Groom who got hands-on with the ghost (and lived to tell the tale)… and a pregnant woman whose brush with the apparition nearly sent her into early labor. Cue the fog, the fear, and a full-blown neighborhood patrol of armed ghost hunters. Welcome to one of England’s strangest true crimes — the first time someone in court tried to argue: “I thought it was a ghost.”From hysteria to homicide, from gossip to the Old Bailey, we’re unraveling how superstition, fear, and a good old-fashioned case of “maybe don’t shoot the undead” turned London upside down. So grab your torches, charge your crystals, and let’s step into the fog… because this is Loreplay: where haunted gets hot and bothered with history. 📜 Show Notes & Sources 🧩 The Real Story
📚 Primary & Historical Sources
💀 Loreplay Deep Dive Topics
🔮 Fun Facts
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| The Pollock Twins | 20 Oct 2025 | 00:31:08 | |
In 1950s England, tragedy struck the Pollock family when their two young daughters, Joanna and Jacqueline, were killed in a horrific car accident. A year later, Florence Pollock gave birth to twin girls — and that’s when things got weird. The twins, Gillian and Jennifer, began recalling memories, places, and experiences they couldn’t possibly have known. They recognized landmarks in a town they’d never visited, talked about “their other lives,” and one even bore the same birthmarks and scars as her late sister. Was this the most compelling modern case of reincarnation — or a story shaped by grief, coincidence, and a father’s desperate need to believe? In this episode of Loreplay, we head across the pond to Hexham, England, where science, spirituality, and straight-up spooky collide. We’ll dig into the documented accounts by psychiatrist Dr. Ian Stevenson, the skepticism that followed, and the unnerving details that still stump researchers today. Grab your tea, maybe light a candle (or an incense stick, if you’re feeling metaphysical), and prepare for one of the strangest tales of déjà vu the afterlife ever wrote twice. 🔍 Show Notes & Sources: (For listeners who love a good rabbit hole — these are the primary and reputable sources used in the research for this episode.)
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| Half Hangit Maggie | 13 Oct 2025 | 00:33:22 | |
When the hangman fails, history gets juicy. From the gallows of Edinburgh’s Grassmarket to the birth of her legend as “Half-Hangit Maggie,” this episode blends dark history with gallows humor (literally). You’ll learn how a young woman’s secret, a botched execution, and a very loose understanding of “death” turned her into one of Scotland’s most enduring folk heroines. Was it divine intervention? A medical fluke? Or just the universe saying, “Not today, Satan”? Grab a pint and find out why this ghost story isn’t about death at all — it’s about defiance. Tune in to Loreplay — where haunted gets hot and bothered with history, and the dead don’t always stay quiet. Primary Historical References
Supplementary Reading & Tourism Sources
Music & Sound Credits (if applicable)
🔗 LINKS 🎧 Listen to all episodes at loreplaypod.com 📸 Follow @LoreplayPod on Instagram & TikTok | |||
| OG Exorcist | 06 Oct 2025 | 00:38:33 | |
In this episode of Loreplay, Dayna Pereira dives deep into the real-life horror story that inspired The Exorcist. Forget the spinning heads and pea soup—this is the true 1949 case of Roland Doe, the boy whose alleged demonic possession terrified priests, shook the Church, and changed how America viewed exorcisms forever. From Cottage City, Maryland to St. Louis, Missouri, follow the chilling (and occasionally ridiculous) journey of a family haunted by unexplained scratches, flying furniture, guttural voices, and a bed that wouldn’t stop shaking. Meet the real priests behind the ritual—Father Albert Hughes, Father Raymond Bishop, and Father William Bowdern—and discover how one terrified teenager became the blueprint for Hollywood’s most infamous horror film. Was it true possession, psychological trauma, or the most dramatic case of grief-fueled chaos in suburban history? Dayna unpacks it all with her signature mix of dark humor, history, and sass in this must-listen deep dive into the original exorcism that started it all.
