The Lost Valley Podcast artwork

The Lost Valley Podcast

186 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 months ago - ★★★★★ - 23 ratings

An Irish podcast about 'Lost Worlds' in lore and literature

Social Sciences Science
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Episodes

Early Modern Witchcraft Belief (with Imogen Knox)

April 24, 2021 08:40 - 1 hour - 56.2 MB

Cian is joined by Imogen Knox for a chat about witchcraft belief during the early modern period. Subjects covered: -stereotypes about medieval vs early modern witch trials -witch hunts as a 'top down' or 'bottom-up/ phenomenon? -vomiting of pins, apports, and other witch-related phenomena -the role of authorities in witch hunts -Matthew Hopkins, the Witchfinder General -witch-hunting before/after the Reformation -a case from Co Antrim and an earlier case it may be patterned after -th...

BONUS EPISODE: The Origins Of Kong

April 17, 2021 09:24 - 48 minutes - 66.7 MB

This is a find from the vault - an old patreon episode that's an addendum to our COLONIALISM AND KONG episode, which you can find below. Loads more info about Willis O'Brien and the 1933 King Kong, the history behind the 'lost world' genre and 'jungle' pictures, my own background with stop-motion animation, O'Brien's lost projects, plus the bizarre expanded ecology of Skull Island in Peter Jackson's 2005 version. ORIGINAL KONG EPISODE https://anchor.fm/cian-gill/episodes/Colonialism-And-Ko...

Irish Burial Customs and 'Teig O'Kane and the Corpse' (with Dr Aoife Bhreatnach)

April 10, 2021 08:50 - 1 hour - 57.7 MB

'I FOUND it hard to place Mr. Douglas Hyde's magnificent story. Among the ghosts or the fairies? It is among the fairies on the grounds that all these ghosts and bodies were in no manner ghosts and bodies, but pishogues--fairy spells. One often hears of these visions of Ireland.' Taking, of all things, the Hellboy story 'The Corpse' as a starting point, Cian is joined by Dr Aoife Bhreatnach from the Censored Podcast to talk about Irish burial customs, the stories of Douglas Hyde, changeling...

Creatures Out Of Time: Those Who Hunt The Skunk Ape

March 27, 2021 08:38 - 41 minutes - 38.8 MB

From what might become a semi-regular miniseries focusing on the monster-hunters of cryptozoology, this episode is about a man who had a sighting of the Florida 'skunk ape,' a regional type of Bigfoot, and it changed his life. Obsessed with the creature, he spent every day for six months sitting in his stand in the swamp until he captured photographs - and eventually footage - of the creature. What kind of man does it take to hunt the skunk ape? We find out. A portrait of the renegade, outsi...

The Digital Campfire: Looking Back At Creepypasta (with Chris Joyce)

March 14, 2021 08:48 - 1 hour - 70.3 MB

Cian and Chris host a campfire chat to remember the heyday of creepypasta: bad grammar, juvenile topics - and yet occasionally incredibly effective bite-size (ok, sometimes epic) slices of crowd-sourced digital horror. Creepypasta ruled the roost in the early days of Web 2.0, back when folks wondered whether Ted really was a caver, whether N64 cartridges really could be haunted, and why you should stay away from cabins in the woods (present company excluded, of course). Conversation includes...

Return to Yowie Country: The Australian Apeman Again

February 27, 2021 09:42 - 1 hour - 57.3 MB

Cian returns to the subject of the Australian 'yowie' with more detail, more opinions, and possibly more conclusions, giving an in-depth take on the most thorough piece of literature on the subject, the 2006 book The Yowie: In Search Of Australia's Bigfoot by Healy & Cropper. Subjects include: -aboriginal and pre-colonial tales of the 'yahoo' -links to contemporary US bigfoot culture -Yowie or yahoo? What's in a name ... -Do cultures worldwide report 'hairy man' beings? An archetype? -C...

A House That Eats Girls: House (1977) with James Harding

February 20, 2021 09:46 - 1 hour - 62.9 MB

Cian invites James Harding from Toronto 16-bit rockers Villainest to the cabin for a chat about the 1977 Japanese movie 'House.' Frequently noted for its strangeness, Cian and James push past appearances to discuss the context in which the film was made in order to appreciate the creativity and joy this experimental haunted house movie brings! Topics include: -Villainest's amazing reworking of the 'House' theme (stick around till the end for the full track!) -memories of limited access to ...

