Horrific History Podcast

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?   Torture and wife-killing, shipwrecks and airplane crashes, this episode has a lot of adventurous stories with its cannibalism (or in some cases, anthropophagy)! Whether you prefer your human roasted, boiled, carbonado’d or dried, you’ll find something for your tastes! So dig up a corpse and sit down with nice bottle of wine while you enjoy this latest Horrific History episode through one of your favorite podcast services (iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn and more). Join us again in two weeks when we’ll explore some of the horrible history which led humans to develop ways of filtering drinking water!   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: * Encyclopedia Virginia * EbWiki.org * The Struggle for Power in Colonial America, 1607–1776 * PBS * History is Fun, 2 * Virtual Jamestown *

Have you ever felt your body wasting away? Most of us know what it’s like when we forget to eat for too long, often described as the physical sensation of the stomach “eating itself.” But, what occurs in the body and mind when it’s true over a prolonged period? What more horrible stories from history can still be told about winter cannibalism? Join your Horrific History Podcast co-hosts, Eric Slyter and Jordan Watney, for the debut episode of Season 2 as they explore the gruesome effects of starvation and the events which would lead up to cannibalism in Jamestown!   Discover what scientists learned about prolonged semi-starvation through a World War II study called the Minnesota Starvation Experiment. How has research on populations with anorexia nervosa given us added insight into the effects of the three phases of starvation? What decisions and events would lead the people of Jamestown to eventually engage in the very cannibalistic acts which they (erroneously) feared the native population would inflict upon them?   Self-mutilation, medical research on conscientious objectors and colonists who could not follow directions, this episode has it all! Whether you have ever considered starvation or cannibalizing your acquaintances, you’ll find something to enjoy! So sit down with a big hearty meal while you enjoy our latest Horrific History episode through one of your favorite podcast services (iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn and more), and join us again in two weeks for Part 2 of The Starvening, when we’ll gnaw on the bones of two winter cannibalism stories from history.   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: * Deranged Physiology * Biochemistry, 5th ed. * Life in the Fast Lane * Disabled World Towards Tomorrow * American Psychological Association * Mad in America * McGill Journal of Medicine * Scottish Eating Disorders Interest Group * NHS Wales * Encyclopedia Virginia * EbWiki.org *

Hello Squeamers!   Around the conclusion of “Season 1” of our Horrific History Podcast your hardworking co-hosts were forced to take some time off from recording. Thankfully, in the world of squeam and horror, things that first appear dead sometimes come back better than ever (or maybe equally good but different?), like Eric’s beloved Star Wars franchise. He’s taken the time to record a brief teaser to announce our upcoming “Season 2” of your favorite Horrific History Podcast with a familiar blast to the past and some new changes for the future… just remember, no squeam allowed!   (And if you disagree with Eric’s take on Star Wars, take it up with him on Twitter @nosqueamallowed!)   Blog post photo credit: Thomas Hawk His Pal Frank via photopin (license)

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.   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: * Process * People * Daily Mail, 2 * Owlcation * Earn the Necklace * Blum House * Vice * Boredom Therapy *

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: * Folklore Thursday * Atlas Obscura * Anomaly Info     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 ultimately led to prison break attempts and ethical questions about the application of solitary confinement and the death penalty. What caused it all? Some say the smallpox vaccine, others talk about abuse, bullying and mental illness.   Desperate to stay together, two adolescent friends in New Zealand planned and executed the murder of a parent with a brick in a sock, reminiscent of some medieval duels. The trial included diary accounts from one of the girls recounting their planning of the murder and the question of whether girls so young could be hung for murder. Spoiler: they go on to live long lives…. with one of them becoming a successful and famous author by the name of Anne Perry.   And finally, explore one of the urban legends which has developed around the fear adults have of children! Have you ever seen them yourself? If you did, would it only be because of priming or pareidolia? Tell us your story!   Mutilation, torture, kindred spirits who would kill to stay together, this episode has it all! Whether you have children yourself 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 with a nice book while listening to this new Horrific History episode and join us again in two weeks when we cover 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: * Gizmodo * Historical Crime Detective * Radford University * Murder by Gaslight * Murderpedia * Telegraph * BBC * University of South Florida * NY Times * Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquenc...

