• The Cottingley Fairies Exposed: Beyond Photos and Fakes
    Nov 1 2024

    Simon and Chris focus in on the new collection of essays on The Cottingley Fairy Photographs, developing the psychic experiences that inspired the images. The two clash over Elsie and Frances’s personalities, recounting Frances’s sightings of “little men” and Elsie’s run ins with a ghost family haunting her own home. They also trade blows over Cottingley conspiracies. And stay tuned for the unexpected dog invasion!
    Available from all good online booksellers, fifteen authors from six nations: The Cottingley Fairy Photographs.

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    53 mins
  • Dead Famous: Celebrity Ghosts from Mary Queen of Scots to Michael Jackson
    Oct 1 2024

    From Tinseltown to Windsor: tales of mysterious encounters with James Dean, Rudolph Valentino, Elvis Presley, Lord Byron (in Florida), Elizabeth the first and second! Does the late Princess Diana visit her butler in Cheshire to console him? Has Marilyn Monroe reincarnated to marry the ghost of Michael Jackson? Are these tulpas, “real” ghostly encounters, or para-social fantasies—where an intimate connection is claimed with a celebrity? How do the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and the Jolly Green Giant fit into the puzzle? Join Chris and Simon as they unravel bizarre celebrity connections—including Chris’ movie star crush and that unforgettable moment at Rome airport (which Simon would rather forget).

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    44 mins
  • Fairies, Nereids and Trolls: Welcome to the Social Supernatural
    Sep 1 2024

    Simon has just published a book on European fairies, trolls, and other supernatural creatures, who like humans live in societies: going to war, dancing, seducing, holding weddings and funerals, burying the elderly alive....

    Looking at beliefs from Ireland to Ukraine and from Iceland to the Balkans, Simon and Chris debate the merits of trying to classify supernatural beings, find chilling parallels for the ‘fairy blast’ in Croatia and Greece, and shudder at the vengeful Nixen of Germany’s rivers. They also clash about vampires and werewolves in Ohio, but that is another story...

    Sometimes these social folklore beings look human, but are given away by their hollow back or a wet hem dragging in the road. They may be helpful to humans, or they may be vampiric, luring young men and women to their doom.

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    43 mins
  • Time Slips: Ghosts, Fairies or Black Holes?
    Aug 1 2024

    Chris and Simon take a quantum leap as they ponder the mysteries of vanishing houses and time slips. Did two English ladies walk back in time at Versailles? Is there a street in Liverpool where visitors are transported to the 1950s? Did three Royal Navy cadets find themselves in a 14th century plague village? Vanishing hotels and diners, mysterious visions of medieval Paris, and inexplicable forests in Newfoundland: are faulty memories—or fairies—responsible?

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    55 mins
  • Mermaids 101
    Jul 1 2024

    Chris and Simon, don their snorkels and flippers to explore the world of mermaids. Join them as they sail past shaved monkeys, triton hot-spots and a prized vintage tuna doll. Dive in, with our daring duo, to search out mermaid fakes in Belfast, the only living Fish woman, and a singing mer-vicar in Cornwall. Then we navigate around mermaid graves in Scotland, murdered sirens in Germany, and inexplicably, a turnip in a bag on Tyneside. Whether you're a folklore buff, a Weeki Wachee groupie, a wet-suit-wearing cryptozoologist or just like the occasional splash this, dear listener, is the episode for you.

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    49 mins
  • Sex and the Supernatural
    Jun 1 2024

    Things get steamy in this R-rated episode where Simon and Chris discuss the hot topic of sex and the supernatural. The duo passionately debate the forbidden thrills of witch orgies, fairy intercourse (with one of the seven sisters), spirit marriages (generally with rich old men), randy ghosts named as co-respondents in divorce suits, and coitus in the séance room. All climaxes with succubi, mermaids and demons, oh my! You might want to listen something else if you have kids in the car...

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    45 mins
  • Spectral Evidence: The Supernatural in Court
    May 1 2024

    Prepare to be haunted by the evidence as star witnesses Chris and Simon summon compelling arguments for paranormal claims in court. Our learned friends cross-examine the standard of proof for mermaid and sasquatch affidavits, exhume the details of changeling murder cases, and put a rapping medium on trial for disturbing the peace in church. The dearly departed won't escape scrutiny either, as our hosts investigate cases of defamation from beyond the grave and leave no tombstone unturned in their search for justice. Will you join the jury and decide the fate of the supernatural on the latest Boggart and Banshee podcast?

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    49 mins
  • How to Create a Ghost: the Philip Experiment, 1972-1977
    Apr 1 2024

    Simon raps once for ‘yes’ and Chris raps twice for ‘no ‘over the results of the five-year ‘Philip Experiment’. Canadian parapsychology researchers invented a fictional character, the dashing but suicidal cavalier Philip. Then they began to receive communications from Philip through rappings and table tippings. Expect to learn how you can best create a ghost at home: glasses of wine, sing-songs and wishful thinking top the list. The correct pronunciation of Tibetan tulpa (sorry sprulpa). And all hail the bronies who create anthropomorphic multicoloured ponies at will.

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    49 mins