history

A collection of 59 posts

Episodes

Fortune Telling Teacups

A look at the fortune telling teacups, which were popular in the early 20th century, and were adorned with symbols meant to aid in interpreting tea leaves. Highlights include: • The different varieties of fortune telling teacups • An attempt at a tea leaf reading Episode Script for Fortune Telling Teacups DISCLAIMER:

Episodes

The Caladrius (Weird Medieval Creatures)

A look at the caladrius, a fancy legendary bird that could supposedly diagnose and heal illnesses. Plus weird info about medieval bestiaries, and more. Highlights include: • A weird supposed cure for blindness • A visit to the Cloisters • A video game that makes you feel like a wizard • A bit of

Episodes

Weird Medieval Creatures

A look at some weird medieval creatures from legend and lore. Plus some stories about some recent cemetery visits in Queens, New York, including Houdini’s grave. Highlights include: • An ancient, impenetrable European forest • A magical glowing bird • A dragon with a rooster’s head Episode Script for Weird Medieval

Episodes

Moore-Jackson Cemetery (Hidden Cemeteries)

The Moore-Jackson Cemetery, a colonial-era cemetery sits in a quiet residential part of Woodside, Queens, in New York City. Forgotten for years, and even used as a dump for construction materials and other detritus, the Moore-Jackson Cemetery recently been transformed into a beautiful community garden. Here’s the story behind

Episodes

Riker Home and Cemetery: Part 2 (Hidden Cemeteries)

A look at the remarkable Riker Home and Cemetery, or the Lent-Riker-Smith Homestead and Cemetery, which one woman’s dream and grit turned into a beautiful site with a secret garden. Highlights include: • A unique second date • A collection of vintage ventriloquist dummies • Fun historic home renovation details Note: There’

Episodes

Lawrence Family Cemetery, Astoria, Queens

A look at Lawrence Family Cemetery in Astoria, NY, a small family cemetery dating from the 1600s, tucked into a residential neighborhood in New York City. The Lawrences were an old family from Queens, New York, arriving in the area in the 1600s and buying land all over. Despite the

Episodes

Tombstones Around Socrates Sculpture Park in Astoria, Queens

Why are there tombstones around Socrates Sculpture Park? A look at a riverside New York City park surrounded by a wall of tombstones. It seems that very few people have asked this question, at least on the internet, and there are no obvious answers. There is, however, a fascinating history

Episodes

Hidden Cemeteries in Astoria, Queens

Two tiny, forgotten cemeteries sit near each other in old Astoria: one was a burying ground for the wealthy families who ran the town, and the other was for Irish immigrants who fled the famine. Here’s a look at the history behind the graveyards, as well as a puzzling

Episodes

The New York Crystal Palace Destroyed (Part 2)

It only took 15 minutes for the New York Crystal Palace, a beautiful building made of iron and glass, to be destroyed. Financially insolvent and falling apart, the building had seen better days. New management attempted to save the beautiful edifice, but its ruin was too far gone. What had

Episodes

The New York Crystal Palace (Part 1)

The New York Crystal Palace: A look at New York City’s ill-fated Crystal Palace, a beautiful structure built on an abandoned cemetery on the outskirts of town. In the mid-19th century, a castle of glass stood in the wilds of what is now a bustling part of New York

Episodes

The Haunted Hell Gate, New York City

Paranormal stories about New York City’s Hell Gate abound, from stories about a serial killer living inside the Hell Gate Bridge, to a tale of an encounter with the devil and a possible EVP that Chris just found in a recording from April. Many of the stories of the

Episodes

The General Slocum Disaster, Hell Gate, New York City

The General Slocum Disaster: On a summer afternoon in 1904, the General Slocum, a supposedly unsinkable ship carrying about 1,300 people bound for a picnic, caught fire and sank in New York City’s notorious Hell Gate. The General Slocum disaster was the second-worst maritime disaster in US history

Episodes

Sunken Treasure at Hell Gate, New York City

Sunken Treasure at Hell Gate, New York City: Legend has it that beneath the East River lies millions of dollars in gold. In 1780, during the Revolutionary War, a British frigate called the HMS Hussar struck a reef and sank to the bottom of the East River. Many people believe

