Tag Archives: France

The Papin Sisters

This episode of Strange Matters presents a particularly disturbing crime that took place in the early 20th century, in France.   The story involves two sisters who worked as maids for an upper class family.  The Papin Sisters had been employed by the family for seven years, and had been described as idyllic workers.   Things weren’t as perfect as it seemed, however.   A sudden and gruesome act by the sisters would shock the country of France, and would be regarded as one of the worst crimes committed in the century.  This episode will go over the history and background of the Papin Sisters, the details of their terrible crime, and the aftermath of the event that would quickly become the top story of its time.

Click here to check out Strange Matter’s episode on the condition known as Shared Psychosis.

The Gregory Affair

This episode of Strange Matters discusses the infamous murder case known as the Gregory Affair, which details the disturbing murder of a young French boy, Grégory Villemin.  In this unsolved case that continues to intrigue the French public to this day, a family would be taunted with threats of vengeance from a mysterious individual who was only known as “The Crow.”  This person would seemingly carry out his revenge by abducting and murdering the family’s four year old son, Grégory.  After this grisly crime, a web of accusations and suspects would spin out of control, causing even more deaths in the chaotic aftermath.  This episode will detail the history of the case, the strange investigation that followed, and the suspects of who could have carried out the terrible crime.

The Beast of Gevaudan

In this Strange Matters Short, Sean discusses the man-eating creature known as the Beast of Gevaudan.   This violent animal terrorized a region in France for several years as it killed as many as a hundred men, women, and children.   During this time the local populace was nearly hysterical with fear, forced to venture outside to make a living knowing all along that there was a huge beast roaming the area attacking anyone it can across.   In an attempt to take down this violent creature, a French officer organized large hunting parties of thousands of soldiers to patrol the area.  Professional wolf hunters were hired to track down and kill the Beast.  Despite all this, the Beast of Gevaudan evaded any attempt to kill it and continued its reign of terror.

Gevaudan Statue

After three years of setbacks, embarrassments, and dozens of deaths, the Beast was reportedly finally brought down by a local farmer when he shot and killed a large wolf near his village.  Through the years there have been multiple accounts and theories as to what the Beast of Gevaudan really was.  Most think it was a pack of large and man-hungry wolves, while others believe it could have been an exotic or imported predator introduced into the region.  There has been more outlandish claims of a werewolf or an ancient species still roaming the land. Whatever the true identity of the animal actually was, the Beast of Gevaudan is one of the most unique and unusual cases in history of a creature that specifically enjoyed hunting and slaying humans.

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