British Folklore

From the dark centuries of British prehistory to the ninth century AD, comes tales of giants and fairy-folk of druids and saints. From King Lear and King Arthur, to Fingal, Beowulf, Gwendolen, and Guinevere legendary characters have shaped the making of the nation. But who were they? In Mythology of the British Isles, Geoffrey Ashe explores how each of these stories are inter-connected, and how they have taken on fresh significance and meaning as historical and archaeological research has uncovered the truth behind each legend.

This fascinating audiobook is the first volume in a projected cultural history of the United States, from the earliest English settlements to our own time. It is a history of American folkways as they have changed through time, and it argues a thesis about the importance for the United States of having been British in its cultural origins. While most people in the United States today have no British ancestors, they have assimilated regional cultures which were created by British colonists, even while preserving ethnic identities at the same time.

This omnibus brings together seven of H.E. Bulstrode’s ghost stories originally published between 2016 and 2018. These are: The Ghost of Scarside Beck A newly-wed Cumbrian vicar and his wife experience a night like none they could ever have foreseen. He may have answered his calling, but who, or what, is calling her? Old Crotchet The year is 1920, and it's Twelfth Night by the old reckoning. Festivities are about to commence at Hinton St Cuthbert Manor when something sinister stirs from its protracted dormancy, awakened, it would seem, by the arrival of two young guests. The old ways, ...

Morris dancing, maypoles and…murder As the picturesque village of Upper Outwell buzzes with anticipation for its May Day festivities—complete with Morris dancers, flower garlands, and enough Victoria sponge cakes to require emergency reinforcement of the trestle tables—a shadow falls over the celebrations. A man is discovered dead in the vicarage library, his identity as enigmatic as the circumstances of his murder. Who was he? Why was he killed? Kit and Mary Aston, a sharp-witted husband-and-wife duo with an uncanny talent for uncovering trouble, investigate. Alongside them is ...

"Narrator JD Jackson addresses his listener as "bro" in this decidedly contemporary retelling of the classic saga...His brilliant performance captures all the artistry, wit, and immediacy of this fresh translation, and breathes new life into what for most has been a literary fossil." --...

When a folklore PhD student begins researching Britain's ancient stone circles, she doesn't expect them to research her in return. Twenty-eight-year-old researcher arrives at Stonehenge before dawn, camera ready, academic theories prepared. What she isn't prepared for are the handprints that appear on her chest when she touches the stones, or the way time begins to slip, or the realisation that she's been marked for this moment since childhood. The stones are counting, and she's being added to their tally. Across twenty-three days, she visits twelve ancient monuments—from Stonehenge to ...

When the bite heals, the nightmares begin. When the moon rises, the hunger takes hold. And when the blood spills, the city remembers. Mick Carter thought he was just another man trying to survive Newcastle’s grey streets — until the night something tore into him beneath the bridge. Now, as bodies wash up along the Tyne, he feels the animal stirring beneath his skin… and the river whispering his name. Greyheart is a brutal, beautiful tale of lycanthropy, loss, and the things a city hides beneath its bones. For readers of The Howling, Let the Right One In, and The Ritual.

THE MILLSTONE MURDER A Derbyshire Cozy Mystery — Where the River Keeps Its Secrets The Flour Power Mysteries — Book Two Derbyshire’s peaceful hills hide more than postcard charm… and when the river runs quiet, it’s never without reason. After the chaos of the Bakewell Bake‑Off, the village hopes for calm. Instead, dawn breaks with a chilling discovery near the old millstone bridge — a body lying at the water’s edge, the river whispering around it as if guarding the truth. What should have been an ordinary morning becomes the beginning of a mystery steeped in folklore, old ...

This set includes all five Folklore books in the series! Kidnapped by Her Bigfoot, Loved by Her Yeti, Claimed by Her Sasquatch, Rescued by His Mermaid, and Chasing Her Unicorn. Join these couples as they go out searching for folklore characters and find their "happily ever afters", instead.

