Category: Weird History

13 June 2022

‘Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?’: Espionage, Witchcraft, and other Theories

On 18 April 1943 four boys made a grisly discovery in Hagley Wood in Worcestershire, England on a stretch of private residential property. While bird-nesting in the area, they came upon a large wych elm tree and one of the boys, Bob Farmer, climbed in the hopes of finding a bird nest. Instead, Farmer discovered a human skull complete with...

Categories Weird History

12 April 2022

Sacred Earth: The Neolithic Longstone on the Isle of Wight

Tucked near the village of Mottistone on England’s Isle of Wight is the Longstone, the remains of a 6000 year old communal long barrow from the Neolithic Period. The site sits at the foot of a large hill who’s peak features south views of the English Channel’s endless blue. A sense of peace is present when standing next to the...

Categories Weird History

26 March 2022

The Georgia Guidestones: Secret Societies, Ted Turner, and the Antichrist

Update: As of 6 July 2022 the Georgia Guidestones have been destroyed following a bombing by persons unknown. Known as an “American Stonehenge”, the Georgia Guidestones were mysteriously commissioned in June 1979 by a man under the pseudonym R. C. Christian and “a small group of loyal Americans”. According to Christian, the anonymous group spent the previous 20 years developing...

Categories Offbeat Travel/Weird History

23 February 2022

“What Drew Her Into Oblivion?”: The Disappearance of Silent Film Actress Marie Empress

Mary Ann Louisa Taylor, known by her stage name Marie Empress, was born on 26 March 1884 in Birmingham, England. Marie had a busy career as an actress, singer, dancer, and successful male impersonator, and garnered a reputation as a comedienne in Britain. She specialised in playing femme fatale, or vamp characters which led to confusion about her real persona...

Categories Weird History

8 February 2022

No, John Dee Didn’t Actually Translate the Necronomicon

Polarising American author HP Lovecraft (1890-1937) wrote some deeply unsavoury things during his lifetime. But his contributions to the realm of speculative fiction are so immense that it’s impossible to ignore his continued influence on the genres of fantasy, horror, and science fiction.

Categories Weird History

28 January 2022

‘Castle Sinister’: The Terrible 1932 British Horror Film Lost in Time

Castle Sinister, released in 1932, was a 50 minute (4410 foot long) black and white British horror film produced by Delta Pictures that’s now classified as ‘lost media’. The film is so obscure that there is no remaining footage, stills, teasers, or posters and most of the actors don’t have any photos available online. It’s unfortunately common for early films...

Categories Weird History

17 January 2022

‘Ghostwatch’: When the BBC Terrified the Nation with a (Fake) Haunted House Documentary

On Halloween night in 1992, the BBC aired what would become one of the most controversial programmes in the broadcaster’s history. Ghostwatch, presented as a live broadcast, followed the Early family and the horrors they experienced living in what was pitched as one of the most haunted houses in the country. And luckily for the BBC an array of paranormal...

Categories Weird History

29 December 2021

The Wacky World of Victorian Christmas Cards

In 1843, English inventor Sir Henry Cole created the first commercially produced Christmas card. It was tame and festive, showing a family gathered around for Christmas dinner above an inscription wishing the recipient a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. By the 1870s Christmas cards were being sent by nearly everyone thanks to the emergence of the affordable halfpenny stamp...

Categories Weird History

20 November 2021

The Mysterious Dog Suicides on Overtoun Bridge, West Dunbartonshire

Overtoun Bridge, located in Scotland’s West Dunbartonshire, has a peculiar and frightening reputation: since the 1950s the bridge has allegedly been plagued by an ongoing trend of canine ‘suicides’. Reports of the number of dogs that have jumped or fallen over the edge of Overtoun Bridge could be as high as 300. In at least 50 cases, the dogs have...

Categories Paranormal Encounters/Weird History

11 November 2021

‘Anthrax Island’: Britain’s Secret WWII Testing Ground for Biological Warfare

Scotland’s Gruinard Island, better known as ‘Anthrax Island’, is a frightening example of the catastrophic repercussions of biological warfare. From 1942 to 1943, the British tested the affects of anthrax on the small, unassuming island off the coast of Gruinard Bay… and paid the price for the next 48 years. What is Anthrax? Classified as an infectious disease, anthrax has...

Categories Weird History