Episodes

  • The Alderney Dairy
    Jun 7 2023

    In this week's episode we follow a strange and unexpected unravelling of events as we look into the building of the former island dairy, now a snooker club located down the Val, in the heart of St Anne, the island's only town.

    There is a French phrase we noted from our interview and wrote in the book, but did not include a translation, nor can I - clearly - pronounce it, so for the listeners, here is the quote: "Sainte Marie, Mere de Dieu, priez pour nous, pauvres pechurs, maintenant et a l'heure de notre mort" - or something like that. If you know what it means, please let us know, or if it does not mean anything and you can tell what you think it should have read also let us know.

    - Ulysses Black

    --

    The information presented in this podcast derives from the investigations surrounding the book 'Alderney: The Devil's Rock' by Lazarus Ravenscroft & Ulysses Black (2010), a work of modern mythology that draws on weird history, island folklore, ghost stories and the bizarre imaginings of its authors.

    If you have any information about the strange history of Alderney, or your own encounters from the island you wish to share please contact us at alderneythedevilsrock@gmail.com

    Support this podcast on Patreon at www.patreon.com/ulyssesblack

    Narrated by Ulysses Black 2023

    Artwork by Ulysses Black & Midjourney

    Music by Aiva

    Copyright Lazarus Ravenscroft & Ulysses Black 2023, all rights reserved.

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    16 mins
  • The Legend of le Grande Sorcier
    May 31 2023

    In this week's episode we look at the curious tale a magus who allegedly visited the island many hundreds of years ago, and the location that bears his name. There is a tie-in here with the grimoire 'Le Petit Albert', a book known to have been in possession of the witches of the Channel Islands.

    click here for the webpage with map locating this encounter

    --

    The information presented in this podcast derives from the investigations surrounding the book 'Alderney: The Devil's Rock' by Lazarus Ravenscroft & Ulysses Black (2010), a work of modern mythology that draws on weird history, island folklore, ghost stories and the bizarre imaginings of its authors.

    If you have any information about the strange history of Alderney, or your own encounters from the island you wish to share please contact us at alderneythedevilsrock@gmail.com

    Support this podcast on Patreon at www.patreon.com/ulyssesblack

    Narrated by Ulysses Black 2023

    Artwork by Ulysses Black & Midjourney

    Music by Aiva

    Some Sound Effects from Pixabay

    Copyright Lazarus Ravenscroft & Ulysses Black 2023, all rights reserved.


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    14 mins
  • The Devil's Chair
    May 10 2023

    The most gruesome and dramatic of island relics is addressed here: a stone 'chair' out on a ruinous shoreline, to which clergymen were once bound in unholy sacrifice to some dark pagan godforms. And... its really really.

    This episode is an essay that explore the enigmatic monolith.

    SPECIAL NOTE: The image that accompanies this episode is a photograph of the Devil's Chair, Clonque Bay, by superb island photographer Steve Phelan, who retains full copyright of the image.

    --

    The information presented in this podcast derives from the investigations surrounding the book 'Alderney: The Devil's Rock' by Lazarus Ravenscroft & Ulysses Black (2010), a work of modern mythology that draws on weird history, island folklore, ghost stories and the bizarre imaginings of its authors.

    If you have any information about the strange history of Alderney, or your own encounters from the island you wish to share please contact us at alderneythedevilsrock@gmail.com

    Support this podcast on Patreon at www.patreon.com/ulyssesblack

    Narrated by Ulysses Black 2023

    Artwork by Ulysses Black & Midjourney

    Music by Aiva

    Some Sound Effects from Pixabay

    Copyright Lazarus Ravenscroft & Ulysses Black 2023, all rights reserved.

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    22 mins
  • The Thing in the Offie
    May 10 2023

    In this episode we hear details of a very real account of dark shadowy occupants of the Off License annex of the island pub, The Coronation. The account has been redrafted into a narrative that nonetheless still contains much of the direct information about this encounter.

    Postscript: It should be noted, that this spectre has been encountered on numerous times and by numerous different staff members.

    --

    The information presented in this podcast derives from the investigations surrounding the book 'Alderney: The Devil's Rock' by Lazarus Ravenscroft & Ulysses Black (2010), a work of modern mythology that draws on weird history, island folklore, ghost stories and the bizarre imaginings of its authors.