Invisible Empire: Mysticism And Colonialism in Joan Lindsay's Picnic At Hanging Rock

February 13, 2021 10:17 - 1 hour - 67.9 MB

Join Cian at a chilly Cabin In The Woods for a Valentine's chat about the ever-mysterious Picnic At Hanging Rock. Whether you're more familiar with the book or the film, you'll be fine in terms of spoilers here, so grab an ale (no Fosters, please) and get ready for a disappear (ahem) into: -the tradition of 'Australian Gothic' -Picnic as a still-relevant urban legend -whiteness in the novel, Miranda Must Go, and the Australian 'tabula rasa' -why we love unresolved mysteries -a post-colo...

Flat Earth Belief Throughout History (with Dr Edward Guimont)

February 06, 2021 09:56 - 1 hour - 62.9 MB

The podcast returns to the topic of flat Earth, and Cian is joined once again by Dr Edward Guimont from snowy New York to cover the history of who exactly believed the earth was flat, when did they believe it, and why did they believe it? A litany of topics are covered in this wide-ranging episode, including: -the infamous Bedford Level experiment naturalist with Alfred Russell Wallace -Flat earth belief within Christianity in the 19th century -Flat Earth belief in Islam, including Boko H...

The Fictional Life Of Hulk Hogan Part 2 (with Dónal Gill)

January 23, 2021 16:14 - 1 hour - 78.7 MB

In which Cian & Dónal once again take a headlock to the Hulkster's life and career by taking the claims of his 'auto-biography' to task. In this long-awaited follow-up we tackle: -Hogan joining the WWF and his relationship with Vince McMahon -The first Wrestlemania -Hogan and Mr T visit some kids to promote Wrestlemania -Rowdy Roddy Piper makes Hogan cry by ripping off his crucifix -Hogan and Vince bro out making 'No Holds Barred' -Hogan's relationship with Randy Savage & the Ultimate ...

BONUS EPISODE: The Order and 1980s Domestic Terrorism

January 19, 2021 16:16 - 54 minutes - 50 MB

In this episode, Cian and Ali discuss 80s domestic terrorist group who called themselves THE ORDER, in a direct lift from the 1978 white supremacist text The Turner Diaries. The MAGA goons who caused chaos at Washington this month contained at least a core of serious, organised, far-right insurrectionists whose ideas can be traced to this underground 'white supremacist bible' . They committed robberies, murders, and other crimes during the 1980s in order to fund their imagined race war and o...

The Cottingley Fairies Go To The Movies: Part 2

January 16, 2021 10:53 - 56 minutes - 52.5 MB

Cian returns to the mystical, mythical, WW1-era pastoral English fairyland only to find that it's become a weird British indie film hellscape of death, hallucinations, and poor life decisions in the SECOND of his Cottingley Fairy film analyses, this time talking about the 1997 movie PHOTOGRAPHING FAIRIES. Plus, as the film section is a bit short this time around, enjoy a bit of background about the extremely weird 'Turanian Dwarf Theory' in which writers and anthropologists came to believe t...

The Cottingley Fairies Go To The Movies: Part 1

January 09, 2021 09:32 - 1 hour - 82.6 MB

It's early January at the cabin, before the snow. Cian watches the 1997 movie Fairy Tale: A True Story in the first of two investigations into the 1997 double-bill of Cottingley Fairy films. Grab yourself whatever you may need to get through a schmaltzy 90s kid film. Along the way we'll talk about: -how Victorians & Edwardians were obsessed with fairies -why Theosophists, Spiritualists, and Arthur Conan Doyle were so keen to believe in real fairies -the strange friendship between Conan Do...

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind: Aliens, Spirituality & UFOlogy

December 23, 2020 14:26 - 1 hour - 96.6 MB

Join us at the cabin for a semi-seasonal late-December big-budget sci-fi extravaganza as we tackle Spielberg's 1977 film Close Encounters Of The Third Kind and its inspirations from the real-life world of UFOlogy. We cover: -Close Encounters vs Star Wars -The Paranormal boom of the 70s -Themes of religion and spirituality in UFOlogy -J Allen Hynek, 'secular' UFOlogy, and the ETH -Small-town America as a magical place in film -Real cases that influenced the film -Alien abductions -Spi...

