The Freakin’ Shack Podcast

Some houses feel wrong from the very beginning.   In this episode, Michelle (one of our listeners) shares a true experience from a time in her life she’ll never forget — the house she moved into and the growing sense that something inside it didn’t want them there. Unexplained sounds, unsettling changes in atmosphere, stained floors and reactions from both children and animals slowly turned an ord...

Welcome back to The Freakin’ Shack and to our very first episode of 2026! The fire’s crackling, the oak trees are whispering outside… and Mortimer Witherblight has - unbelievably, lost his voice. The silence is positively glorious (don’t tell him we said that). To launch the new year, we dive into one of the darkest fairy tales ever told: Hansel & Gretel. But be warned — the origins are grim i...

Listener discretion is advised.. This episode discusses themes of poverty, domestic violence, child neglect, and death.    As the old year fades and a new one flickers into life, we gather in the Shack to reflect on one of the most poignant stories ever told — Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Match Girl.   In this New Year special, we explore the heartbreaking origins of the tale, its historic...

Welcome to The Freakin’ Shack Christmas Special, where festive cheer meets folklore, ghosts, and a few unsettling original stories hiding behind the tinsel. This week, we swing the twinkly light on the true roots of The Shoemaker and the Elves — a tale far darker than its cosy reputation — before retelling the story itself and asking why so many Christmas classics begin with hardship, fear, and a...

This week at The Freakin’ Shack, Mortimer Witherblight our resident ghost host is sounding distinctly croaky — though he insists ghosts can’t catch colds… merely “an unfortunate case of the chills!” Between spectral sniffles and our laughter, the team explore the timeless magic of the number three. From the darker origins of The Three Little Pigs, to the troll-troubled Billy Goats Gruff, to the su...

In this second dive into the world of childhood rhymes, we wander even deeper into the shadows behind the songs we grew up singing. This week we chat about the grim origins of Three Blind Mice, the mysteries of Lucy Locket, the plague-tinged whispers in Ring a Roses, and the very strange history behind London Bridge — including why it kept “falling down”… or being sold to the highest bidder. Of co...

In this first episode of our new season, we swing the light on the nostalgic rhymes we all thought were oh so innocent. From the “choppy, choppy” ending of Oranges & Lemons, to the suspicious little tumble in Jack and Jill, to the surprising truth lurking behind    Baa Baa Black Sheep—these childhood favourites carry stories far darker than the playground ever let on. Join us in the Shack as w...

Welcome to the very first episode of The Shack After Dark — our cosy, unfiltered, relaxed corner of The Freakin’ Shack! In this late-night fireside chat, Petrina and Steph settle in with their favourite brew and talk about the books they’re reading. What is it that Steph manages to loose so many of? and what are our funniest sayings..? We also wander into jam-making adventures, chutney triumphs, a...

“Guardian of the Roots” An original Fairy Story Step into the enchanted world of The Guardian of the Roots, where ancient forests remember every footstep, the earth hums with ancient magic, and the smallest acts of courage can change the destiny of an entire woodland. In this original Freakin’ Shack fairy tale, we follow a young heroine whose bond with the natural world awakens something within —...

The Freakin’ Shack Podcast — Cursed Objects Series In this episode of The Freakin’ Shack, we dive headfirst into the tangled world of religion, ritual, and the power of belief — and how those forces have shaped some of history’s most mysterious and cursed objects. From relics worshipped and feared to rituals meant to bless or bind, we explore the fine line between faith and fanaticism, morality an...

Arsing About with Ancient Curses - The Freakin’ Shack After the chaos of Halloween, Mortimer has finally drifted into a ghostly slumber — which left us almost free to do a little fannying about (or was it faffing about?) as we debated the great British art of time-wasting, & the mystery of who said 'flim-flam', and the finer points of Shack etiquette. Once the laughter settled, we turned our a...

The Hidden Face of Halloween – A Freakin’ Shack Special This Halloween, step inside The Shack for a fascinating exploration of one of humanity’s oldest mysteries — the mask.  From ancient rituals and Japanese Noh theatre to the power of disguise or camouflage from the very origins of the Irish Samhain.. Trina and Steph peel back the layers of what hides behind the face or faces that we show the wo...

In today's episode  Petrina and Steph bravely crack open the toy chest of terror to explore cursed dolls, haunted jack-in-the-boxes, and wind-up toys with a mind of their own. From the infamous Annabelle to music boxes that play when spirits are near, they unravel the eerie tales behind childhood objects that never quite stay still. Mortimer, their ever-opinionated Victorian ghost, pops in with hi...

