After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal
Episodes
Ancient Rome's Bloodiest Murders
26 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Today we're delving back to an early episode of After Dark, where Anthony and Maddy explore the goriest murders of Ancient Rome.From flesh-eating fish...
The Doctor Who Shocked Victorian Britain
21 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What lurks behind the door of Dr. Kahn's Grand Anatomical Museum in Victorian London?Step inside and find out what shocked the public (and medical est...
Inside the Egyptian Underworld
18 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
For the Ancient Egyptians, death marked the beginning of a new chapter: a journey through a shadowy realm of trials, monsters, and divine judgment, ru...
400 Year Old Artist's Dark Revenge
14 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Artemisia Gentileschi's paintings personify female rage against men. She paints women beheading men, hammering nails into their skulls, brandishing th...
BONUS: Hear a chapter of Maddy's new book, Hoax
12 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Hear a chapter of Maddy's new book, "Hoax: Truth and Lies in the Age of Enlightenment". It's out now! It's the story of three women and their hoaxes i...
Human Sacrifice In The Aztec Empire
11 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When you think of the Aztec Empire, what do you picture? Human sacrifice?In today's episode, Anthony is joined by Aztec expert Dr. Caroline Dodds Penn...
The Dark Mystery of Princess Caraboo
07 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Today we are celebrating the upcoming publication of Maddy's new book 'Hoax: Truth and Lies in the Age of Enlightenment' by sharing one of the stories...
The Haunting of Cock Lane
04 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Today we are celebrating the upcoming publication of Maddy's new book 'Hoax: Truth and Lies in the Age of Enlightenment' by sharing one of the stories...
Speaking with the Dead: Ancient Necromancy
30 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In Ancient Mesopotamia, the boundary between the living and the dead was not always fixed... some even believed it could be crossed. But why would the...
Dark Side of Prehistoric Britain
27 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Across prehistoric Britain people raised vast stone circles, buried their dead in monumental tombs, and left offerings in rivers and bogs. Archaeologi...
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
23 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
On a summer day in Sarajevo in 1914, a young man fired two rounds of his pistol in the middle of the street, killing a Royal couple... He didn't know ...
Titanic's Biggest Myths Debunked
20 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Is it true that third-class passengers were locked below decks? Or that more lifeboats would have saved more lives? Did the band really play as the Ti...
The Murder that Shook Mary Queen of Scots
16 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
On the night of Saturday the 9th of March, 1566, a pregnant Mary Queen of Scots was having a dinner party.It was a night that ended in the brutal murd...
The Victorian Sex Scandal of Fanny & Stella
13 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Victorians are seen as the ultimate guardians of rigid gender boundaries.When Fanny Park and Stella Boulton transgressed those imagined lines, the...
Henry VIII's Descent into Darkness
09 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
He's known as one of history's most murderous kings, but was he always a monster? Or was he acting in ways expected of a king during his time.Joining ...
The Victorian Era's Wildest Murder
06 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It was one of the most gruesome crimes of the Victorian era... and it ended up in David Attenborough's garden! Kate Webster, a servant, killed and dis...
The Real Outlander
02 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The book and TV series "Outlander" has introduced millions of fans to Scottish history and the story of the Jacobites.One of those fans is Maddy Pelli...
The Man Who Ate Everything
30 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Listener warning: this episode contains a description of cruelty to animalsOne of the strangest tales to emerge from Napoleonic France was that of Tar...
Britain's First Ghost Hunt
26 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It was the original modern ghost hunt, the one that set the template for all the haunted houses to come. When a wealthy plantation family moves into a...
Dark Side of the Celts: Whicker Men and trophy heads
23 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Ancient Celts: feared in battle, guided by Druids, and bound together by ritual.Long before Rome pushed north, Celtic peoples ruled forests, hillt...
Were the Princes in the Tower murdered?
19 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It's one of history's greatest mysteries - 'what happened to the Princes in the Tower?' In 1483, young Edward V and his brother Richard were awaiting ...
The Human Cost of Fame
16 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
You might think the idea of “celebrity” is a modern invention. In reality, its roots stretch back centuries... perhaps even millennia. People have...
The Black Death As It Happened
12 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Eyewitness accounts of life during the Black Death are surprising. Sure, there's horror. But there's also d*ck jokes, complicated scientific theories,...
Who Killed Julius Caesar?
09 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In 44 BCE, Roman senators assassinated Julius Caesar to stop his ascent towards becoming a king. Dr Jess Venner takes Anthony blow-by-blow through the...
