The Three Ravens Podcast

For our opening installment of Three Ravens Haunting Season 2026 we're chatting with one of Britain's finest horror writers, Andrew Michael Hurley.

Based in Lancashire in north west England, Andrew's debut novel The Loney was published almost exactly 12 years ago, becoming a best-seller, winning prizes, and securing Andrew a legion of readers extremely keen to know how he might possibly follow it up.

His second book, Devil's Day, secured his reputation as an extraordinary talent, with his third, Starve Acre, also being brilliant, and adapted into an excellent major motion picture.

Other wonderful, unsettling, folk-infused short stories and novels have followed, including, most recently, Saltwash. But what is Andrew like? Does he buy into the kinds of sinister magic he writes about? How does he feel about the 'folk horror' genre? Which writers inspire him, and, if pressed, what's his favourite ghost story?

We dig into all that and much more, so gather in close around the campfire and settle in...

Learn more about the BBC Short Story Award here.

Learn more about Andrew's writing here.

About Three Ravens 🔮

Three Ravens is a completely independent English myth and folklore podcast where we share stories, celebrate folk culture, and fall backwards through the hedgerows of history.

Hosted by real-life couple Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux, and mostly recorded at our home in rural Sussex in southern England, Three Ravens is rated 4.8/5 from over 500 reviews and has grown by word of mouth care of our lovely listener community ‘The Conspiracy of Ravens.’

We release three episodes a week, on Mondays, Thursday and Saturdays, through which we explore folktales, folkways, fairy stories, folk songs, mythology, local heritage, seasonal customs and traditional beliefs.

Our research inspires our retellings of stories from across history and culture, with episodes standing alone but connected together across over 500 chatty, mostly light-hearted, swear-free installments driven by passion, kindness and curiosity.

Now ranked as an all-time Top 5 podcast across several categories by Goodpods, charting in the Spotify, Apple and Rephonic UK Fiction Top 10 across 2024, 2025 and 2026, if you’re interested in ghosts, monsters, regional beliefs, and the things that unite us all, then join us round the campfire and listen in…

Join the Conspiracy of Ravens ✨

🌐 Official Website: Visit the Three Ravens Podcast Official Site to sign up for our mailing list, explore our episode catalogue, and enjoy our blog!
🎤 Three Ravens Live: Find tickets and news about our upcoming live shows!
🛒 Shop: Buy our books and exclusive Three Ravens Merch including mugs, tote bags, tees and hoodies from our Online Shop
👑 Patreon: Support the show and unlock ad free listening, monthly Patreon exclusive episodes, the Three Ravens Film Club, our community chat and newsletters at the Three Ravens Patreon
📚 Our First Book: Buy our stunning hardback collection of 39 historic stories Three Ravens Folk Tales
👻 Our Second Book: Order our brand new hair-raising host of 20 original ghost stories Three Ravens Ghost Tales
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Our Third Book: Preorder our upcoming collection of Welsh regional legends Three Ravens Folk Tales of Wales coming to all good bookshops on St David's Day (March 1st) 2027
📱 Socials: Follow our adventures and help us grow on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
RETHINK THE WAY YOU DRINK WITH OUR PARTNER THREE SPIRIT - USE OFFER CODE THREE RAVENS FOR A 15% DISCOUNT AT CHECKOUT

Our Linktree to all things Three Ravens
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this month's update episode we have so much to talk about, as it's Three Ravens Haunting Season once again!

Back for our fourth annual month-long celebration of original ghost stories and all things spooky a weird, we run down what's coming from us across October, including a brand new Spenser & Associates Mystery, our amazing guests for Local Legends this month (now including Joanne Harris!), we announce the winners of this year's Ghost Story Writing Competition, and also open up the Three Ravens Pumpkin Carving Competition!

Before all that though, we grab our spades and dig into the loamy earth of Halloween folklore. Taking a different approach to our previous two special episodes on the subject, we dig into the specifics of how Christianity changed views and practices related to the shift from the Light Half to the Dark Half of the year. There's chat about ghosts, of course, but also the origin of the idea of "the veil being thin" around Hallowmas, divinatory customs for the season, and more.

