The Folklore Podcast

In this episode, Professor Marion Gibson and Dr Tabitha Stanmore turn their attention to the families involved in the witch hunts. Were all family members tarred with the same brush? How did dynamics work when families were accusing each other of witchcraft? Moving on from this, we also look at the role of familiars - not necessarily the animal familiars which are more well recognized, but ghostly...

In this mini-episode of The Folklore Podcast, recorded live at the UK Ghost Story Festival 2025 in Derby, UK, I chat with Professor Bob Edgar about the theme of Folk Horror. With specialisms in scriptwriting, adaptation, music memoir and genre fiction, Bob has notably published widely on folk horror and hauntology. He is one of the editors of the Bloomsbury Academic series 'Spectres, Hauntings and...

The third episode of our mini-series looking at the witch hunts headed up by Matthew Hopkins and John Stearne looks at the most stereotypical of subjects - that of gender. Just how many of the accused were women and how did gender figure in the hunts and the ways in which they were carried out? The Seven County Witch Hunt Project podcast series is produced by The Folklore Podcast, and host Mark No...

In the second episode of the Seven County Witch Hunt Project podcast mini-series, we look at the accusations that were being levelled against people accused of witchcraft in the English witch hunts of the 17th century. Were these people in league with the Devil, or did the accusations reflect other tensions within the community? We also dispel some myths about the witch hunters themselves, particu...

Scotland has a broad mix of folklore. Some is found elsewhere, or has variations in other areas, and some is unique to the country. Some is well-known and some is much more obscure. In this episode of The Folklore Podcast, host Mark Norman is in conversation with Scottish writer Lyndsey Croal about the subject. Lyndsey often works with elements of Scottish lore, most recently that connected with t...

In the years 1645–1647, when England was embroiled in a traumatic and bloody Civil War, roughly three hundred people in the South East were accused of witchcraft. Received wisdom — and some shameless self-promotion on the part of the chief investigators — has dictated that the largest witch-hunt in English history was driven by the obsessive enthusiasm of two men: John Stearne and Matthew Hopkins,...

This episode of The Folklore Podcast is an interview of two halves, as host Mark Norman sits down to chat with herbalist and writer Su Bristow. In an interview recorded live at Su's dining table, the first half of the show explores her work as a herbalist. We chat about the history of using plants in folk medicine, the approaches used and how valuable or otherwise volumes such as Culpeper's Herbal...

Award winning author, historian and occultist Liz Williams discusses her book 'Miracles of our own Making: A History of Paganism', published by Reaktion Books. The interview takes in the history of paganism and Liz's work in Druidry as well as her writing. Read the review of the book on the Folklore Podcast website at https://www.thefolklorepodcast.com/miracles-of-our-own-making.html Support the F...

Folklore Podcast creator and host Mark Norman delves into the topic of folk music and performance with special guests Lunatraktors. The duo, formed in 2017 and made up of Carli Jefferson and Dr Clair Le Couteur aim to strip folk back to the bare essentials of rhythm and voice, and use in-depth research methods to investigate Anglo-Celtic music, to which they then apply a modern twist. Carli and Cl...

In this 'Meet the Author' bonus episode of The Folklore Podcast, creator and host Mark Norman introduces a conversation between literary correspondent Hilary Wilson and university lecturer and poet Kailey Tedesco. Kailey discusses her poetry collection 'Motherdevil' which takes the story of the Jersey Devil and the Pine Barrens as its inspiration for an exploration of folklore and motherhood. Kail...

Folklore Podcast creator and host, Mark Norman, explores the rumours that the author of 'Dracula', Bram Stoker, found inspiration for his famous count in the rural backwaters of the county of Devon, in the South-West of the United Kingdom. Could there by any truth to the ideas that Count Dracula emerged as much from the Devon countryside as he did from the Carpathian mountains? This episode of The...

Folklore Podcast creator and host Mark Norman meets with Ronnie Turner. author of the gothic and folk horror novel 'Small Fires' in this episode of the podcast, recorded on location during Ronnie's recent book signing tour. To support The Folklore Podcast on Patreon, please visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast

We chat with Bram Stoker and International Latino Award Winning horror author Cynthia Pelayo as her latest book, 'Vanishing Children' is released. Cynthia's writing intersects with the world of fairy tales, with Charles Perrault's story of Sleeping Beauty providing inspiration for 'Vanishing Children'.Please note that this interview deals with themes of parental loss, and touches on suicide. To su...

Folklore Podcast creator and host Mark Norman chats with Kat the Lore Mistress about using folklore and folk horror themes in tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs). In particular, we look at a new Zine based folk horror game called GAST for which Kat is part of the development team. To find out more about GAST and the creators Hatched Games, visit their website at https://www.hatchedgames.co.uk/ Vis...

We welcome back onto The Folklore Podcast musician and composer Einar Selvik, founder of the band Wardruna and expert in Old Norse music and culture. Einar discusses his beliefs and connections with nature, the way he goes about composing his music through the use of old Norse runes, and his latest work Birna, named for the old Norse she-bear. To support The Folklore Podcast, please consider makin...

We meet British fantasy author Alexandra Beaumont, who specializes in utilizing folklore and the gothic in her writing. She discusses themes of Cornish folklore and her novel 'Dissonance of Bird Song' which was voted the Independent Press Award Distinguished Favourite for 2025.Visit Alexandra online at https://www.alexandrabeaumontauthor.com/ Support The Folklore Podcast at https://www.patreon.com...

RETURN TO 10th KINGDOM:We chat with actor Scott Cohen, who played Wolf in the mini-series 'The 10th Kingdom' about possible plans for a sequel, his thoughts on the show and its characters and genre fiction more broadly, as well as discussing his career as an actor and theatre producer. Visit our Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcas t where you can join as a free member and lis...

In this bonus episode of The Folklore Podcast we shine a light on another fantastic folklore audio project as we meet Charlie Dobres, the writer and creator of audio drama The Maiden and the Dragon. This 6-part production takes a well-known folk tale that we have covered on this show before, The Lambton Worm, and retreats it with a female protagonist in the lead role. You can access more content f...

We return to the subject of vampires on The Folklore Podcast, a subject which we last covered in detail way back in Season 2 with a two-part investigation into the folkloric vampire. This time, we focus on the vampire as it is found in the Slavic regions, with our guest Sam Grant. Sam, who travelled to the area to research the subject, is also the author of a currently unpublished novel, 'Bunika'...

In this new strand of The Folklore Podcast, we delve into the archives and pull out old interviews from previous seasons that never made it to air. Today, pagan author Chris Allaun discusses his writing and in particular two of his books, 'The Black Book of Johnathan Knotbristle' and 'Whispers from the Coven', both of which are an interesting mix of a fiction novel with useable spells incorporated...

It all starts when two friends are invited to the home of a mysterious spiritualist medium to experience a seance in their search for evidence of the paranormal. But the medium’s home used to belong to a girl who died there. And that’s never a good combination. So starts the story of 'The Seance', a piece of live theatre written and directed by the guest on this episode of The Folklore Podcast, Ch...

In this special edition release of The Folklore Podcast, we chat with the New York Times Bestselling horror author Grady Hendrix about his fiction and non-fiction writing, and about his new book 'Witchcraft for Wayward Girls' which is released on the same day as this episode - January 14th, 2025.Support The Folklore Podcast on Patreon and get extra exclusive content at www.patreon.com/thefolklorep...

Folklore in the Field is the bonus episode strand of The Folklore Podcast where we chat with people out on location about their work and interests. No frills. No heavy production. Just conversation. In this episode, Folklore Podcast creator and host Mark Norman chats with children's author Claire Barker about her interests in folklore and her writing, including 'Knitbone Pepper, Ghost Dog', 'Pickl...

In this episode, the first show of the 10th anniversary season of The Folklore Podcast, we look at the classic TV mini-series 'The 10th Kingdom' which is celebrating its 25th birthday. Folklore Podcast creator and host Mark Norman gives an overview of some of the content that you can expect during the season. This is followed by an interview with special guest Simon Moore, who wrote the screenplay...

The old Irish tradition of using enormous stones in the landscape, sometimes known as testing stones, as a feat of strength has been all but lost for generations. Such stones were lifted to honour the dead at funerals, as a rite of passage to adulthood, as a test of suitability for particular jobs or roles, and for many other purposes. There are many such stones still lying in the Irish landscape,...