Crow and Fern's Guide to Weird Fiction, Folklore, Mythology, and Everything in Between

Dr. Crow and Ms. Fern

What do weird fiction and folklore have in common? That's what this giant anthropomorphic crow and fern flower (Yes, that's a thing. A folklore thing!) are here to find out! Take a deep dive into horror, fantasy, and science fiction stories of the epic, the fascinating, and the bizarre from ancient history all up to modern times. We look into all the ooey gooey madness you never knew you were missing!

  1. 09/28/2023

    Episode 50: Solomonari - Peddlers of Storms, Exorcism, and Other Handy Goods

    Have you ever watched the Witcher and wondered if it was actually ever a real job? What if the answer was yes, but in addition to casting out demons and other foul creatures, you could also control the weather, summon dragons and all manners of spirits, speak every language, and cure disease? The job description you just read is for the position of solomonar-- and there are still people alive today who met these strange wizards in their lifetime. So pull up and listen to some lore and firsthand accounts about one of history's strangest jobs. Music: Intro music: Beeckmans: Hymne for Theremin, Oboe, String Quartet and Piano (2018) - The Alba Septet (Listen to the whole thing on youtube, you'll thank us later). Outro music: Magic Hour by Three Chain Links Social Media Accounts: Instagram: crowandfernsguide TikTok: crow_and_ferns_guide X: @Crow_and_fern Tumblr: CrowandFern Email: crowandfernsguide@gmail.com References: Poveşti cu solomonari by Catalin Manole http://arhiva.formula-as.ro/2016/1246/societate-37/povesti-cu-solomonari-21640 Samanism, Ayahuasca si alte...minuni https://samanism-ayahuasca.blogspot.com/p/povesti-cu-solomon.html

    53 min

  2. 09/21/2023

    Episode 49: Weird Androids: Ex Machina and Artificial Consciousness

    Welcome back, children! Yes, it’s been 3 weeks, and yes it was Crow’s fault, but we’re back, and this week we bring you: Philosophy, neuroscience, and androids! No, not the phones. The humanoid robots that would have been the best human companions if they’d just stop gaining consciousness. HAL 9000, David8, Ava, to name a few. If there’s one thing Sci Fi loves to do, it’s to freak us out. And it often does this by asking the question: what if man-made creatures gained sentience? But what exactly is ‘sentience’? What defines being human? Do we really understand what makes us us enough to pass judgment on creatures we deem unworthy of our respect? In the first of many episodes to come on Androids, Crow discusses the philosophical and neuroscientific aspects of consciousness and how it was examined in, arguably, one of the most popular modern day movies examining human androids: Ex Machina. Intro music: Beeckmans: Hymne for Theremin, Oboe, String Quartet and Piano (2018) - The Alba Septet (Listen to the whole thing on youtube, you'll thank us later). Outro music: Magic Hour by Three Chain Links Social Media Accounts: Instagram: crowandfernsguide TikTok: crow_and_ferns_guide Twitter: @Crow_and_fern Tumblr: CrowandFern Email: crowandfernsguide@gmail.com References: Consciousness explained or described? https://academic.oup.com/nc/article/2022/1/niac001/6523097?searchresult=1#377634645 Scientific American: What Is Consciousness? https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-consciousness/ EX MACHINA (2014) EXPLAINED: THE EMPATHY QUESTION https://www.thehaughtyculturist.com/films/ex-machina-2014-themes-analysis-explained A New Explanation for Consciousness https://neurosciencenews.com/consciousness-theory-21571/ Twilight Sleep https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_sleep#:~:text=Twilight%20sleep%20(English%20translation%20of,of%20pain%20management%20during%20childbirth.