We also include some of our own news, chat about our upcoming spooky Live Shows surrounding the launch of our second book Three Ravens Ghost Tales which was literally published today, and share the opening chunks of September's two Three Ravens Patreon Exclusive episodes.

First comes the opening 20 minutes of our exploration of Rowan Tree folklore for our ongoing series Nine Sacred Trees. This is then followed by the first part of our Film Club episode all about witch-tastic, Soviet-era folk fever dream Viy from 1967.

Note: We have recorded a new Haunting Season theme song variation but haven't had time to quite finish it. Should be ready for Saturday!

About Three Ravens 🔮

Three Ravens is a completely independent English myth and folklore podcast where we share stories, celebrate folk culture, and fall backwards through the hedgerows of history.

Hosted by real-life couple Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux, and mostly recorded at our home in rural Sussex in southern England, Three Ravens is rated 4.8/5 from over 500 reviews and has grown by word of mouth care of our lovely listener community ‘The Conspiracy of Ravens.’

We release three episodes a week, on Mondays, Thursday and Saturdays, through which we explore folktales, folkways, fairy stories, folk songs, mythology, local heritage, seasonal customs and traditional beliefs.

Our research inspires our retellings of stories from across history and culture, with episodes standing alone but connected together across over 500 chatty, mostly light-hearted, swear-free installments driven by passion, kindness and curiosity.

Now ranked as an all-time Top 5 podcast across several categories by Goodpods, charting in the Spotify, Apple and Rephonic UK Fiction Top 10 across 2024, 2025 and 2026, if you’re interested in ghosts, monsters, regional beliefs, and the things that unite us all, then join us round the campfire and listen in…

Join the Conspiracy of Ravens ✨

🌐 Official Website: Visit the Three Ravens Podcast Official Site to sign up for our mailing list, explore our episode catalogue, and enjoy our blog!
🎤 Three Ravens Live: Find tickets and news about our upcoming live shows!
🛒 Shop: Buy our books and exclusive Three Ravens Merch including mugs, tote bags, tees and hoodies from our Online Shop
👑 Patreon: Support the show and unlock ad free listening, monthly Patreon exclusive episodes, the Three Ravens Film Club, our community chat and newsletters at the Three Ravens Patreon
📚 Our First Book: Buy our stunning hardback collection of 39 historic stories Three Ravens Folk Tales
👻 Our Second Book: Order our brand new hair-raising host of 20 original ghost stories Three Ravens Ghost Tales
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Our Third Book: Preorder our upcoming collection of Welsh regional legends Three Ravens Folk Tales of Wales coming to all good bookshops on St David's Day (March 1st) 2027
📱 Socials: Follow our adventures and help us grow on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
RETHINK THE WAY YOU DRINK WITH OUR PARTNER THREE SPIRIT - USE OFFER CODE THREE RAVENS FOR A 15% DISCOUNT AT CHECKOUT

Our Linktree to all things Three Ravens
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Warning: this story is set in 1909 and portrays historic racist attitudes which in no way reflect our own views. It also makes mention of body-focused repetitive behaviours.

For this week's story, we're getting into the dark origins of one of Maryland's most famous monsters.

The Snallygaster is better known today for giving its name to an ice cream flavour, but it wasn't always so friendly.

Eleanor's story follows a young wife who dreams of a monster, but her sceptical husband carries the idea too far...

This episode marks the end of our first four colonies, ahead of a break for Haunting Season 2026!

About Three Ravens 🔮

Three Ravens is a completely independent English myth and folklore podcast where we share stories, celebrate folk culture, and fall backwards through the hedgerows of history.

Hosted by real-life couple Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux, and mostly recorded at our home in rural Sussex in southern England, Three Ravens is rated 4.8/5 from over 500 reviews and has grown by word of mouth care of our lovely listener community ‘The Conspiracy of Ravens.’

We release three episodes a week, on Mondays, Thursday and Saturdays, through which we explore folktales, folkways, fairy stories, folk songs, mythology, local heritage, seasonal customs and traditional beliefs.

Our research inspires our retellings of stories from across history and culture, with episodes standing alone but connected together across over 500 chatty, mostly light-hearted, swear-free installments driven by passion, kindness and curiosity.

