On All Hallows’ Eve, the veil thins and the folklore gets...fun. In this episode, I  count down 10 strange superstitions, from turnip jack-o’-lanterns and mirror magic to dumb suppers, bat omens, and haunted crossroads. Light a candle and let's begin! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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59:39
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59:39
Gallows and Grimoires: Witchcraft from the Spellbook to the Noose
From whispered charms and buried witch bottles to torture chambers and Salem’s gallows, this episode of The Strange and Unusual Podcast traces the haunting story of the witch as  healer, heretic, and scapegoat. I explore the folklore, the fear, and the witch hunts of Pendle, Würzburg, Bamberg, and Salem. Through historical accounts and chilling firsthand testimonies, in this episode I  go into  how ordinary people became legends, monsters, and martyrs,  including my own ancestor, Elizabeth Howe.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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1:20:46
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1:20:46
Shadows of Immortality: Vampires from Folklore to Pop Culture
On this episode we trace the vampire’s long, shadowy journey, from 18th-century graveyard panics and Slavic strigoi to the seductive aristocrats of Gothic fiction and the conflicted immortals of modern pop culture. We also will go into how the  myth evolves on screen, from Nosferatu and Bela Lugosi to Anne Rice, Buffy, and beyond. We explore why the vampire keeps returning to embody everything we fear (and secretly crave): mortality, contagion, seduction, power, and immortality. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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1:06:16
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1:06:16
Back To School Nightmares
In this episode, we head back to school, but not the way you remember it. From abandoned high schools and haunted classrooms to urban legends whispered in bathrooms and tragedies that linger in lecture halls, autumn brings with it eerie campus lore.We’ll uncover chilling, and often sad, tragic tales from New Jersey, Texas, Africa, Cambodia, and Mexico. These are the stories that blur the line between history and folklore, fact and nightmare. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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1:03:46
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1:03:46
Whispers In The Corn: Harvest Watchers and Field Spirits
For this episode we're exploring harvest folklore throughout the world, and how it connects to the genre of folk horror. From the sunlit dread of Lady Midday stalking the fields of Eastern Europe to the vengeful rice paddy ghosts of Japan, nearly every farming culture told tales of spirits among the grain. We’ll wander those stubbled fields and deserted farms, listening for the whispers of harvest-time spirits: the Harvest Watchers and Field Spirits that people once believed lurked within the furrows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
The unknown. It lies at the root of all fear, and has inspired legends, superstition, folklore, customs, hysteria, and even murder throughout history. Still today we feel the shadowy presence of our ancestors' struggles to explain the mysterious in almost every facet of our lives. Whether it be in the form of religion, urban legends, pop culture, ghost stories, superstitious rituals, and so much more we are still just fighting to keep our monsters in the dark. Welcome to The Strange and Unusual Podcast.
Ireland