Have you ever wondered how our ancestors dealt with the mysteries of the supernatural world? Ancient Mesopotamian society held a treasure trove of beliefs and practices related to ghosts, spirits, and the unseen. Delving deep into the world of magic…
This month sees the podcast celebrate a HUGE milestone of 100 episodes. To celebrate this marker I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the journey thus far and give some special shout outs to episodes and moments along the way. I also wa…
In 2012 I began researching what proved to be my very strangest and indeed most life-changing book. Having acquired the dubious distinction of becoming the world expert on Medicinal Cannibalism in 2011 with the first edition of Mummies, Cannibals an…
By Rachel Hayward One evening in the late 1950’s some ten years plus before I was born, my parents put my two brothers, aged eighteen months and two and a half years, to bed as they did every evening. My parents were bless…
Unconscious Bias Our brain making judgements and assessments unknowingly- your brain making judgements on your behalf. An example could include the group of people we spend time with. Sometimes we like a stranger for no apparent reason. They’…
A group of Canadian parapsychologists came together in 1972 to create a ghost and prove that the human mind could conjure a spirit through collective imagination, visualisation and expectation. It is a thought I have spoken about more than once on s…
KRAMPUS Santa’s European counterpart and earliest incarnation Saint Nicholas brings something other than just presents to your house. He brings along a horned demonic sidekick, Krampus. Although Krampus appears in many variations, most share …
Oxfordshire and Warwickshire in England during the nineteenth and early twentieth century was a relatively impoverished region with agricultural wages among the lowest in the country, Anglicanism was strong and chronic want persisted in the villages…
The Ghost of Ann(ie) Walker In 1735, according to Arthur L Hayward’s ‘Lives of the most remarkable criminals: Who have been Condemned and Executed for Murder, the Highway, Housebreaking, Street Robberies, Coining or other offenc…
"FOR SALE--Haunted wardrobe.--Advertiser will be glad to deliver same to anybody interested, complete with ghost, which would also no doubt feel more at home if welcomed.--Write Mrs. B. Barclay, Carterton Manor, Oxon." August 19th, 1937, Lond…
Sinister Tales from a Wiltshire Pub A Hand of Glory is the dried and pickled hand of a hanged man, often specified as being the left (the word ‘left’ itself coming from the Latin word for sinister) hand, or, if the person wa…
What is divination? According to the Oxford dictionary it is the practice of seeking knowledge of the future or the unknown by supernatural means. Found in all civilizations, both ancient and modern, it is encountered most frequently in contempora…
In 1921, a British man called Albert Watkins thought he had found the secret of the universe. He had worked out that many important old archaeological sites around the world were all connected along straight lines. The idea that ancient sacred sites…
Anne Greene (or Green) was a young Oxfordshire woman employed in the service of Sir Thomas Read as a maidservant in his property in the rural village of Duns Tew in Oxfordshire. She would later claim in 1650 that when aged 22 she was, "often solicit…
In describing his first experience at a seance of Herne and Williams in 1872, Stainton Moses writes in Spirit Identity: "My right arm was seized about the middle of the forearm, and dashed violently up and down with a noise resembling that of a numb…
As Season 3 of the podcast begins I am incredibly excited and honoured to announce that an essay I wrote features in the newly released The Feminine Macabre Volume III. The three volumes showcase the work of women and non-binary paranormal resea…
The 18th and 19th century ushered in a medical interest in detailed anatomy thanks to the increase in the importance of surgery. In order for physicians to study anatomy human cadavers were needed. As early as 1540 Henry VIII passed an edict allowin…
In the summer of 1665 Londoners were dying from a horrible and familiar disease. Although it was a regular visitor to the city, bubonic plague had returned with a vengeance. By the end of the year, the ‘Great Plague’ had taken the lives …
The Great Amherst Mystery was a notorious case of reported poltergeist activity in Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada between 1878 and 1879 . This two story cottage was the subject of an investigation by Walter Hubbell, an actor with an interest in psychi…
Secluded on the outskirts of Rockville, Indiana stands an ominous 110-year-old tuberculous sanatorium that has been gaining quite the reputation in the paranormal field. What had once been an active medical facility merely ten years ago, the Indiana…
‘There’s a figure against the moon, Nobody sees it but I and it makes my breast beat out of tune…’ Thomas Hardy We are surrounded by Haunted History. Exploring the stories and history of our local area is important to prese…
Remember Death For our medieval ancestors the prospect of death was a feature of their daily lives. Epidemic disease, poor nutrition, famine, basic medical care, inadequate housing and appallingly violent warfare meant that the average life expecta…
“Ring the bell softly, There’s crape on the door” J.M Hunt The Victorians are known for their rituals and traditions and our Christmas customs aren’t the only things that we have inherited from this particular period. Our w…
Exploring the Hauntings of Battlefields It's approaching midnight as my heart rate kicks up, the anticipation of the night to come is making me jumpy with pent up adrenaline. The same old line of questions sit on repeat in my head: Is it …