The Scottish Play and the Welsh Wizard: Witches in Punch Cartoons
From its beginnings in the 1840s until the late twentieth century it was Shakespeare’s Three Witches who inspired the majority of cartoons featuring witches in Punch.
The Dreaded Headless Horseman and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow
he Headless Horseman captures the imagination like nothing else at Halloween. Regional American history and urban legend influences the interpretation of this apparition more than supposed.
Who Ya Gonna Call? Ghostbusting, German Folklore-style
While less well known than their priestly counterparts, German folklore also had plenty of “secular” exorcists who resorted to magic to drive unruly ghosts away. The following tale from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has a closer look at this profession, along with its associated hazards.
Past Anxieties: Defining the Folk Horror Narrative
‘Have you ever heard the term ‘folk horror’ before?’ I asked a colleague of mine: a classics professor. ‘In particular, when describing drama?’
Why Werewolves Eat People: Cannibalism in the Werewolf Narrative
The one constant throughout visual and literary representations of the werewolf is the willing – or unwilling – consumption of human flesh. This trope is drawn directly from the ancient origin of the werewolf myth.