Explore every episode of the podcast Wide Atlantic Weird
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apocalypse Kong: Kong Skull Island (with Dr Justin Mullis) | 02 Jun 2024 | 01:37:51 | |
Dr Justin Mullis drops into the Explorers Club to discuss the 2017 film Kong: Skull Island. Topics include: -Japanese cryptozoology -The depiction of apes in popular culture -Kong as a colonial Lost World story? -the ecology of Skull Island -The significance of the 70s Vietnam setting -John Goodman and the Monarch organisation -Kong’s reinvention as a Kaiju -Some of the best CGI in a recent creature film? -The Skullcrawlers’ link to the original 1933 King Kong -Cryptozoology in the Monsterverse -The mystical gateway that often guards the Lost Worlds Links: -Justin's Notes for the episode (availability pending) -Justin at Adventures In Poor Taste -Colonialism and the Emergence of Science Fiction, John Rieder -King Kong Cometh, Paul A. Woods | |||
| Just Like His Old Man: Son Of Kong (with Eddie Guimont) | 19 Apr 2024 | 01:16:45 | |
Return to Skull Island back in 1933 with Eddie Guimont to see whether there's more to the overlooked SON OF KONG than you've heard. Topics include: -UPDATE ON PERCY FAWCETT’s LOST CITY! -Occult beliefs in Bolsonaro’s government -Was Kong intended to be sympathetic? -The origins & making of Son of Kong -The real-life colonial adventures of Kong’s creators -The social and economic world of Kong’s 1933 -The trope of the ancient lost monument-builders -The ethnicity of the Skull Islanders -Willis O’Brien’s special effects -Lovecraft and Mysterious Islands Links: Jason Colavito on Percy Fawcett https://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/a-plausible-explanation-for-the-lost-city-of-manuscript-512 Kong: The History Of A Movie Icon, Ray Morton, 2005 When The Stars Are Right, Edward Guimont and Horace A Smith From Crypto's to Kaiju, Justin Mullen (currently restricted access) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/03080188241234141 | |||
| Cryptofiction - Mystery Animals in Fiction (with Justin Mullis) | 28 Jul 2023 | 01:49:10 | |
From the gilllman of Robert W Chambers' 'The Harbour Master' to the monstrous apes and aquatic dinosaurs of 'King Kong,' fiction has informed the cryptozoologists who went out into the dark corners of the earth seeking 'real' mystery creatures. Justin Mullis returns to talk us through his article 'Cryptofiction.' Get ready for a monster-load of influential stories from writers both familiar and obscure. Talk includes: -Famous cryptozoologists who were influenced by monster fiction -The influence of ‘The Lost World’ (of course!) -Victorians, dinosaurs and ‘real’ dragons -Victorian stories of surviving dinosaurs and the origin of Mokele-Mbembe -Arthur Conan Doyle’s non-‘Lost World’ cryptids -The 1925 Lost World film, King Kong, and novelisations of Kong (with extra dinosaurs!) and connections to Atlantis -‘The Monster of Partridge Creek’ a fictitious monster that turned up as a ‘true’ story -Lord Dunsany, the ‘Club Story’ and cryptozoology -Early fiction featuring Bigfoot-like creatures, including ‘The Cairn’ by HR Wakefield and ‘Rogues In The House’ by Robert E Howard -Robert W Chambers and ‘In Search Of The Unknown’ - a template for cryptozoology from 1904? References: -Cryptofiction, Justin Mullis, 2019 -Justin’s talk on Robert W Chambers for The Last Tuesday Society -Justin’s writing at Adventures In Poor Taste: https://aiptcomics.com/author/justinmullis/ -Justin’s academia.edu with links to his writing https://bgsu.academia.edu/JustinMullis/CurriculumVitae -Wide Atlantic Weird: Fairy Euhemerism with Justin Mullis -Lake Monster Traditions, Michel Meurger, 1988 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lake-Monster-Traditions-Cross-cultural-Analysis/dp/1870021002 -Jacques Collin de Plancy, who wrote ‘Voyage To The Centre Of The Earth’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Collin_de_Plancy Brontosaurus, A Faded Star Rises Again, Prehisoric Pulp https://prehistoricpulp.com/2017/08/05/brontosaurus-a-faded-star-rises-again/ Dinomania, Ulrich Merkl -‘Creatures of Another Age’ edited by Richard Fallon (review by Justin Mullis in AIPT) which features ‘The Dragon of St Paul’s’ which prefigures the climax to The Lost World https://aiptcomics.com/2022/06/30/creatures-of-another-age-dinosaurs-scifi/ Kong Unmade by John Lemay and others https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kong-Unmade-Films-Skull-Island/dp/179807799X Kong: An Original Screenplay, Edgar Wallace https://www.pspublishing.co.uk/kong-an-original-screenplay-hardcover-by-edgar-wallace-5969-p.asp The Monster of Partridge Creek, Georges Dupoy, 1908. https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Partridge_Creek_Monster ‘In Search Of The Unknown,’ Robert W Chambers, 1904 | |||
| St Kevin's: Cork's Abandoned Victorian Asylum | 11 Jul 2020 | 00:24:10 | |
Every town has that one spooky abandoned building, the one that seems to naturally gather scary stories and urban legends. On the west side of Cork City, the great Victorian redbrick section of the Our Lady's complex, St Kevin's, has a real-life history of scandal and tragedy. In this episode, Cian takes a trip to the empty, fire-scarred structure that still stands above the Lee Valley onto the city. We'll discuss the Victorian origins of the complex, the scandals that went on inside, and the reasons we're drawn to places of tragedy. The Ghost Trail On Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyswG_oLkVQV9vQNnpJj1_A Abandoned Ireland Article on St Kevin's http://www.abandonedireland.com/skv_more.html Harrowing By Name Blog Article On St kevin's http://harrowingp.blogspot.com/2013/01/st-annes-asylum-cork-ireland.html Cian's old blog, an earlier visit to St kevin's https://ciangill2.blogspot.com/2010/03/st-annes.html | |||
| The Jewel Of Seven Stars: Bram Stoker's Spooky Egypt Part 1 | 02 Jul 2020 | 01:13:05 | |
*NOW UPDATED WITH EXTRA BONUS MATERIAL!* On this episode, enter the Wide Atlantic Weird cabin-in-the-woods to find the place stuffed with mummified cats, cursed relics and forbidden idols as we delve into THE JEWEL OF SEVEN STARS! This 1903 book from Dublin-born Bram ‘Dracula’ Stoker affords us the perfect excuse to doff a pith helmet, drink cognac, and tell mystical tales of turn-of-the-century Gothic London and spooky, mysterious Egypt! Come to find out when the Western world actually decided that mummies were scary, why the British were obsessed with Egypt, and how to tell when a fellow is decent by looking at his skull – but stay for the eccentric Irish occultists, the racial hang-wringing, and of course the blatant Orientalising. -what race were the ancient Egyptians anyway? -did an Irish palm-reader predict the downfall of Charles Stuart Parnell? -why did Oscar Wilde’s father want Cleopatra’s Needle brought to London? -can Cian jam HG Wells, AC Doyle and ‘Invasion literature’ into another episode?? All these questions and more will be raised, mulled over, and distainfully dismissed in THE JEWEL OF SEVEN STARS: BRAM STOKER’S SPOOKY EGYPT PART 1. Theme from the 1959 Hammer version of The Mummy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zef-RrAunZ4 Quadrivia article about Cleopatra’s Needle | |||
| Ancient Astronauts, Religion & Science In Prometheus (2012) (with Daffy Price) | 26 Jun 2020 | 01:20:48 | |
Prometheus, made with a decent amount of creative control by increasingly-eccentric director Ridley Scott, is a sorta-maybe prequel to the Alien movies, and a rather divisive entry into the franchise. Cian invites Prometheus fan Daffy to the Cabin In The Woods on a rainy summer's night to discuss the ups and downs of this visually-stunning but thematically confusing film. The guys discuss racism in Ancient Astronauts theory, the place of religion in science, bad plot tropes, and lots of other good things. So grab a bottle and listen here for ANCIENT ASTRONAUTS, RELIGION & SCIENCE IN PROMETHEUS. Spoilers aplenty. DRAGON'S HOARD ETSY | |||
| Rumour Control: The Unbelievable Development Hell Of Alien 3 (with Ian Stokes) | 17 Jun 2020 | 01:26:21 | |
