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
Sep 2
Chuck Barris: Game Show Host and CIA Assassin?
Chuck Barris created game show classics like The Dating Game and The Gong Show. However, his memoir claims his prolific career was all a cover for his classified missions as a CIA assassin. The agency says his claim is 100% false, but as Barris notes, "Have you ever heard the CIA ... Show More
51m 42s
Aug 26
Conspiracy of Silence: The Town That Killed Ken Rex McElroy
1981, Skidmore, Missouri. Ken McElroy, the “bully of Nodaway County,” is gunned down in the street – in broad daylight, and in front of his wife and an untold number of witnesses. Despite multiple investigations and grand juries, nobody has ever been indicted in the case, thanks ... Show More
47m 54s
Aug 19
Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and the Laurel Canyon Conspiracy
In the 1960s, a new musical revolution emerged from Laurel Canyon, California. Bands like The Beach Boys, The Doors, and Crosby, Stills & Nash sang hit songs protesting the Vietnam War. However, while these tunes spoke to war protesting "hippies," some believe that they were crea ... Show More
56m 23s
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