Step inside The Freakin’ Shack as Petrina and Steph swing that light and dive into the shadowy world of cursed media — those films, songs, books, and recordings that seem to leave chaos and sometimes, fear in their wake. From the legendary curses said to haunt Poltergeist and The Exorcist, to strange tales of doomed songs and haunted manuscripts, this episode explores the eerie intersection betwee...

This week at The Freakin’ Shack, we’re exploring the unsettling truth that danger doesn’t always look dramatic. Sometimes, the most ordinary objects hide the darkest stories — mirrors that seem to watch you back, typewriters that carry a curse, chairs you should never sit in, and more. We’ll swing the light on real-life cursed and haunted items, the strange legends behind them, and why these tales...

Our Shack door is creaking open on a brand-new season — and this time, we’re diving headfirst into the world of cursed objects. What exactly makes an object cursed? Can bad luck really cling to a mirror, a ring, or even a typewriter? In this episode, we explore where these stories come from, why and who may have created them, and what they say about us. And just to set the tone, we end with a tale...

Look, we were just having fun. It was a fun web page & Steph brought cake and somewhere along the way we filled out an Adopt-a-Ghost form we found online… just a bit of summer fun at the Shack..  It seemed funny. It seemed harmless. …Except now things feel a little different. And that “summer joke” seems to be hanging around into Autumn  Join us for a story we weren’t planning on.. as we share...

After her first visit left her feeling slightly less sceptical (and slightly more haunted), Steph came back to the Shack—this time with her gear, a notebook, a spinny thing and determined look in her eye… and 2 pain au chocolate. She’s not one to jump to conclusions, but things have been getting weirder. So we did what any well-adjusted pair of humans would do: tried out all the equipment, asked f...

Part 2: When strange knocks and ghostly throat-clearing interrupt a simple summer clean, there’s only one person to call: Ghostbusters?? No.. Steph of course!. Armed with a hip flask, Hobnobs, and absolutely zero patience for nonsense, she arrives to debunk the whole thing… but ends up having a surprising run-in with something—or someone—that might just be haunting the Shack. A fun filled introduc...

Episode Description The Cleaning of the Shack It started as a simple summer clean… and ended with the Shack behaving badly. Is something—or someone—trying to get my attention. And if they are.. who on earth is it. or was it? A light-hearted, spooky tale where brooms meet the beyond and paranormal paperwork makes an appearance. Welcome everyone to The Freakin' Shack…   How to support the Shack Pack...

In this chilling True Tale from the Shack, we follow the trail of an ancient gold ring unearthed in a field in England—inscribed with a mysterious curse and bound to the name Senicianus. But what starts as a lost Roman treasure soon spirals into a tale of betrayal, divine wrath, and a lead curse tablet buried to doom its thief. Some say the ring’s dark legend helped inspire The Lord of the Rings…...

In this eerie True Tale from the Shack, we unravel the unsettling legend of The Crying Boy—a painting mass-produced in post-war Britain, said to be cursed or was it protected? But what’s behind the trail of scorched ruins and untouched, tear-streaked portraits? Was it just tabloid frenzy… or something far more sinister staring out from the frame? Join us in the Shack as we swing that light and tra...

Episode Description The Cache: When teenage tech scavenger Jules finds an old MP3 player in an abandoned town hall, he thinks he’s struck gold. But the voice on the recordings doesn’t just tell a story—it knows him. As new files appear night after night, Jules learns that some digital ghosts don’t just haunt—they update. Here's a real lo-fi horror tale for the internet age. Our own little contribu...

The Moss Man of Morbihan Deep in the Breton forest, something watches—and sometimes, it borrows things. When a peaceful walk turns into a supernatural encounter, the voice-stealing Moss Man emerges from legend into terrifying reality. A modern folktale told from the heart of this Celtic Land…  ⸻ How you can support our show Enjoyed this strange forest tale? Share it with your friends, leave us a r...

Orbiting Grace: Not every ghost walks. Some… float. When astronaut Captain Luc Denoël returns from a routine mission changed—and seemingly glowing—his family begin to uncover an eerie connection to a long-lost project.  As whispers drift through the walls and stars blink a little too knowingly, this tale takes you beyond haunted houses… and into the unknown mysteries of the Universe. ⸻ How you can...