The Sluagh: Spirits of The Unforgiven Dead
Celtic folklore has given us some of the darkest and most frightening tales in folkloric history: three-headed monsters, headless horsemen, famine-spreaders, joint-eaters and spirits of terror.
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.
‘May I have some water?’ The Fair-Haired Lady from the Toilet
Folklore changes and evolves with the peoples and their societies. It’s not rigid, it’s not concrete. As time passes, new characters emerge and others get their stories and features improved. Some may also disappear. This character (or monster!) I talk about in this post is quite modern – and scares many people, just by being so. Let’s meet A Loira do Banheiro (The Fair-haired Lady from the Toilet).
Toil and Trouble? The Goddess Hekate in Ancient Greece
Hekate: goddess of witchcraft, ghosts and the restless dead, frequently represented as a triple deity, associated with dogs, crossroads and flaming torches.
From the Gorgon to the Gift Shop: A Brief Archaeology of the Evil Eye
The matiasma is an apotropaic amulet designed to ward off the evil eye in Greek folklore.