 adds her to during the podcast that are not in my voice or placed by third party agencies outside of my control and should not imply an endorsement by Weird Darkness or myself. Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and is intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised. Welcome Weirdos, I'm Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness. Here you'll find stories of the paranormal, supernatural, legends, lore, the strange and bizarre, crime, conspiracy, mysterious, macabre, unsolved and unexplained. Coming up in this episode. The Feistos Disc was discovered in 1903 by Italian archaeologists in Southern Crete. Since then the disc has remained a mystery as no one has been able to decipher the writings upon it nor who made the object, what it was used for and even if it's a genuine archaeological discovery or a clever fake. Usually you learn that a place is haunted simply because people say it is. It's common knowledge around the town or neighborhood. But when the government of your country says a place is haunted, you'd better dang well listen. Such is the case with India's Bangar Fort. At the end of 1894, French Army Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a graduate of the École Polytechnique and a Jew of the Alsatian origin, was accused of handing secret documents to the Imperial German military. After a closed trial he was found guilty of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment on the dreaded Devil's Island. But that's just the beginning of the story that later became known as the Dreyfus Affair. We've all heard of the power of the mind. It's been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of pain. Some well-trained individuals can use their mind to slow their rate of respiration to bring their heartbeat down to almost nothing with no long-term ill effects. But what about controlling things outside of your own body? Is the mind that powerful? Some believe so and they also believe it's one possible explanation for hauntings. Is it possible that our history books are wrong and that humans actually did walk with dinosaurs? It might not be as far-fetched as it sounds, especially when you look at tales of knights, dragons and T. Rex DNA. But first, we'll have a short tale about Joseph Naples, who chose the macabre career of being a grave digger, but only because it made it easier for him to be a grave robber and a body snatcher. If you're new here, welcome to the show. While you're listening, be sure to check out WeirdDarkness.com for merchandise, to visit sponsors you hear about during the show, sign up for my newsletter and our contests. Connect with me on social media. Listen to my other podcasts like Retro Radio, Old Time Radio in the Dark, Church of the Undead, and a classic 1950s sci-fi style podcast called Auditory Anthology. Listen to free audiobooks I've narrated. Plus, you can visit the Hope in the Darkness page if you're struggling with depression, dark thoughts or addiction. You can find all of that and more at WeirdDarkness.com. Now, bolt your doors, lock your windows, turn off your lights, and come with me into the Weird Darkness. In 1802 at the Sessions House in Clerkenwell, Joseph Naples stood quietly at the bar and listened to the case that had been brought against him. The Caledonian Mercury left nothing to the imagination when the story was printed in its Monday edition on May 10th. Quote, Joseph Naples, you are indicted for stealing dead bodies from Spa Field's burial ground, and also for stealing caps, pillows, shrouds, nails, screws, and coffin plates belonging there too, and the coffins wherein they had been buried. Using his privileged position, Naples, a future member of London's Burrow Gang and writer of the infamous Diary of a Resurrectionist, provided a steady supply of cadavers to nearby teaching hospitals after they had supplied him with baskets in which to carry them. Having been employed as a grave digger for the previous two years at the nonconformist burial ground at Spa Field's one of four burial grounds attached to St. James Church in Clerkenwell, Naples would have been more than aware that the burial ground was overcrowded and that his actions would most likely have gone unnoticed. Working throughout the dissection season, he'd certainly been busy removing cadavers at a rate of 2-3 per day, something that for one individual to do was quite unheard of. So how did he do it? According to the testimony of his sister-in-law, 14-year-old Harriet Collins, Naples would generally dig up the cadavers during the daytime, occasionally storing some of these in his house before taking them to relevant hospitals. Given his position as grave digger, his time spent at the graveside would not have caused any concern, so he could work at his task more methodically than most. He would later, when night had fallen and usually around the hour of 6 p.m., go around collecting up the cadavers, making great use of the baskets provided by the hospitals. During her statement, Harriet provided a further insight to the events that often played out at the side of the grave. This poor girl of 14 years of age would often hold the basket open for Naples as he squashed and rammed the cadavers inside, presumably without a care in the world. If she was not on basket duty, Harriet would be keeping watch over the graveyard, ready to raise the alarm if any of the ballastry patrol were in the area. Quite shockingly, Harriet, quote, once saw him cut off the head of a young woman, which he took to the hospital immediately and many times after, saw him with the heads of persons he said had died of particular disorders, unquote. If you are familiar with Naples, you'll know that he had a particular fondness for removing cadavers' extremities, that is, the arms and legs, fingers or toes and heads, especially if a corpse had perhaps gone past its best. If we dip into the diary that he kept between November 1811 and December 1812, we can see that a number of entries mentioned the removal of extremities. For example, Thursday, the 27th of February, 1812, went to St. Thomas's, sold the extremities, at night Tom, Bill, got drunk at the Rockingham Arms at home all night. Wednesday, 12th of August, 1812, went to look out at night, went to Bartholomew's crib at Bartholomew's hospital, cut off the extremities, took to Bartholomew. Teeth were also another favorite item for him to remove, with the increased consumption of sugar and the rapid blackening of teeth, members of the upper classes were keen to have their own teeth replaced with false ones. Teeth were therefore a valuable commodity, and after Naples had removed these with pincers, he could receive a guinea, or sometimes more, for each set. For about the past two years, between 1800 and 1802, Naples had quite happily been exhuming cadavers and their extremities until he was seen by W. Bacon of the Bow Street Patrol. While carrying out his rounds on the night of the 26th of November, 1801, Bacon spotted a man carrying a basket over his shoulder. When he asked the man to step into the nearby public house so he could have a word, the man dropped his basket and fled. The bodies found within the basket were that of the recently buried Mrs. Windsor, wife of George, and also the body of their son, both of whom had recently been buried in spa fields. After being conveyed to Bow Street, the bodies were then