Our co-hosts needed a few more days to finish editing your newest Horrific History Podcast episode, so we’re giving you a small teaser from our recent Patreon-exclusive episode! Listen to Eric Slyter and Curtis Bender tell you about the exciting non-profit program, Haunting Ellensburg, to which they’ve been dedicating so much of their free time! This ten minute excerpt is just part of the entire 60-minute episode wherein Eric and Curtis talk about how they met and started working together, other programs that they work together on and more! Check back at the end of this week to hear our episode on children who kill! Meanwhile, we hope you enjoy this short excerpt… To learn more about them, how they met and all they do in their free time you can join our Patreon to get access to the Patreon-exclusive episode released at the end of September and a lot of other fun content! Become a Patron!   All photos in this post are owned by Haunting Ellensburg, a program of Kron, Inc. All rights reserved.

Have you ever had the experience of waking up but being unable to move? Did you feel the sensation of “the intruder” in your room restraining you? At least 40% of the population has had this experience and people from different times and places have had different explanations for it. Eric Slyter and Curtis Bender, your Horrific History co-hosts, explore folklore and the paranormal as they dig into the history of sleep paralysis through the ages.   Discover how these “waking hallucinations” have taken the form of witches, demons, vampires, fairies, ghost children and more (as well as which new theme only appeared after the space race)! Nightmares such as these have been connected (usually erroneously) to all sorts of things in the waking hours, from the Salem witch trials to UFOs and alien abductions! It all depends upon which dream interpretation (or doctor!) you choose! But, if you see in your life the expected result after such an encounter in your waking dreams, would it be a case of causation or correlation?   When people from all parts of the world from all across time have similar experiences but see or interpret it differently depending upon their cultural background and time in history, could it be that it’s all the same thing? If you’re religious you’re likely to experience demons or possession. If you like horror movies, sci-fi or conspiracy theories it might be aliens or monsters. And, those with exposure to fantasy or fairy folklore may see goblins or similar fanciful creatures. Depending upon the dream, it wouldn’t be at all uncommon to even have an erotic angle (though we’re not sure if that is more or less traumatic if you’re dreaming of aliens, demons or monsters). Hopefully, you would take to it like Tina Belcher from Bob’s Burgers and her dreams of zombies.   Gastric distress, raccoon scrotums, and house spirits, this episode has it all! Whether you’re interested in things that go bump in the night or how cultural influences can impact your dreams, you’ll find it in this brand new Horrific History Podcast episode! And if this edition inspires a dream, we hope you’ll tell us about it!   So sit back and enjoy a nice relaxing beverage while listening to this new Horrific History episode before bed! Come back next week when we get back to our usual schedule and talk about children who kill!   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: * Sleep Paralysis Project * H2G2 * University of Pittsburg * Linguistic Subtleties * Columbia Journalism Review * Thinkmap Vis...

Listen to our co-hosts describe how they bit off more than they could chew (but thankfully they avoided wolfsbane from our Toxic Plants episode)! As volunteers for the Horrific History Podcast, we suppose we can give them a little leeway. They are, after all, doing a lot of work at the moment for our non-profit’s other programs like Haunting Ellensburg and Knights of Veritas, in addition to maintaining their day jobs! You’ll be able to learn more about them and all that they do in the upcoming behind the scenes Patreon-exclusive episode scheduled to be released at the end of this month. Come back next week for our sleep paralysis episode and then we’ll go back to our usual publishing schedule and release the regularly scheduled episode the following week! Meanwhile, listen to Eric Slyter and Curtis Bender give you a special preview of what you can look forward to in our next episode… just remember, no squeam allowed! If you’d like to hear the upcoming Patreon-exclusive episode and receive other great perks, become a patron of our podcast on Patreon! Become a Patron!   Blog post photo credit: col_adamson Brokenness via photopin (license) Slideshow photo credit: macabrephotographer Parts via photopin (license)

