The black dogs of English folklore are usually bad omens (or outright deadly.) The horse-sized Gurt Dog (great dog) of Somerset's Quantock Hills is an exception, loping out of the mist to guide lost wanderers home! #WyrdWednesday

Black Shuck and the Gurt Dog: 8 Phantom Hounds in English Folklore

This list of paranormal English black dogs includes the savage Black Shuck, the kindly Gurt Dog, morbid church grims and the weird Shug Monkey!

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Pre-Norman Conquest County Durham trembled under a toxic wyvern's wings. The Sockburn Worm was slain by Sir John Conyers - his falchion (part sword, part cleaver) is presented to each new Bishop of Durham! #FairyTaleTuesday More English dragons:

Dragons, Wyrms and Wyverns: 12 Scaly Tales From English Folklore

Read stories about England's dragons, such as the girl who befriended a monster, the beast felled by a poisoned pie and the Devil's pet!

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The idiom "carry a rope in your pocket" means having very good luck, especially when gambling. It seems to come from an old superstition - carrying a bit of hangman's rope as a good luck charm! #MythologyMonday More gallows lore:

Hangman's Rope and the Tyburn Tree: Explore the Grim Folklore of the Gallows

Read about the "Hand of Glory" and how a length of hangman's rope could be a lucky charm - or explore the deadly Tyburn Tree of London!

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Dagon was the father of the gods in ancient Syria, as well as a god of fertility, prosperity, and kingship. Because his name sounds similar to the Hebrew word for "fish," Dagon is mistakenly called a sea god in medieval texts, and gets reinvented as a fish-like demon. #WyrdWednesday

Two sea creatures from 'Pearson's Magazine'. The first is by Warwick Goble for 'In The Abyss' by H G Wells (February 1896). The second is by W E Wigfull for 'Sargasso' by Ward Muir (October 1908) - Hope-Hodgson's Sargasso novel 'Boats Of The Glen Carrig' had been published in 1907... #WyrdWednesday

🐟👁️ #WyrdWednesday Beneath Innsmouth lurk Lovecraft’s Deep Ones: immortal, fish-frog beings dwelling in the sunken city of Y’ha-nthlei. 🌊 They mingle their blood with humans before returning to the sea… 📖 Frank A. Utpatel’s original 1936 illustrations from The Shadow Over Innsmouth. #HPLovecraft

Gloucester in New England has had sightings of a "sea serpent" for centuries. Described as 50-100ft long and as thick as a barrel, even a harborful of sailors couldn't identify it as a known creature! #WyrdWednesday

Did These Marine Creatures Spark the Gloucester Sea Serpent Sightings?

Read about the sea serpent sightings of Gloucester, New England - and explore some creatures that might be behind them!

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Bottles containing hair (and worse) can be found buried in some old English buildings. The organic contents were thought to lure disembodied witches close... so that bent pins and thorns could trap them! #FairyTaleTuesday More magical history at...

Witch Bottles and the Hand of Glory: Discover 6 Bits of Magical History

Read about historical spells and talismans including the witch bottle, a love potion, the witch's plough, the homunculus and the Hand of Glory!

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The Japanese makura-gaeshi, or "pillow turner," is a yōkai associated with rooms where people sleep. It is blamed for moving pillows during the night, although darker versions describe sleepers awakening to discover that far more than their pillow has been mysteriously rearranged. #MythologyMonday

In Greek mythology, Hypnos lived in a shadowy cave untouched by sunlight. Near his dwelling grew poppies and other sleep-inducing plants, while dreams moved through the darkness. Even gods could succumb to his influence. Sleep, mythology reminds us, is its own kind of power. #MythologyMonday

#MythologyMonday Nordic goddess Holda or Hulda is associated with winter, spinning and industrious housewives. In Germany and The Netherlands, where she is known as Frau Holle, there is a saying that it snows because "Frau Holle is shaking out her feather pillows". 🎨Paul Hey [©Mary Evans Pictures]

Cat-sith were said to be fairies (or witches) in the form of black cats with a white chest spot. They had a couple of strange habits - walking on hind legs when unobserved... and stealing the souls of the recently dead! #FolkloreSunday

Púca Pranksters and Soul-Stealing Cats: 5 Shapeshifters From European Folklore

Read about the mischievous púca, the soul-stealing cat-sith, the deadly rusalka, the sorrowful selkie and the pervasive history of lycanthropy!

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According to medieval Folklore, the Man in the Moon is an old man, banished there for stealing brushwood. In other traditions, it's a woman, banished for making butter on the Sabbath day. Others say it's a man from Wigan who went there in a rocket to fetch some cheese. #FolkloreThursday

The folklore of the British Isles has some larger than life criminals - such as the "dashing highwayman" Dick Turpin, cave-dwelling cannibal Sawney Bean and the Red Bandits of Mawddwy (known both for red hair and killing a baron!) #FolkloreThursday

Bold Bandits and Cowardly Cannibals: 4 Folkloric Criminals of the British Isles

Explore the unglamorous tale of Dick Turpin, the cannibal cave of Sawney Bean, the exploits of Gadaidhe Dubh and the Red Bandits who killed a baron!

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The Karnabo of France was a basilisk-eyed humanoid with an elephant's trunk, said to be the child of a sorcerer and a ghoul. Karnabo's wheezing could paralyze or asphyxiate, but it could also cure "whitlows" with a chant! #FairyTaleTuesday More at reallyweirdrealworld.blogspot.com/2026/06/skof...

