Widdershins Stories

Episode 40: Revival by S.T. Gibson Revival is a short story by S.T. Gibson appearing in the folk horror anthology The Fiend in the Furrows. A young girl, granddaughter to the Reverend and keeper of snakes used to show the movement and devotion of the Holy Spirit, finds herself on Revival day filled with some spirit-but what is it that is truly speaking to her? If you’ve been enjoying our tales, gi...

Tam Lin comes to us from Scotland and Childe’s ballads. Tam Lin is a human captured by the fairy queen who spends his free time tormenting fair maidens in the woods of Carterhaugh. After a tryst with fair Janet who becomes pregnant with his child, they devise a plan to free him from being the Halloween tithe. This version combines many of the story points from the earlier ballads with a bit easier...

It is Walpurgisnacht, and we find ourselves in Munich before leaving for Transylvania to be a guest of Count Dracula. Our titular Englishman, interested in taking some local sights, wanders into a desolate valley and finds himself at nightfall in a cemetery beset by a curious storm and strange forces. This story is thought to be a preliminary chapter of Dracula that was later removed, with our mai...

In this tale, sinful priest Dando lives a life as one who worships “the sensual gods” despite his godly attire. He hunts, drinks, and does what he wishes regardless of cost. While out hunting one sabbath morning with his dogs and other men, Dando finds a strange hunter in his company who offers a drink so good, Dando would go to hell for it. A fun aside, this Cornish tale ties into the lore of the...

Episode 36: Snow White & Rose Red by the Brothers Grimm Journey with us back to a classic: Snow White & Rose Red. A mother with two lovely daughters named after the roses growing in her yard one day are visited by a great black bear who spends many a snowy winter evening by their fire. When summer comes, the bear must leave to protect his home from a wicked dwarf. Will the sisters find the bear ag...

Celebrate love this Valentine’s Day with a retelling of Apuleius’ “Cupid & Psyche” by Josephine Preston Peabody. When a princess rivals the goddess of beauty, Venus sends her son Cupid to punish her for her charms. But when Cupid’s arrow strikes himself, he falls in love and protects her from the wrath of his mother in a royal home where she is treated like a goddess herself although never seeing...

“A Christmas Ghost Story” by an unknown author is a tale much like the Dickens classic. A miserly old man heads to bed on Christmas Eve only to find himself face to face with a ghost who offers him all the gold he could wish for-which comes with a hard price to look back on his life’s mistakes. He cannot undo the past, but perhaps he can learn from the bitterness he sewed along the way. ***Content...

“October in the Chair” by Neil Gaiman is a dark and whimsical tale. What do the months of the year do to harken the change of their time? Why tell stories, of course! And with October in the chair, you know it’ll be something to give you a bit of a shiver. Special thanks to Neil Gaiman for his affirmative tweet giving our lowly little podcast permission to read one of his works. Neil Gaiman is the...