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Local Legends - Haunting Season
We interview acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on all things spooky, as part of our annual October Haunting Season.
Local Legends 18:
Jonathan Sims
As part of Haunting Season 2024, Martin gathers round the Three Ravens campfire with the author, voice actor, and co-creator of hit podcasts The Magnus Archives and The Magnus Protocol Jonathan Sims.
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It's a conversation which ranges from Magnus' origins as prompted by long nights working night shifts to Jonny's school-age discovery of M.R. James and H.P. Lovecraft, to favourite haunted places, some recommended reading, what to take from writing advice, the impact of popular writers like Stephen King on perceptions of horror, and some big issues to do with the genre, not least taboo, plus much, much more.
A juicy chat whether you're a fan of Magnus or have never given the series a listen - and big shout outs and love to all those classic horror anthology series out there!
Local Legends 19: Robert Lloyd Parry
As part of Haunting Season 2024, Martin gathers round the Three Ravens campfire with the acclaimed actor, art historian, and expert in classic ghost stories Robert Lloyd Parry.
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In case you've not heard of him, since 2005 Rob has been engaged in "The M.R. James Project," a set of performances where Rob, dressed and in character as 'The Father of the Modern Ghost Story,' performs James’ terrifying tales to much acclaim, including from the likes of The Times and Sunday Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Fortean Times, The Spectator, and The New Yorker, who said of the M.R. James Project, “Lloyd Parry’s mastery of the role is itself an act of possession.”
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In this interview, we focus in on M.R. James and classic ghost stories, discussing writers like Algernon Blackwood, H.G. Wells, H.P. Lovecraft, Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle, Oscar Wilde, and many others. What makes them so brilliant, and which of their tales would Rob recommend? Moreover, what made M.R. James such a special, singular writer whose influence on weird fiction is probably greater than any writer of the last 200 years?
Local Legends 20:
Evelyn Hollow
As part of Haunting Season 2024, Martin gathers round the Three Ravens campfire with writer, paranormal psychologist, and all-round super-cool spooky person Evelyn Hollow.
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Evelyn is probably most famous for her work on Uncanny and various Danny Robins-hosted series such as The Battersea Poltergeist and The Witch Farm. You might have also seen her on the Warner Bros TV shows Spooked Scotland and Spooked Ireland which stream on Discovery Channel+. And there's perhaps a prevailing perception of her as "That Ghost Lady from The Programmes" but, as this interview goes to demonstrate, there's a heck of a lot more to Evelyn than such a persona might imply.
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She holds a Master of Research degree in Paranormal Psychology, is a former psychology lecturer, is tremendously nerdy about things you might not expect - not just maths but quantum physics, for example - and she has had a super-interesting career.
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As such, settle in for a chat which folds in all sorts of fascinating concepts, from the history of Planck's Constant and the fiercely brilliant fiction of writers like Shirley Jackson to the awesomeness of dictionaries and the reality of what's actually involved in being a parapsychologist.
Local Legends 21: Brice Stratford
As part of Haunting Season 2024, Martin gathers round the Three Ravens campfire with folklorist Brice Stratford to chat all about his new book Halloween Folklore and Ghost Stories.
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This new collection is Brice’s third book, following his first collection, Anglo Saxon Folklore: The Struggle for the Saxon Kingdoms, and New Forest Myths and Folklore, both of which were published in 2022.
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A storyteller, historian, actor and theatre director, Brice writes on heritage, art and architectural history for Apollo Magazine, the Spectator, and various trade publications, and for 12 years he ran the award-winning Owle Schreame theatre company which is currently on hiatus.
Born and raised in the New Forest, he started his journey into folklore in the New Forest area of Southern England, engaging in folklore collecting and plenty of deep-dive research – skills which he brought to bear for his new Halloween Folklore and Ghost Stories collection.
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For now though, settle in for a chat which encompasses Halloween's origins, 'Blood Month' traditions, pig-faced spectral brides, Charles Dickens, the stunning Sedlec Ossuary and much more.
Local Legends 45: Dr Susan Owens
For the first Local Legends interview of Haunting Season 2025, we've spoken to the celebrated author of 'The Ghost: A Cultural History' Susan Owens!
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Recorded at Susan's home in Suffolk, this ranging chat includes discussions of the ghost that haunted the old V&A Museum's stores of paintings, Susan's all-time favourite ghost story, and plenty of discussion of the way England's past haunts its present.
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Along the way we touch on the great Romantic painter John Constable, the Pre-Raphaelites, Rob Lloyd Parry, and plenty else beside.
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So, settle in with a nice big cup of something warm, and let's talk Medieval ghosts. Let's talk Ham House and the ghost of Elizabeth Murray, Duchess of Lauderdale.
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Let's also talk about the point in time when ghosts turned invisible. Before which, they were something else entirely...
Local Legends 46: Rob Kirkup
Eleanor chats to author, paranormal historian, ghost-hunter and the host of the outstanding How Haunted? podcast, Rob Kirkup!
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Rob’s from the north east of England, and has been leading paranormal investigations for over twenty years, which has involved him spending many nights in total darkness at some of the most haunted places in the UK.
He’s author of Ghosts of the North East, Paranormal Northumberland, and loads of other titles, some of which include his own photography.
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For now, though, let’s make sure our camping torches have plenty of batteries and settle in for a conversation which includes spontaneous combustion, haunted dolls, Ghostbusters, and some genuinely inexplicable occurrences with a true Local Legend, Rob Kirkup.
Local Legends 47: Dr Marion Gibson
For our third Local Legends interview of Haunting Season 2025, Martin chats about spooky stuff with the author of Witchcraft: A History in 13 Trials, Dr Marion Gibson.
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Marion is currently Professor of Renaissance and Magical Literature at the University of Exeter, and if you are unfamiliar with her work then she is the author of books including The Witches of St Osyth, Reading Witchcraft: Stories of Early English Witches, Witchcraft: The Basics, and Rediscovering Renaissance Witchcraft, and her work as a consultant for TV includes Sky History’s The Witches of Essex with Dr Alice Roberts and Rylan Clark, Investigating Witch Hunts with Suranne Jones, and the BBC’s Paranormal: Britain’s Last Witch with Sian Eleri.
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For now though, let’s settle in for a good ol' chinwag about topics including the relationship between the witch and Halloween, ghostly familiar spirits, the tale of a naval commander who encountered The Devil, The Witches of Warboys, The Exeter Book, and a whole bunch more...
Local Legends 48: Tony Walker
For our final Local Legends interview of Haunting Season 2025, Eleanor speaks with Tony Walker, author and host of the Classic Ghost Stories podcast.
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We are huge fans of Tony's work, from his narrations of well-known ghost stories and lesser read hidden gems to his own original fiction.
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Though as we discuss during this conversation, Tony's interests in the uncanny and peculiar started in childhood. He has worked in ghost tourism, spent many years as a mental healthcare professional, and has traveled almost as widely as he has read.
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His own writing, which prompted the creation of the Classic Ghost Stories podcast, speaks to his genuine, deep-seated interest in the Gothic, the paranormal, and the 'super-normal' - he has an open mind, natural curiosity, and a warmth and friendliness that make him wonderful to spend time with.
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In this interview, Eleanor chats to Tony about the formula for the perfect ghost story, real life ghost stories, his favourite spooky tales and places, and lots more, from the intersection between storytelling and gaming to the replica Punic mask he bought on holiday which seemed to become home to an errant nature spirit...