Widdershins Stories

Episode 40: Revival by S.T. Gibson

Revival is a short story by S.T. Gibson appearing in the folk horror anthology The Fiend in the Furrows. A young girl, granddaughter to the Reverend and keeper of snakes used to show the movement and devotion of the Holy Spirit, finds herself on Revival day filled with some spirit-but what is it that is truly speaking to her?

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Tam Lin comes to us from Scotland and Childe’s ballads. Tam Lin is a human captured by the fairy queen who spends his free time tormenting fair maidens in the woods of Carterhaugh. After a tryst with fair Janet who becomes pregnant with his child, they devise a plan to free him from being the Halloween tithe. This version combines many of the story points from the earlier ballads with a bit easier listening and updated language from Jennifer Holm.

If you’ve been enjoying our tales, give us a review on Apple Podcasts and follow along on Spotify or our various social accounts!

To learn more about Widdershins, please visit:

www.widdershinsstories.com

Support us on Ko-Fi to help us keep the podcast running!

www.ko-fi.com/widdershinsstories

For more information on Ashley, please visit:

www.oldgrowthalchemy.com

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For more information on Joe, please visit:

www.joesabourin.com

It is Walpurgisnacht, and we find ourselves in Munich before leaving for Transylvania to be a guest of Count Dracula. Our titular Englishman, interested in taking some local sights, wanders into a desolate valley and finds himself at nightfall in a cemetery beset by a curious storm and strange forces. This story is thought to be a preliminary chapter of Dracula that was later removed, with our main character being Jonathan Harker.

If you’ve been enjoying our tales, give us a review on Apple Podcasts and follow along on Spotify or our various social accounts!

To learn more about Widdershins, please visit:

www.widdershinsstories.com

Support us on Ko-Fi to help us keep the podcast running!

www.ko-fi.com/widdershinsstories

For more information on Ashley, please visit:

www.oldgrowthalchemy.com

www.patreon.com/oldgrowthalchemy

For more information on Joe, please visit:

www.joesabourin.com

In this tale, sinful priest Dando lives a life as one who worships “the sensual gods” despite his godly attire. He hunts, drinks, and does what he wishes regardless of cost. While out hunting one sabbath morning with his dogs and other men, Dando finds a strange hunter in his company who offers a drink so good, Dando would go to hell for it.

A fun aside, this Cornish tale ties into the lore of the Wild Hunt with Dando’s dogs who number among the pack.

If you’ve been enjoying our tales, give us a review on Apple Podcasts and follow along on Spotify or our various social accounts!

To learn more about Widdershins, please visit:

www.widdershinsstories.com

Episode 36: Snow White & Rose Red by the Brothers Grimm

Journey with us back to a classic: Snow White & Rose Red. A mother with two lovely daughters named after the roses growing in her yard one day are visited by a great black bear who spends many a snowy winter evening by their fire. When summer comes, the bear must leave to protect his home from a wicked dwarf. Will the sisters find the bear again? Will the dwarf ever be grateful for their aid? Is this a tale of uncomfortable bestiality? (spoiler alert: it’s not) Join us and find out.

If you’ve been enjoying our tales, give us a review on Apple Podcasts and follow along on Spotify or our various social accounts!

To learn more about Widdershins, please visit:

www.widdershinsstories.com

Support us on Ko-Fi to help us keep the podcast running!

www.ko-fi.com/widdershinsstories

For more information on Ashley, please visit:

www.oldgrowthalchemy.com

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For more information on Joe, please visit:

www.joesabourin.com

Celebrate love this Valentine’s Day with a retelling of Apuleius’ “Cupid & Psyche” by Josephine Preston Peabody. When a princess rivals the goddess of beauty, Venus sends her son Cupid to punish her for her charms. But when Cupid’s arrow strikes himself, he falls in love and protects her from the wrath of his mother in a royal home where she is treated like a goddess herself although never seeing this prophesied “creature” who is now her husband. When her sisters visit, in their jealousy they poison her mind against Cupid and she looks upon him while he sleeps, breaking the peace they had together and leaving her alone. Heartbroken, Psyche tries to find him and is set trials by Venus to gain the goddess’ favor and her lost husband back again. How will a mortal maid fare against the goddess of love and beauty?

If you’ve been enjoying our tales, give us a review on Apple Podcasts and follow along on Spotify or our various social accounts!

