Dark History Tours & Experiences: Myth and Macabre

23/07/2026

It is over a year old, but this article popped up on my feed this morning.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-the-new-tartan-pattern-created-to-honor-women-accused-of-witchcraft-in-scotland-between-1563-and-1736-180986172/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_term=462026&utm_content=archival-card&fbclid=IwY2xjawTOnKlleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETE0ejBlTFEyc25ielNlUTF6c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHr_UCjii4LdQLQ44fgGgVyTjujnRXPvD0di9sW-Eh7camjJJ0_9mfYBFtsCD_aem_X7wL5yrMvnUybeFNesWlpg

The black, red, gray and pink design honors the thousands of individuals—mostly women—who were persecuted under the Scottish Witchcraft Act

04/06/2026

Did you know one of Cologne's most famous statues hides a medieval joke?

The person circled in the first photo Konrad von Hochstaden, the Archbishop who laid the foundation stone for Cologne Cathedral in 1248.

But look underneath his statue on Cologne's City Hall tower...

You'll find a shocking figure known as the "Kölner Spiegel" or "Cologne Mirror"—a grotesque sculpture of a man in a very unusual pose.

Historians aren't completely sure why it's there, but many believe it was medieval satire aimed at powerful church leaders.

It's a reminder that even in the Middle Ages, the people of Cologne weren't afraid to mock authority.

So next time you're in Cologne, don't just look at the statue—look underneath it.

01/11/2025

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2317drzm04o

"It's not something you expect," says Franz Zehetner, who opened the parcel addressed to Vienna's St Stephen's Cathedral.

29/10/2025

So then, I just changed the name on here to better reflect the YouTube channel I set up on this subject.

I am absolutely the worst procrastinator but the following is a statement of intent:

Jo and Taff invite you into a world of myth and the macabre, of folk tales and folk memory.... of the unexplained and downright weird.