My guest for this episode is writer and researcher Paul A.T. Wilson, who joined me to talk about his ongoing involvement in developments relating to a paranormal encounter that happened on the Isle of Wight in the UK over fifty years ago – that of Sam the Sandown Clown.

To describe the events of the initial encounter as unusual is somewhat of an understatement. In 1973, two young children were out playing near Sandown when they met the titular Sam – who was described as wearing a pointy hat, having triangular markings for eyes and a square nose on a pale face and arms and legs that seemed wooden. The children spent some time with Sam in a small hut and spoke with him, after which they left, and both he and his dwelling had disappeared. This encounter eventually featured in a journal of the British UFO Research Association in 1978 after which, the strange events of that day in 1973 faded somewhat, becoming a small part of paranormal history.

That was until a few decades later, when Paul was put in contact with someone who claimed to be one of the children who encountered Sam and has been given the pseudonym ‘Fay’. Paul was allowed to meet with Fay and talk to her about her initial encounter with Sam in the process of which she revealed she had met him again on four other occasions. These developments have been part of a renaissance of interest in the Sandown Clown incident, which has seen the adoption of Sam by Sandown as something of a fortean mascot, and him becoming an important part of the islands recent folklore.

The interview begins with Paul providing a brief summary of the initial incident, after which we talk about how his own interest in those events started, and how he came to meet with Fay. We discuss the memories she has of her first meeting with Sam, and then go into the subsequent encounters she had with him, exploring the themes they include which may offer some clues as to Sam’s true nature. We end by talking about the recent upsurge of interest in the Sandown Clown case, what makes Sam an important part of the Isle of Wight’s culture.

You can find Paul on Bluesky as Tales of Wihtlore. 

If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

For this episode, I welcome back previous guest Laura Lewis-Barr. Laura first appeared on Some Other Sphere in episode 116, where we discussed her work as a stop-motion filmmaker, creating short movies inspired by myths, fairy tales and the ideas of people such as Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell.

This time around, Laura joined me to talk about the relationship between states of illness and paranormal phenomena. The idea for this subject matter was prompted by an experience she had whilst on holiday in Greece in 2024, during which she suffered from an attack of Bell’s Palsy. 

The interview begins with Laura describing the events that led up to the attack, along with the symbology and archetypal imagery she noticed around that time. From there our conversation opens out into a broader discussion on the liminality of being unwell, centred around an article by Dr Sabina Dosani titled ‘Ghosts and Angels: The Supernatural in Illness Narratives’. We discuss the effect illness can have on a persons sense of self and their perception of the world around them. and we finish up talking about some of the mythic characters and stories that feature motifs of illness and injury.

A full account of Laura's illness experience can be found at https://www.storysanctum.org/post/speaking-symbols-with-gorgons. 

The article by Dr Sabina Dosani that Laura and I discuss in the interview is available at https://medicalhealthhumanities.com/2025/02/25/ghosts-and-angels-the-supernatural-in-illness-narratives/.

If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

My guest for this episode is author Raphael Cormack, who joined me to talk about his new non-fiction book, Holy Men of the Electromagnetic Age.

The book explores what it describes as a ‘golden age of the uncanny’ centered around the Eastern Mediterranean in the years following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.  This was a time when Clairvoyants, fakirs, mind-readers, miracle-workers and jinn-summoners enthralled people and audiences with the idea that unseen spiritual powers commanded a realm of hidden human potential.

The story Raphael tells focuses on the lives of two such characters in particular; Tahra Bey, who took 1920s Paris by storm as a self-styled Fakir with remarkable displays of bodily endurance and mind reading ; and Doctor Dahesh, who combined a similar skill set with techniques from Spiritualism into something which would eventually evolve into a pan-religious faith in Lebanon.

Travelling between Cairo, New York and Jerusalem, Paris, Istanbul and Rio de Janeiro, these two mystics reflected the desires and anxieties of a troubled age, beginning in the aftermath of World War One and extending into World War Two and more recent conflicts in the Middle East.

