Amazing Stories & The Shaver Mystery

Dark Histories

Ben Cutmore

History

4.8 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 4 May 2026

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1945, the end of the second world war was approaching, atom bombs were on the way, and science fiction felt more like speculative prophecies than adventure stories. In the pages of pulp magazine, claims that ancient civilizations lived beneath the surface of the earth, armed with forgotten technologies, and mutated into something monstrous and cruel. To some, it was pulp fantasy. To others, a terrifying revelation. Blurring the line between imagination and belief, the Shaver Mystery presented a surreal reality that was anything but ordinary. SOURCES Toronto, Richard (2013) War Over Lemuria: Richard Shaver, Ray Palmer & The Strangest Chapter of 1940’s Science Fiction. McFarland & Co. NC, USA. Palmer, Ray (1945) The Observatory. Amazing Stories, Vol 18, No.3, May 1944. USA Shaver, Richard (1945) I Remember Lemuria. Amazing Stories, Vol 19, No.1, March 1945. USA Palmer, Ray (1945) Mantong, The Language of Lemuria. Amazing Stories, Vol 19, No.1, March 1945. USA Shaver, Richard (1945) Open Letter to the World. Amazing Stories, Vol 19, No.2, June 1945. USA Shaver, Richard (1945) Thought Records of Lemuria. Amazing Stories, Vol 19, No.2, June 1945. USA Shaver, Richard (1945) Cave City of Hel. Amazing Stories, Vol 19, No.3, September 1945. USA Palmer, Ray (1945) Report From the Forgotten Past? Amazing Stories, Vol 19, No.3, September 1945. USA ------ For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠darkhistories.com ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Support the show by visiting our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://author.to/darkhistories⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Dark Histories merch is available here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/3GChjk9⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect with us on Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Or find us on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://twitter.com/darkhistories⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Or you can contact us directly via email at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠contact@darkhistories.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or join our Discord community: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://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 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Chris Stewart, and I invite you to come and join us here at the History of China podcast.
0:05.0	We've got it all. Wars with millions on each side to help drive home exactly why you should never get involved in a land war in Asia.
0:11.0	Come along on the Silk Road to partake in its riches. Join the great cons of the steps on campaign.
0:16.0	Ply the seas on treasure ships, or strike out with pirate crews to take their riches for your own.
0:25.3	Experience the sumptuousness of the imperial court behind the guarded gates of the forbidden city.
0:29.1	All this and so much more here at the History of China podcast.
0:38.4	In 1945, the end of the Second World War was approaching.
0:45.3	Atom bombs were on the way, and science fiction felt more like speculative prophecies than they did adventure stories.
0:52.2	In the pages of a pulp magazine, there were claims that ancient civilizations lived beneath the surface of the earth,
0:54.3	armed with forgotten technologies,
0:57.7	that had mutated into something monstrous and cruel.
1:00.7	To some, this was all pulp fantasy.
1:04.1	To others, though, it was a terrifying revelation.
1:07.6	Blowing the lines between imagination and belief,
1:12.6	the shaver mystery presented a surreal reality that was anything but ordinary.
1:16.6	This is Dark History's, where the facts are worse than fiction.
1:28.8	Hello and welcome to Dark History's Season 10, episode 8. I'm your host, Ben, as always.
1:31.2	So I'm back with a new episode.
1:36.9	The last episode was the bonus episode, the 10-year anniversary question and answer episode.
1:39.1	I hope you enjoyed that one. It was actually supposed to be a bonus episode, and there wasn't meant to be two weeks between the two
1:44.3	episodes but then i ended up coming down with like a kind of cold thing last weekend so i didn't
1:49.6	record because my voice was like horribly croaky and that it's still a little bit but i think
	...

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