Christ on a bicycle, you just wouldn't believe the madness that went on behind the scenes during the making of ALIEN 3. An astonishingly bleak, gothic entry into a big-budget franchise that killed off most of its beloved cast, Alien 3 was hated by fans upon release and has only very slowly gained a slightly better reputation over the years. Cian and Stokes enjoy some fine German beer (and Kinsale Pale Ale - recommended!) while getting into the almost incredible reasons why this film spent so long in development hell. From unused scripts about monks on a wooden planet to British wrestlers, dogs in costumes, sexy blonde studio spies, and a pre Fight Club David Fincher, this story has enough weirdness going on to swing a Xenomorph. But does the film hold up? Will the guys ever record an episode about Alien Resurrection? And what is the connection to Last Action Hero? Join Wide Atlantic Weird for some horror film goodness and a descent to Fiorina (Fury) 161 in RUMOUR CONTROL: THE UNBELIEVABLE DEVELOPMENT HELL OF ALiEN 3. Theatre Preview (The Bitch is back) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3L3jJyzjFI Alien 3 UUP Original Script (Hicks, Ripley and Newt) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_3#1987%E2%80%931989 Brian Glover, wrestler, angry, bald, yorkshireman. Wrestling 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_zPH3u65H8 Wrestling 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QxyO_rGqYg Bottom (i.e Secret Shame): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsz5aGJUNXs Special Effects Whippet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUMX6hsvbO4 Super Face Hugger: https://avp.fandom.com/wiki/Royal_Facehugger Bambi Buster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQCq3CHzhdk Michael Biehn Time Bomb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105597/ Michael Biehn on Ripley & Hicks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vgl6eopOy8 Reactions to Alien 3: | |||
| The Land Beyond The Forest: The Mythical World Of The Uberwald | 12 Jun 2020 | 00:40:28 | |
Digging up an old script at the Cabin In The Woods, Cian addresses an old topic, a suitably spooky and Gothic one for an unseasonably cold summer’s evening: the Uberwald, the mythical imaginary version of Central and Eastern Europe where Gothic tales of the macabre traditionally take place. On this journey we take on the Fighting Fantasy books, The White Wolf Of The Harz Mountains, Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla, and of course Dracula. Grab your torch, pitchfork, and a can of Nightcrawler milk stout and meet me at the castle as we explore the history of this influential idea. The White Wolf Of The Harz Mountains Etext http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0606061h.html Carmilla Etext http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10007 Dracula Etext http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/345 Dracula 1992 Theme https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dracula+1992+theme Sabrewulf Theme (Killer Instinct) | |||
| A Franchise Nobody Wanted: The Rest Of The Blair Witch Mythos (with Ian Stokes) | 30 May 2020 | 00:56:38 | |
Some months ago we did an episode solely about the first Blair Witch movie from 1999. We're doing everything else in the franchise (two movies and a bunch of video games) in one episode. While this might give you an idea of the level of quality we're dealing with, there are interesting things to notice within these films and games. Perhaps the take-home lesson is simply that not everything needs a franchise. But grab a beer and join us at the Cabin In The Woods to see whether there's anything salvageable within the FRANCHISE NOBODY WANTED. Big thanks to our guest Ian Stokes! | |||
| Edwardians And Dinosaurs: The Prehistory Of 'The Lost World' | 17 May 2020 | 01:09:36 | |
Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World is the proverbial ‘not-terrible’ dinosaur story. Let’s face it, besides Jurassic Park, there aren’t many. And Conan Doyle knocked it out of the (ahem) park back in 1912 when he brought prehistoric creatures of literary age in this tale of daring Englishmen, led by the infuriating Professor Challenger, finding dinosaurs alive and well on a flat-topped mountain in the jungles of South America. The book is a seminal text in the colonial-era adventure genre. In this episode of WIDE ATLANTIC WEIRD, Cian sups on a Bud on the porch of the cabin in the woods and covers the myriad influences on old ACD when he wrote The Lost World. Explore the Victorian and Edwardian obsession with archaeology and exotic places. Percy Fawcett disappearing into the Amazon in 1925. The discovery of Troy. The colonial adventurer who later became an anti-imperial Irish revolutionary. The birth of what we now call cryptozoology – the hunt for mystery animals in both fact and fiction. And exactly why might readers in 1912 have been primed to believe that living dinosaurs might just exist? Down a quick brandy to steady your nerve, pack your elephant gun, and follow a crumbling map to EDWARDIANS AND DINOSAURS: THE PREHISTORY OF ‘THE LOST WORLD.’ Ladybird Pickwick Cassette Edition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvNLbyuqsLU Lost And Found In Maple White Land by Sherri S. Malch https://michaeldelahoyde.org/dinosaurs/lost-world-tude/ The Lost City of Z by David Grann https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3398625-the-lost-city-of-z Frank Reade and Romaina – from Science Fiction Studies https://www.depauw.edu/sfs/reviews_pages/r70.htm Darren Naish on Piltdown Man and Conan Doyle (Tetrapod Zoology) Discovery of Mountain Gorillas from Mountain Gorilla Conservation Fund https://www.saveagorilla.org/discovery.html Beasts And Men by Carl Hagenbeck, 1909 https://archive.org/details/beastsmenbeingca00hage Hunting Monsters by Darren Naish, 2016 https://www.amazon.com/Hunting-Monsters-Cryptozoology-Reality-Behind-ebook/dp/B01B867JTO | |||
| The Shores Of Hell: History And Memories of DOOM (with Ian Stokes) | 10 May 2020 | 01:17:32 | |
In 1993, the world of gaming was changed forever by Doom, a fast-paced game with action and horror elements that was hugely controversial for its violent and Satanic plot. Joining Cian for a beer and a chat about the history of the game is Ian Stokes, the Wide Atlantic Weird resident IT guy. Grab yourself a brew for a conversation about the wild and woolly days of cowboy game developers, space marines and imps from Hell, connections to moral panics and school shootings, a film so bad even the Rock couldn’t save it, and a tie-in book series that turned out to be covert Mormon propaganda. Don’t put it off any longer – there are weird growling sounds coming from the interior of this episode, so charge your BFG and head inside to take on the forces of the underworld in THE SHORES OF HELL: HISTORY AND MEMORIES OF DOOM. (major thanks to Mr Stokes for the extremely thorough notes this episode!) Videos John Romero Dooms Development: A year of madness https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBU34NZhW7I Doom Cover Art Collection (Includes PC, playstation art etc) https://doom.fandom.com/wiki/Cover_art Doom Music PC Robert Prince https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cixW6rogZ48 Notable Songs (PC) At dooms Gate (Master Of Puppets): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cixW6rogZ48&t=0s Adrians Asleep (Alice In Chains Angry Chair): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cixW6rogZ48&t=6861s PlayStation Aubrey Hudges (Playstation) https://aubreyhodges.bandcamp.com/album/doom-playstation-official-soundtrack Notable Songs (Play Station) Main Theme https://aubreyhodges.bandcamp.com/track/doom-playstation-main-theme Breath of Horror: https://aubreyhodges.bandcamp.com/track/breath-of-horror-level-deimos-anomaly Books/Comics RIP & Tear Comic: https://www.doomworld.com/10years/doomcomic/comic.php PC Gamer Crapshoot Doom Novels: https://www.pcgamer.com/crap-shoot-doom-the-novels/ | |||
