Believed for over a thousand years to be local soothsayers who used their powers for everyday charms and spells, European witches' PR machine finally turned against them in the 16th and 17th centuries: when the continent suddenly became gripped by the idea that they weren't so wholesome after all...

In fact, they might just be part of a demonic army on a mission to cloud the whole world in evil.

For spooky season, we're treating our listeners to a redux of our epic two-parter ShortHand exploring the witch-hunting mania that gripped Europe for a huge chunk of its history – and led to the state-sanctioned executions of over 200,000 people.

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Since it's October, we're revisiting one of the most sickening, spine-chilling cases we've ever covered on RedHanded...

The horrifying case of David Fuller: the so-called Monster in the Morgue.

At first, police thought they were only looking for a double murderer.

Nicknamed the ‘Bedsit Killer’ in the press, the suspect’s reputation for savage violence already loomed large in the town of Tunbridge Wells in the late 80s. But it was only when they caught David Fuller – more than 30 years later – that they learnt the blood-curdling truth: that for years, the mortuary worker had been acting out his sick fantasies with the bodies of the dead.

Boiled in blood, hacked at by knives, torn apart by iron dogs… the world’s religions differ on what exactly might await sinners in the afterlife. But one thing they can all agree on is that if you were naughty on Earth, you are in for one hell of a horrible time.

We take a quick tour of history’s grimmest netherzones: from freezing poison rain in the Norse Helheim, to a river of excrement, where monstrous aquatic beings eat your flesh, down in the Hindu Narakas. Welcome to Hell.

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Cursing the courtroom and then slashing his own throat with a contraband shiv, Aubrey Trail had lived up to his promise, turning the trial of Bailey Boswell and himself into a complete circus. Although the pair’s bizarre relationship, full of kinks, vampires and witches, had already seen to that.

Boswell and Trail had murdered 24-year-old Sydney Loofe six months previously before dismembering her and draining her body entirely of its blood. Why? According to Boswell, her partner in crime, Trail, was an ageless vampire who controlled a coven of witches. Killing Loofe and “breathing in her last breath” was all Boswell needed to do to become the sacred 13th witch, before being granted the magical ability to turn into a cat.

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In 2013, horror blockbuster The Conjuring packed out cinemas worldwide, terrifying moviegoers with its alleged ‘true story’ of a house haunted by malevolent demons.

But the real truth behind the tale is far sketchier than we might think – with marital discord, pissed-off neighbours, and a ghost-busting power couple spearheading a very unfair smear campaign against a 19th century farmer’s wife.

This is the ShortHand.

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With the release of the Amazon Prime documentary about the murder of Caroline Crouch, we're reaching into the vault to bring you H&S' coverage of this tragic case.

When the body of 19-year-old Caroline Crouch was found in her attic room after an apparent home invasion – with her 11-month-old daughter crying next to her, and her puppy hanging from the bannister – the nation of Greece mourned with her widower, Babis Anagnostopoulos.

A handsome helicopter pilot, Anagnostopoulos had led the tributes since her death. But one month on, at a clifftop memorial service, Athenian police revealed that new analysis of the couple’s smart devices revealed a new culprit. One who’d fooled not just the police – but the whole nation.

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Vanquishing demons lingering in a tainted soul might sound like a very Christian idea – but exorcisms are prevalent in almost every culture across the globe. From ancient China to modern Islam, there are hundreds of ways to free someone from the grips of an evil spirit. This week Hannah and Suruthi run down a few of the most interesting – and discuss why, before modern medicine, possession seemed like such a likely explanation.

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