taken to the vault beneath the Church of St. James, Clerkenwell, to await reinterment. It later turned out that the man who had fled the scene was not Naples at all, but rather the man who would be responsible for getting mild-mannered Naples into body snatching in the first place, Joseph White. As a resurrection trade grew and the public became more aware of their perilous situation, body snatchers became quite particular in following certain rules. The most important of these rules, and one which was religiously followed by most anyway, was the complete removal of the burial clothes and any personal effects. Nobody owned a dead body, so the theft of one was more of a moral concern rather than a crime. Getting caught resulted in a short prison sentence at most, much of the time easily endured by the body snatcher. Steal any property along with the corpse, that is the burial shroud or any burial adornments, then you've committed a theft and you will be tried for a felony. You remember I mentioned earlier that Naples was indicted for stealing the burial shrouds as well as other items. Turns out Naples would do a number of different things with these items. His favorite and most trusted method was to throw them into the privy at his home within the grounds of spa fields. In fact, when the lid was removed and a rod was stirred around the bottom of the cesspit, which measured five or six feet wide and many feet deep, it was found to be clogged with burial shrouds. Naples also burnt some of the clothing, offered Harriet a ribbon or two that had been tied around a corpse for her hair and quite remarkably also tried to do a deal with a local undertaker, George Atkins, to see if he wanted to buy some nearly new burial clothes. Seems Mr. Naples was aspiring to be a real life fagin. But unfortunately for Naples, as grave digger to the burial grounds where the cadavers had been snatched, he was the one to take the blame. Despite there being some apprehension as to the truth of Harriet's statement, with some believing that she was perhaps speaking through malice due to her poor treatment from Naples, he was still found guilty and sentenced. His two-year sentence in Coldbath Fields Prison, however, would soon prove to be a bit of an adventure. Less than two months later, he was planning his escape with another inmate, George Jones. The pair made their escape by picking the locks in their cell and making over the prison wall with a rope ladder. After being put to picking oakum in the prison, it was thought that the ladder had been slowly crafted while working diligently at his unforgiving task. Inside were two prison uniforms and a letter from the escapees saying that they had no further use for them. Freedom was short-lived, however, for rival body snatcher Ben Crouch, leader of the Burrow Gang, told authorities of his whereabouts, and he was recaptured and sent back to serve the rest of his sentence. Upon his release, no one wanted to employ Naples, and so there was only one avenue left to turn. Joined forces with Ben Crouch and the powerful Burrow Gang and start thinking about writing a diary in ten years time. You could still visit Spa Fields burial ground today, although there is no longer anything there. The gravestones were removed long ago and it is now a park visited by office workers and locals taking time out of their day. Locals now know it as the Spa Fields Park. Coming up, usually you learn that a place is haunted simply because people say it is. It is common knowledge around the town or neighborhood, but when the government of your country says that a place is haunted, you had better dang well listen and such is the case with India's Bangar Fort. But first, the Faistos Disc was discovered in 1903 by Italian archaeologists in Southern Crete. Since then, the disc has remained a mystery as no one has been able to decipher the writings upon it, nor who made the object, what it was used for, and even if it is a genuine archaeological discovery or a clever fake. That story is up next on Weird Darkness. Remember staying up late on a Friday or Saturday night either at home or at a friend's house and watching your local TV stations' horror host presenting a terrible B-movie with aliens, monsters, ghosts, alien monster ghosts, vampires, werewolves and all other kinds of crazy, creepy characters. Those were fun nights, weren't they? That's what the Weirdo Watch Party page at WeirdDarkness.com has to offer. All day, every day. Thanks to our friends at the Monster Channel, you can visit WeirdDarkness.com slash Watch Party right after listening to this episode and immediately be entertained by a horror host and horrible movie. Or should I say, horror-ribble movie. And not only can you watch the B-movies and horror hosts streaming there 24-7, but once a month we all gather together to watch a movie and talk about it in the chat room on that same page. Get your frights and funnies on the Weirdo Watch Party page at WeirdDarkness.com. The undeciphered Feistos Disc is one of the greatest puzzles of the ancient Greek world. Almost everything about this allegedly ancient artifact is controversial, from its purpose and meaning to its original area of manufacture. The mysterious clay tablet was found on the Greek island of Crete at the ancient Minoan palace site of Feistos. But who made the object? What was it used for? Could it be a modern fake? The sophisticated Bronze Age civilization of the Minoans reached its height in the period around 1700 BC and began to decline about three centuries later when many of their palaces were destroyed. The Feistos Disc was discovered in 1903 by Italian archaeologists excavating at the ruined Minoan palace of Feistos in southern Crete. The archaeologists came upon the strange object in a basement room in the northeast departments of the ancient palace, together with a clay tablet inscribed in Linear A, an undeciphered script used on Crete until around 1450 BC and pieces of Neopolatial Pottery, 1700-1600 BC. The ancient Minoan palace had collapsed during an earthquake, which had been linked by some researchers to the massive volcanic eruption on the nearby Aegean Island of Thera, modern-day Santorini, in 1628 BC. The precise age of the Feistos Disc is disputed. The archaeological context of the find suggests a date not later than 1700 BC, though the modern opinion is that it could have been created as late as 1650 BC. The enigmatic object is made of baked clay with an average diameter of 16 cm and a thickness of 2.1 cm. Both sides of the artifact are covered with hieroglyphic inscription arranged in a spiral. The inscription was made by impressing wood or ivory hieroglyphic seals or stamps onto the wet clay, then baking the clay at a high temperature to harden it. It has been noted that occasionally on the artifact a symbol slightly overlaps the one to its right, which demonstrates that the creator was stamping towards the left, which resulted in the text spiraling inward to the center. The Feistos Disc may represent what is in effect the earliest form of printing anywhere in the world. Printed into the clay are a total of 242 individual impressions, divided into 61 groups by vertical lines. There are 45 different signs, including depictions of running men, heads with feather crowns, women, children, animal, birds, insects, tools, weapons, and plants. What are two of these symbols have been