Dark and Twisty Tales: folk stories and fairy tales for the unafraid.

Julia Norton
  • 4.8 (177)
  • PERFORMING ARTS

This is a bi-monthly podcast featuring songs and stories from some lesser known fairy tales and folk stories. Stories which lean toward the grisly and unnerving, stories which might help us deal with the ogres and wicked step mothers in our own lives. You can support this podcast by buying Julia a cup of tea here https://ko-fi.com/voxchops xox

  1. 03/21/2021

    The Three Little Men in the Woods

    Belching up toads, paper dresses, beheadings and murder, this story has them all. I love this Grimm fairytale from the Philip Pullman collection, and I hope you do too? This is the last episode in Season Three, so please write me a review and remember, storytelling is thirsty work! https://ko-fi.com/voxchops

    19 min

  2. 03/13/2021

    The Old House

    An old man in velvet pantaloons is befriended by a little boy with a toy soldier, however the soldier is NOT happy about this, has a tantrum and finds himself lost in the cracks and buried in an open grave, only to be found years later.

    18 min

  3. 02/23/2021

    The Marriage of Mrs. Reynard

    Reynard the Fox is a bit tricky and tricks his wife that he's dead to see if she'll marry again ... never a good plan.

    10 min

  4. 02/13/2021

    Tamlane

    Childhood sweethearts Tamlane and Janet were all set until he 'disappeared' before their wedding day. He was off with the fairies (that's what you get for riding your horse 'widershins' around the hill), but it's OK, because she rescues him, by knocking him off his horse and holding on really tight while he changes into lots of things, then she chucks him in a pond. Perfect love story on so many levels.  The actual Scottish story is as deep and dark and twisty as you like with green kirtles being lifted and babies born of fairy fathers etc, but this version is the one from Joseph Jacobs 'English Fairy Tales', so apologies to all my Scottish friends.  As usual I improvised the melody over the verse, in this instance it was the Elfin Queen singing.  If you want to listen to a classic rendition of this story in song, have a listen to Fairport Convention's  Tam Lin.

    9 min

  5. 02/02/2021

    The Dog and the Sparrow

    A very clever and vengeful sparrow gets his own back after his buddy the dog comes a cropper. Many things get chopped with an axe by accident and many other things get pecked out ... corks and eyes mostly. The moral? Please feed your dogs yummy things ... and don't underestimate a sparrow!

    11 min

  6. 01/22/2021

    The Blinded Giant - A Yorkshire Cyclops

    A very short story about a boy called Jack, a bone bread eating giant and his favourite dog ... shame about the dog.

    5 min

  7. 01/05/2021

    The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs

    A 'lucky' boy escapes death is helped by two old ladies (because he was so polite and good looking) is very courageous ... and also a bit of a know it all.

    18 min

  8. 12/19/2020

    Snowdrop

    So there's a narcissistic cannibalistic witch Queen, a Prince who thinks it would be cool to have a pretty dead girl in a glass coffin for a trophy and 7 little people who, while kind at heart, should get an education on domestic labor stereotypes. Nothing to see here.

    21 min
See All (52)

4.8
out of 5
177 Ratings

About

This is a bi-monthly podcast featuring songs and stories from some lesser known fairy tales and folk stories. Stories which lean toward the grisly and unnerving, stories which might help us deal with the ogres and wicked step mothers in our own lives. You can support this podcast by buying Julia a cup of tea here https://ko-fi.com/voxchops xox

Information