    If you have any information about the strange history of Alderney, or your own encounters from the island you wish to share please contact us at alderneythedevilsrock@gmail.com

    Support this podcast on Patreon at www.patreon.com/ulyssesblack

    Narrated by Ulysses Black 2023

    Artwork by Ulysses Black & Midjourney

    Music by Aiva

    Some Sound Effects from Pixabay

    Copyright Lazarus Ravenscroft & Ulysses Black 2023, all rights reserved.

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    25 mins
  • 6 - Jack O Lantern & The Backwards Bunny
    Apr 28 2023

    This week we look at two of spectral occupants of the south-western side of the island... where a labyrinth of confounding paths through endless gorse bushes lures the lost and frail towards a terrible end.

    --

    The information presented in this podcast derives from the investigations surrounding the book 'Alderney: The Devil's Rock' by Lazarus Ravenscroft & Ulysses Black (2010), a work of modern mythology that draws on weird history, island folklore, ghost stories and the bizarre imaginings of its authors.

    If you have any information about the strange history of Alderney, or your own encounters from the island you wish to share please contact us at alderneythedevilsrock@gmail.com

    Support this podcast on Patreon at www.patreon.com/ulyssesblack

    Narrated by Ulysses Black 2023

    Artwork by Ulysses Black & Midjourney

    Music by Aiva

    Some Sound Effects from Pixabay

    Copyright Lazarus Ravenscroft & Ulysses Black 2023, all rights reserved.

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    23 mins
  • 5 - The Alderney Strangler
    Apr 19 2023

    An all too real account of a spectre encountered by a youthful Ulysses Black, while staying as a guest of an equally youthful Lazarus Ravenscroft.

    This encounter took place within the strange and labyrinthine warren of bungalows located ‘up Alles es Fees’. Curiously, the place name Alles es Fees means ‘lane of the fairies’.

    The majority of the information presented in the podcast comes from the book 'Alderney: The Devil's Rock' by Lazarus Ravenscroft & Ulysses Black (2010)

    If you have any information about the strange history of Alderney, or your own encounters from the island you wish to share please contact us at alderneythedevilsrock@gmail.com

    Support this podcast on Patreon at www.patreon.com/ulyssesblack

    Narrated by Ulysses Black 2023

    Artwork by Ulysses Black & Midjourney

    Music by Aiva

    Copyright Lazarus Ravenscroft & Ulysses Black 2023, all rights reserved.

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    14 mins
  • 4 - Nature in Abomination
    Apr 12 2023

    A hyperbolic account of a misplaced afternoon spent by the authors visiting St Vignalis Garden in the Bonne Terre, a valley in the western wide of the island of Alderney.

    warning: some facts may appear exaggerated for narrative effect.

    The information presented in this podcast derives from the investigations surrounding the book 'Alderney: The Devil's Rock' by Lazarus Ravenscroft & Ulysses Black (2010), a work of modern mythology that draws on weird history, island folklore, ghost stories and the bizarre imaginings of its authors.

    If you have any information about the strange history of Alderney, or your own encounters from the island you wish to share please contact us at alderneythedevilsrock@gmail.com

    Support this podcast on Patreon at www.patreon.com/ulyssesblack

    Narrated by Ulysses Black 2023

    Artwork by Ulysses Black & Midjourney

    Music by Aiva

    Copyright Lazarus Ravenscroft & Ulysses Black 2023, all rights reserved.


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    25 mins
  • The House of the Screaming Lady
    Apr 5 2023

    In this shorter episode we look at the stories surrounding a specific quaint cottage in Alderney, that has been subject of various pieces of island lore. For those that know the island, it is one of several cottages near the corner of Longis Road and Valongis.

    By way of an update to the story as featured here, the current occupiers have said they have not encountered the screaming lady, though they do hear the sounds of a crying baby... which in the context of the tale described herein might be directly relevant.

    The majority of the material presented herein is taken from the book Alderney: The Devil's Rock (2010, 3rd ed 2018) by Ravenscroft & Black.

    You can support this podcast at www.patreon.com/Ulyssesblack where there is a special 'Denizens of the Devil's Rock' tier.

    Please do contact us directly if you have any tales of Alderney weirdness, or insights on the topic of this weeks show - email to alderneythedevilsrock@gmail.com

    This episode is narrated by Ulysses Black.

    All rights reserved Ulysses Black & Lazarus Ravenscroft 2023.

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    9 mins