Mania
The Mania Podcast explores dark, historical stories, casting light on wicked events and individuals from before modern times. From Victorian superstitions to bizarre, Medieval witchcraft, our labyrinth of iniquity, mystery, and nightmares await. Here, the dead return to share their tales, only now the living listen.
Episodes
37 episodes
Malefic, 1899: The Vampire of Düsseldorf I
This the first episode in the two part series of The Vampire of Düsseldorf. We find ourselves in early 20th century Germany to pursue a killer whose entire life and crimes were instrumental in helping the psychologist Carl Berg de...
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Season 3
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Episode 3
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16:29
Family Blood, 1871
After the Bender family settles in the Osage township in 1871, bodies begin popping up in nearby creeks. As suspicions mount amongst the neighbours, the truth starts rearing its head, but it will be more shocking than anybody could have imagine...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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27:47
Letter from the Devil, 1676
As nuns go missing in a late 17th century Benedictine convent, Abbess Agatha must root out the evil lurking in her priory. With one particular sister's behaviour becoming terribly erratic, she suspects the Devil himself is at work. The aftermat...
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Season 3
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Episode 1
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21:44
To Hold a Beating Heart: Immortal Victorian Surgeries
Lives held by single threads. Beating hearts clutched in hands. For this Halloween finale to the second season, we pursue three remarkable procedures catalogued from the 19th century. Surgeries so groundbreaking that they were published, discus...
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Season 2
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Episode 11
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21:03
Crow's Vomit & Magic Pigeons: Curious Victorian Remedies
We've all heard of bloodletting and leeches, but what of tobacco smoke enemas, crow vomit ointments, and magic pigeons? In this surprisingly educational excursion, we explore three curious remedies from the annals of 19th and 18th century medic...
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Season 2
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Episode 10
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16:47
Jane Toppan the Angel of Death, 1887
Appearing after the wake of Lavinia Fisher is one of America's deadliest serial killers from the mid 19th century. Arising from the tragic demise of her mother and subsequent abandonment by her father, Honora Kelley, (more infamously regarded a...
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Season 2
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Episode 9
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22:10
The Legend of Lavinia Fisher, 1818
Lavinia and her Six Mile Wayfarer House were a match made in Hell. Hers is a vital, bloody piece of American history that showcases the dangers of oral tradition, and how truth becomes twisted with fiction. Follow this femme fatale down a path ...
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Season 2
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Episode 8
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26:03
The Truths We Bury, 1743
A mother in rural Ireland carries the burden of a curse that she may not survive.
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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12:29
The Mortification of John Downing, 1762
A family of eight in Wattisham, England is plagued with a deadly disease with no solution, but the real illness is paranoia.
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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19:08
The Will of Elephants, 1965
Uncovering the sudden murder rampage of Charles Whitman. Beneath this dumbfounding act of terror are poignant questions concerning free will, the justice system, and the complex moral discussions sparked by murderers like Whitman.
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Season 2
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Episode 5
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22:35
The Canary in the Belfry, 1895
Some demons do their most gruesome work in churches.
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Season 2
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Episode 4
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27:10
The Art of Madness, 1843
Painter Richard Dadd is the embodiment of a tragic tale, containing a bright future dashed too soon and an irreconcilable event which darkens his fate forevermore.
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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20:57
The Cannibal of St. Bonnot, 1572
Rumours of a werewolf are spreading in a rural town in France. Gilles Garnier, a hermit on the outskirts, becomes closer to the drama than he'd like.
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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26:27
Creating Cadavers: The West Port Murders, 1828
The city of Edinburgh undergoes a rash of killings in 1828, though the killers aren't men of passion, but enterprise.
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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32:05
Culling Innocence, 1866
The soulless killings of Elizabeth Dyer, the "Ogress of Reading".
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Season 1
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Episode 23
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21:18
The Red Inn, 1831
The tragedy of a servant working for a very bloody establishment.
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Season 1
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Episode 22
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24:04
Dying for Answers, 1921
A professor and spiritualist conducts a harrowing experiment.
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Season 1
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Episode 21
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29:55
Mortal Sacrifice: A Plague Story, 1665
A small, forgettable village in 1665 England makes an unforgettable sacrifice.
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Season 1
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Episode 20
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21:10
Becoming Evil, 1896: The White City Ripper IV
The full killing career of H.H. Holmes, summarised and dissected. The infamous Chicago serial murderer who confessed to twenty-seven homicides is nothing sort of mysterious, diabolical, and depraved to a comical degree. On the outside, a well-t...
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Season 1
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Episode 19
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41:34
At All Costs, 1888: The White City Ripper III
After his precious trunk is discovered by local authorities, H.H. Holmes' story only gets more strange. This episode features the unbelievably true recount of a serial killer's chase with a detective, all the while carting around a ticking time...
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Season 1
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Episode 18
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25:08
Dead Weight, 1888: The White City Ripper II
The second episode in pursuit of the serial killer H. H. Holmes. Holmes undertakes the elaborate job of faking his own demise. As it so happens, the task of smuggling a corpse onto a public train is not the least bit unsuspicious. In this segme...
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Season 1
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Episode 17
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20:27
Beyond the Pale, 1886: The White City Ripper I
One of America's most notorious serial killers is given a fresh light. The con artist and murderer is revived so that more lifelike tales previously overlooked in his autobiography can be resurfaced amongst the overly fabricated string of tall ...
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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14:20
Where No Light Persists, 1874
In 1874, a Parisian socialite by the name of Blanche Monnier must face the wrath of her family's punishment against her. Blanche's story encapsulates themes of unendurable torture, familial betrayal, and the wastage of human potential on frivol...
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Season 1
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Episode 15
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18:40
A Curious Collection of Ghostly Tales, 1130
Not houses nor mansions, but mines and kitchens. Ghosts come in countless forms. This episode demonstrates some truly bizarre recounts from trusted voices within their time.
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Season 1
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Episode 14
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15:31
London: A Carnival of Gallows, 1777: All Hallow's Eve Special
Thank you for an amazing first year of Mania! I am thrilled to present something to commemorate my wonderful listeners and the first stepping year of this dark journey. A CARNIVAL OF GALLOWS is an episode that we filmed in London while we inves...
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Season 1
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Episode 13
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11:08