In this sixth episode of Fabulous Folklore Presents, I chat with Edward Karshner, Associate Professor of English at Robert Morris University! In this interview, we chat about the folklore of Appalachia, including its ghosts, witches, and the strange sense of fatalism! Find Ed on Twitter here: https://www.twitter.com/EdKarshner The links we mentioned! Seven Sisters of the…

Paper is a wonderful material. It’s portable and light, and as an everyday material, charms made from paper can be easily overlooked. We can reshape it, recycle it, and completely destroy it…or we can use it to preserve ideas! All of these qualities help explore why it can be a material of choice in some…

Glass is a strange material. Its original source material is sand, but it needs human intervention through the application of heat and other processes to find form. We can see through it, but we can’t touch what’s on the other side. You can use it to concentrate a light source. Or it’s helpful if you…

Stones are perhaps some of humanity’s oldest friends. They provided building materials and became simple tools. But they also vary in size, making some of them very portable as amulets. It’s no wonder that they’ve accrued both lore and superstition alike.  Let’s find out more in this week’s episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images…

Different metals are often baked into mythology. Look at griffins and dragons with their hoard of gold. Or Bellerophon’s use of molten lead to kill the deadly chimera. According to legend, people paid for their passage to the underworld with coins placed over their eyes. But how do different metals turn up in folklore? Why…