    1h 10m

  3. 08/24/2023

    Episode 48: Kiviuq's Epic Journey

    I (Fern) am really excited to share an absolute favorite of mine, the tale of Kiviuq from Inuit mythology. This fascinating story shares the tale of a man lost at sea, trying to find his way home in the unforgivingly harsh Arctic climate. He faces strange and magical dangers as he passes through a dreamlike world, all the while doing his best not to starve or freeze to death. Michael Kusugak's Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIL2lD8Wbgc Social Media Accounts: Instagram: crowandfernsguide TikTok: crow_and_ferns_guide Twitter: @Crow_and_fern Tumblr: CrowandFern Email: crowandfernsguide@gmail.com Intro music: Beeckmans: Hymne for Theremin, Oboe, String Quartet and Piano (2018) - The Alba Septet (Listen to the whole thing on youtube, you'll thank us later). Outro music: Magic Hour by Three Chain Links

    1 hr

  4. 08/10/2023

    Episode 47: I'm Sorry Jon and Monsters in The Playground

    Skip to 6:10 to jump right into the episode. Have you ever wondered what lay behind the chipper eyes of everyone’s favorite deep sea pineapple inhabitant? Why children make an appearance as harbingers of terror in so many horror movies? What makes someone take a look at a cat obsessed with lasagna and think ‘This cat is an eldritch god intent on the destruction of humanity’? Why are we so turned off by sluggish cartoons like Teletubbies and Moon and Me? What makes clowns and rabbits and dolls so scary when we grow up? What makes clowns Welcome BACK, children, to another crow episode. This episode is full of experimental psychology theories and also a few of our own. We’re going to be looking into r/imsorryjon and the weird world of horror set in…children’s T.V shows? This isn’t your average nostalgic horror. This is the dark side of Spongebob that creepypastas insist exists. This is the terrifying ‘what ifs’ that explore corrupted innocence. And when works that explore lost innocence like Hereditary and Skinamarink do exist, you’ve got to wonder…why pick at 1990’s comics and cartoons meant to entertain children? What do we see as adults that we were so blind to as 8 year olds? Well, you’ll just have to listen to find out… Intro music: Beeckmans: Hymne for Theremin, Oboe, String Quartet and Piano (2018) - The Alba Septet (Listen to the whole thing on youtube, you'll thank us later). Outro music: Magic Hour by Three Chain Links Social Media Accounts: Instagram: crowandfernsguide TikTok: crow_and_ferns_guide Twitter: @Crow_and_fern Tumblr: CrowandFern Email: crowandfernsguide@gmail.com References: Vsauce: Why are Things Creepy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEikGKDVsCc What’s so fascinating about weird children’s TV shows? By Linda Geddes. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20191206-why-children-find-weird-television-so-mesmerising Science Daily: Children and adults see the world differently, research finds https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100913153630.htm On The Nature of Creepiness https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0732118X16300320 The Uncanny Valley: A Possible Explanation for Creepiness https://medium.com/@lutian_71494/the-uncanny-valley-a-possible-explanation-for-creepiness-5ce7361d777e Children’s perception of uncanny human-like virtual characters https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563214002015

    1h 2m

  5. 08/04/2023

    Episode 46: Fluffy Friend or Formidable Foe? Rabbits and Hares in Folklore

    Today I fulfill my promise to Crow to "put her through hell" as we discuss one of her favorite phobias-- rabbits and hares. We'll talk about the folklore throughout the ages and across the world. Are rabbits kind and helpful, devious tricksters, or downright dangerous beings who will use their innocent appearance to put us at ease right before they destroy us? Topics today include the Hare in the Moon, Br'er Rabbit/Compère Lapin, Rabbits in witchcraft, Milk hares, the Bunny Man Killer, and yes, the one and only Easter Bunny and the history behind it. Come see if I succeed in scaring Crow with stories of hares and rabbits from folklore and mythology! Reference Links: Eostre Archeology Paper (Cute bunny broaches pg 221): https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346357286_The_Shifting_Baselines_of_the_British_Hare_Goddess Bunny Man Creepy Pasta (Forbes): https://www.castleofspirits.com/the-classics/the-clifton-bunny-man Brian A Conley's Paper on the Bunny Man: https://research.fairfaxcounty.gov/local-history/bunnyman Social Media Accounts: Instagram: crowandfernsguide TikTok: crow_and_ferns_guide Twitter: @Crow_and_fern Tumblr: CrowandFern Email: crowandfernsguide@gmail.com Intro music: Beeckmans: Hymne for Theremin, Oboe, String Quartet and Piano (2018) - The Alba Septet (Listen to the whole thing on youtube, you'll thank us later). Outro music: Magic Hour by Three Chain Links

