What if England’s most terrifying plague was never really a disease at all?

Between 1485 and 1551, something stalked through Tudor England that made the Black Death look like child’s play. The Sweating Sickness could kill you in two hours flat – and you’d be conscious for every agonizing minute of it. It didn’t care if you were rich or poor, young or old. But here’s the fucked up part: it seemed to *choose* its victims.

This wasn’t your typical medieval plague. It targeted intellectuals and nobles while sparing peasants. It appeared out of nowhere, terrorized the kingdom, then vanished completely – only to return decades later like some kind of supernatural boomerang from hell. And when it finally disappeared for good? It left behind a trail of paranormal activity that still haunts England today.

From the black hounds with glowing red eyes that prowled London’s streets during outbreaks, to the fever ghosts still seen wandering Greenwich Palace, to the cursed manuscript that killed every scholar who tried to read it – this is a medical mystery that defies every rule of science and ventures deep into occult territory.

Was the Sweating Sickness a natural disease that science still can’t explain? Or was it something far more sinister – a supernatural weapon wielded by the Tudor dynasty to eliminate their enemies? And if the legends are true, the knowledge of how to summon it might still exist today, hidden away and waiting for the right moment to unleash hell once again.

Join us as we dive into one of history’s most disturbing unsolved mysteries, where medicine meets the paranormal and the line between disease and curse becomes terrifyingly blurred.

**Warning: This episode contains discussions of death, disease, and potentially disturbing paranormal content. Listener discretion advised.**

One more thing: if you want this show ad-free and early, I’ve got a Patreon - $2.99 a month.

You get episodes on Friday instead of Monday, zero ads so there’s no interruptions during the creepy parts, and I drop bonus episodes quarterly that are only for supporters.

Go to: Patreon.com/creepyshitpodcast to sign up today.

REFERENCES AND RESOURCES:

Primary Historical Sources

- John Caius - *A Boke or Counseill Against the Disease Commonly Called the Sweate* (1552) - The definitive contemporary medical account

- Raphael Holinshed - *Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland* (1577) - Contains outbreak records and eyewitness accounts

- Tudor State Papers- Official government records of outbreak responses and death tolls

Academic Sources

- Bridson, E. - “The English ‘Sweate’ (Sudor Anglicus) and Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome” - *Journal of the History of Medicine* (2001)

- Taviner, Mark - “The Sweating Sickness and John Caius” - *Medical History* (1997)

- Dyer, Alan - “The English Sweating Sickness of 1551: An Epidemic Anatomized” - *Medical History* (1997)

Paranormal & Folklore Sources

- Westwood, Jennifer & Simpson, Jacqueline - The Lore of the Land: A Guide to England’s Legends (2005)

- Underwood, Peter - Ghosts of Greenwich (1973) - Documents supernatural activity at Greenwich Palace

- Clarke, David - Supernatural England (2018) - Includes accounts of plague-related hauntings

Modern Investigations

- British Museum Archives - Restricted Tudor occult documents collection (Access by appointment only)

- Cambridge University Archives - Medieval manuscript collections and student records

- National Archives (Kew) - Tudor court records and physician correspondence

Online Resources

- The Sweating Sickness Research Project - sweatingsickness.org (Academic database of outbreak records)

- English Heritage - Greenwich Palace historical records and paranormal reports

- British Library Medieval Manuscripts - Digitized plague treatises and medical texts

*Note: Some resources mentioned in the episode (particularly modern paranormal investigations) are based on reported incidents rather than publicly verified academic sources. Always approach paranormal claims with healthy skepticism while appreciating their cultural and historical significance.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Why was Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories Scarier Than Halloween - I’ve got the Evidence-Based Paranormal History for you in this Holiday Bonus Episode.

Think Christmas is all warm and fuzzy? Think again. Before Santa and consumerism took over, Christmas Eve was THE night for telling terrifying ghost stories designed to scare the absolute shit out of your family. The Victorians understood something we’ve completely forgotten: December is objectively creepier than October.

In this bonus episode, we’re diving deep into the dark origins of Victorian Christmas traditions, exploring why our ancestors gathered around fires during the longest nights of the year to tell stories about the dead. We’ll cover real, documented Victorian hauntings—including the Cheltenham Ghost (one of the best-recorded paranormal cases in history), and the infamous Cock Lane Ghost that captivated all of London.

Discover why Charles Dickens didn’t just write A Christmas Carol—he was obsessed with Christmas ghost stories and wrote some truly disturbing tales. We’ll explore the psychology behind why winter makes us see ghosts (spoiler: carbon monoxide poisoning played a role), Victorian death culture and mourning jewelry made from human hair, and why the commercialization of Christmas killed this incredible tradition.

This is evidence-based paranormal history at its finest—well-researched, genuinely unsettling, and factual. No speculation, no bullshit, just documented cases and the fascinating cultural history of why Christmas used to be scary as hell.

One more thing: if you want this show ad-free and early, I’ve got a Patreon - $2.99 a month.

You get episodes on Friday instead of Monday, zero ads so there’s no interruptions during the creepy parts, and I drop bonus episodes quarterly that are only for supporters.

It’s patreon.com/creepyshitpodcast. Link’s in the show notes.

**Perfect for fans of:** Victorian history, ghost stories, paranormal research, Christmas folklore, Gothic literature, Charles Dickens, M.R. James, haunted houses, evidence-based paranormal investigation, dark history, and anyone who thinks Halloween gets too much credit for being spooky.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dive into one of history’s most credible poltergeist cases - the Epworth Rectory haunting of 1716. When the Wesley family (founders of Methodism) experienced terrifying paranormal activity during Christmas, they documented everything. Mysterious knocking, violent bed shaking, phantom footsteps, and an entity they called “Old Jeffrey” tormented this religious family for two months.

This true Christmas ghost story features multiple witnesses, historical documentation, and unexplained phenomena that still baffles researchers 300 years later. Was it a poltergeist? Mass hysteria? Or something else entirely? Explore Victorian supernatural history, Christmas ghost story traditions, and one of the most well-documented hauntings in paranormal research.

**Perfect for fans of true ghost stories, historical hauntings, poltergeist phenomena, and Christmas paranormal tales.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.