The life of Joseph Merrick, the man they dared to call "The Elephant Man", will fill you with pain and anger. He was treated so cruelly by society that he found becoming a freak show exhibit preferably to the life available to him elsewhere. Yet alongside darkness there is light and love in his story, and a sense of his own indomitable spirit throughout it all.

Visit https://www.changingfaces.org.uk/ to learn more about living with visible difference today.

Written by Anthony Delaney. Edited by Tomos Delargy. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

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

(2/2) We find out what life inside the Foundling Hospital was like as we complete the heartbreaking and heartwarming history of London's first orphanage. We discover a building that contained so many stories, so much of London's life in all its rich complexity.

Maddy tells Anthony the story this week.

Mixed and produced by Freddy Chick. Senior producer is Charlotte Long.

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All music from Epidemic Sounds/All3 Media

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

Today Anthony and Maddy look into the heartbreaking history of the Foundling Hospital, now London’s saddest museum. 

Starting in the 18th century, hear the story of Thomas Coram, the hospital's founder, and the tragic circumstances that led to the establishment of this institution. 

From the brutal streets of Georgian London, to the moments desperate mothers tried to admit their children; the history of the Foundling Hospital will stay with you for a long time.

Thanks to: Coram and the Foundling Hospital.

This episode was mixed by Tomos Delargy, and produced by Freddy Chick. The senior producer is Charlotte Long.

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All music from Epidemic Sounds/All3 Media

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

Can we see beyond the veil, glimpse the future before it arrives? John Barker, a psychiatrist with a fascination for the unexplained, thought maybe we could. In 1966, he created a bureau for people who claimed to foresee disaster.

Maddy and Anthony are joined by Sam Knight, writer for the New Yorker and author of the book tells this incredible history: The Premonitions Bureau.

Edited by Tomos Delargy and Freddy Chick. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

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

(Part 2/2) Anthony returns to his hometown of Kilkenny to conclude the tale of the first person to be executed for witchcraft in Ireland. Set 700 years ago in 1324, this is the story of a successful business woman called Alice Kyteler, her servant Petronilla de Meath, and a Bishop hell bent on their destruction.

Anthony Delaney tells Maddy Pelling the story.

Edited by Tomos Delargy. Produced by Freddy Chick and Charlotte Long.

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

Ghost hunting couple Ed and Lorraine Warren transformed twentieth century America into an enchanted land dotted with haunted houses, cursed objects, and portals to hell. Their exploits are the basis for the Conjuring movie franchise. They are the originators of the Annabelle doll. They are the most famous demon hunters ever. Who were the Warrens? Did they make it up? Or did they believe it all?

Maddy and Anthony's guest today is Professor Joseph Laycock from Texas State University. He was our guest last week on our episode about the Amityville Horror. Joseph is the author of: The Penguin Book of Exorcisms and co-author of The Exorcist Effect: Horror, Religion, and Demonic Belief.

Edited & produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

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

(Part 1/2) 700 years ago, in 1324, the first person to be executed for witchcraft in Ireland died in Kilkenny. This is the story of a successful business woman called Alice Kyteler, her servant Petronilla de Meath, and a Bishop hell bent on their destruction.

Anthony takes Maddy back to his hometown of Kilkenny to tell the tale.

Edited by Tomos Delargy. Produced by Freddy Chick and Charlotte Long.

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

112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville (Long Island) is arguably the most haunted house in America. Inside its walls demonic forces were, allegedly, unleashed. It's a story that is a troubling mixture of real murders and deliberate myth-making. It's also a story that owes a lot to a movie that shaped America in the 1970s in profound ways...The Exorcist.

Anthony and Maddy's guest to explore this incredible piece of paranormal history is Professor Joseph Laycock, associate professor of Religious Studies at Texas State University. He's the author of The Exorcist Effect: Horror, Religion, and Demonic Belief and The Penguin Book of Exorcisms.

Edited by Freddy Chick and Tomos Delargy. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

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

(Part 2/2) They could've run, but they stayed. In 1665 plague arrived in the idyllic English village of Eyam. What followed was a story of suffering and self-sacrifice.

Maddy tells Anthony the story. Today's episode takes you to the heart of the plague village and its deadly lockdown. Why did they do it?

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

The Deep South is a haunted landscape where dark tourism thrives, supplying spine-tingling thrills to eager visitors. But is there a darker truth behind these tales? Maddy and Anthony's guest today is Tiya Miles, author of Tales from the Haunted South. Tiya reveals how ghost tours exploit and distort the true history of slavery for profit, feeding troubling narratives.

Tiya Miles is the Michael Garvey Professor of History and Radcliffe Alumnae Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. Her latest book is Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People (Penguin 2024).

Edited by Freddy Chick. Produced by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

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

(Part 1/2) They could've run, but they stayed. In 1665 plague arrived in the idyllic English village of Eyam. What followed was a story of suffering and self-sacrifice.

Maddy tells Anthony the story. Today we set the scene with the outbreak of the plague in London and how the pestilence arrived, via a bolt of cloth, in the village of Eyam.

With special guest Rebecca Rideal, author of "1666: Plague, War and Hellfire".

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