Episode notes
For almost as long as we’ve made films, we’ve made horror films – but what happens when the terror isn’t just on screen? Movie-making lore is riddled with stories of bizarre accidents on set, creepy coincidences and even murders, all of which can give rise to cult followings and, in some cases, rumours of a curse over the whole production. From Indian ghosts to demonic hauntings, we run through a ShortHanded historical horror archive and investigate whether these sinister events were the result of supernatural curses, coincidence or just bloody good PR. -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes…
RedHanded
by RedHanded · English · True Crime
RedHanded the podcast jumps head first into all manner of macabre madness. We cover everything from big time serial killers (and those you may never have heard of), to hauntings, possessions, disturbing mysteries, bizarre whodunits and basically anything that tickles our creepy fancy.
More from RedHanded
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E229 · 14 Aug 2026 · 33 min
ShortHand: Gladiators
Watching slaves being ritually hacked to pieces may not seem like many people’s idea of a great day out. But 2,000 years ago, Romans turned up in their thousands to watch exactly that. So, with Gladiator back on our screens, we set out to find the truth behind the spectacle – and it’s even bloodier than the movies could ever allow. So what exactly happened in the gladiatorial games? Were there really lions, elephants, bears – and even full-scale naval battles in water-filled arenas? And did Maximus Decimus Meridius really have his vengeance? Find out in this week’s ShortHand. -- Patreon -…
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E463 · 13 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 21 min
The Golden State Killer - Part 4: Joseph James DeAngelo | #463
Joseph James DeAngelo is a burglar, a killer, and a rapist. A vile man with a proclivity for terrorising and sexually violating women. But that wasn’t everyone’s perception of the elderly man who was arrested in the yard of his suburban Sacramento home. To his daughters he was a loving father, to his employers he’d been a reliable worker, and to the wider community he was just another sleepy old man living out his retirement. So who is Joseph James DeAngelo and how did he co-exist as a “regular Jo” and the Golden Stake Killer? -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video…
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E228 · 11 Aug 2026 · 23 min
ShortHand: Cannibalism
What could drive a person to eat another human being? Well, as it turns out, humankind has actually been surprisingly open to a little cannibalistic carpaccio. From funeral traditions where families gather to gobble up their loved one as a mark of respect; to a European craze for drinking liquefied, mummified human brains (plus a surprising number of societies who just really liked the taste) – here is ShortHand’s history of inter-personal dining. -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram
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E245 · 9 Oct 2026 · 24 minNew
ShortHand: Exorcisms Around the World
Vanquishing demons lingering in a tainted soul might sound like a very Christian idea – but exorcisms are prevalent in almost every culture across the globe. From ancient China to modern Islam, there are hundreds of ways to free someone from the grips of an evil spirit. This week Hannah and Suruthi run down a few of the most interesting – and discuss why, before modern medicine, possession seemed like such a likely explanation. -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram
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E471 · 8 Oct 2026 · 43 minNew
The Vietnamese Gore Butcher | #471
When videos of a gruesome beheading and dismemberment surfaced on gore-fetish websites across Vietnam in 2025, the internet was shaken to its core. Not because it was the first time anyone had seen disturbing videos online. But because this time, the victim seemed to have been actively involved in planning his own murder. But is it less of a crime if you have the victim’s consent? And could this be the world’s first ever real snuff film? Enter one of the most insane open-source murder investigations in history, as a community of crime-addicted cybersleuths tried to crack this grisly case…
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E244 · 6 Oct 2026 · 19 min
ShortHand: Papua New Guinea's Black Magic Murders
Black magic, or ‘Sanguma’, is often used to explain everything from minor illnesses to sudden deaths in Papua New Guinea. Horrifyingly, it’s also behind the recent rise of brutal witch hunts sweeping the nation. An epidemic of violence in which, predominantly, women and girls are being publicly tortured and murdered. Why? Find out on this week’s ShortHand. -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram
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E243 · 2 Oct 2026 · 27 min
ShortHand: Vlad the Impaler - The Real Dracula
To round launch our month of spooky eps, our Halloween ShortHand covers the life and afterlife of one of the most sinister, blood-thirstiest bastards in all of human history: Vlad the Impaler, otherwise known as Vlad Dracula. We dig into the legends surrounding the savage ruler – including an al fresco lunch among hundreds of thousands of twitching, impaled enemies – and see how they tie into the modern, blood-sucking vampire legend. Happy Halloween… -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram
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E470 · 1 Oct 2026 · 57 min
The Witches of Guaratuba: Black Magic, Child Sacrifice and a Deadly Plot | #470
In the early 1990s, the beach town of Guaratuba, Brazil had its very own witch hunt. It started with the mutilated body of a seven-year-old boy: Evandro Ramos Caetano... And it would end with a coven of accused ‘black magic’ practitioners – including the mayor’s own wife and daughter – sentenced to decades behind bars for alleged child sacrifice rituals. But as shocking claims emerged of political scheming and torture-fuelled confessions, was that really the whole story? Or did the trouble brewing in Guaratuba run far deeper? -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video…
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E242 · 29 Sep 2026 · 29 min
ShortHand: Eric Gill - British Art’s Darkest Secret
From the BBC and Westminster Cathedral to Penguin paperbacks, typeface creator Eric Gill was once lauded as the eccentric genius behind some of Britain’s most iconic visual landmarks. But behind the scenes, he was also a sex-mad monster who shamelessly abused his own daughters within the rural Catholic artisanal communes where he lived and worked… And the art world covered it all up for decades. TL;DR – Did you know one of the UK’s most celebrated sculptors and graphic designers was actually a notorious nonce? Neither did we. -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video…
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E241 · 25 Sep 2026 · 25 min
ShortHand: Should We Support Paedophile Catchers?
To some paedophile catchers like Chris Hansen are online superheroes, protecting children and putting predators behind bars. To others they're vigilantes who enforce their own form of justice while putting people in danger. But do they have a place in the system? This week Hannah and Suruthi are jumping into the murky waters of self styled sting operations, hidden cameras, and entrapment to find out. -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram
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