Tales from the Enchanted Forest

Oh, that is an interesting rabbit hole! I think there might be- there are a lot of 'nearly headless' or floating head monsters like Rokurokubi, but I haven't seen a vampire iteration before. It's interesting that they connect the Penanggalan to will o
the wisp

Luo Tou Shi (落头氏)

Also known as the wandering heads is a group of supernatural beings (sometimes ghosts) that can detach their heads that can then fly away. While we couldn't find a lot of information on the Luo Tou Shi, we did find this image from Elaine Chow and Mayura Jain! #WyrdWednesday

The fairy cattle (the crodh sith) would emerge from the waves to graze on the fertile soils of Scorrybreck before being recalled. However, if you wanted to keep them for yourself then all you had to do was toss some churchyard soil between them and the sea.
🎨 Stephen Reid
📷 Robin Dessens

...they rewarded his carpentry skills by giving him fairy powers so that he could stay with his wife forever and teach them his craft! So powerful is he now that when he walks across the sky-land, we hear his footsteps as thunder!
📙"Maoriland Fairy Tales" by Edith Howes #FairytaleTuesday #Fairytales

Disguised as an old man, Tawhaki spent the days helping carry their tools & nights secretly working on the canoe. The fairies grew curious about the mysterious craftsmanship, so they hid one night and caught Tawhaki working on it! Except, instead of getting angry...
📙 Edith Howes #FairytaleTuesday

As he climbed to Cloud-land, he caused a flood on Earth, advised the eels to go down and pinched a mischievous Pukaki's birds nose so hard that nowadays all Pukaki's have red noses. When he finally arrived at fairyland, he found them busy making a canoe....
🎨 Arthur Rackham #FairytaleTuesday

...until he came across an old woman holding a thread to the sky. She told him to find his wife, but if he lost courage or looked back then he would go plummeting to the Earth. Tawhaki did not hesitate & the old woman taught him a charm to sing if he felt afraid
📙 Edith Howes #FairytaleTuesday

Tawhaki had a reputation so great that a curious Sky-Fairy came down to see him for herself and fell in love immediately. However, the other fairies did not want her to live on Earth so they came down and snatched her up to Tawhaki's dismay! He wandered around... #FairytaleTuesday
🎨 Arthur Rackham

The Snow Maiden: A Faerie Tale Russia, 15 minute read The Snow Maiden, born to Father Frost and Spring has to protect herself from the indignant Sun God, but can she protect her icy heart? Happy New Years, Travellers! There are …

Is this tale simply a story about a stupid king and his stupid subjects as one reviewer put it? Or a Western play dressed up as an old Russian tale? Check out the tale for yourself below on the website

talesfromtheenchantedforest.com/2026/01/17/t...

YouTube video by Мультики студии Союзмультфильм Снегурочка

Snegurochka, the daughter of Father Frost and Spring, wants to venture out into the human world but she has to protect her heart otherwise she will vanish from this world.

See the beautiful animation below and watch the story unfold!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2TY...

The Ghost Deacon of Myrká: Icelandic Christmas Story

Enjoy some spooky festive fun and listen now to our episode on the Icelandic Christmas ghost story, the Deacon of Myrká! It will give Scrooge a run for his money!

Based on the translated version by Jón Árnason and Magnús Grímsson.
open.spotify.com/episode/4TSg...

As Guðrún prepared to celebrate Christmas eve with her lover, the Deacon, she did not know he had drowned a few days prior. So she had nothing to fear when he appeared at her door that night...

"The moon glides,
Death rides,
Seest thou not the white place
In the back of my head,
Garun, Garun?"

#BookologyThursday I love the Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden and how it weaves so many figures from Russian folklore and storytelling into the trilogy.

Illumicrate special edition cover by @rudebeetle on Instagram
Fanart by Rosiethorns88 on Instagram (@rosiethorns88.bsky.social)

a woman in a blue shirt is making a funny face . ALT: a woman in a blue shirt is making a funny face .

I always forget its a public holiday on All Saint's Day until I try to go shopping and all the stores are closed and then I convince myself it's Sunday and that's why the shops are closed until I realize its a public holiday right before a Sunday which means no grocery shopping this weekend!

Unfortunately, the Murder and Magic at Pengersick Castle episode is delayed until HALLOWEEN! Mainly because we've been watching the Blue Jays dominate during the World Series, but that does mean the spooky goodness will be ready very soon! Hope you can all wait just a little longer for the chaos!

And that's just part one. Join us for Murder and Magic at Pengersick Castle (also Pengerswick), one of the most haunted places in England!

We'll dive into the Lord- Enchanter of the Castle and the Witch of Fraddam in part 2 (which will have pirates, deals with the devil, immortality and fires!) 🧙‍♀️🧙‍♂️

She'll turn into a hare and haunt you, the baby you tried to murder will be saved and return one day, your wife will die, your legitimate son will spurn you and the witch-Lady of Godolphin you marry will try her best to sleep with said son...leading in lots of murder and magic at Pengersick Castle!

What happens when you seduce a "far east" Princess, abandon her during her country's civil war, return home to your WIFE and son and then try to toss said Princess and her baby (your bastard child) off a cliff when she comes knocking on your door? Well...

Pengersick Castle, Cornwall

I love a good fireside spooky story telling (bonus points if its during a summer camp scene). Of course, we have Gravity Falls and What's New Scooby-Doo as our classic October rewatchs, and we've got The Sisters Grimm lined up, but any other good suggestions out there?

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)