Have you ever wondered about the awful, bloody and sometimes downright scary history of a town you’re passing through? Take a trip with our co-hosts and join us for our first live interview recorded at Central City Comic Con in this Horrific History Podcast episode as we explore the macabre history of Ellensburg, Washington with a local expert, Museum Director Sadie Thayer of the Kittitas County Historical Museum!

 

Shootings, hangings and serial killers, this episode has a lot of local history along with […]

While working on our upcoming “Forbidden Places” episode, Eric and Jordan discovered that one of our intended subjects no longer qualifies as an area off-limits to the public! So, while they scour the planet for other inaccessible locations we thought we’d raise one of our Season 1 episodes (now with a new intro) from the Horrific History Podcast Crypt for your squeamish delight!

 

For a Healthy Glow: Radiation Poisoning (Episodes from the Crypt)

A finger, hand, limb or life…. What would you give up for the advancement of science? Would you give up as much as the Radium Martyrs of All Nations?

[…]

Have you ever wondered about the use of booby-traps in history or the source of inspiration for common Hollywood tropes? Join Horrific History co-hosts, Eric Slyter and Jordan Watney, as they examine the historical evidence for the use of booby-traps in historical records from across the globe. What kind of danger was waiting for archeologists in the Valley of the Golden Mummies? Was the cinnabar in the Red Queen’s tomb really a trap left for whomever might disturb her sarcophagus? Is there a historical basis for the collapsing temples often found in adventure movies, and would the resulting danger be caused by an intentional trap or merely correlated with the building practices?

 

As we search through burial sites for signs of traps, we find too much of a good thing from ancient Egypt and questions about whether any ill effects from examining a site is caused by an intentional trap or merely correlated to ritual practices of the period. In the Mayan city of Palenque, we find a burial chamber with a royal sarcophagus and two other bodies. We find a collapsing temple filled with sand in Cambodia before discussing the use of booby-traps in guerrilla warfare tactics during the Vietnam War, and the difference between venom and poison. Finally, we’ll discuss a Chinese tomb believed to contain mercury lakes and crossbows […]

A facial reconstruction of “Jane of Jamestown” is seen during a news conference at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, Wednesday, May 1, 2013. Scientists announced during the news conference that they have found the first solid archaeological evidence that some of the earliest American colonists at Jamestown, Va., survived harsh conditions by turning to cannibalism presenting the discovery of the bones of a 14-year-old girl, “Jane” that show clear signs that she was cannibalized. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

From the last episode, we know Jamestown’s English settlers got their colony off on the wrong foot; this week, join your Horrific History co-hosts, Eric Slyter and Jordan Watney, as they get to the meat of the subject and explore both the period accounts of cannibalism in addition to the recent related archeological finds. What led the Jamestown colonists to experience such desperation that they would themselves engage in murder, grave-robbing, and the eating of human flesh? Which famous person from the colony wrote a book to profit off those same horrors?

 

We’ll also explore the more recent historical accounts of the 1972 Andes Flight Disaster, also referred to as the Miracle of the Andes, when 45 people aboard a small aircraft crashed atop an unnamed mountain (later named Glaciar de las Lágrimas, or Glacier of Tears) which straddled the remote mountainous border between Chile and Argentina. When the remaining survivors heard on the radio that the search parties had called off the rescue efforts, they had to give up hope or find a way to survive. Hear about the lengths they went to survive the crash and the journey to, without provisions or equipment, climb down a mountain to let the world know they were still alive and needed help. Could you go to the same lengths, eating your deceased family, friends, or even your wife? […]

What do you see when you look into the face of a child? Do you see innocence or the devil incarnate? Love, or murderous intent? Join Horrific History Podcast as our co-hosts, Eric Slyter and Curtis Bender, examine three cases from history when children have murdered for supernatural reasons.

 

Learn about the 12 year-old goth girl (and her werewolf boyfriend) convicted of the murders of her family members in Canada. It’s a tragic love story or a horror story depending upon one’s perspective, but in one child’s mind sometimes the killing of a little brother can be justified as a compassionate end.

 

A young man who developed an affinity for Dungeons and Dragons, satanism and the occult takes our kindred spirits from the last episode and ups the stakes when he finds his own spiritual doppelgänger. Demon possession or mental illness, this case will have you questioning what distances you’d travel to avoid getting caught up in these circumstances.

 

And finally, learn about the two 12-year old girls who planned a murder for 5 months, and the lucky girl who survived that attack by a literal hair’s breadth after being stabbed 19 times. All of this to appease the mythical “Slender Man,” so they could run away and live in his mansion in the forest.

 

Werewolves, demon possession and the Slender Man, this episode has it all! Whether you like children or consider them evil minions to be avoided, you’ll find something to make your cringe in edition of Horrific History Podcast! So sit back in your forest mansion while listening to this new Horrific History episode and join us again in two weeks when we cover hairy history.