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| Amityville Horror | 29 Sep 2025 | 00:43:15 | |
Amityville Horror: Haunted House or Hoax? What really happened inside the most famous haunted house in America? In this episode of Loreplay, host Dayna Pereira digs into the chilling story of the Amityville Horror—where true crime meets the paranormal. First, we revisit the shocking 1974 DeFeo family murders that left six dead inside 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York. Then we dive into the terrifying claims of George and Kathy Lutz, who lasted only 28 days before fleeing the house in fear. From swarms of flies in winter, to walls that oozed slime, to a demon pig with glowing eyes, the Amityville haunting became one of the most infamous paranormal cases in history. But was the Amityville Horror real—or the ultimate haunted house hoax? We’ll explore the books, movies, court cases, and investigations by Ed and Lorraine Warren, skeptics, and reporters that turned this Long Island murder house into a global phenomenon. If you love haunted house stories, true crime murders, creepy paranormal encounters, and spooky legends that blend fact with fiction, this episode is for you. 📚 Sources for Show Notes
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| Mothman: Sky Daddy of Doom | 22 Sep 2025 | 00:35:41 | |
West Virginia, 1966. Four terrified teenagers tear down a dark back road in a Chevy Bel Air with something massive chasing them through the sky — glowing red eyes, a ten-foot wingspan, and a story that would forever haunt Point Pleasant. Over the next thirteen months, dozens of locals reported the same winged figure, strange lights in the sky, prophetic dreams, and even creepy Men in Black knocking at their doors. And then, in December 1967, the Silver Bridge collapsed, killing 46 people and cementing Mothman’s place in American legend. In this episode of Loreplay, your host Dayna Pereira dives deep into the Mothman flap — from the Scarberry and Mallette chase to Marcella Bennett’s porch-side nightmare, to John Keel’s “high strangeness” theories. Was Mothman a bird, an alien, a government oopsie with wings, or a harbinger of doom? Buckle up, buttercups — we’re making deep eye contact with West Virginia’s sexiest cryptid. Show Notes What you’ll hear in this episode:
Sources & References:
Follow & Connect: 📲 TikTok/Instagram: @LoreplayPod | |||
| Black Eyed Children | 15 Sep 2025 | 00:28:46 | |
In this chilling episode of Loreplay, host Dayna Pereira dives deep into the terrifying urban legend of the Black Eyed Children — the mysterious paranormal figures with solid black eyes who knock on doors and beg to be let inside. From journalist Brian Bethel’s 1996 encounter in Abilene, Texas to spine-tingling reports in Portland, Oregon, Vermont, and the UK, we explore the most infamous Black Eyed Kid stories that have fueled decades of fear. Listeners will hear how these eerie children are tied to legends of demons, vampires, changelings, ghosts, alien-human hybrids, and government experiments, and why the rule is always the same: never let them in. We also unpack the rise of creepypasta, the explosion of TikTok horror videos, and how thousands of people online swear the Black Eyed Kids are real. Are they paranormal entities, energy parasites, or just an internet-born myth that refuses to die? Join us for a spooky, sassy, and laugh-out-loud funny exploration of one of the internet’s most enduring pieces of paranormal folklore. Whether you’re a fan of creepypasta legends, obsessed with TikTok urban myths, or just love haunted history mixed with comedy, this episode of Loreplay has it all: terrifying encounters, bizarre theories, and Dayna’s signature comedic take on the world’s weirdest lore. Subscribe, share, and remember — when the knock comes, don’t let them in. Site Sources
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| Haunted History of The Winchester Mystery House | 08 Sep 2025 | 00:27:01 | |
Step inside one of America’s strangest and most haunted mansions—the Winchester Mystery House. Built by Sarah Winchester, the widow of the heir to the Winchester Repeating Arms fortune, this sprawling, bizarre labyrinth in San Jose, California is filled with staircases that lead to nowhere, doors that open into walls, and enough ghostly legends to keep paranormal investigators buzzing for over a century. In this episode of Loreplay, Dayna Pereira dives deep into the history, heartbreak, and haunted lore behind Sarah Winchester and her endlessly expanding Victorian mansion. Was she cursed by the spirits of those killed by the Winchester rifle? Or was she simply a grieving genius with too much money and not enough therapy? We’ll unravel the facts, the myths, and the sheer chaos of the most famous haunted house in California. For this episode, we drew from historical accounts, scholarly resources, and paranormal folklore archives:
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| Raggedy Annabelle | 01 Sep 2025 | 00:26:27 | |
Host Dayna Pereira investigates the true story behind Annabelle, the infamous Raggedy Ann doll blamed for terrorizing two nurses in the 1970s. With humor and historical context, Pereira explores the Warrens’ paranormal intervention, the Catholic demonology that fueled the case, and the cultural explosion that turned a stuffed toy into a horror icon. 🔗 Sources & References
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| The Bell Witch | 01 Sep 2025 | 00:29:15 | |
Welcome to Loreplay—the comedy-paranormal podcast where haunted history meets hot takes. In this episode, host Dayna Pereira dives deep into one of America’s most infamous ghost stories: The Bell Witch of Adams, Tennessee. From John Bell Sr.’s mysterious illness to Lucy Bell’s eerie protection, and from Kate Batts’ petty neighbor drama to the witchy shenanigans that terrified Andrew Jackson himself, this story has everything: curses, poltergeist activity, demonic sass, and enough Tennessee gossip to fuel a century of spooky sleepovers. With a mix of historical research, folklore, and laugh-out-loud commentary, we unpack why the Bell Witch still haunts our imaginations today—and why she’d absolutely run a chaotic TikTok account if she were alive now. Whether you’re here for the true crime-style timeline, the paranormal chaos, or just the comedic meltdown of a host who relates way too much to a vengeful spirit, you’re in for a ride. 📚 Sources for Loreplay Episode: The Bell Witch
👉 Keywords: Bell Witch, Tennessee ghost stories, haunted history podcast, paranormal comedy, Loreplay podcast, American folklore, John Bell, Kate Batts, Bell Witch Cave, haunted Tennessee, spooky legends, ghost podcast, paranormal podcast funny. | |||