Episodes

Can paranormal investigators ever truly separate what they observe from what they already believe? And what happens when the search for answers begins to influence the evidence itself? In this episode of Haunted History Chronicles, I welcome back psychical researcher Ciaran Farrell for the first instalment of a fascinating series exploring contamination in paranormal investigation and the often-overlooked influences that can shape our understanding of extraordinary experiences. Drawing on his...

What if understanding a haunting means looking beyond the ghost? A shadow glimpsed in an empty room. An object moving without explanation. A sudden sensation that someone, or something, is watching. For centuries, experiences like these have inspired ghost stories, fuelled investigations and divided opinion. But what actually makes an experience a haunting? Is it something within the environment, something about the person experiencing it, or an interaction between the two? And perhaps just a...

What if everything you thought you knew about Voodoo was wrong? Beyond the Hollywood curses, sinister dolls and frightening stereotypes lies a spiritual tradition shaped by resilience, powerful women, ancestral connections and the belief that death need not sever our relationships with those who came before us. This week, we return to New Orleans to explore the history, rituals and mysteries of Voodoo, from the enduring legacy of Marie Laveau to extraordinary first-hand accounts of spirit pos...

What is it about Jamaica Inn that refuses to let people go? Standing amid the rugged landscape of Bodmin Moor, the Inn has become inseparable from tales of smugglers, travellers, ghosts and, of course, Daphne du Maurier. Yet beneath the legends lies something even richer: generations of people whose lives became entwined with the building, fragments of history still waiting to be recovered, and an extraordinary collection of paranormal reports stretching across decades. In this episode of Hau...

What happens when the Devil enters the courtroom? For centuries, that wasn't simply a theological question. There were times when courts treated Satan, demons and witchcraft as very real forces capable of corrupting bodies, destroying crops, causing death and driving human beings towards terrible acts. But as society changed, so too did the Devil — and so did the law. In this episode, we follow that extraordinary transformation through centuries of legal history. From the brutal machinery of ...

What happens when a city doesn't simply remember its dead, but continues to live alongside them? In New Orleans, cemeteries are woven into the cityscape, generations of families carry stories of the unexplained, and traditions of prayer, Voodoo and ancestor veneration keep the boundary between the living and the dead remarkably close. After our previous conversation exploring the extraordinary life and afterlife of the Baroness de Pontalba, Dr Rory O'Neill Schmitt and Dr Rosary O'Neill return...

What if the most extraordinary Gothic tale wasn't fiction at all? Born into wealth in New Orleans, Micaëla de Pontalba would endure betrayal, confinement, violence and an attempt on her life — yet somehow emerge unbroken, reshaping not only her own destiny but the city she called home. Her story moves between New Orleans and an ancestral French château, through murder, family secrets and remarkable survival — and, even after death, the ghosts surrounding Micaëla and those places refuse to dis...

What if magick isn't something supernatural at all — but something we've simply forgotten how to notice? This week, I’m joined by Patti Negri to explore intuition, spirit communication and the paranormal — from haunted places and haunted dolls to the energies we may unknowingly create ourselves. It’s a conversation about looking beyond fear, reconnecting with the intuitive and perhaps rediscovering a little of the magick modern life has taught us to leave behind. My Special Guest Is Patti ...

How does someone shape an entire movement... and yet almost disappear from history? If you've explored Spiritualism, the paranormal or psychical research, you've almost certainly encountered the legacy of Maurice Barbanell—even if you've never recognised his name. In this episode, historian Dr Nick Richbell joins me to discuss his new book, Silver Birch's Medium, and the extraordinary life of the man behind one of the most influential voices in twentieth-century Spiritualism. We explore Barba...

There are landscapes where history never seems entirely past — where an ancient track, a ruined church, a lonely cave or a stretch of woodland can feel like a threshold between what we know and something altogether stranger. In this episode, we journey into the old borderlands of Mercia, exploring a Midlands steeped in folklore, witchcraft, ghost stories, strange encounters and centuries of belief. We discover how stories become embedded in the places where they are told, why certain landscap...

Why do some places suddenly feel unnaturally cold—and could there be more to it than a simple draught? In this episode of Haunted History Chronicles, I welcome back psychical researcher Ciaran Farrell to explore one of the most frequently reported yet least understood features of paranormal encounters: cold spots. Far more than a simple drop in temperature, Ciaran explains why investigators have long associated cold spots with feelings of dread, nausea, unease and even the sensation of an uns...

Why Do So Many Extraordinary Experiences Happen at Night? Last week, TyLean Tuijl challenged many of the assumptions surrounding possession, encouraging us to move beyond Hollywood stereotypes and consider a far more complex psychological, cultural and experiential picture. In this follow-up conversation, we explore another question that naturally emerged from that discussion: Why do so many reports of hauntings, apparitions, possession experiences and other extraordinary encounters seem t...