Did you know that spinach can be made into a bomb detector? Researchers were able to implant a chemical sensor into spinach leaves, which could check the water collected by the roots! More biology meeting technology: reallyweirdrealworld.blogspot.com/2026/05/rat-...

The Finfolk of Orkney were said to use Hildaland as a base for their nefarious excursions. This island was shrouded from human sight... until a vengeful islander marked it with rings of salt. It's now called Eynhallow! #MythologyMonday More at reallyweirdrealworld.blogspot.com/2026/01/fin-...

#MythologyMonday Lyonesse was also the home of Tristan - who shared a doomed romance with Iseult which resulted in the tragic deaths of both of them ... #Mabinogion 🎨J W Waterhouse * Marc Fishman

Joy Parry@joy13.bsky.social · last yr.

#FolkyFriday The lush land of Lyonesse [which stretched between Cornwall & the Scilly Isles] was wiped out, along with all its citizens, by a catastrophic flood. The sole survivor was Trevelyan - who managed to ride his white horse ahead of the destructive wave ...

Drought-causing frogs feature in Australian and American folklore. Agalibému hoarded the water of the Wabanaki until being slain, while Tiddalik swallowed the water of Australia... until the other animals made him laugh! #frogfriday

Droughts, Monsters and Toadstones: 14 Examples of Frog and Toad Folklore

Read about the Toad Doctor of Pulham, why India has frog weddings, Egyptian frog gods and the surprisingly common tale of a thirsty frog!

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Did you know that rats have rhythm? Researchers found that the rodents would twitch and move in time to music... and that 120 to 140 beats per minute had the strongest influence (similar to humans!)

Dancing Rats and Burying the Dead: What Behaviors Do Animals and Humans Share?

Read about rats with rhythm, chimpanzee scouting, gossiping tamarin monkeys, rattlesnake friends and how some animals bury their dead!

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England's Thorpe Park may look like a typical resort, but medieval graves have been found in the grounds... and an attempt to add a new ride stalled after reports of a headless monk! #FolkloreThursday More fair and theme park folklore:

Ghosts, Mermaids and a Mummified Outlaw: 8 Examples of Fair and Theme Park Folklore

Read about a headless monk, a ride operator who continued after death, a haunted house prop that turned out to be real, mermaids and more...

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In 1820, the whaling ship Essex sunk after being rammed by a sperm whale - an event that inspired Moby-Dick. The crew would have been worse off if they'd met the prehistoric Livyatan melvillei, a sperm whale as deadly as a megalodon!

Deadly Voices and a Gut Full of Perfume: The Whales Behind Moby-Dick

Read about the ear-splitting clicks and defensive defecation of the sperm whale, how they got their name and the attack that inspired Moby-Dick!

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Never tell secrets in the fields. The corn has ears, the potatoes have eyes, and the beans talk. #WyrdWednesday

Did you know that the San José sank with a massive cargo of gold (that has two countries and a salvage company fighting over its wreck?) Or that saponified crew members from the SS Kamloops still drift in its sunken remains?

The Sunken $17 Billion and a Haunted Steamer: 4 Weird Shipwrecks (and How They Happened)

Read about a true sunken treasure ship, a vertical wreck, a hulk filled with radioactive waste and the closest thing we have to a ghost ship!

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Not only did fraudster Mary Bateman peddle magical cures, she was behind "The Prophet Hen of Leeds" - a bird that laid eggs bearing biblical messaging (that Bateman had etched with acid!) #FairyTaleTuesday

Mary Bateman and Helen Duncan: The Weird Historical Tales of Two British Witchcraft Hoaxers

Read about the fraudster-turned-murderer Mary Bateman and her prophetic hen, or the séances of Helen Duncan, a medium that scared the military!

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Fossils can cover a range of preserved remains - from a small dinosaur's feathered tail trapped in amber to a mammoth ice mummy with intact cells... and even a natural clay cast of an ancient horseshoe crab's brain!

Mammoth Jerky, Carnivorous Tacos and a Dino-Tail in Amber: 6 Strange Fossils

Read about a fossilized crab brain, creatures slain and preserved during their last fight or meal and perfectly preserved remains in amber or ice...

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Accused 16th century witch Joan Upney was said to keep a collection of toads. These amphibians were not just pets, they were familiars that she'd send to "pinch" and drain the life from inconvenient humans! #FolkloreSunday More familiars at reallyweirdrealworld.blogspot.com/2026/01/a-wi...

In the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, the fire god Agni devours (burns) Khandava Forest. His motive wasn't malign - he was attempting to cure himself of a case of divine indigestion, brought on by excessive sacrifices! More wildfire folklore at...

Firehawks and a God With Indigestion: The Folklore of Wildfires

Read about gods who caused wildfires, a hummingbird that tried to battle a forest blaze and the pyromaniac firehawks of Australia!

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The British hoaxers Mary Bateman and Helen Duncan led "magical" lives - Duncan's séances got her locked up for national security, while Bateman had the "Prophet Hen of Leeds" (as well as being a fraudster and murderess!) #FolkloreThursday Read on at reallyweirdrealworld.blogspot.com/2026/06/mary...

Researchers relied on lidar to scan the remains of cities beneath the vegetation of Ecuador’s Upano Valley. Heinrich Schliemann had another approach to excavating Troy - while Homer's Greeks used a wooden horse, Schliemann used TNT!

Ancient Troy and the Valley of the Lost Cities: 5 Times Forgotten Settlements Were Found

Read about the rediscovery of ancient cities along the Silk Road, the truly ancient Göbekli Tepe and how TNT helped reveal the city of Troy!

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