Earlier today I published an episode about the folklore of the dead house.  I wrote a short story inspired by this folklore, which you can now find in my Black Dog & Other Gothic Tales collection. Here’s an audio version as my Halloween gift to you! Enjoy… Get your copy of Black Dog & Other…

The dead house was a common occurrence in the days before refrigerated mortuaries.  People stored bodies at the graveyard in the dead house prior to a regular burial, and the authorities kept the dead in them until the bodies could be claimed.  But are these spaces likely to be haunted – or just eerie? Find…

Charon, the ancient ferryman of Greek myth, is one of those figures that pops up even where other deities get ignored or forgotten. Sometimes people simply call him ‘the ferryman’ and he loses his name, but we all know who we’re referring to. But who was Charon, and what is the folklore surrounding him? Find…

The fetch appears in folklore as an apparition seen when another is apparently dead or dying.  But what is it? Is it always a death omen? And why do people keep seeing them even now?  Find out in this week’s episode of Fabulous Folklore! See the images or get the blog post transcript here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fetch-folklore/…

You’ve probably heard about the banshee, announcing deaths with her keening cry. But what of the ‘washerwoman of the ford’, the Bean Nighe? She haunts rivers and pools in Scotland and Ireland. But who is she and why is she an omen of death?  Find out in this week’s episode of Fabulous Folklore. See the…

The ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’ is upon us again! It’s a time of harvest, and watching the natural world prepare for sleep.  In days gone by, autumn was also a time to prepare for the harsh reality of winter! There’s no wonder it has a range of superstitions predicting what the weather might…