The Constructed Man: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) with Dr Dónal Gill

December 19, 2020 10:00 - 1 hour - 138 MB

Dónal returns to the cabin to discuss Kenneth Branagh's 1994 film 'Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.' It's a spoilerfest so beware - we take the film apart into it constituent elements (it's primarily constructed of hubris and bare chest real estate) to find out whether it's ALIVE or rather a cobbled-together monster. BUT, what if the real monster was John Cleese all along?

Monsters Of The Frontier: Mokele Mbembe and Mammoths (with Dr Edward Guimont)

December 12, 2020 10:13 - 1 hour - 99.4 MB

Cian is delighted to welcome Dr Edward Guimont to the cabin for a wide-ranging chat about monster hunters and strange beliefs in the context of post-colonial Africa and the American frontier. Dr Guimont teaches at the University of Connecticut and has written about archaeology in Zimbabwe, cryptozoology, myths of living mammoths, and is now working on the Flat Earth idea within the colonial period. Amongst other things, we cover: -History of Great Zimbabwe and the myth of Ophir -Nessie and...

Even Stranger Things: The Montauk Project (with Misfits & Mysteries Pod)

December 05, 2020 10:07 - 45 minutes - 41.9 MB

Cian is joined by Emmy & Steve from the Misfits & Mysteries podcast, direct from NYC, to talk about New York state's pet 'window area' and myth cycle, the Montauk Project. The chat features: -the Philadelphia Experiment -kidnapped psychic children -Stranger Things -the Montauk Monster -Time travellers LINKS: Misfits & Mysteries Blog & Podcast: https://www.misfitsandmysteries.com/

American Militia 3: The Oklahoma City Bombing (with Ali Keane)

November 28, 2020 12:04 - 1 hour - 75.2 MB

Cian and Ali return to the American Militia miniseries, and take a look at the life and crimes of Timothy McVeigh, a man who was inspired by the events of Ruby Ridge and Waco to strike against the federal government himself, committing the terrible Oklahoma City Bombing. We cover: -the Turner Diaries -the conspiracy that McVeigh was a patsy and was never executed -McVeigh's military experience -McVeigh's gun fixation -Racism in the world of the militia movement -details of the bombing ...

Those Babies Were Huge: Apollo 11 And UFOs On The Moon

November 21, 2020 10:28 - 51 minutes - 47.3 MB

It's flying saucer time once again! Join Cian at the cabin for a chat about the Pepper Transcript, a forgotten bit of UFO lore. There's UFOs in space, Apollo astronauts, and a secret UFO base on the moon. Featuring: -James McDivitt's 1965 earth orbit UFO sighting -Apollo 11's anomalous sighting -The Pepper Transcript -Alleged sighting by Armstrong and Aldrin of giant UFOs 'parked' in a lunar crater NOTES Our patreon! Check it out. It's lovely. patreon.com/wideatlanticweird Outer Spac...

Clever Girls And Bad Science: The Jurassic Park Reread

November 14, 2020 09:42 - 1 hour - 96.4 MB

Cian enjoys a coffee (forgot to mention the beverage but hey the episode's long enough already) at the cabin in the woods and pores over Michael Crichton's seminal 90s dino-stuffed techno-thriller. He still loves Crichton ... but discovers more troubling themes within the story this time around. Join us for a slightly uncomfortable, and extra-long, revisiting of a classic. Come for the dinosaurs, stay for the analysis of anti-environmentalism! :) -Crichton's later unfortunate foray into the...

Colonialism And Kong: Peter Jackson's Remake Reconsidered

November 07, 2020 09:44 - 1 hour - 66.4 MB

Cian is a massive Kong fan, and after years of resigning Peter Jackson's 2005 remake to the 'dud' bin, he dusts off this 3-hour love letter to the original and gives it another shake. Join us at the cabin in the woods as we discuss: -my history with the original and Jackson's Kong -the history of CGI used for creature effects -Jackson's bloated, indulgent nature -Jackson's love for Kong -The history of the 'lost world' genre -Colonialism in King Kong -The effect of Jurassic Park on mo...