identified as vaguely similar to ancient Cretan hieroglyphs in use during the early to mid-2nd millennium BC? What is so puzzling about the artifact is why the Minoan civilization would use a primitive pictograph language at the same time as Linear A, a much more advanced script which was already in use. Perhaps the primitive nature of the script on the artifact points to a much earlier date for the object than is presently accepted. However, this is not necessarily the case, as archaic forms of writing often survive into much later periods, usually in the form of sacred or religious texts, as was the case in ancient Egypt. Furthermore, the text on the Feistus disc is unique. No other examples of the script stamped on it have ever been located. This uniqueness and the fact that the text is fairly brief makes it extremely difficult to hope to translate even a small part of it. That the inscription was made using a set of stamps would imply that there was a large-scale production of objects impressed with this script, which for one reason or another have not yet surfaced in archaeological investigations. A difficulty with understanding the artifact is that no one knows exactly how the symbols on it are meant to be interpreted. Does the disc contain a hieroglyphic inscription or pictograms meant to be taken at face value? Although some images of the Feistus disc are pictures of familiar objects, trying to understand these literally does not help with obtaining any coherent meaning from the disc. Many linguists believe the text is a series of written signs representing syllables, known as syllabary, while others assume it is a syllabary combined with pictorial symbols used to express a concept or idea, known as ideograms. The combination of syllabary and ideograms would make it comparable to all known syllabaries of ancient Greece and the ancient Near East, including Minoan Linear B, hieroglyphic writing, and cuneiform. The latter consists of pictograms drawn on clay tablets with a pen made from a sharpened reed and originated from ancient Sumeria, or modern southeastern Iraq, in the late 4th millennium BC. The Palate of Narmur is an interesting example of this kind of text. It was discovered in Necan, or modern Hieroconopolis, the ancient pre-dynastic capital of Egypt, by English archaeologist James Equible in 1894. It dates roughly to 3200 BC, and includes some of the earliest hieroglyphic inscriptions ever discovered. The Palate of Narmur uses a combination of hieroglyphs and pictographic symbols which are to be taken literally to mean what they depict, indicating a possible parallel with the disc of Feistus, in the sense that it could be interpreted as containing a mixture of ancient Crete and hieroglyphs and pictographs. The tremendous difficulty of translation, without further examples of the supposedly ancient script, has not dissuaded both scholars and amateurs from attempting the task. In fact, the unique nature of the text has added to its mystique and enthralled rather than repel investigators. The distinctiveness of the disc has, unfortunately, meant there have been a number of highly imaginative and unsubstantiated translations and interpretations of the pictographic text on the disc. Perhaps the most extreme among them is that the object contains a message left thousands of years ago by extraterrestrial visitors to the earth, or an ancient Atlantean civilization for future generations to discover. The question of what exactly the message contains or why it was written in such a primitive script by supposedly advanced aliens or Atlanteans has, of course, never been answered. Over the last 100 years, numerous attempts have been made to try and identify the language on the disc. In 1975, Jean Foucault published a translation, maintaining that the language was a pre-Greek syllabic writing of a culture he identifies as Proto-Ionians, a people with closer ties to ancient Troy than to Crete. According to Foucault's decipherment, the Feistus disc describes the career and funeral of Proto-Ionian king Arian. His translation has, however, not been accepted as sound by most scholars on the subject. In 2000, Greek author F.E. Polygianiches published, in Greek only at the moment, a book entitled The Feistus Disc Speaks in Greek, claiming that the inscription on the disc was written in the syllabic writing system of an ancient Greek dialect. Dr. Stephen Fisher's evidence of Hellenic dialect in the Feistus disc from 1988 also identifies the text as syllabic writing in a Greek dialect. One clue to the meaning of the object is the context in which it was found. The fact that the Feistus disc was unearthed in an underground temple depository has persuaded some researchers of its religious significance, suggesting that the text was possibly an ancient sacred hymn or ritual. Several image groups in the text are repeated, which would suggest a refrain and perhaps each side of the disc represents a verse from a song, hymn or ritual incantation. In fact, Sir Arthur Evans, excavator of Gnosis, the ceremonial and political center of Minoan civilization, concluded that the disc contained part of the text of a sacred song. The original discoverer of the disc, Italian archaeologist Luigi Prunier, also believed it had ritual significance. Nevertheless, though, the Feistus disc was found at a Minoan palace site. There is no absolute proof it originated in Crete at all. It may have been imported from just about anywhere in the Mediterranean or even from the Near East. While a religious slash ritual explanation is certainly a possibility, it is only one of numerous so far suggested for the Feistus disc. Theories include an ancient adventure story, an ancient calendar, a call to arms, a spell written in Hittite, a language used in north-central Turkey from 1600 to 1100 BC, maybe it is a legal document, a farmer's almanac, a schedule for palace activities, even a game board. In his 1980 book The Feistus Disc, Hieroglyphic Greek with Euclidean Dimensions, German author Andes Collins claimed to have deciphered the mysterious script and maintained that the language of the disc was Greek and that it contains the proof of a geometric theorem. However, Collins' translation has found little support among archaeologists and linguists. In his 1999 book The Bronze Age Computer Disc, author Alan Butler postulated that the Feistus Disc functioned as an incredibly accurate astronomical calendar or calculating device. However, there is no explicit evidence that the Minoans had any detailed knowledge of astronomy and even the ancient Egyptians' comprehension of astronomy at the time was not detailed enough to support Butler's hypothesis. Not a single example of the stamped or printed method of writing of the Feistus Disc has been found in the numerous excavations carried out on Crete over the past 100 years or so. This complete lack of comparative material has suggested to some that this disc is a forgery. Something that adds to the feeling of unease about the disc's genuineness is that specialists in Mediterranean and Near Eastern archaeology seem unwilling to get involved in the debate about the artifact. Dr. Jerome M. Eisenberg of Minerva Magazine has suggested the disc was created by an expert forger soon before its discovery. Eisenberg states that he believes the object was manufactured to enhance the reputation of Dr. Perunier who wished to