In the interview I talk a bit with Raphael about his background, and how the idea for the book came about. From there our conversation loosely follows the structure of the book itself, first talking about Tahra Bey, and then Doctor Dahesh. It is a conversation more about a time in recent occult history, represented in microcosm by these two men, rather than an exploration of their purported abilities but it still provides a fascinating insight into a world that is quite recent, but mostly forgotten today.

You can find out more about Holy Men of the Electromagnetic Age at https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/holy-men-of-the-electromagnetic-age/.

If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

My guest for this episode is folklorist and author Dagrún Ósk Jónsdóttir, who joined me to discuss her new book Ghosts, Trolls and The Hidden People; An Anthology of Icelandic Folk Legends.

Dagrún Ósk’s research on the folklore and legends of Iceland has included the topics of cannibalism, Ouija board traditions, supernatural beings and, for her PhD thesis, women, femininity and gendered power relations.

Her new book is a window into the mythic and supernatural history of the Icelandic people. The six chapters of the anthology are each based on a different setting: farm, wilderness, darkness, church, ocean and shore. It features translated tales from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as well as introductions from Dagrún Ósk herself, which place these often-supernatural happenings in the context of Icelandic society.

The legends include stories of hidden people, trolls, ghosts, sea monsters and even polar bears, exploring themes of love, revenge and conflict. The book highlights the tension between Christianity and paganism, past and present, nature and humanity, and divides within society.

More details about Ghosts, Trolls and The Hidden People; An Anthology of Icelandic Folk Legends can be found at https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/ghosts-trolls-and-the-hidden-people.

If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

Joining me for this episode is philosopher Kimberly S. Engels.

Kimberly is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Molloy University and her research focuses on existentialism, phenomenology, and ethics. In 2023 she started a new research project on the UAP phenomenon, focusing on the lived conscious experience of individuals who report these kind encounters, and how they integrate these experiences into their understanding of self, other, and world. This work has seen her become Research Director at the John Mack Institute, and Advisory Board Member for the Society for UAP Studies.

Phenomenology is the direct investigation and description of phenomena as consciously experienced, without theories about their causal explanation.

In the interview I begin by talking with Kimberly about her background and exploring phenomenology in more detail. From there we discuss how its methods can be applied in the of study of extraordinary experiences such as those people have with UAPs/UFOs and also how it can help experiencers understand those events on a personal level.

Further details about Kimberly's research is available at https://kimberlyengels.academia.edu/ and to find her blog posts for the Society for UAP Studies, go to https://www.societyforuapstudies.org/blog. Kimberly also has a podcast series called 'Phenomenology of the Phenomenon' which is available on the Society for UAP Studies YouTube channel here.

If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

My guest for this episode is author and historian Karl Bell, who joined me to talk about his new book, The Perilous Deep: A Supernatural History of the Atlantic.

Karl is Associate Professor in Cultural and Social History and Co-Director of the Centre for Port Cities and Maritime Cultures at the University of Portsmouth. Prior to his latest work, he wrote The Legend of Spring-Heeled Jack, which was winner of the 2013 Katharine Briggs Award.

As its title mentions, The Perilous Deep focuses on the Atlantic Ocean. This is a place whose vastness and unfathomable depths have inspired tales of ghost ships, reports of encounters with mermaids and sea monsters, and legends of mysterious islands for centuries. These stories were told by both seafarers and coastal communities and formed an important part of their culture.

In the book, Karl explores why these stories were told, how they were repeated and mutated and what fears, anxieties and desires they helped to express. It offers an insight into the supernatural history of the Atlantic Ocean and some of its neighbouring seas, showing how seafaring peoples have developed knowledge and a sense of control over nature through myths and legends.

The Perilous Deep is published by Reaktion Books - further details are available at https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/the-perilous-deep.

If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

My guest for this episode is paranormal podcaster and author Jim Harold.

Since 2005, Jim has built a global following with his flagship shows The Paranormal Podcast and Jim Harold’s Campfire.

Jim’s podcasts have been downloaded over eighty million times and consistently rank alongside major networks on the podcast charts. Going full-time in 2012, he has also authored six books in his Campfire series, which collect together the spooky stories and weird happenings people have reported to him from all over the world.

