Have you ever wanted to experience an actual European Krampuslauf? This winter (11/30-12/7) Bone and Sickle host, Al Ridenour will be hosting Geek Nation Tour’s “Kristmas with Krampus” trip to Austria and Bavaria where you can encounter not dozens but hundreds of the beasts in authentic costumes. He will be sharing Krampus lore from his …
Next show: Monday, July 23. (We’re going 3 weeks instead of 2 this time because July has 5 Mondays.) The topic: “DREADFUL SHIPS,” including ghost ships, ships piloted by the Devil, and more!
In this episode, we explore the story of the Pied Piper, a folk tale uniquely anchored in grim historical realities. We begin with evidence of an actual historical mystery, including text inscribed on a gable of one of Hamelin’s medieval buildings as well as the initial 1384 entry in the Hamelin town chronicle, announcing, “It …
Midsummer pagan celebration scene from Tarkovsky’s 1966 film Andrei Rublev about the Russian icon painter. Entire scene with haunting Ovchinnikov score in the clip.
As June 24, the feast of St. John the Baptist approaches, the folklore of decapitation suggested itself as an appropriate theme for this episode. We begin by way of an old English children’s rhyme and game, “Oranges and Lemons” based on melody played by the bells of St. Clemens church in London. The rhyme ends …
Episodes 6-7 are in the works. Stay tuned! June 18: EPISODE 6 “Lost Heads” Folklore of the decapitated. Celtic head-hunting. Magic heads. July 2: EPISODE 7 “It is 100 Years Since Our Children Left” A historical mystery. Dancing to death. A wicked bishop.
We follow our previous episode on the god Pan with a second this week, delving even deeper into the creative and bizarre ways the figure has been embraced after his much publicized “death.” Our first several minutes are devoted to literary explorations of Pan in the decades around World War I. Naturally we examine …
Just finished next Monday’s episode (6/4) in which we continue the discussion of Pan — along the way covering a bit about the origin of werewolf mythology, a classic horror novel in the Lovecraftian mode, a 1970s nature spirit cult, possible Pan worship in 18th-century England, and a fellow known to talk to Pan in …
The devilish appearance of the Greek god Pan has fascinated artists, occultists, and others straying from the path for centuries. This episode begins with some tales of Pan in his natural habitat of Arcadia, how the Greeks, and later Romans, saw him, and some of his central myths — what tragedy resulted in the …
An interesting visitor! Pan? Satan? Meet him in the next episode of “Bone and Sickle” uploading Monday, 5/21. (Painting by Jakob Jordaens, 1620)