murder Archives - Bone and Sickle

Villainous Victorian Women

November 14, 2022 boneandsickle ballads, Britain, broadsheets, crime, EPISODE, execution ballads, folklore, gore, history, horror, murder, murder ballads, poison, Victorian

Our survey of villainous Victorian women examines six individuals associated with some of the most ghastly crimes of the era,[…]

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The Dead Lover’s Heart

February 13, 2022 boneandsickle ballads, cannibalism, death, Decameron, EPISODE, folklore, gore, history, holidays, homicide, horror, legends, literature, love, Mary Shelley, murder, murder ballads, Romanticism, seduction, Valentine's Day

Whether freshly removed or strangely preserved after death, the dead lover’s heart occasionally has continued to be embraced as a[…]

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Hex Murders and Madness in Old Pennsylvania

June 29, 2021 boneandsickle America, black magic, crime, criminals, EPISODE, folk magic, folklore, Germanic, Hex, homicide, horror, local legends, madness, murder, Pennsylvania, Pow-Wow, superstition, True Crime, United States, witchcraft, witches

Cases of madness and even murder were associated with Hexerei, a form of witchcraft brought to Pennsylvania by German immigrants.[…]

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