Legends of the Hidden Horde

Lance Martin
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Science Fiction
  • Updated Semiweekly

Legends of the Hidden Horde is a biweekly podcast that dives deep into the shadows of folklore, cryptids, and enigmatic creatures from around the world. Hosted by Lance Martin, each episode delivers a chilling, atmospheric tale grounded in real legends, eyewitness accounts, and cultural lore, brought to life through immersive, creative storytelling. Imagine slipping into the mist-shrouded swamps of the Bridgewater Triangle where Pukwudgie tricksters lurk, or facing the skinless Boo Hag that steals skins to walk among us at night. Or encountering storm-riding Blue Men of the Minch who challenge sailors with deadly rhymes, or river monsters like Borinkus haunting blackwater bends. These aren’t dusty retellings, they’re vivid, cinematic journeys that blend the eerie beauty of myth with the haunting possibility that something truly waits in the unknown. Creative folklore with bite: Episodes weave historical context, eyewitness reports, and imaginative twists into gripping narratives. Expect rich sensory details, cultural depth, and explorations of origins, societal impacts, and “what if they’re real?” implications(ethical, existential, and ecological). Short and immersive: All episodes clock in at 15 minutes or less—perfect for late-night listens, commutes, or quick escapes into the strange. Two new episodes drop weekly, building your horde of hidden legends steadily. Tone: Dark, mysterious, and wondrous. It channels classic horror podcast vibes and fireside ghost stories with modern production. Think vivid narration, subtle sound design cues, and a respectful nod to source cultures while amplifying the uncanny. The podcast spans global traditions and local terrors: - The Blue Men of Minch → Storm kelpies of Scotland’s treacherous straits. - Borinkus (St. John’s River Monster) → Florida’s elusive river beast. - The Tikbalang → Horse-headed trickster of Philippine forests. - The Boo Hag → Skin-stealing nightmare of Gullah lore. - The Pukwudgie → Mischievous swamp dwellers of New England. - The Piasa Bird, Jenny Greenteeth, Lac Wood Screecher, and more—from Native American rock art horrors to English bog witches. If you love podcasts like Lore, Monsters Among Us, or The Midnight Library but want tighter, more cinematic bites, or if cryptid shows like Sasquatch Chronicles appeal but you crave global folklore with creative flair, Legends of the Hidden Horde delivers. It transforms ancient whispers and modern sightings into stories that linger, making you scan the treeline, check the water’s edge, or wonder what’s really out there in the dark. Keep your eyes open. You never know what might be lurking in the shadows.

  1. 1d ago

    Episode 43: The Wood Devil

    In Episode 43 we travel to the far northern reaches of what the maps now call Coös County, New Hampshire, where the White Mountains give way to the Great North Woods and the land presses against the Canadian border, the forests are older than the roads that try to cut them. The name Coös itself comes from the Abenaki language, rooted in words for the white pines or the place of pines, a recognition that this was never empty wilderness. For the Abenaki peoples and related Wabanaki communities, these woods were part of a living world of relationships, stories, and responsibilities that stretched back through the Ancient Age, when humans and other beings still walked closer to one another. Sources https://www.nhstateparks.org/NHStateParks/media/NHStateParks/PDFs/SCA%20Blog%20docs/mystery-in-the-great-north-woods-what-is-the-woods-devil.pdf https://northamericancryptids.com/wood-devils/ https://www.bfro.net/GDB/show_report.asp?id=1192 https://ournewenglandlegends.com/podcast-433-the-wood-devils-of-coos-county/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kee-wakw https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abenaki_mythology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co%C3%B6s_County%2C_New_Hampshire https://usfolktales.com/the-coos-county-wood-devil/ https://hangar1publishing.com/blogs/cryptids/wood-devil https://northeastexplorer.com/

    Episode 43: The Wood Devil

  2. 5d ago

    A-Mi-Kuk

    The following is an original dark narrative inspired by documented Yup’ik oral traditions concerning the Amikuk. It draws carefully from ethnographic accounts while remaining a work of creative storytelling. It is not a traditional story claimed as authentic, nor does it speak for Yup’ik communities. Variations exist across tellers and regions; the accounts emphasize respect for the living land and sea rather than simple horror. Edge cases from the recorded lore, sea ambush, earth-swimming, body invasion, human guise, multiplication when harmed, lake migration, and the guarded nest, are woven in as they appear in the sources. This is episode 42: A-Mi-Kuk Sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amikuk https://abookofcreatures.com/2015/08/07/a-mi-kuk/ https://portlandartmuseum.us/mwebcgi/mweb.exe?request=record;id=36479;type=101 (Amikuk mask by Phillip Charette / Aarnaquq) https://archive.org/details/boundariespassag0000fien (Ann Fienup-Riordan, Boundaries and Passages: Rule and Ritual in Yup’ik Eskimo Oral Tradition) Nelson, E. W. (1900). The Eskimo about Bering Strait (Bureau of American Ethnology; referenced via secondary ethnographic summaries)

