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May I wish you the happiest of Halloweens - if, indeed, a happy Halloween is something we can achieve! As this is the opening day of a series of days devoted to the dead, which in my view culminates on 2 November with All Soul's Day, I think we can all think about the importance of community - whether that is community with each other, or community with those who have gone before. And in the spirit, pun not intended, of community, I've invited three of my podcasting pals to entertain you with tales suitable for this Halloween season. You'll hear from Amon Mazingo, host of the Afro Tales podcast, Owen Staton, host of the Time Between Times podcast, and Thersa Matsuura, host of Uncanny Japan. Enjoy! Find Afro Tales: https://www.afrotalescast.com/ Find Time Between Times: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/time-between-times-storytelling-with-owen-staton/id1573244734?i=1000736679563 Find Uncanny Japan: https://uncannyjapan.com/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, details of talks, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: https://icysedgwick.com/start-here Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick

This month on Fabulous Folklore Presents, I'm joined by Candice Bailey and Gavin Lees, the co-editors of the Crossroads folk horror zine. Candice also writes for the folk horror blog The Harvest Maid's Revenge, and is a native Alabamian with an MFA in poetry. Gavin is also a writer and calligrapher who lives in the Pacific Northwest, who has been published by the likes of Centipede Press, Fantagraphics Books, Hwæt! and Abhartach.  We chat about American folk horror, how it differs from its European counterpart, the conditions required for folk horror to emerge, and the presence (real or imagined) of the Devil in American folklore. Find Crossroads on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crossroads.folkhorror/ And on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/crossroadsfolk.bsky.social Order your copy: https://linktr.ee/crossroads.folkhorror Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, details of talks, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: https://icysedgwick.com/start-here Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick

It is the month of Halloween so welcome to the Fabulous Folklore Fireside, for we shall have some more ghostly tales this week! Unlike my usual episodes, which feature some kind of dissection of the stories, this episode will entertain you with three stories from north east England.  These stories are from More Ghosts and Legends of Northumbria. I’ve given them a bit of a polish, but also be aware that these are ghost stories, so they do include murder, if that’s something you don’t want to listen to with young ones around. But the last one also features a benevolent ghost! Enjoy... Find the images and sources used on the associated blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/three-female-ghosts-from-north-east-england/ Buy my book, Ghostlore: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/12992/9780241726204 Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, details of talks, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: https://icysedgwick.com/start-here Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick

For this special Spooky Season episode of Fabulous Folklore, I'm joined by my very good friends Rob Kirkup from the How Haunted? podcast, and Wayne Gilbert from the Eerie Edinburgh podcast. Both have been on the podcast before, but here we are, chatting about the scariest places we've been, our dream ghosthunting locations, and the inevitable Halloween conversation topic, Ghostwatch... Find Rob at How Haunted: https://www.how-haunted.com/ Find Wayne at Eerie Edinburgh: https://eerieedinburgh.com/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: https://icysedgwick.com/start-here

It is the month of Halloween so welcome to the Fabulous Folklore Fireside, for we shall have some ghostly tales this week! Unlike my usual episodes, which feature some kind of dissection of the stories, this episode will entertain you with three stories from north east England, involving shades seeking recognition from beyond the grave.  Our first story comes from Rambles in Northumberland and on the Scottish Border by William Andrew Chatto, while the second and third stories are from Ghosts and Legends of Northumbria. I’ve given them a bit of a polish, but also be aware that these are ghost stories, so they do include murder, if that’s something you don’t want to listen to with young ones around. Enjoy... Find the images and sources used on the associated blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/three-ghostly-tales-from-north-east-england-for-halloween/ Buy my book, Ghostlore: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/12992/9780241726204 Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, details of talks, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: https://icysedgwick.com/start-here Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick

Welcome to Spooky Season! I'm talking to Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux from the Three Ravens podcast about ghost stories! We talk about the fascination we have for ghost stories, what ghost stories need to be creepy, what kinds of ghosts really need to make a comeback in ghostly fiction, and whether it even matters if a place is haunted, or we just think it is! Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux are the brains behind the Three Ravens podcast, and they are a real life couple, based in Sussex. Eleanor has a background in theatre, while Martin has a background in writing, teaching, and English literature. Buy their book, The Three Ravens Ghost Tales: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/12992/9781837052929 Visit the Three Ravens Podcast website: https://www.threeravenspodcast.com/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: https://icysedgwick.com/start-here

Thunder and lightning offer one of nature's more cinematic spectacles, so it's unsurprising they would accrue a degree of folklore. The danger that lightning particularly poses sees a range of practices to ward off storms, while other traditions offer a way to predict events using storms. Thunder and lightning also work together, as the Met Office explains: "When the electrical current from a lightning strike passes through the air, it heats the surrounding air rapidly—up to 30,000°C. This sudden heating causes the air to expand explosively, creating a shockwave that we hear as thunder. [...] A sharp crack indicates a nearby strike, while a low rumble suggests the lightning occurred farther away". Many cultures also have storm deities, such as Thor, Perun, Ọya, Jupiter, Set, Susanoo-no-Mikoto, and Taranis, among others. Yet as fascinating and complex as they are, we're going to focus on the folklore around the storms, rather than those who control them.  So what does folklore tell us about storms, thunder, and lightning? Let’s find out in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and sources used on the associated blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/thunder-and-lightning/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: https://icysedgwick.com/start-here

The autumn equinox falls on 23 September in the UK in 2026. This marks the definite slide towards the winter solstice! In terms of folklore, there are many articles about the autumn equinox from a neopagan perspective. Yet the festival only gained the name 'Mabon' in the 1970s, named by American Aidan Kelly. He chose 'Mabon' from Mabon ap Modron, who appears in Welsh mythology, though there is little in Mabon's story to link him with the autumn equinox. There's little evidence that anyone celebrated the equinox in the same way they might celebrate the winter solstice. Instead, this period of the year is traditionally a time of harvest festivals.  But as we’re looking at the Folklore of the Skies this month, I wanted to know: is there anything folklore about the autumn equinox in an astronomical sense? Let’s find out in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and sources used on the associated blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/autumn-equinox/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: https://icysedgwick.com/start-here

In this episode of Fabulous Folklore Presents, I'm joined by writer Charlie Creed, to chat about his new book, The Faery Rules: Forgotten Folklore for Living in Harmony with the Fae. We talk about why people persist in thinking fairies are all lovely and light when folklore says otherwise, ways you can protect yourself from fairies, and some of the more unusual beliefs that abound when it comes to talking about all things fairy-like! Charlie Creed is a writer from Bristol. He studied English Literature at Cambridge University before working as a musician, newspaper subeditor, and freelance writer. He is the author of The Cat's Tales: Feline Fairy Tales and Folklore and The Faery Rules: Forgotten Folklore for Living in Harmony with the Fae. He lives in Bristol with his wife and two daughters. Buy The Faery Rules: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/12992/9781446317433 Find Charlie Creed on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charliecreedwriter/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: https://icysedgwick.com/start-here

Much online discussion of the moon focuses on the new and full moons, especially when it comes to setting intentions and releasing things. I prefer to work on a more seasonal basis than monthly, but I'm also terrible at intention setting because I invariably forget what I intended. (No, I intend to remember my intentions doesn’t work). Yet examining the plethora of superstitions and beliefs about the moon in folklore reveals that things weren’t quite so clear-cut in previous centuries. Practices vary across time and space, but the new moon wasn’t always a positive thing, as it’s viewed now. The full moon could be both lucky and dangerous. I’m predominantly drawing from British and Irish belief as that’s where I’m from, but feel free to leave any other moon superstitions or beliefs from your culture or background in the comments!  Let’s explore the moon in folklore in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and sources used on the associated blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/moon-folklore/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: https://icysedgwick.com/start-here

