Midnight Facts for Insomniacs

Which would be in your top five… Tell us in Discord ~ Become an Insomniac! Join the Midnight Masses by supporting the show on PATREON and unlock exclusive bonus content. ~ Rep the show! Grab a tee or mug at the MIDNIGHT MERCH store and spread the word. ~ Follow us on INSTAGRAM ~ Send Shane and Duncan a message at [email protected] ~    

Before Bram Stoker ever put pen to paper, the villages of Eastern Europe had a monster problem: the restless dead, crawling from their graves bloated with blood to prey on their own families. This week, Shane and Duncan trace how Stoker wove folklore, a Wallachian prince's fearsome name, and Victorian anxieties into 1897's Dracula, and how Hollywood sanded the count's rough edges into the caped, hypnotic aristocrat the world pictures today, turning a folk horror into the most imitated monster in film history. ~ Become an Insomniac! Join the Midnight Masses by supporting the show on PATREON and unlock exclusive bonus content. ~ Join the community, chat with fellow insomniacs, and vote on episode topics via DISCORD ~ Send Shane and Duncan a message at [email protected] ~ Rep the show! Grab a tee or mug at the MIDNIGHT MERCH store and spread the word. ~ Follow us on INSTAGRAM  

Back by popular demand (and dark ritual), this Halloween classic rises once more from the archives. Join Shane and Duncan for a deep dive into the strange, spooky origins of everyone’s favorite night of costumes, candy, and cultural confusion.    Lock the doors, light the jack-o’-lantern, and celebrate the season with this fan-favorite episode… now officially an annual tradition. ~ Become an Insomniac! Join the Midnight Masses by supporting the show on PATREON and unlock exclusive bonus content. ~ Join the community, chat with fellow insomniacs, and vote on episode topics via DISCORD ~ Send Shane and Duncan a message at [email protected] ~ Rep the show! Grab a tee or mug at the MIDNIGHT MERCH store and spread the word. ~ Follow us on INSTAGRAM

It was the summer that wasn't. In 1816, a volcanic eruption on the other side of the world choked the skies with ash and drowned Europe in cold, ceaseless rain. Holed up on the shores of Lake Geneva, Lord Byron challenged his houseguests to each write a ghost story. Mary Shelley's became Frankenstein. This week, Shane and Duncan dig into how Hollywood took Shelley's articulate, vengeful creature and rebuilt it into something unrecognizable, and in the process created one of the most iconic monsters in film history. ~ Become an Insomniac! Join the Midnight Masses by supporting the show on PATREON and unlock exclusive bonus content. ~ Join the community, chat with fellow insomniacs, and vote on episode topics via DISCORD ~ Send Shane and Duncan a message at [email protected] ~ Rep the show! Grab a tee or mug at the MIDNIGHT MERCH store and spread the word. ~ Follow us on INSTAGRAM  

Alive? No Country For Old Men? Outbreak? Which would be in your top 5?  Tell us in Discord ~ Become an Insomniac! Join the Midnight Masses by supporting the show on PATREON and unlock exclusive bonus content. ~ Rep the show! Grab a tee or mug at the MIDNIGHT MERCH store and spread the word. ~ Follow us on INSTAGRAM ~ Send Shane and Duncan a message at [email protected] ~    

This week, Shane and Duncan go ghost hunting across two centuries and three continents. In Tennessee, the Bell Witch moves into a farmhouse, wrecks an engagement, and terrorizes a future president. In London, Scratching Fanny knocks against the walls of a Cock Lane lodging, accusing a widower of poisoning his wife. In Australia, Fisher's Ghost perches on a fence rail and points toward his own grave. Pour something strong, lock the doors, and join the boys for three of history's strangest hauntings. ~ Become an Insomniac! Join the Midnight Masses by supporting the show on PATREON and unlock exclusive bonus content. ~ Join the community, chat with fellow insomniacs, and vote on episode topics via DISCORD ~ Send Shane and Duncan a message at [email protected] ~ Rep the show! Grab a tee or mug at the MIDNIGHT MERCH store and spread the word. ~ Follow us on INSTAGRAM  

For centuries, courts have wrestled with one impossible question: does madness excuse murder? From Daniel M’Naghten and his delusions about the British government to John Hinckley Jr. and his attempt to win Jodie Foster’s heart by shooting Ronald Reagan, the history of the insanity defense is full of strange crimes, stranger logic, and some truly bizarre courtroom battles. ~ Become an Insomniac! Join the Midnight Masses by supporting the show on PATREON and unlock exclusive bonus content. ~ Join the community, chat with fellow insomniacs, and vote on episode topics via DISCORD ~ Send Shane and Duncan a message at [email protected] ~ Rep the show! Grab a tee or mug at the MIDNIGHT MERCH store and spread the word. ~ Follow us on INSTAGRAM  

This week, Shane and Duncan descend into the strange world of luxury bunkers, from the bizarre Atomitat to a Las Vegas mansion buried beneath the desert, an abandoned Atlas missile silo transformed into a luxury survival condo, and sprawling private compounds designed to keep the ultra-wealthy comfortable while the rest of civilization burns. Swimming pools, movie theaters, fake windows, hydroponic gardens, private security, and enough luxury amenities to make the apocalypse feel like a vacation. Because if the world is going to end, there's no reason it can’t end in style. ~ Become an Insomniac! Join the Midnight Masses by supporting the show on PATREON and unlock exclusive bonus content. ~ Join the community, chat with fellow insomniacs, and vote on episode topics via DISCORD ~ Send Shane and Duncan a message at [email protected] ~ Rep the show! Grab a tee or mug at the MIDNIGHT MERCH store and spread the word. ~ Follow us on INSTAGRAM

Castles, cannons, concrete, and the persistent human desire not to get blown up. This week, Shane and Duncan trace the strange evolution of the bunker, from medieval fortifications and the arrival of artillery to the underground defenses of the World Wars and the nuclear paranoia of the Cold War. ~ Become an Insomniac! Join the Midnight Masses by supporting the show on PATREON and unlock exclusive bonus content. ~ Join the community, chat with fellow insomniacs, and vote on episode topics via DISCORD ~ Send Shane and Duncan a message at [email protected] ~ Rep the show! Grab a tee or mug at the MIDNIGHT MERCH store and spread the word. ~ Follow us on INSTAGRAM

Body-art aficionados rejoice! MFFI finally takes on tattoos...  Long before tattoo machines, sterile needles, and flash books, humans were finding creative ways to decorate their skin. In this week's host swap episode, Duncan traces the history of tattooing from sooty sticks to rotary guns to a nightmare future of automated skin-printers. Follow along to find out how tattooing went from ancient ritual and social taboo to the red carpet, the runway, and the mall. ~ Become an Insomniac! Join the Midnight Masses by supporting the show on PATREON and unlock exclusive bonus content. ~ Join the community, chat with fellow insomniacs, and vote on episode topics via DISCORD ~ Send Shane and Duncan a message at [email protected] ~ Rep the show! Grab a tee or mug at the MIDNIGHT MERCH store and spread the word. ~ Follow us on INSTAGRAM