In the End

As part one of serial killer March, we're kicking things off by talking about who serial killers are - the available statistics, some of the common misconceptions, and the psychological commonalities of those who become serial killers.    If you're interested in looking at the statistics yourself, you can look at the Florida Gulf Coast University and Radford University database mentioned in the episode here. Or you can check out the information available from the FBI.

We've talked about burial before, but we haven't actually covered when humans decided to do that and how it worked. Fear not! This week, that's exactly what we're doing - the how, when, what, and maybe why of humans deciding to bury their dead.   Interested in reading more? Check out: Pettitt, P. 2011. The Palaeolithic Origins of Human Burial. London: Routledge.

Why were the Grimm stories so... well, grim? There are several very good reasons for it. Let's unpack it together. And maybe then we can start to unpack some of the childhood trauma we endured from reading them.   If you're interested in some collections outside of The Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Andersen, might we suggest the following authors (by no means an exhaustive list) who wrote collected fairytales. Many of their collections can be found on the Gutenburg Project.  Joseph Jacobs (Celtic) Samuel Lover (Irish) Wolfram Eberhard (Chinese) Friedrich Kreutzwald (Estonian) Giambattista Basile (Italian) Americo Paredes (Mexican) Alexander Afanasyev (Russian) Peter Henry Emerson (Welsh) J. C. Poestion (Finland) Vishnu Sharma (India)  

Do dead bodies have rights? Are they people or things? Well, in the US at least, it entirely depends on your state. But we're rounding up the general overview of what rights a corpse has and how they work this week because... well, why not?

Well, this is a weird one. We've got some questionable hotel staffing practices in the 1930s, a strange hotel guest, and a lot of mysterious phone calls that leave much to be desired. On the positive side, we've got some great old-timey names like The Kansas City Journal-Post, Artemus Ogletree, and Della Ferguson.

The chilling, thrilling, and ultimately unfortunate conclusion of Scott's attempt to get to the South Pole before anyone else. On an unrelated note, proper preparation is important, kids.   For further reading, check out: Huntford, Roland. 1999. The Last Place on Earth. Scott and Amundsen’s Race to the South Pole. New York: Modern Library.   Cherry-Garrad, Apsley. 1922. The Worst Journey in the World. London: Penguin Books.

(Not so) Great Scott! This week we're jumping into another journey that didn't quite go so great. Was it bad luck or just incompetence? Find out as we walk through the preparation phase of Scott's attempted journey to the South Pole.   If you want to see the maps and timeline of Scott and Amundsen's respective journeys, you can see them on this incredibly detailed website.   For further reading, check out: Huntford, Roland. 1999. The Last Place on Earth. Scott and Amundsen’s Race to the South Pole. New York: Modern Library.   Cherry-Garrad, Apsley. 1922. The Worst Journey in the World. London: Penguin Books.

There are a lot of movies and video games about survival (or murder) in space, but what's the deal with actual death in the final frontier? Has anyone died up there? What's the plan if someone does? What are we thinking about body disposal for longer term missions? Get your space nerd pocket protectors out and let's go!   If you'd like to read more about the Body Back system, check out this article from Slate. Or if you'd like to listen to the entire Apollo 13 mission comms, you can find those here in NASA's archives.  

We know what you're thinking. Well, we might know what you're thinking. But, as is so often the case, common mythos and popular media have largely done this disease a disservice. This week we're delving into the facts (and, of course, the unsettling realities) of Hansen's disease.   For further reading: Tayman, John. 2006. The Colony. New York: Scribner. Edmond, Rod. 2007. Leprosy and Empire. A Medical and Cultural History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ki Che Leung, Angela. 2009. Leprosy in China. A History. New York: Columbia University Press.

Almost everyone has a plan for the zombie apocalypse and maybe you've watched the "Thriller" video in celebration of the spooky season, but this week we're going to talk about how the idea of zombies originated and how it developed into the media craze we see today.   If you're interested in a more detailed history of the origin story of zombies, we highly recommend listening to the Throughline podcast's episode ZOMBIES from 2019.

