Percy Fawcett & The Lost City of Z

The life of Percy Harrison Fawcett was never short of adventure. An amateur explorer who obtained a gold medal for his services to the Royal Geographical Society, in a time long before planes, GPS and radio communication. He was a man with a story and a character so much larger than life, that popular fiction has drawn influence on them for years, from Arthur Conan Doyle's “The Lost World” to the Hollywood archeology of Indiana Jones, even making an appearance in TinTin & The Broken Ear as a blowpipe wielding hermit. For over twenty years his career saw him delve deep into the Amazon, until, in 1925, just months before newspapers printed their headlines that the city of Atlantis had been found, he set off into the forest in search of a lost city he had christened simply “Z”.

SOURCES

Grann, David (2009) The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon. Doubleday Publishing, USA.

Fawcett, Percy (1953) Lost Trails, Lost Cities. Funk & Wagnalls, NY, USA.

Thorpe, Vanessa (2004) Veil lifts on jungle mystery of the colonel who vanished. The Observer, Sun 21 March, 2004. UK

Williams, Misha (2004) AmaZonia.

Kennedy, Dane (2007) British Exploration in the Nineteenth Century: A Historiographical Survey. History Compass, 5: 1879-1900. UK

The Atlanta Constitution (1925) Daring Exploration Party Sets Forth To Find Site of Cradle of Civilization. The Atlanta Constitution, p.14, 12 Jan, 1925. Atlanta, USA.

The Leader post (1927) Fear for Col. Fawcett, Missing in Brazillian Jungle Nearly 2 Years. The Leader Post, p.1. 14 Feb, 1927. Canada

The Spokesman Review (1927) Colonel Fawcett Thought Alive. The Spokesman Review, p.67, 24 July, 1927. USA.

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For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com

Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories

Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast

Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories

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or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf

The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye

Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017

Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. 

The Midnight Assassin

Clarita Villanueva & The Thing

In 1953, a strange story crept out of the Philippines, when newspapers began reporting on the Dracula Girl, a young, Filipino vagrant, who had been arrested for prostitution and who now appeared to be facing even darker powers, as she battled with a pair of tormentors, collectively known as The Thing. For over two weeks, doctors, reporters, prison guards and inmates watched over the strange behaviour of the young girl, completely at a loss for what to do, until eventually, in stepped a Protestant Pastor with a penchant for evangelism and a conviction that he knew exactly what to do in the situation.

SOURCES

Sumrall, Lester (1987) Bitten By Devils: The Supernatural Account of a Young Girl Bitten by Unseen Demons, Documented by Medical Doctors & Her Miraculous Deliverance That Would Bring Revival to a Nation. Sumrall Publishing, USA.

Sumrall, Lester (1987) The Deliverance of Clarita Villanueva: Bitten by Demons. Sumrall Publishing, USA.

The Yuma Daily Sun (1953) Evil Spirits Attack Girl Even When Mayor Near. The Yuma Daily Sun, Tuesday 19 May, 1953. P.1. Yuma, USA.

Guzman, Leonoro S. de (1964) The Philippines' social welfare administration: A historical account of its formation, 1946-1956. University of Southern California, USA.

The Barrier Miner (1953) Dracula Girl. Thursday 28 May, 1953, p.1. NSW, Australia.

Singleton Argus (1953) Playful Ghost Has A Familiar Face. Friday 22 May, 1953, p.1. Sydney, Australia.

The Argus (1953) Dracula Victim Can Be Cured. Thursday 21 May, 1953, p.5. Melbourne, Australia. 

The Argus (1953) Prelate May Fight Dracula. Wednesday 20 May, 1953, p.7. Melbourne, Australia. 

The Truth (1953) Vampire! Sunday 24 May, 1953, p.13. Sydney, Australia.

Beaver Valley Times (1953) Wednesday 20 May, 1953, p.8. PA, USA.

The Sydney Morning Herald (1953) Wednesday 20 May, 1953, p.3, Sydney, Australia.

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For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com

Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories

Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast

Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories

& Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/

Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com

or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072

or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf

The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye

Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017

Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. 

Concerning the recent technical difficulties

Hey everyone, just a quick message and to let you all know that all the recent technical difficulties the podcast has been having that has been stopping the feed from distributing the podcast should be all fixed! Huzzah!

Joanna Southcott, The Panacea Society & The Mystery Box

The Laetitia Toureaux Affair

Gordon Cummins: The Blackout Ripper

“In war, one of our great protections against the dangers of air attack after nightfall will be the "blackout". On the outbreak of hostilities all external lights and street lighting would be totally extinguished so as to give hostile aircraft no indication as to their whereabouts. But this will not be fully effective unless you do your part, and see to it that no lighting in the house where you live is visible from the outside. The motto for safety will be 'Keep it dark!'”

So read the opening paragraph from Public Information Leaflet No.2, published in England on the eve of war, 1939. What may have kept people safe from German bombs, however, had its own disadvantages. Criminality thrived in the gloomy, empty streets. In 1942, as the German bombs began to fall less frequently, a new threat opened up on the streets of London, altogether more silent, emerging from the shadows with a rye smile and unrelenting charm.

SOURCES

The Daily Herald (1942) Waiting Woman is Murdered. Feb 10, 1942. p.3. London, UK

The Daily Mirror (1942) Three Women Murdered In Two Days. Feb 11, 1942. P.8. London, UK.

The Daily Mirror (1942) Razorblade Killed Ex-Soho Actress. Feb 12, 1942. P.8. London, UK.

The Daily Mirror (1942) Fifth Woman Murder In Week. Feb 14, 1942. P.8. London, UK.

Civil Defense (1939) Public Information Leaflet No.2. Lord Privy Seal’s Office, UK

Read, Simon (2006) In The Dark. Berkeley Publishing Group, USA.

Thomas, Donald (2003) An Underworld at War: Spivs, Deserters, Racketeers and Civilians in the Second World War. John Murray, UK.

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For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com

Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories

Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast

Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories

& Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/

Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com

or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072

or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf

The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye

Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017

Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. 

Phantom Airships of the 19th Century

In the winter of 1896, a spate of airship sightings spread out from California, stampeding across the United States until, in the Spring of 1897, they hit a wall in the midwest, after a brief flirtation on the East Coast. The sightings totalled in their tens of thousands and many included fantastical descriptions of both the ship and the people riding it. As the ships flew from state to state, the stories often grew bolder in their claims until they were heavily dovetailing with the science fiction of the day. With airships still incapable of sustained flight in 1896, were any of the sightings true? Or were the witnesses seeing something else in the sky? Are some of the more outrageous stories, actually far closer to the truth than they may at first seem, or was the whole affair just one big medley of lies, hoax and misidentifications?

Haunted Bones: Screaming Skulls

The Homunculus: From Science Fact to Gothic Fiction