Boggart and Banshee: A Supernatural Podcast
Chris and Simon, a Brit and a Yank, host a supernatural podcast exploring fairies, folklore, ghosts, and the impossible. They discuss weird history, Fortean mysteries, and unexplained phenomena. The show blends cross-cultural banter with research into myths and things that go bump in the night.
Episodes
Fifth Anniversary: Question-and-Answer Episode
Our daring duo trade barbs for their fifth anniversary episode, answering listeners' questions while taking swipes at each other. Can you make the case for newspaper telepathy and ghosts? How do you film fairies? What are Simon's links with Mossad, Chatgpt and blackmail? And why didn't Chris buy a haunted tree for an anniversary present? Expect mermaids, slender man, the beloved dea
The Oz Factor: When the World Falls Silent
Simon and Chris have a feeling they’re not in Kansas anymore as they follow Jenny Randles down the yellow brick road into the Oz Factor: that peculiar sense of silence, isolation and altered reality that sometimes accompanies UFOs, ghosts, time slips and fairy encounters. Is this strange quiet a gateway into the supernatural, or simply what the brain does when confronted by something terrifying? C
Supernatural Smells: Roses, Brimstone, and Decomp
Chris and Simon sniff out some supernatural scents, ranging from the prosaic, like tobacco and flower perfumes to the sinister, like the odor of rotting bodies. They note the link between scent and memory and wonder whether some ghostly scents are just a spirit’s shortcut to announce its presence or even to communicate. 'Odor Mortis', a musky aroma said to predict death, may, it transpir
Supernatural Funerals: Fairies, Phantoms and Futures
You’re walking down a road in the twilight. Suddenly you’re surrounded by a jostling crowd and see a coffin being carried in a funeral cortege with many mourners. You might recognize your neighbors in the procession — or in the coffin — and are the people brushing past you fairies, phantoms, or something worse? In the high heat, Chris and Simon clash on Scotland, the pronunciation of Duchas, Willi
Children, Fairies and the Night
Simon and Chris venture, for this historic episode,* into the nursery at the witching hour to ask why so many children see fairies in bed, in the dark, and at the edge of sleep. Along the way there are tiny soldiers marching across eiderdowns, horse-trading fairy women in pointy hats, airborne night visitors in upstate New York, nasty little wolves running out of wardrobes, and the vexed question
Supernatural Hats: From Witches to Freddy Krueger
Simon and Chris flip their lids with a capful of questions about supernatural, magical, and unlucky hats. Why are witch and wizard hats pointed? What is the fashionable color for fairy caps? What headwear does the Leprechaun favor? Chris suggests an ancient origin for magical pointed hats and goes off on a medieval tangent. Simon tops that by pointing out the importance of hats in signaling status
Walter Evans Wentz: The Greatest Fairy Hunter of Them All?
Simon and Chris follow in the mystical footsteps of Walter Evans Wentz, who journeyed from New Jersey real-estate hustler to theosophic acolyte to roving collector of fairylore in the deep west. Tramping through Ireland, Scotland, Man, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany, Walter sat by many a peat fire hearing tales of fairy nurses, stolen brides, knockers, pixies and the Gentry — and Chris wonders what
Witness! Talking to Those Who’ve Seen the Impossible
Simon and Chris discuss their experiences interviewing witnesses to paranormal events. What kinds of things cause witnesses to distort their recollections? Why do some people slide from one strange story into ten stranger ones? And what should we make of angels on bridges, voltergeists, bewitched dog bowls, demonic chip bags, vampire bats (in Ohio!), and shamanic puppies? Chris draws on decades of
Gef, the Extra Clever Mongoose: Fake, Poltergeist or Talking Animal?