BEASTS OF THE BLIGHT Eighteen Horrors of the British Isles The land remembers. Across the hills, forests, and moors of Britain, something still stirs — things older than kings, older than roads, older even than the stones that mark their passing. From the shadowed crypts of Devon to the windswept crags of Scotland, Beasts of the Blight gathers eighteen tales of terror drawn from the myths and folklore of the British Isles. Here you will find black hounds and shapeshifters, restless revenants and starving vampires, haunted stones, screaming skulls, and things that come with the snow. Each ...

Wicker Man meets Final Destination in Jennifer Thorne's atmospheric, unsettling folk horror novel about love, duty, and community. On the idyllic island of Lute, every seventh summer, seven people die. No more, no less. Lute and its inhabitants are blessed, year after year, with good weather...

Discover the world's greatest myths and legends - from Greek mythology to Norse mythology - in this comprehensive guide. What did Japanese mythology say about the beginning of the Universe? How did Oedipus become the classic tragic hero in Greek mythology? Who brought about the origin of death...

Ben Edge is a rising star of both the art world and the current folk renaissance. This first trade book of Edge's art, featuring over 200 artworks, is a unique insight into his creative process as well as the first mainstream book to explore the amazing and wildly popular folk customs of the British ritual year. Ben Edge has travelled the length and breadth of Britain recording the weird and wonderful folk customs alive in communities all over the country.

Something ancient stirs beneath the soil... and it's hungry. Step beyond the veil of time with Dead Men Still Walk, a chilling collection of ten folk horror short stories rooted in forgotten rites, cursed bloodlines, and the dark mythologies of the Old World. These tales are where superstition meets survival, where twisted rural legends still breathe, and where the dead don’t rest — they wait. From moss-covered graveyards to fog-bound villages, from cursed forests to crumbling stone circles, this anthology will drag you deep into a world of haunting folklore, ancient pacts, and unspoken...

The must-read exploration of the earliest human ghost stories from leading expert Irvine Finkel, author of The Ark Before Noah 'It's enthralling stuff, mixing the scholarly with the accessible and placing storytelling right at the heart of the human experience.' - History Revealed There are few...

Brought to you by Penguin. Following his acclaimed Sunday Times bestseller, Lancelot, Giles Kristian's new novel returns us to the realms of Arthurian legend . . . Britain is a land riven by anarchy, slaughter, famine, filth and darkness. Its armies are destroyed, its heroes dead, or missing...

For decades, scattered references in local archives have hinted at a little‑known subterranean population living beneath the remote moorlands of Cornwall. Most historians have dismissed these accounts as remnants of mining folklore or misinterpreted rural superstition. Yet among the papers of Professor Adaline H. Snaith, a meticulous but largely forgotten field researcher active in the 1930s, lies a body of material that suggests a far more complex reality. Drawing on Snaith’s original notes, sketches, and artefact studies, this volume presents the first structured ethnological account ...

Rebel Folklore gathers 50 of the darkest and most complicated folktale characters from around the world, showing readers why we should care about the rebels and misfits of ancient stories. Folktales were humble stories, passed down generations by those on the fringes of society: women, peasants...

Step back into a land of plague, prophecy, and whispers that burn. In Ashes of the Sick, acclaimed horror writer Silas Toombs brings you ten terrifying folk horror short stories from the darkest corners of Old England—where disease isn’t always the deadliest curse. Meet plague doctors who walk with shadows, scarecrows who remember too much, spectral bellmen, witchfinders, and ancient spirits that dwell beneath stagnant waters. From fog-choked moors to crumbling cottages, each tale drips with historical dread, blending superstition and survival in an era ruled by faith, fear, and ...

'[Morven] Christie's narration keeps listeners rapt while maintaining rhythm with the action, be it a runner's stride, lovers' desire, a child's watchfulness. The result is a memorable marriage of remarkable fiction and outstanding performance." -- AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award winner The...