We’ve picked three of our favorite scary folktales to share with you. Our love for fairy tales and folktales goes far beyond the shivers that are sent down our spine when we listen to them, we also love following their origins through history. The folktales that are common to us are preserved and passed down through the oral tradition, and folklore can help show us who are predecessors were and maybe even where we might be headed now. Stories included in this episode:

Mr. Fox

This first folktale has French, German, and English variations, but an early, early reference can actually be traced to Act 1, Scene 1 of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing: “Like the old tale, my lord: it is not so, not ‘t was not so; but indeed, God forbid it should be so.” In 1697, Charles Perrault wrote and published a tale of an enigmatic nobleman in the habit of murdering his wives, and the attempts of one wife to avoid the fate of her predecessors. Like all good fairy and folktales, it would morph and change and travel to other cultures where it then appeared in this structure as “The Robber Bridegroom” in a collection of fairytales by the Brothers Grimm. Later, in 1890, Joseph Jacobs’ collection of English Fairy Tales would include this frightening folktale. To learn more about Donna Washington visit www.dlwstoryteller.com

The Blood-Drawing Ghost

Don’t be fooled by the name, this famous ghost story holds within it many vampire tropes and conventions. Unlike its neighbors such as the United Kingdom, Ireland does not seem to have a rich body of vampire stories. However, vampires do appear in the mythology as supernatural beings in contact between the living and dead, and they come in the form of ghosts and revenants (a revenant is one that appears to have returned from the dead). Other versions of this story include Mary Culhane and the Dead Man, and The Blackthorn Walking Stick, a fantastic version of which storyteller Mary Hamilton, whose Jack Tale appears next. To learn more about David Holt visit www.davidholt.com

Sop Doll

Although stories were told about Jack throughout the Southern Appalachians, one family group has received recognition by the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress as having told the tales in an unbroken line of descendants since 1775. The Hicks, Harmons, and Wards, the first families to settle on the Watauga River, passed the tales down for two hundred years before they were written for everyone to enjoy. In this Jack tale, Jack catches wind of some witching in his town. The presence of witches and magic in folklore often represents and symbolize humanity’s relationship with the unknown and unexplained, and throughout history there is no better way to navigate the mysteries of life-- and teach the kiddos a few lessons—than through story. To learn more about Mary Hamilton visit www.maryhamilton.info