Dr. Beachcombing wants to know why there aren’t more photos of real phenomena hitting the intertubes. From our point of view, weird isn’t elusive but folks with the presence of mind to snap one off are rare as hen’s teeth. Consider dropping him a line since he doesn’t bite. And if he does, you won’t […]
Ever wonder why folks raise such a racket on New Year’s Eve? It’s to scare away malign spirits who might jinx the new year. If you didn’t know, Dr. Beachcombing’s sideline is ghostbusting and he lays out some tried-and-tested techniques for shooing spooks. No proton pack? No problem! Just don’t be fooled, as TH Online […]
Stealing penises isn’t just for African witch doctors, as it’s a time-tested craft practiced in medieval Europe with expected reactions. Ripped from the Malleus Maleficarum, Dr. Beachcombing has a tale which will make you cross your legs in sympathy. Someone who’d never think of stealing anything resembling a sausage is the holy mother, and Maureen […]
Workers, plagued with nightmares, avoided work on March 10th, 1890. Locals around the mine also claimed strange occurrences before the fateful explosion. Weirder still, the company made threats against anyone opening up about their experiences. Dr. Beachcombing takes a tip from Eric Wargo with this antique gem. We’re reminded of David Sivier, who’s Looked Back […]
See a ghost? Aha, a case of phantasia. Science to the rescue! Take this pill. You’ll get instant stomach relief and the ghost will go away. Or so claimed this ad in a 19th century Irish newspaper. In Late Shift: Nurses Share Their Spooky Encounters, Xavier Ortega shares some nurse tales of encounters their patients […]
Is this a case of thieves taking advantage of a superstitious peasant, or real fairies up to shenanigans? Dr. Beachcombing lays out this case’s peculiarities for your approval. While fleecing a peasant is egregious, a pharmaceutical company is pressing their luck despite a Irish Lore Keeper’s Dire Warning That A US Company Will Be Cursed […]
From The Rebirth of Pan, to John Keel’s writings, and the realm of deep myth, tricksters play a powerful role in human culture. Even cropping up in the Bible, and not as Satan! But Dr. Beachcombing wants to know who first coined the term? One of his correspondents, Bruce T, leads us through a gallery […]
An early 20th census of people reporting some form or visual or aural hallucination while awake suggests that there are a lot more people seeing or hearing aliens, angels, demons, fairies, ghosts, zombies etc., than most of us would think. In Dr. Beach’s own survey of fairy reports, he’s found that experiencers fall into two […]
Last week, we summarized the first set of Dr. Beachcombing’s series on the Tower Monster. A ghost spooking the on-site curator of Britain’s most haunted sites, along with taking the life of an unwary guard. No mere fancy, its legend was recorded as a poem for a shoe polish advertisement! Not only does Warren’s Splendid […]
Host to several ghosts, the notorious Tower of London may be suffused with strange energies sustaining its residents. Dr. Beachcombing kicks off his series with the original account from Edmund Swifte, keeper of the Crown Jewels. It’s two stories in one, full of queer objects, stories of girls playing at spiritualism, and a bear-like figure […]