 

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Commercial break music by Dead but Dreaming.

Slideshow photo credit: Silverflame Pictures SAM_2071 b3 via photopin (license)

Blog photo credit: FoxDirectorFR Sortie Cosplay Halloween_0026 V2 via photopin (license)

Ad for Spring Heeled Jack, a penny dreadful (1886)

After a month of horror-themed fun for another of our non-profit’s programs, Haunting Ellensburg, Horrific History Podcast’s co-hosts Eric Slyter and Curtis Bender were in the mood for a change in pace and  a spooky story to share with our favorite listeners (all of you)! Thank you for your patience during our frazzled month of October; we hope you will enjoy this Halloween special episode on Spring-Heeled Jack while you get in the mood for all your holiday festivities.

 

This historical character from Victorian England was known for assaults, attacks and pranks. Was he an imp, devil, demon or gremlin? Some thought so, but perhaps they were just primed to believe it. Jumping by leaps and bounds, he might remind you of John Carter of Mars, though some thought he was an alien. This story is full of conspiracy theories, from the “mad Marquis” to extraterrestrials and the occult. But don’t give in to mass hysteria or panic, we’ll give you enough details about this boogeyman to pique your interest, just like the “penny dreadfuls” he inspired.

 

So lock the door, sit down in a dark corner, and grab that bowl of Halloween treats while you join us for this episode; it just might put a spring in your step… just remember, no squeam allowed.

 

Join us again on Tuesday when we get back to our usual schedule and release Part Two of Child’s Play!

 

 

If you’d like to hear the commercial-free version of this episode and receive other great perks, become a patron of our podcast on Patreon!
Become a Patron!

 

Some of our favorite resources from this week’s episode:

 

Horrific History Podcast

 

Commercial break music by Dead but Dreaming.

Slideshow photo credit: Horrific History Podcast, all rights reserved.

Blog post photo credit: Public Domain, Link

What do you think of when you look into a child’s eyes? Do you think of innocence and a world of potential? Or, do you think of torture, murder and evil intent? Join your Horrific History Podcast co-hosts, Eric Slyter and Curtis Bender, as they look at children in history who have tortured or killed in gruesome ways.

 

Learn about the case of a child laborer from Boston, Massachusetts with a love of dime novels who tortured his victims in awful ways and may have had an interest in taking trophies. After a period in reform school, mutilation and murder […]

Not Your Garden Variety Episode: Toxic Plants

Can you identify all the plants in your yard or garden pots? After hearing this episode, you may never look at them (or honey products) the same way again! Eric Slyter and Curtis Bender, your Horrific History co-hosts, explore some pretty (and highly toxic)  plants from across the globe. From nightshade to wolfsbane, and rhododendron to barbasco, this episode will have you questioning the biological warfare applications of your garden plants… just remember to watch how much you use!

 

Discover which invading armies might have thought of new territory as the “Lands of Tainted Honey.” While Xenophon weighs in with his thoughts on the matter, discover the awful side effects of the wholly natural (but toxic to mammals) “mad honey” which had a history of being used as a tool of violent conflicts long before Draco Malfoy thought to lace a mead with poison.

 

The “queen of poisons,” derived from […]

It seems like the advice, “If ever you are invited to dinner with a cannibal, first ensure you are not on the menu,” would be foregone conclusion; in fact, unless you are particularly adventurous in your culinary tastes, you might be wise to also simply claim to be a vegetarian. However, social and dining etiquette isn’t exactly what we have for your squeamish fix today. Instead we want to share with you something we found in the NPR archives; we discovered a really great interview of author Carole Travis-Henikoff about her book Dinner with a Cannibal: The Complete History of Mankind’s Oldest Taboo. You can find it linked here.

 

If you liked our Have a Friend for Lunch: Winter Cannibalism or Mementos of You: Human Trophies episodes we think you’ll love this!

 

Now, if fiction is more to your tastes, you might find Dinner With the Cannibal Sisters more to your liking.

 

Until next week, no squeam allowed!

Slideshow photo credit: Another Pint Please… Strip Steak on Weber Summit via photopin (license)

Leaving You in Stitches, Part 2

Day laborer scams in India, exploitation of people in poverty desperate to provide for their families, surgeries and death threats, this episode has the details on human tissue theft you’ve been waiting for! Horrific History co-hosts Eric Slyter and Curtis Bender are back to continue their two-part episode on human tissue theft (if you missed Part 1, you can find it here)! A large organ trafficking ring catering to transplant tourism, the so-called Admiral of the Kansas Navy who made his fortune as a Quaker doctor who peddled virility miracle cures, organ brokers and donors who are viewed as both saints and sinners, this episode will leave you wondering what your body parts are worth and to whom.

 

Doctor Dracula” stealing kidneys; goat testicles; pseudoscience, doctor self-experimentation and […]