A Formative Haunting: Borley Rectory, The Definitive Haunted House

October 31, 2020 09:05 - 1 hour - 71.6 MB

Our Halloween mega-episode: the entire twisted history of Borley Rectory, the infamous Most Haunted House in England! -we cover the four eras of Borley including its history with the divisive ghost-hunter Harry Price Here's our fabulous new Patreon! Take a look! Sources: The Enigma of Borley Rectory by Ivan Banks The Most Haunted House in England by Harry Price Haunted Houses, Maple & Myring

Bonus Episode: Lick It Up, The No Makeup Years of KISS

October 31, 2020 08:59 - 1 hour - 70.7 MB

A sample bonus episode of Wide Atlantic Weird Extra, which will be available only to supporters of our new Patreon! Cian & Dónal talk KISS - in particular the 80s and early 90s, their wilderness no-makeup years! Snubbed by fans until recently, the lads go through your fav superhero clowns' every album from that era! Get ready to LICK IT UP! Patreon here!

The Great Grey Man and other Ghost Stories of Mountaineering

October 24, 2020 10:45 - 46 minutes - 42.8 MB

Enjoy a wee drop of whiskey at the cabin for a chat about the infamous Great Grey Man of Ben Macdhui - whether it be a cryptozoological Bigfoot-like creature, or a more mystical being of folklore. The Grey Man is only one of many strange tales told about high elevations. In this episode, we investigate: -the 1975 Bonighton Everest ghost -Dan Simmons’ novels ‘The Terror’ and ‘The Abominable’ -1920s mountaineering mania -Ghosts and hallucinations on Everest -Frank Smythe’s sighting of wei...

Evil Fairy Folk: Arthur Machen’s Novel Of The Black Seal

October 17, 2020 10:43 - 56 minutes - 52.5 MB

Join Cian at the cabin for a beer as he gets to know influential Welsh writer of the strange, the inimitable Arthur Machen, and focuses on his 1895 tale of a Victorian scientist searching for a forgotten race of malevolent ab-human ‘fairy folk’ living in (or under?) the Welsh hills. Discussion covers: -Psychogeography & hauntology of Machen’s work -the ‘orientalising’ of Britain’s Celtic fringe -Victorian pseudo-history -Margaret Murray & the Witch-Cult Hypothesis (of course!) -Machen’s...

Swift’s Monsters: Irish Identity and Gulliver’s Travels (With Dónal Gill)

October 14, 2020 15:24 - 1 hour - 63.7 MB

Join Cian & Dónal at the cabin for another October monster episode .... this time, the monsters of Gulliver's Travels! We discuss: -Swift's life and identity as an Irishman -The place of the Anglo-Irish and Church of Ireland in the 18th Century -Gullivar's Travels, the four books -The Lilliputians, The Brobdingnagians, Laputa, & the Yahoos Wide Atlantic Weird Store https://teespring.com/stores/my-store-10108989

Lovecraft and the Irish (with W. Scott Poole)

October 10, 2020 08:33 - 1 hour - 56.2 MB

Cian is delighted to invite to the cabin in the woods W. Scott Poole, author of In The Mountains Of Madness: The Life And Extraordinary Afterlife of H.P. Lovecraft for a chat about the great New England horror writer! In this episode we have an enormously fun conversation that includes: -Lovecraft's short story The Moon-Bog, set in Ireland -Lovecraft's racial worldview and how the Celts/Irish feature in it -Links to better-known HPL stories such as The Rats In The Walls and The Horror At ...

Bonus Episode: The Devil Rides Out (1968)

October 07, 2020 14:22 - 54 minutes - 50.9 MB

Join Cian at the cabin in the woods for an informal, off-the-cuff bonus episode on the 1968 classic The Devil Rides Out! There's folk horror, Hammer horror, 1930s glamour, and dashed bad company Satanists in this episode! Enjoy one of our favourite films of all time with comparisons to the original 1934 book and extra notes on the life and work of the inestimate Dennis Wheatley. Take a glass of Imperial Tokay at the door! The Devil Rides Out, 1934, Dennis Wheatley https://www.goodreads.com...

