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Join the Loremen (James Shakeshaft and Alasdair Beckett-King) as they "investigate" local legends and forgotten folklore.
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Proudly brought to you by the fine folks at the Astonishing Legends Podcast- Not just another show but a place you can go: The Midnight Library. You alone, can climb the stairs of the strange, old Victorian mansion and be somewhat welcomed by your Hosts, Miranda Merrick & Mr. Darling. Curl up in a window seat or beside the grand fireplace and hear a tale of times long ago. Be transported to forgotten lands, learn about ancient customs and mysterious happenings… all in the company of your unu ...
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Bring a sandwich, grab an iron horseshoe and don't be a Greedy Jack because we are going fairy finding! James returns to Oxfordshire's Rollright Stones for some genuine fairy stories. Learn real-world strategies that YOU can use to avoid falling foul of the fae folk. Don't follow the corpse lights, abstain from shooting at your neighbour's trees an…
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Loremen S5Ep58 - The Durweston Poltergeist
30:22
30:22
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James tells Alasdair the spooky story of a poltergeist in Dorset*. All your polterguy classics are in play here: scratching sounds, flying objects and a young girl with a talent for throwing things while no one is looking. Prepare yourself for strange happenings in a Durweston semi, witnessed by a gamekeeper whose perception of time and space is al…
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Gruesome Greetings Dear Guests! Please take note of our repeated use of the word "gruesome" for this wild and wonderful werewolf tale is not for the faint of heart. If, however, you have the stomach and guts enough to simply let such ghastly things splash all over you without batting an eye (or ear)- Well! Do we have a lurid legend to share with yo…
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Loremen S5Ep57 - The Beasts of the North LIVE in Manchester
46:56
46:56
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The Loremen travel to the North Country and meet the Trash Hounds of Lancashire. No, not the live lorefolk audience. We're talking tales of headless dogs, skeletal huntsmen and be-buttocked pipers. This is another episode from our "Sold Out" "National" "Tour". James brings stories of boggarts and barghests and Alasdair presents three northern eccen…
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Loremen S5Ep56 - The Tunnelling Duke LIVE in West Norwood Cemetery
43:30
43:30
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This episode was recorded live (or at least undead) in West Norwood Cemetery, in front of a sold-out crowd. The brave lorefolk were chilled, literally and figuratively, by tales of subterranean mystery and otherworldly encounters. James told the story of an eccentric English aristocrat who took to burrowing like a badger, while Alasdair hopped aboa…
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Welcome to The Reading Room, Spooky Lovelies! Imagine being accused of witchcraft because of the cute, little pets you own-- and that cute, little mole on your chin... and several of your spouses dropping dead while in your care. Please find your favorite spot because tonight, Ms. Merrick has for you, the spellbinding story of the very first famili…
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Loremen S5Ep55 - Ghosts of the Road with Hayley Stevens
43:33
43:33
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The Loremen were LIVE at the QED festival in Manchester and we were joined by Deputy Loreperson Hayley Stevens. Sceptical listeners might be familiar with the Hayley is a Ghost blog, all about ghosts that (spoiler warning) probably don't exist. In this episode, we meet roadside ghosts and road-adjacent spectres from across the UK (and beyond). Have…
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Loremen S5Ep54 - The Crooker of Derwent River with Willow Winsham
40:48
40:48
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A country walk always brings to mind certain maxims. "Stop and smell the roses," for one. "If a tree falls..." is another. But now there's a new one - "Beware the Crooker!" The boys are taken to a spooky Derbyshire riverside by historian and author Willow Winsham. You might feel a gnarly wooden finger tingling your spine in this episode. But James …
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S11 Ep1: Scared All The Time Crossover - Beyond the Cordoned-Off Areas
25:13
25:13
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Welcome Back, Spooky Lovelies! We begin tonight's reading with a dire warning about treading where you ought not to, specifically inside notorious haunted houses...and protected properties. But it seems no matter how many times Miranda warns the humans, they always think nothing bad will ever happen to them. Join us tonight as Ed & Chris from Scare…
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Loremen S5Ep53 - Graveyard Jacks with Icy Sedgwick
48:37
48:37
