After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal

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 the bloodshed was very real.

What was the perfect storm that created this horrifying moment? How did it unfold? And how did the cops finally catch their man?

Joining Anthony and Maddy today is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jonathan Eig, to take us back to this bloody moment almost 100 years on.

This episode was edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.

You can now watch After Dark on Youtube! www.youtube.com/@afterdarkhistoryhit

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

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

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Julia Pastrana was a Mexican woman exploited as a sideshow attraction in life and grotesquely exhibited even after her death because of her appearance. Her story is part of the dark history of the Victorian 'freak show'. Anthony tells Maddy the story.

This episode was edited by Hannah Feodorov. Produced by Stuart Beckwith and researched by Phoebe Joyce.

You can now watch After Dark on Youtube! www.youtube.com/@afterdarkhistoryhit

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.

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 women faced the threat of death. The St Osyth witch hunt became a landmark case, setting a dark precedent for the witch hunts that would explode across the country in the century that followed.

Our guest today is Marion Gibson, author of 'Witchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials'.

This episode was edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.

You can now watch After Dark on Youtube! www.youtube.com/@afterdarkhistoryhit

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.

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mathew Hopkins, also known as the ‘Witchfinder General,’ was responsible for a campaign of terror across 17th-century England. In just a few short feverish years, his witch hunts swept through East Anglia, resulting in the deaths of dozens of people…

Edited by Tim Arstall, Produced by Tom Delargy, Senior Producer was Freddy Chick.

You can now watch After Dark on Youtube! www.youtube.com/@afterdarkhistoryhit

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.

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 what happened at a 'living funeral'?

Join Anthony and Maddy as they separate popular myth from fact, taking you through a typical day inside a leper colony in medieval Europe.

This episode was edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Freddy Chick and researched by Phoebe Joyce.

You can now watch After Dark on Youtube! www.youtube.com/@afterdarkhistoryhit

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.

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.