Lore - Legends 25: Cursed Literature

Episode Date: April 15, 2024

Cursed literature and haunted tomes fill a category of folklore that never gets enough love. This tour through the some of history’s most deadly books is sure to help you find a few new favorites. Narrated and produced by Aaron Mahnke, with writing by Harry Marks and research by Cassandra de Alba. ————————— Announcement Links:  Cabinet of Curiosities book - preorder here That’s Just Weird: grimandmild.com/weird The Legendry: patreon.com/TheLegendry Lore Resources:  Episode Music: lorepodcast.com/music  Episode Sources: lorepodcast.com/sources  All the shows from Grim & Mild: www.grimandmild.com Sponsors: Mint Mobile: For a limited time, wireless plans from Mint Mobile are $15 a month when you purchase a 3-month plan with UNLIMITED talk, text and data at MintMobile.com/lore. Article: Beautiful, high quality furniture with a delightful design (and price) for every home. Get $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more at Article.com/LORE. Harry’s: Don’t settle for the status quo. Get started with a $13 trial shave set for just $3 at Harrys.com/LORE. To report a concern regarding a radio-style, non-Aaron ad in this episode, reach out to [e-mail] with the name of the company or organization so we can look into it. ————————— To advertise on our podcast, please reach out to [e-mail], or visit our listing here. ————————— ©2024 Aaron Mahnke. All rights reserved.

Hey, folks, Aaron here. Before we start today, I have a couple of announcements to get in front of you. First up, we're going on tour. Chad and I are in the process of nailing down the details for an autumn 2024 Lore Live tour, aiming to visit eight cities around the country. We'll know more about it early this summer, and I'll be sure to give you all the inside scoop when I can. Next, don't forget my upcoming book, Cabinet of Curiosities, which gathers together a ton

of our favorite stories from my other podcast of the same name. I'll put a link in the episode description and you can check it out and hopefully make this a successful launch. That would mean so much to me. Speaking of other podcasts, don't forget about That's Just Weird, my weekly Friday show that gathers together weird current events, weird historical anniversaries, and one big weird story. It's great for kids of all ages.

So perfect for those morning drives to school. Link in the description, so check it out. Oh, and I started a secret little bedtime story club called The Legendary. I wanted to make a podcast that was just me reading classic fairy tales set to relaxing music. And I wanted to keep it ad-free, so I made it a Patreon, and I post episodes there weekly, along with beautiful PDF versions for those who like to read along. I'll put a link for that in the description.

And finally, don't forget that Lore has an ad-free option as well. If you use Apple Podcasts, you can see the option right there in the app to subscribe for a monthly fee and get ad-free episodes and bonus stories. Or if you subscribe through the Lore Patreon account, you can import that ad-free feed into your favorite podcast apps. It supports the show and it gets you some great benefits. And that's it, folks. Announcements are over.

So with that, let's dig into a brand new edition of Lore Legends. legends. They are foundational for all of us. Many of us can cite specific ones as the reason we are who we are today. They are a source of entertainment, comfort, and growth, and without them, our world would be far less colorful than it is. I'm talking, of course, about books. For many of us, a book is one of our first experiences with knowledge.

Our formative years were spent in our parents' laps as they taught us the alphabet. After that, we graduated to storybooks, then chapter books, before moving on to thick textbooks full of information on things like physics and math and history. And all the while we were told to stay in our seats with our eyes on the page if we wanted to grow up and be successful. Knowledge is power, they told us. But they didn't say what that power would lead to or how much some people would be frightened by it.

And yes, there are far too many cases of authorities and governments fearing the knowledge that we the people have access to through books. But judging by the stories told throughout the ages, there is another way in which books have instilled fear in society. As folklore so often does, it has taken this idea and given it a supernatural twist. And because of that, there are countless stories of books that are powerful in the wrong ways. In those instances, it might be the words between the covers or even just the physical book itself that poses a danger.

In fact, if the stories are true, some tomes can even be deadly. But that's the thing about a good book. It's impossible to put down, right? Even when it might kill you. I'm Aaron Manke, and this is Lore Legends. Everyone has a favorite color. Just set foot inside their home and look at how they decorate or the clothes they wear. Color connects with us, and sometimes it connects with an entire culture. One color that has always seemed to rise above the rest, and for good reason, is green.

