21st-Century Victoriana: Our love letter to the dark
Within our current society of filtered perfection and aggressive online happiness, there is something oddly refreshing in the macabre.
The Momo Challenge, Popular Culture, and Folklore
The image is downright disturbing, a young woman with dark hair, bulging eyes, and a chilling smile. She stares out at you and causes you to….die?
A Coin for the Ferryman: Charon and the Journey to Hades
There was a time when the living covered the mouths of their dead with a single coin before their final goodbye.
Haunted by Monsters: Top 5 Wicked Creatures in Polish Folklore
ith its rich folklore, deep woods filled with wild boars, wolves and massive bison, and dark 20th century history, Poland often feels haunted by monsters. I first went to Poland when I was eighteen and among the places I visited was the fairy-tale city of Kraków. Although I traveled extensively afterwards, I found myself returning […]
A ghost story that caused a riot: the strange case of Maude Carew
In February 1862 a riot broke out in a Suffolk churchyard over a ghost story. Margaretta Greene, the story’s author, originated an enduring legend of the ghost of a nun, Maude Carew, who haunts the ruins of the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds. But the story of Maude Carew, and the riot she inspired, raises intriguing questions about the origins of folklore and beliefs about the supernatural.