Now ranked as an all-time Top 5 podcast across several categories by Goodpods, charting in the Spotify, Apple and Rephonic UK Fiction Top 10 across 2024, 2025 and 2026, if you’re interested in ghosts, monsters, regional beliefs, and the things that unite us all, then join us round the campfire and listen in…

Join the Conspiracy of Ravens ✨

🌐 Official Website: Visit the Three Ravens Podcast Official Site to sign up for our mailing list, explore our episode catalogue, and enjoy our blog!
🎤 Three Ravens Live: Find tickets and news about our upcoming live shows!
🛒 Shop: Buy our books and exclusive Three Ravens Merch including mugs, tote bags, tees and hoodies from our Online Shop
👑 Patreon: Support the show and unlock ad free listening, monthly Patreon exclusive episodes, the Three Ravens Film Club, our community chat and newsletters at the Three Ravens Patreon
📚 Our First Book: Buy our stunning hardback collection of 39 historic stories Three Ravens Folk Tales
👻 Our Second Book: Order our brand new hair-raising host of 20 original ghost stories Three Ravens Ghost Tales
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Our Third Book: Preorder our upcoming collection of Welsh regional legends Three Ravens Folk Tales of Wales coming to all good bookshops on St David's Day (March 1st) 2027
📱 Socials: Follow our adventures and help us grow on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
RETHINK THE WAY YOU DRINK WITH OUR PARTNER THREE SPIRIT - USE OFFER CODE THREE RAVENS FOR A 15% DISCOUNT AT CHECKOUT

Our Linktree to all things Three Ravens
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Get ready to stuff a ham, because this week we're off to Maryland!

We begin with the inspiring life of Harriet Tubman, before discussing Maryland's beginnings as a province, sprinkled with plenty of arguments about religion and different ideas about how to run a colony.

Maryland is packed with folklore, spooky stories and cryptids, and we're on a hunt to find as many as we can, from the enigmatic Dwayyo to the famous Snallygaster, and everything in between. Along the way, we encounter Goatman, Catman, and some creepy little characters Eleanor has become oddly fascinated by - the Egg People of Pokomoke Forest!

It's a fabulous journey, all fuelled by a delicious state dinner where we're not afraid to fry almost everything, so join us in a Black-Eyed Susan cocktail or two and toast the Old Line State!

We really hope you enjoy the episode, and we will speak to you again on Thursday with two releases - the October Update episode, and Eleanor's story for this week, inspired by the legend of Maryland bird-reptile chimera, the Snallygaster!

About Three Ravens 🔮

Three Ravens is a completely independent English myth and folklore podcast where we share stories, celebrate folk culture, and fall backwards through the hedgerows of history.

Hosted by real-life couple Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux, and mostly recorded at our home in rural Sussex in southern England, Three Ravens is rated 4.8/5 from over 500 reviews and has grown by word of mouth care of our lovely listener community ‘The Conspiracy of Ravens.’

We release three episodes a week, on Mondays, Thursday and Saturdays, through which we explore folktales, folkways, fairy stories, folk songs, mythology, local heritage, seasonal customs and traditional beliefs.

Our research inspires our retellings of stories from across history and culture, with episodes standing alone but connected together across over 500 chatty, mostly light-hearted, swear-free installments driven by passion, kindness and curiosity.

Now ranked as an all-time Top 5 podcast across several categories by Goodpods, charting in the Spotify, Apple and Rephonic UK Fiction Top 10 across 2024, 2025 and 2026, if you’re interested in ghosts, monsters, regional beliefs, and the things that unite us all, then join us round the campfire and listen in…

