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 accurate interpreter of mystical signs and influences; through the medium of common cards. TO …
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 Chesterton, Indiana, which may be related to our story. And here is the grave:
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 News-Gazette, in which we find a short October 28 promo piece in the “Entertainment” section featuring this …
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 including that of Oklahoma’s “Spooklight Road,” North Carolina’s Brown Mountain, and the flying saucers sighted in Michigan …
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 a tradition syncretizing St. George with a a supernatural figure …
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. Ridenour’s for the Rural Gothic conference hosted by The Folklore Podcast on 9/26/2020. The focus is on European folk-horror films, including Russian productions, and a few especially …
The Fates of Classical Antiquity not only survived in the form of related fairy-tale figures but also as the object of superstitions and rituals associated with newborns. In South Slavic and Balkan regions particularly, these customs represent a surprisingly long-lived and genuine case of pagan survival. We begin our episode examining the fairy godmothers of “Sleeping …
During the 15th-century, citizens of Nuremberg, Germany, experienced spectacular Carnival parades highlighted by the appearance of floats known as “hells.” Featuring immense figures, including dragons, ogres, and man-eating giants, these hells were also peopled with costumed performers and enhanced with mechanized effects and pyrotechnics. In this episode, adapted from a chapter of Mr. Ridenour’s new …
Here’s a new book trailer I put together for A Season of Madness: Fools, Monsters, and Marvels of the Old-World Carnival. This one’s slanted toward who may have been interested in my Krampus book. The book is available in the US at better bookstores, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, directly from the publisher, Feral House, and …