Dubbed “The Last Vampire of New England,” Mercy Lena Brown allegedly feasted on her own family. But she wasn’t the first vampire, or the last. Stories like Lena’s evolved into modern day conspiracy theories, including a vaccine designed to turn you into a vampire, vampire hunting as a get-rich-quick scheme, and government agents who’ll steal your blood.
Ke ... Show More
Oct 21
Winchester Mystery House: Ghosts, Legends, and Hoaxes
If you’ve heard of the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California, you’ve surely heard the rumors about its famous owner, Sarah Winchester. Like the claims she was an eccentric hermit who never left her 24,000-square-foot mansion. Or that she demanded construction crews wor ... Show More
47m 59s
Oct 7
Panic in the Streets: The War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast
On Halloween Eve, 1938 Orson Welles' The War of the Worlds aired on CBS radio. It detailed an alien invasion so realistic that, according to legend, it caused widespread panic among listeners. People really believed aliens were invading Earth. The mass hysteria is an important pa ... Show More
47m 40s
Oct 2022
#310 | A History of Vampires | Fangs, Fear and Fiction
<p><strong> </strong></p><br><p>For hundreds of years, people have been afraid of blood-sucking creatures that rise from the dead.</p><p>But where does the vampire myth actually come from, what happened to the people accused of being a vampire, and what if there was a simple, bio ... Show More
21m 30s
Oct 2017
SYMHC Classics: New England Vampire Panic
<p>Today, in honor of Halloween weekend, we're revisiting an episode about vampirism. Starting in the late 1700s and, small rural communities in New England were sometimes stricken with a panicked fear that the dead were feeding off the living.</p><p> </p> Learn more about your a ... Show More
37m 53s
Oct 2023
Eerie Episode: Vampires, Twihards, and The Gothic
<p>The girlies venture into Vampire Lore™ in Part I of a series of Eerie Episodes. They explore the shocking disease that turned people into vampires, the impact of vampiric literature, how Stephanie Meyer bastardized Gothic traditions via Mormonism, and more! Digressions includ ... Show More
1h 9m
Oct 2023
107: Sleep Demons, Ghosts, & Alien Probes: Can Nightmares Really Kill You?
Welcome to the Dark History podcast. Today we’re talking about conspiracy theories, and not the kind your annoying uncle brings up on Thanksgiving, but the spooky fun ones. From the popular Mexican folktale of la llorona, to the government telling us aliens are real, to sleep dem ... Show More
1h 2m