Monsters, Myths and Manias explores strange and forgotten corners of history. Join Professor Weird (Paul Weatherhead) as he explores bizarre but true stories of mass hysteria, ghost panics, scary folklore and strange creatures...
In 1893 composer Erik Satie wrote Vexations, a dissonant, repetitive and unnerving piano piece that takes up to 24 hours to play. Demonic music that warps the minds of those who played it, a topless cellist, a bra made of televisions and a phial of amphetamine... This is the weird musical history of this piece and the disturbing and uncanny effect it had on its performers...
More weird stuff on my website: https://paulweatherhead.com/weird-calderdale-strange-and-horrible-local-history/
Sources
Gavin Bryars (1983) ‘Vexations and its performers’, Contact: Journal for Contemporary Music, 26, pp.12-20 (p.13)
Robert Orledge (1988) ‘Understanding Satie’s ‘Vexations’’, Music & Letters, 79(3) pp. 386-395. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/855366
[Steven M Whiting (2010) ‘Serious Immobilities: Musings on Satie’s “Vexations”’, Archiv für Musikwissenschaft, 67(4) pp. 310-317
26 Oct 2025
Yorkshire Zombies - The Medieval Dead
Yorkshire in the 1300s was a strange and frightening place. The living dead crawled from their graves, wandered round the lanes and accosted the villagers, at least according to accounts written by an anonymous monk. But these zombies were very different from the gut munchers of modern popular culture, and it wasn’t your brain they were after. So why were the dead shuffling round Yorkshire six centuries ago? What did they want? And how could they be stopped?
In this episode of Monsters, Myths and Manias Paul Weatherhead (aka Professor Weird) looks at some of the strange tales from Byland Abbey and teaches you how to survive a medieval zombie attack!
Sources:
S.R. Young, The Ghosts of Medieval Yorkshire (2023, Pwca Books and Pamphlets)
The full text of the ghost stories can be read here: https://www.anselm-classics.com/byland/about.html
19 Oct 2025
Top 5 Cannibal Zombie Movies from the Golden Age of Gut Munching!
In recent decades there have been some fine zombie films, but these mainstream offerings tend to suffer from one fatal flaw: respectability. The zombie films from the golden age (which I’ve taken as being from the late 60s to the early 90s) are different. They are gloriously disreputable, so much so that many were banned in Britain or were only available in editions butchered by the censors.
In this Halloween special, Professor Weird aka Paul Weatherhead guides you through his Top 5 cannibal zombie gut munchers from the golden age of the video nasty!
Further reading:
Jamie Russell, Book of the Dead, (Godalming: FAB, 2005)
Jay Slater (ed), Eaten Alive: Italian Cannibal and Zombie Movies, (London: Plexus, 2002)
Contact Monsters Myths and Manias
Guest appearances
Does not typically book guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of Monsters Myths and Manias?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
