I’ve been sharing real-life supernatural experiences from Fabulous Folklore listeners for the past couple of weeks. It’s been brilliant to see how vulnerable people have been in sharing these, since talking about such things can often earn you a strong amount of scorn. But I really think it’s important to preserve these stories, a) to […]
Folklore
Listener Supernatural Experiences Part 2 of 3
If you read the real-life supernatural experiences I shared last week, you would have noticed two things. First, not all experiences are terrifying. Some can be affirming, or so regular as to have become commonplace. Second, they don’t need to be full-on light and sound shows to deeply affect someone. We’re likely to pay attention […]
Listener Supernatural Experiences Part 1
If you believe the movies, supernatural experiences are big, brash and bold – or they’re just so bone-chillingly terrifying that you’re completely unable to do anything. I’m looking at you, 1963 version of The Haunting. But in reality? They can be far more subtle – but no less bizarre, scary, or unsettling, getting under your […]
The Tedworth Drummer: Haunting or Hoax?
Certain cases loom large in the history of the supernatural, especially in relation to the investigation of the supernatural. The 20th century provided the likes of the Enfield Poltergeist. Even Willington Mill in the 19th century offered an earlier opportunity. Yet the Tedworth Drummer offered an opportunity to explore a haunting in the 17th century. […]
The Mysterious Haunting at Willington Mill, Wallsend
We might think of ghost hunts or investigations as a predominantly 20th and 21st-century endeavour. Yet the legend of the ghosts at Willington Mill shows that people were trying to unearth the supernatural even in the first half of the 19th century. Spectral figures and unearthly noises plagued those living at the miller’s house, with […]
Lore of the Aran Islands: Saints, Ancient Forts, and Sweaters
The Aran Islands lie in Galway Bay off the west coast of Ireland. They’re made up of Inis Mór, Inis Meáin, and Inis Oírr. People have likely lived on the islands since c. 3000 BCE. Late Bronze Age and Iron Age ruins scatter the islands, alongside old churches and holy wells. After the era of […]
