Book of Lore

On a quiet September evening in 1952, something fell from the sky over the hills of Braxton County, West Virginia. What began as a report of a bright object streaking across the night soon became one of the most enduring mysteries in American folklore. Witnesses described a towering figure unlike anything they had ever seen. Glowing eyes. A strange, pointed shape. A presence so unsettling that dec...

The Mississippi Delta is a place where stories linger. Beneath the moss-draped oaks, along forgotten roads, and in the shadows of historic buildings, legends continue to echo through the generations. Some speak of restless spirits. Others tell of curses that refuse to fade. And a few stories are so deeply woven into the landscape that separating fact from folklore becomes nearly impossible. In thi...

Paris is a city built on layers of history, memory, and the dead. Beneath its streets, beneath its landmarks, and beneath centuries of grandeur lie stories that refuse to stay buried. In this entry, we journey into the darker corners of the City of Light to explore legends shaped by grief, prophecy, obsession, and the lingering presence of the past. Follow the tale of the mysterious Phantom said t...

The warning is always the same. Do not touch it.  From haunted paintings and mysterious statues to objects said to bring ruin upon those who possess them, stories of cursed artifacts have appeared across cultures for centuries. Some claim these items are merely the focus of rumor and coincidence. Others insist they are something far more dangerous.  In this entry of the Book of Lore, we investigat...

The storm arrives without warning.  Dark clouds gather overhead. Lightning tears across the sky. Thunder rolls through the mountains and forests below. For generations, many believed these storms were not merely weather, but evidence of something far greater moving through the heavens. The Thunderbird appears throughout indigenous traditions across North America as a powerful being capable of cont...

The beast waits beyond the firelight.  For generations, tales of wolf-men have echoed through forests, villages, and forgotten roads. Some believed they were cursed. Others claimed they were monsters hiding among ordinary people. A few insisted they were real.  In the first entry of the Book of Lore, we trace the origins of werewolf folklore from ancient myths to documented accounts, exploring the...

The scream comes first. A piercing cry cuts through the darkness of the Pine Barrens before vanishing into the trees. Those who claim to have heard it describe a sound unlike anything found in nature. Those who claim to have seen its source rarely forget the encounter. Known by many names—including the Leeds Devil and the Devil of the Pines—the Jersey Devil has haunted New Jersey folklore for gene...

The book is waiting.  Inside its pages are tales of cryptids lurking in the dark, urban legends whispered across generations, haunted places, unexplained encounters, and mysteries that continue to defy explanation.  Welcome to the Book of Lore, a podcast where each week host Juwon LeDay opens a new entry and explores the history, folklore, and enduring mysteries behind some of the world’s most fas...