Many writers draw on the huge body of myths, legends, lore and fairy tales when working on their own speculative fiction - the dragons have done so themselves. Fairy tales in particular are told, retold, reimagined, reinvented and rebooted. So what is it about fairy tales that makes them so eminently reusable? Why is it that some retellings soar, seeming to touch some hidden need within readers, while others flop completely? Jules and Madeleine have a theory. Going back to the origins of the fairy tale, they look at why these stories endure taking examples such as Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella, and looking at various permutations; Naomi Novak - Spinning Silver, Beast - a Tale of Love and Revenge - Lisa Jensen, Deep and Darkest Red - Anna Marie McLemore and many others.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Episode 357: Gunpowder Crackers and Cancelling Christmas - the Myths Surrounding Common Christmas Practices
Episode 356: Nutcrackers Little Wooden Boys and Bears of Very Little Bear - The Sentient Toy Trope in Speculative Fiction
Episode 355: He’s a Maneater - the Global Invasion of Ogres in Myth & Fiction, part two.
Episode 354: He’s a Maneater - the Global Invasion of Ogres in Myth & Fiction
Episode 353: High Fidelity and Historical Accuracy - Do Adaptations have a Duty to be Accurate
Episode 352: 2022 A Space Oddity - Sci-fi (& Fantasy) Tropes which Don’t Work
Episode 351: Picture This - Enhancing Scenes with the Right Frame in Speculative Fiction
Episode 350: When Pain Says No - Chronic Illness Representation in Speculative Fiction
Episode 349: The Stones Remember - Cursed Places of the UK
Episode 348: Written in Blood - Vampires of the UK and Ireland
Episode 347: Bat Beasts Kellas Cats and Wolf-men - Lesser Known Cryptids of Britain and Ireland Part 2
Episode 346: Wodewose, Owlman & Morag - Lesser Known Cryptids of Britain & Ireland
Episode 345: Once More with Feeling - The Successes and Failures of Musical Episodes in Genre TV Shows
Episode 344: Enough to Make a Cat Laugh - Tracing the Origins of Puss in Boots
Episode 343: Exiles, OutCasts and Outsiders - Solitary Villains and Isolated Heroes
Episode 342: Distant Fathers 2D Beefcakes and Tortured Villains - Sexist Tropes Against Men in Speculative Fiction
Episode 341: True Beauty is Found Within - Tracing the Origins of Beauty & the Beast
Episode 340: There is none so capable as Anne - Why we should celebrate gentle characters
Episode 339: You Can’t Take the Sky From Me - Weird Westerns and Why We love Them
Episode 338: There are Wolves in the Woods - What Folklore Can Teach Us About Storytelling
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Lit Society: Books and Drama
Ex Libris
Write The Book: Conversations on Craft
Grimms’ Fairy Tales
Black Beauty
Fresh Air
Myths and Legends