The skogsrå is one of the important genii loci, the spirit of the Forest from Scandinavia. She will appear to hunters mostly but also to some travellers through the forests of her domain. The Skogsra is often described as human-like being, but with something uncanny about her. She’s often very beautiful but will have a… Continue reading The Skogsrå
Publisher’s Description Even the Wild Man of Greenhollow can’t ignore a summons from his mother, when that mother is the indomitable Adela Silver, practical folklorist. Henry Silver does not relish what he’ll find in the grimy seaside town of Rothport, where once the ancient wood extended before it was drowned beneath the sea—a missing girl,… Continue reading Drowned Country
In Madagascar, a highly unusual endangered nocturnal lemur is associated in regional as taboo or fady. The bizarre habits, secretive nature and distinctive appearance of the aye-aye fills some Madagascan peoples with the horror and dread at the sight of it. This has often lead to the slaughter of aye-ayes. In other regions of Madagascar,… Continue reading Folklore of the Cursed Aye-Aye
Publisher’s Description Constructed of stone and packed earth, the Great Wall of 10,000 li protects China’s northern borders from the threat of Mongol incursion. The wall is also home to a supernatural beast: the Old Dragon. The Old Dragon’s Head is the most easterly point of the wall, where it finally meets the sea. In… Continue reading The Old Dragon’s Head
The Isle of Skye is rich in fairy lore. One of the most magical-looking is the miniature landscape of grassy, cone-shaped hills and whimsical rock spirals of Fairy Glen. There is no documented folklore linking the landscape to the realm of myth, and there have been no actual sightings of fairies, Fairy Glen is rich… Continue reading Isle of Skye: Fairy Glen
"The Legend of the Pussy Willow" In an old Polish legend, many springs ago, a mother cat was crying at the bank of the river where her kittens were drowning. The willow at the river's edge longed to help her, so they swept their long graceful branches into the waters to rescue the tiny kittens… Continue reading Legend of the Pussy Willow
The Scottish Wulver Unlike the French loup garou, not all werewolves terrorise humans giving into their blood lust. The Scottish wulver of the Shetland islands, just north of the Scottish mainland, is a benevolent werewolf. The wulver was thought by the ancient Celts to be its own species between a man and a wolf. Folklorist… Continue reading Scottish & Irish Werewolf Folklore
Recently I have been exploring the concepts behind the Red Riding Hood fairytale. There are two main versions I have used as inspiration for writing a new short story. The version by Charles Perrault called “Little Red Riding Hood” and the version by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm called “Little Red Cap”. Both examine a young… Continue reading Reimagining Red Riding Hood
Publisher’s Description Baba Yaga is an ambiguous and fascinating figure. She appears in traditional Russian folktales as a monstrous and hungry cannibal, or as a canny inquisitor of the adolescent hero or heroine of the tale. In new translations and with an introduction by Sibelan Forrester, Baba Yaga: The Wild Witch of the East in… Continue reading Baba Yaga: The Wild Witch of the East in Russian Fairy Tales
Publisher’s Description Everyone in Sleepy Hollow knows about the Horseman, but no one really believes in him. Not even Ben Van Brunt’s grandfather, Brom Bones, who was there when it was said the Horseman chased the upstart Crane out of town. Brom says that’s just legend, the village gossips talking. More than thirty years after… Continue reading Horseman
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