National Folklore Survey for England

Very excited to see a double page spread on our Survey results in the latest issue of Fortean Times, too. Perfect Christmas present for the weird and wonderful folks in your life!

Want to know how someone becomes a world expert in UFOlogy? Read on: this week we’re introducing @davidwclarke.bsky.social on our website… www.nationalfolkloresurvey.co.uk/news/introdu...

A Farewell To Atoms: Adjusting to the Era of Big Ghost Sean Morley discusses the myth of the physicalist consensus and how supernatural beliefs are flourishing in an era of isolation and mistrust with folklorist Dr David Clarke of Sheffield Hallam Univers...

Read the piece here: nowthenmagazine.com/articles/a-f...

‘It’s a natural reaction to how people perceive things to be going, the multiple crises people seeing are unfolding around them.’ Our @davidwclarke.bsky.social speaks to @nowthenmag.bsky.social about the importance of folklore in times like these, plus the National Folklore Survey

From Freddy Krueger fan clubs to folklore… meet the inimitable Diane A. Rodgers on our website today: www.nationalfolkloresurvey.co.uk/news/introdu...

Love-locks, coin trees and an attraction to the Green Power Ranger - meet the one and only Dr Ceri Houlbrook: www.nationalfolkloresurvey.co.uk/news/introdu...

First findings: UFOs — National Folklore Survey for England Take a look at a visual representation of our first findings on UFOs, or Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) if you prefer…

Visit our site to find out more UFO stats: www.nationalfolkloresurvey.co.uk/news/first-f... (And big thanks to Jonny Ford for our gorgeous spaceship)

Is there a starman waiting in the sky? What do you think? 32.2% of our survey respondents said they believed that all UFO sightings can be explained: they are all natural, human-made, or hoax. Yet 24.5% said they believe at least some UFOs are of extraterrestrial origin.

Agreed!

Siân Evans (@coppersmith.bsky.social)

Today on our website, meet Siân Evans @coppersmith.bsky.social, one of few coppersmiths in the country. In working with a heritage craft, Siân is encountering folklore every day. Read more here: www.nationalfolkloresurvey.co.uk/news/sin-eva...

And there’s nothing quite like the feeling of sinking your forearm into orange pulp!

It’s the ghostly part of the year… 16% of people in England today say that they have had an extraordinary experience of some kind, including witnessing the presence of a ghost. Fascinatingly, almost one in five of those people have not shared that experience with anyone, not even family or friends.

Yes, too right!

Oh how lovely! Happy birthday!

Yes, we’ve heard this from others too. Do you celebrate Bonfire Night?

Yes, definitely. We think the result might’ve been different had we been able to survey younger people.

That’s a really good point. With Halloween often falling in half term, we wonder how much Halloween activity is actually related to entertaining children!

Halloween as it stands now is certainly influenced by American culture, but Mischief Night, Guising and other events related to how we perform Halloween today has roots in England. People in England carved turnips, swedes and other root vegetables before pumpkins took hold, for example.

Quite possibly. We do wonder whether age is the underlying factor here - if our survey could’ve questioned young people (under 16s) then the result might’ve been different.

Hand holding a lit sparkler

In a fight between Bonfire Night and Halloween, who would win? Well, according to our survey, 52% of people in England always or sometimes celebrate Bonfire Night, compared to 46% for Halloween. We were surprised. Are you? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Were you one of the 13%? Anecdotally - we have no evidence for this - visiting a farm to choose a pumpkin seems a relatively recent phenomenon and we’re interested to find out more! Have you ever done this? If so, when did you start? We’d love to see your pumpkin picking photographs!

Now that’s impressive! And mind bending…

Whoa! That’s intense! Do you still experience it today? If not, when do you think it eased?

A huge thanks to Jonny Ford for the gorgeous illustrations and animation

Have you ever experienced that strange feeling that you’ve encountered this moment or event before?

Introducing… Professor Chris Bader — National Folklore Survey for England In our Introducing… posts, we’ll tell you a little more about the team behind the National Folklore Survey for England. First up is Dr Chris Bader, Professor and Chair of Sociology from Chapman Univer...

Introducing… Chris Bader! Professor of Sociology at Chapman University in the US, Chris has been instrumental in designing our survey and analysing the results. He’s also about to publish ‘Paranormal Britain’, a closer look at British beliefs. Read more here:

We had a feeling the press would love the first findings from our survey - and we’ve been getting some wonderful coverage! Take a look at the press page on our website to see how it’s been reported so far.

That’s so cool!

Terrifying! Love them!

Definitely more terrifying, somehow.