Local Legends #21: Brice Stratford

For this week's Haunting Season-themed Local Legends episode, the final of the four, Martin gathers round the Three Ravens campfire with folklorist Brice Stratford to chat all about his new book Halloween Folklore and Ghost Stories.

This new collection is Brice’s third book, following his first collection, Anglo Saxon Folklore: The Struggle for the Saxon Kingdoms, and New Forest Myths and Folklore, both of which were published in 2022.

A storyteller, historian, actor and theatre director, Brice writes on heritage, art and architectural history for Apollo Magazine, the Spectator, and various trade publications, and for 12 years he ran the award-winning Owle Schreame theatre company which is currently on hiatus.

Born and raised in the New Forest, he started his journey into folklore in the New Forest area of Southern England, engaging in folklore collecting and plenty of deep-dive research – skills which he brought to bear for his new Halloween Folklore and Ghost Stories collection.

In August of this year Brice also launched a podcast, Finding Folklore, a storytelling series through which Brice and his co-host James Carney explore the legends, fairytales, ghost stories, songs and traditions of old England, with each Finding Folklore podcast episode also coming with a companion video on YouTube which expands on the themes and ideas of the main podcast episode.

For now though, settle in for a chat which encompasses Halloween's origins, 'Blood Month' traditions, pig-faced spectral brides, Charles Dickens, the stunning Sedlec Ossuary and much more.

To learn more about Brice, do follow him on social media, we hope you enjoy the episode, and we'll be back on Monday with our first County Episode for a while, all about Cambridgeshire!

The Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.

Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...

Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays (Magic and Medicines about folk remedies and arcane spells, Three Ravens Bestiary about cryptids and mythical creatures, Dying Arts about endangered heritage crafts, and Something Wicked about folkloric true crime from across history) plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.

With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?

Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast

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