The Cock Lane haunting is one of the best known British ghost stories and one of the best known British hoaxes. In this episode, Matt discusses the events that took place at 20 Cock Lane in the 1760s, how they related to the religious, political, and social currents of the time, and how we might think about them today.
Tag Archives: British History
99. The (Screaming) Bettiscombe Skull
The story of the Screaming Skull of Bettiscombe Manor is one of the better-known British ghost stories and is part of a larger motif in British supernatural folklore. The Bettiscombe Manor story involves slavery, ignoring the wishes of the dead, and the price paid for these transgressions. There is less reality to the story than even a skeptic might think, but quite a lot is going on in the folklore. In this episode, Matt talks about why, if you find a human skull in your house, you might just want to leave it be.
74. The Dig
In this episode, Kaylia is joined by real-life archeologist Matthew to discuss this real-life event that was heavily changed to be a novel that was then heavily changed to be a movie. Join us for a discussion of archeology, history, badly inserted queer plotlines, and what Kaylia deems as an unforgivable literary sin.
45: The Crying Boy – A Cursed Painting
If you have spent much time on the web looking into paranormal lore, you likely have heard of the Curse of the Crying Boy Painting. In this episode, Matt discusses how the story developed and what we can learn about both folklore and our own beliefs from studying the tale.
24. Haunted Artifacts at the British Museum
There are many creepy stories associated with the British Museum, but in this episode, Matt focuses on two – one involving a fake artifact and the other involving a rather weird interpretation of a real artifact with a heaping helping of 19th century colonialist exoticism. Both are interesting in what they tell us about the people who first began circulating the stories.
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