compete with the incredible discoveries of fellow archaeologists on Crete, Federico Halbert at Gortina, and Sir Arthur Evans at Gnosis. Sponsorship to fund Perunier's continuing excavations at the Minoan Palace site may also have been an issue. A thermoluminescence dating test would certainly prove whether the object was made during the last 100 years or did in fact date to the Minoan period, but so far the Greek authorities have been unwilling to submit the disc to such a test. Consequently, the possibility that the object is a forgery made in the early 1900s using the limited knowledge of the Minoan culture available at the time is perhaps a far-fetched but by no means out-of-the-question scenario. In connection with the hoax theory, an intriguing find was made in 1992 in the basement of a house in North Ossetia, Russia. It was a fragment of a clay disc smaller in size than the Feistus disc but apparently a copy of it, though the symbols on this disc were incised rather than stamped. There were rumors of a hoax before the disc disappeared mysteriously a few years later and nothing has been heard since. Despite the apparent thanklessness of the task, many researchers throughout the world still work away diligently attempting to decipher the disc. But the extreme variations in the many purported translations have made scholars doubtful of any future success at decipherment and indicate to many that while it remains an isolated example of its kind, the disc can never be properly understood. We can only hope that future archaeological excavations in Crete or perhaps elsewhere in the Mediterranean will turn up further examples of this mysterious script. Until then, the Feistus disc now on display in the Archaeological Museum of Heraclean and Crete will remain a unique enigma. As claimed by many and even the government, Bangar Fort remains the most haunted place across India. Constructed back in the time of kings and queens, this beautiful fort resides near the Aravali range of hills. With amazing architecture and eye-catching view of the history, Bangar Fort holds many haunting stories and is home to spirits of people who probably used to live here before this historical fort met its tragic fate. The Bangar Fort was built in 1631 A.D. by the Kashwaha ruler of Amber, King Bhagwant Das, for his younger son, Mano Singh. Mano Singh's brother was Sawai Man Singh, who was Akbar's general at the time. The first thing to notice before you enter the premises of this fort is a warning signboard placed by the government which says that, quote, the entrance to the fort is prohibited before and after sunrise. Any violation of this will be a subject of criminal offense and necessary actions will be taken against any violator, unquote. Now this warning is placed just before the huge gate of the Bangar Fort by the government of India itself. With lack of enough security and very wide boundaries, it is easy to trespass Bangar Fort, but still, locals say that is a stupid thing to do, since as soon as the sun goes out, the ruins of market, shops, and the streets inside Bangar gather all its glory back again. The only difference is that it is not the people that walk on those streets, but the ghosts and the spirits of people who died here. It is believed that the noise of crowds, music, and everything from a 16th century busy street can be heard before the sun rises again. The Bangar story has two tales of how the fort became haunted and was left abandoned back in the time while some of the locals who live in the village near the fort believe in both these stories, but no one is clear which one is truer than the other. Bangar forts and the town were built back in the days by the Kashwaha ruler of Amber, King Bhagwat Singh, for his beloved younger son Madhav Singh in 1573 AD. His older son, Sawai Man Singh, the first, was Emperor Akbar's general at that time. After the death of Madhav Singh, his son, Shater Singh, became the ruler of Bangar. Surrounded by greenery and Aravalli range of hills, it is hard to believe that this beautiful fort was left abandoned and turned into ruins. The folklore legends suggest that before the Bangar fort was built, a Sadhu or Hindu ascetic named Guru Balak Nath lived on the top of the hill where the fort was built later. His only condition for the fort to be built there was that the fort should never cast its shadow on his own dwelling. That could only happen if the fort was not built tall enough. His condition was honored by Bangwat Singh, by his son Madhav Singh, and the next descendant, Shater Singh. But unfortunately, Shater Singh's son, Ajab Singh, decided not to follow his ancestors in order to build the fort further, adding columns to the fort that eventually raised its height high enough that its shadow would fall onto ascetic's house. Nothing could have stopped the angry Sadhu, and he cursed the whole town of Bangar along with the fort and the surrounding villages. This led to the unfortunate fate of Bangar. It converted into ruins when people abandoned the town as the folklore legend suggests. It is believed that the Bangar fort was four stories tall, and after Ajab Singh's order it was built up to seven stories. But after the curse, the fort crumbled and later only four stories remained above the grounds. Everything above it turned into ruins. Interestingly, the only establishment which remains intact and with a roof over it is the ascetic's house, which is also his tomb now. There is another story that is even more interesting, although similar to the first one. Bangar was cursed, but differently, which led the town to crumble into ruins and never be rebuilt. According to this story, it all started with the princess of Bangar, Ratnavati, daughter of Chatur Singh. She was so beautiful that the tales of her beauty spread far and wide and she received a number of marriage proposals. A priest named Sinjia also fell in love with Ratnavati, but the priest was not someone who worshipped God. He was the one involved in satanic rituals and a practitioner of black magic. Knowing he didn't stand a chance to win the princess' heart, he decided to use black magic for his intentions. He followed Ratnavati into the market and tried to give her a bottle of perfume which she cast a spell on, since he knew Ratnavati was fond of sense. But she found out about his spell on it and angrily threw it onto a stone, which transformed into a boulder due to the effect of the spell, and it rolled onto Sinjia, crushing him to death. But before he died, he cursed Ratnavati, her people, and the whole of Bangar. The fort was doomed within no time. The curse made Bangar fall onto the grounds. No more establishments could hold a roof over it. People died and whoever survived left the town. Nobody knows what happened to Ratnavati after the curse, or if she survived it or not, and for how long. But it is believed that the ghost of Ratnavati, Sinjia, and the people who died here now roam inside the ruins of Bangar. The ghosts of Bangar are believed to be roaming inside the Bangar Fort, where the most haunted is Ratnavati's room, in which she still roams around, hiding from Sinjia's ghost. Many people try to experience the haunted Bangar by trespassing its boundaries during the night, some believing it to be haunted, some denying that completely. Since Bangar, from Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan state in