In 1931 at the Irvings' farmhouse on the Isle of Man there were poltergeist bangs, words and, then, the appearance of Gef a talking weasel-like creature with human hands, 'the extra, extra clever mongoose'. Join Simon and Chris as they attempt to be extra, extra clever about Gef who could talk, sing, report gossip from all over the island and do selfies. Expect to learn what kind of
Haunted Churches
What spirits (holy and otherwise) haunt churches? Women in white, ghostly clergymen, fairies, angels, organist twins, naughty nuns, and giant maggots. Simon and Chris bicker, in this ecclesiastical outing, about consecrated ground, wimples, the recording properties of stones, the mental health of vicars' families and double dipping. Chris tells of infernal churches in the States, while Simon
Bunny Horror: Ghostly Rabbits and Witchy Hares
Ghostly rabbits, witchy hares... Welcome to one of the strangest corners of the supernatural warren. Chris and Simon talk sheep-killing, human attacking, Roman-hating, bad luck bringing bunnies and speculate about why rabbits and hares so terrified our ancestors. In this episode you will learn: what a graveyard bunny is; tricks for getting off a poaching charge; and how to sabotage a witch trial w
Fiftieth Anniversary Episode and Listeners' Questions
It's been 50 glorious episodes of nattering and squabbling and dramatic readings about all forms of the supernatural! Chris and Simon reminisce fondly about how they first met (it involves a baby, a settee and an unfortunate accident). The duo answer questions from readers: when can we expect Fairy Census 3? What is the origin of the phrase 'fairies at the bottom of the garden'? Wh
Possessed Possessions: Haunted, Cursed, and Hoodoo Furniture
Roll out the U-Haunt truck while Chris and Simon load up stories of haunted furniture. Simon tests out haunted chairs where ghosts sit and deftly avoids cursed seats. Chris takes joy in bouncing beds from brothels and trap beds that make human sausage meat. There is the murderer trunk and the toy box with angry gnomes. Clocks foretell death (and, in rare instances, prevent premature burials). Do h
Victorian Shapeshifters: Furries, Shaggies or Folk Angels?
Is it a dog!? Is it a calf?! No, it’s something in between or just possibly a headless bear or a giant lolloping rabbit, instead. Simon and Chris debate the appearance and habits of a class of supernatural creatures Simon insists on calling, to Chris's irritation, 'furries': solitary, shaggy shapeshifters that haunted the roads and wilds of nineteenth century Britain. These ambiguou
Highway to Hell: Road Ghosts and Phantom Hitchhikers
Chris and Simon hit the road with tales of spectral travelers: headless motorcyclists, driverless hearses, ghostly coaches, and hitchhikers who vanish mid-ride. Highway hobgoblins leap into passing carriages and crossroads—where suicides were buried—are haunted by the devil. Chris steers the conversation to carriages as omens of death, while Simon says it’s his way or the highway, as the duo bicke
Household Helper Spirits: from Brownie to Hob
Simon and Chris are pixelated by household helpers, those elusive, often hairy beings like Brownies, Tomten, and Skrats who muck out stables, scrub pans, rock babies, edit podcasts and occasionally fetch the midwife, all in exchange for a humble bowl of porridge. Our domestic duo explore why these spirits have such complicated relationships with clothing, what draws them to a home (or sends them
Supernatural Feathers: Death Beds, Witchcraft and Angels
Chris and Simon wing it through the strange world of feather folklore — from cursed peacock plumes to pillows that prevent the dying from slipping away. Do feather crowns signal a heavenly reward or a witch’s curse? Simon’s disturbed by beds hiding feather rats and spectral bouquets; Chris dares to suggest a rational explanation. There's a detour into swan-lined pits, angel relics, deer hunti
The Deerness Mermaid: The Best Attested Nineteenth-Century Cryptid
Simon and Chris dive into a rare cryptid case from Orkney where hundreds of witnesses saw a 'mermaid' swimming in the sea, sitting on a rock, snacking on fish and eels, and tending to her child. Stories of the mermaid went viral in the press. What in the watery world was the creature? Manatee, mutant seal, giant otter or, say it quietly, an actual mermaid? And why, after several years of
Supernatural Serpents: Flying, Milking and Shape-Changing Snakes
Chris and Simon lift the stone on a nest of ancient terrors, with bosom serpents, snakes on tombs and in graves, helpful household ophidians, and the medicinal horrors of Asclepius’s temple. ('It did what to you?!') Simon tells of his own blood-chilling encounter with a poisonous hisser, while fake snake women, flying serpents, and the perils of vino alla vipera slither revoltingly into
The Green Children of Woolpit: Fairies or Foreigners?
