Spooky UK welcomes its first ever guest — and what a guest!

This week, Martin and Helen are joined by Phil Hackett, Museum Manager in Leicester, for a conversation that takes us on a journey through history, art, ghosts, UFOs and some of Leicester’s most fascinating stories.

We talk King Richard III, the discovery of his remains and the strange historical legacy surrounding one of England’s most controversial kings. We head even further back into the past with the Jewry Wall and Roman Britain, before leaving history behind and getting properly spooky with ghost stories including Belgrave Hall and...dum dum dum...UFOs.

It's history, art and the unexplained all rolled into one episode, with a few surprises along the way.

And yes… this really is our first guest so please forgive the technical difficultes we expeience!

So grab a drink, turn down the lights and join us for a very special episode of Spooky UK.

Link to the Belgrave Hall video we talk about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeDwSEti1hY

We’re back with part two of our deep dive into vampires and this time Martin takes the lead as we sink our teeth into the bloodsuckers of film, television, books, comics, and everything in between.

From the shadowy horror of Nosferatu and the vampire boom of classic cinema, right through to 30 Days of Night, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vampire: The Masquerade and, yes, Edward Cullen, we take a whistle-stop tour through the many different faces of the vampire.

Expect Dracula, fangs, blood, brooding immortals, terrifying monsters and a fair amount of vampire-related waffle as we chat about the characters and stories that have kept the undead alive in popular culture for generations.

So grab some garlic, avoid the sunlight, and join us for a bloody good conversation.

Spooky people! It's our first 2 parter! Before Dracula. Before Nosferatu. Before Edward Cullen started sparkling in the sunlight… there were the dead who refused to stay dead.

In the first part of our vampire double bill, we sink our teeth into the legends, folklore and real-life reports that helped create one of history’s most enduring monsters.

From the revenants of old world England and the origins of the word vampire, to tales of the undead spreading fear across Europe, we explore how the vampire legend evolved long before Hollywood got hold of it.

Join us where it all begins…

ANOTHER BONUS!

It's way too hot in the UK at the moment so remember those wonderfully strange magazines from the 1980s, packed with stories of monsters, mysteries and things that science couldn't quite explain?

No? Well Martin certainly does.

In this episode, we unbox a collection of old spooky magazines — the very same kind Martin's mum used to read, after tracking down some copies on eBay. And let's just say… they have aged to perfection!

In the first half, we take a look through the magazines together, discovering some wonderfully weird stories and gloriously old-fashioned artwork along the way. Then, in the second half, we give you our first impressions of some of the mysteries inside.

From the Loch Ness Monster and Sasquatch, to spontaneous human combustion and the strange world of aura photography, these magazines are a brilliant snapshot of how mysterious the world seemed back in the 1980s.

Will this lead to more spooky episodes? Absolutely!

BONUS EPISODE! Grab a drink, pull up a chair and join us for our second shoot the s*#t episode! Not our usual format, just us chatting all things paranormal.

Hey spooky people! We thought we were finished with Loch Ness...

After exploring the legend of Nessie and the strange connection between the loch and Aleister Crowley, we discovered that the area has another, much darker side.

Because Loch Ness isn't just famous for monsters.

It has ghosts.

In this episode of Spooky UK, we head back to the Highlands to explore some of the eerie stories, legends and alleged hauntings surrounding one of Britain's most mysterious bodies of water.

From phantom figures and mysterious apparitions to stories of tragic deaths, restless spirits and strange experiences reported around the loch, we ask whether Loch Ness has always had a reputation for being somewhere that things aren't quite as they seem.

What do the world's most famous cryptid and the world's most infamous occultist have in common?

This week on Spooky UK, we're diving deep (pun intended) into the mystery of The Loch Ness Monster. Most people know the legend of Nessie, but what is fact and what is folklore?

Could there really be a connection between Crowley's time at Boleskine House and the enduring mystery of the loch? Is it simply coincidence, or has folklore, history and the paranormal become tangled together over the last century?

Edt - We refer to a group of people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland as 'Pikes' but the correct term is 'Picts'

This week we have both researched four famous stories that captivated people for decades, but how many of them actually stand up to scrutiny?

From the eerie mystery of the Mary Celeste to the blood-soaked legend of Sawney Bean, the enchanting tale of the Cottingley Fairies, and the mind boggling spontaneous human combustion, we're separating the evidence from the embellishment.

Some of these tales may have perfectly ordinary explanations. Others may have been exaggerated over time. And a few... well, perhaps they were never true in the first place.

Join us as we ask the only question that matters:

Believe-a-bull... or Just Bull?

As always, expect plenty of laughs, a few disagreements, Helen trying to keep Martin on track (good luck with that), and a healthy dose of scepticism as we dig into the stories behind the legends.

What do you think? Which of these tales still has a grain of truth, and which deserves to be filed firmly under Just Bull? Get in touch at [email protected]

Can our pets really come back to visit us after they've gone?

From mysterious phantom cats prowling the shadows to faithful dogs that refuse to leave their owners, even after death we're diving into some of the strangest ghost animal stories ever reported.

Martin explores eerie tales from around the UK and beyond, including his own spine-tingling encounter with a ghostly feline, the legend of Greyfriars Bobby, spectral black dogs, haunted horses, and other unexplained animal encounters that have left witnesses questioning what they saw.

Meanwhile, Helen keeps everyone grounded... at least until the conversation takes an unexpected detour into a deep-sea cry fest! Let's just say if you've never heard about anglerfish before, you may wish you'd kept it that way.

So grab a brew, settle in, and join us as we ask one very important question...

If ghosts exist... why wouldn't our pets come back too?

Mystery Triangles – Bennington, Bridgewater & Cannock Chase

What is it about certain places that seem to attract the strange, the unexplained, and the downright terrifying?

In this episode we head into three of the world's most infamous paranormal hotspots. We begin in the forests of Vermont to explore the chilling disappearances of the Bennington Triangle, where hikers, hunters and even an experienced guide seemingly vanished without a trace.

From there, we travel to Massachusetts and the legendary Bridgewater Triangle, a region where UFO sightings, Bigfoot encounters, ghostly apparitions, mysterious lights and Native American folklore have combined to create one of America's most active paranormal locations.

Finally, we bring things back home to compare these American mysteries with one of Britain's own paranormal hotspots – Cannock Chase. From reports of Black-Eyed Children and the Pigman to UFO sightings and ghostly soldiers, we ask whether these locations really share common characteristics, or whether our brains simply connect unrelated mysteries into compelling legends.

Are these places genuine paranormal hotspots? Are there geological or psychological explanations? Or is there something else lurking in these mysterious landscapes?

Join us as we compare the evidence, examine the folklore, and decide whether these infamous triangles deserve their eerie reputations.