Crow and Fern's Guide to Weird Fiction, Folklore, Mythology, and Everything in Between

Do ferns flower, I hear you ask? Not from a strictly scientific perspective, no. However, if you indulge in a little belief in the magical and are willing to traipse into the darkest part of the forest in the middle of the night then you might be fortunate enough to get the opportunity to fight a witch for one of these enigmatic and purely fictitious flowers. And will it all be worth it if you bea...

See you all in the second half of February (and in Fern's episodes!)

As you watch the fat snowflakes fall all around, have you ever wondered what dark spirits lurk beyond the veil of frost? We associate white with purity and snow with beauty, but when we look beyond the surface, there is a cold heaviness that comes with it. And there is a mystery in a world obscured by the brightness of the snow. Death and beauty, love and light-- Winter is many things. See how the...

What kind of music do you think plays in our dreams?  Echoey, whimsical, with a healthy dose of creepy, hypnagogic pop emerged from the depths of the unconscious realms to drag us back to times not so long past. In today's episode, Crow takes a look at one particular artist, the animator behind such wonders as Cooking With Abigail** and Lima Bean Man and songs like the the tiktok famous Butte...

We've all heard of Krampus, the terrifying creature that goes bump on Christmas night, specifically. But did you know that there are many other terrifying evil Christmas characters? From the zombie Christmas horse of Wales to the belly-slitting goddess of cleanliness and the evil child-eating scarecrow man, join us this week as we explore anti-Santa figures in folklore. Get ready for Christmas by...

It's five days to Christmas, so gather round the fireplace, children! Crow's dug through the Victorian archives and dug out the weird Christmas tradition that gave us Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol: Christmas Ghost Stories. Possibly dating back to when Christmas was still known as The Winter Solstice, families and friends used to gather round the fire and tell ghostly tales to ward the darknes...

Today's story masks dark subjects such as colonization and the horrors of serfdom with a fantastical story of flying horses, benevolent fairies, and epic adventuring fit to stand with any classic fairy tale. Join us as Fern demystifies the symbolism and powerful message of Ion Creanga's beloved tale of Harap Alb and his quest for freedom from a cruel and cunning master.  Intro music: Beeckman...

Flapjack....Hey, Flapjack! Come with me, we'll go and see, a...Candied Dystopia??? In this week's episode, Crow's sick again so she's decided to smack us with another weird comfort show: Thurop Van Orman's The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. The show follows the titular Flapjack, a little boy who journeys through murky oceans and the splinter, rust, and plague infested floorboards of Stormalo...

SAM AND MAX! Freelance Police .  Get ready for a drive down the weirdest lane in memory town, children! Crow's favorite childhood buddy cop duo serves us bizarre on a silver platter, with a trip to a pest infested moon and a quest to stalk the (S)FDA into putting their favorite snack on the shelves. But, as usual, that's not all Crow's got in store! Sam and Max also show us how you (Yes, YOU!...

Join us for the final, satisfying episode of the Ion Rimaru case as we see what happens when real life catches up to a folkloric phantom and he's made to face the consequences of his actions. The trial of Rimaru sparked a whole new set of mysteries, some of which are still hotly debated to this day. You will be shocked at the new developments in the case, and Ion's almost feral behavior right up u...

Alternative title: The cursed episode that took us 5 weeks and 2 attempts to get through, children. Crow wades through the depths of coughing and a lot of mucus to bring you the infamous American Psycho and just one of its many, many controversies. How eyebrow-ripping-ly boring it is. We aren't here to ask whether it is or isn't, because boy howdy is it one of the most painful reads for most human...

In part 2 of the case of Ion Rimaru we discuss the spiraling behavior ofthe vampire of Bucharest as he prowls the streets, his behavior becoming more and more like that of a wild animal. Will the highly dysfunctional communist militia be able to get their act together to stop him? Or will Ion be free to enact his darkest fantasies on the innocent people of Bucharest?  Intro music: Beeckmans:...

Saucy Jack is at it again, and this time he's taking a step beyond the 19th century. Robert Bloch immerses us in a world of science fiction, supernatural creatures, and fantasy on his quest to find out the true identity of one of the most famous killers in modern history--which, coincidentally, works well into our topic, the Frankengenre known as Weird Fiction. Ann and Jeff VanderMeer tell us what...

