By Craig Kringle
All things holly, jolly, and odd-ly.
Please see WeirdChristmas.com for text and info on all the stories and writers.
Craig talks with the ever knowledgeable and jolly Benito Cereno about Scandinavian elves, which you're starting to see more and more places in decorations and movies. All links mentioned on the show, along with info on Benito, can be found...
The best show of the year: 19 stories of Christmas Weirdness from the annual Weird Christmas Flash Fiction Contest. Please visit WeirdChristmas.com to get information on the authors and to read the stories again. If you want to support the contest...
I talk to Earl Fontainelle of the SHWEP (Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast). We try to trace down any textual evidence that would connect the origins of Christmas to ancient pagan sources, namely the Mithras cult and Emperor Constantine’s...
Benito and I discuss the traditions surrounding the Mari Lwyd, getting into similarities with other European wassailing and hobby horse traditions. A recording of the Mari Lwyd rhyme in action by the BBC. Benito's Links: Benito’s Christmas history videos Benito’s writing at Gumroad Apocrypals podcast Friends ‘Till the End podcast Progressively...
SURPRISE CHRISTMAS IN JULY PODCAST! I never quite got this show finished during the season, so my humble apologies. All is now well. Thank you to Meghan Arcuri for talking to me about Charlotte Riddell! Her collection of Riddell’s stories will be out very...
I chat with Thomas Ruys Smith, editor of Christmas Past: An Anthology of Seasonal Stories from Nineteenth Century America and Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of East Anglia. Links from the show: Christmas Past: An Anthology of Seasonal...
It’s out later than I would have preferred, but like the inevitability of New Year’s following Christmas, it is here. To read the stories, get bio information and links on the authors, and for all other show notes, please check out...
Talking with Christopher Philippo, editor of Volumes 4 and 5 of the Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories. Chris' Goodreads site Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories, Volume 4 (the American stories) [Amazon] Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories, Volume...
Al Ridenour is back after talking to us last year about Krampus, but this time to help unpack the lore and traditions around the Perchten, Krampus-esque goblin-ish creatures tied to both Krampus and Frau Perchta. Links mentioned on the episode: ...
Happy Thanksgiving! We dive deep into the history of Christmas murder ballads with my friend (and cohost from the ReReading Wolfe Podcast) James Wynn. I'll get links to all the songs from the episode up here shortly. But for now, here...
La Befana, Perchta, Holda, and so many more! We chat with the always encyclopedic Benito Cereno about all the Christmas witch folklore in Christmas history. Links: Benito's Christmas history videos Benito's writing at Gumroad Apocrypals podcast Friends 'Till the End podcast Progressively Horrified Music: "La Befana" by Make...
Full text of all the winners are at WeirdChristmas.com along with bios, information, and links for all the authors. All fiction copyright 2020 by the authors. Please visit WeirdChristmas.com for full information.
Sometimes when you have a podcast, you talk to people who interest you and you don’t worry so much about how it relates to the show or your topic or what your hard-won audience really cares about. So you put...
“…And scary ghost stories of Christmasses long, long ago!” Ghost stories from previous years if you’re in a spooky mood: 2019, 2018, 2017 Next year, we should break open this boys’ club with a tale from this… Links from the show: Full text of the story, “Between the Lights” A...
Time to destroy your appetite! I talk to Glen Warren from the Season's Eatings Podcast about weird Christmas food throughout history. Links: Season's Eatings Podcast List of Christmas Podcasts (from Brian Earl's Christmas Past) Holly Jolly Xmasu (Japanese Christmas music podcast) Totally Rad...
As a Thanksgiving treat, enjoy a deep dive down the rabbit hole of Santa history with Tom Jerman, author of Santa Claus Worldwide: A History of St. Nicholas and Other Holiday Gift-Bringers. This is my favorite book of Santa history,...
I'm not usually your go-to source for new movies. But this one is worth your time. The Christmas Ride is a mumblecore (improvised dialogue) film about a ride share driver getting an emotional gut punch on Christmas day. I talked...
Krampus. Seems like I should have done a show on Krampus years ago, but I was waiting for the right person. And that person is Al Ridenour, author of The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas: Roots and Rebirth of...
Christmas werewolves are a thing. I mean, I don't know if they're REAL real. But people really used to believe they were a thing. So Christmas expert Benito Cereno fills us in on their history Benito's been on the show before,...
Collecting strange vintage Halloween cards with Eric Hinton.
A talk with Brad Warner, author of the new book Letters to a Dead Friend About Zen. How Buddhism can help calm holiday stress, and just stuff about Brad and Zen in general.
