Murder Through Time: A Whodunit Across the Centuries

Gather round, dear guests, and let me tell you a curious little tale.

The American South, 1920.

A traveling carnival has arrived in a quiet town, bringing with it music, dazzling lights, peculiar performers, and the promise of an evening unlike any other.

Beneath the canvas of the Big Top, nine performances await an eager audience. Laughter fills the air, applause echoes through the tent, and the mysterious Ring Mistress welcomes her guests with impeccable courtesy. Yet as the night progresses, something about the carnival becomes increasingly unsettling.

Can you guess which literary masterpiece inspired the performances?

Welcome to Carnival of Horrors!

Find your seat, dear guest. The performance has been waiting for you.

🎧For the best listening experience, listen with headphones!

Listener Discretion Advised: This audio production contains some mature themes and suggestive sexual sounds.

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Music Attribution:

Luella Gren/Mechanical Pipes & Bells/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Luella Gren/The Puppet Bell Ballet/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Luella Gren/You Are Not Alone/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Martin Landstrom/Rome to Cairo by Balloon/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Jon Bjork/Careful Consideration/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Antonio Vivaldi/The Four Seasons: Summer, RV 315 (I. Allegro non molto)/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Scandinavian Folk 10/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Deskant/The Kings Carpet/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Roy Edwin Williams/O'Connor's Jig/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Tiki Tiki/I Dare You Dear/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Hanna Lindgren/Room for Whatever is Left/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Dag Anderson/Hush Little Baby (Orchestra)/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Martin Landstrom/A Gal I know/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

SFX Attribution:

All sound effects courtesy of Epidemic Sound.

www.epidemicsound.com

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Written, performed, produced and edited by Carissa Vikis

Hosted by Carissa Vikis | Murder Through Time & Beauty Unlocked the podcast

This October, the Ring Mistress is inviting you to step inside the Big Top for a performance unlike anything you've heard before.

The lights are glowing, the music is playing, and nine performances are waiting to begin. But as the night unfolds, something about the carnival begins to feel terribly wrong.

🎪The Big Top opens Friday, October 16th, for the two-hour October Special, Carnival of Horrors.

Find your seat, dear guest. The performance has been waiting for you.

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Music Attribution:

Ludvig Moulin/Evil Eternal Carnival/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

The Fly Guy Five/Roaming Around/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

SFX Attribution:

Sound effects courtesy of Epidemic Sound.

www.epidemicsound.com

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Written, performed, produced and edited by Carissa Vikis

Hosted by Carissa Vikis | Murder Through Time

Welcome, sleuth, to tonight's case.

A snowstorm. A mountain road. And an inn no one can leave.

In late eighteenth-century Japan, travelers seeking shelter from the worsening snowstorm gather at a small inn along the Nakasendo. By morning, one of them is dead, the road has disappeared beneath the snow, and everyone inside Tsuruya has a reason to be questioned.

Listen carefully. Somewhere between the evening meal and first light, someone crossed the line from resentment into murder.

Are you ready to catch the culprit?

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How to Play Along

As you listen, keep your ears sharp for clues—things people say, things they don't say, unusual objects, and strange coincidences.

I'll introduce you to the suspects, take you through the key locations, and guide you step-by-step through the events of the night.

Your mission? Decide who committed the murder and why.

You can jot down notes as we go—a scrap of paper will do.

But beware, there will be red herrings lurking in the shadows, ready to throw you off the scent.

When we reach the end, I'll give you a moment to lock in your guess... before revealing the truth.

Think you can outwit the culprit? Then let's begin...

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Music Attribution:

Isaku Kageyama/Strange Tales (Instrumental Version)/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Jay Varton/Mental Stillness/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Jay Varton/Eye for Detail/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Intro & Outro:

Luella Gren/ Midnight Wanderer /courtesy of Epidemic Sound

SFX Attribution:

Sound effects courtesy of Epidemic Sound.

www.epidemicsound.com

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Created, written, and hosted by Carissa V.

