Boggart and Banshee: A Supernatural Podcast

Things get steamy in this R-rated episode where Simon and Chris discuss the hot topic of sex and the supernatural. The duo passionately debate the forbidden thrills of witch orgies, fairy intercourse (with one of the seven sisters), spirit marriages (generally with rich old men), randy ghosts named as co-respondents in divorce suits, and coitus in the séance room. All climaxes with succubi, mermai...

Prepare to be haunted by the evidence as star witnesses Chris and Simon summon compelling arguments for paranormal claims in court. Our learned friends cross-examine the standard of proof for mermaid and sasquatch affidavits, exhume the details of changeling murder cases, and put a rapping medium on trial for disturbing the peace in church. The dearly departed won't escape scrutiny either, as...

Simon raps once for ‘yes’ and Chris raps twice for ‘no ‘over the results of the five-year ‘Philip Experiment’. Canadian parapsychology researchers invented a fictional character, the dashing but suicidal cavalier Philip. Then they began to receive communications from Philip through rappings and table tippings. Expect to learn how you can best create a ghost at home: glasses of wine, sing-songs and...

The first rule of fairy gifts is you don’t talk about fairy gifts. Chris and Simon recklessly flout that rule in this look at artifacts stolen from or given by the fairies to human neighbours. Some are exotic, like The Luck of Edenhall and the Fairy Flag of Dunvegan. Others, like elf shot and tiny tobacco pipes, are common field finds. Chris waxes lyrical about fairy textiles, and the connection b...

Simon and Chris are all atwitter over stories of supernatural birds: spectral ravens, death-predicting rooks, ghostly-bloodied doves, glass-smashing partridges and, the horror, housebound robins. Chris causes a flutter with an intolerably creepy magpie rhyme; our thoughtful pair wonder at phantom birds often being heard and not seen; and why oh why do birds keep attacking Simon? 

Chris and Simon cross swords over a medieval X-files collection: necromancers, monsters emerging from graves, an encounter with a fairy-like Woman in White, the walking dead, and, best of all, a trustworthy demon named Oliver, all found in Caesarius of Heisterbach’s thirteenth-century Dialogue on Miracles . Although Caesarius’s purpose was to instruct Cistercian novices, these stories of medieval...

In the 1880s, two sisters had an encounter with three gyrating, squeaking, white veiled supernatural women at Sennen Cove, Cornwall. Chris and Simon dance around the topics of Cornish otherworldliness, supernatural languages and circle jigs. Were the women goddesses, fairies, vestal virgins or amorous cats? Where do fairies 'foot it all the night'? Why do so many supernatural encounters...

Chris and Simon embark on a quest to uncover the origins of the archetypal ghost in a sheet, tracing its lineage back to the death shroud. With a dash of sartorial flair, they explore sheet chic, evolving trends of ghostly attire through the ages. They muse on shroud styles, the mystery of naked phantoms, potato thieves,  headless Vikings, and  that all-important 'Tailored Terror' access...

Hold your horses for the latest episode of Boggart and Banshee. Simon and Chris gallop headlong into the world of horse spirits with headless ponies, phantom hoofbeats, and equine shape-changers, including the mischievous colt-pixie and the dread shag foal. But we're not just horsing around with were-horses. There are also serious questions to add to the neigh-rative. Why are spectral horses...

Chris and Simon set the bar high in this uplifting episode on the mysteries of levitation. Watch our intrepid pair as they soar through cases of saintly and fairy levitation. Simon floats, too, the unbearable lightness of mystic beings, while Chris brings suspect Spiritualist levitations by Daniel Dunglas Home and the Davenport family down to earth. Our daring duo ponder the story of Mrs Guppy&apo...

Join hosts Simon and Chris as they delve into modern fairy encounters in a special episode dedicated to the Fairy Census. The Census (freely available online) now brings together almost 1000 records of bizarre, moving and sometimes terrifying contemporary run-ins with the fey. Our fairy-ridden duo offer a sneak peek at what new experiences and patterns to expect from the forthcoming second series...

