Fear of premature burial reaches that primal part in all of us that Sigmund Freud surveyed in his 1919 essay, ‘The Uncanny’. Edgar Allan Poe explored the horrors of premature burial in his 1844 story, ‘The Premature Burial‘. Stephen King even skirted the edges of the fear with his short story, ‘Autopsy Room Four’. In it, […]
Folklore
Moths in Folklore: Bringers of Death and Letters
Moths aren’t exactly popular insects. Within folklore, they’re typically viewed as either messengers from the dead or symbols of death. Some of the symbolism crosses over with that of the butterfly. It’s easy to see why they get muddled up. Both butterflies and moths belong to the Lepidoptera family. T. R. New points out that […]
Rats in Folklore: Signs of Bad Luck and Harbingers of Doom
Rats get the blame for an awful lot throughout history – usually spreading the plague. Clearly, they don’t spread the plague…but the fleas they carry do. It’s not just the plague they carried. They’d also ruin food supplies. In ancient Egypt, people believed rats represented both destruction and discernment. They’d decimate food stores, but they […]
Bats in Folklore: Vampires, Familiars and Death Omens
Say the word ‘bats’ to people, and they’ll often think of two things. They’ll either picture a version of Batman (mine’s Michael Keaton, thanks). Or they’ll think of a legion of versions of Dracula, exploding into a cloud of bats, or hovering at the window of an all-too-willing victim. But in truth, bats are incredible […]
Boost your New Year with Twelfth Night folklore!
The presents have long been opened. No one can find anything decent to watch on TV. It feels weird to still say ‘Merry Christmas’ so we’ve all switched to saying ‘Happy New Year’ instead. But no matter! We still have Twelfth Night to celebrate! I know, I know, it’s not exactly the most popular of […]
What strange folklore lies behind mistletoe and Christmas?
Mistletoe is a strange plant. Neither tree nor shrub, it grows between soil and sky on the branches of other trees. It’s parasitic in nature. According to Philip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm, mistletoe bears very sticky berries that birds like the mistle thrush and the blackcap enjoy. The mistle thrush “deposits” the seeds after eating them. […]
