The Eclectic: True Crime & Paranormal Stories
Step into the shadows with The Eclectic, a podcast where folklore, true crime, the paranormal, and bloody history converge. From ghostly legends and UFO encounters to the darkest deeds of history’s most infamous figures, each episode pulls back the curtain on the mysteries that haunt us. With a tone that’s chilling yet captivating, The Eclectic is for those who crave stories that linger long after the episode ends.
Episodes
26 episodes
Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm? / The Charles Walton Murder
In 1943, four boys exploring woodland in Hagley Wood discovered a human skull hidden inside the trunk of a wych elm tree.The victim was later identified only as “Bella” — but who she was, how she died, and who placed her inside the tree ...
Lake Shawnee Amusement Park
Hidden in the hills of West Virginia lies an abandoned amusement park with a history far darker than its rides suggest.Before Lake Shawnee Amusement Park became a family attraction, the land was connected to violence, tragedy, and loss. ...
The Somerton Man: A Mystery Revisited
In 1948, the body of an unidentified man was discovered on Somerton Beach in Adelaide.He carried no identification. There were no signs of violence. And every label on his clothing had been removed.Wha...
The Dancing Plague of 1518
In the summer of 1518, a woman began dancing in the streets of Strasbourg.She didn’t stop.Within days, others joined her. Then dozens more. Soon, entire groups were dancing uncontrollably — for hours, for days, in some ca...
Seath Mor - Five Stones One Curse
In Rothiemurchus, there’s a grave that no one will touch.It belongs to Seath Mòr Sgorfhiachlach—a 14th-century clan chief known as The Great Shaw. But it isn’t the man people fear.It’s what sits on top of his grave.
The Lead Masks Case: Instructions for Death
In 1966, two men were found dead on a hillside in Niterói, Brazil — dressed in suits, lying side by side, and wearing strange lead eye masks.There were no signs of violence. No clear cause of death. And in their pockets...
The Black Donnellys: Violence, Vengeance, and a Family Erased
In nineteenth-century Ontario, the Donnelly family became the centre of one of Canada’s most violent and enduring legends.Accused of theft, feuds, and lawlessness, the Donnellys were feared and resented by their neighbours. Tensions simm...
Spring-Heeled Jack: The Terror That Leapt Through London
In the early nineteenth century, London was gripped by fear of a figure that seemed to defy explanation.Witnesses described a man — or something like one — with glowing eyes, clawed hands, and the ability to leap impossibly high over wal...
Gilles de Rais: From War Hero to Monster
Once a celebrated knight and companion of Joan of Arc, Gilles de Rais was one of the most powerful men in fifteenth-century France.But behind his wealth and status lay something far darker.Accused of committing horrific cri...
Borley Rectory - England's Most Haunted House
Borley Rectory has long been called “the most haunted house in England.”From phantom footsteps and ghostly nuns to messages scrawled on walls and unexplained fires, the rectory became the centre of one of the most famous paranorma...
The Isdal Women
The Isdal Woman: Norway’s Unsolved MysteryIn November 1970, the burned body of an unidentified woman was discovered in a remote valley near Bergen, Norway. What followed was one of Europe’s most baffling mysteries.
Thomas Busby: The Curse of the Chair
In the early eighteenth century, an English criminal named Thomas Busby was executed for murder. According to local legend, before his death he placed a curse on the chair he had been sitting in — declaring that anyone who dared sit in i...
Hinterkaifeck: The Farm That Heard Footsteps
In March 1922, six members of the Gruber family were murdered on a remote Bavarian farmstead known as Hinterkaifeck.Days before the killings, the family reported strange occurrences: footprints in the snow leading to the house but none r...
Mary Toft: The Woman Who Gave Birth to a Lie
In 1726, England was gripped by one of the strangest medical scandals in history.Mary Toft, a poor woman from Surrey, claimed she was giving birth to rabbits — a story so extraordinary that it fooled physicians, surgeons, and even the ro...
The Dyatlov Pass Incident
In February 1959, nine experienced hikers died in the remote Ural Mountains under circumstances so strange they continue to defy explanation.Their tent was cut open from the inside. They fled barefoot into sub-zero temperatures....
John Bodkin Adams: The Doctor Who Buried His Patients
John Bodkin Adams: The Doctor Who Was Always There at the EndEastbourne was meant to be a place to grow old quietly. Neat streets. Polite society. Doctors you trusted with your life.John Bodkin Adams was one of tho...
Bloody Mary: A Queen Forged in Fear
Mary Tudor: Bloody Queen or Misunderstood Monarch?Mary Tudor is remembered by history as “Bloody Mary” — England’s first crowned queen, a devout Catholic, and a ruler synonymous with fire, persecution, and fear. But how m...
The Women of Whitechapel: Mary Jane Kelly: The Woman In The Room
Mary Jane Kelly: The Final VictimMary Jane Kelly’s murder on 9 November 1888 marked the brutal end of the Jack the Ripper’s known killing spree — and remains the most horrifying crime associated with the case.Unlike the oth...
The Women of Whitechapel: Catherine Eddowes - The Woman In The Square
Step into the life of Catherine Eddowes, a woman whose resilience and spirit defied the harsh realities of Victorian London. In this episode, we explore her journey marked by intelligence, creativity, and defiance, revealing a legac...
Krampus: The Devil Who Walks At Christmas
Krampus: The Devil Who Walks At ChristmasLong before Christmas became a season of warmth, lights, and goodwill, something darker stalked the winter nights.In this episode of The Eclectic, we delve into the chilling...
The Women of Whitechapel: Elizabeth Stride
Elizabeth Stride: The Interrupted KillingElizabeth Stride’s murder on 30 September 1888 stands apart from the other canonical victims of Jack the Ripper. Unlike the killings that came before and after, Stride’s body bore none of t...
The Women of Whitechapel: Annie Chapman
Annie Chapman’s murder on 8 September 1888 didn’t just deepen the terror gripping Whitechapel — it changed the investigation forever. Brutal, swift, and unnervingly precise, her killing marked a shift in the pattern of violence and gave police ...
The Women of Whitechapel: : Lives Before The Ripper: Mary Ann Nichols: The Woman the World Forgot
Before Jack the Ripper became a legend, Mary Ann “Polly” Nichols was a mother, a daughter, a wife, and a woman fighting to survive the brutal realities of Victorian London. In this deeply human opening to our Whitechapel series, we walk with he...
The Lights In Rendlesham Forest
The forest remembers. On the cold nights of December 1980, lights descended into Rendlesham Forest and changed the lives of the men stationed at RAF Woodbridge forever. What began as a routine security patrol spiralled into one of th...
Fire & Faith - The Lewes Bonfire
Every November, the quiet town of Lewes erupts in fire, fury, and centuries-old ritual. Beneath the blazing torches and roaring processions lies a story of rebellion, religion, and remembrance — where the line between celebration and chaos burn...