As we’re focusing on the Folklore of the Skies this month, it seemed only right to start with a celestial phenomenon that becomes a lot easier to see as the nights draw in. Yes, we’re looking at the northern lights, or aurora borealis. Annoyingly, I am yet to see the northern lights. The one time they were visible with the naked eye across the whole of the UK, I was in bed with a migraine. I know, I know, strange lights in the sky, with one individual unable to see them, is how Day of the Triffids starts. We will focus on folklore from Britain and Scandinavia. There are Indigenous legends, but they’re not mine to tell. But if you’re reading this and you’re Indigenous, please feel free to share anything you feel called to share in the comments! Let’s explore the aurora borealis and its folklore in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Donate to the Nepal Disaster Relief Fund: https://pmdrf.nchl.com.np/ Find the images and sources used on the associated blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/northern-lights-in-folklore/ Watch my chat with Ùna Maria Blyth: https://youtu.be/euu7P8Be4VE Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: https://icysedgwick.com/start-here

Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum) is a member of the Apiaceae family—otherwise known as the Carrot family. It's also known as Beaver Poison, Devil's Porridge, Herb Bennet, Poison Parsley, Water Parsley, and Spotted Hemlock. The plants can grow to 2.5m, and they're commonly found in the British countryside. The whole plant is toxic. According to Mrs Burke's Language of Flowers dictionary, hemlock meant 'You will be my death'. The plant appears in history, but how does it appear in folklore, if at all? Let’s find out in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and sources used on the associated blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/folklore-of-poison-hemlock/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: https://icysedgwick.com/start-here

Deadly Nightshade (Atropa Belladonna) is part of the Solanaceae family, which also contains peppers, aubergines, tomatoes and potatoes! This most famous of poisonous plants is also known as belladonna, banewort, deadly dwale, Devil’s cherries, or death’s herb. The deadly nature of belladonna was noted as far back as 1550 BC. It's not a particularly common plant in the wild, although it does prefer woodland. Yet it’s not necessarily a plant you might rush out to grow. You might also be hard-pressed to use it for meaningful communication. According to Mrs Burke's Language of Flowers dictionary, nightshade meant 'truth'. In the same book, belladonna is listed with the meaning 'silence'. So how does this plant appear in folklore, besides its links to the Devil and witchcraft? Let’s find out in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and sources used on the associated blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/deadly-nightshade-folklore/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: https://icysedgwick.com/start-here

Aconitum, referred to as ‘aconite’, is part of the Ranunculaceae family, or the buttercup family.  The Aconitum genus contains around 100 species, each of which is poisonous. Records of its use date back 3000 years.  The Anglo-Saxons apparently called it ‘thung’, which meant 'poison plant'. The plant also gained the nicknames 'helmet flower', 'friarscap', 'old wife's hood' and 'granny's nightcap'. Given how horrifically poisonous the plant is, it has few medicinal or even magical uses. Yet it still appears in folklore and legend, so let’s explore some of the tales of aconite in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and sources used on the associated blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/aconite-folklore/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: https://icysedgwick.com/start-here

Foxgloves are one of the most enchanting wildflowers you might encounter in a shady woodland. With their deep pink flowers on spikes that can grow as tall as a person, they certainly arrest the attention. Even their name is evocative, with a smattering of legends to explain where ‘foxglove’ came from. Yet as pretty as the foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) is, the plant is also poisonous. It’s great for bees, but less so for us. At least, not if we don’t need the toxins it provides the pharmaceutical industry for heart medicine! But given their host of folk names, association with witches, and appearance in legend, let’s dig into the folklore of foxgloves in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and sources used on the associated blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/folklore-of-foxgloves/ Non-traditional haunted houses writing workshop: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/summer-scares-6-week-horror-writing-school-tickets-1980775625216 Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: https://icysedgwick.com/start-here