| It Never Gets Respect: Metallica and the making of St Anger (with Dónal Gill) | 06 May 2020 | 01:12:47 | |
Another strange tale from the world of music here as Cian and Donal delve into Metallica’s infamously difficult phase during the recording of their much-maligned St Anger album. Metallica stand head and shoulders above most other groups in the metal world, and at the time they were making this record their star was still shooting up. But personal problems left them wracked with insecurity and an identity crisis that played out onscreen in the documentary Some Kind Of Monster. The film is full of unintentionally hilarious moments as these monster egos tiptoe around one another on eggshells, using nonsense therapy-language, and making ludicrous musical decisions. It was an incredibly strange time for one of the biggest bands on Earth, and the guys have a lot to say about it. So grab yourself a coffee, get FRANTIC, and fall madly in anger with IT NEVER GETS RESPECT: METALLICA AND THE MAKING OF ST ANGER. Donal's Facebook for Obscure Kiss Riff Of The Day | |||
| The Cryptids of Nigel Kneale: The Abominable Snowman (1957) with Blake Smith & Dr Karen Stollznow | 26 May 2023 | 01:03:08 | |
We're chuffed to welcome the esteemed hosts of MONSTER TALK, Dr Karen Stollznow and Blake Smith, to the cabin to talk about the 1957 movie THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN. Written by the tremendous, influential British writer Nigel Kneale, this has got to be one of the best, and most interesting, cryptic films ever made. The fact that it hails from the days of 1950s yeti-mania makes it an important marker of a cultural cryptozoological moment - but even so, Kneale finds ways to put his own stamp on the monster. Our conversation includes: -The work of Nigel Kneale -Orientalism in the film -the trope of psychic relict hominoids -pelts & paws cryptozoology vs mystical interpretation -the character ‘Tom Friend’ representing the real-life monster hunter Tom Slick -real-life expeditions that inspired the movie -Yetis as understood in their own countries -Cryptozoology and colonialism (again!) -when to show the monster? -Cryptid movie recommendations LINKS Monster Talk: Yeti Stories You've Never Heard Before (a listening must!) Bigfoot: Life and Times of a Legend, Joshua Blu Buhs, 2009 Howard Bury’s Footprints: a WAW episode about the origins of the term Abominable Snowman | |||
| Twisted Pair: Is Neil Breen Self-Aware? (with Ali Keane) | 01 May 2020 | 01:20:39 | |
A proper, enjoyable 'bad movie' needs to have been made with by someone who truly believes in what they're doing, without irony. Cian and Ali enjoy a beer and return to the subject of their very first episode: the so-bad-they’re-good films of visionary ‘auteur’ Neil Breen. This time they finally discuss his divisive 2018 movie Twisted Pair, an effort that had them wondering whether Breen had finally become self-aware and if the game was finally up. Would Breen now become another Tommy Wiseau, incapable of delivering the unselfconscious gold of his early career? Well, the guys have been thinking about it for some time but they’ve finally decided. So take a listen to TWISTED PAIR: IS NEIL BREEN SELF-AWARE and decide for yourself. Quote about Breen from Bad Movie Bible Escape Bar Gig on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=escape%20escape%20bar%20none%203&epa=SEARCH_BOX The Scuts on Bandcamp | |||
| Dead Men Working In The Cane Fields: The Zombies of William Seabrook's 'Magic Island' | 29 Apr 2020 | 00:42:07 | |
As something of a follow-up to our last episode about the birth of the ‘Spooky New Orleans’ archetype, join Cian for a lockdown bottle of ale on the porch at the Cabin in the Woods for a reading from the book ‘The Magic Island’ by William Seabrook. In 1929, Seabrook’s book was a massive success, telling dark tales about Haiti and its voodoo secrets, and in particular popularising the word ‘zombie’ among Western audiences. Having always been haunted by a story about zombified sugar-cane plantation workers, Cian has tracked the story down to the chapter ‘Dead Men Working In The Cane Fields’ from this book. So pour yourself some rum and settle down for a story from the very dawn of the zombie genre – the Dawn of the Dead, if you will. | |||
| Lafcadio Hearn In New Orleans | 26 Apr 2020 | 00:36:51 | |
The popular image of New Orleans as a spooky, mysterious city full of witchcraft and voodoo needs no introduction. But few know that the city owes this image largely to the work of an Irishman named Lafcadio Hearn – a Victorian-era writer and traveller who sought out magic and mystery wherever he went, a collector of folklore and stories of everyday life. During his ten years writing about life in the Crescent City, he emphasised its sensuality and difference from the rest of America. Today, the ripples he created still affect how we think about New Orleans and Louisiana. So join Cian for a bourbon at the cabin in the woods as we explore the backstreets of the French Quarter and the bayous beyond, searching for the reality behind the myths of voodoo queens and superstitions. Sources: A Fantastic Journey by Paul Murray https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fantastic-Journey-Literature-Lafcadio-Hearn/dp/1873410239 Inventing New Orleans by Frederick Starr Book Of The Dead by Jamie Russell Ghosthunter theme (PS2) The Swamp Cemetary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY6c4nkB4x4&t=119s Marie Laveau by Papa Celestin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLRfDLJLjxc&t=29s Tellers Of Weird Tales https://tellersofweirdtales.blogspot.com/2017/03/weird-tales-books-stories-of-walking_18.html Lafcadio Hearn Japanese Gardens | |||
| What You Did Not Create: Slipknot And Nu-Metal Nostalgia | 21 Apr 2020 | 01:09:27 | |
Get ready for a look back at a strange world: 2001 was a different time. A time of baggy jeans, wallets on chains, and a strangely heavy, angry, and proudly stupid style of music that inexplicably became mainstream. It was the era of Nu-Metal: a subgenre now so hated and disgraced that even those of us who were fans are happy to pretend it all just never happened. For myself and my brother Donal, one of our key memories of this bizarre time is the book Slipknot: Behind The Sickness Inside The Masks. It’s an absurd, juvenile, but breathlessly genuine time capsule of an age that has yet to be enshrined in any sort of nostalgic movement. We loved this book as teenagers and we’re returning to it now. Slipknot were perhaps the breakout stars of the Nu-Metal era and this book chronicles them at the height of their intensity and bombastic ridiculousness. Get ready for dead crows in jars, shitting on stage, dicks for noses, and rotting cow heads. We discuss Nu-Metal in general, the nature of nostalgia, and why Metallica’s St Anger was terrible. Live from lockdown, from the cabin in the woods in West Cork and lovely Montreal, Quebec, this is Wide Atlantic Weird; this episode: What You Did Not Create: Slipknot And Nu-Metal Nostalgia. | |||
| Choose-Your-Own-Satanic-Panic: Fighting Fantasy And House Of Hell | 05 Apr 2020 | 00:22:52 | |
Join Cian for a quarantine session of brandy and nostalgia at the cabin in this much-delayed episode. If you fondly remember reading (and cheating) through Fighting Fantasy gamebooks in the 80s, this installment has you covered, as Cian talks us through House Of Hell, his favourite FF adventure. It's a haunted house game that really goes into far more disturbing territory than most. Cian spots the influences of Dennis Wheatley in this creepy Satanists-for-kids adventure, and wonders as to the influence of the Satanic Panic too. Whatever the truth, House Of Hell remains an oddly unsettling addition to this genre, replete with cultists, goat heads, sacrifices on altars, and a torturously-constructed puzzle. You may never escape from the House! So roll up your stats, grab some cheese and brandy, and MAY YOUR STAMINA NEVER FAIL! To listen, turn to paragraph 88. Wide Atlantic Weird on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/WideAtlanticWeird/?modal=admin_todo_tour House Of Hell App from Tin Man Games http://fightingfantasyapps.com/books/house-of-hell/ House of Hell Solution by Lafe Travis | |||