    A-Mi-Kuk

  3. Aug 4

    The Baclou

    The rains of the Guianese interior never truly stop; they only pause long enough for the forest to remember its own silence. On the ancestral lands of the Kali’na, the Wayana, the Teko and so many other First Peoples whose roots reach deeper than any colonial map, the Creole stories of the Baclou took shape. These tales grew from African memory, from the hard-won knowledge of the Businenge who fled the plantations, from the quiet presence of Jewish merchants in the old days, and from the living forest itself. This is episode 41: The Baclou. Sources https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baclou https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Baclou https://www.franceguyane.fr/actualite/education-sante-environnement/le-lycee-de-mana-aurait-ete-pris-dune-crise-de-baclou-967624.php https://la1ere.franceinfo.fr/guyane/crise-baclou-au-lycee-lumina-sophie-516935.html https://www.franceguyane.fr/actualite/culture-et-patrimoine/le-baclou-de-la-legende-au-drame-731265.php http://www.dramatic.fr/baclou-p198.html https://balkanhotspot.org/greece/thessaloniki/guianese-tales-stories-legends-balkan-hotspot/ https://brill.com/view/journals/nwig/92/1-2/article-p1_1.xml

    The Baclou

  4. Jul 30

    The Melon Heads

    In the dense forests of southwestern Connecticut the night holds its own memory. Long before the asphalt and the streetlights, these hills and hollows belonged to the Paugussett people, whose presence stretched from the shores near present-day Milford and Stratford inland through the valleys of what became Fairfield and New Haven counties. Their descendants, the Golden Hill Paugussett, still maintain a presence here.  The woods remember older stories, older silences. Over that deep continuum of place, a later legend took root—one born of colonial fear, institutional shadows, and the human habit of turning isolation into monstrosity. This is Episode 40, the story of the Melon Heads. Sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melon_heads https://www.damnedct.com/the-melon-heads/ https://thseagleseye.com/?p=8815 https://coffeehousewriters.com/connecticut-melon-heads/ https://librarybestbets.fairfield.edu/c.php?g=1396965&p=10333502 https://bportlibrary.org/hc/south-end/the-golden-hill-paugussett-tribe/ https://www.mohegan.nsn.us/about/our-tribal-history/oral-traditions/makiawisug https://www.damnedct.com/the-makiawisug-the-little-people-of-mohegan-hill-uncasville/ https://libguides.wcsu.edu/c.php?g=1182902&p=866076

    The Melon Heads

  5. Jul 28

    The Loveland Frogman

    In the dark hours before dawn, the Little Miami River moves like something that remembers. Its black water slides past the old factories and quiet bridges of Loveland, Ohio, carrying the scent of mud, wet stone, and the long memory of the land. This valley has always been a place of thresholds, where forest meets water, where night meets the thin light of headlights, where the known world thins just enough for something else to step through. This is episode 39: Loveland Frogman. Sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loveland_frog https://tetzoo.com/blog/2020/1/12/lore-of-the-loveland-frog https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Loveland_Frogmen https://www.wlwt.com/article/the-loveland-frogman/37871711 https://lovelandoh.gov/491/City-Mascot

    The Loveland Frogman

  6. Jul 23

    Lagahoo (or Lugarhoo)

    On the southern tip of Trinidad, where the Gulf of Paria meets the Columbus Channel and the mangrove fingers of Icacos reach into the night, the land holds memories longer than any of us. Long before the French planters, before the African ships, before the Spanish and the British, this place was home to the Kalinago and the Lokono peoples. Their spirits still move through the silk-cotton trees, through the lagoon water, through the wind that knows every shape a living thing can take.  The stories that came later did not erase those first voices; they settled into the soil beside them, layer upon layer, until the island’s folklore became a single, restless body, African, European, and Indigenous blood mixed in the same dark earth. It is into that layered night that Episode 38 emerges and the Lagahoo walks. Sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagahoo http://www.tntisland.com/folklore.html https://chloemaraj68104874.wordpress.com/home-3/page-1/men-in-folklore/lagahoo/ https://raquelbahadoorsingh.wordpress.com/lagahou/ https://caribbeanauthors.wordpress.com/2023/10/22/massacooramaan-and-lagahoo/ https://www.peepaltreepress.com/books/reviews/lagahoo-poems-0