Crypto-Ornithology: Washington's Sea Eagle and the life of John James Audubon (with Brent Burton)

October 03, 2020 07:57 - 58 minutes - 54 MB

Join Cian on a bright cold Autumn morning for a cup of green tea and a deep-dive into the history of America's most mysterious bird. Special Guest: Mr Brent Burton, naturalist & science educator. -the life of American birding hero John James Audubon -his 'sighting' of the elusive and massive Washington Sea Eagle -new evidence on Audubon's personal situation when he made the claim -did Audubon invent the bird to appeal to financial backers? -other reported sightings of the bird SOURCES:...

Crypto-Ornithology: Washington's Sea Eagle and the life of John James Audubon

October 03, 2020 07:57 - 58 minutes - 54 MB

Join Cian on a bright cold Autumn morning for a cup of green tea and a deep-dive into the history of America's most mysterious bird. Special Guest: Mr Brent Burton, naturalist & science educator. -the life of American birding hero John James Audubon -his 'sighting' of the elusive and massive Washington Sea Eagle -new evidence on Audubon's personal situation when he made the claim -did Audubon invent the bird to appeal to financial backers? -other reported sightings of the bird SOURCES:...

A Chair Made Of Antlers: Red Dragon And The Fetishisation Of Serial Killers

September 26, 2020 10:13 - 1 hour - 66.1 MB

Join Cian for a coffee on an autumn morning at the cabin in the woods to discuss: -Thomas Harris' 1981 book Red Dragon -memories of serial killers from the N64 game Shadowman from 1999 -the literary debut of Hannibal Lecter -the stereotype of the genius serial killer in fiction -the stereotype of the super-smart FBI profiler -serial killer and the occult -who serial killers target and the society that lets them do it SOURCES: Wide Atlantic Weird MERCH! CHECK IT OUT: https://teespri...

Hellfire Club Part 2: The Road Trip (with Victorian Pearson)

September 23, 2020 14:09 - 37 minutes - 34.4 MB

Hi folks – this episode is part two of a two-part miniseries! To get the full story of the background of Dublin’s infamous Hellfire Club, and the site we visit in this episode, I strongly encourage you to go back and listen to the previous episode if you haven’t already– it’s rather soberly named The Hellfire Club: Lore Of Dublin’s Hell House, and it’ll fill you in on the details of the supposed black mass, the ghosts and ghouls, and the real-life bizarre characters associated with the notori...

Hellfire Club Part 2: The Road Trip

September 23, 2020 14:09 - 37 minutes - 34.4 MB

Hi folks – this episode is part two of a two-part miniseries! To get the full story of the background of Dublin’s infamous Hellfire Club, and the site we visit in this episode, I strongly encourage you to go back and listen to the previous episode if you haven’t already– it’s rather soberly named The Hellfire Club: Lore Of Dublin’s Hell House, and it’ll fill you in on the details of the supposed black mass, the ghosts and ghouls, and the real-life bizarre characters associated with the notori...

The Hellfire Club: Lore Of Dublin's Hell House

September 19, 2020 07:14 - 25 minutes - 23.7 MB

On a wooded hill overlooking Dublin city sits a mysterious stone lodge shrouded in legend and lore. Dubliners know it as the haunt of the Hellfire Club, a secret group of devil-worshippers who carried out ghastly and terrible rites there in times gone by. Join me as I find out the truth and learn of the strange men who once shocked eighteenth-century Dublin with their wild escapades and hard living. A world of rakes and libertines drinking and whoring to excess; idle rich who lived for absurd...

Sounds In The Sierras: Investigating Famous Bigfoot Vocalisations

September 16, 2020 14:53 - 53 minutes - 49.9 MB

In the early 1970s, two men climbed into the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. They came to a remote spot in the woods, miles from civilization. There, they recorded the sounds of a group of creatures whose existence is still debated. The sounds they captured remain to this day the most extensive collected of purported sasquatch evidence on record. At the cabin we enjoy a beer and discuss: -the ecology of Bigfoot -Bigfoot populations -the story of the Sierra Sounds -forest animal no...

