Death Takes Wing: Birds and the Folklore of Death
One could write an encyclopaedia on the appearances of birds in folklore and their association with death and mortality, travelling from Japan to Scandinavia, France and beyond.
Gruesome Folk Healing: The Curious Cures for Warts and Wens
These remedies, many of them fairly gruesome to our ears, were recorded only 100 years ago by Mrs Ella Mary Leather at the beginning of the 20th century, from the towns and villages of Herefordshire. Here are the folk memories of people who remembered these remedies being used and, what’s more, being efficacious. They are […]
Cursed Paintings: Ill-Fated Portraits and Unlucky Landscapes
The cursed painting is an enduring urban legend that continues to have the ability to scare us, and also makes a good tabloid news story.
Deadly Ghosts: The Murderer Who Returned from Beyond the Grave
The residents of a Swansea street were shocked to be able to recognise the ghostly spirit haunting their home, but were even more frightened as the ghost had been a murderer when alive…
Top 5 Scary Brazilian Monsters
Brazil is full of folklore, myths and superstitions. Here in Brazil, we’ve got a fascinating and complex collection of stories and of monsters that merge European, African and Native Indigenous Peoples’ cultures.