Tag: podcasts

  Do you hear it? It’s on the wind. It is echoing across the empty valleys. The sound of screaming and despair. The Banshee has come for us all… Nope. I was wrong. That will be the sound of me and many many other parents screaming in frustration as we try to home school our kids. Pass me the whiskey… 

 Anyway! Welcome to the Folk Horror Revival Podcast Spotlight. Where I help ye get your fix of ghosts, pixies, goblins,strange customs and whatever else fellow Revivalists might find yourself into. The podcast world is a massive black hole so sit back and let us do the work for you. 

 This week we have Loremen. An odd podcast from two comedians Alasdair Beckett King and James Shakeshaft. The about me describes them both as two tall white men (You can get a picture of how this podcast is going to be already) and with their podcast they ‘investigate’ local legends and folklore along with other guest comedians. Looking through the subjects of episodes we find a wide range of topics such as sheep murders, dusty places, monsters, mass hysteria, prophets and lots of other less well covered phenomena. But if the obscure doesn’t appeal to you they also discuss the more well known like The Lambton Worm, Sawney Bean, The Mabinogian, Geff the talking Mongoose and lots of others. They have you covered basically.

 This is an extremely entertaining podcast. A nice break from the usual more academic discussions and serials that we have had so far. Each episode clocks in at just under an hour and they fit in quite a good bit saying that they have a tendency to go off on unrelated tangents for minutes at a time. The episode ‘Everything happens for the best and the pickled parson’ with guest Sindhu Vee is a great example of this as we are told all kinds of anecdotes and stories that may or not have anything to do with why everything happens for a reason. I don’t mind though as it is always funny.      

  So when you have no hair left to pull out from trying to solve your kids maths assignments take a break and tune in to this for a bit for a nice bit of stress relief.  

http://www.loremenpodcast.com

http://www.jamesshakeshaft.com/

Home

Good evening my fish god obsessed cultists and welcome back to the Folk Horror Revival podcast spotlight. Firstly, I must apologize for being away so long. Christmas gluttony, frontline worker levels of tiredness and a weird case of podcast rabbit holes has kept me away. I’m back now so let’s see what we have this week: Bone and Sickle.

I believe that this particular podcast will be quite familiar with a lot of us already but for those of you who don’t know here’s a little background. Presented by folklorist Al Ridenour with his co-host Sarah Chavez, Bone and Sickle tackles stories of folklore and horror that pulls information from a wide variety of sources to give you a unique look at topics from multiple perspectives. Al covers historical, mythological, cultural and contemporary angles as he explores subjects of ghosts, devils, fairies, possessed nuns and other phenomena. I listened to a few episodes but the once concerning Banshee’s is a great example as I also covered The Irish Folklore Podcasts episode about her as well. Whereas the Folklore podcast was a fantastic academic discussion of the Banshee with lots of discussion on its history and theories on its evolution we have something totally different here. Al discusses the mythology surrounding her and Sarah does some great readings of some interesting stories and legends involving her. The episode wraps up with The Banshee on film, which to be honest I’d never given much thought to but it was great to hear especially with the audio clips included. I must watch that old Disney film one day.

On a side note I must comment on how good the presentation of this show is! You can tell that a lot of work goes into each episode. Not only through all the research and audio clips but the sound and production quality is great.

https://www.boneandsickle.com

https://instagram.com/boneandsickle?igshid=jmd48trcybf3

 Happy Christmas all you Goblins and Wraiths out there in internet land. I hope you are all keeping well and not letting the Christmas cheer turn you into piles of ash. We have a special treat for you this week as we were given the opportunity to hear a new podcast that is due to be released soon. It’s name is Folklore and is from Tamsin Wheatley……Or is it? 

  I’ll be honest. Much like the structure of the podcast itself the way this has come about is just as mysterious. We get a message informing us of this new podcast and were offered a chance to hear it before it’s unleashed upon the public. Who is this Tamsin? Why does she want us to hear it? (If another review doesn’t get posted next week you’ll know it didn’t end well.) Anyway… Tamsin is a radio presenter and an avid fan of crisps. (Whether she is a harbinger of doom for blogger ups remains to be seen.) This is her first foray into the world of podcasts and by what I heard it’ll be a grand one too.

Or is she any of this at all? I honestly don’t know what’s real and what’s fictional about this. But you know what? That plays in its favour. Go on to Tamsin’s Twitter account and you’ll see requests for ghost stories and weird tales you have to be submitted and a countdown of excitement for it’s release. And then you sit down and listen to it….. 

 From the description on its website I was expecting to hear a discussion on local Wiltshire based folklore and hauntings but instead of that I was surprised to find I was listening to an audio drama about a mysterious set of tapes and the impending investigation that goes on around them. I don’t want to give the plot away too much but we follow the narrator retracing the footsteps of her old college professor and the locations of incidentshe documented on the tapes. If you are a fan of The Lovecraft Investigations, The Black Tapes and The White Vault you are going to like this and it easily holds up to the production levels of those as well. 

 Folklore is released on 26/12/2020 so keep your eyes and ears peeled and definitely give it a subscribe. 

FOLKLORE

https://mobile.twitter.com/TimTamWheatley

 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…

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/