After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal
Episode: Could you Survive the Medieval Apocalypse?
Hosts: Anthony Delaney (Matt Lewis), Maddy Pelling
Expert Guest: Dr. Eleanor Janega
Release Date: November 20, 2025
Episode Overview
In this lively and irreverent episode, historians Anthony Delaney and Maddy Pelling are joined by Dr. Eleanor Janega to dissect the medieval obsession with the apocalypse. They explore how the Book of Revelation fueled an atmosphere of constant end-times anxiety, the bizarre real-world phenomena these beliefs generated—like the infamous flagellant cults—and the colorful pantheon of monsters, from locusts with human faces to the infamous Whore of Babylon. Delving into both the theology and lived experience of medieval Europeans, the trio asks: would any of us stand a chance if that particular brand of apocalypse descended today?
Key Discussion Points
1. Medieval Mindset: The Ever-Imminent Apocalypse
- Cultural context: Medieval Europeans viewed the apocalypse not as a distant metaphor, but as a real, immediate threat woven into Christian doctrine.
Dr. Eleanor Janega (05:15): “If you walked up to a medieval peasant and asked when the end of the world was coming, they'd probably say 'soon.' And that's only kind of a joke.”
- Linear worldview: Christianity's timeline has a beginning, middle, and a definite end, creating a perpetual sense of anticipation.
- Judgment at any time: The “Little Apocalypse” in the Gospels stressed the unpredictability of the end—be ready at all times (06:31).
2. Revelation: Sourcebook of Medieval Apocalypse
- The Book of Revelation: Known to the medievals as “the Apocalypse,” this book's bizarre, monster-filled visions provided a script for what the end would look like.
Dr. Eleanor Janega (08:01): “God was just like, bam, you like that. John has this particular vision...they included it [in the Bible]...probably just because it's awesome, actually. It's a page-turner.”
- Medieval reinterpretations: John of Patmos’ revelations fueled wild speculation and creative reinterpretation.
3. Medieval Attitudes: Welcoming—or Dreading—the End
- Not always bad news: Pious believers anticipated possible rewards after surviving apocalyptic trials, including a “10,000-year reign of peace” (09:28).
- Purgatory versus heaven: The apocalypse could mean a shortcut past purgatory’s “hell with a timer” straight to salvation—if you were sufficiently penitent (10:55).
4. Signs and Stages of the Apocalypse
- Angels and Seals: Trumpet-blasting angels unleash calamities by opening seals (12:27).
Maddy (12:31): “So far I’m not panicking. That’s camp.”
- Natural disasters multiplied: Apocalyptic prophecy took everyday disasters—earthquakes, famine, war—and amped them up (13:18).
5. Monsters of the End Times
Gog and Magog
- Legendary figures: Agents unleashing chaos, sometimes interpreted as Mongol invasions or other “hordes.”
Dr. Eleanor Janega (13:55): “If you see a couple of burly sort of undressed dudes ... you are looking at Gog and Magog.”
The Four Horsemen
- War, Famine, Pestilence/Conquest, Death: Each interpreted flexibly to fit current catastrophes, whether Mongol invasions, Black Death, or famine (16:11).
- Artistic depictions: “Sometimes the hell mouth has little legs...They're giving the Nazgul in London.” (15:59)
Locusts the Size of Horses
- Hyperbolic horror: In apocalyptic lore, locusts are depicted as monstrous, horse-sized, often with human faces (24:09).
Dr. Eleanor Janega (24:09): “A lot of the time the way they're depicted in art is that they look kind of like a horse, and they often have the face of a human.”
- Rooted in rumor: Swedes and northern Europeans more often heard about than saw locusts, making them easy fodder for fantasy (24:41).
Satan as the Multi-Headed Dragon
- Satan’s delayed entrance: The apocalypse begins without him; he arrives as a seven-headed dragon, battling archangel Michael (27:08).
Antichrist (The Beast of the Abyss)
- Satan’s proxy: Born of forbidden union, possessed by Satan, and meant as a twisted mirror of Christ (29:04).
Dr. Eleanor Janega (29:04): “Antichrist is created by Satan as a way of kind of mocking Christ...He essentially possesses the baby.”
- Worldly evil: The Antichrist symbolizes political/civil danger, bringing rulers to his side, and returns in bestial, leopard-spotted form with many heads (31:19).
The Whore of Babylon
- Sexualized warning: She rides the Beast, drinks from a cup “full of either all the filth of the world or the blood of the martyrs,” and is scapegoated as the source of sexual and political corruption (33:13).
