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Dark Histories

Ben Cutmore

1 Creator

4.0

(8)

Fortnightly narratives on the unsolved and the unexplained, mysteries, historical true crime, touches of the paranormal and cultural peculiarities.

...more

#81 in the Top 100 Documentary Monthly chart

6 Listeners

All episodes

Best episodes

Top 10 Dark Histories Episodes

Best episodes ranked by Goodpods Users most listened

The Bizarre History of the Hollow Earth

Dark Histories

09/12/22 • 49 min

5.0

Far from being a modern, internet crackpot idea, hollow earth theory has walked a long and winding path, many centuries old. From the mythological pits of hell, to the pseudo-scientific theories of the enlightenment, right through to modern science fiction, founding philosophies of utopian cults and even tenuous links with the Nazis, the proponents have been many and the theories varied, though whether or not they were ever anything other than crackpot is a different question altogether. SOURCES Standish, David (2007) Hollow Earth. Da Capo Press, IN, USA. Bernard, Raymond (1963) The Hollow Earth. Fieldcrest Publishing Co., NY, USA. Griffin A., Duane (2004) Hollow & Habitable Within: Symmes’s Theory of Earth’s Internal Structure & Polar Geography. Physical Geography, Sep 2004. USA. Kollerstrom, Nicholas (1992) The Hollow World of Edmond Halley. Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 23 Issue 3, August 1992. USA Halley, Edmond (1692) An account of the cause of the change of the variation of the magnetical needle with an hypothesis of the structure of the internal parts of the Earth. Philosophical transactions, xvi (1692), 563-87. UK Alexandria Gazette (1818) Food For Philosophers. 13 Aug 1818, p.2. VA, USA Teed, Cyrus (1899) The Illumination of Koresh: Marvelous Experiences of the Great Alchemist Thirty Years Ago, at Utica, NY. Guiding Star, Chicago, USA. Goodricke-Clarke, Nicholas (2004) The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and their Influence on Nazi Ideology. Tauris Parke Paperbacks, NY, USA.

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For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com

Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories

The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories

Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9

Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast

Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories

& Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/

Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com

or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072

or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf

The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye

Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017

Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.

2 Listeners

Amazon Music Presents MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark, and Mysterious Stories

Dark Histories

11/02/22 • 7 min

1.0

A hiker terrorized for days by two unknown figures... A man stalked through the woods while camping, who barely escaped with his life... two cops who quit their job at a local theater because of unexplained encounters with an alleged demon...

These are just some of the unbelievable cases you’ll hear on the MrBallen Podcast on Amazon Music. Each week you’ll get new inexplicable encounters, shocking disappearances and other strange, dark and mysterious stories.

Hey Prime Members, listen to the Amazon Music exclusive podcast, MRBALLEN PODCAST: STRANGE, DARK & MYSTERIOUS STORIES, in the Amazon Music App. Download the app today: www.amazon.com/BALL_us_pfd_AA_110122

2 Listeners

The Black Dog of Bungay & Other Spectral Beasts

Dark Histories

01/09/23 • 52 min

5.0

From ancient origins, to Churchill, who popularised the Victorian phrase “The black dog on your back”, the concept of the spectral black dog as a portent of doom, death and catastrophe is one that has maintained, with a constant slow progression throughout centuries. From musty old tomes maintained in cold damp monasteries, to the pages of Harry Potter, the Black Dog, Old Shuck, the Barghest, the Guytrash and the Skriker have haunted the stories of our rural landscapes and worked their way into the global imagination like almost nothing else in popular folklore. This weeks episode was sponsored by The Art of Crime Podcast, check them out here: https://www.artofcrimepodcast.com/ Sources Chambers, Robert (1894) The Book of Days: A Miscellany of Popular Antiquities... W & R Chambers, London, UK. Waldron, David & Reeve, Christopher (2010) Shock! The Black Dog of Bungay. Hidden Publishing, London, UK. Waldron, George (1744) The History and Description of the Isle of Man. W.Bickerton, UK. Dutt, W. A. (1901) Highways and Byways in East Anglia. Macmillan and Co. LTD. UK. L’Estrange Ewen, C. (1929) Witch Hunting & Witch Trials. Routledge, London, UK. E.S.T. (1850) Notes & Queries 1850-05-18: Vol 1 Iss 29. Oxford Publishing Limited, UK. Brown, Theo (1978) The Black Dog in English Folklore. D. S. Brewer, UK. Parkinson, Thomas (1888) Yorkshire Legends & traditions. -------

For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com

Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories

The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories

Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9

Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast

Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories

& Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/

Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com

or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf

The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye

Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017

Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.