Four Words: Communist Vampire Serial Killer. Join us as we explore the strange case of Ion Rimaru and the sensational folklore that built up around this communist era serial killer. It's terrifying enough to imagine living in a city with an active serial killer, but what if everything you know about this danger that stalks the streets comes from whispered gossip and the distorting voice of communi...

You are about to enter another dimension.  A dimension of serial kill glorification, bad marriages, and *drum roll, please* another unsympathetic character! Thought Crow was done talking about characters we so love to hate? Think again! In today's episode, she takes us back to the  past, to a wax museum exhibit crafted by Jerry Sohl and Charles Beaumont. We borrow the eyes of Martin Lomb...

In this week's addition to Serial Killer month Crow and Fern tackle one of the toughest cases yet-- Peter Stumpp. Accused of 16 murders and all manners of werewolfery, Peter was put to death in the late 16th century. But did he do the crime? Fern gives us the facts in this shocking case filled with twists and turns you won't see coming. Even if you think you know the story of Peter Stumpp, this re...

What's the difference between 'unlikable' and 'unsympathetic'? How can you tie your readers to your villains without giving them a sob story that drives even the most righteous of us to writing coffee shop AU fanfiction? Mia Nolan makes the distinction as clear as crystal in today's episode. Crow breaks down, the bad, the ugly, and the atrocious in today's episode, and tells us how we can write ch...

Join Fern and Crow as they attempt to separate fact from folklore in the remarkable story of Gilles de Rais. Was he the inspiration for the infamous Bluebeard? Did the death of his beloved Joan of Ark send him spiralling into madness? Did he summon the devil with alchemy? And most importantly-- is he really responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent children? In this episode we'll learn wh...

There's no character growth quite like growing to love an artist you dunked on because you didn't understand their work.  In this episode, Crow tackles the works of her arch nemesis: Franz Kafka, an author whose works she's always struggled to understand the literary art behind. Why is he revered as one of the fathers of absurd fiction? What is this dream like feeling he manages to create thr...

Have you ever considered all the different ways a tree could murder you? Fern has! And in this episode she will tell you all about them, from the yokai vampire tree Jubokko to the Man-Eating Tree of Madagascar or the Vampire Tree of Guadalajara, join us for tales from around the world about both real and fictitious trees that might try to take a bite out of you! Intro music: Beeckmans: Hymne for T...

What if humans were made of layers, like trees?  In this episode, Crow introduces her to one of her many horror obsessions and a master of surrealism, existentialism, body horror, and even the occasional cosmic horror: Junji Ito. No one can transmogrify mundanity into works of abject terror quite like Ito. Whether it's dreams lasting a little longer than they should, an annoying lack of priva...

In this episode we discuss how vampires changed from energy-stealing, disease-giving, carnivourous rascals to posh, sparkly aristicrats. Join us as we dive into the lore of strigoii, moroii, and the surprising (and somewhat scandalous!) birth of the modern vampire. Fern will break down the dark mythology with macabre stories of the living dead that will keep you up all night.  Intro music: Be...

Out of the toilet bowl and into the rabbit pen. In today's episode, Crow comes face to face with demonic lagomorphs to bring you the story of the titular Cursed Bunny.  What do we do when the punishing hand of capitalism descends upon our loved ones and starts tearing families apart? That's right, children! We head over to our friendly neighborhood cursed fetish vendor. And no, before anyone...

In this episode we explore the different types of Romanian vampires! We'll cover varcolaci, pricolici, and strigoii in part one! From vampiric werewolves that bite the moon to legends of what is basically Vampire Fight Club TM, we'll take you through the stories and lore of the vampiric creatures that preceded that sanitized, sparkly version we have today. And don't worry, Fern will let you know a...

It's a snake! It's a rat! It's--calling you mom and watching you do your business. In today's episode Crow takes us through the first story in Bora Chung's Cursed Bunny, a collection of short stories that take the 'weird' in weird fiction to the max, catching us in a whirlpool of Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror. The very first story in the book 'The Head' starts us off with a bang. Or, should we say,...