The Green Children of Woolpit: Fairies or Foreigners? Simon and Chris celebrate the new and definitive book by John Clark on the Green Children of Woolpit: two children with ‘leek-green’ skin who, in the middle of the twelfth century, said that they came from a twilight place called ‘St Martin’s Land’. They wore strange clothes of an unknown fabric and spoke a language none could understand. Stra
Supernatural Music: Fairy Bagpipers, Phantom Fiddlers, and The Choir Invisible
***This episode has been our Jonah and has been cursed from the beginning! We are re-releasing it because the first version had fuzzy audio***Chris and Simon wind up the old gramophone and share some numbers from angelic choirs, the nodding ones beyond the grave, and from the rarely good people in the hollow hill. Sing along with a banshee! Trill to a phantom air from Dartmoor! Rhapsodize over an
Pixy-Led? The Truth about Fairy Disorientation!
Get lost in familiar places? You're not alone! Simon and Chris are bewildered by supernatural disorientation, including cases of people being pixy-led by Newfoundland fairies and Balkan witches. Discover traditional defenses against non-human misleaders, from carrying bread to wearing clothes inside out (and yes, sometimes even stripping naked!). While our hosts consider scientific explanati
Hells Bells: Polts, Underground Cities and Supernatural Disinfectant
Chris and Simon ring the changes on bell folklore: bells mysteriously rung by polts (or rats or monkeys or blackbirds), bells ringing in churches beneath the waves and in coalmines, and bells with the power ('supernatural bleach') to drive away plague, the Devil and the Fae. Bells toll as death omens the 'death-bell' or ringing in the ears predicts imminent death, and Big Ben c
The Cottingley Fairies Exposed: Beyond Photos and Fakes
Simon and Chris focus in on the new collection of essays on The Cottingley Fairy Photographs, developing the psychic experiences that inspired the images. The two clash over Elsie and Frances’s personalities, recounting Frances’s sightings of “little men” and Elsie’s run ins with a ghost family haunting her own home. They also trade blows over Cottingley conspiracies. And stay tuned for the unexpe
Dead Famous: Celebrity Ghosts from Mary Queen of Scots to Michael Jackson
From Tinseltown to Windsor: tales of mysterious encounters with James Dean, Rudolph Valentino, Elvis Presley, Lord Byron (in Florida), Elizabeth the first and second! Does the late Princess Diana visit her butler in Cheshire to console him? Has Marilyn Monroe reincarnated to marry the ghost of Michael Jackson? Are these tulpas, “real” ghostly encounters, or para-social fantasies—where an intimate
Fairies, Nereids and Trolls: Welcome to the Social Supernatural
Simon has just published a book on European fairies, trolls, and other supernatural creatures, who like humans live in societies: going to war, dancing, seducing, holding weddings and funerals, burying the elderly alive....Looking at beliefs from Ireland to Ukraine and from Iceland to the Balkans, Simon and Chris debate the merits of trying to classify supernatural beings, find chilling parallels
Time Slips: Ghosts, Fairies or Black Holes?