And that isn't just because of grassy fields and water lilies. No green has often been seen to represent positive concepts, like rebirth or growth. That's why the ancient Egyptians were so fond of it. Now, you would think that a color so abundant in nature might also be easy for us to replicate. The Egyptians used a bright green mineral called malachite to make their pigment, but it eventually lost its vibrance and turned black. In Renaissance-era Europe, plants were used instead, but the verdant dye they produced also faded to a duller shade over time.

And then in Sweden in 1775, one man changed everything. His name was Carl Wilhelm Scheele, and he'd been working on a new pigment that he called Scheele's Green. It didn't fade like the others, which was a win, but it did have its own set of problems. For one, it made people sick. They developed conditions like skin ulcers, stomach pains, convulsions, and even nerve damage. Pregnant women suffered miscarriages in its presence, and many wound up with cancer after being exposed to it. So what deadly concoction made up Schiehl's new paint color? Well, he had used plants and minerals like the people who came before him, but not the ones that you might think. His secret ingredient was arsenic. This arsenic was a byproduct of the

European mining industry and could produce vibrant greens in a variety of hues. After Schiehl's discovery, arsenic-based green pigments became pretty trendy. They were used in all sorts of products, including toys, makeup, and even candy. Now arsenic was a known entity at this point. It had already played a part in a number of poisonings in the past. But few people understood just how deadly it could be. That's why it was even mixed into dyes for clothing in the 1860s. They believed that you had to eat large amounts of it to be affected, when in reality, all

you had to do was touch it. During the 19th century, arsenic went from being a key ingredient in dastardly poisoning plots to being a major presence in the average Victorian-era home. In fact, people used to put it all over their walls as wallpaper. By the mid-1800s, arsenic had branched out from its green roots. It was also being used to create other colors, such as canary yellow, the likely inspiration for the 1892 short story, The Yellow Wallpaper. It became so popular, arsenic-based wallpaper made up as much as 65% of all wallpaper sold in the US,

according to the American Medical Association. Over time, the ink would break down and flake off, and those toxic particles in the air would get inhaled by the people living in the home, leading to all kinds of diseases and conditions. For example, a member of the Michigan House of Representatives had put arsenic-laced wallpaper all over his bedroom. It was mostly gray in tone, with green flowers dotted throughout.

He soon suffered from bone pain, rheumatism, and constant cough. And his sons didn't fare much better. Sons who slept one room over from him, with a door open between them. Eventually, the wallpaper was chemically tested, and high levels of arsenic were found. To make matters worse, the faded paper put out roughly one pound of arsenic dust every six months. Once it was removed, the man and his sons made a full recovery. But this problem didn't go unnoticed, and so another Michigander named Robert C. Kedzie

hatched a plan. He was a member of the State Board of Health, and he wrote a book to educate the public about arsenic in the home. It was called Shadows from the Walls of Death, and true to its name, has gone down in history as the deadliest book ever written. Because Kedzie wanted to do more than just teach people, he wanted to terrify them into understanding the threat living right under their noses.

And that's why he included reports of individuals who had been harmed by their home decor. And to truly drive his point home, he purchased 80 rolls of wallpaper containing arsenic. Samples were cut up and bound within the book's pages. He then mailed 100 copies to libraries all across Michigan with a note, Don't let any children touch it. Thanks in large part to his book, arsenic pigment was phased out of wallpaper, but it could still be found in a variety of other products, including artist paints, clothing, and books. According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, arsenic cannot be destroyed

in the environment. It can only change its form or become attached to or separate from particles. That means that his volume of wallpaper samples is still just as toxic today as it was 100 years ago. Robert Kedzie published his book to show the dangers of arsenic in the home. In a way, that was his legacy. But some people over the years have poured their heart and soul into their own books. And in one man's case at least, a lot more.

Don't judge a book by its cover. At least that's what we were taught as kids, right? And because of that, when we hold a book, we don't usually think about the paper inside or the cardboard wrapped around it. We think about the tales it can tell us. But some books are more than the stories found inside them. In fact, some are stories in and of themselves. One such volume is held within the archives of the Boston Athenaeum.

The Athenaeum is a private library that was founded in 1807. Its collection boasts more than 500,000 books, 100,000 of which are held within a number of special collections. But one rare tome stands out above the rest. It's a slim 32-page memoir that was published in 1837 by a man named James Allen. By all accounts, Allen wasn't anyone special. But his book certainly is. He'd been born to a poor family in Lancaster, Massachusetts.

