Uncanny Aly

Before the costumes, sweets and pumpkin spice, there was Samhain.

This week on Uncanny Aly, weare diving into the ancient origins of Samhain and the evolution of Halloween, exploring the fascinating intersection of Celtic history, folklore, religion and the supernatural.

From the ancient Gaelic festival marking the beginning of winter to the mysterious Aos Sí, the return of the dead and the thinning of the veil between worlds, we're examining how centuries of tradition shaped the holiday we know today.

We also explore the Christian influence on Halloween, Scotland's rather unusual divination traditions, and an intriguing comparison between the Samhain custom of leaving an extra place at the table for deceased loved ones and the Jewish Passover tradition of Elijah's cup.

A few disclaimers from the crypt:

🦇 Aly is currently battling the plague (a cold) and sincerely apologises for sounding like a medieval peasant on her deathbed. She's doing her best.

🎙️ We also experienced a few technical difficulties during recording, so please forgive any unusual audio moments.

☕ Support our research!

Our podcast and supernatural research are independently produced and fuelled by curiosity, questionable sleeping habits and an alarming amount of caffeine.

If you enjoy our work and would like to help support future episodes, historical research and deeper investigations into the unexplained, please consider joining our Patreon or making a donation through Ko-fi.

Every bit of support helps us keep researching, recording and asking questions that probably should have been left alone.

Find us on Patreon and Ko-fi: Uncanny Aly

Patreon: https://patreon.com/UncannyAly

Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/uncannyaly

Thank you for joining us, and happy Samhain! 🖤

Disclaimer: Our discussions explore history, folklore, mythology and speculative supernatural research. Historical interpretations and supernatural claims are discussed critically and should not be taken as established fact.

Since we began investigating vampires, Signore M, and the rather peculiar claims surrounding them, things have taken an interesting turn. Particularly when we close our eyes.

In this bonus episode of Uncanny Aly, we're joined by special guest Demyon Le Fay to discuss the strange, vivid, and occasionally unsettling dreams we've been experiencing since diving into this research.

Are these dreams simply the result of spending far too much time thinking about vampires, or is there something more peculiar happening? We're not claiming to have the answers, but we certainly have questions.

Naturally, what begins as a discussion about dreams, the subconscious, and supernatural possibilities descends into absolute chaos. Expect inappropriate jokes, questionable conversations, rather explicit revelations, and a complete abandonment of whatever academic credibility we thought we had.

Listener discretion advised: This episode contains strong language, sexual humour, and explicit adult discussions. Definitely not one for the family car journey.

Welcome to the unhinged side of Uncanny Aly. 🦇

Can objects really be haunted? And can certain places carry centuries of misfortune, tragedy, and something a little more sinister?

This week on Uncanny Aly, we're diving into the unsettling world of haunted objects and allegedly cursed locations. From Ed and Lorraine Warren's infamous Occult Museum and the real story behind Annabelle to Venice's notoriously cursed Palazzo Dario, we're exploring the history, folklore, and supernatural claims surrounding some of the world's most unsettling artefacts and places.

As always, we're looking beyond the ghost stories, examining the historical records, questioning the evidence, and discussing where documented history ends and the paranormal begins.

PLUS, we have a rather exciting announcement!

Rich B will be joining us on an upcoming episode to discuss the ongoing mystery surrounding Signore M. Yes, that Signore M. We'll be diving deeper into the claims, the research, and some of the questions we've all been waiting to ask.

So settle in, pour yourself something nice, and prepare for a little history, a little horror, and plenty of questionable supernatural activity.

Welcome back to Uncanny Aly.

Disclaimer: This episode explores historical accounts, folklore, and alleged paranormal experiences for educational, entertainment, and discussion purposes. Supernatural claims are presented as accounts and beliefs, not established facts.

Send us your encounters at hi@uncannyaly.com

This week on Uncanny Aly, we’re getting into sleep paralysis, shadow people, and the deeply unsettling figure so many people claim to have seen standing at the edge of their bed: the Hat Man.

But before we get into that, I’m giving you a quick update on the Signore M research, what we've been looking into recently, and where that particular rabbit hole has taken us.

From there, this episode gets a little more personal.

We talk about our own experiences with sleep paralysis, waking up unable to move, seeing figures in the room, feeling like someone or something is watching you, and those moments where it becomes incredibly difficult to work out where dreaming ends and waking reality begins.

Is it simply the brain doing something incredibly strange during REM sleep, or is there something else going on?

This one is less of a history lesson and more of a late-night conversation about the things we’ve personally seen, felt, and still cannot completely explain.

Sleep paralysis, shadow people, the Hat Man, and a few experiences we probably would have preferred to forget.

Welcome back to Uncanny Aly.

This week on Uncanny Aly, we’re doing things a little differently. No vampire investigations, no conspiracy boards, and considerably less research. Instead, we’re going home to Appalachia.

My cousin Megan joins me from Tennessee as we talk about what it was actually like growing up in Appalachia, where ghost stories, superstition and “something weird happened in the woods” were just part of life.

We share some of our own unexplained experiences, creepy family stories and the strange things we grew up being told never to do. We also get into Appalachian folklore along the way, including haints, death omens, folk healing, blood stopping, boogers, protective traditions and, of course, why you absolutely do not whistle in the woods.

This episode is much less of a researched deep dive and much more like sitting up late swapping scary stories with your cousins.

Some of these stories have explanations.

Some of them… we still have absolutely no fucking idea.

🎧 A quick audio note: We had some volume issues during recording this week. We’ve corrected as much as possible in editing, but you may notice a few fluctuations throughout the episode. Thanks for bearing with us.

An ancient vampire bloodline, mysterious secret societies, a Venetian jewellery shop, and a man known only as Signore M. How much of Rich B's viral TikTok story can actually be verified?

This week on Uncanny Aly, we're opening the Signore M files.

Armed with historical research, archival records, and a healthy dose of scepticism, we're investigating the claims behind one of TikTok's strangest ongoing mysteries.

From Venice and Florence to a mysterious Croatian grave, we examine alleged vampire bloodlines, questionable historical connections, linguistic inconsistencies, and nine supposedly secret organisations. We also explore some intriguing parallels with Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles.

With additional perspectives from Croatian creator Damyen Le Fay, we're separating documented history from speculation, folklore, and fiction.

Is there something genuinely unexplained beneath the story, or are we witnessing an exceptionally elaborate modern mythology?

We're not here to tell you what to believe. We're here to follow the evidence.

Welcome to the investigation. Let's get weird.

Vampires, folklore, the Mafia, getting mugged in Naples, and a mysterious man called Signore M. Obviously, we had to start here.

In the pilot episode of Uncanny Aly, I’m joined by my friend Bianca for a very normal conversation about vampires that rapidly becomes anything but normal.

We dig into vampire folklore across different cultures, supernatural vampires versus the creatures history actually believed in, and why so many societies developed stories about things that fed on the living. Then we head to Italy: Venice, Florence, Naples, the Mafia, one particularly unfortunate mugging, and a TikTok story involving a mysterious encounter with a man known only as Signore M.

History gets weird. Folklore gets weirder. And occasionally, real life is the strangest part.

Welcome to Uncanny Aly.

Let’s get weird.