Welcome to the crypt!

History Episodes

Truth is stranger than fiction.
Feb. 24, 2022

Ep. 73: Ghost Ships, Pt. 1

In this first of two nautical episodes, Sean introduces us to three of history’s eeriest ghost ships. First, the Flying Dutchman sets the stage (and sails) for all ghost ships to come. Then, the passengers and crew of the Mary …

Episode page
Feb. 17, 2022

Ep. 72: The Day the Music Died

"A long, long time ago, I can still remember..." February 3rd, 1959. Three of the brightest stars in the rock 'n roll galaxy - Buddy Holly, the bespectacled frontman of the Crickets; Ritchie Valens, the first crossover Latino artist in …

Episode page
Jan. 20, 2022

Ep. 68: The Strange Death of Edgar Allan Poe

In October 1849, now-legendary horror and suspense writer Edgar Allan Poe was found in a tavern in Baltimore, delirious, with clothes that didn't appear to be his and no concrete answer for where he'd been since he left Richmond, Virginia …

Episode page
Dec. 30, 2021

Ep. 65: Santa Claus - Dark Origins

We're back from the sick bay and rounding out the holiday season with some Yule-tide cheer this week! Sean takes us through the folklore and traditions that inspired our modern-day American Santa Claus, from pagan ritual sacrifices to jolly old …

Episode page
Dec. 16, 2021

Ep. 64: Deaths on Everest

The weather outside is frightful...but not as frightful as the weather on Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world and highest point on Earth! In honor of the chilly season we're taking a dangerous journey to explore the most …

Episode page
Dec. 9, 2021

Ep. 63: Mercy Brown & the New England Vampire Panic

In 1892, 19-year-old Mercy Brown's corpse was exhumed and her vital organs were ritually burned by Exeter, Rhode Island townsfolk convinced the recent consumption victim was a vampire, feasting on her surviving younger brother's life force from the...

Episode page
Nov. 4, 2021

Ep. 58: The Salem Witch Trials, Pt. 3 - The Executions

Here we are at the long-awaited final episode in our Salem Witch Trials series. What is there to say aside from that on this episode we examine the worst miscarriages of justice in the whole hysteria: the 20 innocent people …

Episode page
Oct. 21, 2021

Ep. 57: The Salem Witch Trials, Pt. 2 - The Accused

In this 2nd part of what's become a 3-part series, we dive deeper into the tragic events of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials and how the hysteria began to rapidly spread across Salem and beyond - now in the guise …

Episode page
Oct. 14, 2021

Ep. 56: The Salem Witch Trials, Pt. 1 - The Accusers

We've finally come to our long promised two-parter on one of Carrie's pet interests, the Salem Witch Trials! In 1692 Salem, Massachusetts, tensions were already high. The Puritan colonists were struggling through the "Little Ice Age" devastating their...

Episode page
Sept. 23, 2021

Ep. 53: Jamestown Cannibalism - America's First Horror

Jamestown, Virginia was the first successful English settlement in North America (for the first UNsuccessful one, go check out our episode on Roanoke) - but it came close to failing completely many, many times. The worst of these failures being …

Episode page
Aug. 26, 2021

Ep. 49: Henry VIII - Portrait of a Serial Killer

King Henry VIII. Beheader of wives. Noted fat guy. Lover of turkey legs. Henry the 8th has become a punch line, known for his break with the Roman Catholic Church over his obsession with Anne Boleyn and gradual decay into …

Episode page
July 1, 2021

Ep. 42: Hysterias!

Throughout the many years humans have been on this Earth, we've always been prone to one problem (among many): mass hysterias. Mass hysterias are sociological and psychological phenomena that transmit collective illusions of threats (whether real or...

Episode page
May 6, 2021

Ep. 34: The Lost Cosmonauts

Turin, Italy. 1960. Two enterprising young brothers have rigged up their own radio equipment to listen in on the Soviet Russian unmanned rocket launches during the Cold War Space Race. But they pick up something they never expected...something the...

Episode page
April 1, 2021

Ep. 29: Renaissance Poisons & Hygienic Horrors

The Renaissance was a time of enlightenment, opulence, and all-around cultural rebirth. However, that’s not all it was. It was also a time of poisonous murders, toxic cosmetics, and hygienic horrors bad enough to make your hair stand on end…or …

Episode page
March 4, 2021

Ep. 25: The Kennedy Curse & the Chappaquiddick Incident

Is it possible for a whole family to be cursed? Some people think so. In fact, there's one particular family in United States history many have asserted IS the victim of a curse - the Kennedys. From political assassinations to …

Episode page