She burned a city… Then became a saint. We travel back to viking age Eastern Europe and learn Olga's story from viking to princess, queen, and finally saint. Her tales of brutal revenge made her one of the darkest queens in history. Her stories of peace lead to the first Christian ruler of Kievan Rus. Let's find out how Olga of Kyiv took revenge on the Drevlians and solidified herself as one of the most powerful women in history. We're getting "fired up" in this episode of The Darkives

Questions answered in this episode:

• why did Saint Olga burn a city?
• is Saint Olga a real saint?
• What is the Saint Olga pigeon fire story?
• was Saint Olga a Viking?
• how did Saint Olga become a saint?

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Sources:

• oldnorse.org
• medievalreporter.com
• warfarehistorynetwork.com

Theme music: Ways of the Wizard

Composed by: geoffharvey

Licensed through: Pixabay

Used with permission, Thank you Geoff!

Other music used licensed through Pixbay

• Russian Folk Waltz-Roman_Sol
• Russian Style Film Music With Orchestra and Choir-MountainDweller

Other sounds used through Pixbay

used under the Pixabay Content License

Keywords: Olga of Kyiv biography, Princess Olga of Kyiv, Queen Olga of Kievan Rus, Saint Olga revenge story, medieval revenge stories, burning of the Drevlians, violent saints in history, ruthless female rulers, Saint Olga canonization, Christianization of Kievan Rus, Kievan Rus, female saints in history, Kievan Rus history, medieval Ukraine history, Prince Igor of Kyiv, Drevlians uprising, medieval true history, shocking stories from history, brutal medieval queens

This week, a tale of westward expansion history involving a deadly wagon train expedition. A group of pioneers decided to skip the famous Oregon Trail and decided to forge their own path on the California Trail cutting through the Sierra Nevadas in the winter of 1846. After the group became snowed in, the next few months would test the pioneers in ways they could never have imagined. Tragic pioneer stories, starvation, and some of the most disturbing events in American history await in this recap of the Donner Party tragedy. Come join us around the campfire as we go over stories of cannibalism in American history tucked away deep in Truckee California. Some real survival horror history in this file of The Darkives.

Questions answered in this episode:

• Why the Donner Party resorted to cannibalism?
• How many died in the Donner Party?
• What is the true story of the Donner Party?
• What happened to the Donner Party?

Email us: thedarkivescommunity@gmail.com

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Sources:

1. nps.org
2. highways.dot.gov
3. history.com
4. history.com-2
5. britannica.com
6. pbs.org
7. history.com-3

Theme music: Ways of the Wizard

Composed by: geoffharvey

Licensed through: Pixabay

Used with permission, Thank you Geoff!

Other music used licensed through Pixbay

• Western Cowboy Texas Music-Tatamusic
• Cinematic – Cold – Foreboding (2026) V2 - 1-SenorMusica81

Other sounds used through Pixbay

used under the Pixabay Content License

Keywords: Donner Party history, Donner Party expedition, American pioneer history, Donner Lake history, Sierra Nevada mountains history, frontier survival stories, shocking historical survival stories, eerie pioneer history, Donner Party winter of 1846, darkest moments in westward expansion,

This week, a bit of a bizarre true crime story. The true story of Elmer McCurdy, the abandoned child, the outlaw, the mummy, roller skater, the corpse displayed in funhouse, the actor?.... Hey Jamie... this is the correct order right? Okay, I promise this the correct chain of events everybody. Come with us as we tell some outlaw history of Oklahoma and tell the tale of a strange museum exhibit. In this file of The Darkives, we find out how Elmer McCurdy became a mummy.

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Sources:

• https://www.history.com/articles/elmer-mccurdy-mummy-dead-outlaw
• https://www.npr.org/2015/01/09/376097471/the-long-strange-60-year-trip-of-elmer-mccurdy
• https://www.broadway.com/buzz/205534/the-wild-weird-true-story-of-elmer-mccurdy-broadways-dead-outlaw/
• https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/strange-life-stranger-afterlife-elmer-mccurdy/

Theme music: Ways of the Wizard

Composed by: geoffharvey

Licensed through: Pixabay

Used with permission, Thank you Geoff!

Other music used licensed through Pixbay

• American Western Country-Tunetank
• Nightmarish Circus March-ikerregular123 (Freesound)

Other sounds used through Pixbay

used under the Pixabay Content License

Keywords : Elmer McCurdy body, macabre historical stories, weird crime history, mummified outlaw carnival, sideshow mummy history, carnival oddities history, Wild West outlaw stories, Oklahoma train robbery history, early 1900s American crime, Western bandits history, historical bank robbers, weird historical events, bizarre stories from history, creepy true history, unbelievable history stories, outlaw body displayed for decades, strangest after-death story in history, Elmer McCurdy carnival attraction, what happened to Elmer McCurdy’s body