India is just about 85 km, a lot of people reach there to find the true story of Bangar Fort. Moreover, a board put up by the Archaeological Survey of India clearly states that it is prohibited for visitors to enter the Bangar premises before the sunrise and after the sunset. Legal action will be taken against anybody who does not follow those instructions. Many people who still successfully spend some time at Bangar Fort at night have a variety of experiences. One of the Facebook users mentioned that he had spent about six nights in Bangar at different occasions, sometimes experiencing nothing at all, sometimes there being horrible things that happened. While the locals stay away from the boundaries of Bangar, people from around the world are always curious to find the real truth of this hauntingly beautiful place. When Weird Darkness returns, at the end of 1894, French Army Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique and a Jew of Alsatian origin, was accused of handing secret documents to the Imperial German military. After a closed trial, he was found guilty of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment on the dreaded Devil's Island. That is just the beginning of the story that later became known as the Dreyfus Affair. Plus, we have all heard of the power of the mind. It has been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of pain. Some well-trained individuals can use their mind to slow their rate of respiration, to bring their heart beat down to almost nothing with no long-term ill effects. But what about controlling things outside your own body? Is the mind that powerful? Some believe so, and they also believe it is one possible explanation for hauntings. Coming up. No matter the time of day or season, sometimes you need to find a way to rig yourself of those ghostly chills that bring raised hairs and goosebumps to your skin. Other times, you're looking for those ghostly chills. Either way, it sounds like you need a mug of Weird Dark Roast Coffee. Weird Dark Roast Coffee has deep notes of cocoa, caramel, and a touch of sinister sweetness that will send shivers down your taste buds. This is an exclusive coffee that I selected specifically for you, my Weirdo family. Weird Dark Roast is not available in stores, coffee houses, mad scientist labs, or even the dark web, but you can find it at WeirdDarkness.com slash coffee. Weird Dark Roast Coffee, fresh roasted to water so it's as fresh as it can be when it lands on your doorstep and knocks three times. Grab yours now at WeirdDarkness.com slash coffee. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash coffee. Weird Dark Roast Coffee does not actually knock on your door because it doesn't have arms or hands, so if you hear knocks at the door and no one answers when you ask who it is, it's probably paranormal and you should just leave the door shut and locked. Captain Alfred Dreyfus was an artillery captain in the French army who was convicted of treason in 1894 and sentenced to life confinement in a stone hut on the notorious Devil's Island prison. He was Jewish and a victim of anti-Semitism, political intrigue, a corrupt military and false charges, and almost died from unhealthy conditions under a hot equatorial sun. In France, the story of his plight became a national scandal. It was called the Dreyfus Affair. France at that time was still recovering from the 1870 Franco-Prussian War, France's Napoleon III battling Germany's auto-bismarque over power in Europe and expanding colonies overseas. Though they lost the war, France revived during a period of national stability and peace that continued until World War I called La Bella Epoche when the French enjoyed advances in technology, arts and science and a growth of overseas empire. Hanging over that sunny time, however, was the dark cloud of the Dreyfus Affair. Alfred Dreyfus was born in 1859 in Mulhouse, part of Alsace in eastern France near the German and Swiss borders. He was a Jewish ancestry and the youngest of nine children, their father a prosperous textile manufacturer. The family moved to Paris when the Franco-Prussian War broke. After graduating from military school in 1880, he was assigned to an artillery regiment. In 1890, he married Lucia Eugenia Hadamard and they had two children. Two years later while serving as the only Jewish officer in general staff headquarters, it was discovered that an unknown spy was passing information about new artillery parts to the German embassy in Paris. Dreyfus became the prime suspect and was arrested in October 1894 and charged with treason. It was a false charge based on a ripped up letter found in a waste basket by a French spy working in the German embassy. Dreyfus was court-martialed because questionable experts said the letter was in Dreyfus' handwriting. The army knew the evidence was false but they ordered a closed court-martial anyway. In a shoddy trial, Dreyfus asserted his innocence but was convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment four thousand miles from France at the Salvation Island's Penal Colony, three islands seven miles off the coast of French Guiana in South America. Convicts nicknamed one of those islands Devil's Island because of its isolation and brutal guards. There were more penal compounds on the mainland. Before he was sent there, Dreyfus faced public humiliation at a ceremony in front of his regiment standing silent in the courtyard of the Ecole Militaire in Paris, along with a crowd of noisy, abusive onlookers to witness him having his rank, insignia, buttons and braid cut from his uniform and sword broken. I swear that I am innocent, Dreyfus cried out. I remain worthy of serving in the army. Vive la France! Vive la L'Homme! After a 15-day sea voyage locked in his cabin, he arrived at the Salvation Islands, located 340 miles north of the equator. French President Napoleon III ordered the islands converted into a prison compound in 1852 that also included prison facilities on the mainland. It lasted 101 years until 1953. Now it is a tourist destination. In establishing the prison, Napoleon III said, Six thousand condemned men in our prisons weigh heavily on our budget, becoming increasingly depraved and constantly menacing our society. I think it is possible to make the sentence of forced labor more effective, more moralizing, less expensive and more humane by using it to further the progress of French colonization. Originally called the Cayenne Penal Colony, it was named after the capital city of French Guiana. Most of the prisoners never saw France again, but Dreyfus would. It is estimated that 80,000 prisoners suffered and died there. Most of the prisoners lived on Il Royale, or at mainland work camps, as well as a Saint Laurent de Maronais prison 125 miles northwest of Cayenne. Dreyfus spent his month at a reception and processing center on Il Royale before being transferred to Devil's Island as its only prisoner and was confined to a 13x13 foot stone hut. Devil's Island was once a leper colony, later converted to an island prison for political prisoners. Living conditions were primitive and the guards treated him harshly, but it was better than the horrendous punishment facility on Saint Joseph Island where inmates were isolated in tiny, totally dark cells and not allowed to speak to one another for long periods of time. Infignment there was a virtual death sentence from