Chris and Simon take a quantum leap as they ponder the mysteries of vanishing houses and time slips. Did two English ladies walk back in time at Versailles? Is there a street in Liverpool where visitors are transported to the 1950s? Did three Royal Navy cadets find themselves in a 14th century plague village? Vanishing hotels and diners, mysterious visions of medieval Paris, and inexplicable fores
Mermaids 101
Chris and Simon, don their snorkels and flippers to explore the world of mermaids. Join them as they sail past shaved monkeys, triton hot-spots and a prized vintage tuna doll. Dive in, with our daring duo, to search out mermaid fakes in Belfast, the only living Fish woman, and a singing mer-vicar in Cornwall. Then we navigate around mermaid graves in Scotland, murdered sirens in Germany, and inexp
Sex and the Supernatural
Things get steamy in this R-rated episode where Simon and Chris discuss the hot topic of sex and the supernatural. The duo passionately debate the forbidden thrills of witch orgies, fairy intercourse (with one of the seven sisters), spirit marriages (generally with rich old men), randy ghosts named as co-respondents in divorce suits, and coitus in the séance room. All climaxes with succubi, mermai
Spectral Evidence: The Supernatural in Court
Prepare to be haunted by the evidence as star witnesses Chris and Simon summon compelling arguments for paranormal claims in court. Our learned friends cross-examine the standard of proof for mermaid and sasquatch affidavits, exhume the details of changeling murder cases, and put a rapping medium on trial for disturbing the peace in church. The dearly departed won't escape scrutiny either, as
How to Create a Ghost: the Philip Experiment, 1972-1977
Simon raps once for ‘yes’ and Chris raps twice for ‘no ‘over the results of the five-year ‘Philip Experiment’. Canadian parapsychology researchers invented a fictional character, the dashing but suicidal cavalier Philip. Then they began to receive communications from Philip through rappings and table tippings. Expect to learn how you can best create a ghost at home: glasses of wine, sing-songs and
Fairy Gifts and Fairy Heirlooms: Treasures from the Hidden People
The first rule of fairy gifts is you don’t talk about fairy gifts. Chris and Simon recklessly flout that rule in this look at artifacts stolen from or given by the fairies to human neighbours. Some are exotic, like The Luck of Edenhall and the Fairy Flag of Dunvegan. Others, like elf shot and tiny tobacco pipes, are common field finds. Chris waxes lyrical about fairy textiles, and the connection b
The Birds: A Flight into the Avian Supernatural
Simon and Chris are all atwitter over stories of supernatural birds: spectral ravens, death-predicting rooks, ghostly-bloodied doves, glass-smashing partridges and, the horror, housebound robins. Chris causes a flutter with an intolerably creepy magpie rhyme; our thoughtful pair wonder at phantom birds often being heard and not seen; and why oh why do birds keep attacking Simon?
Medieval X-Files: Experiencing the Impossible in the Middle Ages
Chris and Simon cross swords over a medieval X-files collection: necromancers, monsters emerging from graves, an encounter with a fairy-like Woman in White, the walking dead, and, best of all, a trustworthy demon named Oliver, all found in Caesarius of Heisterbach’s thirteenth-century Dialogue on Miracles. Although Caesarius’s purpose was to instruct Cistercian novices, these stories of medieval h
The Dancing Fairies of Sennen Cove: An Encounter with the Impossible in Late Victorian Cornwall
In the 1880s, two sisters had an encounter with three gyrating, squeaking, white veiled supernatural women at Sennen Cove, Cornwall. Chris and Simon dance around the topics of Cornish otherworldliness, supernatural languages and circle jigs. Were the women goddesses, fairies, vestal virgins or amorous cats? Where do fairies 'foot it all the night'? Why do so many supernatural encounters
Shrouded in Mystery: The Origins of the Iconic Sheeted Ghost
Chris and Simon embark on a quest to uncover the origins of the archetypal ghost in a sheet, tracing its lineage back to the death shroud. With a dash of sartorial flair, they explore sheet chic, evolving trends of ghostly attire through the ages. They muse on shroud styles, the mystery of naked phantoms, potato thieves, headless Vikings, and that all-important 'Tailored Terror' access
Haunting Horses: Equine Ghosts, Portents and Shape-Changers
Hold your horses for the latest episode of Boggart and Banshee. Simon and Chris gallop headlong into the world of horse spirits with headless ponies, phantom hoofbeats, and equine shape-changers, including the mischievous colt-pixie and the dread shag foal. But we're not just horsing around with were-horses. There are also serious questions to add to the neigh-rative. Why are spectral horses
Up Up and Away! The Mysteries of Levitation and Teleportation
Chris and Simon set the bar high in this uplifting episode on the mysteries of levitation. Watch our intrepid pair as they soar through cases of saintly and fairy levitation. Simon floats, too, the unbearable lightness of mystic beings, while Chris brings suspect Spiritualist levitations by Daniel Dunglas Home and the Davenport family down to earth. Our daring duo ponder the story of Mrs Guppy&apo
Do You Believe in Fairies? The Fairy Census 2023
Join hosts Simon and Chris as they delve into modern fairy encounters in a special episode dedicated to the Fairy Census. The Census (freely available online) now brings together almost 1000 records of bizarre, moving and sometimes terrifying contemporary run-ins with the fey. Our fairy-ridden duo offer a sneak peek at what new experiences and patterns to expect from the forthcoming second series
The Immortals Among Us: The Wandering Jew and Other Undying Ones
Embark, with Simon and Chris, on a journey to meet the immortals who hide among us. Marvel as the duo unravel the mysteries around elusive figures like the Wandering Jew: he who defies time while indulging in cliff jumps, beer and botany. Goggle as our friends encounter undying ones scattered across the globe: from the Count of Saint-Germain to prophetic hitchhikers. And brace yourself for life-ch
Bride and Doom: Sex, Death, and Wedding Superstitions
For the bridal month of June, Chris and Simon discuss wedding divination and love charms both racy and grim, as well as the links between weddings and death. Unlucky wedding omens and dress superstitions, brides stolen by the Good People, trousseaux shrouds, and a special guest appearance by the versatile St Joseph. Adult content? Perhaps too much...