| Geraldine Cummins: The Cork Psychic | 04 Apr 2020 | 00:19:31 | |
With the world in the midst of difficulties and upheaval, we bring you a brief update on the Wide Atlantic Weird status, as well as a short episode about a woman from County Cork who was famous in the 1920s for her mediumship, automatic writing, her follow-up books to the Bible (!) and for telling fortunes for the great and the good. Her name was Geraldine Cummins, and while not well-remembered today, her success during her lifetime tells us much about the state of belief in these ideas in Ireland in the early 20th century. Wide Atlantic Weird Facebook https://www.facebook.com/WideAtlanticWeird/?modal=admin_todo_tour World Famous Psychics & Mystics by Margaret Nicholas | |||
| All Of Them Witches: Margaret Murray And The Witch-Cult Hypothesis | 18 Mar 2020 | 00:35:38 | |
Reading Lovecraft is a great way to discover new writers and strange old pseudoscientific theories. In this episode I discuss how through Lovecraft I first learned of Margaret Murray and the infamous Witch-Cult Hypothesis – the idea that the ‘witches’ persecuted in early-modern witch trials were in fact the survivors of an ancient pagan cult. Yes, not only did people take this idea seriously, but they ran with it. Really ran with it. This episode of WIDE ATLANTIC WEIRD delves into what Murray believed, what others made of it, and the long-term effects of this particular odd belief. Cthulhu, wicca, Dennis Wheatley, Rosemary’s Baby: they all have their part to play in ALL OF THEM WITCHES: Margaret Murray And The Witch-Cult Hypothesis. So burn your black candles, put on your wicker antlers, crack open an ale and sit by the fire for a bewitching (sigh) episode of WIDE ATLANTIC WEIRD. Sources: Wide Atlantic Weird on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/WideAtlanticWeird The Witch-Cult In Western Europe, Margaret Murray, 1921 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Witch-Cult_in_Western_Europe The Call of Cthulhu, H. P. Lovecraft, 1928 http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/cc.aspx Supernatural Horror In Literature, H. P. Lovecraft, 1927 http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/essays/shil.aspx The Golden Bough, James Frazer, 1890 http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/essays/shil.aspx The Devil Rides Out by Dennis Wheatley, 1934 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil_Rides_Out Rosemary’s Baby, 1967 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosemary%27s_Baby_(novel) Paperbacks From Hell, Grady Hendrix, 2017 http://www.valancourtbooks.com/paperbacksfromhell.html Cursed Britain, Thomas Waters https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300221404/cursed-britain On An Underwood Number 5, Todd V. Bick http://onanunderwood5.blogspot.com/2019/01/conan-and-little-people-robert-e-howard.html New England Folklore https://newenglandfolklore.blogspot.com/2017/06/did-hp-lovecraft-believe-in-witches.html | |||
| American Militia 2: The Shadow Of Waco (with Ali Keane) | 13 Mar 2020 | 00:59:41 | |
In the second of our American Militia episodes, we examine the horror that was the 1993 Waco Siege. In February of that year, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms bungled a raid on a religious cult, the Branch Davidians, and their leader David Koresh, who were living in a compound in Texas. What resulted was an hours-long shootout, a 51-day siege, a killer fire, and controversies that still rage today: who shot first and who started the fire? Anti-government conspiracy believers still see the Waco siege as evidence that a sinister New World Order seek to control all patriotic free Americans. Join Cian and Ali to help you decide what you think. Perhaps you see the Branch Davidians as child-abusing, gun-hoarding religious nuts who needed to be stopped for the safety of all concerned, before Waco became another Jonestown. Perhaps they were innocent Americans minding their own business, victims of a tyrannical government who wanted nothing less than to show that they could and would destroy their own citizens just to show their power. Or, just perhaps, the Feds are just as human, just as hubristic, and just as subject to petty, meaningless mistakes as the rest of us – except that when they screw up, they screw up big and people die. This episode of Wide Atlantic Weird will take you to the plains of Texas to find answers in THE SHADOW OF WACO. | |||
| The American Folkhorror Of The Blair Witch Project | 09 Mar 2020 | 01:05:23 | |
In 1999, a supposedly-real ‘horror film’ was released that showed us virtually nothing while filling us with a terror of virtually everything. Those of us who were young and impressionable at the time still owe our fear of camping to THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, an upstart indie film that expertly utilised internet marketing, folklore and terrific world-building to create a movie that exists to this day within a kind of urban-legend mystique, proving that American folk-horror can be done right! Join Cian on the porch of the cabin for a beer and find out what exactly folkhorror is, why THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT is a legit example of it, and why, though it may be hard to get lost in America these days, it’s a lot easier than in Europe! Haunting Atmosphere – CO.AG https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI5U6aDcQEo Folkhorror.com definition Filmschoolrejects.com definition https://filmschoolrejects.com/folk-horror/ Sticks by Karl Edward Wagner https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oua7ByrC6s True Detective Season 1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Detective_(season_1) Picnic At Hanging Rock | |||
| Take That, Bembridge Scholars: Orientalism, Pulp Cinema, and The Mummy (with Lauren the Gothic Bookworm) | 24 Apr 2023 | 01:07:22 | |
Lauren the Gothic Bookworm opens the tomb of maybe-classic The Mummy from 1999 as we discuss action movie tropes, Orientalism in Hollywood, the golden age of Egyptology in the popular imagination, and Arnold Vosloo. Digressions include: -The horror-centric directions the film almost went in -The lure of the ‘golden age of Egyptology’ in Western storytelling -Creative use of dodgy CGI -The mummy as an Indiana Jones clone, and Orientalism in lost race fiction -Inconsistent geography in the movie LINKS -the gothic bookworm on Twitter | |||
| Chariots Of The Slobs: Jack London And The Ancient Aliens | 29 Feb 2020 | 00:47:10 | |
Sitting by a roaring fire in the Wide Atlantic Weird cabin, Cian delves into a potted history of the Ancient Aliens theory – once a fringe, almost-dead belief, it’s come back with a vengeance, now being one of the most popular paranormal worldviews out there. Statistically, you probably know someone yourself who believes that ancient non-white cultures around the world were incapable of building their pyramids and statues, and needed a little help from the (little green) men upstairs! But the history of the Ancient Astronauts theory is a strange one, so settle in for a tale that involves pulp horror, H.P. Lovecraft (of course), Swiss conman Erich Von Daniken, and even Jack ‘Call Of The Wild’ London, who provides us with jungle adventure, mysterious extraterrestrial visitors, and loads and loads of racism in CHARIOTS OF THE SLOBS: JACK LONDON AND THE ANCIENT ASTRONAUTS. The Red One by Jack London https://americanliterature.com/author/jack-london/short-story/the-red-one Charioteer of the Gods by Jason Colavito | |||
| American Militia 1: The Road To Ruby Ridge (with Ali Keane) | 23 Feb 2020 | 01:30:13 | |
