A very different kind of Valentine…. in a February special, this murky and mysterious little tale was written by Ethel Marriot-Watson in 1893. It is set within the misty marshes you may find in Cornwall, where a protagonist seeks love, or desire, but all is not as it seems...

Sarah XXX

Ok, just one more pod to end the year! Two extraordinary tales to see in Christmas with, retold in my own words.

• The Christmas Masquerade - Published by Mary E. Wilkins, 1892

• The Sparrow and the Winter Fairy - Published by Georgianna M. Bishop, 1859

Thank you for joining me this year in Witch Country.

May these old stories bring warmth to your hearth and a spark of wonder to your winter days. We’ll meet again in the new year for more tales, folklore, and seasonal reflections.

Until next time, keep the witch lights burning, may the glow of the season always guide you into safe harbour and may a little winter magic find its way to your door.

Merry Christmas and Bright Yuletide, one and all xxx

For your festive nights, enjoy this gathering of tales!

1. The Frozen Hearth Fairy (From the Old-Fashioned Fairy Book Constance Cary Harrison, 1843 - 1920

2. Extracts from Christmas and Christmas lore by Thomas G. Crippen, published in 1923

3. The Story of the Year by Hans Christian Anderson, 1805 - 1875

4. And I close with the poem Under the Holly Bough by Charles Mackay, published in 1857

Thank you for joining me through 2025. Here's to a merry and magical winter and bright 2026! 

Sarah xxx

Welcome, friends, to the November episode of Witch Country. As the nights draw in and the air grows sharp with autumn’s edge, I’ve been walking among the Rollright Stones — a circle steeped in story. Kings turned to stone, witches weaving fate, and whispers carried on the wind linger here. In this episode, I share my own walk among the stones, along with the folklore, legends, and uncanny tales that have gathered around them for centuries. And to close, a delectable and chilling treat: the tale of the Stone King, another version of the Rollright story, read by the incomparable Vincent Price from the 1973 archive A Coven of Witches’ Tales.

I’ve left the most chilling of our tales until the edge of Halloween…Set in Scotland. In this haunting tale of fear, death, hardship and superstition, Mary has the misfortune of meeting a Bean Nighe. This story is from a book called Thou Shalt Not Suffer a Witch. Written by Dorothy K. Haynes, it's a collection of eerie tales published in 1949.

Sarah xxx

Witch Country Arrives!!

This October, Witch Country the podcast and Witch Country the book finally meet! In this episode I read a large section from the October chapter. (I do say in the recording that it’s the full chapter—but in the end I trimmed it slightly for brevity, and to whet your appetite for more!)

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported this journey so far. And fear not—the path of Witch Country is far from over!

Sarah xxx

As of Halloween, you can buy Witch Country in paperback from all the usual online booksellers, direct from Womancraft Publishing and Red Wheel (our US distributors) or ask your local indie to order in! It's also available in ebook and audiobook form!

Witch Country Arrives!!

This October, Witch Country the podcast and Witch Country the book finally meet! In this episode I read a large section from the October chapter. (I do say in the recording that it’s the full chapter—but in the end I trimmed it slightly for brevity, and to whet your appetite for more!)

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported this journey so far. And fear not—the path of Witch Country is far from over!

Sarah xxx

As of Halloween, you can buy Witch Country in paperback from all the usual online booksellers, direct from Womancraft Publishing and Red Wheel (our US distributors) or ask your local indie to order in! It's also available in ebook and audiobook form!

As autumn descends, I wanted to face a classic symbol in British and European folklore - the black dog

We start in East Anglia, England, with perhaps the most famous of all shadow hounds: Black Shuck, who makes an appearance in St Mary's church of Bungay in 1577, storms to raise havoc. And a reading drawn from Ghosts and Witches by Wentworth + Ayrton, 1991, on the Galleytrot and Shuck.

Before facing:

• The Barghest of Yorkshire, accompanied by rattling chains, may have inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula's transformation into an enormous black dog in Whitby.

• Yeth Hounds (Devon)

• Whisht Hounds (Devon/Dartmoor)

• Richard Cabell's Hounds (Dartmoor) widely considered a major inspiration for Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles.

• The Devil's Dandy Dogs (Cornwall): A terrifying hunt led by Satan himself.

• The Wish Hounds or Witch Hounds of Sussex

• The Church Grim, a guardian spirit that appears as a large black dog

• And The Moddey Dhoo of the Isle of Man: Meaning "black dog" in Manx, this giant shaggy-haired dog that haunted Peel Castle 

And we finish with readings of The Moddey Doo or the Black Dog of Peel Castle from Manx Fairy Tales by Sophia Morrison, 1911 and The Book of Were-Wolves by Sabine Baring-Gould, 1865. And accounts of witch wolves from Estonia.

These are just a few of the countless legends of black dogs, wolves and hounds. Do drop me a message if you would like to share your own favourites! 

Happy September

Sarah X

Welcome to the strange and fascinating tale of The Haunted Organist of Hurly Burly, from the mind and pen of Rosa Mulholland. First published in 1891, it’s one of the oldest stories in our series — 133 years old! And a rare ghost story set in the crackling heat of summer, which adds perhaps to the frenzy…

The Mistress and Squire Hurly of Hurly Burly know their son Lewis has been dead for some 20 years. How then has he been seen not 5 days ago… the strong and industrious Margaret Calderwood, who was Lewis’s fiancée before his untimely and cursed demise, seeks answers, and poor Little Lisa faces strange enchantment. Death and devilry ensue.

Sarah XXX

PS - In reading it aloud, I’ve kept to Rosa’s original words, which include some outdated language, particularly in how the Italian character Little Lisa is considered a "foreigner" to our insular English couple.

With thanks to Mark from Dorset for inspiring much of this episode! Featuring ideas, stories and poems from Gemma Gary, Enid Blyton, Olive Knott and Walter del la Mare

Sarah XXX