What Is QAnon And Should You Be Worried

September 12, 2020 09:33 - 1 hour - 67.4 MB

Not a fun episode, but one that had to happen. Cian and Dónal (now a Dr of political science) talk about: -the origins of Qanon and 4chan 'fake insider' culture -what do Qanon followers believe -why did Qanon become mainstream during lockdown -a detailed breakdown of Qanon-proponents now entering the US govenrment -the so-called 'save the children' and its connections to Qanon -why Qanon is already spreading to other countries

What Is QAnon And Should You Be Worried (with Dónal Gill)

September 12, 2020 09:33 - 1 hour - 67.4 MB

Not a fun episode, but one that had to happen. Cian and Dónal (now a Dr of political science) talk about: -the origins of Qanon and 4chan 'fake insider' culture -what do Qanon followers believe -why did Qanon become mainstream during lockdown -a detailed breakdown of Qanon-proponents now entering the US govenrment -the so-called 'save the children' and its connections to Qanon -why Qanon is already spreading to other countries

Old Stinker: English Eerie, Ecology, and the Yorkshire Werewolf

September 09, 2020 13:55 - 49 minutes - 45.9 MB

In 2016, tabloid newspapers were telling tales of a werewolf-like creature sighted in Yorkshire. Variously known as 'Old Stinker' and 'The Beast Of Barmston Drain,' this creature seems to have sprung from the misty centuries of English werewolf lore. Or has it? On this episode, Cian sinks a Black Sheep ale while looking into: -what is the real history or werewolf lore in England? -is lycanthropy a curse, or something you do yourself? -links between werewolfism and early modern witch trial...

British Israelites And The Hunt For The Ark Of The Covenant In Ireland

September 05, 2020 08:49 - 48 minutes - 45.3 MB

In 1899, a group representing the so-called British-Israelite movement descended upon the ancient ceremonial burial site at the Hill Of Tara in County Meath, Ireland. This band of eccentric pseudo-archaeologists believed that the Anglo-Saxon British were the true descendants of the ten Lost Tribes of Israel, and that the fabled Arc Of The Covenant was hidden beneath this ancient Irish site. But they came up against some of the biggest names of the Irish celtic revival movement, then in full ...

Time And Again: Versailles And Other Timeslips (with Faye Sewell)

September 02, 2020 14:05 - 51 minutes - 47.8 MB

Cian welcomes Faye Sewell from Youtube's The Ghost Trail to the cabin in the woods to talk about a curious subdivision of ghost stories: Timeslips! There are various famous cases of these from around the UK primarily. Are they ghost sightings? An example of the 'stone tape?' Is it time travel? Is quantum physics involved? Trace the history of this idea with us as we focus on the famous 1901 Versailles timeslip, examine the details of the case, the reaction at the time, the analysis by the So...

Time And Again: Versailles And Other Timeslips

September 02, 2020 14:05 - 51 minutes - 47.8 MB

Cian welcomes Faye Sewell from Youtube's The Ghost Trail to the cabin in the woods to talk about a curious subdivision of ghost stories: Timeslips! There are various famous cases of these from around the UK primarily. Are they ghost sightings? An example of the 'stone tape?' Is it time travel? Is quantum physics involved? Trace the history of this idea with us as we focus on the famous 1901 Versailles timeslip, examine the details of the case, the reaction at the time, the analysis by the So...

Cryptids In Classic Fiction: The Monster Of Lake LaMetrie

August 31, 2020 14:35 - 24 minutes - 22.5 MB

An unexpected and relatively short BONUS EPISODE about the 'weird western' short story The Monster Of Lake LaMetrie written by Warden Allen Curtis in 1899. Join us for a quick chat about this cryptozoological oddity: there's a prehistoric lake in the wilds of Wyoming, some Victorian mad science, and of course prehistoric reptiles! Sources: The eText of the story from Famous And Forgotten Fiction http://famous-and-forgotten-fiction.com/writings/curtis-the-monster-of-lake-lametrie.html Ana...

Budd Hopkins' Intruders: How Alien Abductions Got So Popular

August 29, 2020 08:26 - 1 hour - 67.1 MB

It's a quiet night in the woods by the cabin, and the stars are out. That means it's time for a tale of UFOs - but this one is darker than usual. Released the same year as Whitley Strieber’s influential book Communion, and spawning a TV movie/miniseries that was broadcast just a year before the debut of the X-Files, Intruders (1987) remains a key artefact in the history of the development of UFO lore. In particular, it massively popularised the idea of UFO abductions. In this episode, Cian ...

