Uploaded November 2024 | Updated September 2026, 48 minutes ago
Dark Histories is primarily an audio podcast, available on all your podcast apps, wherever you listen: pod.link/1279731673
The life and times of George Albert Smith are not particularly well known. Despite working for several years as a stage hypnotist and psychic, the owner of a popular pleasure park and then eventually a pioneering inventor and filmmaker, there are few who could reel off a biography based on nothing more than a name. Perhaps even more obscure, however, was his time spent as a ghost hunter for the Society for Psychical Research, which, whilst a relatively short career in comparison, was no less groundbreaking, when he took tenancy of a haunted house for more than a whole year in order to investigate the reported phenomena.
SOURCES
Gray, Frank (2019) The Brighton School & The Birth of British Film. Palgrave Macmillan, London, UK.
Gray, Frank (1998) Smith the showman: The early years of George Albert Smith. Film History, Vol. 10, No. 1, Cinema Pioneers (1998), pp. 8-20. John Libby & Co., Sydney, Australia.
Hall, Trevor (1964) The Strange Case of Edmund Gurney. Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd, London, UK.
Blackburn, Douglas (1883) Thought Reading Extraordinary. Light, No 86, Vol II. London, UK.
Smith, George Albert (1884) Report on a Haunted House at Norwich. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, Vol I, 1884-5. London, UK.
Podmore, Frank (1890) Phantasms of the Dead from Another Point of View. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, Vol VI, 1889-90. London, UK.
Gauld, Alan & Cornell, Tony (1979) Poltergeists. White Crow Books, London, UK.
Sussex Advertiser (1879) Suicide By Hanging. Sussex Advertiser, Sat 5 April 1879, p2. Brighton, UK.
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This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month.
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For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com
Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: patreon.com/darkhistories
The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: author.to/darkhistories
Dark Histories merch is available here: bit.ly/3GChjk9
Connect with us on Facebook: facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast
Or find us on Twitter: twitter.com/darkhistories
& Instagram: instagram.com/dark_histories
Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com
or join our Discord community: discord.gg/cmGcBFf
The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye
Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017
Dark Histories is primarily an audio podcast, available on all your podcast apps, wherever you listen: pod.link/1279731673
The life and times of George Albert Smith are not particularly well known. Despite working for several years as a stage hypnotist and psychic, the owner of a popular pleasure park and then eventually a pioneering inventor and filmmaker, there are few who could reel off a biography based on nothing more than a name. Perhaps even more obscure, however, was his time spent as a ghost hunter for the Society for Psychical Research, which, whilst a relatively short career in comparison, was no less groundbreaking, when he took tenancy of a haunted house for more than a whole year in order to investigate the reported phenomena.
SOURCES
Gray, Frank (2019) The Brighton School & The Birth of British Film. Palgrave Macmillan, London, UK.
Gray, Frank (1998) Smith the showman: The early years of George Albert Smith. Film History, Vol. 10, No. 1, Cinema Pioneers (1998), pp. 8-20. John Libby & Co., Sydney, Australia.
Hall, Trevor (1964) The Strange Case of Edmund Gurney. Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd, London, UK.
Blackburn, Douglas (1883) Thought Reading Extraordinary. Light, No 86, Vol II. London, UK.
Smith, George Albert (1884) Report on a Haunted House at Norwich. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, Vol I, 1884-5. London, UK.
Podmore, Frank (1890) Phantasms of the Dead from Another Point of View. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, Vol VI, 1889-90. London, UK.
Gauld, Alan & Cornell, Tony (1979) Poltergeists. White Crow Books, London, UK.
Sussex Advertiser (1879) Suicide By Hanging. Sussex Advertiser, Sat 5 April 1879, p2. Brighton, UK.
-------
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month.
-------
For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com
Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: patreon.com/darkhistories
The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: author.to/darkhistories
Dark Histories merch is available here: bit.ly/3GChjk9
Connect with us on Facebook: facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast
Or find us on Twitter: twitter.com/darkhistories
& Instagram: instagram.com/dark_histories
Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com
or join our Discord community: discord.gg/cmGcBFf
The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye
Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017
