Fabulous Folklore with Icy

The Wesley Poltergeist and the Bishopwearmouth Poltergeist Go Head-to-Head

Last week, we looked at some poltergeist definitions and whether such definitions are even helpful. Can something as truly bizarre as a 'knocking spirit' be boiled down to a series of checkboxes on a form? Yet they're also not the invention of the 20th century. Nor are they the preserve of ghost hunters or psychics. Poltergeist accounts stretch back through the centuries, even if the spirit responsible isn't always labelled as a poltergeist. Just look at the Tedworth Drummer from the 1660s and the haunting at Willington Mill in the 1840s. That's just as far as England goes - these accounts appear all over the world. So as we're interested in folklore here, let's unpick two vastly different cases, from 1716 and 1840, to see how they appear in written records that try to avoid using the P-word. Do the accounts even describe poltergeists? Let's explore them in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/pre-20th-century-poltergeist/ Tell me your supernatural stories: https://forms.gle/WzXyGZLoe8iLZh656 Ghostwatch talk: https://ko-fi.com/s/c81b496605 Order Ghostlore: https://geni.us/ghostlore Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/

Poltergeists: Noisy Ghosts or Household Spirits?

This episode of Fabulous Folklore begins with a reading of the Poltergeist entry from my new book, Ghostlore, before we explore the problem with poltergeists - how do you define one?! From deciding what phenomena to include to picking a name, the poltergeist proves to be a flexible yet elusive figure in historical accounts. Is that spontaneous fire a religious portent, or a poltergeist? And did a household spirit turn the kitchen upside down...or was it a poltergeist? You get the idea. Let's look at the poltergeist in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/poltergeists-definitions/ Pre-order Ghostlore: https://geni.us/ghostlore Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/

White Ladies, Ghost Nuns & Spectral Children in Haunted Madrid

People have lived in the Madrid area since prehistoric times. Occupied by Romans, Moors, and then the Spanish, it has quite the history. Over 6.8 million people live in Madrid. That's less than Paris and London but more than Berlin. Of course, a capital city will boast a few ghost stories. The ghosts of those executed for heresy and witchcraft in the Plaza Mayor are said to still haunt the square. A fire tore through the square in 1631, devastating the buildings and leaving people dead, and some wondered if the square had attracted some kind of evil energy. So which other ghosts lurk in this beautiful city? Let's explore three of the most famous legends - and their variations in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/haunted-madrid/ Pre-order Ghostlore: https://geni.us/ghostlore Star Lore and Legends: Myths of the Constellations talk: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/star-lore-and-legends-myths-of-the-constellations-tickets-1389351410469?aff=oddtdtcreator Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/

Murder Ballads and Dark Folk Music with Katy Horan

In this chat, I'm talking to illustrator Katy Horan about murder ballads, discussing what they are, how they work within folk music, how contemporary musicians have tried to reclaim the tradition, and the issues with examining ballads when all you might have is the lyrics! Katy Horan is an illustrator and interdisciplinary artist whose work has been exhibited throughout the United States and in Canada, published in several books, and four times selected for New American Paintings. Together with the writer Taisia Kitaiskaia, she co-created Literary Witches: A Celebration of Magical Women Writers and The Literary Witches Oracle Deck. She is also the illustrator of Ask Baba Yaga: Poetic Remedies for Troubled Times. Originally from Houston, Texas, Katy now lives and works in Austin.  Buy Murder Ballads: Illustrated Lyrics & Lore: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/12992/9781524889265 Find Katy on Instagram: https://instagram.com/goodyhoran Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/

The Venetian Legend of the Carvings of Castello

If you head away from the hustle and bustle of the Piazza San Marco (St Mark’s Square), you’ll head into the stranger, more magical part of Venice. It’s in the tangle of narrow streets and courts that you enter the realm of Venetian legend. It's difficult to know how many of them have any basis in fact. One legend sees the Devil face off with legendary composer, Vivaldi. Another sees the Devil try to snatch the soul of the first person to cross the Rialto Bridge - a bridge he created. Yet another involves a fisherman and his mermaid bride, which I covered in Rebel Folklore. I've also covered some Venetian creepy ghost stories before. Yet this next legend even has physical evidence to testify to its occurrence. Or does it? Let's explore the legend behind the carvings found on a fabulous building in Castello in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/venetian-legend/ Pre-order Ghostlore: https://geni.us/ghostlore Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/