Christmas is a season wrapped in warmth, light, and nostalgia — but history doesn’t pause for the holidays. In this special episode of Dark History, we explore three true tragedies that unfolded in December’s deepest shadows.

From the firestorm that tore Halifax apart in 1917, to the brutal Christmas Day massacre of the Lawson family in North Carolina, to the surrender of Hong Kong in 1941 — a moment that opened the door to one of the darkest chapters of the Second World War. These are not ghost stories or festive myths. They are real events, shaped by human fear, violence, and circumstance, all happening while the rest of the world sang carols and lit candles.

This Christmas Special is a journey across continents and centuries, tracing the places where the season of light collided with the harshest edges of history.

Settle in. Dim the room. Let the fire crackle.
And step with me into the shadows.

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In this episode of The Dark History Podcast, you’re stepping into one of the most unbelievable true stories of the Second World War—an operation so absurd, so intricate, and so effective that it reshaped the outcome of D-Day. This is the real history of Juan Pujol García: the failed poultry farmer who built an entire spy network out of thin air, convinced the Nazi High Command he was their greatest agent, and helped save tens of thousands of Allied lives using nothing but nerve, imagination, and a talent for lying.

You’ll follow Pujol from the chaos of the Spanish Civil War to the cafés of Lisbon, where he created a fantasy Britain detailed enough to fool the Abwehr. You’ll meet the fake agents he invented, the MI5 handlers who recognised his genius, and the ghost army he helped conjure for Operation Fortitude—the deception that kept German forces pinned in Calais while the real invasion hit Normandy.

This is the truth behind Agent Garbo: the man awarded honours by both Nazi Germany and the British Crown, the only double agent to become a legend on both sides of the same war. No guns. No gadgets. Just one ordinary man who refused to accept the rise of fascism and used pure audacity to bend history.

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Settle in—this is one of the most extraordinary wartime stories ever told.

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Season 4, Episode 21 marks a milestone: the 100th episode of The Dark History Podcast—and the beginning of a new era as the show officially joins the Radcast Network. In this immersive, narrative-driven special, Rob takes you deep into the choking streets of London in 1349, at the height of the Black Death.

Told through the final day of an imagined plague doctor, Thomas Avery, this episode blends historical fact with vivid storytelling to capture the fear, superstition, and relentless human suffering of a city on the edge of collapse. You'll walk with Avery through plague-ridden parishes, mass grave pits, shuttered homes, and the moral twilight that defined the era. Though fictional, his experience is built from real accounts, archaeological evidence, and surviving plague doctor contracts from across medieval Europe.

This is not just history—it’s a descent into the heart of catastrophe, illuminated through one man’s final reckoning.
Stay for the reflection at the end, where we pull apart the truths behind the story and the enduring legacy of the plague doctor.

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