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Lore

Legends 43: Yule Regret It

Duration
35m
Broadcast on
23 Dec 2024
Audio Format
other

The most wonderful time of the year has a few secrets. According to legend, there are a few holiday characters that often get ignored—and that could be dangerous.

Narrated and produced by Aaron Mahnke, with writing by Alex Robinson, and research by Jamie Vargas.

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Lore Resources:

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©2024 Aaron Mahnke. All rights reserved.

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On Christmas Day of 1929, Charlie killed his entire family. Charlie Lawson had been married to his wife, Annie, for 18 years, and the two had made a beautiful family together. By 1929, they had seven children, ranging from 16 all the way down to four months old. Together, they worked a tobacco farm, and as far as we know, they were happy with their lots in life. But something must have snapped inside of Charlie, because on December 25th, he killed them. He started by shooting his 12-year-old daughter Carrie and 7-year-old daughter Maybell, as they were leaving to visit their aunt. After that, he went to the house, gunning down his wife and his remaining children. And then, he took his own life. The only survivor was the oldest son, Arthur, who had been out rabbit hunting during the entire ordeal. By the time he returned, it had already been turned into one of the most gory crime scenes that North Carolina had ever seen. And among the many reports that followed, they say investigators found a Christmas poem tucked next to the victims, covered in their blood. 1500 people attended the funeral, where baby Mary Lou was buried in her mother's arms. Afterwards, newspapers claimed that the surviving son Arthur couldn't eat and couldn't sleep. His entire life had been ruined over the course of a single day by a monster. It seems that even the most wonderful time of the year can give way to monsters. After all, it's not a magical date on the calendar that prevents evil from stepping inside. Big or small, minor or tragic, every holiday celebration is vulnerable to some sort of monster. For the Lawson family, that monster was Charlie. Thankfully, though, when it comes to Christmas, human monsters are rare, something we can all be grateful for. But folklore tells us that there are plenty of other monsters to be afraid of. And Christmas is their favorite holiday of all. I'm Aaron Mankey, and this is Lore Legends. For many of us, the time between Christmas and January is just an exhausted blur. The excitement of the holiday is over and everything feels cold and grey. It's sort of a purgatory. If purgatory can involve Christmas dinner leftovers, and a mountain of cardboard boxes to recycle. Still, there's something undeniably dark about that period. Things just feel off.

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