Weird Christmas Podcast

The first podcast episode of the 2020 {shiver} season. We do a bit of deep diving into the world of Halloween postcard collecting which, if you follow me on social media, you know is a small obsession of mine. Eric Hinton runs Halloween Postcards and has collected all, yes, ALL of the Halloween postcards printed before World War 2. We wander around some of the stranger examples and figure out what...

A talk with Brad Warner, author of the new book Letters to a Dead Friend About Zen. How Buddhism can help calm holiday stress, and just stuff about Brad and Zen in general.

What do we know about Christmas during the Middle Ages? Turns out it's kinda hard to find very much information. I talk to two medievalists, Misty Schieberle and Scott Smith, who help me trace what few mentions of Christmas there are in the English tradition.

The 2019 Weird Christmas ghost story is "The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance" by M. R. James. I also get some help with background on James and Punch and Judy puppet shows (which show up in the story) from Jim Moon of the Hypnogoria Podcast.

Weird Christmas talks to the indie music blog Christmas Underground about the world of Christmas mixes and how he finds great, unknown Christmas music all year long.

The annual Weird Christmas Flash Fiction show with the results of the 2019 contest. Fourteen odd stories of Christmas uncanniness to get you out of that holiday spirit. Find the full text of all the stories along with author bios and their contact info at WeirdChristmas.com.

Who are the Yule Lads, and why does Iceland have a bunch of trolls instead of Santa Claus? I talk to author Heidi Herman and Christmas expert Benito Cereno about where the legends of the Yule Lads came from and how they're celebrated today. (Next show is the contest results show...almost there!)

Bonus episode with Brian Earl of Christmas Past, Tim Babb of Can't Wait for Christmas, and Richard Parks III of Richard's Famous Food Podcast. This one's brought to you by the Christmas Podcast Network. We talk about Christmas pickles. Are they a "thing"? Well, that's what the show is about.

I chat with film critic Alonso Duralde about his book Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas, especially the chapter about the worst Christmas movies ever made. We discuss the Mexican film _Santa Claus_ (1959), the 70's gay bar flick _Some of My Best Friends Are..._, and the inexplicable _Magic Christmas Tree_. Lots of other good suggestions along the way.

Craig Kringle talks with Linda Raedisch about Christmas elves, winter and solstice folklore surrounding fairies and elves, and even a bit of Halloween talk. Check the full show notes at WeirdChristmas.com as well as Linda's book _The Lore of Old Elfland."

Weird Christmas Podcast #17, a discussion of Halloween History with Lisa Morton. We discuss her three books about the history of Halloween along with talk of old forgotten Halloween traditions, such as youth riots and fortune telling with cabbages and kale. I also mention a site with tons of great Halloween postcards: https://vintagehalloweencards.blogspot.com/

A bonus summer episode! Professor (and Sir) Colin Humphreys of Cambridge discusses the evidence putting Christmas in the spring or summer rather than December. And...I plug my new Patreon site where you can get episodes all year round. (And there's a longer version of THIS VERY EPISODE at Patreon.com/weirdchristmas with 45 more minutes of weirdness!)

Weird Christmas explores the Christmas offerings of Mystery Science Theater 3000, Rifftrax, and Cinematic Titanic with Rifftrax writer Connor Lastowka.

The results show from the 2018 Weird Christmas Flash Fiction contest. 12 very, very short stories that will make you laugh, cringe, and fear Santa.

I talk to author Linda Raedisch about her book The Old Magic of Christmas: Yuletide Traditions for the Darkest Days of the Year. We discuss ancient pagan rituals, legends, and stories from pagan old Europe.

Why did Victorian England love Christmas ghost stories? Why does Andy Williams sing about them? Why is Algernon Blackwood's "A Kit Bag" so freakin' awesome? Why did so many people volunteer to read for me? Why did an actual scholar (Tara Moore) come on this obscure podcast?

Weird Christmas Podcast #11. A discussion with Benito Cereno about the unlikely world of Christmas and comic books.

Weird Christmas is part of a new thing: the Christmas Podcast Network. So this is a sampler of a bunch of the things you can find there. Different shows, different voices, and all in one place

How many Christmas carols are actually about Halloween? Or vice versa? However many there are, they aren't very good...with a couple of exceptions.

Talking about the underground world of Christmas music collectors with Mitchell Kezin, the director of Jingle Bell Rocks!, a documentary about people who hunt for the best and strangest Christmas music all year long.

All of HP Lovecraft's Christmas Poetry, with only minor bits of mind-bending terror. And his one "Christmas" story read by WC listeners, who are all awesome!

In this episode, I delive into the world of shamanism, magic mushrooms, and Santa Claus. Travel with me on a trip to strange holiday destinations!

Christmas songs full of the best tradition of the season: drinking! Country misery, drunk singing, and, believe it or not, some actually good stuff this time. But still weird.

Episode #5 of the Weird Christmas Podcast! Kicking off the 2017 Christmas season talking to Joanna Wilson, author of numerous books about Christmas tv. She gives some excellent recommendations to keep your holiday viewing weird.

SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE! Join the Weird Christmas Podcast and six other podcasts for a multi-part holiday special retelling of the story "The House of Seven Santas." If you want to start from the beginning, check out the Christmas Past Podcast at http://christmaspastpodcast.com/.