When he was only three years old, Allen was sent to live with a grandparent after his mother died and his father left. Sadly, this elder guardian also passed away, leaving the boy completely alone. Allen bounced from home to home across the states with no one to guide him on his way to adulthood. He eventually fell into a life of crime as a teen and took multiple aliases along the way. He was called everything from Jonas Pierce to James H. York to Burleigh Grove, but he was

best known as George Walton. While living in Charlestown, Massachusetts, Walton, or Allen, was mentored by other, more hardened criminals, putting him on a fast track to prison. He'd get caught, spend some time in jail, try to escape, and then get caught again. He made friends with the other prisoners and did his best not to stir the pot while he was behind bars. And this carried on until 1830 when he was granted a pardon and really made a go at an honest living. But no matter how hard he tried, that old way of life finally caught up with him. There was even one incident in which he attempted to stop a purse robbery, only

to be stabbed in the head for his troubles. After a while, he returned to the life that he knew best, one that had been built on nothing but bad choices. And it all came to a head in 1834, when Walton spotted a wealthy man in a Boston marketplace. He learned that the man's name was John Fenno, and Fenno had fat pockets. It was too tempting of an opportunity, so Walton hid and waited along the road that Fennow took to get home. When the man's wagon appeared, Walton jumped out holding a gun and shouted,

Your money or your life. Fennow, to his credit, didn't hesitate. He rushed the would-be thief, attacking him. Walton fired his pistol, thinking that he could scare Fennow off, but instead saw a splotch of red spread across his shirt. He hadn't been trying to, but he had shot him. Believing that he had killed the man, Walton fled the scene. And then from afar, he watched as Fenno got up, injured, but not murdered. Still, Walton was caught and sent back to prison for what would be the final time.

But things got worse for him five years later. In 1837, Walton came down with the influenza that had already claimed the lives of countless inmates, and he was next. Lying inside the prison hospital, he asked to see John Fenno, the man that he had almost killed one last time. And Fenno showed up and gave his attacker some advice. He suggested that he tell his story

to the warden, Charles Lincoln. It's a testament to Walton's likeability that Lincoln devoted himself to the task. The warden spent hours with the dying prisoner, recording his life story and all the horrible things he had done while he'd been a free man. On July 17th of 1837, George Walton, formerly known as James Allen, drew his last breath. He was only 27 years old, but before he died, he left behind one final request, to have his memoir published, but not like any old book. You see, he requested that it be bound in a special kind of leather, which was tanned

and treated, giving it the appearance of deer skin. And in the center of the front cover would be a square of black leather, stamped in gold lettering with a phrase in Latin. Translated, it communicated a chilly message. This book by Walton is bound in his skin. If we're honest, skin books and poisonous inks all seem like obvious characteristics to avoid. After all, their danger is right there for all to see at a moment's glance. But there are also volumes that are deemed evil because of their actual contents, the

words and images found inside. A great example of this is a book that was published somewhere between 1204 and 1230 AD. It was massive, measuring 36 inches tall, 20 inches wide, and over 8 inches thick. And it was heavy, too, weighing in at a whopping 165 pounds. Its 310 pages were bound between wooden boards and covered in leather. Not from a human, though, just to be clear.

And it was decorated with ornate metal fastenings, because every evil book needs to look like it came out of a grimdark fantasy movie, right? Its official name was the Codex Gigas, which literally translates to Giant Book, an apt name for such a large volume. But that's not its only title. You see, it also went by another name as well. This alternate moniker came about because of one particular section within the book. It contains a page with a 19-inch-tall depiction of the Devil, complete with two red horns

jutting out from his head and two forked tongues snaking out of his fanged mouth. His face is green and he possesses huge ears and enormous rolling eyes. And thanks to this one image, the Codex Gigas is more commonly known as the Devil's Bible. On the page opposite the demon is an illustration of the heavenly city of Jerusalem referenced in the Book of Revelation. According to an article by historian Erika Harlitz-Kirn, it was common in the Middle Ages to leave book spreads on display to convey a message to those who saw it.

