logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2024
47m 14s

Who was the "Elephant Man"? Joseph Merri...

History Hit
About this episode

The life of Joseph Merrick, the man they dared to call "The Elephant Man", will fill you with pain and anger. He was treated so cruelly by society that he found becoming a freak show exhibit preferably to the life available to him elsewhere. Yet alongside darkness there is light and love in his story, and a sense of his own indomitable spirit throughout it all.


Visit https://www.changingfaces.org.uk/ to learn more about living with visible difference today.


Written by Anthony Delaney. Edited by Tomos Delargy. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.


Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  


You can take part in our listener survey here.


After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.

Up next
Jul 7
How Bloody Was 'Bloody Mary'?
Last week we heard about Mary's formative years. Today we get to her reign, the infamous burnings and ask ourselves if Bloody Mary was as bad as people think.Edited by Tomos Delargy. Produced by Stuart Beckwith. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.Please vote for us for Listeners' ... Show More
39m 59s
Jul 3
The Final Days of Anastasia Romanov
In the aftermath of the bloody Russian revolution, the Romanovs went from being a glittering royal family, to vulnerable everyday citizens who were soon murdered.In the wake of their deaths, the that one family member survived, began to gain traction.How do the claims of Princess ... Show More
51m 11s
Jun 30
Bloody Mary: The Real Woman in the Mirror
Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary. Mary I is known as a brutal tyrant. But what was the reality? In the next two episodes Anthony and Maddy will explore Mary's story. Today they explore the traumatic early years that shaped her.Edited by Tomos Delargy. Produced by Freddy Chic ... Show More
42m 59s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2023
192: Annalisa Netherly & the History of The Read House
In 1927, a young woman met a violent end in a Chattanooga hotel. Reports on how she came to her death are mixed, but the legend of her gruesome story persists almost 100 years later, and for good reason. The tragic young woman’s spirit is said, along with the ghosts of many other ... Show More
25m 51s
Apr 29
The Truth About Medusa
You could be forgiven for thinking the Greek myth of Medusa has zero relevance to us today. Snake for hair?! But as you'll hear in today's episode, she's a woman who was vilified for her femininity and sexuality. She was literally cast out of society for it - into a cave, of all ... Show More
32m 7s
Mar 2024
Revealing the True Identity of Jack the Ripper with True Crime Writer Sarah Bax Horton
In this gripping episode of the Truth Be Told Paranormal Podcast, host Tony Sweet sits down with acclaimed true crime writer Sarah Bax Horton to unravel one of history's most enduring mysteries: the true identity of Jack the Ripper. Sarah brings her extensive research and unique ... Show More
45m 34s
Jul 2024
The Dark History of Bearded Ladies & the Victorian Freak Show
What would it have really been like to visit a Victorian freak show? Were "freak performers" exploited, or empowered in a world that would likely have otherwise rejected them? And has the Victorian freak show ever really gone away? Joining Kate today is John Woolf, author of The ... Show More
39 m
Apr 2024
New Orleans Most Famous Ghost Story - April 10 2024
April 10th: Discover of Delphine LaLaurie's Victims (1834)When a true story reaches the level of pop culture phenomenon, it becomes difficult to suss out what is fact and what is headline-grabbing fiction. Today’s story is one such tale. On April 10th 1834 the victims of a famed ... Show More
17m 41s
Feb 2024
BONUS EPISODE: Ed Gein, Texas Chainsaw and Your Ghost Stories!
Introducing the NEW season of DEAD MEN DO TELL TALES, a special spin-off series of the American Hauntings Podcast! With each season of the series, we delve into a single story from the dark side of American history -- except this time. In season 4, called DEPRAVED, we’ll actually ... Show More
38m 35s
May 20
HP Lovecraft Was A Super Weird Dude, Part One: Childhood Tragedy
Love him or hate him, there's no denying that Howard Phillips Lovecraft fundamentally altered the course of horror and speculative fiction. So how did he become one of the most influential authors in all of horror history? In the first part of this special two-part episode, Ben a ... Show More
52m 59s
Aug 2024
Blue Barrel Killer: Dr. John Analyzes Alleged Heinous Sex Crimes
Timothy Haslett Jr. was first arrested in October of 2022 after a woman, identified only by her initials in docs as TJ, saved her life by escaping out of what was essentially a homemade torture chamber, where she had been held captive. Fast forward to July of 2024, Timothy Haslet ... Show More
1h 6m
Mar 2025
Murderous Women
**This podcast contains graphic descriptions of murders and the punishments of those convicted** Gruesome murders carried out by women captivated the public imagination in Early Modern Britain. Pamphlets, ballads, and woodcuts spread the stories of traitorous wives, cunning poiso ... Show More
53m 26s
Oct 2024
New York Morgue's Dark Secrets
The unclaimed dead of New York City's streets and rivers were brought to the New York Morgue in the second half of the nineteenth century. This history is full of dark, sad stories and buried secrets. Maddy Pelling and Anthony Delaney are joined by Cat Byers who is a writer and h ... Show More
54m 35s