Historically, the celebration of Christmas and Carnival could overlap, and there is some reason to believe that customs associated with the former were inherited by the latter.A clue to this calendrical shift is offered by the Christmas song, “Caro

In our second short episode for November, we take a close look at a the 1692 trial of Thiess of Kaltenbrunn, a purported werewolf in the town of Jrgensburg, in Livonia, (a Baltic region now divided between Estonia and Latvia). Old Thiess, as he was kn

This is a special short episode looking at fictional evidence used to bolster horror narratives in literature, film, and broadcast media. We compare the found-footage phenomenon with earlier literary techniques and discuss some famous hoaxes and Hallowee

This year, in the tradition of Halloween fortune-telling, we have an interactive divination game you can play at home. It comes from aa 19th-century book on cartomancy called, The oracle of human destiny: or, the unerring foreteller of future events, and

If you’ve been curious regarding Mr. Ridenour’s and Mrs. Karswell’s troubles with anomalous events in the house, this short episode should answer some of your questions as Dr. Bartusch and crew attempt to restore order.

(SPOILER ALERTt: Do not listen to this until you have heard Episode 146 “Urban Legend”.) This is a short postscript to our “Urban Legend” episode based on feedback from a listener. It has to do with a very curious grave in Chester

A 1968 Halloween “Spook Show” in the Midwest left an unsettling heritage of urban legends possibly rooted in even more unsettling facts. What little is definitively known regarding this event comes from the newspaper archives of the Danville

The Halloween Jack-o’-lantern, made from pumpkins in the US and originally turnips in the UK, began its existence as a wisp of glowing marsh gas or “spooklight.” We begin our episode with a montage of modern American spooklights includin

There’s so much more to the figure of St. George than his battle with a dragon. Legends also tell of his grisly martyrdom, capture of a demon, and postmortem abilities to cure madness through contact with his relics. In the Holy Land, there is even

As a summer replacement for our regular episode: a round-up of non-English-language Folk-Horror films (here as audio but also available as video)The presentation was created by Mr. Ridenours for the Rural Gothic conference hosted by The Folklore Podcast