It's that time of year when you watch movies that make you too afraid to sleep or shower or maybe just make you give clowns the stink eye when you see them. So, why on Earth would anyone intentionally watch a movie designed to scare your pants off? Well, let's talk about it.   If you're interested in more info on why horror movies are so appealing, there are a ton of things out there, but might we recommend just a few easy to digest pieces: Scream: Chilling Adventures in the Science of Fear by Margee Kerr Why Do Some People Love Horror Movies from SciShow Lessons from a terrified horror researcher by Mathias Clasen at TEDxAarhus "The Lure of Horror" by Christian Jarrett in The Psychologist, November 2011, Vol. 24

Ever find yourself wondering if cannibalism would cure what ails you? Well, that's a little upsetting, but you wouldn't be the first. In this episode, we cover some of the history of using corpses for anything from curing epilepsy to anti-aging potions.   If you feel compelled to read more on the topic, check out: Sugg, Richard. 2016. Mummies, Cannibals and Vampires. The History of Corpse Medicine from the Renaissance to the Victorians. London: Routledge.

The title probably tells you the basic gist of the situation, but we promise it's still a mystery. To kick off our third season, we're discussing the bizarre and deeply unsettling Tylenol murders from 1980s Chicago.

It's too hot and we need to go to Siberia. Unfortunately, we can't. So, instead, we decided to discuss a truly bizarre mystery from 1959 that took place in Soviet Siberia. We've got dead hikers, an uncanny collection of facts, and absolutely no definitive explanations. Theories? Oh, yeah. There are ever so many theories.

When you have a partially dismantled dam on top of a mountain over a heavily populated valley, what could possibly go wrong? Well, caught up in the classism of the Industrial Revolution in America, the citizens of Johnstown can give you a prime example.    Want to know more? We recommend: The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster; Reprint edition (January 15, 1987) or check out The Johnstown Flood Museum (https://www.jaha.org/attractions/johnstown-flood-museum/flood-history/)

Why would anyone pay exorbitant sums and go to a ton of trouble over a scrap of fabric or a bit of questionable bone or the like? Well, we have some questions. But we also have some answers, so this week we're definitely going to break down the history of how, when, and why people in Europe started doing this.

We've talked about mummifying people on purpose and mummifying people with mountains, but now we're going to a whole new place to get our mummies - bogs! These unique biomes also offer some truly unique body preservation and we're taking this week to delve into the where, what, and possible whys of bog bodies.   For more reading: Aldhouse-Green, Miranda. 2015. Bog Bodies Uncovered: Solving Europe’s Ancient Mystery. London: Thames & Hudson.  Cockburn, A., E. Cockburn, and T. A. Reyman. 1998. Mummies, Disease & Ancient Cultures. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

This week we bring you a listener request - Leonarda Cianciulli. This early 20th-century true crime story is a little different from our usual format, but it involves fortunetellers, tea cakes, and even a musical, so we really couldn't go wrong.

The Holodomor (or Terror-Famine) is probably not the first thing you think of when you hear "famine," but we're thinking maybe it should be? It's arguably the only intentionally orchestrated one in history and it involves a whole lot of fascinating (and predictable) Soviet-ness. So, why not join us on a tour of some truly horrific Stalinist policy?   Applebaum, Anne. 2017. Red Famine. Stalin’s War on Ukraine. London: Penguin.   Naimark, Norman M. 2010. Stalin’s Genocides. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Remember when we were all worried that the nuclear apocalypse was nigh instead of re-reading The Stand and watching Contagion? Yeah, we remember that too. So, we thought we could talk about what the outbreak of nuclear war would actually look like on the ground (and the atmosphere) - just in case you're sick of thinking about COVID-19. For more reading on this topic and several other potential "what ifs," check out The Day It Finally Happens: Alien Contact, Dinosaur Parks, Immortal Humans, And Other Possible Phenomena by Mike Pearl. If you'd like to map some nuclear weapon explosions, you can find the NUKE MAP here: https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/

Although tempting, this is not a review of the movie The Mummy. Instead, we're going OG to give you a more complete picture of Egyptian mummies than you likely got in primary school. Organ gods, organ soup, The Devourer of Souls, and Egyptian excess at its most exquisite. Join us for some mummy talk.   For a general overview of the history of ancient Egypt:Bard, Kathryn A. 2007. An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.On Egyptian conceptions of the afterlife:Assmann, Jan. 2001. Death and Salvation in Ancient Egypt. Munich: C.H. Beck.For details on death, burial, mummification, and the cult of the dead:Reeves, Nicholas and Richard H. Wilkinson. 1996. The Complete Valley of the Kings. London: Thames & Hudson.Lehner, Mark. 1997. The Complete Pyramids. London: Thames & Hudson.Lacce, William W. 2013. Mummification and Death Rituals of Ancient Egypt. San Diego: Reference Point Press.Harrington, Nicola. 2013. Living with the Dead: Ancestor Worship and Mortuary Ritual in Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Oxbow.

