Tales from the Enchanted Forest

Looking for a haunted house tale that isn't spooky? Well, Alee of Cairo chooses to spend the night in a house haunted by a Jinn, but instead of breaking his neck like it did to the previous dwellers, the Jinn gives him gold and solves all of his money problems. The end.
🎨 William Harvey, 1001 Nights

Just discovered Weird Tales magazine and I'll be in a spooky rabbit hole for the rest of the month!

Just look at all the different versions! How can each cover be so lovely?
🧚 Fairyloot
🦉 Owlcrate
🌸 US First Printing
🧚 Fairyloot

Fiction Friday: I've just finished Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross and I gotta say, the myths and legends she writes are as gorgeous as the covers of her books. The concept of a Goddess coming into her own power and navigating the world of the Gods was enticing. Also can be read as a standalone!

Katabasis: The Myth of Orpheus R.F Kuang’s highly anticipated novel, Katabasis, was published recently and it has brought on a wave of discourse around journeying into the underworld as a physical and metaphorical storytel…

To read the full post and examine some differences between Ovid and Virgil's retellings of the tale, you can check out the full episode now! Also available anywhere you listen to your podcasts!

talesfromtheenchantedforest.com/2025/09/24/k...

In Greek myths we have Theseus and Pirithous' attempt to kidnap Persephone, Heracles' labour to get Cerberus, Psyche's trials for Aphrodite and Odysseus' mission to get as much tea as possible. Then of course, Orpheus' journey to bring back his wife Eurydice by appealing to Persephone and Hades.

In modern media, we have so many sources to pull from including Supernatural (what with the Winchesters journeying in and out of hell every other season), Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hadestown, The Good Place, and the games Hades I and II.

With R.F Kuang's Katabasis starting so much discourse around the concept of the journey to the underworld, naturally we had to jump on the bandwagon. Add in Supergiant Games' Hades II coming out today and what a perfect time to retell the story of Orpheus and Eurydice!

In modern media, we have so many sources to pull from including Supernatural (what with the Winchesters journeying in and out of hell every other season), Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hadestown, The Good Place, and the games Hades I and II.

And then I am also reminded of Achilles disguised as a woman on Skyros.

Achilles dressed as a woman: 😇💖☺️🌸 *whoops*🤰
Thor dressed as a woman: 💥🍽️🐂🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🍺🔨

Every now and then I remember the story of Thor dressing up as Freyja to trick-marry Thrym after the Giant stole his hammer and I am reminded of these glorious illustrations (including the SMITE Thor Valkyrie Bride skin)

Food Folklore and Children’s Books Recently, I have been reading more children’s books and one trend I have noticed is the rise in books about food! Now, this may be because as a Canadian immigrant (and something most immigran…

Full post and children's book recommendations can be seen here: talesfromtheenchantedforest.com/2025/08/29/f...

Do share if you have any favourites!

Food and Folklore in Children's Books: Recipes and Stories have a lot in common especially how they are transferred and transplanted as people move away from home. Just as every country has a dumpling recipe, they have a cinderella tale! Read more about food folklore on our latest blog post!

Nabeshima Naotaka after seeing a play about a Bakeneko terrorizing his ancestors.

The Bakeneko, a cat yokai, turned vengeful after his owner committed suicide following the murder of her son by the ruler of the Nabeshima clan. The cursed story became a popular play & Naotaka did file a complaint!

YouTube video by Hungarian Folk Tales Hungarian Folk Tales: The Salt Princess (S01E01)

There is also a really lovely version of the Hungarian version of the tale as told by Rozália Kóka.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVGT...

This trope type also famously includes Shakespeare's King Lear since Cordelia is punished for saying she loves her father "according to her bond" and refuses to join her deceitful sisters, Goneril and Regan, in lavishing him with falsehoods.
Cordelia's Farewell by Edwin Austin Abbey

Have you listened to our latest episode? It features the "Love like Salt" Trope which is when a princess gets exiled for telling her father she loves him like salt. One of our inspirations came from @anooshasyed.com's retelling of the Pakistani version in her book "The Salt Princess."