Cian and Ali begin their deep dive into the American militia (or Patriot) movement. There are some odd beliefs very particular to America at play here, so we crack a couple of cans and get stuck into the founding of the country and the constitution to find out exactly why grown men like to LARP at being military folks out in the wild woods of backwoods America. In this episode, we focus on the siege of Ruby Ridge in Idaho, 1992 – an inciting incident that helped to kickstart the modern militia movement. It’s a fascinating and tragic story of a family hiding out in a cabin atop a mountain that became a target for increasingly more militarised police and federal forces. To find out just how this insane situation came to be, why the full force of the US government came down on the Weavers, and how citizens across the country changed their view of their own government as a result of this disastrous siege, take a listen to AMERICAN MILITIA 1: RUBY RIDGE. Along the way we meet such radical groups as the Aryan Nations and the Three Percenters, we discuss far-right white supremacist bible The Turner Diaries and murderous racists The Order, and amidst this grim tableau we even manage to eke a few laughs out of the life of irascible arch-conservative, anti-government warrior and all-round blowhard Colonel Bo ‘Rambo’ Gritz. And stick around for a made-to-order punk song about the militia movement! The Scuts https://www.facebook.com/DutchCourage2013 American Experience: Ruby Ridge (PBS) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/ruby-ridge-part-one-suspicion/ Bo Gritz’ Spike Videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ9qpjA5AyU Erase And Forget: Documentary about Bo Gritz | |||
| BONUS EPISODE: Pitching Bad Movie Ideas To The Asylum (with Ali Keane) | 16 Feb 2020 | 00:34:18 | |
On a dark and stormy night, as London is pelted with rain and lashed by intense winds, the WIDE ATLANTIC WEIRD crew serves you up a BONUS EPISODE. Enjoy a true strange SCARY CLOWN tale from The Ghost Trail’s Faye, then Cian and Ali indulge in their old hobby of bad movie-watching. They discuss infamous mockbuster studio THE ASYLUM, running through the reasons why the likes of Sharknado just doesn’t cut it for veteran bad movie watchers the way Troll 2 or The Room does. If you’ve ever had someone tell you that Asylum films are ‘hilarious,’ we’re here to set you straight. Having disparaged the studio, our shameless hosts then reveal their own attempts to write movies for The Asylum, sharing their own mockbuster script ideas. See if you can guess what current blockbusters they’re hoping to cash in on with MAD BOYS, BONE ISLAND RUMBLE, and other non-classics. Jim Cameron won’t be beating down their door anytime soon, but this is a fun episode, a little off our usual beat, that WIDE ATLANTIC WEIRD is happy to present! Haunting Atmospheric Soundscape - CO.AG https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tShZcR-YEpc Pied Piper by Shaolin Dub https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Shaolin_Dub James Bond est mort ce soir by Circus Marcus Hard Fight by Tagirijus https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Tagirijus/Hard_2018/manuel_senfft_-_hard_fight_1732 Cue 4 by Soularflair Season Of The Slasher by Natural Snow Buildings The Ghost Trail Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyswG_oLkVQV9vQNnpJj1_A Instagram @FayeSewell https://www.instagram.com/fayesewell/ Cracked Article about The Asylum The Scuts | |||
| The Witch (2015): Religion and Superstition In Movies (with Dónal Gill) | 10 Feb 2020 | 00:57:07 | |
In 2015, a fantastic horror/historical film called The Witch made the rare decision to take the religion and worldview of its characters seriously. Cian and Donal discuss the film, the life and beliefs of 17th-century puritans, the difference between Catholics and Protestants, and other light subjects! This spoiler-ific take on The Witch also touches on (of course) witchcraft itself, the importance of the Salem witch trials, and what makes the film so bloody good. Permanent Revolution by James Simpson https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674987135 The Battle For God by Karen Armstrong https://www.amazon.com/Battle-God-Karen-Armstrong/dp/0345391691 | |||
| Contagion And Conspiracies: The Coronavirus (with James Lynch) | 03 Feb 2020 | 00:14:29 | |
Wondering what all the hype is about? As the hype builds, Cian phones friend of the show and man of medicine James Lynch for a brief chat about the Coronavirus. Is it unique? Should we be scared? And are there any conspiracy theories about this one yet? (the answer to this last question is OF COURSE). Whether you're a sceptic or you've been prepping for the virus apocalypse for years, you'll pick up a few tips from this short episode of WIDE ATLANTIC WEIRD. Music by Kevin Gill and Cian Gill | |||
| A Winter Weird Fiction: What Was It? –by Fitz-James O’Brien | 02 Feb 2020 | 00:58:37 | |
While a winter gale rocks the Essex woods, Cian stokes the fire and cracks out a remarkable story written in the mid 19th Century by a fellow Corkman. Allow us to introduce to you the remarkable (and unjustly forgotten) Fitz-James O’Brien: immigrant, man of letters, toast of the literary scene of both London and New York, Civil War fighter, and writer of classic tales of the mysterious. Barely remembered now, this astonishing Irishman once wrote stories of early science fiction that bear comparison to the work of the great H.G. Wells from over forty years later. In What Was It, a brave New Yorker deigns to spend several nights in a haunted house in order to get to the bottom of the hauntings, only to find that the source of the poltergeist-like activity is something unique in the history of the supernatural (and science fiction of the time!). And for a bonus, for this story, O’Brien gives us a crash course in the kinds of weird literature that were popular at the time, and Cian digs out an old tune for a musical ‘treat’ at the end of the episode. So if it’s a weird, windy, stormy night for you, wherever you are, find yourself a decent winter ale, start up the fire, and dive into the WIDE ATLANTIC WEIRD to find out … WHAT WAS IT? Theme Music: by Kevin Gill and Cian Gill THE GALLOWS TREE: Song by Cian Gill, lyrics from the poem ‘The Demon Of The Gibbet’ by Fitz-James O’Brien | |||
| Disappearances In National Parks | 21 Jan 2020 | 00:28:55 | |
While driving across England, Cian reads some classic accounts of mysterious disappearances from wilderness areas and national parks in the US in an attempt to review the idea proposed by David Paulides that there are strange elements that link each of these cases. Full credit for this idea goes to Mr Paulides. From the forests and cafes of Southern England, Cian does his best to get lost, both physically and metaphorically as he goes down the rabbithole into a world of podcast-ready true crime, conspiracy-hiding Parks services, and maybe even a little Bigfoot. This episode features both true mystery as well as further musings on the conspiracy mindset and how it is consuming all before it - but this time, from a green and leafy setting! Special thanks to CO.AG for music (see below). Sources: Link to Paulides' Site & Books Dennis Martin Disappearance, Knox News Music: | |||
| What's In The Cards: Testing Extra-Sensory Perception Using Zener Cards (with Faye Sewell & Ali Keane) | 13 Jan 2020 | 00:38:47 | |
Cian quits the cabin and travels to London where he’s joined by Faye from Youtube’s The Ghost Trail and Ali from punk band The Scuts to test whether any of them really have any psychic ability using the (infamous) Zener cards. Yes, the ones from Ghostbusters. Invented by Karl Zener for JB Rhine back in the 1930s, Zener cards were instrumental in Rhine’s decades-long attempt to get proper scientific evidence for what he termed ‘extra sensory perception’, and get real scientific recognition for the field of parapsychology along the way. Rhine did succeed in creating one of the only actual university departments dedicated to studying the paranormal, so Cian and his team decide it’s high time they test his methods and see exactly WHAT"S IN THE CARDS for them! Back off man, we're scientists! Links & Credits: The Ghost Trail Series – Youtube Tom Delonge Joe Rogan Interview | |||
| Forest Of Fear: The Dechmont Woods UFO Encounter | 07 Jan 2020 | 00:19:32 | |
