A little further north from where Milan stands, in the Western Dolomites, there is a beautiful lake also known as Lake of the Rainbow, called Lago di Carezza which literally means “Lake of the Caress”. It’s said to be the home of a water nymph, and local folklore explains why its waters have such beautiful […]
A Cantabric legend tells the story of a local girl and her dangerous liaison with the rocky cliffs around Castro Urdiales. Hers is a tale of freedom lost and regained, and her fate is said to be connected to a cursed (or blessed) mother-of-pearl mirror. She’s this week’s feature on my Patreon.
A thermal lake with waters that are rendered warm after staying entrapped for 25 years in crystal, a young Count suffering from chronic pain, a fateful encounter on Saint John’s Eve. Join me on my Patreon for some Italian merfolk this Monday.
The Gwragedd Annwn, Wives of the Lower Lands, are Welsh water creatures connected with the myth of how the black cow came to be. They’re today’s feature on my Patreon.
Invoked in one of the Orphic Hymns, Melinoë is a rare example of chthonic nymph, an underworld being harbinger and inspirator of madness, nightmares and other fancy stuff. She’s a daughter of Persephone and Zeus, who tricked the Queen of the Underworld by disguising himself as her husband, Hades, and… well, she wasn’t happy about […]
Well, if you celebrate Halloween in the mundane sense you’re certainly carving up pumpkins and call them Jack-o’-lanterns, but do you know why? I thought the story of Stingy Jack was well-known to everybody, but I recently discovered I was wrong. We take a look at it today on my Patreon.
In the Galician folktale I present you today on my Patreon, a boy goes to the Devil’s house to pay off a gambling debt and recover his soul, but falls in love with the Devil’s daughter instead. He doesn’t take it well.
A cat-witch, or bakeneko, was haunting the grounds of the temple in Okabe, disguised as an old woman. Let’s take a look at her legend today on the Patreon.
For many of us, fall is the best season and October is the best month, leading up to all things spooky. Many people out there are creating prompts for artists and all people creative (check this out from WorldAnvil last year, for instance) and prompts are always a good place to start when you feel […]
On day 2 of Giambattista Basile‘s 1634 Tale of Tales, also known as The Pentameron, the sixth tale features a story that’s close to “Allerleirauh” by the Grimm Brothers and features some typical tropes in folklore, including shapeshifting through a magical object. Henriette-Julie de Murat, a XVII Century aristocratic French writer, uses this same device […]