In April 1981 at least three people were gruesomely and messily murdered in a California cabin. Neighbors as little as 15 feet away heard and saw nothing. Three people were even in the cabin and somehow slept through it. False and maybe not-so-false confessions. Poor police work. Anonymous phone calls about skulls. Also, what about Tina?! This week we bring you an unsolved case that's as confusing and baffling as it is brutal.

Everyone is a little stressed. Okay, most people are straight up panicked. But we at In the End are here for you. Today we bring you a disease episode that is both disgusting and a feel-good story. We'll walk through what smallpox did to people and how humans decided to not let it do that anymore.   Also, if you're interested in any of those outbreak scenarios the CDC put together, you can find them here: https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/bioterrorism-response-planning/index.html

This week we go to Hell! But at least we brought a guide. In this week's episode our guest host, Dalila Alberghina, acts as the Virgil to our Dante as she takes us through the historical context and importance of The Divine Comedy and then goes through all the nitty-gritty details of what this version of the afterlife entails. Want a fun visual and some more information? Visit https://www.alpacaprojects.com/inferno/en/ 

You asked for it, and we're here to deliver. This week we dive into the infamous Donner Party, which set out towards the West Coast in 1846 to claim their piece of the American dream. What went wrong? Basically everything. How bad did it get? Cannibalism.    For further reading:   Rarick, Ethan. 2008. Desperate Passage. The Donner Party’s Perilous Journey West. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Brown, Daniel James. 2009. The Indifferent Stars Above. The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride. New York: Harper Collins. Johnson, Kristin. 1996. “Unfortunate Immigrants.” Narratives of the Donner Party. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press.

It's an iconic, breathtaking marvel of modern engineering. It's also been an incredibly popular spot to jump to one's death basically since it opened. Today we're taking a surprisingly thorough dive into the history of suicide and The Golden Gate Bridge.  If you're interested in an even more thorough history on the topic, might we suggest the book The Final Leap: Suicide on the Golden Gate Bridge by Jason Bateson (2012). Although many of our topics can get morbid, we recognize that suicide can be especially difficult for some listeners. If you or someone you know is struggling, please know there are resources out there to help. United States: The National Suicide Hotline (1-800-273-8255) is available 24/7 for crisis intervention and to help you find resources near you. They are also available on live chat (suicidepreventionlifeline.org). Canada: Crisis Services Canada is available 24/7 for phone, text, or online chats to help you through a crisis or connect you with resources near you. (crisisservicescanada.ca/en/) International: An extensive list of suicide crisis lines around the world.

So, where do we go from all-day open pyres and dressing up bones? To the modern era of cremation! For the second part of our series, we follow the evolution of modern cremation (mostly in the US) starting in bucolic Pennsylvania, United States. Think it's boring? Well, we kick off with a "dirty old man," a pagan funeral, and a body preserved in arsenic for six months. Buckle up.   Want an even more complete history of cremation in America? Check out Purified by Fire: A History of Cremation in America by Stephen Prothero.

