Dark Histories

On a cold, grey January afternoon in 1914, a railway carriage travelling through north London shuttled along its route, carrying a grim secret. Beneath a third-class carriage seat lay the body of five-year-old Willie Starchfield, strangled and carefully concealed from view. Earlier that day, Willie had been sent out on an errand and never came home. The police launched a struggling investigation,...

In the years following the American Revolution, when the country was still uncertain of itself and the frontier was still a place of violence, two brothers carved out a story of fear across the wilderness. When their story was first published in 1824, many people thought it was so terrible it simply had to be fiction, and whilst the facts may have been a little blurred, it sadly had much more...

In the winter of 1864, two ships met their fate on one of the most remote and unforgiving stretches of the Southern Ocean. The Grafton and the Invercauld were wrecked thousands of miles from civilization, leaving their survivors stranded on the desolate Auckland Islands. What followed was a remarkable test of endurance, struggling against the cold, hunger and isolation that would see feats of...

Hey Everyone! here is a little episode to tide us over til next week when I'll be back to the usual posting schedule. I took a short, mid-season break to sort some bits and pieces out and enjoy a bit of the summer weather, but I do love a good ghost story, so here's one for the time being! The Open Door, by Charlotte Riddell, originally published in 1882. I hope you enjoy it!------For almost...

In the early twentieth century, Chicago was a city already familiar with violence and corruption, but in 1946, a new case hit the headlines that introduced a whole new level of shock and scandal to the hardened city residents. Savage murders, a message scrawled across the wall in lipstick at one of the scenes and the dismemberment of a young girl gave rise to a case that would in time become...

In an era when medicine was still finding its footing, John Romulous Brinkley built an empire on impossible cures, relentless ambition, and astonishing lack of a moral compass. In a shocking display of charm and manipulation, he managed to sell his patients on a cure for diseases they didn’t even know they had, frequently involving the surgical insertion of a goats testicle into their body. His...

The early modern period was a rocky time for religion across Europe, fundamental pinnings of everyday life were being questioned and changing, as the reformation shifted authority away from the church. Thoughts on death and the afterlife were turned upside down, and in villages across England, restless spirits were making a comeback. To confront these supernatural intruders, communities turned to...

In the fall of 1909, a strange fear settled over the hills and farms of Maryland. Newspapers carried reports of a monstrous winged creature said to stalk the countryside with a host of bizarre descriptions pouring out from witnesses, including glowing eyes, huge claws, and boiling brimstone dripping from its snout. The creature became known as the Snallygaster, and for a time, its legend gripped...

In 1890, the murders of Phoebe Hogg and her infant daughter in Hampstead became one of the most widely reported criminal cases of the Victorian period. The investigation quickly centred on Mary Pearcey, whilst the public eyed Phoebe’s husband with suspicion. Evidence found at Mary’s home, along with witness testimony, seemed to point to a simple investigation, but persistent rumours of an...

In 1945, the end of the second world war was approaching, atom bombs were on the way, and science fiction felt more like speculative prophecies than adventure stories. In the pages of pulp magazine, claims that ancient civilizations lived beneath the surface of the earth, armed with forgotten technologies, and mutated into something monstrous and cruel. To some, it was pulp fantasy. To others, a...