Join the Conspiracy of Ravens ✨

🌐 Official Website: Visit the Three Ravens Podcast Official Site to sign up for our mailing list, explore our episode catalogue, and enjoy our blog!
🎤 Three Ravens Live: Find tickets and news about our upcoming live shows!
🛒 Shop: Buy our books and exclusive Three Ravens Merch including mugs, tote bags, tees and hoodies from our Online Shop
👑 Patreon: Support the show and unlock ad free listening, monthly Patreon exclusive episodes, the Three Ravens Film Club, our community chat and newsletters at the Three Ravens Patreon
📚 Our First Book: Buy our stunning hardback collection of 39 historic stories Three Ravens Folk Tales
👻 Our Second Book: Order our brand new hair-raising host of 20 original ghost stories Three Ravens Ghost Tales
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Our Third Book: Preorder our upcoming collection of Welsh regional legends Three Ravens Folk Tales of Wales coming to all good bookshops on St David's Day (March 1st) 2027
📱 Socials: Follow our adventures and help us grow on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
RETHINK THE WAY YOU DRINK WITH OUR PARTNER THREE SPIRIT - USE OFFER CODE THREE RAVENS FOR A 15% DISCOUNT AT CHECKOUT

Our Linktree to all things Three Ravens
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, as it's Martin's birthday, we thought we would share with you a special little bonus gift recording in his birth county - our two Three Ravens Live Show pop-up performances at 3 Wishes Fairy Festival in Somerset from last month!

Hopefully timed just about perfectly to mark the very end of Summer and start of Autumn, in the first part we discuss Glastonbury's fairy folklore explicitly, addressing Somerset's Celtic mythology relating to King Arthur, the 'Winter King' under the Tor as mentioned in The Mabinogi, and the legend of the Glastonbury Thorn.

In the second part we turn our attention to Somerset's folklore more widely, from Wassailing and Punkie Night to tales of giants, witches, dragons, piskies, and the Devil...

Including live performances by us of the songs Three Ravens and Broomfield Hill, the whole then then concludes with Martin's live rendition of The Restless Witch of Sandhill from our book Three Ravens Folk Tales, last performed way back in our second ever episode!

We hope you enjoy it, do listen back to Eleanor's Local Legends interview with Karen Kay from earlier in the Summer, and learn more about 3 Wishes Fairy Festival through its website!

https://www.yeahniceevents.co.uk/festivals2026/3wishesfairyfestival

About Three Ravens 🔮

Three Ravens is a completely independent English myth and folklore podcast where we share stories, celebrate folk culture, and fall backwards through the hedgerows of history.

Hosted by real-life couple Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux, and mostly recorded at our home in rural Sussex in southern England, Three Ravens is rated 4.8/5 from over 500 reviews and has grown by word of mouth care of our lovely listener community ‘The Conspiracy of Ravens.’

We release three episodes a week, on Mondays, Thursday and Saturdays, through which we explore folktales, folkways, fairy stories, folk songs, mythology, local heritage, seasonal customs and traditional beliefs.

Our research inspires our retellings of stories from across history and culture, with episodes standing alone but connected together across over 500 chatty, mostly light-hearted, swear-free installments driven by passion, kindness and curiosity.

Now ranked as an all-time Top 5 podcast across several categories by Goodpods, charting in the Spotify, Apple and Rephonic UK Fiction Top 10 across 2024, 2025 and 2026, if you’re interested in ghosts, monsters, regional beliefs, and the things that unite us all, then join us round the campfire and listen in…

Join the Conspiracy of Ravens ✨

🌐 Official Website: Visit the Three Ravens Podcast Official Site to sign up for our mailing list, explore our episode catalogue, and enjoy our blog!
🎤 Three Ravens Live: Find tickets and news about our upcoming live shows!
🛒 Shop: Buy our books and exclusive Three Ravens Merch including mugs, tote bags, tees and hoodies from our Online Shop
👑 Patreon: Support the show and unlock ad free listening, monthly Patreon exclusive episodes, the Three Ravens Film Club, our community chat and newsletters at the Three Ravens Patreon
📚 Our First Book: Buy our stunning hardback collection of 39 historic stories Three Ravens Folk Tales
👻 Our Second Book: Order our brand new hair-raising host of 20 original ghost stories Three Ravens Ghost Tales
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Our Third Book: Preorder our upcoming collection of Welsh regional legends Three Ravens Folk Tales of Wales coming to all good bookshops on St David's Day (March 1st) 2027
📱 Socials: Follow our adventures and help us grow on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
RETHINK THE WAY YOU DRINK WITH OUR PARTNER THREE SPIRIT - USE OFFER CODE THREE RAVENS FOR A 15% DISCOUNT AT CHECKOUT

Our Linktree to all things Three Ravens
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.