294 – Incorruptibles

A look at the “incorruptible” corpses of Catholic saints and a discussion of how they got this way – with Elizabeth Harper. Wilhelmina Lancaster (new incorrupt corpse) Joyce Caroll Cruz book on incorruptible saints (affiliate link) The Mummy Congress by Heather Pringle (affiliate link) Essay mentioned The Violent Madonnasby Elizabeth Harper The Order of the Good Death 

266 – Fisher’s Ghost (Part 2)

We continue our look at the Australian legend of Fisher’s Ghost, and how the community has responded to the story over the next two centuries. Official legend of Fisher’s Ghost – from Campbelltown Government Site, Australia Indigenous Trackers (Australia) (Wikipedia) Ghost Riots (British Newspaper Archive) The Greenbrier Ghost (wiki) The Red Barn Murder (wiki) Indigenous Trackers in Australia Additional: Karen’s […]

262 – Tarot (Part 1)

MonsterTalk begins its second season and its weekly release schedule with a look at the surprisingly mundane origin of the Tarot deck and how the practice of divination emerged in the late 1700s steeped in pseudo-antiquity.

259 – The Battle Over America’s Origin Story

We know Columbus didn’t “discover” America, yet there are so many competing narratives that seek to topple Columbus yet still not acknowledge the clear and obvious indigenous people who were already here when all of these explorers allegedly arrived. Regal’s latest book looks at a broad swath of these fringe historian theories and gives them context in the bigger picture of people’s search for national identity in the the United States. 

235 – Hungarian Ghoulish: The Elizabeth Bathory Mystery

Was Elizabeth Bathory the most vicious serial killer of all time? We’re joined by historian Kayla of Historical AF to talk about the facts behind the brutal legend of the blood countess.  [EXPLICIT WARNING] Links to stuff mentioned (or relevant to) this episode: The Historical AF podcast by Kyna Celtic chieftain sometimes credited with inspiring Dracula – Abhartach Books about […]

229 – Watertown 2: Eclectic Boo-Galoo

It’s been nearly a century since the uncropped photo of the alleged Watertown Ghosts was seen by the public. In that time a tiny cropped version of the original has become an iconic member of the “greatest ghost photos of all time” club.  Blake’s research which was published in 2010 showed that the photo was manipulated, but he never forgot […]