Hellfire Club: Sex, Scandal & Satanism in Georgian England
After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal
History Hit
4.7 • 2.1K Ratings
🗓️ 4 December 2023
⏱️ 49 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Sex, Satanism and Scandal surrounded the Hellfire Club that operated out of a network of caves in the country estate of 18th century aristocrat Francis Dashwood. The most powerful men in the country came to Dashwood's underground lair. Rumours swirled of everything from orgies to human sacrifice and Satanic spirits. But was it all as diabolical as it seemed?
Maddy tells Anthony the story this week.
Produced by Freddy Chick and Charlotte Long. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This episode is sponsored by Warner Brothers and Salem's Lot, the spine-tingling new horror film from the legendary Stephen King. |
| 0:09.1 | It is so exciting, it is that time of year. It is spooky season. |
| 0:13.0 | Oh, it's just the best time of year. |
| 0:15.0 | No surprise that we love this time of year, of course. |
| 0:19.0 | There is no better fit for this season than a good horror film. |
| 0:22.0 | Salem's lot is one of Stephen King's |
| 0:25.1 | favorite stories, I'm sure you've heard of it, and it's adapted from the 1975 best-selling |
| 0:30.0 | novel. Salim's Lot follows an author who returns to his hometown in Maine, but things are not as they should be. The place is being preyed upon by a bloodthirsty vampire. |
| 0:42.1 | Of course it is. |
| 0:43.0 | Why wouldn't it be the place is called Salem? |
| 0:45.0 | Salem's lot is the latest adaptation of Stephen King's bestseller. |
| 0:49.0 | From the creators of the record-breaking horror franchise, The Conjuring Universe. |
| 0:53.0 | So take yourself, your mom, your romantic date, or just a pillow to hide behind to see this |
| 0:59.6 | after dark endorsed vampire movie. |
| 1:02.3 | Salem's lot in cinemas October 11th. |
| 1:05.0 | 1750, deep in the Buckinghamshire countryside north of London. |
| 1:16.0 | We're standing in the last of the evening light on the outskirts of West Wickham, |
| 1:22.0 | a rolling parkland peppered with classical temples and follies all |
| 1:26.8 | nestled amid the Chilton Hills. Somewhere behind us in the dark is a magnificent house, the seat of Sir Francis Dashwood politician. |
| 1:39.2 | It's Dashwood who has brought us here, a mysterious invitation delivered by one of his footmen arrived only |
| 1:46.0 | hours ago. But we're not here for the house or even the grounds. Before us is what looks like a rocky cliff face with a dark, roughly hewn opening at its centre. |
| 2:00.0 | This is the entrance to the West Wickham Caves, a system of underground tunnels and cells first |
... |
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