It is believed that the message intended here is to show the rewards of a God-fearing life on one page and the horrors of a sinful life on the other. But the Codex Gigas is more than just a Bible. It's a compendium of knowledge from across several different disciplines. Contained between its gigantic covers is a medical textbook, works by Jewish military leader and historian Flavius Josephus, and several other historical texts. It also holds something even more unusual as well. Spells and magical formulas, which are, of course, written on the pages following the drawing of the devil. The National Library of

Sweden believes that they might have been put there to act as a countermeasure to the Prince of Darkness. A way to fight fire with fire, so to speak. But while we know what's inside the devil's Bible, little is understood about where it came from or who wrote it. One myth surrounding the creation of a codex is that it was written by a monk named Herman the Recluse, who was walled up without food or water for breaking his monastic vows. Herman's name actually appears in the book's necrology, along with the designation of inclusive, or shut in. According to legend, Herman had wanted to atone for his sins and

decided that he would do so by creating the world's largest book in a single night. Some say it wasn't just meant to be the biggest, but it would also contain all the knowledge in the world. Most historians do believe that it was the work of a single scribe, but of course written over a period of something more like 30 years. Still, the theory that it was all compiled in one night has remained in the collective imagination. But it leaves you asking, how could one man write such a massive tome in such a short period of time?

Well, the legend tells us that he took a shortcut to do so. He sold his soul to the devil. In return, the monk was granted one night of unbound productivity. But he also had to include that full page depiction of the Devil's form, as a sort of price of admission. Over the years, the Devil's Bible has gained a reputation for both its impressive size and the story behind its creation. It wound up in the personal collection of Emperor Rudolf II in 1594.

They say that he borrowed it to read it back at his castle in Prague, and then just sort of kept it, although it's clear that he never really intended to return it in the first place. About 50 years later, it was brought to Stockholm by the Swedish army. They liberated it from Rudolf's possessions toward the end of the Thirty Years' War, and placed it in the personal library of Queen Christina. Then, a century after that, the royal palace was ravaged by a fire which destroyed many of the books inside.

The Devil's Bible was tossed out a fourth-floor window to save it from the flames, but it did suffer damage from the landing. One legend claims that the 165-pound volume actually hit someone on its way down and hurt them. Only a fraction of the books in the Queen's Library were saved, but the Devil's Bible was one of them. It was finally repaired and restored in 1819 and transferred to the National Library in Stockholm, Sweden a few decades later. Closing the book on a very big story.

Cursed books and haunted pages. It sounds like something from a bad horror film, but maybe that concept has been so attractive to us for a reason. We recognize how powerful books can be, and not all power is a force for good. Legends of books that can kill, or that are so cursed that they alter the lives of their owners, are common entries in the world of folklore. Whether bound in human flesh or filled with deadly dust,

we can't stop thinking about the danger. But despite the claim that the Devil's Bible is really just all bark and no bite, there are stories that prove the opposite. In fact, the book is rumored to have caused some strange side effects in the people who have turned its pages. Among them were Queen Christina of Sweden and Rudolf II. Apparently, simply possessing the book led to their loss of power and eventual downfall. Over the centuries, many monasteries that housed the devil's Bible were also destroyed. It seems that it was a force to be reckoned with. Oddly enough, one chapel did evade the curse. The Sedlik Osuary in the Czech Republic

only housed the book for a short time, but its survival probably had more to do with the building's strange decor. You see, the Sedlec Ossuary contains the bones of as many as 70,000 people, providing the perfect backdrop for a book so closely associated with death. In 1858, though, a book was published with an even more frightening allegation. Titled Preposterous Anecdotes, it tells the story of a guard at the library where the Codex was held, who had an encounter that changed him forever. He had fallen asleep on the job and had gotten himself locked in the stacks overnight.

After a few hours, though, he awoke to see several books floating around him, as if they were dancing on invisible strings. And right at the front of this supernatural book parade was the Devil's Bible, along with the Devil himself. When library staff opened the doors the next morning, they found the guard cowering under a table, confused and muttering to himself. He tried to tell them what he had seen, but it made no sense to them. He eventually lost his job and, according to the story, his sanity. Some 15 years later, though, shortly before it was brought to Sweden's National Library, it became the obsession of a royal librarian named August Strindberg.