1 Listener

Amazon Music Presents: I Hear Fear

Dark Histories

11/01/22 • 5 min

1.0

Nothing is as terrifying as the sounds we hear in the dark. The slow creak of a door opening late at night... or a whisper in a room when you thought you were alone... or a distant scream in the wind. One noise at the wrong time or place can scare us for days.

Each episode of I HEAR FEAR plunges the listener into a tale inspired by real events, from a deadly dance party to a cursed film set. Join host and two-time Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan for six immersive stories designed to jangle your nerves and haunt your dreams.

Listen – if you dare. Only on Amazon Music.

Listen to I Hear Fear: www.amazon.com/IHF_us_pfd_AA_110122

1 Listener

Eliza Grimwood & The Lambeth Ripper

Dark Histories

11/16/22 • 67 min

In 1838 a violent murder took place in the Lambeth area of London that set a trend for the stories of the Victorian penny papers for decades to come. Inspiring Charles Dickens, who paid close interest to the case, supplying him with the details he would later adapt to in several of his murder scenes, it was a grim affair that made headlines for months whilst the murderer was blindly chased across London. But was it really an isolated crime or part of something much bigger? Murder, confession and conspiracy all manage to play a role in what would become known as The Grimwood Murder. SOURCES Somerville, Alexander (1841) Eliza Grimwood: A Domestic Legend of the Waterloo Road. B. D. Cousins, London, UK Bondeson, Jan (2017) The Ripper of Waterloo Road. The History Press, Gloucestershire, UK. Bracebridge, Hemyng (1851) Prostitution in London. Griffin, Bohn & Co. London, UK. Mayhew, Henry. Et al. (2005) The London Underworld In The Victorian Period. Dover Publications, USA. Ion, J.L. (1838) Post Mortem Appearances of Eliza Grimwood. The Lancet, Volume 30, Issue 772, P399-400, June 16, 1838. UK. Kelly, Debra & Cornick, Martyn (2013) A history of the French in london. University of London School of Advanced Study Institute of Historical Research. London, UK. The Morning Chronicle (1838) Murder and Suicide. The Morning Chronicle, Mon 28 May 1838, p.3. London, UK. Aberdeen Press & Journal (1840) Murder fo Lord William Russel. Aberdeen Press & Journal, Wednesday 13 May 1840, p.4. Aberdeen, UK. The Globe (1840) Re-Examination of The Valet Corvoisier at Bow Street. The Globe, 14 May 1840, p.3, London, UK. London Evening Standard (1840) Murder of Lord William Russel. London Evening Standard, 11 May 1840, p.3. London, UK. Edinburgh Witness (1840) Confession of Courvoisier. Edinburgh Witness, 1 July 1840, p.2. Edinburgh, UK.

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For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com

Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories

The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories

Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9

Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast

Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories

& Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/

Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com

or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf

The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye

Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017

Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.

1 Listener

Christmas Campfire 2022 (Part 2)

Dark Histories

12/29/22 • 36 min

5.0

Hi everyone, I hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas or at least a nice bit of time off work... Here's part 2 of the 2022 Campfire episode, which should hopefully be something to help pass the time in these strange limbo days.

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For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com

Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories

The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories

Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9

Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast

Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories

& Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/

Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com

or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf

The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye

Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017

Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.

1 Listener

The Medieval Ghosts of Byland Abbey

Dark Histories

04/11/22 • 46 min

5.0

Some time around the turn of the fifteenth century, a Cistercian monk of Byland Abbey took it upon himself to pen a series of ghost stories on the empty pages of a folio containing some of the library's more prestigious works. A medieval monk scribbling down ghost stories was, in truth, not entirely unusual. In the case of the Byland monk, however, the stories seemed to be less concerned with religious matters and more with grisly details of the spirits themselves. Undead rising from the graves, shapeshifting from human to animal and back again, hunting down the living to gouge their eyes from their skulls. The monk was, in his way, reporting on the folklore of the day, leaving behind one of the middle ages' more unique documents on belief in the afterlife. Republished in its original Latin by medievalist and author M.R. James in 1922, the stories had, perhaps, more in common with his own writings than they did that of the church and opened a window on the prevalence of Pagan beliefs and folklore tradition that maintained throughout medieval Europe. SOURCES Scmitt, Jean-Claude (1998) Ghosts in the Middle Ages: The Living and the Dead in Medieval Society. The University of Chicago Press, London, UK. Bartlett, Robert (2008) The Natural and the Supernatural in the Middle Ages. Cambridge Universtoy Press, Cambridge, UK. Joynes, Andrew (2001) Medieval Ghost Stories. The Boydell Press, Woodbridge, UK. Grant, A.J. (1924) Twelve Medieval Ghost Stories. Yorkshire Archeological Journal, Vol. XXVII. Yorkshire, UK. Fleischhack, Maria & Schenkel, Elmar (2016) Ghosts - or the (Nearly) Invisible: Spectral Phenomena in Literature and the Media. Peter Lang, NY, USA. Harrison, Stuart (2022) History of Byland Abbey. [online] English Heritage. Available at:

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For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com

Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories

The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories

Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9

Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast

Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories

& Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/

Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com

or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072

or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf

The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye

Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017

Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.

1 Listener

Somerton Man With Professor Derek Abbott

Dark Histories

07/27/21 • 53 min

Hi everyone, I'm taking a small summer break for a couple of weeks, so to cover the gap I have a few older patreon bonus episodes to put out for the main feed and give everyone a chance to hear them. Here is an interview I did with Professor Derek Abbott on the recent news about the Exhumation efforts in the Somerton Man case.

Professor Derek Abbott is Director of the Centre for Biomedical Engineering at the University of Adelaide, Australia, Somerton Man expert and all-round bloody nice bloke. You can find out more about him here: http://www.eleceng.adelaide.edu.au/Personal/dabbott/

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For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com

Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories

Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast

Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories

& Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/

Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com

or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072

or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf

The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye

Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.

1 Listener

Madeleine Smith & The Dangerous Game of Dating in the 19th Century

Dark Histories

09/29/22 • 70 min

5.0

Dating in the 21st century can be a tricky path to manoeuvre, but in reality, the difficulties pale in comparison when compared to the complex etiquette and social pressures that one was doomed to follow in the Victorian period. One couple found this out in a unique way when their romantic love affair took a hard swipe left and turned into a tale of arsenic, scandal and mystery that could probably have been avoided had ghosting been a thing. SOURCES MacGowan, Douglas (2021) The Strange Affair of Madeline Smith. Polygon, London, UK. Phegley, Jennifer (2012) Courtship & Marriage in Victorian England. Praeger, Cambridge, UK. The Globe (1857) A Strange Story. The Globe, Sat 4th March 1857, p.4. London, UK

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For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com

Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories

The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories

Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9

Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast

Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories

& Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/

Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com

or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072

or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf

The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye

Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.

Dublin Weekly Nation (1857) The Glasgow Poisoning. Dublin Weekly nation, Sat 11th July 1857, p.13. Dublin, Ireland.

1 Listener

Early Cinematography & The Disappearance of Louis Le Prince

Dark Histories

01/24/23 • 58 min

5.0

In the 19th century moving images were everywhere. Illusionists cast tricks using mirrors and shadows, whilst flick books, magic lanterns and Zoopraxiscopes unveiled the hidden mysteries of motion to a wide-eyed audience. By the later part of the century, new advancements in photography had made the dream of motion pictures reachable for a few genius inventors, who toiled away in dingy workshops, setting fire to volatile chemicals as they cranked the handles of their machines, hoping to capture moments in time. Most now attribute the birth of cinema to either Thomas Edison, the famous American inventor, or the French Lumiere Brothers, whose projection of a train pulling into a station terrified its excited audience. But there was another man who had been working on the problem of moving photographs and had seemingly cracked it several years earlier. On the dawn of his machine's great unveiling, however, he disappeared, leaving those behind to question, where in the world was Louis Le Prince? Sources Leeds Mercury (1930) Inventor Who Vanished. Leeds Mercury, Tues 09 Dec 1930. p1. Leeds, UK. Yorkshire Evening Post (1930) Leeds Street In First Successful Moving Picture. Thurs 11 Dec 1930. p6. UK. Fischer, Paul (2022) The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures. Faber & Faber Ltd. London, UK. Rawlence, Christopher (1990) The Missing Reel: The Untold Story of the Lost Inventor of Moving Pictures. Atheneum. London, UK. New York Sun (1891) The Kinetograph. New York Sun, Thurs 28 May, 1891. P1. New York, USA. ------- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/darkhistories and get on your way to being your best self. -------

For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com

Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories

The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories

Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9

Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast

Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories

& Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/

Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com

or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf

The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye

Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.

1 Listener

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