Episodes

The Roosevelt Island Lighthouse, or The Blackwell Island Light, NYC

A look at the mysterious Gothic lighthouse that stands at the tip of New York City’s Roosevelt Island. Did a lunatic named Thomas Maxey build the lighthouse? If so, why did a now-missing stone say that an unknown person named John McCarthy built it? Or was it designed by

Episodes

A Victorian Lunatic's Fort: Fort Maxey, Blackwell's Island, NYC

In the mid-19th century, Thomas Maxey, a patient at the New York Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island, built Fort Maxey, a strange structure complete with cannons, a garden of tall flowers, and mysterious carvings. The infamous New York Lunatic Asylum has its share of chilling stories. But one odd,

Episodes

The Haunted Luxor Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas: Part 1

The Luxor Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas is one of the most iconic hotels on the strip—and supposedly one of the most haunted. Back in the 1990s, there were grand plans to make Vegas a new Disney-type destination, full of ornate themed resorts and fun activities for children.

Episodes

The Book of Thoth and the First Egyptologist

A look at the legendary Book of Thoth and the historical figure who inspired Ancient Egypt’s most famous fictional sorcerer and is considered the first Egyptologist. Setne Khamwas, aka Prince Khaemweset, was the son of Ramesses the Great, as well as a high priest of Ptah, and a historian

Episodes

Se-Osiris, Ancient Egyptian Wizard

A look at the magic-filled legends of Se-Osiris, Ancient Egyptian Wizard, who, as a pre-teen, traveled to the underworld and later dueled with a reincarnated sorcerer. Setne II, an Ancient Egyptian story that’s survived on papyrus, tells the tale of a Dante’s inferno-like descent into the underworld, and

Episodes

Ancient Egyptian Tomb Raider and Wizard Setne

A look at the magic-filled legends of Ancient Egyptian tomb raider and wizard Prince Setne, a character based on the son of Ramesses II, who goes on a tomb-raiding journey to acquire a magical book. And it’s the prequel to the stories about his 12-year-old boy wizard son, Se-Osiris.

Episodes

Archbishop John Hughes, aka Dagger John: Calvary Cemetery, Queens, New York (Part 2)

Archbishop John Hughes, aka Dagger John, New York City’s most influential and vicious clergyman, had a huge impact, whether he was consecrating Calvary Cemetery and Fordham University, or peppering the mayor with threats to burn down the city. ” Are you afraid,” asked the mayor, “that some of your churches

Episodes

Calvary Cemetery, Queens, New York (Part 1)

More people are buried at Calvary Cemetery, in Queens, New York, than in any other cemetery in the United States.  “Calvary Cemetery is by far the most important burial ground in the vicinity of New York, and, in fact, in the United States in point of interments, extent, and the

Episodes

The Haunted Grove Park Inn, Asheville, North Carolina

A look at the strange history of the haunted Grove Park Inn, and the famous people (and ghost) who’ve stayed there. Built by a quinine medicine mogul based on plans drawn up by his son-in-law (who was not an architect), the Grove Park Inn is has hosted many famous

Episodes

Thomas Edison's Spirit Telegraph

A look at Thomas Edison’s Spirit Telegraph, an apparatus to contact the spirit world that he claimed to be working on, but which never surfaced. In 1920, famed inventor Thomas Edison gave a series of interviews bragging about a device he was testing, a spirit telegraph, which spiritualists could

Episodes

Quinta da Regaleira Symbolism: The Occult Mysteries of a Portuguese Palace and Garden

Quinta da Regaleira Symbolism: A deep dive into the mysteries and history of a strange palace and garden built by an eccentric millionaire in Sintra, Portugal. Sometimes described as a playground for adults, Quinta da Regaleira is a mysterious estate built by a millionaire entomologist in the early 20th century,

Episodes

Kill Daddy: The Turley Ouija Board Murder (Ouija Boards Part 9)

The Turley Ouija Board Murder: In 1933, a girl shot her father on the orders of a Ouija board. Or was it her former-beauty-queen mother who encouraged the violence? When playing with a Ouija board with her mother, 14-year-old Mattie Turley receives the message that she must kill her father