What does it really mean to be possessed? For centuries, stories of possession have been shaped by religion, folklore and popular culture. Films have taught us to expect dramatic exorcisms, distorted voices and supernatural battles between good and evil. But what if the reality is far more complex? Can possession be explained by psychology alone, or is there something more? In this episode, PhD researcher and Society for Psychical Research investigator TyLean Tuijl explores possession, altere...

What happens when two of the world's most famous paranormal investigators arrive at the centre of an alleged haunting? Over the previous three episodes, Ciaran Farrell has described a series of extraordinary experiences that, according to his account, began in childhood before following him into boarding school. There, alleged paranormal phenomena became intertwined with psychiatric theories, harsh discipline and increasingly controversial attempts to explain what was happening. In this concl...

How far would an institution go to explain the unexplained? In Part One, Ciaran Farrell recounted the childhood experiences that began in a haunted holiday home before, according to his account, following him into his boarding school. In Part Two, we explored how the alleged paranormal activity escalated, affecting pupils and staff alike as the school struggled to maintain order. Now, in Part Three, the story takes its darkest turn. As the disturbances intensified, school authorities so...

The story continues... In the first episode, Ciaran Farrell shared the extraordinary experiences that began with a family holiday to a reportedly haunted house in Broadstairs. What should have ended when the holiday was over instead followed him home and into his boarding school, where increasingly disturbing events drew the attention of psychical researchers, clergy and even Ed and Lorraine Warren. In Part Two, the mystery deepens. Ciaran describes the different entities he believes surro...

What happens when a haunted holiday doesn't end when you leave? In this extraordinary first part of a series of conversations, Ciaran Farrell shares the deeply personal story that shaped the rest of his life. What began as a family holiday in a supposedly haunted house in Kent soon became something far stranger, with terrifying experiences that, he says, followed him home—and even into his boarding school. Years before becoming a respected member of the Society for Psychical Research, Ciar...

Some stories dominate the history books. Others vanish into the margins, buried beneath time, tragedy, controversy, or simple neglect. In this episode of Haunted History Chronicles, I’m joined by historian, researcher and storyteller Sarah Blake to explore her fascinating new book, Hushed Up History: Volume 1. Together, we uncover the strange, shocking and often unbelievable stories that history has quietly left behind. From the catastrophic final voyage of the SS Morro Castle and the endurin...

In this episode of Haunted History Chronicles, I’m joined by authors Andrea Janes and Leanna Renee Hieber, the minds behind America’s Most Gothic, to explore the chilling truth behind Gothic tropes — and the real people whose lives were even darker than fiction. Fog-drenched mansions, oppressive family dynasties, forbidden rooms, madness, obsession and death… we tend to associate these with novels and cinema. But Andrea and Leanna reveal how many of the Gothic’s most enduring themes are roote...

In this episode of Haunted History Chronicles, I’m joined by writer, folklorist and broadcaster Deborah Hyde to explore one of medieval Britain’s most haunting and enduring mysteries: the Green Children of Woolpit. Emerging from a pit on the edge of a Suffolk village in the 12th century, these strange children — with green-tinged skin and a language no one recognised — left behind a story that has lingered for centuries. Drawing on medieval chronicles, folklore traditions and historical conte...

In this deeply evocative episode of Haunted History Chronicles, I’m joined by spiritual teacher and author Foteini Fotoula Adrimi to explore the hidden mysteries of Ancient Egypt beyond the monuments, pyramids, and hieroglyphs. Drawing on profound initiatory experiences and the teachings of the Goddess Isis, Fotoula shares how the ancient HEKA traditions and Living Light of Egypt can still be accessed today as powerful pathways to spiritual awakening, healing, and self-realisation. We discuss...

At a time when science claims to explain almost everything, ghost stories still refuse to fade. In this episode of Haunted History Chronicles, I’m joined by author Paul Weatherhead to explore the strange cases that gripped Britain in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries — from violent apparitions and riotous ghost hunts to poltergeists, hoaxes, and even a royal spectre. Drawing on contemporary newspaper reports, Paul reveals how these hauntings reflect not just fear of the supernatu...

Have you ever wondered what it would be like for your family home to become the centre of strange and unexplainable activity? In this episode of Haunted History Chronicles, we open the door to a story that has gripped investigators and researchers for years. The Society for Psychical Research has closely followed the case, but tonight you will also hear directly from the female homeowner who has lived through these experiences. She offers a rare and candid account of her family’s journey—how ...

In this episode of Haunted History Chronicles, I’m joined by Dr Nick Richbell, historian, archivist, and Spiritualist. Together, we discuss the fascinating world of spirit guides: what they are, how mediums have worked with them, and why they became such an important feature of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Spiritualism. We explore famous cases, the rise of the movement, and the controversies surrounding fraud, scepticism, and representation in the Spiritualist press. With Nick’s unique p...