What The Folklore?

Spooklore 2026 continues with a Romani story simply titled The Vampire. You'd be forgiven if you forget that halfway through it. Suggested talking points: Jump Scare Intro, The Game-Ending Turtle, The Return of Old News, Vaguely Related to Feet, Road Exasperation Check out Gordie's TTRPG, Mythomorphosis If you'd like to support Carman's artistic endeavors, visit: https://www.patreon.com/carmandaar...

Spooklore 2026 begins with an important question: "What if Final Fantasy was Spooky?". 1998's Parasite Eve dared to answer that question, with a dubious grasp on the concept of mitochondrial DNA Check out Gordie's TTRPG, Mythomorphosis If you'd like to support Carman's artistic endeavors, visit: https://www.patreon.com/carmandaartsthings If you like our show, find us online to help spread the word...

Welcome to Season 2! Our inaugural story is Cherry the Frog Bride, a Grimm tale that starts silly and becomes increasingly...well...Grimm. Suggested talking points: Time for Numbers to Go on Vacation, Mandatory Internet Buddy-System, Specializing in Guilt and Shame, Eavesdropping on a Pig Race, Corn Jacuzzi, Double-Negative Taxes, Welcome to Dog-Corpse Island Check out Gordie's TTRPG, Mythomorphos...

Episode 500

This week, on the eve of episode 500, we read The Baker's Apprentice, a story that serves as a tortured metaphor for the kingdom of Heaven, but works great as a metaphor for the worst cake you've ever heard of. Suggested talking points: Season 2 Eve, Linkin Park Shaped Gummies, Audio SkyMall, Passed the Point of Poignant, Anti-Dipping Propaganda, VIP Ticket to Hell, Report In For Your Scheduled Be...

This week, after a brief look at the stupid, stupid future of Golf, we journey to Scandinavia for the tale of Wet George. Suggested talking points: Golf With Sidequests, Bath Taxi, Breaking New Dum-Dum Ground, Bad at Existing but Really Good at Knots, A Rich Minefiled Check out Gordie's TTRPG, Mythomorphosis If you'd like to support Carman's artistic endeavors, visit: https://www.patreon.com/carma...

What's the best way to chill out and relax after the 5-Part Epic of Sundiata? Well, I can think of several, but the one Carman CHOSE is to read a Rootabaga Tales double feature...so please enjoy How The Potato-Faced Blind Man Enjoyed Himself on a Fine Spring Morning and Pokerface the Baboon and Hotdog the Tiger Suggested talking points: Thor 2: Better Thor, Jorts Vampire, A Quick Sundiata Refreshe...

Are we...are we free??? Suggested talking points: Milk Nightcrawlers, Psycho-Sexual Lamps for Sale, The Tree that Oscars Grow On, Them Cheeks Check Out, Sorcerer-War Etiquette, Hundreds of Animals Dying Constantly Check out Gordie's TTRPG, Mythomorphosis If you'd like to support Carman's artistic endeavors, visit: https://www.patreon.com/carmandaartsthings If you like our show, find us online to h...

Oh, hey, look at that...still talking about Sundiata this week! Suggested talking points: Rooting for Captain Dirk, Adopted by Foxes, Missed Thirst-Trap Opportunity, Oral Tradition Ad-Break, Throbbing for War, Acute Benjamin Button Syndrome Check out Gordie's TTRPG, Mythomorphosis If you'd like to support Carman's artistic endeavors, visit: https://www.patreon.com/carmandaartsthings If you like ou...

Think you've heard enough about Sundiata yet? Because I have terrible news... Suggested talking points: Futuristic Flavor-Drink, A Threatening Quantity of Cowboy Hats, I Guess These are Proverbs, Getting Fed to Hang Out, Unmanned (AKA, "Re-Boyed"), A Storage-Room of Power, The Tube-of-Meat King Check out Gordie's TTRPG, Mythomorphosis If you'd like to support Carman's artistic endeavors, visit: ht...

This week, we FINALLY hear about Sundiata! Or Do We??? (We do). Suggested talking points: Groundhog Godzilla Year, A One-Scheme Limit, It's Birthin' Time, One-String "Wonderwall", Invalidated King Warranty, Baby Brings the Thunder, Checking all the Boy Boxes, Free Tickets for Gawking Check out Gordie's TTRPG, Mythomorphosis If you'd like to support Carman's artistic endeavors, visit: https://www.p...

TW: Brief description of marital SA between 51:38 and 52:00 After probably-months of teasing, it is time to begin another epic, this time The Epic of Sundiata . And by "begin", I of course mean "we'll get around to talking about him eventually, maybe". Suggested talking points: Septennial Parasite, A Professional at Eating Scenery, Immersion-Therapy for Pun Appreciation, A "Just-In-Case" Tax, This...

Have you seen the movie "Her"? No? Go check out the trailer...okay, got it? Now you basically understand this week's story, The Wonderful Stone . Except instead of Scarlet Johansson's disembodied voice, just picture a cool rock. Suggested talking points: A Human Repository of Important Municipal Information, Whoville's Siren Santa Song, Returning a Bandaged Cow, Basically Kidnapping an Egg, A Gran...