The Medieval Murder of Thomas Becket
05 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Anthony is joined by the iconic Eleanor Janega from our sister podcast 'Gone Medieval' to tell the story of the most famous murder of the medieval wor...
Mysterious History of Tarot Cards
02 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Maddy and Anthony get their Tarot cards read by Melissa Mercury! As well as reading their cards, Melissa tells us about the history of Tarot cards and...
Origins of Victorian Murder Detectives
26 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We have an image in our heads of Victorian Homicide Detectives, but what was the reality? Who were they? What murder cases shaped their history? What ...
Who Was the Man In The Iron Mask?
23 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
For decades a mysterious figure was held prisoner by Louis XIV. His face was covered, his identity was a secret beyond all others. Why? Who was this f...
The Dark Truth about the Haitian Revolution
19 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Haitian Revolution is the only successful, permanent slave revolt in history, resulting in the creation of an independent state.Haiti is also the ...
The French Revolution's Reign of Terror
16 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The French Revolution was famously inspired by ideals such as republicanism and individual liberty. Yet, for all its promises of freedom, the Revoluti...
The Dark Truth about Wuthering Heights
12 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Wuthering Heights, written by Emily Brontë in 1847, depicts a gothic world full of violence and passion, set against the wild Yorkshire Moors.So how ...
Bloody Beginning of the French Revolution
09 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Storming of the Bastille in 1789 marked the beginning of the French Revolution... the day a Parisian crowd stormed the royal fortress-prison that ...
Al Capone and the Valentine's Day Massacre
05 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Bootleg liquor. Tommy guns. Gangs ruling the city with crooked cops.The Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929 Chicago sounds cinematic, but the fear and th...
Dark Truth About Victorian 'Freak Shows'
02 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Julia Pastrana was a Mexican woman exploited as a sideshow attraction in life and grotesquely exhibited even after her death because of her appearance...
Essex's Darkest Witch Hunt
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This is the story of a 16th century cunning woman, a folk healer, who was found guilty of being a witch. Accusations spiralled until more than a dozen...
Who Was the Witchfinder General?
26 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mathew Hopkins, also known as the ‘Witchfinder General,’ was responsible for a campaign of terror across 17th-century England. In just a few short...
Inside A Medieval Leper Colony
22 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Come back with us to a Medieval leper colony.What was life really like for patients inside the gates? What did it mean when the 'leper bell' rang? And...
The Victorian's Dark Obsession with Ancient Egypt
19 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Victorians had a lot of twisted fascinations, but their fixation on Ancient Egypt might be the darkest of the lot.From 'mummy unwrapping parties' ...
The Deadly Arctic Witch Trials
15 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It all started when a huge storm drowned 40 men on Christmas Eve, 1617.The people of Vardø, northern Norway, needed someone to blame.What followed we...
Great Fire of London As It Happened
12 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Fire that struck London in 1666 was one of the city's darkest chapters. In this episode, Anthony and Maddy examine the accounts of people who witn...
Day in the Life of a Salem Puritan
08 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What did it feel like to wake up Salem Village during the darkest days of the witch trials? Would you be able to swallow down your beer and pottage br...
Inside the Victorian Asylum
05 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
One of the dark symbols of the Victorian age is the asylum. It struck fear into the mind but what was the reality of life inside its walls? Maddy Pell...
The Truth about the Conjuring's Ghost Hunters
01 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Ghost hunting couple Ed and Lorraine Warren transformed twentieth century America into an enchanted land dotted with haunted houses, cursed objects, a...
Banshees: Herald of Death
29 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today we're delving back into the After Dark vaults to revisit our episode on Banshees...Siobhan McSweeney (Derry Girls) joins Anthony Delaney and Mad...
Ghosts of Henry VIII's Palace
25 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We’re re-running this episode because it’s one of our favourites — and it’s worth another listen!The ghost of Catherine Howard, fifth wife of ...
Dark Truth About Sweeney Todd
22 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sweeney Todd - the demon barber of Fleet Street who beheads people and then sends their bodies through a trapdoor to be made into pies. It's just a st...
The Most Notorious Viking Raid
18 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Viking attack on the monastery at Lindisfarne, a remote tidal island in North East England, sent psychological and cultural shockwaves through the...
Oscar Wilde's Very Victorian Scandal
15 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 1895, the world witnessed its first true celebrity trial when Oscar Wilde was charged with “Gross Indecency". To tell the powerful story of Wilde...
Does Every Family Hold A Dark Past?
11 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Maddy and Anthony dig into their own family history in collaboration with Ancestry! They find stories from the darker side of the past in their own fa...
What Happened The Day Pompeii was Destroyed?