In the interview we focus on the Campfire project. I begin by talking with Jim about the origins of his interest in the paranormal and ask how his career in podcasting started. From there Jim shares some of the stories from the latest volume of the Campfire books, which leads us into to a wide-ranging conversation about the nature of paranormal experience, how that might relate to consciousness and the importance of storytelling in human cultures, and much more.

Further details about Jim, his podcasts and book series can be found at https://jimharold.com/

If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

Joining me for this episode is returning guest Susan Demeter.

Susan is a Canadian born author, artist, and witch. The themes of her writing, research and art incorporate a lifelong interest in exceptional human experiences, UFOs, nature, social history, mysteries, and magic.

She was previously a guest back in 2021 for episode 62 of Some Other Sphere, where we discussed her book Cosmic Witch: Magic Witchcraft and the Supernatural.

This time around, Susan joined me to talk about a recent paper she has written about three roads in Ontario, Canada which each have haunted reputations.

The paper explores the paranormal history of these places—Mississauga’s Trail, Texas Road, and Buck Hill Road—both through her first-hand observations and research of primary and secondary sources.

I begin the interview by talking with Susan about what drew her to this subject matter and her own unusual experiences when visiting Mississauga’s Trail. From there the conversation opens out to cover the other two sites included in the paper and consider why some roads seem to attract paranormal phenomena.  We discuss the symbolism present in some of the folklore and otherworldly beings connected to the roads, their role as both practical , imaginal and mythic spaces, the relationship between people and nature and what that all might indicate about the nature of our reality.

You can find out more about Susan and her writing at https://susandemeter.wordpress.com/.

If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

My guest for this episode is Clive Bloom, who joined me to talk about his new book, London Uncanny: A Gothic Guide to the Capital in Weird History and Fiction.

Clive is Professor in Residence at Hull University, Emeritus Professor at Middlesex University and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Western Timisoara, Romania. He is a feature writer for several newspapers and the author of many books on topics from literature to politics, including the London political histories Violent City (2003) and Riot City (2012).

 In London Uncanny, Clive takes the reader on a psychogeographical tour of the capital’s uncanny literature, arcane events and its infamous and imagined locations. The urban landscape is presented as a space of wonder and madness, both haunted by its past and haunting the present. With stories of death and murder, spiritualism, lunacy and the occult the London in the book is one where dreams and nightmares meet.

In the interview I talk with Clive about how the idea for London Uncanny came about, and some of the themes that are present throughout its pages. We discuss how different versions of the city intersect, such as the ancient and modern, the ways that some people have found ways to interact with the imaginary and mythic London, and how the effect of modernisation, such as the construction of the London Underground, have given rise to new mythologies and uncanny experiences.

You can find out more about Clive and his work at https://www.clivebloom.com/.

If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

Joining me for this episode is research scientist and author Dr. Bob Davis.

After receiving his doctorate in 1981 Bob served as a professor for the State University of New York for over thirty years, where he conducted extensive research in the behavioural and neurosensory sciences, taught, and held many high-level administrative roles.

Following retirement, he published several articles in the Journal of Scientific Exploration and Edge Science and has given lectures at national and international conferences on consciousness, spiritually transformative experiences, and unidentified anomalous phenomena. He has also published four books - The UFO Phenomenon: Should I Believe?; Life after Death: An Analysis of the Evidence; Unseen Forces: The Integration of Science, Reality and You and most recently The Consciousness Connection: Extraordinary Human Experiences and the Nature of Reality, which has also been turned into a documentary.

As you can imagine with a subject as vast as consciousness, my interview with Bob is wide-ranging. I begin by talking with him about his early life and what drew him to a career in neuroscience, and then move onto how his interest in studying the more esoteric and fortean aspects of consciousness developed. We discuss how he moved past the materialist outlook he had developed from a career in science and the extraordinary experiences he had which helped him to do that. From there we discuss how such experiences are best looked at scientifically and what they suggest about the nature of consciousness and beyond that, reality itself.

You can find out more about Bob and his research at https://bobdavisspeaks.com/.

If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.