We've teased it. We've talked about it. It's finally here! This week, we take on the first part of our cremation series. Spectacularly specific rituals, bones in costume, and just enough gross stuff to make you remember you're listening to In the End.   Also, incredibly detailed resources if you want more info: For Hittite royal cremations: van den Hout, T. P. J. 1994. Death as a Privilege. The Hittite Royal Funerary Ritual. In Hidden Futures. Death and Immortality in Ancient Egypt, Anatolia, the Classical, Biblical and Arabic-Islamic World. T. P. J. van den Hout, R. Peters and J. M. Bremer, ed. Pp. 37-75. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.    Article that talks about the links between Greek and Hittite cremations (since I specifically mention it):  Rutherford, Ian. 2007. Achilles and the Sallis Wastais Ritual: Performing Death in Greece and Anatolia. In Performing Death. Social Analyses of Funerary Traditons in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean, edited by Nicola Laneri, pp. 223-236. Oriental Institute Seminars, Vol. 3. The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Chicago.     Article discussing the process of burning bodies on open pyres:  Williams, H. 2004. Death Warmed Up: The Agency of Bodies and Bones in Early Anglo-Saxon Cremation Rites. Journal of Material Culture 9(3): 263-291.    And then some general books:  Kaliff, A., and T. Oestigaard. 2017. Cremation, Corpses and Cannibalism. Comparative Cosmologies and Centuries of Cosmic Consumption. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Thompson, T. 2015. The Archaeology of Cremation. Burned Human Remains in Funerary Studies. Studies in Funerary Archaeology 8. Oxford: Oxbow. Devlin, Z. L., and E.-J. Graham. 2015. Death Embodied. Archaeological Approaches to the Treatment of the Corpse. Studies in Funerary Archaeology 9. Oxford: Oxbow.  

New Year's resolutions are in full swing and that diet might be getting you down. We're not going to tell you not to diet, but we are going to talk about what happens if you go just a little too far with it. This week it's starvation - what it is, what happens to your body, and what the risks are.

It's the holiday season and so our present to you, our dear listeners, is a holiday-themed morbid mystery! A missing nurse, a secluded cabin, mystery clothing, magical barrels. This one's a weird, weird murder mystery from North Carolina, and we're going to try to unpack what we know and what might have happened to Debbie Wolfe in December 1985.

Is it real? Do you become the human torch? What in the actual hell is going on? Don't worry, we've got you covered. There's a perfectly thorough explanation and also a few moments that will make you go, "Ew!" That's sort of our sweet spot. So, enjoy this episode on spontaneous human combustion.   The two articles Tara specifically mentions: Christensen, A. M. 2002. Experiments in the Combustibility of the Human Body. Journal of Forensic Science 47 (3): 466-470.Koljonen, V. and Kluger, N. 2012. Spontaneous Human Combustion in the Light of the 21st Century. Journal of Burn Care and Research 33 (3): e102-e108. Also good: Levi-Faict, T. W. and Quatrehomme, G. 2011. So-Called Spontaneous Human Combustion. Journal of Forensic Science 56 (5): 1334-1339.Byard, R. W. 2016. The Mythology of “Spontaneous” Human Combustion. Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology 12: 350-352.

Dead bodies look... well, dead. But wait! There are hundreds of products you can find to perk up those dead bodies and get them looking glowy and fresh-faced in (way more than) no time. From Plasdo-5 to feature builders and mouth formers, mortuary products have got you covered and we're here to talk about many, many of them with you.

Fun fact: It's actually days of the dead. And there's "bread of the dead." Today we're discussing the history and evolution of Day of the Dead. Is it an authentic Latin tradition? Is it a well-packaged money grab pandering to wealthy tourists? Is it an opportunity for cultural pride and inclusion? Maybe it's all of these. But it's definitely a chance to think about death and the experiences surrounding it. 

It's October, so clearly we needed to have a spooky episode of our death podcast for you. So, in the spirit of the season, we bring you the history of vampires - a delicious mix of folklore, superstition, pop culture, and a very poor understanding of anatomy and medicine. Happy Halloween, folks!   References mentioned in the episode: Barber, P. 1988. Vampires, Burial, and Death. Folklore and Reality. New Haven: Yale University Press. Beresford, M. 2008. From Demons to Dracula. The Creation of the Modern Vampire Myth. London: Reaktion Books.  Gregoricka, Lesley, Tracy K. Betsinger, Amy B. Scott, and Marek Polcyn. 2014. Apotropaic Practices and the Undead: A Biogeochemical Assessment of Deviant Burials in Post-Medieval Poland. PloS ONE 9(11): e113564. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/07/31/vampires-remains-were-found-about-years-ago-now-dna-is-giving-him-new-life/?noredirect=on

Feeling a little hot and cold? Got the chills but also sweats? It's probably just late fall.... or maybe you have malaria? It's honestly probably not malaria depending on where you live. But maybe? So, find out malaria's deal as we discuss what it is, how it works, whence it came, and where it's at.

