Four years ago, to celebrate Halloween and to take a break from heavier historical writings, I started a limited series called Things That Are Not exploring paranormal hoaxes, myths and other stories that have been debunked. I’ve revisited this series occasionally over time, expanding to include general historical myths, urban legends and misconceptions that aren’t necessarily Fortean in nature.
These articles are probably the most fun things I’ve written for this site, and I’m glad many of you have enjoyed them. Since I didn’t have time to put together a new article this week, here’s a list of the pieces I’ve written so far. October is looking pretty busy but hopefully I’ll have time to add one or two to this list before the spooky season concludes.
- The Raifuku Maru, From Tragedy to Myth – how a mundane maritime tragedy became part of the Bermuda Triangle.
- The Philadelphia Experiment – a bizarre hoax fools a generation of ufologists.
- George Montandon’s Malicious Monkey Business – De Loys’ Ape and the Nazi collaborator who
lovedcreated it. - The Horrors of Ramree Island – debunking the myth of a mass crocodile attack during World War II.
- The Case of the Dancing Coffins – the classic “moving coffins of Barbados.”
- The Army That Killed Itself – the mythical Battle of Karansebes.
- Pearl Curran and the Real Ghost – the novel-writing ghost Patience Worth and the struggling writer who conjured her.
- An Inquest Into The Death of Mr. Krook – a history of spontaneous human combustion.
- The Curse of the Ivan Vassili – another maritime classic.
- Black Confederates, Or a Study in “Alternate Facts” – dismissing neo-Confederate nonsense.
- Vampire of Liberty – the true story of the “vampire” pardoned by Andrew Johnson.
- The Serienmorder Who Never Was – a mythical serial killer from Weimar Germany.
- The Case of the Phony Sea Specters – the SS Watertown ghost photograph.
- Three Missing Olivers – how an Ambrose Bierce story inspired a paranormal legend.
- The Squid That Eats Man – brief write-up on a man-eating squid.
Enjoy and see you in the comments.