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Deputy Loreperson Icy Sedgwick (Fabulous Folklore with Icy) joins James and Alasdair, and she brings with her the stories of a Geordie graverobber and a Mackem resurrection man. It's Newcastle vs Sunderland, and the bones of the dead do not rest easy in this Tyne-Wear derby. Plus the Loreboys come up with several new business ideas. Anyone for glow…
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The terrifying tale of the Grey Hitchhiker (or the Gray Hitcher, for Americans) comes from that spooky road, The Notorious A38. Over several decades, drivers have made the mistake of stopping for a hitchhiker who does not obey the laws of hitchhiking (or nature). If you're driving between Tiverton and Taunton, you might see the Grey Hitchhiker. If …
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The Loremen encounter what might be the biggest ghost in the history of the podcast. We're talking about a house that is a ghost. (Pretty big, right?) James takes Alasdair to the South West of England to view a property that's just come on the market and could vanish at any moment. Could this phantom maison be an echo of The Anarchy from the reign …
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Loremen S5Ep50 - The Poltergeist of Moreton
29:46
29:46
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The boys are back, with yet more tales of Moreton lore! This time James visits South Moreton in Oxfordshire, for the outrageous story of a faux-poltergeist (fauxtergeist?). But don't fret, folklore fans - the village of South Moreton boasts enough "real" ghosts to spook the horses. Plus, a deadly locomotive and a very misleading prophecy. Come see …
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A Short Story About You - Season 11 Announcement
14:01
14:01
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We know. We know you're waiting almost patiently for The Midnight Library to reopen its doors for "The TRULY Most Wonderful Time of the Year" And we have the scoop on when this will happen! But first, we have a short story... about YOU. Join us to hear this- and when you can claim your favorite spot in The Reading Room for Season 11!…
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Loremen S5Ep49 - The Great Chislehurst Cave Mystery
42:48
42:48
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Who's that, beckoning to you from the mouth of a weird looking cave? Why it's Alasdair Beckett-King of course! Join him and James Shakeshaft, and enter a subterranean labyrinth hidden beneath a leafy London borough. In 1907, The Illustrated London News called it The Great Chislehurst Cave Mystery: 22 miles of hand-carved tunnels, with stories of sm…
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Loremen S5Ep48 - The Treasure in the Tower LIVE Part 2
32:48
32:48
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We return to the Tower of London and make a last ditch attempt to find John Barkstead's lost treasure. Meet Mr Quarrell (the treasure hunter) and Major Pogson (the big daddy of British dowsing). The year is 1957: will the traitor's horde finally be unearthed? No, of course not. But James will tell a fun story about the Ceremony of the Keys. Come se…
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Loremen S5Ep47 - The Treasure in the Tower LIVE Part 1
37:45
37:45
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What connects a traitor, a Sandwich and a mushroom farmer from Kent? It's the lost treasure of 'Invisible' John Barkstead, which is buried somewhere underneath the Tower of London. Although there are those who say ... it isn't. In Part 1 of this LIVE episode, we meet a regicidal bum bailiff, Alasdair unearths the TRUTH™ about the death of Oliver Cr…
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James talks Alasdair through the case of Anne Gunter's demonic possession... or was it all an elaborate hoax with lashings of wee wee? It's time for more Moreton! We're not talking Eleanor Morton, here. And We're not talking Moreton-in-Marsh either. This week's tale comes from North Moreton, and from from Mike White's book The Veiled Vale: Strange …
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Loremen S5Ep45 - Saints Alive with Amy Jeffs
46:33
46:33
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Saints alive! Amy Jeffs returns to the pod, and she's brought a bunch of kooky saints with her. We're talking adorable otters, vengeful ghosts and a guy with a load of forks in his beard. (Maybe...) An alternative telling of St Edmund's legend (and many more) can be found in Amy's upcoming book: Saints: A new legendary of heroes, humans and magic. …
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Loremen S5Ep44 - The Enfield Mysteries with Athena Kugblenu
50:09
50:09
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Athena Kugblenu returns to the pod, for a journey through Enfield: the Croydon of North London and home to one of the world's most famous polterguys. But how is this London borough connected to a three-legged ape in Illinois? What kind of beast appears on the Enfield coat of arms? And is The Conjuring 2 a good film?* These, dear listener, are the E…
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