Author: tombofthegoatlord

PODCAST SPOTLIGHT: WIDDERSHINS.

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 Good evening Ghouls and Goblins and welcome again to The Folk Horror Podcast Spotlight. Put the fire on, get a glass of hot whiskey, light a candle and switch off the lights because this week we have a spooky storytelling from The Widdershins. 

 Widdershins is composed of narrator Ashley Nunez and musician Joe Saburin. Ashley is the owner of Old Growth Alchemy and describes herself as ‘purveyor of botanical libations and sensual ephemera.’ Her shop sells all kinds of potions and concoctions for your local occultists, witches and anyone interested in the old ways. Joe teaches music and musician in his own right with an album called Dead Leaves. He can also be heard on lots of different musical projects. 

Each episode they pick a tale of folklore, legends, fairies, monsters and ghosts and compose their own telling of the stories. With a wonderful added touch Joe composes a soundtrack with his guitar for each episode. At the end of the episode they get together to discuss the story and the development of the presentation. I am always interested to hear hot takes on what the meaning of a story could be (blame Blindboy!) and it is also cool to hear Joe talking about the composition he performed. If you want to hear a great example of this then tune into the Goblin Market by Christina Rosetti. As a narrative poem you get to hear Ashley performing quite an animated retelling as she keeps up with the prose while Joe creates a song to keep up. The discussion afterwards is another episode in itself! 

 Looking through the episode list they have so far chosen tales from the likes of Edgar Allen Poe, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, M.R. James, The Brothers Grimm, Amelia Edwards, Robert Louis Stevenson and Mary Shelley. With only twenty one episodes so far there is lots more to come too.

https://www.oldgrowthalchemy.com

https://www.joesabourin.com/

 Until next time…

PODCAST SPOTLIGHT: Blúiríní Béaloidis / Folklore Fragments

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Hey Folks. Sorry for the lack of post last week but life, mainly work, chose to wear me down and put me through a spot of being under the weather. The joys of being a Social Care Worker! No matter though as this week we have a real gem of a podcast to share with you all. 

 Bluiríní Béaloidis is the podcast from The National Folklore Collection, University College Dublin. As they put it themselves ‘It explores Irish and wider European folk tradition across an array of subject areas and topics. Host Jonny Dillon hopes this tour through the folklore furrow will appeal to those who wish to learn about the richness and depth of their traditional cultural inheritance; that a knowledge and understanding of our past might inform our present and guide our future.’ 

 As a blow in to Ireland I have a special interest in the lands folklore and traditions. Drive a few minutes out of the urban developments and you can soon find yourself feeling like they are alive and well. Many people still believe in fairies, or at least if they don’t quite believe they think it’s probably best if you don’t do anything that could irritate them anyway. Just to be safe you know? 

  Back to the podcast though. The presentation of Folklore Fragments is quite academic with all the guests being specialists in their chosen field. Each episode casts a critical look at the chosen subject and explores the origins and explanations for why things are the way they were and still are. What is really fantastic is that the episodes are all interspersed with audio clips from the Folklore Archive of people recounting memories of events and traditions. 

 There are so many episodes to choose from as well. Eddie Linehan joins Jonny for one episode to talk about the otherworld of Ireland (Episode 22. Invisible Worlds.) In another we have Professor Patricia Lysaght taking an in depth look at The Banshee (Episode 27. The Banshee.) And then other episodes we see traditions take centre stage such as Episode 9. Christmas customs and traditions and Episode 4. The Luck of the House. 

 I cannot recommend this podcast enough. It is fascinating. Go and have a listen. 

https://www.instagram.com/nationalfolklorecollection/

https://www.duchas.ie/en/info/cbe

https://www.ucd.ie/folklore/en/

Podcast Spotlight: Strange Familars.

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Good evening ghouls and goblins! Welcome to the second installment of the Goat Lords podcast spotlight. This week we are showcasing a podcast that comes from all the way across the Atlantic Ocean and into Pennsylvania USA. It is The Strange Familiars podcast. 

 Strange Familiars is a podcast focused on the paranormal, unexplained and folklore and consists of interviews, discussions and on location recordings.There seems to be a particular focus on Bigfoot but that may be down to it being the host Timothy’s special area of interest. I must say that I enjoy the on location recordings. One of the first I listened to was of the hosts walking about a location having a relaxed conversation about the area and its history. Timothy is the main presenter and each episode he has a rotating set of co hosts. Chad, Jon, James and Alison the resident skeptic. Timothy is an illustrator, author, paranormal investigator and a folk musician. His band Stone Breath have released over a dozen albums and the music plays a big part in the show. His art often accompanies the albums and Strange Familiars logos and merchandise. 

 The episode I chose to listen to was episode 137: The Tunkall. In this a lady from Norway recounts her experiences with these Gnome like spirits called the Tunkall. I had never heard of them before so it was really interesting to hear the folklore behind these odd little creatures. Or are they ghosts? You will have to listen to find out more. Much like last week’s highlight we again had the relaxed interview format with no leading questions and instead a genuine curiosity to hear about this person’s experience. What was also great was being given some historic background to the story. A theme that crops up a lot in their episodes. The history of areas, sightings, people and so on are discussed and give good backdrops. There wasn’t as much music in this episode as I am used to hearing but it didn’t take away from the enjoyment. If you listen to earlier episodes you will hear segments being broken up with tracks and songs that are written specifically about the tales being told. That has to be quite an undertaking to do every episode so I can’t criticize them for not keeping it up as time went on. I haven’t listened to all their episodes though so I could be wrong. 

 Give them a subscribe, start from episode one and get lost in some strangely calming tales of strange events. .      

https://www.strangefamiliars.com/

https://stonebreath.bandcamp.com/

Podcast Spotlight: The Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast with Jo Hickey Hall.

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 Since March of 2020 the whole world suddenly changed overnight and a great many of us all of a sudden found we had a  lot more spare time than we ever had before. Podcasts have really filled that void for me and I’m sure for a lot of others too. Think of a subject and there is one out there (too many if you are into serial killers!) and Folk Horror is no different. It’s easy to get lost so we have decided to help all our loyal followers out by putting a spotlight on some we find ourselves and sharing them with you all. 

 In our first installment we have The Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast hosted by Jo Hickey Hall. Jo is a folklorist, researcher and social historian who is fascinated with the paranormal, the landscape and the oral tradition. She has a masters in History, is a member of the Folklore Society and runs a research project called Modern Fairy Sightings. Her podcast is an extension of this project where she interviews people who have had encounters with possible fairies. In the first episode we hear from a man who bumped into something while walking home one evening in Scotland.  

  As a storm closes in on the seaside village where I live in Ireland I wish I had waited to listen to this now. Even though it is quite a direct account and analysis of an incident it still cant help but have that atmosphere of strangeness to it due to the subject matter. It might just have a little to do with the eerie but pleasant soundtrack too. Both the guest and Jo keep the discussion grounded (well, as much as you can when the subject is the unknown) and I appreciated it all the more for that. No wild theories, questionable descriptions and leading questions. If this is a hint at the content and layout of future episodes  then it is definitely worth subscribing too and I look forward to hearing more. 

https://themodernfairysightingspodcast.buzzsprout.com/

https://www.scarlettofthefae.com/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1037158899674298/