One day, while Strindberg was leading a visitor around the building, he guided them to the Devil's Bible. Back then it was under much less protection than it is today, and Strindberg was free to walk over, open its cover, and flip through its massive pages. But as he showed off the beautiful illustrations to this visitor, he leaned in close to the book and then whispered a haunting question to the man. Can you hear the voices? From a purely historical perspective, The Devil's Bible is nothing more than a religious text with an unsettling past, but it's also a powerful example of just how dangerous a book

truly can be. Some books, it seems, are cursed, not by the stories they tell, but by the stories told about them. Cursed literature and haunted tomes is a category of folklore that never gets enough love. But I hope today's tour through the pages of some of the most deadly books in history have helped you find a few new favorite stories. I know I did. But of course, the shelves are packed with more, and I have another powerful one set

aside just for you. Stick around through this brief sponsor break to hear all about it. This episode of Lore was made possible by Mint Mobile. After years of fine print contracts and getting ripped off by overpriced wireless providers, if we've learned anything, it's that there's always a catch. So when I heard that Mint Mobile wireless plans are $15 a month when you purchase a three month plan,

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And finally, this episode was made possible by Harry's. When I started Lore over nine years ago, I did it partly because there wasn't a podcast that ticked all of the boxes for me. So I made it myself. And sometimes you just have to do that, blaze a trail of your own rather than sticking to the status quo. And do you know who else does that every day? Harry's.

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you would pay for other big brands. Don't settle for the status quo. Blaze your own trail with Harry's. Get started with a 13 trial set for just $3 at harrys.com slash lor. That's harrys.com slash lor for a $3 trial set. Inside of Italy is a whole other country. It's actually the smallest country in the world, taking up only 105 acres. As a sovereign nation situated right in the middle of Rome, Vatican City is central home of the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope himself. The Catholic Church is, of course, an ancient institution, so it's no surprise that it has a few secrets.

Lots of them, in fact, all of which are housed within the Vatican Secret Archives. Now, scholars have been allowed to explore the archives for research purposes since 1881, but materials are usually embargoed for 70 years after the end of the relevant papacy. Naturally, this kind of secrecy has led to countless rumors and speculation about what might be inside. Among the books and other historical documents that fill its 53 miles of shelving are many items charting the Church's history, along with some that they don't want getting out. There's a letter from Queen Mary of Scots begging Pope Sixtus V for a pardon that never came.

Also, there's the letter from Henry VIII requesting an annulment from Catherine of Aragon, the denial of which led to the creation of the Church of England. But beyond the well-known historical examples, there are also more esoteric documents that are rumored to be housed within the Archives. For example, many claim that the Vatican is concealing evidence there of extraterrestrial life, including actual alien skulls. Some wide-eyed conspiracy theorists even believe the Pope is working with aliens to implant microchips inside everyone on the planet.

But collusion with ET pales in comparison to one of the archive's most controversial entries, the Third Secret of Fatima. To understand it though, we need to go back over a century. On May 13th of 1917, three young Portuguese children received three secrets from a vision of the Virgin Mary, warning that the apocalypse was at hand, and this apparition came to be known as Our Lady of Fatima. The first secret was a glimpse of hell as a boiling sea of fire filled with demons and human souls.

The second one predicted the end of World War I, followed by the start of World War II, unless of course the planet changed for the better. But the third secret stayed a mystery for a very long time. One of the children, Lucia, had written the other two down, but according to her, the Virgin Mary had told her to keep this last one a secret to herself. She struggled for decades, wanting to honor Mary's wishes while also wanting to warn the Catholic Church about what was going to happen. When Lucia came down with influenza and a respiratory illness called pleurisy in September

of 1943, one bishop even urged her to write it down in case she died, but she refused. It wasn't until a year later in 1944 that she finally relented, after she claimed the Virgin Mary appeared to her once again. This time she visited Lucia in a dream and told her, write that which they command you, but not that which was given to you to understand of its meaning. So Lucia recorded the secret and then sealed it inside an envelope which was given to that bishop for safekeeping. He himself held onto it for thirteen years before it finally made its way to the Vatican. Then in the year 2000, that envelope was finally unsealed.

Cardinal Angelo Sedano revealed that, amazingly, the Third Secret of Fatima concerned the assassination attempt on John Paul II in 1981, a prescient message, if that's actually what was written down. You see, there are a number of conspiracy theories about what the Third Secret really was. Some of them are about what the Third Secret really was. Some of them are based on the belief that the apocalypse is still imminent, possibly from nuclear war. The Vatican Archives, it seems, are a lot like the collective folklore we have about dangerous books.

It's hard to reach, impossible to trust, and filled with secrets that few people are ready for. As I said before, knowledge is power, and sometimes that power is better left on the shelf. This episode of Lore Legends was produced by me, Aaron Manke, with writing by Harry Marks and research by Cassandra Dayalba. Don't like hearing ads? I have a solution for you.

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