Bone and Sickle

De: Al Ridenour
  • Resumen

  • BONE AND SICKLE explores historical topics related to folklore and horror. With acerbic wit and a scholarly penchant for the grotesque, rogue folklorist Al Ridenour delves into a wide but carefully curated range of topics illustrated by stories from historical texts. Narratives are given dramatic readings by “Mrs. Karswell” (Sarah Chavez) backed by richly produced soundscapes blending original music, sound design and effects. The source books, though real enough, are said to be pulled from an imaginary library on Ridenour’s imaginary estate situated somewhere in the neighborhood of Charles Addams and Edward Gorey. Each episode begins with our hosts briefly discussing goings-on in this world before diving into the topic to be explored. Occasional alternate-format episodes are devoted to readings of classic horror stories or curious texts of antiquarian interest. Ridenour is the author of “The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas” (2016) and “A Season of Madness: Fools, Monsters, and Marv
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Episodios
  • Happy May Day!
    Apr 30 2025
    Your favorite podcast is now seven years old! As a birthday gift to our listeners, we decided to try a super short, experimental video podcast. For your pleasure, Mr. Ridenour yesterday edited together this vide0, entitled "The May Queen".
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    Menos de 1 minuto
  • The Unknown Carnival
    Apr 21 2025
    Mr. Ridenour introduces his new book "A Season of Madness: Fools, Monsters, and Marvels of the Old-World Carnival," explaining how the project grew out of his research for "The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas." In this episode, he sketches out chapter themes and topics, from ancient Rome to modern Bulgaria, focusing particularly on cultural hinterlands where festivities still echo the cruel realities of the old, agricultural world and where medieval Christianity intertwines with pagan practice. The Carnival portrayed is at once beautiful, strange, and savage. Spring is welcomed by clowns waving inflated pig bladders. Stalking sheepskin monsters brandish clubs bristling with hedgehog spines, and plows are dragged over cobblestone streets by celebrants wearing masks painted with cow’s blood. Folk horror fans take heart as the Old World welcomes Spring! Available now for pre-order. US Publication date, May 6, 20205. A few advance reviews of the book: "Sumptuously illustrated and written with clarity, eloquence, and wry humor, "A Season of Madness" is one of those rare books that can pass muster as an academic study yet also provide a good read. Al Ridenour's meticulous research exposes the subtleties and outrageous quirks of a topic you didn't know you wanted to learn about until you picked up his book. Under his direction, the madness once again reigns, as the neglected history of European Carnival is placed center stage before the reader, in all its seedy, wild, and triumphant glory." —Dr. Paul Koudounaris, author and photographer of: "Faithful unto Death," "Heavenly Bodies," and "Empire of Death" "A Season of Madness" is a fantastic carnival of a book. Equal parts irreverent and erudite, it lovingly captures the depth, complexity, and subversive nature of the carnival, from its ancient roots to modern expression. Gorgeously illustrated, intellectually hefty, and also fun, it is a seductive introduction to the material cultures, legends, and history of this perennially fascinating and slippery subject." —Joanna Ebenstein, Founder and Creative Director of Morbid Anatomy
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    25 m
  • The Sin-Eater
    Mar 24 2025
    The Sin-Eater was a figure associated with funerals of the 17th - 19th century, mostly in Wales, and the English counties along the Welsh border. According to tradition, he was invited by grieving families to transfer the burden of sins from the deceased to himself by consuming bread and beer in the vicinity of the corpse, after which he might receive some financial compensation. He typically came from the fringes of society and was said to be motivated by a combination of poverty, greed, and irreligious indifference to matters of eternal judgement. After a quick montage of clips from the generally terrible films made on the theme --Sin Eater (2022), Curse of the Sin Eater (2024), The Last Sin Eater (2007) -- we review the historical references to the tradition, which are surprisingly few in number. The first comes from a particularly early 1686 collection of British folklore written by John Aubrey, The Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme. His characterization of the custom is essentially that described above and despite the early date of the text, he describes the practice using the past tense, though qualifies this somewhat later mentioning that it is "rarely used in our days." Mrs. Karswell, of course, reads Aubrey's original text along with our subsequent examples. Our next account from 1715 comes from antiquarian John Bagford (published later, in 1776) in John Lelan's, compendium, Collectanea. It does not mention Wales but locates the custom in Shropshire, an English county bordering Wales. It also has the Sin-Eater remaining outside the house where the body lies as he consumes his bread and ale. Bagford also adds a verbal formula, which the Sin-Eater is supposed to pronounce, mentioning the deceased's soul attaning “ease and rest,” for which the Sin-Eater's soul has been "pawned." These phrases are recycled in later literature on the topic. The next text comes from 1838, appearing in the travelogue Hill And Valley: Or Hours In England And Wales by the Scottish novelist, Catherine Sinclair. It's particularly brief, adding little detail other than specifying the tradition as one (formerly) belonging to Monmouthshire, in eastern Wales. She also characterizes the custom derisively as "popish," or belonging to the Catholic past. The next and final account (not counting clearly recycled retellings of those above) was contributed by Matthew Moggridge in an 1838 journal of the Cambrian Archaeological Association. It also relegates the tradition to the past, placing it specifically in the Welsh town of f Llandybie. Moggridge removes the ale, keeps the bread, and adds salt (used symbolically rather eaten). He also makes explicit the Sin-Eater's pariah status. Aubrey's, Bagford's, an Moggridge's accounts received greater attention when collected in an 1892 article by E. Sidney Hartland in the journal Folk-Lore, the publication of the British Folk-Lore Society. Hartland's "rediscovery" of these texts fueled the interest of the British public and corresponded with a rising fascination in such things as represented in the arts by the Celtic Revival instigated by William Butler Yeats' 1893 work, The Celtic Twilight and the ongoing publication between 1890 and 1915 of James Frazer's evolving work on folklore, The Golden Bough. As there are no firsthand accounts describing sin-eating as a custom still in existence a misinterpretation or garbled accounting of another tradition may lie behind the concept of the Sin-Eater. The second half of our show examines the extent to which creative myth-making formed the concept along with the role older Catholic practices may have contributed to the tales. The earliest literary Sin-Eater we encounter appears in a chapter of Joseph Downes' 1836 novel, The Mountain Decameron. Mrs. Karswell reads an evocative passage or two describing a traveler stumbling into a scene of sin-eating while traveling through a haunted bog. Along with several other quick summaries of po...
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    45 m
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To ease your morbid curiosity

Bone and Sickle is a delightful dark podcast that delves into the mysterious world of folklore and fairy tales. Wonderfully narrated with all aspects investigated. Please do yourself a great pleasure and listen.

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Bring on the Ghouls

I really enjoyed this episode. It seems to me that you don't really hear that much about ghouls anymore. They seem to get the short end of the stick when it comes to the paranormal.

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