What do we know about Christmas during the Middle Ages? Turns out it's kinda hard to find very much information. I talk to two medievalists, Misty Schieberle and Scott Smith, who help me trace what few mentions of Christmas there...
The 2019 Weird Christmas ghost story is "The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance" by M. R. James. I also get some help with background on James and Punch and Judy puppet shows (which show up in the...
Weird Christmas talks to the indie music blog Christmas Underground about the world of Christmas mixes and how he finds great, unknown Christmas music all year long.
The annual Weird Christmas Flash Fiction show with the results of the 2019 contest. Fourteen odd stories of Christmas uncanniness to get you out of that holiday spirit. Find the full text of all the stories along with author bios...
Who are the Yule Lads, and why does Iceland have a bunch of trolls instead of Santa Claus? I talk to author Heidi Herman and Christmas expert Benito Cereno about where the legends of the Yule Lads came from and...
Bonus episode with Brian Earl of Christmas Past, Tim Babb of Can't Wait for Christmas, and Richard Parks III of Richard's Famous Food Podcast. This one's brought to you by the Christmas Podcast Network. We talk about Christmas pickles. Are...
I chat with film critic Alonso Duralde about his book Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas, especially the chapter about the worst Christmas movies ever made. We discuss the Mexican film _Santa Claus_ (1959), the 70's gay bar flick _Some...
Craig Kringle talks with Linda Raedisch about Christmas elves, winter and solstice folklore surrounding fairies and elves, and even a bit of Halloween talk. Check the full show notes at WeirdChristmas.com as well as Linda's book _The Lore of Old...
Weird Christmas Podcast #17, a discussion of Halloween History with Lisa Morton. We discuss her three books about the history of Halloween along with talk of old forgotten Halloween traditions, such as youth riots and fortune telling with cabbages and...
A bonus summer episode! Professor (and Sir) Colin Humphreys of Cambridge discusses the evidence putting Christmas in the spring or summer rather than December. And...I plug my new Patreon site where you can get episodes all year round. (And there's...
Weird Christmas explores the Christmas offerings of Mystery Science Theater 3000, Rifftrax, and Cinematic Titanic with Rifftrax writer Connor Lastowka.
The results show from the 2018 Weird Christmas Flash Fiction contest. 12 very, very short stories that will make you laugh, cringe, and fear Santa.
I talk to author Linda Raedisch about her book The Old Magic of Christmas: Yuletide Traditions for the Darkest Days of the Year. We discuss ancient pagan rituals, legends, and stories from pagan old Europe.
Why did Victorian England love Christmas ghost stories? Why does Andy Williams sing about them? Why is Algernon Blackwood's "A Kit Bag" so freakin' awesome? Why did so many people volunteer to read for me? Why did an actual scholar...
Weird Christmas Podcast #11. A discussion with Benito Cereno about the unlikely world of Christmas and comic books.
Weird Christmas is part of a new thing: the Christmas Podcast Network. So this is a sampler of a bunch of the things you can find there. Different shows, different voices, and all in one place
How many Christmas carols are actually about Halloween? Or vice versa? However many there are, they aren't very good...with a couple of exceptions.
Talking about the underground world of Christmas music collectors with Mitchell Kezin, the director of Jingle Bell Rocks!, a documentary about people who hunt for the best and strangest Christmas music all year long.
All of HP Lovecraft's Christmas Poetry, with only minor bits of mind-bending terror. And his one "Christmas" story read by WC listeners, who are all awesome!
In this episode, I delive into the world of shamanism, magic mushrooms, and Santa Claus. Travel with me on a trip to strange holiday destinations!
Christmas songs full of the best tradition of the season: drinking! Country misery, drunk singing, and, believe it or not, some actually good stuff this time. But still weird.
Episode #5 of the Weird Christmas Podcast! Kicking off the 2017 Christmas season talking to Joanna Wilson, author of numerous books about Christmas tv. She gives some excellent recommendations to keep your holiday viewing weird.
SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE! Join the Weird Christmas Podcast and six other podcasts for a multi-part holiday special retelling of the story "The House of Seven Santas." If you want to start from the beginning, check out the Christmas Past Podcast...
It's the first episode of 2017 for Weird Christmas! I'm confused about Thanksgiving! I don't know what the hell it means!
Weird Christmas' science fiction extravaganza! Santa on the moon, Mars, rockets, your bachelor pad, and a bit of theramin for fun. Noel!
The Weird Christmas Annoying Music Show. A variety of some of the strangest, most annoying Christmas music available. Check out WeirdChristmas.com for all the details.
The first episode of the Weird Christmas podcast where we find all the strangest vintage, musical, and historical things about your favorite holidays. All the stuff I talk about there like WeirdChristmas.com, an email, etc....yeah, that's all been going on...
