From Medusa to Scylla and Beyond: Depicting Classical Mythology in Art
David Kent is a British artist captivated by mythology, and from this have sprung a wonderful series of paintings: the Mythology Collection.
Bringing Venetian Folklore to the Big Screen: The Plague Doctor
Though we’ve not lost any of our academic appreciation for the hearthside story or campsite tall tale, it cannot be denied that we as a species have moved into the art of mass producing our spoken heritage. The film maker may not ever replace the greatest of our local tavern heralds, but like any story […]
The Grotter & the Strange History of Shell Grottos
Shell grottos have a certain murky ambiguity to their history and folklore. This for me made them all the more enticing to use as the basis for a ghost story in my tale, ‘The Grotter’ in Nyctophobias. Especially with my roots as a Whitstable native in Kent, where grottos are still primarily lit once a year as part of the Oyster Festival celebrations. These grottos are usually stacked in a ‘beehive’ style pyramid, held together with wet sand and illuminated by a short candle.
Tatterdemalion: a Needle, an Egg, a Novel Being Born
‘I can’t describe to you what it feels like to hold your own death in a needle in your hands,’ says the childless Molly in Tatterdemalion.
Ghosts and Apparitions in Punch Cartoons
From figures of power to figures of fun, ghosts and apparitions changed dramatically in Punch cartoons over the course of two centuries.