Futility Closet

When Maria Marten disappeared from the English village of Polstead in 1827, her lover said that they had married and were living on the Isle of Wight. But Maria's stepmother began having disturbing dreams that hinted at a much grimmer fate. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the story of the Red Barn, which transfixed Britain in the early 19th century. We'll also encounter an unfortunate copycat and puzzle over some curious births. Intro: In 1859, a penurious Henry Thoreau donated $5 to a college library. Georges Perec rendered "Ozymandias" without the letter E. Sources for our feature on the Red Barn: James Curtis, The Murder of Maria Marten, 1828. Shane McCorristine, William Corder and the Red Barn Murder: Journeys of the Criminal Body, 2014. Lucy Worsley, The Art of the English Murder: From Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes to Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock, 2014. James Moore, Murder at the Inn: A History of Crime in Britain's Pubs and Hotels, 2015. Colin Wilson, A Ca