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 a plant family found all across the Northern Hemisphere, also has a long history that pre-dates the Scythians! Learn which Pope approved medical experimentation on prisoners to see if it might be used as a cure for plague or as an antidote for other poisons. The reward for the prisoners if they survive? Life working in a galley. Hear some of the cases in history when it has been used to kill, as well as accounts from some survivors who describe the long term after-effects as torture.   Witches‘ flying ointments, cultural revolutions, murder, assassinations and unsolved cases, this episode might just be the beginning of “Poisons-R-Us.” Whether you are interested in the Curry Killer, homeopathic “cures” for syphilis, or the glorious lives of European honey bees (and Eric’s attempt to bring in salamanders with wings) you’ll get all the delectable details we could fit into this episode… just remember, no squeam allowed!   So sit back and enjoy a nice curry dinner with your loved ones, or maybe some congealed bee vomit on a biscuit, while listening to this new Horrific History episode! Come back in two weeks when we talk about sleep paralysis, incubus, succubus and… alien abduction?   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! And if you’d like to own a copy of the movies that made Eric geek-out in this episode, find Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas ...

Profits Before People: Assassinations, Disasters & Child Labor What are the worst job conditions you have ever experienced or known about? What were your biggest concerns? Join Horrific History co-hosts, Eric Slyter and Curtis Bender, as they scratch the surface on the long struggle for workers’ rights in human history when the profit margins of the rich and powerful have hung in the balance. From Venice to pre-Soviet Russia, Europe to the United States, the guys cover a lot of space and time in this episode while discussing some of the precursors to different labor movements and our modern Labor Day.   Learn about the Italian glass industry monopoly so coveted that the purchase of their work could have bankrupted a country. Its success, in large part due to its workers’ isolation in a “gilded cage” on the island of Moreno, allowed some to “marry up” while others feared a private police force which could carry out assassinations of themselves and their loved ones with impunity. While many trade secrets and stones or minerals played a part in its history, it would be too much to hope that the Bologna stone would be a part of this deadly tale colored by King Louis of France, the Sun King.   Industrial and agricultural revolutions, urbanization and immigrant workers taking low-paying jobs with poor working conditions (contemporary to the building of the Brooklyn Bridge which we covered in an earlier episode), it all plays a part in setting the stage for later strikes, unions and organized labor movements. You’ll even hear about the Pemberton Mill collapse which had new textile cotton workers later seeing apparitions. Discover the truly horrifying conditions, worker mistreatment and wealth inequality which led people to organize despite police and military actions against them. You’ll also learn about some of the awful conditions and gruesome bloody (accidental) deaths which led to the development of some child labor laws!   Assassinations, tenement laws and incendiary devices, this episode has it all. Whether you are interested in wars, the emancipation of serfdom, sham political parties or the Great Depression, you’ll get all the horrible details we could fit into this episode… just remember, no squeam allowed!   So sit back and enjoy the benefits of a few government (and building!) regulations after a long day at work while listening to this new Horrific History episode! Come back next time when we talk about the plants that can kill you.   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! If you are interested in How the Other Half Lives: A Jacob Riis Classic (Including Photography), the work mentioned by Eric during this episode, you can find it on Amazon.

Harbingers of Doom: Celestial Events and Superstitions   What kind of superstitions or myths do you think of when you look up at the stars? Every culture has them; there have been stories developed all over the world to explain star constellations or natural phenomena like solar and lunar eclipses, comets, meteors and more. When the sun provides warmth to help the crops grow and night skies are used to measure the passage of time, it’s not surprising that any unexpected or unusual phenomenon is assigned meaning when the science isn’t sophisticated enough to distinguish between causation and correlation. Horrific History co-hosts, Eric Slyter and Curtis Bender, explore beliefs related to celestial events from across the globe.  Hindu serpent demons, China’s dragons (or dogs) and modern conspiracy theorists watching for alien spaceships, we have a lot of “bad omens” for your enjoyment.   Lunacy and humours, werewolves and witches, this episode brings you from past paranormal superstition to modern “remote viewing” and “Flat Earth Theory” pseudoscience! From the “Tears of St. Lawrence” to angels being cast from heaven, we’ve also included many spiritual explanations for the natural workings of the heavens; we even have some signs from the aboriginal afterlife! Hear about doomsday cults, castrations, suicides and plagues all associated with cosmic events and the illusory correlations humans have assigned to them (sometimes, like with the Battle of Hastings, even after the event has long passed)! Of course, this episode wouldn’t be complete without the tale of the woman who survived being hit by a meteorite! Just remember, no squeam allowed.   So put on your eclipse glasses and pull out your Aztec sun stone to keep time as you listen to this Horrific History Podcast episode through one of your favorite podcast services (iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn and more); we’ll provide you with your own little collection of cosmic harbingers of doom to keep you entertained while you look out into space, the final squeam-teir. Come back again in two weeks to hear our Labor Day and horrible in history episode.   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: * Inside Mexico * Delle Rae Maxwell * The Living Moon *