The Fairy Corpses of Arthur's Seat: the Case for Scottish Voodoo
Chris and Simon delve into the mystery of the miniature coffins and their doll-corpses, found on Arthur’s Seat in 1836. Who made them and why? Are they murder memorials, malign magic, or outsider art? The redoubtable pair look at funerary fashions, toy soldiers, and the Odd Fellows fraternal order and bicker about how best to curse your enemy.
The Zombies and Shapeshifters of Medieval Yorkshire
Zombies and Draugar and Byland, oh my! Simon and Chris discuss a series of unique supernatural tales from Byland Abbey and fifteenth-century Yorkshire. There are revenants who talk through their entrails, very busy shapeshifters, and a revolving hay-cock with a light in the middle. Questions are raised about why the soul hangs around its rotting body, and what the purgatory do all these walking de
The Last of the Witches
In this episode on late examples of American witchcraft, Chris and Simon discuss a bewitched village, a witch trial—in Salem, Ohio, 'calico soup' made with a witch’s dress, and some horrifying witch murders. Unusually, the two actually agree on some of the similarities between American Witch/Hex Doctors and Britain's Cunning Men and Women.
Who Invented Fairy Wings?
Chris and Simon are all aflap over the history of fairy wings—when did fairy wings first appear and how did they become a standard feature of western fairies? Sylphs, putti, and Victorian prostitutes flit by as the two bicker over how images of supernatural beings change when influenced by popular culture. Strap into your stage flying harnesses--it's going to be a bumpy ride...
Do You Feel Lucky?
Chris and Simon talk about the folklore and Forteana of charms and talismans and ways to either attract good luck or keep off the bad: bones and blood and corpse magic for gamblers, military charms of the Great War, cauls and German submarines and the condemnation of ‘mascotitis.’ Some adult content...The source book is free!
Christmas Special: The Phantom Hog Train
A spooky story for our listeners from nineteenth-century Ohio. Happy Christmas and please subscribe!
Fairy Resurrectionism in Nineteenth-Century Ireland
Chris and Simon discuss fairy food, ‘hungry ghosts’, and a little-known case of Mary Doheny, a ‘fairy resurrectionist’ in 19th century Ireland, who claimed to be able to bring the dead back to life. Transcripts from the Doheny’s trial for fraud illuminate contemporary Irish beliefs about the dead and the world of the Good People. Witnesses swore that they saw their dead loved ones in the flesh, bu
Ghosts 101
Chris and Simon ponder the fundamental question: What is a ghost? Are they merely folktales? Blots of undigested mustard? Proof of life after death? Also news of a boggart and banshee Facebook page, a t-rex ghost and a naked Icelandic zombie doing housework.