Empty bookcases

A bookcase being assembled

Last night we started the massive operation of moving our reference library and document archives into our new premises, ready for public opening.

Our fundraiser for this task is really vital to our success. We are just £50 away from hitting four figures. Can you help?

bit.ly/flafundraising

It's in the same vein as Aisha Aseed's "Bilal Cooks Daal" and Toba Adina-Jao's "Me, Mommy, Mantu." Food is folklore and heritage and history. It is a way to connect not just through your own country but through entire continents.

Just like Cinderella, every country has their own dumpling or daal.

We were recently given an ARC of "Curry Means More by Maria Marianayagam, illustrated by Geeta Ladi" and I am in love. As someone who has unfortunately heard "you smell like curry," I love picture books that showcase the smells of food as love and comfort instead of something shameful.

The movie's story artist, Radford Sechrist notes that the tiger is a symbol of warding off evil while the magpie means good news. However, through Minhwa, the duo soon became satirical and that is where they got the inspiration behind the "derpy" idiot tiger. #FolkloreSunday

Fictional Folklore: Did you know that Jinu's Tiger and Magpie pet duo from Kpop Demon Hunters are based off of the Korean folk art style of Minhwa? The art style which wasn't referred to as such until much later, was considered the art of the people. #FolkloreSunday

Syou Ishida crafts each short story with characters that have to deal with their inner turmoil - all with some feline assistance. That's because the wacky doctor at Kokoro Clinic for the Soul in Kyoto won't solve your problems with medicine but with a cat!

The translated sequel is out Sep 2025!

Cover of "The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen" by Yata Takahashi features a woman standing inside the restaurant staring out at Tokyo Bay while a kitten lays curled up on the window sill.

Welcome to the Chinineko Kitchen where a remembrance meal can give you one last chance to speak to some one who has passed away. Yuta Takahashi makes us feel the grief and anguish of each character in the time it takes for their meal to get cold.

Book two's translated version releasing 2026!

Cover of "The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen" by Yuta Takahashi. A woman is looking out a large window to the sea while a cat lays curled up on the window sill.

Cover of "We'll prescribe you a cat" by Syou Ishida. Artwork features 5 drawn cats tumbling out of an orange prescription bottle.

Cover of "The Goodbye Cat" by Hiro Arikawa. Artwork features a calico cat curled up on a pile of books and looking directly at the reader.

It's Caturday and which means sharing some of our favourite cat-related books that you can read in a day (or over the weekend)!

These stories take you through the lives of different characters as they deal with loss, anger, sorrow, love and regret with elements of magical realism to them!

Now a woman, Ungnyeo prayed for a child and Hwanung himself took on a mortal form to answer her prayer. From their union came Dangun, the founder of the first Korean Kingdom.

Webtoon image adapted from the novel by Angela and p.P shows Dok-go whose appearance reminded other characters of a bear.

"Ungnyeo" is the story of a bear and tiger who begged the divine king Hwanung to turn them into humans. Hwanung gave them 20 cloves of garlic and ssuk (mugwort) with instructions to stay in a cave for 100 days. After 20 days the Tiger gave up, but the Bear remained and was rewarded!
🎨 Shim Soo-keun

Fiction Folklore: The Second Chance Convenience Store by Kim Ho-Yeon

"In ancient Korean mythology, there is a story about a bear that became human after eating only garlic and mugwort for a hundred days in a cave."

Some of our research for those who want to know more:
Pan, Maja. "Introduction to the Analysis of Gender in the ATU 514 Fairy Tale Type on Examples from the Balkans."

Ready, Psyche Z. "She was Really the Man she Pretended to be: Change of Sex in Folk Narrative,"
FOLK NARRATIVES

While some tales have a curse like this to make the relationship "acceptable," in others it feels like the disguised Princess is truly becoming who they want to be. Our tale in tomorrows episode is one such story from Petre Ispirescu's "The Princess Who Would be a Prince."