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 brown elixirs, this episode just might make you gag. Hear about the US-Israeli organ trafficking broker who was taken down over money laundering and how some people still consider his services a mitzvah (good deed). Death threats, hormone treatments, and penal hard labor, this episode has it all. Just remember, no squeam allowed.   So sit down with a cool squeezed beverage as you listen to this Horrific History Podcast episode through one of your favorite podcast services (iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn and more). Come back again in two weeks to hear our astronomical horrors episode just in time for the upcoming solar eclipse!   If you’d like to hear the commercial-free version of this episode and receive other great perks (like hearing the UFO alien abduction section we had to cut from this episode due to time constraints), become a patron of our podcast on Patreon! Become a Patron!   If you are in the USA and interested in learning more about (legal) organ donation, please go here.   If you are interested in the movie Curtis saw about the Admiral of the Kansas Navy, you can find Nuts! on Amazon here:   Some of our favorite resources from this week’s episode: * New York Times * Newsweek, 2 * ABC News

Leaving You in Stitches, Part 1 What do you think of when you hear the phrase “tissue theft?” Do you think of evil elves on a clandestine caper to acquire tissue paper for wrapping presents? Perhaps you think of someone with a horrible cold stealing your last box of tissue. After this episode, you’ll think of more gruesome things… Horrific History co-hosts Eric Slyter and Curtis Bender examine examples from history when people have had parts of their body lost, removed or stolen- sometimes even without their awareness or consent! Documented true-life cases and psychological maladies, fables and witch hunts, curses and hexes, this episode will have you looking for certain body parts in the trees.   Severed penises held captive (and put on a strict diet), radium tube inserts, immortal cells that could encircle the Earth three times over, marital difficulties blamed on  organ-stealing sorcerers, this episode has a load of squeam for you! Our research included Europe, Africa, United States, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Iran, Moldova, Israel and China. Hear about the cases and circumstances that led to new developments in medical innovations, ethical reforms, and agreements like the Declaration of Istanbul. Transplant tourism and organ brokers, donors who will sell body parts for the price of a car or even just a new pair of dentures, you’ll hear it all… Just remember: no squeam allowed!   So sit down under a nice tall tree while you listen to this Horrific History Podcast episode through one of your favorite podcast services (iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn and more) and come back again next week to hear Part 2 of Leaving You In Stitches!   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!   If you are in the USA and interested in learning more about (legal) organ donation, please go here.   Would you like to learn more about Henrietta Lacks? Check out this book on Amazon: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Or, if you are interested in the HBO movie, you can find The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks (Digital HD) here: Some of our favorite resources from this week’s episode:

Wait for it… Wait for it! Our co-hosts thought our latest topic of research, human tissue theft, would be a fast and easy topic. But by the day of recording they discovered a lot more horrifying, bloody and even some hilarious information from the 13th century to modern day history than they could fit into our standard-length episode. Rather than fast forward through the interesting details and bodily fluids they’ve decided to take a little extra time to deliver all the sticky facts through a two-part episode. Come back next week for Part 1 of Leaving You in Stitches, and then we’ll be back to our regular publishing schedule and release Part 2 the following week! Meanwhile, listen to Eric Slyter and Curtis Bender give you a special preview of what you can look forward to in our next episode… just remember, no squeam allowed!   Slideshow photo credit: Ari Sanjaya Old fashioned clock and broken via Dreamstime (license) Post photo credit: shaggy359 Time for prizes via photopin (license)