violence, malnutrition or disease. Dreyfus was allowed to write on paper, numbered and signed, one report said. He underwent censorship by the commandant, even when he received mail from his wife Lucia, whereby they encouraged each other. On September 6, 1896, the conditions of life for Dreyfus worsened again. He was chained, double looped, forcing him to stay in bed emotionless with his ankles shackled. This measure was the result of false information of his escape, revealed by a British newspaper. For two long months, Dreyfus was plunged into deep despair, convinced that his life would end on this remote island. Escape from the islands was almost impossible because of sharks. Meanwhile, back in France, his brother Mathias began a crusade to have him freed. The Dreyfus affair had its supporters and detractors. Dreyfus allies, the Dreyfusards, called the whole affair a travesty of justice and demanded he be released and exonerated. They believed in individual rights, equality and citizenship, including citizenship for Jews. Among those supporters were many French intellectuals and artists, including best-selling author and journalist Antoine France, Akris Sara Bernhardt, future French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, artists Pissarro and Monet, and novelists Marcel Proust and Émile Zola. Tirelessly, supporters continued to dig for exculpatory evidence and rally public support while facing an unsympathetic press and corrupt judges pressured by the military. But it would be a scathing letter entitled J'Accuse, written by Zola and published in Clemenceau's newspaper La Ora that would stir the French conscience and ultimately help free Alfred Dreyfus. In the letter, which was addressed to the President of the Republic, Zola exposed the army's cover-up and corruption. Anti-Dreyfusards, including the army and much of the anti-Semitic French public, wanted Dreyfus locked up for life. The death sentence for political offenses was no longer an option, having been abolished in 1848. Two years after Dreyfus arrived at Devil's Island, Army Intelligence Officer Lieutenant Colonel Georges Picarte found evidence pointing to Army Major Ferdinand Walson Esterhazy as the real traitor. The army rejected the evidence and immediately began a cover-up. That meant standing by the original trial's guilty verdict. By 1898, word of Esterhazy's guilt leaked out though, forcing the army to bring him to trial. He was found not guilty in a secret trial and promptly fled the country. That enraged Zola, who then wrote his famous J'Accuse. Zola was brought to trial in a Parisian court on a libel charge, which he welcomed because it opened the door for him to tell the public the whole Dreyfus affair story. He was convicted but escaped to England, returning later. Zola's J'Accuse letter fueled growing public support for Dreyfus and put pressure on the army to reopen the case. In 1899, Dreyfus got his wish, but the second court-martial trial again found him guilty of treason, but, quote, with extenuating circumstances, unquote, and sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment and a further degradation, after more evidence shenanigans by the army. The next day, he filed for another retrial, but it never took place. He was offered a conditional pardon by the President. Exhausted by his long ordeal, he accepted it, but he retained the right to apply for a complete acquittal. At the age of 49, he was once again a free man. Had Dreyfus refused the pardon, he would have been returned to Devil's Island, a fate that he could no longer bear. It wasn't until 1906 that he was fully exonerated and reinstated in the army with the rank of Major. He served as an artillery officer on the western front in World War I and earned the Legion of Honor, retiring after the war. Alfred Dreyfus died in Paris in 1935 at the age of 75, having suffered the horrors of Devil's Island, public humiliation that he didn't deserve, anti-Semitism, and even a world war. He survived it all. Just how powerful, weird, and magical can our minds get? I've been hunting around this theme for a while and I'm still not sure about what the limits are. We know the mind can do all sorts of curious things, especially to our health, but how far can it go? We can direct and consciously try to control our own bodies, but can the mind directly produce effects on physical things outside our own bodies? That would take us into the realm of paranormal psychokinesis, unexplained physical phenomena. Evidence for such is various, ranging from positive results in dice-throwing experiments to reports of spectacular healings. I want to single out the poltergeist or noisy spirit as a particularly interesting item on the menu of paranormality. Interesting is the dual personality of the poltergeist, traditionally seen as mischievous haunting spirits. Today the phenomenons often thought to be the unconscious acting out of emotionally disturbed youngsters, paranormal but not coming from outside this world. Turns out there are poltergeists where no disturbed children are involved though, and where it looks like the poltergeist effects are caused by external, independently intelligent agents. Poltergeists come in all shapes and forms, and in some cases, wreak havoc on one's sense of reality. It's hard to conceive of a power and intelligence that can dance around and manipulate physical reality the way the poltergeist apparently can. I draw on A. Campbell Holmes the fact of psychic science for one of the strangest cases that occurred in Stratford, Connecticut in 1850, and lasted for over a year and a half in the house of Reverend E. Phelps. Phelps lived with his wife, two teen girls, two younger boys, and a maid. It began one day that the family came home from church. All the doors had been locked, but when they came home the front door was wide open. Everything in the nursery was in disorder, with chairs on the bed and things moved around and missing. Later in the day, a nightgown was found on the bed with the arms crossed as if to represent a corpse. Dr. Phelps put the nightgown and other objects that had been tampered with in a trunk, locked the trunk and locked the door to the closet where he placed the trunk, placing the key in his pocket. Fifteen minutes later, all the material locked away appeared outside the bedroom door. The door and the trunk were still locked. The objects somehow made their way through solid matter, such as a ports matter through matter, and are repeatedly reported to occur in poltergeist cases. That was day number one. The following days, for a year and a half, new, weirder and more destructive phenomena took place. Clergymen, reporters, neighbors and others came on the scene and witnessed the phenomena. At breakfast, objects were thrown around the table. On the fourth day, Phelps, his wife and a friend locked themselves in the sitting room, during which time 46 objects dropped onto the floor from nowhere. Nails, keys, blocks of wood, pieces of tin, etc. The next day, the terrible poundings began that would climax with blood-curdling screams that came from nowhere. A chair rose in the air and then hit the floor again and again with market violence. Stuffed effigies appeared that were made out of pillows and other objects from the house. Soon after, hats and clothing were found hidden. On one occasion, a hat was seen ascending a stairway by itself. The