    1h 4m

  6. 07/27/2023

    Episode 45: Dredge: An Intro into Cosmic Horror

    Welcome BACK, children. In today's episode, we're finally going to be taking a look into a genre that more or less introduced Weird Fiction to a wider audience: Cosmic Horror. Crow takes us abroad the S.S What's It, so we can sail to the island of Greater Marrow. In Dredge we play a fisherman who explores the oceans around the island to catch a wide variety of fish. This is no fishing simulator, however. Because when night falls, strange things start to happen...and our fisherman finds himself teetering on the edge of sanity the longer he spends in the midst of them. What strange things, you ask? Well, you're just going to have to listen and find out! Intro music: Beeckmans: Hymne for Theremin, Oboe, String Quartet and Piano (2018) - The Alba Septet (Listen to the whole thing on youtube, you'll thank us later). Outro music: Magic Hour by Three Chain Links Social Media Accounts: Instagram: crowandfernsguide TikTok: crow_and_ferns_guide Twitter: @Crow_and_fern Tumblr: CrowandFern Email: crowandfernsguide@gmail.com References: Cosmic Horror: A Study of the Unknowable Fear of the unknown: One fear to rule them all? u/khlnmrgn A Short History of the Sublime Meaning of awe in Japanese context: Beyond fear and respect

    1h 10m

  7. 07/20/2023

    Episode 44: Herbs of Prophecy; the Folklore of Nightshades

    The world has always been fascinated with noxious nightshades. Visions, shape-shifting, contact with the dead-- these are just a few of the things associated with these toxic plants. This week we talk about both the science and the folklore surrounding belladonna and henbane, two of the old world's most important hexing herbs. Social Media Accounts: Instagram: crowandfernsguide TikTok: crow_and_ferns_guide Twitter: @Crow_and_fern Tumblr: CrowandFern Email: crowandfernsguide@gmail.com Intro music: Beeckmans: Hymne for Theremin, Oboe, String Quartet and Piano (2018) - The Alba Septet (Listen to the whole thing on youtube, you'll thank us later). Outro music: Magic Hour by Three Chain Links

    1h 2m

  8. 07/13/2023

    Episode 43: The Yellow Wallpaper and The Horror of The Dismissive Physician

    After the birth of her daughter in 1885, Charlotte Perkins Gilman suffered from severe postpartum depression. This led her to Doctor Silas Weir Mitchell, one of the most prominent neurologists of his time and a pioneer of the once popular rest cure. Two years after her divorce and three years after the treatment, in 1892, Charlotte wrote one of her most well known works: The Yellow Wallpaper. A story about a woman led into madness after being prescribed the rest cure by none other than her physician husband. Welcome back, children, to another Crow episode. Today we're taking a look at an important piece of horror and weird fiction: Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper. In doing so, we're also going to be taking a look at a rather difficult subject that many have struggled with. What happens when your medical concerns are dismissed by the medical community? What is the history behind this? How can we improve so that we don't keep slipping between the cracks? Buckle in, because we're in for a longwinded ride! Intro music: Beeckmans: Hymne for Theremin, Oboe, String Quartet and Piano (2018) - The Alba Septet (Listen to the whole thing on youtube, you'll thank us later). Outro music: Magic Hour by Three Chain Links Social Media Accounts: Instagram: crowandfernsguide TikTok: crow_and_ferns_guide Twitter: @Crow_and_fern Tumblr: CrowandFern Email: crowandfernsguide@gmail.com References: https://www.harrietbeecherstowecenter.org/isabella-beecher-hooker/ https://www.cwhf.org/inductees/catharine-beecher https://www.harrietbeecherstowecenter.org/harriet-beecher-stowe/uncle-toms-cabin/ https://connecticuthistory.org/charlotte-perkins-gilman/ ‘Why I wrote The Yellow Wallpaper? ’, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman The living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman : an autobiography The diaries of Charlotte Perkins Gilman https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/488986#:~:text=The%20name%20hysteria%20is%20derived,Celsus%2C%20Arataeus%2C%20and%20Soranus.

    1h 49m
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4
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

What do weird fiction and folklore have in common? That's what this giant anthropomorphic crow and fern flower (Yes, that's a thing. A folklore thing!) are here to find out! Take a deep dive into horror, fantasy, and science fiction stories of the epic, the fascinating, and the bizarre from ancient history all up to modern times. We look into all the ooey gooey madness you never knew you were missing!

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