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.
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.
Ghostland: Arthur Machen, King Arthur and ‘Goblin City’
Caerleon: The location is steeped in history and archaeology with its impressive Roman ruins, and its later associations – it’s the site where Geoffrey of Monmouth’s twelfth-century chronicle of British monarchs, Historia regum Britanniae, places the court of King Arthur, and where, some 350 years on, Thomas Malory staged the legendary figure’s coronation in Le Morte D’Arthur.
Oaxacan Ruin Lore: When the Stones Come For You
Mitla is a Zapotec town in Oaxaca, a state in southern Mexico. Its name is derived from the Aztec place-name, Mictlan, which means, “land of the dead,” and is also incidentally the name for the Aztec underworld.
Tower of London Legends: Ravens, Ghosts and Cursed Jewellery
In 1078, William the Conqueror built a white tower on the north bank of the River Thames that would become the most prominent part of the Tower of London. But there is more to the tower than just a tourist attraction. From the ghosts that are said to haunt its walls, to the ravens protecting both the castle and the city itself, there are many stories and superstitions surrounding the Tower of London.