Gather round, detectives, and let me tell you a sordid little tale.

England, 1670.

A week-long gathering at Bellamont Hall has descended into wine, scandal, secret encounters and increasingly questionable decisions. But when one guest is found dead, everyone seems to be hiding something.

Throughout the night, strange sounds echoed through the corridors. Doors opened and closed. Guests slipped quietly between bedchambers. By morning, stories no longer quite matched, alibis had become decidedly complicated, and among the evidence was something nobody could satisfactorily explain: an unusually large courgette found in one of the bedchambers.

Welcome to Bellamont Hall.

Try to behave yourself.

Listener discretion: This episode is a little different and considerably more raunchy than usual, with sexual references, adult humour and graphic language. Listener discretion is advised.

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How to Play Along

As you listen, keep your ears sharp for clues—things people say, things they don't say, unusual objects, and strange coincidences.

I'll introduce you to the suspects, take you through the key locations, and guide you step-by-step through the events of the night.

Your mission? Decide who committed the murder and why.

You can jot down notes as we go—a scrap of paper will do.

But beware, there will be red herrings lurking in the shadows, ready to throw you off the scent.

When we reach the end, I'll give you a moment to lock in your guess... before revealing the truth.

Think you can outwit the culprit? Then let's begin...

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Music Attribution:

Stefan Ekström/Bad Vibrations/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Ethan Sloan/Wrench/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Ludvig Moulin/Russian Roulette/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Jerry Lacey/Cinderalla's Waltz/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

J.S.Bach/Fugue in D Minor/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Dian Shuai/Dance of Florence/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Cercles Nouvelles/Magnificat/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Baroque Hornpipe/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Johanness Bornlof/Godsend/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Intro & Outro:

Luella Gren/ Midnight Wanderer /courtesy of Epidemic Sound

SFX Attribution:

Sound effects courtesy of Epidemic Sound.

www.epidemicsound.com

Additional sound effects licensed from AudioHero.com.

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Created, written, and hosted by Carissa V.

Welcome, sleuth, to tonight's case.

Tonight we travel to Rome in 1494, where the streets of the Eternal City are alive with artists, merchants, pilgrims, priests, and some of the most powerful families in Christendom.

It is a city of magnificent churches, ambitious patrons, private rivalries, and carefully guarded reputations.

But beneath the grandeur of Renaissance Rome, not everything is quite as it appears.

A private disagreement.

A troubling discovery.

A secret kept behind closed doors.

And a final evening that leaves more questions than answers.

As the investigation moves through churches, workshops, palaces, and the crowded streets of the city, conflicting accounts begin to emerge.

Someone is withholding the truth.

Someone knows more than they are willing to admit.

And somewhere among questions of faith, loyalty, ambition, and reputation lies the reason someone was willing to kill.

By the time the pieces begin to come together, the investigation will uncover a side of the Eternal City that some would have preferred remained unseen.

Are you ready to catch the culprit?

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How to Play Along

As you listen, keep your ears sharp for clues—things people say, things they don't say, unusual objects, and strange coincidences.

I'll introduce you to the suspects, take you through the key locations, and guide you step-by-step through the events of the night.

Your mission? Decide who committed the murder and why.

You can jot down notes as we go—a scrap of paper will do.

But beware, there will be red herrings lurking in the shadows, ready to throw you off the scent.

When we reach the end, I'll give you a moment to lock in your guess... before revealing the truth.

Think you can outwit the culprit? Then let's begin...

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Music Attribution:

Jay Varton/Eye for Detail/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Ethan Sloan/Wrench/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Intro & Outro:

Luella Gren/ Midnight Wanderer /courtesy of Epidemic Sound

SFX Attribution:

All sound effects courtesy of Epidemic Sound

www.epidemicsound.com

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Created, written, and hosted by Carissa V.

Welcome, sleuth, to tonight's case.

Tonight we board the Orient Express in the summer of 1937, as the famous train carries its passengers across a Europe standing uneasily on the edge of change.

