Dark Histories

This week, we detail the history of the Vampire, from screen to the dark myths and very real folklore of Eastern Europe. Vampires are a staple in horror fiction the world over, the charismatic lady-killer or seductive succubi, biting necks and sucking the blood of their victims as they sleep. Equally popular in pop culture as they are to horror fans, poring over black and white B-movies, the character of the vampire holds universal appeal and to most, even those not usually prone to scepticism, remain completely fictional. How can we explain then, the old folk stories, stated squarely and insistently as fact, that vampires, risen from the dead, stalked townsfolk and terrorised entire villages at night? Stranger still, that remains excavated in Bulgaria, Slovakia and right across Europe, staked into their coffins with Iron nails, teeth removed and bricks forced into their gaping mouths, have been found in their hundreds providing compelling evidence for said tales. For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/6f7e2pt Music was recorded by me © 2017   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In February of 1855, Britain was deep in the midst of one of the coldest winters recorded. Minus temperatures were reported from January to March, the nights were long and the conditions severe. In the early morning of the 9th February, people across the rural, South West counties of England were waking up after another night of heavy snowfall. As they went about their daily chores, a steady rumbling begun to roll through the small villages and across the bleak farmlands. Rumours were spreading of a trail of prints in the snow. A trail which leapt walls, climbed haystacks, walked on rooftops and seemed to extend for miles upon miles, across rivers and through towns. Each step in the snow left a cloven hoof print, yet it appeared that whatever left it had walked upright on two legs. For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/6f7e2pt Music was recorded by me © 2017   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the 26th December, 1900, a small ship approached the remote island of Eilean Mor. It was a small eruption of land, uninhabited aside from a small battery of 3 men, whose job was to operate and maintain the isles lighthouse. The relief vessel Hesperus was to bring supplies and rotate a fourth member of the lighthouse team. As the ship closed in on the barren Isle, the sight of the lighthouse on the edge of a sheer cliff sprung out from a bleak landscape. Joseph Moore, the member of the lighthouse crew who would be rotating in, noted that curiously, there was no flag flying on the flagpole, nor were there any provision boxes placed out for restocking. The crew on the boat fired off several blasts of the horn, splitting the quiet air. As they waited for a sign or reply from the lighthouse, an ominous feeling hit Joseph, things, it appeared, were not quite right on Eilean Mor. For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/6f7e2pt Music was recorded by me © 2017   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1943, four young boys, out poaching in Hagley Wood came across a large Wych Elm, a broad, spiderlike tree. One of the boys begun climbing the tree to look for birds eggs and upon reaching the topmost branches, looked down to find the tree was curiously hollow. Inside the inky blackness of the broad trunk there was no trace of any bird nests, instead he saw a human skull staring blankly back at him.For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistoriesConnect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcastOr find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories& Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.comor join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/6f7e2ptMusic was recorded by me © 2017  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the night of February 14th, 1945. The body of Charles Walton was found on a farm in Lower Quinton, Warwickshire in England. His throat had been slashed open and the prongs of a pitchfork dug into the mud on either side of his neck, pinning the body to the ground. As leads on the case faded away, paranoia and superstition crept in, leading to theories of witchcraft and the occult, remnants of which linger still. For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/6f7e2pt Music was recorded by me © 2017   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode we explore the true stories of Zombies of Haitian Voodoo culture, from French colonial rule to an exhaustive search for the source of a compound which could scientifically prove the creation of zombies by Ethnobotanist, Wade Davis. Most of this story summarizes details from Davis' two books on the subject; "The Serpent and the Rainbow" and "Passage of Darkness" which I really highly recommend if you found this interesting. The first is a lighter read, whilst the second a little more academic, but both well worth your time. For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/6f7e2pt Music was recorded by me © 2017   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we detail the mystery, researched from primary sources, of the Somerton Man, or as the case is widely and simply known, Tamam Shud.In 1948, the body of a man was found on Somerton beach, Adelaide, Australia. All identification marks had been removed from his clothing and to this day the mans identification and cause of death are unknown. The mystery goes even deeper however, when a small scrap of paper is found in a pocket of the mans clothing, with the printed line: Tamam Shud.For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistoriesConnect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcastOr find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories& Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.comor join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/6f7e2ptMusic was recorded by me © 2017  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Using legitimate research materials from both English and Russian sources, we tell the full story of one of the more strange cases in Russian and possibly the entire world. Still unexplained, though theories abound, this is the full story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident. For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories Connect with me at Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories Or you can contact me direct via email at contact@darkhistories.com Music was recorded by me © 2017 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The story of William Burke and William Hare, two Irish men living in Edinburgh in 1827, who spied an opportunity to make money through murder. Now known as simply the Burke and Hare murders or The West Port Murders, this is dark history that took advantage of a very unique and grisly opportunity.For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistoriesConnect with me at Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcastOr find me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistoriesOr you can contact me direct via email at contact@darkhistories.comMusic was recorded by me © 2017 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The true story of the Enfield Poltergeist. A historical haunting of a British family during the 1970s, the Enfield Poltergeist is still today Britains most famous haunting. This story would become the inspiration for several TV shows and also the film The Conjuring 2. For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories Connect with me at Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories Or you can contact me direct via email at contact@darkhistories.com Music was recorded by me © 2017 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices