The Midnight Dispatch

Joe Ferguson

The Midnight Dispatch presents Season 1: The Ripper & The Rift — a 12-part historical fiction thriller set in the gaslit shadows of Victorian London. It’s 1890. The city is modernizing, but something ancient is stirring beneath the cobblestones. When a terrified woman collides with Oscar Wilde outside a theater, she sets off a chain of events that draws Wilde and his companions into a mystery far stranger than scandal or murder. As bodies begin to appear — marked with symbols no one can explain — Wilde finds himself entangled with British Intelligence, occult secrets, and a darkness that predates the Empire itself. Blending real historical figures with supernatural intrigue, The Ripper & The Rift reimagines the Jack the Ripper murders through the eyes of artists, spies, and skeptics caught in a widening breach between reason and ritual. Written and produced by Joe Ferguson, The Midnight Dispatch is an anthology podcast where each season explores a different time, place, and mystery — all rooted in the strange intersections of history and imagination. Send your theories, questions and comments to: themidnightdispatch@gmail.com For more news, announcements and bonus content: patreon.com/themidnightdispatch

  1. Wilde Nights

    EPISODE 1

    Wilde Nights

    London, 1890. Gaslamps flicker, fog thickens and something ancient stirs beneath the cobblestones. In this premiere episode, Oscar Wilde and artist Frank Miles navigate the quiet decadence of Victorian society — until a terrified woman crashes into Wilde outside a theater, claiming she’s being watched. The encounter sets off a chain of events that leads Wilde through the heart of London's alleyways and into a mystery far darker than any review or scandal. The Midnight Dispatch is a historical fiction anthology podcast blending real people, places and events with the strange and supernatural. Season 1 reimagines the Jack the Ripper murders through the eyes of famous figures who may be more than they seem. Written and produced by Joe Ferguson. Send your theories, questions and comments to: themidnightdispatch@gmail.com Check out patreon.com/themidnightdispatch for bonus content.

    31 min
  2. The Cursed Pen

    EPISODE 2

    The Cursed Pen

    The fog thickens, the murders escalate, and Oscar Wilde suspects something far older than Jack the Ripper is stalking the streets. When a letter addressed to Arthur Conan Doyle surfaces—written by a terrified woman days before her death—the line between fiction and fate begins to blur. Wilde and Doyle spar over logic, legend, and the lure of the occult, while a cursed pen begins to write its own story. Meanwhile, in a shadowed cellar in Budapest, Grigori Rasputin spins a web of prophecy and manipulation, summoning his masked disciples and setting a trap for a magician who doesn’t yet know he’s been chosen. This episode blends historical fact with mythic dread: Wilde’s wit, Doyle’s grief, and Rasputin’s rising influence converge in a tale of haunted ink, spectral symbols, and the cost of ignoring a summons from fate. The Midnight Dispatch is a historical fiction anthology podcast blending real people, places and events with the strange and supernatural. Season 1 reimagines the Jack the Ripper murders through the eyes of famous figures who may be more than they seem. Written and produced by Joe Ferguson. Send your theories, questions and comments to: themidnightdispatch@gmail.com Check out patreon.com/themidnightdispatch for bonus content.

    35 min
  3. The Showman's Gambit

    EPISODE 3

    The Showman's Gambit

    Before the alleyways whispered of blood and symbols, the city pulsed with spectacle. In this episode, Oscar Wilde receives a lavish invitation from P.T. Barnum, summoning him to a circus of marvels, illusions, and philosophical elephants. What begins as a flirtation with theatrical excess soon spirals into something darker: a blindfolded swordsman, a fortune teller who sees too clearly, and Houdini himself—chained, submerged, and gasping for more than air. As Wilde navigates the phantasmagoria, wit becomes weapon, and wonder a trap. Is the showman selling dreams—or disguising truths too dangerous to name? And when escape becomes performance, who is truly free? A tale of masks, mirrors, and men who dare the impossible—this is The Showman’s Gambit. The Midnight Dispatch is a historical fiction anthology podcast blending real people, places and events with the strange and supernatural. Season 1 reimagines the Jack the Ripper murders through the eyes of famous figures who may be more than they seem. Written and produced by Joe Ferguson. Send your theories, questions and comments to: themidnightdispatch@gmail.com Check out patreon.com/themidnightdispatch for bonus content.

    34 min
  4. The Great Escape Part 1

    EPISODE 4

    The Great Escape Part 1

    When Oscar Wilde receives two letters—one from P.T. Barnum pleading for help, the other from Arthur Conan Doyle accepting an invitation to hunt a killer—he knows the world is ending twice. Wilde sets off for Budapest to rescue Harry Houdini, imprisoned after a séance gone violently wrong. But this is no ordinary scandal. Beneath the velvet charm and gaslit glamour lies a conspiracy cloaked in green scarves, mind-altering incense, and vanishing prisoners. In this episode, Wilde and British intelligence officer William Melville unravel a mystery that begins with masked men and ends in whispers of Rasputin, secret corridors, and experiments that defy explanation. As Budapest watches in silence, Wilde prepares to walk into Vármegye Tower—not as a magician, but as bait. A city of shadows. A magician in chains. The escape begins now. The Midnight Dispatch is a historical fiction anthology podcast blending real people, places and events with the strange and supernatural. Season 1 reimagines the Jack the Ripper murders through the eyes of famous figures who may be more than they seem. Written and produced by Joe Ferguson. Send your theories, questions and comments to: themidnightdispatch@gmail.com Check out patreon.com/themidnightdispatch for bonus content.

    33 min
  5. The Great Escape Part 2

    EPISODE 5

    The Great Escape Part 2

    The escape continues—but freedom is far from guaranteed. In this second chapter of The Great Escape, Wilde and Houdini descend deeper into the heart of Vármegye Tower, where reality fractures and science curdles into something far stranger. Inspired by the cosmic dread of H.P. Lovecraft, this episode blends hallucinatory peril, mythic ambition, and the slow unraveling of reason. What begins as a jailbreak becomes a confrontation with forces that defy nature—and sanity. Part 2 of a two-part arc. Best enjoyed with the lights low and ear phones. The Midnight Dispatch is a historical fiction anthology podcast blending real people, places and events with the strange and supernatural. Season 1 reimagines the Jack the Ripper murders through the eyes of famous figures who may be more than they seem. Written and produced by Joe Ferguson. Send your theories, questions and comments to: themidnightdispatch@gmail.com Check out patreon.com/themidnightdispatch for bonus content.

    37 min
  6. Of Verse & Veil

    EPISODE 6

    Of Verse & Veil

    In Of Verse and Veil, we turn our gaze back to London’s fog‑laden streets, where wit, skepticism, and deduction converge in a city alive with secrets. Oscar Wilde, Harry Houdini, and Arthur Conan Doyle find themselves drawn into a world where art, illusion, and belief collide — and where the line between performance and perception grows dangerously thin. At the heart of it all stands Dr. Joseph Bell, a man whose piercing observations reveal truths others would rather leave hidden. This episode explores the tension between narrative and evidence, the allure of the occult, and the fragile power of reputation in a city that thrives on spectacle. It’s a story of masks and mirrors, of verse and ritual, and of the unsettling ways belief can shape reality. The Midnight Dispatch is a historical fiction anthology podcast blending real people, places and events with the strange and supernatural. Season 1 reimagines the Jack the Ripper murders through the eyes of famous figures who may be more than they seem. Written and produced by Joe Ferguson. Send your theories, questions and comments to: themidnightdispatch@gmail.com Check out patreon.com/themidnightdispatch for bonus content.

    34 min
  7. The Battle of Blythe Road

    EPISODE 7

    The Battle of Blythe Road

    What begins as a murder investigation leads Wilde, Doyle, Houdini, and their companions into the hidden world of London’s secret orders. Behind ordinary doors, rival societies of magic and ritual collide—each guarding symbols, artifacts, and ambitions that could reshape the balance of power. In this chapter of The Midnight Dispatch, skepticism meets belief, wit meets danger, and the battle between competing visions of magic erupts in ways none of them could anticipate. The Midnight Dispatch is a historical fiction anthology podcast blending real people, places and events with the strange and supernatural. Season 1 reimagines the Jack the Ripper murders through the eyes of famous figures who may be more than they seem. Written and produced by Joe Ferguson. Send your theories, questions and comments to: themidnightdispatch@gmail.com Check out patreon.com/themidnightdispatch for bonus content.

    34 min
  8. One Last Flower

    EPISODE 8

    One Last Flower

    In this chapter of The Midnight Dispatch, the streets of Victorian London become the stage for a gathering unlike any other. Three towering figures of wit, reason, and illusion meet over supper, their conversation drifting from laughter to questions of belief, mortality, and the unseen forces that shape human lives. As night falls, the city itself becomes a character—its alleys heavy with smoke, its markets fading into silence, its shadows alive with menace. This episode explores the fragile line between faith and skepticism, survival and sacrifice, story and truth. At its heart is a young flower seller whose resilience embodies the courage of those who walk the streets despite the dangers that lurk there. Through richly detailed soundscapes and dialogue that balances sharp humor with haunting reflection, One Last Flower immerses listeners in a world where every choice carries weight, and every step into the dark reveals something about who we are. Expect atmosphere thick with fog and tension, voices that wrestle with belief and doubt, and a narrative that asks: what do we cling to when the night presses close? The Midnight Dispatch is a historical fiction anthology podcast blending real people, places and events with the strange and supernatural. Season 1 reimagines the Jack the Ripper murders through the eyes of famous figures who may be more than they seem. Written and produced by Joe Ferguson. Send your theories, questions and comments to: themidnightdispatch@gmail.com Check out patreon.com/themidnightdispatch for bonus content.

    35 min
See All Season 1 (13)

Trailer

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About

The Midnight Dispatch presents Season 1: The Ripper & The Rift — a 12-part historical fiction thriller set in the gaslit shadows of Victorian London. It’s 1890. The city is modernizing, but something ancient is stirring beneath the cobblestones. When a terrified woman collides with Oscar Wilde outside a theater, she sets off a chain of events that draws Wilde and his companions into a mystery far stranger than scandal or murder. As bodies begin to appear — marked with symbols no one can explain — Wilde finds himself entangled with British Intelligence, occult secrets, and a darkness that predates the Empire itself. Blending real historical figures with supernatural intrigue, The Ripper & The Rift reimagines the Jack the Ripper murders through the eyes of artists, spies, and skeptics caught in a widening breach between reason and ritual. Written and produced by Joe Ferguson, The Midnight Dispatch is an anthology podcast where each season explores a different time, place, and mystery — all rooted in the strange intersections of history and imagination. Send your theories, questions and comments to: themidnightdispatch@gmail.com For more news, announcements and bonus content: patreon.com/themidnightdispatch

Information

  • Creator
    Joe Ferguson
  • Episodes
    13
  • Seasons
    1
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © The Midnight Dispatch LLC 2025
  • Show Website
    The Midnight Dispatch