Dr. Eleanor Janega (33:13): “My girl’s going to show up riding the beast of the abyss, of course. Because what she is doing ... is showing you the way that rulers of the world can be perverted through sex.”
- Enduring misogyny: Doing little more than existing and being attractive is rendered monstrous and world-ending (33:22).
6. Apocalyptic Imagery and Everyday Life
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Accessible doctrine: Apocalyptic themes were broadcast through Advent, sermons, and church art, ensuring even illiterate people recognized the signs (41:01).
Dr. Eleanor Janega (41:01): “Ordinary people know a lot about this, because yes, it is very central to the Christian [world]. But also there’s a whole season…Advent…about the Apocalypse.”
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Visual literacy: Medieval people could “read” church art—Last Judgments, beasts, and heavenly battles—with sophisticated understanding (42:07).
7. Real-World Effects: Flagellants and Social Chaos
- The Flagellant cults: In times of crisis (notably the Black Death), groups of men (later joined by women and children) would publicly beat themselves to appease God, sometimes degenerating into rumors of orgies in the woods (43:47).
Dr. Eleanor Janega (44:15): “They’re half naked...sitting around doing basically very public BDSM.”
- Clerical anxieties: The church tried to limit popular, uncontrolled expressions of apocalyptic fervor that might disrupt social order—or their own authority (44:43).
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
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“If you have a real sort of understanding of yourself as holy… the apocalypse isn't going to be such a bad thing for you.”
– Dr. Eleanor Janega (09:01) -
“If you have a big earthquake happen, then you just go, ah, apocalypse is happening.”
– Dr. Eleanor Janega (18:15) -
“The dragon comes up and Satan is…depicted oftentimes as a red dragon...He’s gonna come up...he is gonna run into his old op, St. Michael the Archangel.”
– Dr. Eleanor Janega (27:08) -
On the Whore of Babylon:
“My girl's going to show up riding the beast of the abyss, of course. Because...she is showing you the way that the rulers of the world can be perverted through sex.”
– Dr. Eleanor Janega (33:13) -
On surviving the medieval apocalypse:
“I'm not even interested in milk delivery work. Like, if I can't get down pub...I'm not built for this. No thanks.”
– Dr. Eleanor Janega (47:47) -
On the blending of drama and dread:
“But what if I were to help lead it? So I would just, like, get involved in the drama.”
– Maddy Pelling (48:10)
Important Timestamps
- 01:38 – Introduction: Medieval anxieties about the apocalypse
- 05:15 – “When is the end of the world coming?”
- 07:07 – The Book of Revelation and the meaning of “apocalypse”
- 09:01 – Why many medieval Christians wanted the End to happen
- 12:27 – The first apocalyptic signs: trumpet-blowing angels and natural disasters
- 13:55 – Gog and Magog explained
- 15:41 – The Four Horsemen (war, famine, pestilence, death)
- 18:15 – Disasters as apocalyptic signs; earthquakes, Black Death
- 24:09 – Locusts the size of horses; mixed horror and rumor
- 27:08 – Satan as dragon, archangel Michael’s rematch
- 29:01 – The Antichrist’s origin and legend
- 33:13 – The Whore of Babylon as the apocalypse’s femme fatale
- 41:01 – How everyday people engaged with apocalypse stories (Advent, art, sermons)
- 43:47 – Flagellants: cults, self-punishment, and chaos during pandemics
- 47:14 – Exit Q: Could any of us survive the medieval apocalypse?
Tone, Style, and Takeaway
- Tone: Playful, witty, sardonic, with humor riffing on modern pop culture and memes (“Pick me,” “hashtag 14th century best century,” “Nazgul in London”).
- Depth: Insightful blend of theology, history, and social psychology, often lampooning both medieval and modern angst.
- Memorable passages: The panel’s animated sequence discussing the Whore of Babylon, their rejection of survivalist fantasy (“I would just lie down and die”), and Dr. Janega’s sarcastic takes on what God might have thought (“I’m sick of you people”).
Summary for the Uninitiated
This episode delivers a thorough, whip-smart journey through the medieval obsession with apocalyptic prophecy—its roots, its monsters, and its effects on the lived experience. What emerges is a society primed to see the end around every corner, translating trauma and disaster into mythic struggle, and acting out those anxieties in wild, sometimes transgressive ways. Most telling: not even the podcast hosts would bother to try surviving the medieval apocalypse—they’d rather become part of the show, or simply spectate as the monsters rolled in.