Thinking of starting a cult? Well, for this super, mega episode we're diving into the evolution and demise of The Peoples Temple - the mac daddy of cautionary tales about cults. Plus, we offer you a mini morbid mystery if you can stick through to the end.   For more reading, might we suggest: For primary sources such as transcriptions and audio recordings: Alternative Considerations of Jonestown For a well-researched, comprehensive history by someone on the ground try The Raven by Tim Reiterman  

We're back! And to kick off our second season, we thought we'd start things out with a morbid mystery involving a creepy tape, a water tank, and a Depression Era hotel in La-la Land.

Guys, it's our last episode of Season 1. We know you're all sad, so we thought we'd walk you through the grieving process so you'll know if your reaction to this news is normal or you'll need to seek professional help to get you through this extremely emotional time.

Ever stop to think how weird coffins are? We definitely have. We're going to give you some history and a general idea of how coffins and caskets work (and in some ways don't) today in the U.S.

Looking for some nightmare fuel? We've got some things to Google as we take on a historical morbid mystery from the frozen tundra.

When you think about Pompeii, if you ever do, what do you think? Well, we're here to do some reality-testing on all those things you think you remember from your school days. Today we bring you the gruesomely impressive reality of Pompeii.

Deeply satisfying or deeply dismantling, movie deaths can really have an impact on the viewers. And, since Emma had a lot of feelings about Infinity Wars, this week we're talking about our personal top picks for movie death. So, right at the top: spoiler alerts on about 30 films (though, most of them are 15-60 years old).

You know what no one talks about? The Spanish Flu. You know what everyone should talk about? The Spanish Flu. In this episode, we manage to cram in human history, medical history, a biology lesson, a PSA, and some of the most gruesome depictions of flu symptoms you'll ever hear.   Some reference materials for further reading:   Arnold, Catharine. 2018. Pandemic 1918: Eyewitness Accounts from the Greatest Medical Holocaust in Modern History. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Spinney, Laura. 2017. Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How it Changed the World. New York: Public Affairs.

For one reason or another, sometimes bodies go unclaimed. Actually, it happens more often than we'd like to think about. What happens after that is a little up in the air. So, this week, we're looking at some of the options of what can happen if no one calls dibs on you after you die.

Ever find yourself with a stack of bones thinking, 'Man, what am I going to do with all these things?' This week we discuss some historical creativity and pragmatism put to work on exactly this problem.   For further reading, you can check out: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/paris-catacombs-180950160/http://catacombes.paris.fr/en/history/site-historyhttp://www.catacombedinapoli.it/enhttps://www.atlasobscura.com/lists/definitive-guide-to-ossuaries-crypts-and-catacombs Legacey, E.-M. 2017. The Paris Catacombs. Remains and Reunion beneath the Postrevolutionary City. French Historical Studies 40 (3): 509-536.

Why are the elves leaving for The Undying Lands when they're immortal? How is Aragorn so old in The Lord of the Rings when he's supposed to be human? What the heck are the things in The Dead Marshes? Well, hold onto your nerd glasses, my friends. This week we're diving into some of the intricacies, complications, and conceptualizations of death in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. For more reading on the topic, as suggested in the episode, you might want to check out Amy Amendt-Raduege's book The Sweet and the Bitter: Death and Dying in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

Watch any period piece and you know that a little blood on a handkerchief means death from tuberculosis. Well, it's not just for the movies and it's not just for the history books. So, let's talk about our old pal scrofula, er, tuberculosis.

When you look at superstitions, basically everything means you're going to die. We looked around for some of the more interesting ones to see if we could surprise each other with what we found. Buckle up. It's about to get silly.

We all get the news alert and feel a little sad. So, today we're looking at how celebrity death has worked historically, the mechanisms and rituals of public grieving, and the psychology behind it.

Our first morbid mystery! We talk through a case that's fascinated people ever since the body of a mysterious woman was discovered in the Isdal Valley in Norway in 1970. Missing labels, puffy jackets, secret codes, and way more about isotopic analysis than you ever knew you needed to know. Accident? Suicide? Murder? Where do you land?

Sometimes when the going got tough, the best way to make it better was to have a big party and sacrifice some children. Although far from the only culture to do so, in this episode we take a deep, deep dive into the Incan ritual sacrifices.