To learn more about Widdershins, please visit:

www.widdershinsstories.com

Support us on Ko-Fi to help us keep the podcast running!

www.ko-fi.com/widdershinsstories

For more information on Ashley, please visit:

www.oldgrowthalchemy.com

www.patreon.com/oldgrowthalchemy

For more information on Joe, please visit:

www.joesabourin.com

“A Christmas Ghost Story” by an unknown author is a tale much like the Dickens classic. A miserly old man heads to bed on Christmas Eve only to find himself face to face with a ghost who offers him all the gold he could wish for-which comes with a hard price to look back on his life’s mistakes. He cannot undo the past, but perhaps he can learn from the bitterness he sewed along the way.

***Content Warning***

While in the tradition of Victorian ghost stories for Christmastime, this tale does stray into some darker territory with suicide. This can be a hard time of year for all regardless of what you celebrate, so we wanted to share a friendly heartfelt reminder that if you or a loved one is struggling with suicidal ideations, help is available with someone you can talk to today at ​​800-273-8255. Be gentle with yourself, and remember to reach out if you need some support this dark winter season.

If you’ve been enjoying our tales, give us a review on Apple Podcasts and follow along on Spotify or our various social accounts!

To learn more about Widdershins, please visit:

www.widdershinsstories.com

Support us on Ko-Fi to help us keep the podcast running!

www.ko-fi.com/widdershinsstories

For more information on Ashley, please visit:

www.oldgrowthalchemy.com

www.patreon.com/oldgrowthalchemy

For more information on Joe, please visit:

www.joesabourin.com

“October in the Chair” by Neil Gaiman is a dark and whimsical tale. What do the months of the year do to harken the change of their time? Why tell stories, of course! And with October in the chair, you know it’ll be something to give you a bit of a shiver.

Special thanks to Neil Gaiman for his affirmative tweet giving our lowly little podcast permission to read one of his works. Neil Gaiman is the much beloved author of such great pieces as The Sandman, Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, The Graveyard Book, and frankly too many amazing works for us to even begin to list off. This particular tale is from his collection of Short Fiction, Fragile Things. You can find him readily enough on Twitter (as you may have guessed) or find out more at www.neilgaiman.com.

If you’ve been enjoying our tales, give us a review on Apple Podcasts and follow along on Spotify or our various social accounts!

To learn more about Widdershins, please visit:

www.widdershinsstories.com

Support us on Ko-Fi to help us keep the podcast running!

www.ko-fi.com/widdershinsstories

For more information on Ashley, please visit:

www.oldgrowthalchemy.com

www.patreon.com/oldgrowthalchemy

For more information on Joe, please visit:

www.joesabourin.com

“Madam Lucifer” by Richard Garnett is a bit of a divergence in our tales of fairy and nature, offering a peek into the whimsical fantasy realm from his classic, The Twilight of the Gods, written in 1903. Lucifer sits with Man, playing chess for his soul when, hearing his lament for his beloved, decides to keep her company. Smitten upon sight with Adeliza, he gets it into his head to marry, but to do so would have to leave Madam Lucifer and lose his dominion over Pandemonium...what’s a devil to do?

If you’ve been enjoying our tales, give us a review on Apple Podcasts and follow along on Spotify!

To learn more about Widdershins, please visit:

www.widdershinsstories.com

Support us on Ko-Fi to help us keep the podcast running!

www.ko-fi.com/widdershinsstories

For more information on Ashley, please visit:

www.oldgrowthalchemy.com

www.patreon.com/oldgrowthalchemy

For more information on Joe, please visit:

www.joesabourin.com

On this special episode for Salem Daughters of Darkness Festival, we have created a virtual wander through the woods to go along with our tale. To celebrate the dark and strange, we chose “She” by Allison Carr Waechter for our tale. Listen on to this queer and dark tale of a curious entity taking over the body of another. A tale that brings us the fey strangeness of changeling tales and the wild feral nature of Other.

Join us on YouTube to enjoy the visualizer that accompanies this episode or stick around here for the audio.

Allison Carr Waechter, is the author of Vessel of Starfire, the debut novel in the Outlaws of Interra trilogy. Follow her work and sign up for her newsletter at www.allisoncarrwaechter.com for news of upcoming tales. And for more information on The Way of Thorn & Key, please visit their Patreon: www.patreon.com/thewayofthornandkey

We hope you take some time to check out Salem Daughters of Darkness’ virtual festival this weekend! Please visit www.salemdaughtersofdarkness.com to visit the vendor’s websites and the other great virtual programming!

If you’ve been enjoying our tales, give us a review on Apple Podcasts and follow along on Spotify!

To learn more about Widdershins, please visit:

www.widdershinsstories.com

Support us on Ko-Fi to help us keep the podcast running!

www.ko-fi.com/widdershinsstories

For more information on Ashley, please visit:

www.oldgrowthalchemy.com

www.patreon.com/oldgrowthalchemy

For more information on Joe, please visit:

www.joesabourin.com