young boy, Harry, was terrified when levitated into the air and was once found suspended helplessly in a tree. Seventy-one panes of glass were broken. Mrs. Phelps suffered pinpricks all over her body as she tried to sleep. Dr. Phelps and Harry, while driving in a closed carriage, were pelted by rocks that somehow entered the closed space of their carriage. I've touched on just some of the details of this case. The literature of poltergeists is full of such strange phenomena, including incendiary, bell-ringing and water-spewing poltergeists. There are two points I want to stress about poltergeists, easily one of the most fascinating phenomena. The first is to stress the incredible degree in which the poltergeist can subvert our idea of what is physically possible. The second is that the intelligence behind what we call poltergeists can get quite nasty and destructive. These two points are worth stressing in light of the growing realization that we are being visited by what we might call poltergeists of the sky, or unknown aerial phenomena, UFOs and UAPs. Again, these entities shatter our assumptions as to what is physically possible and have proven themselves in many cases to be nasty and destructive. In comparing the two sets of phenomena, it is hard to avoid feeling that they are connected and possibly emanate from the same order of unknown reality. The question about the linkage between parapsychology and ufology needs to be probed more closely. The U.S. government is opening up to the reality of UFOs and needs to open up to the realities of the paranormal. There is a gigantic picture of what may be going on that needs to be confronted. Coming up, is it possible that our history books are wrong and that humans actually did walk with dinosaurs? It might not be as far-fetched as it sounds, especially when you look at tales of knights, dragons and Tyrannosaurus Rex blood cells. That story is up next on Weird Darkness. There have been monsters among us lurking in the darkest corners of America, preying on children since the first settlers arrived on our shores. They have always been with us, stalking the innocent from the days of the original colonies to the Gilded Age, the Depression and beyond. These monsters are not the stuff of fiction. They are blood-curdlingly real and they still walk among us, always looking for their next victim. In the chilling book Suffer the Children, Troy Taylor shines a light on the darkest tales of horror and hauntings from American history and presents a terrifying collection of dark crimes perpetrated against our most tender victims, our children. His most disturbing book yet includes nightmarish tales from the 19th century, when the good old days were never good, like the Monster of the North Wood, the Pocassette Horror and the Girl in the Cellar, and continues into the modern day with accounts of the Clarkson Woods, America's first school massacre, Wineville Chicken Coupe Murders, Babes of Englewood, Suzanne Degnan, the Girl Scout Camp Massacre, the perfect murder of Bobby Franks and many more. Be warned, this is not a book for the faint of heart. These are tales containing brutal, agonizing, and terrifying scenes of horror. Suffer the Children, American Horror's Homicides at Haunting, Dead Men, Do Tell Tale Series Book 15 by Troy Taylor. Here a free sample on the audiobooks page at WeirdDarkness.com. Recently, paleontologists examining Tyrannosaurus bones found remnants of red blood cells, erythrocytes, and the microvessels that permeate them. It is unlikely that red blood cells could survive for tens of millions of years. Such discoveries cast doubt on the multi-million-year age of fossil lizards, and even suggest that humans and dinosaurs were still recent neighbors on the planet, maybe even existing at the same time. You might have seen the film Bay Wolf and Grendel, made by Western European filmmakers a few years ago. In the film, Grendel the Troll is shown as a wild man of huge height and frightening appearance, but not all scholars of the Anglo-Saxon epic of Bay Wolf imagine the Troll that way. They pay attention to the fact, according to the description, Grendel moved silently on two powerful hind limbs, while the front ones were small, frail, and hung helplessly in the air. The creature's skin could not be pierced with a sword or a spear. Grendel's lifespan could exceed 300 years, and by the end of his life, the beast was several times the height of the man it had no trouble swallowing. And the very name of the Troll, Grendel, translates as Thresher. He could literally grind up the bones of his victims. Isn't that a Tyrannosaurus? Bay Wolf cut off Grendel's weak and clumsy front paw in close combat, after which the beast died, bleeding to death. No wonder, the Tyrannosaurus's blood pressure was very high for a normal supply of oxygen to such a massive head so high above the ground. In general, the seasonal dragon hunt was almost the main occupation of the brave Bay Wolf. The hero and his team paid a lot of attention to studying the structure, habits, and lifestyle of such monsters. The descriptions given in the epic allow us to identify almost all the species of dragons mentioned there with fossil lizards. Knights vs Dinosaurs? Balderdash? Not necessarily. Western European knights and their predecessors always considered it valiant to fight the dragon. For example, the saga Volsung glorifies the exploit of a warrior named Sigurd, who defeated the monster Fafnir. The dragon moved on four legs, dragging his heavy body along the ground. Knowing that the height of Fafnir's back was invulnerable to a sword or spear, Sigurd dug a hole in the path where the monster walked to the watering hole and, sitting in it, struck the beast above him in the belly. However, heroes and knights were not always victorious in battle. According to the ancient Celtic Chronicles, King Morrid was killed and swallowed by the monster Balua in 336 BC. It swallowed Morrid's body as a large fish swallows a small one. The early Briton King Peridar was more fortunate to have prevailed in a battle with a similar monster in Wales. British Chronicles also tell of many places in present-day Wales once inhabited by monsters, Afonks and Karogs, and give their names by these creatures. One of the last Afonks was killed in 1693 by Edward Lloyd at Lenar Afonk in the River Conway. And the Canterbury Temple Chronicle notes that on Friday, September 16, 1449, near the village of Little Conrad, which was on the Suffolk and Essex border, many residents witnessed a battle between two giant reptiles. Another medieval British Chronicle relates that in 1405, near the town of Boers, near Sudbury, to the dismay of all the people, a dragon appeared, huge in body, with a comb on its head, its teeth, like the teeth of a saw, and a tail of unimaginable length. It killed the shepherd and devoured many sheep. Heroes' battles with dragons also took place in the Middle East. Saint George the victorious once defeated such a predatory reptile. During one of his campaigns, he found himself in Beirut. Not far from the city, in the Lebanese mountains, there was a lake in which lived a predatory dragon, which horrified the whole neighborhood. The pagan priests ordered the locals to bring a boy or a girl to the lake every day to be eaten by the beast. Having learned about it, sacred George has entered into single combat with a dragon