Embark , with Simon and Chris, on a journey to meet the immortals who hide among us. Marvel as the duo unravel the mysteries around elusive figures like the Wandering Jew: he who defies time while indulging in cliff jumps, beer and botany. Goggle as our friends encounter undying ones scattered across the globe: from the Count of Saint-Germain to prophetic hitchhikers. And brace yourself for life-c...

For the bridal month of June, Chris and Simon discuss wedding divination and love charms both racy and grim, as well as the links between weddings and death. Unlucky wedding omens and dress superstitions, brides stolen by the Good People, trousseaux shrouds, and a special guest appearance by the versatile St Joseph. Adult content? Perhaps too much...

Chris and Simon delve into the mystery of the miniature coffins and their doll-corpses, found on Arthur’s Seat in 1836. Who made them and why? Are they murder memorials, malign magic, or outsider art? The redoubtable pair look at funerary fashions, toy soldiers, and the Odd Fellows fraternal order and bicker about how best to curse your enemy. 

Zombies and Draugar and Byland, oh my! Simon and Chris discuss a series of unique supernatural tales from Byland Abbey and fifteenth-century Yorkshire. There are revenants who talk through their entrails, very busy shapeshifters, and a revolving hay-cock with a light in the middle. Questions are raised about why the soul hangs around its rotting body, and what the purgatory do all these walking de...

In this episode on late examples of American witchcraft, Chris and Simon discuss a bewitched village, a witch trial—in Salem, Ohio, 'calico soup' made with a witch’s dress, and some horrifying witch murders. Unusually, the two actually agree on some of the similarities between American Witch/Hex Doctors and Britain's Cunning Men and Women.

Chris and Simon are all aflap over the history of fairy wings—when did fairy wings first appear and how did they become a standard feature of western fairies? Sylphs, putti, and Victorian prostitutes flit by as the two bicker over how images of supernatural beings change when influenced by popular culture. Strap into your stage flying harnesses--it's going to be a bumpy ride... 

Chris and Simon talk about the folklore and Forteana of charms and talismans and ways to either attract good luck or keep off the bad: bones and blood and corpse magic for gamblers, military charms of the Great War, cauls and German submarines and the condemnation of ‘mascotitis.’  Some adult content... The source book is free! 

A spooky story for our listeners from nineteenth-century Ohio. Happy Christmas and please subscribe!

Chris and Simon discuss fairy food, ‘hungry ghosts’, and a little-known case of Mary Doheny, a ‘fairy resurrectionist’ in 19th century Ireland, who claimed to be able to bring the dead back to life. Transcripts from the Doheny’s trial for fraud illuminate contemporary Irish beliefs about the dead and the world of the Good People. Witnesses swore that they saw their dead loved ones in the flesh, bu...

Chris and Simon ponder the fundamental question: What is a ghost? Are they merely folktales? Blots of undigested mustard? Proof of life after death? Also news of a boggart and banshee Facebook page, a t-rex ghost and a naked Icelandic zombie doing housework.

Simon and Chris celebrate the first year anniversary of the Boggart and Banshee podcast  by examining a little-known case of a North Yorkshire family tormented by witches and their familiars. Trances were minutely documented in a journal kept by poet Edward Fairfax, father of two bewitched and one witch-murdered daughter.  Accompanying booklet: Edward Fairfax, The Fewston Witches 1621-1623: A York...

Chris and Simon discuss fairy fashions and how they have changed through the ages, in literature, folklore, fairy sightings, and popular culture. The color green, archaic fashions, wings, and a tiny pair of shoes made of mouse skin all make an appearance on the catwalk.    

To celebrate Simon’s just released book "The Nail in the Skull and Other Victorian Urban Legends", Chris and Simon share some of their favorite gruesome and naughty urban legends from the nineteenth century.

Chris and Simon look at the folklore of spook lights and road ghosts while discussing the story of 'The Headless Motorcyclist of Elmore,' a rural legend that shifted from a very traditional tale of the spirit of a dead man appearing as a ball of light to the dramatic tale of a motorcyclist we know today. Does folklore have its own standards of truth?