Book Cover of the Day:

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

Wyrdlings! Halfway between the summer solstice and the autumn equinox, just after Lammastide begun, we give you: “First Fruits, Corn Dollies, Corn Spirits” as this week’s #WyrdWednesday topic. Come and share tales of Lughnasadh, of harvests, first loaves & things that haunt the wide wheat fields.

The Devil's Lamp (The Bewitched Man) by Francisco Goya. A man named Don Claudio is tricked by Hell into believing that he will die if a lamp goes out. The Devil is seen bowing with the lamp in a mocking way as Claudio, terrified, tries to keep it lit. In reality, it is all false. #wyrdwednesday

Jimothy has awakened my heart 🖤 #wyrdwednesday

🦢🌩️🦢An old belief claimed that swans' eggs would only hatch during a storm - the thunder and lightning was said to crack their shells, freeing the chicks. #FairyTaleTuesday #WyrdWednesday #FolkloreThursday #FolkloreSunday

#WyrdWednesday In 1786 a sea monster described as 14 metres long with a human-like head and a hard turtle-like shell was washed up at Porthleven in Cornwall after a storm, as depicted in this contemporary watercolour by Charles Catton. peter-moore.co.uk/blog/histori...

John Mirk of Lilleshall Abbey wrote in the 1300s of the three fires made on St Johns Eve. One of Clean bones, to purify and deter spirits. The second a wakefire, made of wood, the social circle of warmth. the final was of bones and wood, a ritual blaze called St Johns fire. #Folklore #Midsummer

A blindfolded young woman should pick a rose on Midsummer Day at midday while the clock struck twelve. She should fold the rose in white paper and put it away until Christmas Day. If she did it right, the rose would still be fresh. She should put it on her bosom & her intended would snatch it away.

"A goblin must have helped: a glow-worm could not find its mate; it set the trouble in motion. It was the elder-tree: Midsummer Eve!" (Wagner) 🎨 Tuesday Riddell #WyrdWednesday

An 1855 oil painting by Scottish painter William Bell Scott, depicting pixies dancing by firelight. In a letter written by Scott in 1886, he described the painting as showing ‘fairies dancing before a great dying kitchen fire…at a Haunted House on Midsummer’s Eve.’ #WyrdWednesday

Blessed by recent heavy rains, the South is putting on its own Midsummer Magic! Look to the ancient Live Oaks for the Resurrection Fern. Shriveled and brown just days ago, the downpours have woken it up - turning the canopy into a lush, vibrant green explosion! #WyrdWednesday #Nature #Ferns

The Snork Maiden describes a Moomin Valley custom: after the Midsummer bonfire burned down you'd collect 9 kinds of flowers and place them under your pillow, and your dreams would come true. 'But you weren't allowed to say a word while you picked them...' #Wyrdwednesday 1/2

#FolkloreThursday is 11 years old on 18th June! Celebrate with us by sharing your favourite folklore to the hashtag between 9am-4.30pm and 6.30-7.30pm BST and join us for the final @culturalfutureshub.bsky.social 5.30-6.30pm BST. Tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-cultur... (Image:James Petts)

#WyrdWednesday The Zorra Berradeira or Screaming Fox is a spirit said to roam the Algarve in Portugal at night, filling the air with it's eerie howls and foul stench. To hear it's cry is an omen of death or disaster. It is sometimes described as looking like a goat with wings. 🎨 Carlos Porfírio

Wyrdlings! Esta é a ditosa pátria minha amada, Portuguese poet Camões wrote, whose day of death in 1580 is now Portugal's national day. And this year it falls on a #WyrdWednesday so this week’s topic is “Portugal!” Come, sit down & tell us wynderful tales of Portuguese lore, literature & history!

“All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and whenever they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you, digger, listener, runner, prince with the swift warning." ("Watership Down") Richard Adams was born #otd 1920 🎨 Léa Chaillaud

Sometimes they come back. From old tales. And walk among us. For #EarthDay today, we have such an old tale, about green children from the Middle Ages. And it might even be a tale along the lines of... hope, maybe? Read more in our 53rd #darkspringtide story below. 🎨 Charles Folkard

My short #horror story 'Needles' recently fell out of print, so it's up on my blog if anyone would like a read. It's based on the true story of Kitty Hudson, dubbed 'the human pin cushion', an early patient at the now defunct Nottingham General Hospital in 1783. cwreeve.com/2026/04/22/n...

Needles

This story first appeared in ‘Historical Horrors’, published in October 2023 by Crow & Quill Publishing House. It is based on actual events. 4th of August 1783 Nottingham General Ho…

cwreeve.com

According to a Flemish folktale, a woman went to the market with a basket full of eggs. Along the way, she spoke ill of another woman who was known to be a witch. The eggs in her basket changed into toads. 🎨Teagan White #WyrdWednesday

Some sea-faring people believe that if you don’t break the shell after cracking open an egg, a witch might steal the shell and use it as a boat, then sail out to sea and summon a powerful storm! #WyrdWednesday 🎨 from the Wellcome Collection

The Irish word for fairy is sheehogue [sidheogl, a diminutive of 'shee' in banshee. Fairies are deenee shee [daoine sidhe] (fairy people) ~W.B. Yeats Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry 🎨 John Atkinson Grimshaw (1879) #BookologyThursday

In a Flemish folktale, a woman who was said to have been a thief during life haunted a town in the shape of a deer. The ghost deer would knock on doors and wait. Between her horns she carried an illegible text. She stopped appearing when someone deciphered the text. 🎨Eugen Krüger #WyrdWednesday

Wyrdlings! Some things are set in stone. Or wood. Or bone. You name it, since this week: "Carvings, Inscriptions & Writings on the Wall" is our #WyrdWednesday topic – so, tell us tales of wyrd bas-reliefs, strange runes on artefacts and otherworldy hieroglyphs found in deep dungeons!

Often when you think you're at the end of something, you're at the beginning of something else. ~ Fred Rogers 🎨Martin Johnson Heade (1819–1904) #wyrdwednesday

England

Wyrdlings! Swedish storyteller Elsa Beskow turns 152 this week, reason enough to give you: “Sabaton, Snorri, Storsjöodjuret - Strange Scandi Stories!” as this week’s #WyrdWednesday topic! Come, tell tales, of elks, sea rovers and Nordic Noire!

Wrydlings! Connect with your fellow wyrdlings using our official #WyrdWednesday Starter Pack 👻 go.bsky.app/VbnjwPS

🖼 Woodland floor with Snowdrops, Josef Lauer, C19th.

Guess who Ireland’s “Black Gentry” is. And if they leave their rookery is a sure sign of bad luck coming... but what if the rooks return? Well, we’ll find out in our 3rd #winterfolklore tale. Read it below. 🎨 Carton Moore Park