Cian leaves his Essex cabin in search of mystery: join our host on the first Wide Atlantic Weird road trip as he travels to Scotland to investigate the site of the famous Dechmont Woods encounter of 1979. This case has it all: a credible witness, a police investigation, and a sighting of craft and ‘creatures’ utterly unique in the UFO canon of alien greys and silver-suited Nordics. In all seriousness, it’s one of those classic ‘high strangeness’ cases that still baffles today, one so deeply odd that any attempt to explain it results in even less credible scenarios. It’s going to take more than bad service station coffee for Cian to keep his nerve on his investigation into THE DECHMONT WOODS ENCOUNTER. New Theme Music by Kevin Gill and Cian Gill Video clips: Arthur C Clarke’s Mysterious World Sound: | |||
| Monsters Of The Week: A Retrospective of The X-Files (with Chris Joyce) | 03 Jan 2020 | 01:23:18 | |
NOTE: If you have a low tolerance for banter, you can safely skip the first 20 mins. In the early 90s, when we didn’t really have much to worry about but didn’t appreciate it, our collective unconscious fears manifested in the form of The X-Files, a TV show that took inspiration from supposedly real paranormal encounters, and in turn helped to perpetuate the belief in UFOs and government-alien conspiracies. Join Cian and Chris ‘Carter’ Joyce for a spoileriffic investigation into three classic (and one not-so-classic) episodes of season 1 to find out how this pop culture juggernaut helped to prepare us for the era of Trust No One, No Experts, and Post Truth. We’re both suffering from seasonal ailments so please excuse the various sniffles (and the rumbling in the background is a lovely warm fire). | |||
| The Mists Clear Away: Arthur Conan Doyle, Professor Challenger and The Land Of Mist (with Professor Christine Ferguson) | 15 Mar 2023 | 00:56:07 | |
Professor Christine Ferguson visits the cabin to discuss the later adventures of Professor Challenger! In 1925, Arthur Conan Doyle's serialisation of 'The Land Of Mist' began in the Strand magazine. This novel was the author's great attempt to make his decades-long interest in spiritualism palatable to the widest audience possible. Did he succeed? Did he portray the world of 1920s London accurately? And why did he choose Professor Challenger, the maverick of the scientific world, to play the stodgy establishment character? All this and more, in The Mists Clear Away! Includes: -All about the Edinburgh Edition of The Land Of Mist -Arthur Conan Doyle’s own spiritualism -Why did ACD turn to Professor Challenger for his great spiritualist novel? -Spiritualism as a specifically feminine or masculine movement? -Challenger as the Establishment, rather than the Maverick -ACD’s use of real-life Belfast researcher William Jackson Crawford -ACD’s actual apocalyptic spiritualist messages -Lord John Roxton goes ghost-hunting! What was ACD’s inspiration for this episode? Links: Beyond Belief: Literature, Esotericism Studies, and the Challenges of Biographical Reading in Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Land of Mist. Professor Christine Ferguson, Brill, 2021. https://brill.com/view/journals/arie/22/2/article-p205_2.xml Dinosaurs, Disintegration Machines and Talking to the Dead: The Wild World of Professor Challenger. Dr Stephen Carver, Wordsworth Editions. https://wordsworth-editions.com/professor-challenger/ The Lost Worlds of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Professor Challenger Series, Conor Reid, Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, 2017. Edinburgh University Press New Critical Editions | |||
| Vegetable Horror: The Seed From The Sepulchre by Clark Ashton Smith | 17 Dec 2019 | 00:46:36 | |
Cian digs out an old favourite from the days of pulp magazine adventure and horror: a short story by Clark Ashton Smith from 1933 about a trip down a South American river that goes very, very wrong. If you enjoy chaps in pith helmets going to forbidden lost cities and learning Things Man Was Not Meant To Know, if you like seriously disgusting body horror, and if you like Triffids and other kinds of vile, vicious vegetation that like to feast on man, then look no further! There's but a smidge of Cosmic Horror here, and perhaps a touch of Ancient Astronauts too. All in all, it's an astonishingly unsettling, horrible and entertaining tale to listen to while you sit round your Christmas hearth. Cian downs a green tea during the telling of this tale, but feel free to have something stronger yourself, if you think your stomach can take it. | |||
| The Ghost Trail: The Making Of A Youtube Show (with Faye Sewell) | 10 Dec 2019 | 00:57:35 | |
Things are getting about as festive as they ever do in the Wide Atlantic Weird cabin: the forest around is bare, and the fire is roaring. It’s the right time for some ghost stories, so Cian is joined by Faye from the Youtube show The Ghost Trail. They brew a batch of Columbian coffee and get comfortable. The Ghost Trail is all about visiting spooky locations and telling ghost stories, so it’s an ideal time to talk about it! Cian and Faye discuss the making of the series, as well as the state of paranormal shows in general (they agree that there’s a lot of bad ones out there). They get around to talking about the ‘recording’ theory of ghosts, infrasound, spontaneous human combustion, the ‘third man’ theory, time slips, crisis apparitions, and many other topics. In fact, it’s a veritable seasonal feast of paranormal subjects. WWW hasn’t touched too much on ghosts so far so this is a good place to get started! Links: | |||
| All Those Who Wander: Unsettling Stories of Hiking And The Great Outdoors | 02 Sep 2019 | 00:35:43 | |
Stories of hiking and camping in remote places frequently feature elements of isolation and horror. On a sunny day on the porch of the Wide Atlantic Weird cabin, Cian explores a few campfire-worthy examples. Are they true? Your host offers his 2 cents, but you can decide for yourself. Cian brings you a few of his favourite scary (non-supernatural) outdoor tales, mostly culled from the darkest corners of Reddit. Loneliness, isolation, creeps, cultists and serial killers feature in this collection of odd stories. There's even a wistful, nostalgic element, as Cian reflects that, as horrifying as some of these narratives are, he is drawn to them as they remind him of his time living in the Great Outdoors in North America. Grab yourself a can of Dr Pepper and join him in a skin-crawling, yet somehow comforting, bevy of stories from big countries: the US, Canada, and Australia - countries big enough to prove that not all those who wander are lost. NOTE: There are a few bad words in this ep. Music: Ghost Story by Kevin McLeod | |||
| The Coming Of The Greys: An Interrupted Journey (with Chris Joyce) | 30 Aug 2019 | 01:21:09 | |
On a brilliantly starry, starry night, Cian leaves the Wide Atlantic Weird cabin to wander through the woods, sit by the railway tracks, and phone his friend Chris ‘Spooky’ Joyce. They have an important conversation to resume: The Coming Of The Greys! Yes, the interrupted journey is un-interrupted (?) at last in this sort-of follow-up to The Coming Of The Greys: One From The Vaults! So where do those darned alien Greys come from anyway –and why are they so interested in probing us? (Hint: the answer ain’t Zeta Reticuli) The guys dive back into the nitty-gritty of the infamous 1961 Hill case to get things started. So many threads – why did the ‘men’ the Hills reported in their creepy initial UFO sighting only morph into more alien-looking creatures after the weird dreams began? Did Barney Hill have unconscious memories of waking up on the operating table? And why in the blue blazes did anybody ever think that hypnotic regression was a reliable way of recalling real memories? From there, the guys hit up the TV version with James Earl Jones, have Close Encounters Of The Christopher Walken Kind in 1989’s Communion(which has nothing to do with eating wafers), get paranoid untangling the influence of the X-Files, and generally try to figure out how the Grey came to represent the standard image of an extra-terrestrial. Oh, and of course this episode should really have been titled Fifty Shades of Greys. Sources: The Iron Skeptic: What Did Barney See? http://www.theironskeptic.com/articles/hill/chronology.htm Entirely Unpredisposed, Martin Kottmeyer http://www.debunker.com/texts/unpredis.html Varicose Brains Part 3, Martin Kottmeyer http://magonia.haaan.com/2009/headhunt/ Alien Abduction At The Outer Limits, Jason Colavito http://www.jasoncolavito.com/alien-abduction-at-the-outer-limits.html Doctoring Villas Boas, Eye Of The Psychic | |||