The Fewston Coven: Seventeenth-Century Witch Attacks
Simon and Chris celebrate the first year anniversary of the Boggart and Banshee podcast by examining a little-known case of a North Yorkshire family tormented by witches and their familiars. Trances were minutely documented in a journal kept by poet Edward Fairfax, father of two bewitched and one witch-murdered daughter. Accompanying booklet: Edward Fairfax, The Fewston Witches 1621-1623: A York
Fairy Fashions and the Paranormal
Chris and Simon discuss fairy fashions and how they have changed through the ages, in literature, folklore, fairy sightings, and popular culture. The color green, archaic fashions, wings, and a tiny pair of shoes made of mouse skin all make an appearance on the catwalk.
The Nail in the Skull and Other Victorian Urban Legends
To celebrate Simon’s just released book "The Nail in the Skull and Other Victorian Urban Legends", Chris and Simon share some of their favorite gruesome and naughty urban legends from the nineteenth century.
Spook Lights and the Headless Motorcyclist of Elmore
Chris and Simon look at the folklore of spook lights and road ghosts while discussing the story of 'The Headless Motorcyclist of Elmore,' a rural legend that shifted from a very traditional tale of the spirit of a dead man appearing as a ball of light to the dramatic tale of a motorcyclist we know today. Does folklore have its own standards of truth?
The Bathing Fairies of Ilkley
One midsummer’s morning, c. 1820, William Butterfield opened the door to the Wells, a healing spring on the edge of Ilkley Moor. He was startled to find a band of little creatures dressed in green from head to foot, who were noisily disporting themselves in the water. As he watched, they scurried over the eight-foot-high wall, and disappeared. Is there any way to determine exactly what William But
Know Your Death Omens
Chris and Simon look at a supernatural category: the death omen, or token of death, as it is sometimes known in the 19th century. Almost anything could be a death omen; hundreds were recorded by folklorists. These could include phantom funerals, the banshee’s scream, mysterious knockings, seeing shrouds, and ghostly birds. Is there any explanation for such portents? And would you want to know if y
The Wesley Poltergeist
Simon and Chris discuss the “Wesley Poltergeist” that plagued the family of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism at Epworth Rectory in Lincolnshire for over a year with an unusual variety of mysterious knockings and noises that the family blamed on “Old Jeffrey.” A thing like a rabbit and a headless badger also put in appearances. Was this a teenage girl’s prank? Or, yet another example of polter
Adventures in Boggart Hole Clough
In celebration of the publication of Simon's new book The Boggart: Folklore, History, Placenames and Dialect, Chris and Simon talk about the nature of these terrifying, solitary supernatural creatures, focusing on one of their last lairs in England: Boggart Hole Clough.
The Wollaton Gnomes: A Nottingham Fairy Mystery
On the evening of 23 September 1979, some English schoolchildren had a bizarre encounter at Wollaton Park, Nottinghamshire with colorfully-dressed gnomes in cars. Chris and Simon look at some possible origins for these entities, and try to sort out the logistics of who, where and why, while discussing reports of other gnomes from the area.
The Clothes-Cutting Poltergeist of Wooster
In 1871, the Hoffman family in Wooster, Ohio were attacked by a mysterious entity they called “IT,” which, in addition to the usual poltergeist tricks of knockings and throwing items, cut up the family’s clothing, sometimes while still on the wearer. What was the explanation? Hostile spirits? Spiritualist mediums run amok? Or the physical manifestation of family dysfunction?
Christmas Special: Dorchester Ghost Story
An 1878 winter ghost story for our listeners set in early nineteenth-century Dorchester. Happy Christmas and please subscribe!
Ann Jefferies and the Fairies
In 1645 a young Cornish woman, Ann Jefferies (aka Anne Jeffries), is visited by six green-clad fairies. Within a year Ann has become a fairy healer and prophetess. Then Ann is arrested... Can the fairies save their favorite from the gallows?
The Women in Black of Pennsylvania
Beginning in the 1860s, mysterious figures dressed like Victorian widows began flitting around in the dark, terrorizing communities across the United States. Who were these Women in Black?
The Elf Dancers of Cae Caled
A rare account of mysterious “elf dancers” seen, 1757, by four Welsh children, who were, then, chased by a threatening, copper-colored “warlike Lilliputian”. Could the fairies have taken up Morris-dancing?Source file: https://www.academia.edu/53238330/Source_File_The_Elf_Dancers_of_Cae_Caled
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