June 1284. Hamelin, Germany. The bells ring for mass and the town answers with panic. One hundred and thirty children vanish in the span of a single day. No bodies. No blood. No ransom. Only empty beds, and parents who spend the rest of their lives waiting for footsteps that never return.

In this investigation, Folklore Forensics strips away the nursery-rhyme varnish of the Pied Piper and reopens the case beneath the legend: a stranger in piebald clothing, a town that breaks its bargain, and witness accounts so eerily consistent they read like testimony. We examine the surviving records, reconstruct the timeline from the rat crisis to Koppen Hill, and weigh the leading theories—from trafficking networks and coercion to cover-ups hidden in missing archives.

Content warning: child abduction, trafficking/forced labor, violence, and disturbing material. Listener discretion advised.

Follow / subscribe for weekly storytelling investigations.

Until next time, stay curious—and always follow the evidence.

Folklore Forensics is written and hosted by Danielle Christmas and produced by Audio Ellis.

Follow the show on Instagram @folkloreforensics

Case suggestions and research inquiries: folkloreforensicspod@gmail.com

A spring morning in Corinth should have ended in a royal wedding. Instead, it becomes a multi-victim homicide scene: a princess, a king, and two young boys —while the primary suspect disappears without a trace.

For our second episode, we reopen the cold case of Medea: a foreign-born priestess with expertise in pharmakeia, a husband who trades her for power, and a city whose laws offer her no protection.

Content warning: child murder, domestic violence, poisoning, and disturbing imagery. Listener discretion advised.

Follow / subscribe for weekly storytelling investigations.

Until next time, stay curious—and always follow the evidence.

Folklore Forensics is written and hosted by Danielle Christmas and produced by Audio Ellis.

Follow the show on Instagram @folkloreforensics

Case suggestions and research inquiries: folkloreforensicspod@gmail.com

A nobleman with a blue-tinted beard. Four wives vanished. A locked chamber at the end of a corridor—and a final bride who opens the door.

In this first investigation, Folklore Forensics revisits the story of Bluebeard as a cold case—reconstructing timelines, centering the victims, examining motive, and analyzing the evidence hidden within the folktale.

Content warning: themes of domestic violence, murder, and disturbing imagery. Listener discretion advised.

Folklore Forensics presents narrative reconstructions inspired by myth, legend, and historical context, examined through an investigative lens.

Follow / subscribe for weekly storytelling investigations.

Until next time, stay curious—and always follow the evidence.

Folklore Forensics is written and hosted by Danielle Christmas and produced by Audio Ellis.

Follow the show on Instagram @folkloreforensics

Case suggestions and research inquiries: folkloreforensicspod@gmail.com