After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal

After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal

Author: History Hit Language: English Episodes: 100
There’s a side to history that doesn’t make it into the standard textbooks, one filled with unexplained events, chilling folklore, and criminal acts that defy easy explanation. That’s precisely the territory explored in After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal. Hosted by historians Anthony Delaney and Maddy Pelling, this series from History Hit ventures into the shadowy archives of our past every Monday and Thursday. Each episode feels like a deep dive into a long-forgotten case file or a whispered campfire tale, treating these subjects with a historian’s rigor and a storyteller’s flair. You’ll hear them dissect everything from infamous witch trials and the enigmatic legacy of Harry Houdini to accounts of haunted locations and perplexing aerial phenomena. The conversation is engaging and thoughtful, never sensational, even when the topics are inherently sensational. It’s a podcast for anyone curious about the intersections of fact, fear, and folklore, offering a compelling listen that proves the past is rarely as simple or as settled as it seems. By focusing on these overlooked narratives, Delaney and Pelling provide a unique and fascinating lens on human culture and our enduring fascination with the mysterious.
Episodes
Day in the Life of a Tudor Executioner [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:11
Did they wear black hoods? Whose axe did they use? How did you get the job in the first place? Today Anthony Delaney takes Maddy Pelling inside the world of the Tudor Executioner.Research by Phoebe Joyce, edited by Tim A…
Henry VIII's Murderous Reign [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:32
Henry VIII was a monarch everyone was excited for, and turned into someone who weaponised his powers for murder.What happened in his life that caused the death toll to suddenly rise?In this episode, Anthony and Maddy are…
The Perfume Poisoner Who Killed 500 Men [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:53
Deep in Renaissance Rome, it is said that a woman called Giulia Tofana supplied poison to kill some 500 abusive men.Is this the stuff of myth and folklore? What historical truth is there to be found? And how was Santa in…
Introducing a chilling new podcast: TWISTED TALES WITH HEIDI WONG [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 7:55
Reality is the real horror.Every Monday, poet and paranormal obsessive Heidi Wong unearths the chilling true stories behind the world’s most terrifying legends. From haunted dolls to cursed houses, each episode of Twiste…
Truth About Irish Funeral Beliefs [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:16
What are the origins of keening for the dead? What is the history of Irish wakes? And why must you never put a coffin down on the way to the funeral?Anthony tells Maddy and special guest Dan Snow about the history of Iri…
'She Devil' Serial Poisoner of Victorian England [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:33
Sarah Dazley was one of the most infamous women in the world for a moment in 1843 when she was accused of poisoning not one but two former husbands. Our guest today is Nat Doig - creator of the podcast Weird in the Wade…
Witches of Cornwall [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:03
From the spookiest corner of the British isles, comes two stories of witches. Stories of fairies and magical powers, of skeletons and haunted history. Our guest is the manager of Bodmin Jail in Cornwall - Jess Marlton -…
Britain's Coldest Murder Case [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:09
Eugene Aram was an 18th century schoolmaster who got away with murder for fourteen years. Then a skeleton was unearthed and a case that had been forgotten burst into life & created a legend.Maddy Pelling tells Anthony De…
Day in the life of a Black Death Rat [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:53
What did Medieval people think about rats? Did they have any idea that they were the cause of the Black Death? How did they use charms and poisons to try to get rid of them? Today we explore the world of the Black Death…
The Dark Truth About Madam Tussauds [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:54
Behind the current display of celebrity waxworks lies the dark and bloody history of Madam Tussauds.Join Anthony and Maddy as they go back to the 18th century, when Marie Tussaud escapes the guillotines of Revolutionary…