This week we read The Tale of Katcha and the Devil: The Story of a Clinging Vine , which is a story we can all agree we've never read before. 100% sure about that, as are you. Right?? Suggested talking points: A Husk of Loose Thoughts, TIME SISTER, Scolding Dogs from a Mile Away, The Bagpipe Boyz, A Licensed Devil Franchise, Can't Talk While You're Pipin' Check out Gordie's TTRPG, Mythomorphosis I...

Enticed by Carman's cryptic clue of "Grandpa, Man-eating, Egg", we dive headfirst this week into The Legend of Aji Saka. It for sure has each of those things in it. Suggested talking points: Big Water vs. Big Queso, Thick Gloopy Vocal Cords, The Channing Tatum Chin Experience, Quietly Undo the Boy, Living Six Lives at Once, Accidentally Forged a Pottery Sword, Meat into the Alphabet-Grinder Check...

After reading a much-too-long epic (that really could've been boiled down to a single episode), we decided we needed a palette cleanser. For some reason, we also decided that palette cleanser would be Hans Christian Andersen. This week, we read The Rose Elf. Suggested talking points: Advancements in Bellibolt Technology, Excommunicated from the Pinocchio Community, Folktale Chop Shop, Magic Ennui...

This week on WTFolklore, we finally conclude the epic known as The Story of Harap Alb, with perhaps the most pitiful, confusing "Animal A-Team" we've yet encountered on the podcast. Suggested talking points: Emoji Hieroglyphics, The Proposal-Disposal House, Now Available For Three Easy Payments of Two Easy Payments of $99.99, This Horse's MSRP Was Wildly Exaggerated, The Whiny Squadron of Various...

This week on WTFolklore, cooler heads prevail, and instead of alternating back and forth between epics, we pick up where we left off last time and read Chapters 2 and 3 of T he Story of Harap Alb,  titled Under the Power of Bald-Man and The Bear's Lettuce and The Stag's Precious Stones Suggested talking points: Putting the "Monster" in Pocket Monster, King of the "One Guy Plays Every Guy" Genre, T...

This week on WTFolklore, we do what we've always done best: complain about commercials. Then we read Chapter 1 of T he Story of Harap Alb, which is itself titled The Ember-Eating Flying Horse Suggested talking points: Punched in the Mouth by a Sandwich, Bros En Masse, A Good Way to Annex Sons, Somewhere Cold and Full of Bears, A Castle Full of Ho-hos and Bagel Bites, Water-Spitting Mole-Horse Chec...

Even though it says "Part 3" in the  title, we close out Part 2 of The Trial of Lovers: The Maiden of Mátsaki and the Red Feather this week, thus bringing an end to our tale of a guy so dumb and annoying he caused the very concept of death to exist. Suggested talking points: One Cat One Taco, The Minions Pit, We're Putting for Bogey on this Folktale, The Ol' "Panini Hands" of Sadness, A Room Dedic...

This week, we conclude at least Part 1 of The Trial of Lovers: The Maiden of Mátsaki and the Red Feather, having learned nothing about said Red Feather, but a surprising amount about bugs, their legs, and the lexicon of demons and wizards. Suggested talking points: My Breaths Aren't Finite, Armpits of Steel, Caring is at a Minimum, Dropped Bundles From Weak-Armpited Men Running from Bug Children,...

This week on WTFolklore, we begin an unexpectedly long journey into The Trial of Lovers: The Maiden of Mátsaki and the Red Feather, a Zuñi Folktale that we've barely scratched the surface on, if the episode title serves as any indication Suggested talking points: Dream Tyler Redemption, What If Tom Clancy Bought a Farm, Sad-squatch, Optimus Dad-Bot, Screaming in Two Languages, Spare Not the Armpit...

We're back to regularly scheduled antics after surviving d'Aulnoy again, this time to read The Dun Cow , a story that would've fazed us a decade ago, but to which we now find ourselves unfortunately inured. Suggested talking points: Side-Witch, I Don't Need Your Stink Bread, Grandfathered Into Being the Youngest, Clothing-based Vision Check out Gordie's TTRPG, Mythomorphosis If you'd like to suppo...

We conclude our Journey through The Benevolent Frog , and come to the unanimous consensus: to improve the story, the frog must go. Thank you once more to Dani for joining us on this particular ride! And if you're interested in Gordie's new kickstarter, check it out HERE!!! Suggested talking points: Just Get to the Vows Before the Frog Shows Up, We are Proven Fools, SHE HAD KICKING STRENGTH THIS WH...

We continue our Journey through The Benevolent Frog , and, unfortunately, this section DOES include a frog. Its benevolence, however, is up for debate. Thank you to Dani for joining us on this particular ride! Suggested talking points: Slowly Returning to Baby, We're Doin' Shrek, The Raddest Croissant, D'Aulnoy Walked so AO3 Could Run, Counting is Not a Frog Power, Juggling With Punches, All Signs...