Irish Lake Monsters: The 1969 Connemara Expedition

August 26, 2020 15:09 - 51 minutes - 47.2 MB

In 1969, a small group of international monster-hunters came to the wind-swept west of Ireland in response to a spate of recent lake monster sightings. They were a colourful bunch, and included one Ted Holiday, a John Keel-like figure who came to believe that lake monsters were mystical symbols of ancient evil, just as UFOs were symbols of good. Join us for a romp with this monster-hunting expedition in lakes barely big enough to hold a monster, find out the weird biological theories that we...

Love And Other Bugs: Beyond The Mothman Prophecies

August 22, 2020 07:39 - 54 minutes - 50.7 MB

Mothman has been done. A lot. So here at the cabin in the woods, we said we wouldn't cover this weirdest of all cryptid creatures unless we had a personal take on it. So in this episode, we investigate extra elements associated with the Mothman mythos. In 1966 and 1967, the West Virginia town of Point Pleasant endured a 13-month period of seeming invasion by MIBs, UFOs, and a winged bird-like creature known as the Mothman. Writer John Keel immortalised this period in his 1975 book the Mothma...

Dawn Of The Wild - An Audiodrama About Monsters In 1950s California

August 19, 2020 12:55 - 46 minutes - 64.2 MB

You're very welcome to the cabin in the woods once again! Usually on Wide Atlantic Weird, we investigate real-life stories of ghosts, monsters and UFOs, taking a critical, almost-academic look at the origins of these tales.  This episode is something a little different, and something very special. Just this once, we’re proudly presenting a short AUDIODRAMA (an audio play) about the birth of the Bigfoot phenomena in California in the 1950s, and the various eccentric characters who first went ...

Horrific Hauntings: In Search Of The Walsingham Ghosts

August 17, 2020 15:19 - 39 minutes - 37 MB

Cian cracks a can of Native IPA at the cabin in the woods to investigate a classic American haunting from Georgia, USA. The Walsingham Ghosts case has a spectacular series of dramatic elements: poltergeists break the neck of a dog, manifest invisibly in front of a mirror, drip blood onto a dinner party, and manifest as a horrifying blue floating human head! Follow the investigation as Cian traces this story from London spiritualists to expat ghost-hunters in HORRIFIC HAUNTINGS: IN SEARCH OF ...

Lord Dufferin's Irish Ghost: A Victorian Urban Legend

August 15, 2020 08:00 - 41 minutes - 57.1 MB

Ulsterman and Victorian celebrity Lord Dufferin held the highest positions in the British Empire during its heyday, but he was most famous for a classic ghost story he told about a strange happening at Tullamore. It's a brandy-and-cigar kind of tale. Dive down the rabbithole with us as we try to find the source of the story in an adventure that involves Charles Dickens, the madness-inducing King In Yellow, and of course, various 19th century mystics and occultists (but you knew that already, ...

Howard-Bury's Footprints: The Discovery Of The Yeti

August 08, 2020 07:43 - 1 hour - 70.8 MB

In 1921, an Anglo-Irish explorer leading a reconnaissance expedition on Mount Everest reported seeing strange footprints on the slopes of that mighty peak. Newspapers around the world went into a frenzy, speculating on the existence of a race of strange creatures in the high snowy peaks of the Himalayas. It was to be the beginning of the West's fascination with the Yeti. At the cabin in the woods, Cian uses this story to delve into the fascinating worlds of 1920s Everest expeditions, 1950s c...

For Fear Of Little Men: Voices In The Woods

August 05, 2020 06:17 - 57 minutes - 78.8 MB

Cian takes another trip into the realms of folklore. A stray Reddit tale introduces our host to the Native American legends of disembodied voices that mimic humans to trick and trap travellers in the wild. Always a fan of campfire lore, Cian investigates this idea as it turns up in contemporary legends, the original mythology of native peoples, and how folks have used the idea of malevolent forest spirits in classic fiction. And as some traits cross over with Irish mythology, Cian invites Mr...

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