    Lagahoo (or Lugarhoo)

  7. Jul 21

    Deer Woman (Deer Lady)

    This story draws respectfully from the living oral traditions of multiple Indigenous nations, including the Lakota, Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole, Ponca, Omaha, Ojibwe and others across the Eastern Woodlands and Central Plains. These accounts vary by teller, community, and era.  Deer Woman is not a singular monster but a complex guardian spirit whose role often centers on protecting the vulnerable, upholding balance, and warning against exploitation or the breaking of sacred taboos around consent, respect, and community harmony. She is sometimes linked to fertility and love, sometimes to vengeance, and sometimes appears in dreams or at dances as a test or teacher. Modern retellings often connect her to broader themes of resilience amid historical trauma. What follows is a woven, atmospheric narrative inspired by these sources, and told in the spirit of a fireside tale, without claiming ownership of any specific nation’s sacred stories. This is Episode 37: Deer Woman. Sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer_Woman https://www.native-languages.org/deer-woman.htm https://www.pioneerwomanmuseum.com/history/the-deer-woman https://www.allcreation.org/home/the-deer-woman https://wernative.npaihb.org/articles/who-is-deer-woman-from-reservation-dogs (modern cultural context) Additional context appears in collections of Native American tales and contemporary discussions around missing and murdered Indigenous women, where Deer Woman sometimes symbolizes protective power and resistance.

    Deer Woman (Deer Lady)

  8. Jul 9

    The Kludde

    In the oral traditions of the Flemish people, passed down through generations in farmhouses and along lonely paths, lives the Kludde, a shapeshifting spirit of torment and trickery.  This is not a creature of distant myth but a figure rooted in the lived fears and warnings of local communities: a guardian of boundaries between safety and peril, light and shadow, the known path and the treacherous unknown.  This is Episode 36: The Kludde. Sources https://abookofcreatures.com/2019/06/07/kludde/ (detailed English summary with historical references) https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kludde (Dutch Wikipedia entry on Flemish folklore) https://mythlok.com/kludde/ (overview of traits and regional context) Historical collections referenced in sources above, including 19th-century accounts by Baron of Saint-Genois, Teirlinck’s Le Folklore Flamand, and related volumes like Northern Mythology.

    The Kludde
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About

Legends of the Hidden Horde is a biweekly podcast that dives deep into the shadows of folklore, cryptids, and enigmatic creatures from around the world. Hosted by Lance Martin, each episode delivers a chilling, atmospheric tale grounded in real legends, eyewitness accounts, and cultural lore, brought to life through immersive, creative storytelling. Imagine slipping into the mist-shrouded swamps of the Bridgewater Triangle where Pukwudgie tricksters lurk, or facing the skinless Boo Hag that steals skins to walk among us at night. Or encountering storm-riding Blue Men of the Minch who challenge sailors with deadly rhymes, or river monsters like Borinkus haunting blackwater bends. These aren’t dusty retellings, they’re vivid, cinematic journeys that blend the eerie beauty of myth with the haunting possibility that something truly waits in the unknown. Creative folklore with bite: Episodes weave historical context, eyewitness reports, and imaginative twists into gripping narratives. Expect rich sensory details, cultural depth, and explorations of origins, societal impacts, and “what if they’re real?” implications(ethical, existential, and ecological). Short and immersive: All episodes clock in at 15 minutes or less—perfect for late-night listens, commutes, or quick escapes into the strange. Two new episodes drop weekly, building your horde of hidden legends steadily. Tone: Dark, mysterious, and wondrous. It channels classic horror podcast vibes and fireside ghost stories with modern production. Think vivid narration, subtle sound design cues, and a respectful nod to source cultures while amplifying the uncanny. The podcast spans global traditions and local terrors: - The Blue Men of Minch → Storm kelpies of Scotland’s treacherous straits. - Borinkus (St. John’s River Monster) → Florida’s elusive river beast. - The Tikbalang → Horse-headed trickster of Philippine forests. - The Boo Hag → Skin-stealing nightmare of Gullah lore. - The Pukwudgie → Mischievous swamp dwellers of New England. - The Piasa Bird, Jenny Greenteeth, Lac Wood Screecher, and more—from Native American rock art horrors to English bog witches. If you love podcasts like Lore, Monsters Among Us, or The Midnight Library but want tighter, more cinematic bites, or if cryptid shows like Sasquatch Chronicles appeal but you crave global folklore with creative flair, Legends of the Hidden Horde delivers. It transforms ancient whispers and modern sightings into stories that linger, making you scan the treeline, check the water’s edge, or wonder what’s really out there in the dark. Keep your eyes open. You never know what might be lurking in the shadows.

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