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.
The Writing on the Wall: Street Art and Graffiti as Folk Art
Since the dawn of mankind we have desired to leave our mark on the world around us. From grand monuments, to drawings on the side of cave walls, our need to express is something that continues today — but has our relationship with the medium remained the same?
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.
The Pit of Ghosts: Exploring the Haunted Mines of Victorian Wales
Welsh miners of the nineteenth century held strong superstitions in supernatural elements, which they believed existed deep in the mines.
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.