08 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We all know the story of Pompeii: the Roman town reduced to ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted. Roughly two-thousand years later, archaeologists have bee...
The Dark Side of the Vikings
04 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How dark really were the Vikings? How much of a part did human sacrifice play in their world? And what was their relationship with magic?Joining Antho...
The Only Prime Minister Ever Assassinated
01 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Was this moment the closest Britain came to revolution? When Prime Minister Spencer Perceval lay dying on the floor of the Parliament, many feared it ...
Who Was Medieval Europe's Most Evil Monarch?
27 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Who was the very worst of all the Medieval monarchs? No spoilers but we've got monarchs driven psychopathic by love, terrible sadists, and egos that s...
Who was the Last Witch of Scotland?
24 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With the nights closing in, what better time to re-visit a favourite episode of ours.In 1727, Janet Horne of the Highland community of Dornoch became ...
Could you Survive the Medieval Apocalypse?
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For Medieval Europe, the Apocalypse wasn’t just a metaphor - it was very real and very imminent.We are talking about the four horsemen, locusts the ...
Why Did Henry VIII Kill Catherine Howard?
17 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 1540 Henry VIII was getting old, and his eyes turned to teenager Catherine Howard.He fell hard and fast for Catherine - his "rose without a thorn" ...
Who Was Nostradamus?
13 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Did Nostradamus really predict everything from the Great Fire of London to the rise of Hitler?We predict that you'll find out in this episode...Join A...
Day in the Life of a Tudor Executioner
10 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Did they wear black hoods? Whose axe did they use? How did you get the job in the first place? Today Anthony Delaney takes Maddy Pelling inside the wo...
Henry VIII's Murderous Reign
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Henry VIII was a monarch everyone was excited for, and turned into someone who weaponised his powers for murder.What happened in his life that caused ...
The Perfume Poisoner Who Killed 500 Men
03 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Deep in Renaissance Rome, it is said that a woman called Giulia Tofana supplied poison to kill some 500 abusive men.Is this the stuff of myth and folk...
Introducing a chilling new podcast: TWISTED TALES WITH HEIDI WONG
01 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Reality is the real horror.Every Monday, poet and paranormal obsessive Heidi Wong unearths the chilling true stories behind the world’s most terrify...
Truth About Irish Funeral Beliefs
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What are the origins of keening for the dead? What is the history of Irish wakes? And why must you never put a coffin down on the way to the funeral?A...
'She Devil' Serial Poisoner of Victorian England
27 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah Dazley was one of the most infamous women in the world for a moment in 1843 when she was accused of poisoning not one but two former husbands. O...
Witches of Cornwall
23 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From the spookiest corner of the British isles, comes two stories of witches. Stories of fairies and magical powers, of skeletons and haunted history....
Britain's Coldest Murder Case
20 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Eugene Aram was an 18th century schoolmaster who got away with murder for fourteen years. Then a skeleton was unearthed and a case that had been forgo...
Day in the life of a Black Death Rat
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What did Medieval people think about rats? Did they have any idea that they were the cause of the Black Death? How did they use charms and poisons to ...
The Dark Truth About Madam Tussauds
13 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Behind the current display of celebrity waxworks lies the dark and bloody history of Madam Tussauds.Join Anthony and Maddy as they go back to the 18th...
Who Was The Ultimate Tudor Traitor?
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Tudor court was dangerous and high stakes at the best of times, where survival could often mean betraying others.Enter: Jane Boleyn, thrust into t...
The Railway Murder That Shook Victorian Britain
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It's 1864 and the height of industrialisation. The thrill of railway travel is shattered with the first murder that takes place on it.Join Anthony and...
The Dark Reality of Life at Sea
02 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dan Snow joins After Dark to reveal the brutal reality of life of sailors during the golden age of sail. From the cat o' nine tails, to the pressgang,...
Dark Side of Elizabeth I
29 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The end of Elizabeth I's life was shrouded in darkness and plots as powerful figures circled her throne. How did Elizabeth hold off contenders reachin...
Who Was Ancient Egypt's Most Evil Pharaoh?
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We often think of Egyptian Pharaohs as a glamorous god-king of Ancient times, yet the truth of these people is a lot, lot darker.Who was the first Pha...
Who Was Ancient Rome's Darkest Emperor?
22 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There are a disturbingly high number of contenders for the title of Rome's Darkest Emperor - so as you can imagine, things get extremely disturbing in...
Day In The Life Of A Body Snatcher
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Join Anthony and Maddy as they spend a day - or should that be night? - in the life of a 19th century body snatcher.Find out which months they favoure...