| Fake News In Science: Tabloid Lies About Wildlife (with Neil Philips from UK Wildlife Podcast) | 27 Aug 2019 | 01:04:35 | |
Poor public understanding of science is leading to an overall dumbing-down of decision-making around the world; environmental, political, and otherwise. So Cian leaves the cabin to visit ecologist Neil Philips in the woods to find out how sensationalist ‘journalism’ and fake news is affecting wildlife in the UK and abroad. Is hunting good for conservation? Are seagulls and foxes a menace to society? Why do we insist on demonising any and all non-domestic animals? Cian and Neil investigate various recent wildlife-related media scandals including the work of Brian Ford, whose pseudoscience about dinosaurs has blown up yet again in the Twittersphere with the release of the 2ndedition of his book rehashing 19th-century ideas and presenting them as a brave new theory. We get angry, we get reighteous, and damn if it isn’t time for someone to call BS on this stuff before it’s too late! Neil is just the man to speak about these issues as he’s not afraid to roll up his sleeves and get into the trenches, using data and peer-reviewed research whenever possible to combat pseudoscience online. It’s only a short leap between bad biology and the disasters of the 20th century folks, so get stuck in and listen to FAKE NEWS IN SCIENCE while it’s only in the headlines and not yet in your face … Sources: | |||
| Bigfoot Before 1958 Part 2: It's Evolution, Baby! | 20 Aug 2019 | 00:48:55 | |
Cian thinks longingly of his days in the Pacific Northwest while sipping on a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale round the campfire at the Wide Atlantic Weird Cabin. Join him to learn of the wonder and mystery, the lies and intrigue, behind the 1958 Bluff Creek footprints – the case that kickstarted a legend. Is it true that prankster logging manager Ray Wallace really invented the Bigfoot myth using giant wooden feet? Did William Roe’s report of seeing a busty Bigfoot inspire cowboy Roger Patterson to fake his infamous 1967 ‘Patty’ film? And what’s the connection between the bizarre 1924 Ape Canyon Sasquatch attack and later cop-out belief in the kind of mystical, magical, non-evidence-leaving Bigfoot that drives Cian up the wall? Find out the answers to all these questions and more, in part 2 of BIGFOOT BEFORE 1958. Sources: Why Americans Need To Believe In Monsters, 2019 William Giraldi William Roe Bigfoot Illustration, Cryptomundo Abominable Science, Loxton & Prothero, 2015 Daniel Perez Article, Cryptomundo, 2013 Hunting Monsters, Darren Naish, 2016 Bigfoot: The Life And Times Of A Legend, Joshue Bluh Buhs, 2009 On The Track Of Bigfoot, Marian Place, 1974 Wallace Hoax Behind Bigfoot?, BFRO | |||
| The Coming Of The Greys: One From The Vaults (with Chris Joyce) | 11 Aug 2019 | 01:28:37 | |
We all know what aliens look like – small grey guys with big heads, right? Over coffee with sometime co-host Mr Chris ‘Spooky’ Joyce, Cian plans an episode about the origin of the grey alien trope. It’s going to be called ‘The Coming Of The Grays’ – but wait, it seems that some time ago, in early 2017, Cian and Chris already recorded an episode for an older ‘cast on this topic! On a windy day at the cabin, when recording is not possible, Cian enters the vault and dusts off the tapes. We are proud to present his findings to you: The Coming Of The Grays Part 1: One From The Vaults! It’s a free-wheeling discussion about the pre-history of the UFO phenomenon. We discuss Victorian phantom airships, 1930s Swedish Ghost Rockets, the Kenneth Arnold sighting, and most importantly for the history of those nefarious grey aliens, the Hill abduction case of 1961. How did a sighting that initially seemed to be of human-looking aliens in Nazi uniforms, with ‘Jimmy Durante noses,’ come to birth the phenomenon of the grey aliens? Find out in THE COMING OF THE GREYS: ONE FROM THE VAULTS! | |||
| Sphere Itself: Getting Your Head Round The Flat Earth Theory (with James Lynch) | 29 Jul 2019 | 01:09:23 | |
The Flat Earth Theory – so obviously wrong, and bonkers, that it isn’t even worth talking about, right? While Cian enjoys a morning coffee on the porch of the Wide Atlantic Weird cabin, all-round man of science, engineering and medicine James Lynch calls to offer his expertise on this surprisingly important issue. After all, if such a basic ‘fact’ can be thrown into doubt, then so could just about any other scientific fact or theory! Our Flat Earth adventure becomes an exploration of fringe beliefs and alternative facts. Why DO people believe weird things? What kind of evidence would they accept to falsify their theory? How is science different from other belief systems? We discuss the recent documentary Behind The Curve, talk about the psychological underpinnings of Flat Earth belief, the secret (possible) religious motivations behind the movement, and James provides technical expertise on astronomical phenomena, plane flight paths, atmospheric refraction, and expert commentary on a host of the usual Flat Earth claims. Phew! There’s a lot packed into this episode. So make yourself a cup of good coffee and prepare to join us on our adventures into the realm of FLAT EARTH! | |||
| Bigfoot Before 1958 Part 1: The Prehistory Of A Legend | 27 Jun 2019 | 00:36:11 | |
In 1958, enormous footprints found near Bluff Creek, California made Bigfoot a worldwide phenomenon, elevating the mystery primate to cryptozoological superstardom. But believers have always maintained that ideas about Sasquatch predate this key year, both in the legends of Native Americans and in the reports of white settlers. In this episode of Wide Atlantic Weird, Cian relocates to his cabin in the woods for summer and cracks open a bevy of Bigfoot reports that predate 1958 to find out just how this myth might have come about. He also cracks open a Mirror Pond Pale Ale. Hear from the diary of Elkanah Walker, the missionary who wrote about hairy giants and hidden tribes in Washington State in the 1840s. Wonder at the stories of the Seeahtik, the mystery tribe who seemed both flesh-and-blood as well as supernatural, and could use hypnotism to hunt their animal prey.. Visit the cabin where a number of Bigfoot lay siege to five miners at Ape Canyon in 1924. And discover the works of JW Burns, the man who coined the term ‘Sasquatch,' and was indirectly responsible for the very first opportunistic Bigfoot festival. After all, there must be something behind the Bigfoot mania that’s swept America and the world since 1958 – right? Sources: Mrs Wakeman Vs The Antichrist, 2014, Robert Damon Schneck Introducing B.C.'s Hairy Giants, 1929, JW Burns Mysterious Entities of the Pacific Northwest Part 1, 2007, Joe Nickell | |||
| Monsters Of Britain: Plesiosaurs and Alien Big Cats (with Neil Philips from UK Wildlife Podcast) | 28 May 2019 | 01:11:25 | |
Cian is joined by naturalist and wildlife photographer Neil Philips to discuss what makes British monsters different (and sometimes similar) from their international cousins (American monsters in particular). From the leafy woods surrounding the Wide Atlantic Weird bunker, they discuss the history of Nessie sightings, the Owlman of Mawnan, the Canvey Island Monster, and the incredibly bizarre Alien Big Cats phenomenon. It seems that even when these creatures ARE literally real, as some mysterious big cats turn out to be, the phenomena still inevitably develops a shroud of mysticism, fakery and blurry pictures that imitate the lore surrounding Bigfoot and other cryptids, confusing the issue. And the guys return to the confounding subject of the British Bigfoot, again delving into the murky world of a supposedly British monster that appears to have been copied wholesale from his transatlantic origin. Remember, we want to believe - but only if the evidence is good enough! Sources:
Neil Philips’ UK Wildlife Page Hunting Monsters, 2016, Darren Naish Books On The Loch Ness Monster, 2019, Darren Naish Bigfoot at Hanningfield Reservoir Arthur C Clarke’s Chronicles of the Strange and Mysterious, 1987, John Fairley & Simon Welfare | |||
| Hesketh Hesketh Pritchard Hunts the Mylodon (with Dr Edward Guimont) | 20 Jan 2023 | 01:07:44 | |
How many Lost World connections can we make in this episode about turn-of-the-century ghost writers searching for extinct animals in South America? Dr Edward Guimont is at hand to tell the tale, bringing essential palaeontological and colonial context for South America in 1900. Hesketh Hesketh Pritchard, creator of Flaxman Low, was sent on this expedition for news mogul C Arthur Pearson. Featuring: -a potted history of the Occult Detective genre -Hesketh Pritchard himself as a product of Empire -Hesketh Pritchar visits Haiti, cringe ensues -Playing cricket with Arthur Conan Doyle and other literary links -The theory of ‘American Degeneracy’ -A seemingly fresh Mylodon skin sample is brought to London, scientists astounded! -A link to the Piltdown Man hoax -Various expeditions to search for evidence of the Mylodon -Politicians trafficking in paranormal ideas - some things don’t change! -And euhemerism returns! (see last episode) LINKS On The Track Of Unknown Animals, Bernard Heuvelmans, 1955 The Terrible Occult Detectives, Grady Hendrix The Chronological Bibliography of Early Occult Detectives, Brom Bones Books, Tim Prasil Casting The Prunes: Flaxman Low Triumphant, Grey Dog Tales Through The Heart of Patagonia, Hesketh Hesketh Pritchard, 1902 Flaxman Low, The Story of Baelbrow, Hesketh Hesketh Pritchard | |||
| Cryptids In Classic Fiction: The Desrick On Yandro by Manly Wade Wellman | 13 May 2019 | 00:46:03 | |
When it comes to the beasts that hide from man, nobody did backwoods Americana mystery creatures quite like Manly Wade Wellman. His character John the Balladeer was a guitar-slinging hobo who wandered the Appalachian mountains, encountering mythical creatures from North Carolina folklore. In this episode, Cian relaxes in the forest outside the Wide Atlantic Weird bunker and reads one of the best Silver John stories, The Desrick on Yandro. For anyone who enjoys monsters, folklore, and mid-20th century pulp stories, this is truly one to enjoy (while sipping your finest, cheapest rotgut bourbon, of course.) When Silver John discovers a legend about a mysterious cabin on top of a mountain called Yandro, he takes a step into a world haunted by one of the most imaginative collections of weird beasts in all of fiction. Enjoy. | |||
| Cryptids in Classic Fiction: The Horror-Horn by E. F. Benson | 07 May 2019 | 00:50:06 | |
When reports of the so-called 'Abominable Snowman' first filtered from the peaks of the Himalayas to Western Europe during the golden age of mountaineering, English writer of classic ghost stories E. F. Benson took the trendy new idea of the mysterious hairy mountain-dwelling apemen and wondered what might happen if they existed not only in remotest Asia, but in the Alps too. 'The Horror-Horn,' written in 1922, tells the tale of daring, winter sport-loving Englishmen who inadvertently come into contact with the European version of the Yeti. From deep within the library of the Wide Atlantic Bunker, your host Cian explores what these initial Yeti reports were like, what Benson might have known about the Abominable Snowman at this time, and why even a 'fate worse than death' at the hands of a female Alps Yeti might not have been the scariest thing about this oddly Lovecraftian tale. So grab yourself a beverage, snuggle into a comfy armchair while the wind whips outside your window, and enjoy this reading of Cryptids in Classic Fiction. Sources: AnomalyInfo.com: Colonel Howard-Bury's Yeti Sighting | |||
| Only A Paper Moon: The Inevitable Apollo Moon Landing Hoax Episode (with James Lynch) | 29 Apr 2019 | 01:21:01 | |
Somehow the Wide Atlantic Weird Bunker has gotten itself blasted into Earth orbit, and from there, host Cian samples a fine session IPA and speaks with Apollo buff James Lynch about the technical details behind one of the original Big Three conspiracy theories: the Apollo Moon Landing Hoax. They dissect why people believe conspiracy theories in general, why the Apollo landing was ripe for a campaign of distrust, and what this meant for the time in which it happened. They discuss Bill Kaysing, the guy who first invented this idea, the 2001 Fox documentary and the rebirth of the theory in the 2000s. Learn why NASA didn't photograph stars and why the Apollo lander looked so damn rickety. It's a fundamental conspiracy theory and deserves a deep-dive, so get ready to take one giant leap for podcast listeners and blast off for the great unknown (or at least a studio in Nevada)! Sources: Buzz Aldrin Punches Bart Sibrel Nardwuar, Bill Kaysing Interview National Post Article on Moon Hoax | |||
| The Yowie: Australia's Bigfoot, Or An Invented Cryptid? | 04 Apr 2019 | 00:36:08 | |
NOTE: the style and format of the show was very different back in these days! But we think you'll still enjoy it. Cian is fascinated by the origins of cyptids and mysterious animals. How do these beliefs get started? Often we’re sold the idea that a creature has been reported for centuries, or has its origins in local folklore. And sometimes it’s clear that a creature has actually been invented (or rebranded) relatively recently, and its supposed history is just a fiction. From the woods outside the Wide Atlantic Weird bunker, he *enjoys* a can of Fosters and gets stuck into this hairy topic. THE YOWIE: This hairy wildman is, bluntly described, Australia's answer to Bigfoot. It became incredibly popular during the 1970s as the result of one man's journalism. Suddenly, it seemed that Yowies were everywhere! But do the roots of the Yowie myth go back any further? Is it fair to make a connection between this modern cryptid and 19th-century sightings of 'wildmen' and 'Australian gorillas?' Listen on to find out, mate! THE MINNESOTA RUNESTONE: When an Irish journalist visits a remote town in the cold north of the US, she finds a community that is united in its belief that Vikings visited the area in medieval times, unrecorded by conventional history. As it becomes clear that this belief has some very strange undertones, things get weird. Based on a true story (ish!). References:
Graham Joyner, The Hairy Man Of South Eastern Australia Graham Joyner, The Australian Gorilla: An Insoluble Problem Joe Nickell, Skeptical Enquirer Searching For The Yowie Tony Healy & Paul Cropper, The Yowie: In Search of Australia’s Bigfoot | |||
| The Strange World of Post-Truth and the Death of Expertise (with Dónal Gill) | 23 Mar 2019 | 01:11:57 | |
Conspiracy theories, UFO folklore, fringe beliefs - they all have something in common, and it's something worrying. A thread of anti-intellectualism runs through them all. Cian decides to find out what's really going on and enlists the help of his brother Donal, PHd student and lecturer in Political Science, to get to the bottom of several important mysteries. Why is conspiracy thinking more rampant than ever? Why is this a danger to the very fabric of democracy? How is all this related to Trump, Brexit, and other populist happenings? And is it worth going to see the never-ending KISS Farewell tour? Find out in this special Wide Atlantic Weird interview episode. Various topics Cian has investigated in previous episodes have been leading up to this, so tune in to find out how his travels through the various alternate realities of paranormal belief have led to his deepening suspicions that all is not right in the world of fringe thinking. Links: | |||