Finally Winter appears to be coming to an end, and so too our strand of Winter Tales. Behind me you can probably hear the fire crackling on the hearth, but soon we will warm ourselves with the return of the sun, taking the chill off our bones and quickening the long Winter nights. However, we couldn’t leave you without one last, sharp icicle of fear to remind you that we are not out of the woods and into the meadow just yet. Tonight’s story, Sub-Zero is a cold walk in a dark place, courtesy of writer and friend of the podcast, SA Harris. We had the honors of hosting a few events last year to promote their second novel, Seahurst, a chilling tale of ghosts and the unquiet past on the Suffolk coast. Subzero should give you a taste of that novel, and we heartily recommend you pick up a copy.

Tonight’s reader is Ruby Bardwell Dix, one of East Anglia’s most promising new acting talents. She is fresh off a barnstorming production of Richard II on the stage, and will soon join the pantheon of iconic horror character as the Shadow Woman in the forthcoming film The Spirit Lock, shot on the Suffolk Borders.

So please enjoy one more shot ice-cold darkness before it melts away for good, SA Harris’s Sub-Zero....

Hello and welcome back to another in the Hallowed Histories strand of Winter Tales, and we hope you all had a very pleasant Christmas.

Christmas is an odd time, as i am sure you realized. What strikes us as being so odd is the way in which it collapses the old into the new. Christmas traditions that have been with us since the Victorian era, and sometimes even further back, are not settled in with presents of cutting-edge technology, video calls to distant relatives, ecards and the AI algorithm tempting you with targeted Boxing Day sales. This weird mix of the future and the past can lead to a very tense present.

Shane Brown’s story tonight, DBL645 (mono) touches on this. We are big fans of Shane Brown’s work over here at Hallowed Histories. His novel, Welcome to Marlington, was one of my favorite books of the past few years, and his annual tradition of releasing a new ghost story every Christmas has become a very welcome custom. You can find these stories on amazon, and they are all well worth checking out. Tonight’s story combines a lot of Shane’s recurring themes – music, the esoteric world of collecting, ghost stories and East Anglia.

DBL645 (mono) is read by David McCabe, who was so magnificent in our Sherlock Holmes reading last year. David is an actor, script editor and voice artist, who has had a full year playing Phileas Fogg in the Maddermarket’s revival of Around the World in 80 Days. David has that too-rare gift for a voice actor of being able to breathe life into every individual character, and he uses that to excellent effect in this reading.

Hello, and welcome back to the Hallowed Histories series of Winter Tales A huge you to those who attended last Wednesday's event at Stranger’s Hall featuring local historian, author, and paranormal expert Neil Storey. It was a pleasure to watch him captivate a packed house with his extensive knowledge of Norfolk's macabre tales. Our gratitude goes out to Neil, as well as the staff at Stranger’s for hosting us. We look forward to organizing more events there soon, so stay subscribed for further announcements.

Today’s story is another from Alexandra Evans, who began this series with The Black’s Tale.

Alex is a retired nurse from Norwich, and her experiences in that profession inspired this story. In addition, she has been involved with amateur drama for 40 years; writing, directing, and acting. She has portrayed roles ranging from the back of a pantomime to Margaret Thatcher. Recently, she has focused more on her writing and has had several sketches performed on the amateur stage, including a monologue showcased at the 2023 INK festival Halesworth. We are deeply grateful for her contributions to this podcast, and we hope you enjoy tonight’s tale of a supernatural vigil.