Inside the sleeping cars and dining compartments, diplomats, aristocrats, journalists, and businessmen share the journey. Everyone behaves as though the world beyond the train's windows can be safely ignored.

But secrets have a way of travelling with their owners.

A mysterious note.

A passenger who vanishes.

Conflicting accounts.

Hidden motives.

And a truth that refuses to stay buried.

As the train races through the night, suspicion begins to spread from compartment to compartment.

Before the journey is over, someone will die.

And by the time the truth begins to emerge, it will be tangled among lies, half-truths, hidden loyalties, and fears that reach far beyond the walls of a railway carriage.

Are you ready to catch the culprit?

**This episode marks the Season One finale of Murder Through Time. Thank you for listening, and I'll be back in August with brand-new cases to solve.**

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How to Play Along

As you listen, keep your ears sharp for clues—things people say, things they don't say, unusual objects, and strange coincidences.

I'll introduce you to the suspects, take you through the key locations, and guide you step-by-step through the events of the night.

Your mission? Decide who committed the murder and why.

You can jot down notes as we go—a scrap of paper will do.

But beware, there will be red herrings lurking in the shadows, ready to throw you off the scent.

When we reach the end, I'll give you a moment to lock in your guess... before revealing the truth.

Think you can outwit the culprit? Then let's begin...

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Music Attribution:

Megan Wofford/Vivace Waltz in A Minor/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Stefan Ekstrom/Bad Vibrations/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Intro & Outro:

Luella Gren/ Midnight Wanderer /courtesy of Epidemic Sound

SFX Attribution:

All sound effects courtesy of Epidemic Sound

www.epidemicsound.com

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Created, written, and hosted by Carissa V.

Welcome, sleuth, to tonight's case.

Tonight we travel to Alexandria, Egypt, in the final years of the Ptolemaic dynasty, where the great Lighthouse of Alexandria rises above a storm-darkened Mediterranean Sea.

Inside the Pharos, every signal is watched carefully. Every ship entering the harbor is accounted for. And every secret passing through Alexandria is guarded closely.

Until one night, during the worst of a violent storm, something inside the lighthouse begins to unravel.

Because somewhere inside the Pharos, one of the people trusted to protect Alexandria’s secrets has already decided that murder is necessary.

Are you ready to catch the culprit?

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How to Play Along

As you listen, keep your ears sharp for clues- things people say, things they don't say, suspicious objects, and strange coincidences. I'll introduce you to the suspects, take you through the key locations, and walk you step-by-step through the events leading to the death.

Your mission? Decide who committed the murder and why. You can jot down notes as we go, a scrap of paper will do.

But beware, there will be red herrings lurking in the shadows, ready to throw you off the scent.

When we reach the end, I'll give you a moment to lock in your guess... before revealing the truth.

Think you can outwit the culprit? Then let's begin...

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Music Attribution:

Ali Sabah/Fadfada/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Jay Varton/Eye for Detail/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Intro & Outro:

Luella Gren/ Midnight Wanderer /courtesy of Epidemic Sound

SFX Attribution:

All sound effects courtesy of Epidemic Sound

www.epidemicsound.com

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Created, written, and hosted by Carissa V.

Welcome, sleuth, to tonight's case.

Tonight we travel to Vienna in 1782, where candlelight flickers across the gilded halls of the Burgtheater and rehearsals are underway for Mozart’s bold new German opera, Die Entführung aus dem Serail.

The Emperor himself is expected to attend.

For some, the production represents the future of opera in Vienna.

For others, failure would mean humiliation before the most powerful audience in the empire.

Behind the stage, tensions quietly build.

A rivalry deepens.

A threat is overheard.

And a single moment during rehearsal will alter everything.

Until someone steps away from the stage…

…and does not return.

Are you ready to catch the culprit?

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How to Play Along

As you listen, keep your ears sharp for clues- things people say, things they don't say, suspicious objects, and strange coincidences. I'll introduce you to the suspects, take you through the key locations, and walk you step-by-step through the events leading to the death.