and has pierced his throat with a spear having pinned it to the ground. Then he transported the wounded monster and dragged it to a city where he decapitated it in front of a large crowd of people. Today Saint George, defeating the dragon, decorates coats of arms, palaces, and temples across Europe and beyond. Researcher enthusiast Alexander Bogdanov notes that the canonical dragon as a rule resembles a carnivorous dinosaur Baryonks. The Bible mentions the ancient Babylonian fire-red dragon Sirush. This creature, which in Mesotemia was also called Meshusu, was considered there the offspring of the mother of all dragons, the divine Tiamat. The images of Sirush were discovered by British archaeologist Robert Caldeway at the end of the 19th century on the Babylonian gate of Queen Ishtar, which he found at the time. These gates were of very ancient origin. King Nebuchadnezzar renewed them and left a text for posterity with the words, I have decorated the walls with Sirushas so that all men may look upon them and marvel. The same Caldeway in 1913 first suggested that the Babylonian dragon resembled fossil lizards. In 1918 he went further and argued in his next book that the animal, if it existed, should be classified as an avian dinosaur. Caldeway wrote, Iguanodon, found in Cretaceous deposits in Belgium, is the closest relative of the Babylonian dragon. Images of dinosaurs and more modern ones as well have been found in other places. One Cambodian temple dating from around 1200 has a bob relief depicting a stegosaurus, an ancient lizard with pointed plates along its spine. In Britain, on the tombstone of Bishop Richard Bell, who died in 1496 in Carlisle Cathedral, there is an unusual engraving depicting animals that are otherwise difficult to characterize as deplotics. There they are alongside the usual dog, pig, fish and bird. Needless to say, there are innumerable representations of dragons on Chinese crockery and embroidery, as well as their prevalence in medieval European heraldry. Generally speaking, the mythical dragon, unlike real dinosaurs, was a fire-breathing creature. It would seem to be a purely fantastic creature, but it is not that simple. Some paleontologists believe that there was some chemically active liquid, an unsaturated hydrocarbon in the head reservoir bags of dinosaurs connected to the nasopharynx by special channels. A sharp contraction of the reservoir bag led to the release of the hydrocarbon. Igniting in the air, the jet served the dragon as a weapon of defense and attack. Not so long ago, people documented cases of encounters with fire-breathing gigantic creatures. The great ancient historian, Nicostratus of Simothrus, wrote in his diary, the high serpent burnt the ships of the Phoenicians with fire. Today, there are still similar fire-breathing creatures, only miniature ones. For example, the bombardier beetle. The insect, not exceeding 2 cm in length, is endowed with an amazing defense mechanism. In special muscle pouches, the bombardier keeps a mixture of hydroquinone and 25% hydrogen peroxide solution, which do not react with each other under normal conditions. In case of danger, the mixture enters the reactor chamber located in the back of the bug's body and containing a special enzyme that acts as a catalyst. An instant explosive oxidation reaction takes place and a jet of red-hot gas is fired at the offender. So it seems that even the phenomenon of fire-breathing dragons and dinosaurs can be explained rationally. If you want to go further into this topic and hear about it from a Christian-biblical perspective, I have also posted a new episode of The Church of the Undead today in the Weird Darkness podcast. It's titled Dragons, Slayers, and a Dino Boat Ride. Most people aren't going to agree with it and that's fine, but for those weirdos and cries who want to hear more, or for those who are just curious, everybody's welcome in The Church of the Undead. I'll leave a link to that special Church of the Dead episode in the show notes. Thanks for listening. If you liked the show, please share it with someone you know who loves the paranormal or strange stories, true crime, monsters, or unsolved mysteries like you do. You can email me anytime with your questions or comments at darren at weirddarkness.com. Darren is D-A-R-R-E-N. Weirddarkness.com is also where you can find information on any of the sponsors you heard about during the show. Find all my social media, listen to free audiobooks I've narrated, sign up for the email newsletter, find other podcasts that I host, including Retro Radio, Old Time Radio in the Dark, Church of the Undead, and a classic 1950s sci-fi style podcast called Auditory Anthology. Also on the site, you can visit the store for Weird Darkness t-shirts, smugs, and other merchandise, plus it's where you can find the Hope in the Darkness page if you or someone you know is struggling with depression, addiction, or thoughts of harming yourself or others. And if you have a true paranormal or creepy tale to tell of your own, you can click on Tell Your Story. You can find all of that and more at WeirdDarkness.com. All stories on Weird Darkness are purported to be true unless stated otherwise, and you can find links to the stories or the authors in the show notes. A London Body Snatcher is by Suzy for DiggingUp1800.com. The Feistus Disk is by Ryan Haughton. Bangar Fort, the most haunted place in India, is from BuggedSpace.com. The Dreyfus Affair is by Sid Albright for CDA Press. The Wild P.K. of the Poltergeist is by Dr. Michael Grosso for Consciousness Unbound. Nights, Dragons, and Dino DNA was posted at Earth Chronicles. And again, I've also placed a link in the show notes to my Church of the Undead episode entitled Dragons, Slayers, and a Dino Boat Ride. Weird Darkness is a registered trademark. Copyright, Weird Darkness. And now that we're coming out of the dark, I'll leave you with a little light. Proverbs 12, verse 25. Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up. At a final thought, you can't be real with others if you're not real with yourself. I'm Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me in the Weird Darkness. Hey Weirdos, if you're a fan of my retro radio episodes or if you just love classic radio shows in general, you can binge listen even more of it with my new podcast, Retro Radio Old Time Radio in the Dark. These episodes have become so popular that I needed to create a separate podcast in order to offer more of it. Now I can post old time radio shows seven days a week, including single episodes of dark and mysterious shows, as well as marathon episodes that are several hours in length for binge listening to a creepy and macabre program. I'll still post one episode each Sunday in my Weird Darkness podcast, but if you want more old time radio content, visit WeirdDarkness.com slash Retro Radio. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash Retro Radio. Or look for Retro Radio Old Time Radio in the dark wherever you listen to podcasts. Hey Weirdos, be sure to click the like button and subscribe to this channel and click the notification bell so you don't miss future videos. I post videos seven days a week, and while you're at it, spread the darkness by sharing this video with someone you know who loves all things strange and macabre. If you want to listen to the podcast, you can find it at WeirdDarkness.com slash Listen.