Georgian England's Notorious Dumpling Poisoner
15 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Did she do it? Did serving girl Eliza Fenning poison the dumplings she served the Turner family? This is a true crime case from 1813 that brings toget...
Dark Truth About Ancient Egypt's Mummification
11 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Ancient Egyptians had a very different idea about death than most people do today.And the idea of mummification is (excuse the pun) wrapped up in ...
Who was the 'Man-Monster' Of New York?
08 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On June 16, 1836, in New York City, Mary Jones stood in a courtroom that was a cauldron of hatred. Mary was African American and one of the first know...
BONUS: Hear a chapter of Anthony's new book, Queer Georgians
05 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hear a chapter of Anthony's new book, Queer Georgians: A hidden history of lovers, lawbreakers and homemakers. It's out now!For more information, clic...
Dark Side of Ancient Rome's Colosseum
04 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In today's episode, we're taking you inside the towering walls of Ancient Rome's Colosseum to find out the dark reality of what happened there.From th...
Gay Sex Scandal that Outraged the Georgians
01 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What price might a man pay for sex in the 18th century? Well, if it was with another man, he might pay with his life.In this episode, Anthony introduc...
Jack the Ripper: Invention of a Monster
28 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jack the Ripper as we think of him, is an invention of the Victorian media. They took the complete absence of hard facts about the killer, and populat...
The Dark Side of Medieval England
25 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode contains descriptions of execution and torture.To be Hanged, Drawn & Quartered. Put on the Rack. Impaled on a spike. This list paints a v...
The Darkest Scandal in Victorian Britain
21 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today we step into the shadowy world of W.T. Stead—a Victorian journalist whose life was as controversial as it was groundbreaking. Hear how he...
New York's Wildest Murder Case
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This 1897 New York murder case that has it all - a villain, an incredibly useless police force, and a duck who saves the day. The incredible Dr Cat By...
Victorian Love Triangle Murder
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Through the industrial fog of Victorian London, in one of the city's most notorious slums, a murder took place that shocked a nation.The Bermondsey Ho...
The Body In The Trunk: France's Shocking 19th Century Murder Case
11 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It was a murder mystery that gripped 19th century France and changed crime investigation forever.Who was the body in the trunk? What were the groundbr...
Bloodiest Mutiny & Shipwreck in History: Batavia
07 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when you're left on a desert island with a psychopath? This is a story so horrendous it would be hard to believe were it not for the skel...
Britain’s Most Prolific Executioner
04 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For Albert Pierrepoint, execution was a family affair. His father and uncle were hangmen and from the 1940s until the late 1950s Albert was Britain's ...
Could You Survive The Victorian Workhouse?
31 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today we’re going behind the foreboding doors of the Victorian workhouse to ask - ‘Could we survive it?’. From Oliver Twist's gruel to songs abo...
Day In The Life Of A Plague Doctor
28 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you think your job is bad, have you tried being a plague doctor in 17th century Venice?Join Anthony and Maddy as they wake up on a quarantine islan...
Final Days of Napoleon
24 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Conspiracy theories swirl about the final days of Napoleon. Was he poisoned by a friend? By the British? By his wallpaper? Did he cologne himself to d...
The Great Plague of London
21 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What was it like living in London, 1665, when the plague first crept in?Within weeks, the gruesome symptoms were being spotted around London, crosses ...
Dark History of the Luddites
17 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Would you have joined the OG Luddites? In 1811 and 1812 across the midlands and north of England which were the Silicon Valley of the day, Luddites sm...
The Plague That Shook The Roman Empire
14 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the 6th century, the Roman Empire was split and its future hung in the balance.Emperor Justinian dreamed of restoring it to its former glory. That ...
The Truth About Frankenstein
10 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Against a time of radical change, a gothic masterpiece was written by the teenage Mary Shelley.Published in 1818, Frankenstein takes us into a dark wo...
How Bloody Was 'Bloody Mary'?
07 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 peopl...
The Final Days of Anastasia Romanov
03 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the aftermath of the bloody Russian revolution, the Romanovs went from being a glittering royal family, to vulnerable everyday citizens who were so...
Bloody Mary: The Real Woman in the Mirror
30 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 e...
Poison in the Tower of London
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s story is one that takes us to a very familiar setting - the Tower of London - but shows it in a new light. Edward Francis was an enslaved ma...
Stonehenge: 10 Strangest Facts
23 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It wasn't made by Druids (or Aliens or Merlin the wizard). But it was a garden centre. Get ready for the 10 strangest facts (mostly) about Stonehenge!...