Your mission? Decide who caused the death and why. You can jot down notes as we go, a scrap of paper will do.

But beware, there will be red herrings lurking in the shadows, ready to throw you off the scent.

When we reach the end, I'll give you a moment to lock in your guess... before revealing the truth.

Think you can outwit the culprit? Then let's begin...

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Music Attribution:

W. A. Mozart/German Dance/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Edvard Grieg/Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46: No. 4 “In the Hall of the Mountain King”/Odyssey Orchestra/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Hanna Ekström/Reflection No.1 for Solo Violin/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

August Wilhelmsson/He Said, Xi Said/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Ethan Sloan/Wrench/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Intro & Outro:

Luella Gren/ Midnight Wanderer /courtesy of Epidemic Sound

SFX Attribution:

All sound effects courtesy of Epidemic Sound

www.epidemicsound.com

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Created, written, and hosted by Carissa V.

Welcome, sleuth, to tonight's case.

Tonight we travel to Granada, in the final years of the Nasrid dynasty—the last Muslim kingdom in Iberia, standing on the edge of its fall.

Beyond the palace, the forces of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon press steadily forward.

Within its walls, loyalties begin to divide—between those who would endure… and those who believe survival now requires something else.

Everything follows routine. Every action is expected.

Until one does not.

And before the night is over, someone will act—believing they are saving the city they love.

Are you ready to catch the culprit?

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How to Play Along

As you listen, keep your ears sharp for clues- things people say, things they don't say, suspicious objects, and strange coincidences. I'll introduce you to the suspects, take you through the key locations, and walk you step-by-step through the events leading to the death.

Your mission? Decide who caused the death and why. You can jot down notes as we go, a scrap of paper will do.

But beware, there will be red herrings lurking in the shadows, ready to throw you off the scent.

When we reach the end, I'll give you a moment to lock in your guess... before revealing the truth.

Think you can outwit the culprit? Then let's begin...

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Music Attribution:

Ali Sabah/Fadfada/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Lennon Hutton/Static Breath/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Intro & Outro:

Luella Gren/ Midnight Wanderer /courtesy of Epidemic Sound

SFX Attribution:

All sound effects courtesy of Epidemic Sound

www.epidemicsound.com

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Created, written, and hosted by Carissa V.

Welcome, sleuth, to tonight's case.

Tonight we travel to the royal court of Xerxes I, in the early fifth century BCE. At Susa, the heart of the Achaemenid Empire, power is measured not only in armies and conquest, but in proximity-who may enter, who may speak, and who is permitted to remain unseen.

Within the women's household, life unfolds in quiet precision. Attendants move through their duties with care. Instructions are followed without question. Every action is shaped by rank, by custom, by the expectation that nothing will fall out of place.

But in a world so carefully controlled, even the smallest deviation carries weight. A glance held too long. A moment witnessed by the wrong person. A decision made not openly-but deliberately.

And before the day is over, something within this ordered world will break.

Are you ready to catch the culprit?

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How to Play Along

As you listen, keep your ears sharp for clues- things people say, things they don't say, suspicious objects, and strange coincidences. I'll introduce you to the suspects, take you through the key locations, and walk you step-by-step through the events leading to the death.

Your mission? Decide who caused the death and why. You can jot down notes as we go, a scrap of paper will do.

But beware, there will be red herrings lurking in the shadows, ready to throw you off the scent.

When we reach the end, I'll give you a moment to lock in your guess... before revealing the truth.

Think you can outwit the culprit? Then let's begin...

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Music Attribution:

Feras Charestan/Ta amul/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Feras Charestan/Salat Alsabah/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Jay Varton/Eye For Detail/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Lennon Hutton/Static Breath/courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Intro & Outro:

Luella Gren/ Midnight Wanderer /courtesy of Epidemic Sound

SFX Attribution:

All sound effects courtesy of Epidemic Sound

www.epidemicsound.com

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Created, written, and hosted by Carissa V.