Tracey has written fiction for as long as she can remember, covering a variety of genres and subjects. Her first stage play WITCH, a historical drama based on original English witch trial transcripts, premiered in 2016 and has been performed more than 80 times to date. Tracey’s most recent publications were Dark Folklore (2021), co-written…

Dave Silk is a storyteller and historian from Newcastle upon Tyne and co-author of Tyne and Wear Folktales for Children. He collects and retells traditional tales and ancient stories from around these isles and further afield and enjoys rearing pet leeches and practicing the Dark Arts. In the daytime, he is usually found doing his…

In this third episode of our Witches, Cunning Folk & Magic theme, I’m talking to Deborah Hyde, an author, presenter and producer who has written for periodicals such as The Guardian and The Fortean Times, and who specialises in the subject of weird belief. For ten years, Deborah was Editor-in-Chief of The Skeptic and is…

In this second episode of our Witches, Cunning Folk & Magic theme, I’m talking to Willow Winsham, an author and historian specialising in folklore, and the history of the English witch trials. Her books include the highly popular Treasury of Folklore series from Batsford Books, and Accused: British Witches Throughout History from Pen and Sword…

In this first episode of our Witches, Cunning Folk & Magic theme, I’m talking to Dr Tabitha Stanmore! She’s a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of Exeter on the Leverhulme-funded Seven County Witch Hunt Project, investigating the people affected by the 1640s witch trials in eastern England. Her doctoral research was funded by the South,…