THEY ALL CLAIMED GOD SPOKE TO THEM: When England Went Mad With False Prophets and Miracle Seekers

#WDRadio Week of Sept 21, 2025: When desperate believers sold everything they owned to follow self-proclaimed prophets promising salvation, they discovered a horrifying truth: the line between divine vision and madness was written in poison, prison bars, and the hangman's noose. From miracle eggs inscribed with holy messages to a 65-year-old virgin claiming to carry the Messiah, this is the disturbing pattern of religious mania that swept through the 19th century, leaving thousands betrayed and broken in its wake.==========HOUR ONE: Claiming to audibly hear from God either makes you crazy, or a prophet – and only time can tell which is true. If you claim things are going to happen because God says they will – and then they don’t happen – that means you’re cray cray, and a false prophet. That also makes your followers a bunch of dupes. Sadly, the 19th and 20th centuries were full of crazy false prophets with mindless sheep worshipping them. (Creating False Prophets) *** Headline: “Exciting Wake!” When you see the words “exciting” and “wake” in the same headline, you can make a guess that someone is not resting in peace! (Exciting Wake)==========HOUR TWO: “The Witching Hour of 3AM” *** You don’t have to go to a cemetery or haunted house to experience the supernatural. You don’t need to drive a cursed road to encounter a ghost. Sometimes the paranormal takes place on military bases. (The Military And The Mysterious) *** The corpse of a murderer winds up doing advertising for a drug store. (The Murder of Maggie Walker) *** In 1922, an otherwise unremarkable farmhouse in Novia Scotia was the site of alleged poltergeist activity which made headlines all over Canada and the United States. A poltergeist that liked to set fires. (The Fire Spook of Caledonia Mills)==========SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME: A smitten fan falls in love with a talented actress, and convinces himself she loves him in return. This sounds very much like a story out of today’s entertainment magazines – but this tale of unrequited love took place in the 1880’s. (The Lunatic James Dougherty) *** The terrifying Aswang is the most feared creature of Philippine folklore—and with good reason. I’ll tell you why. (The Deadly Aswang) ** Reports have been coming in from people claiming to see full-sized African lions not in the Savannah or in the wilderness – but in North America. But is there any truth to the their claims? (Phantom Lions of North America)==========SOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM TONIGHT’S SHOW:BOOK: “Mysterious America” by Loren Coleman: https://amzn.to/3lZIviBBOOK: “Creatures of Philippine Lower Mythology”: https://amzn.to/3m2Re3kDOCUMENTARY: “The Aswang Phenomenon”: https://amzn.to/3jQrNjC“Creating False Prophets” by Dr. Romeo Vitelli for Providentia: https://tinyurl.com/y5bqt97p,https://tinyurl.com/y26vpmga, https://tinyurl.com/y6tgpcl3, https://tinyurl.com/y2jy3eqf“Phantom Lions of North America” by Brent Swancer for MysteriousUniverse.com: https://tinyurl.com/yygdg3eh“Exciting Wake” from the Huntington, IN “Daily Democrat”, reposted on the Strange Company website: https://tinyurl.com/y5cy4ksa“The Deadly Aswang” by Professor Geller for Mythology.net: https://tinyurl.com/yxhcrcxc“The Witching Hour of 3AM” from Paranormality Magazine“The Fire Spook of Caledonia Mills” by Hammerson Peters for MysteriesOfCanada.com: https://tinyurl.com/y43ug999“The Lunatic James Dougherty” by Robert Wilhelm for MurderByGaslight.com: https://tinyurl.com/yxkxo8b6“The Military and the Mysterious” by Brent Swancer for MysteriousUniverse.org: https://tinyurl.com/y46jdmks“The Murder of Maggie Walker” posted on the website Murders In History: https://tinyurl.com/y2qw2rup==========(Over time links seen above may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)=========="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46==========WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2025, Weird Darkness.