Widdershins Stories

20/08/2024

New music out today!

https://music.apple.com/us/album/summer-rain-ep-ep/1763105663

01/08/2023

New episode: Tam Lin!

Tam Lin comes to us from Scotland and Childe’s ballads. Tam Lin is a human captured by the fairy queen who spends his free time tormenting fair maidens in the woods of Carterhaugh. After a tryst with fair Janet who becomes pregnant with his child, they devise a plan to free him from being the Halloween tithe. This version combines many of the story points from the earlier ballads with a bit easier listening and updated language from Jennifer Holm.

30/04/2023

New episode! Dracula’s Guest by Bram Stoker

It is Walpurgisnacht, and we find ourselves in Munich before leaving for Transylvania to be a guest of Count Dracula. Our titular Englishman, interested in taking some local sights, wanders into a desolate valley and finds himself at nightfall in a cemetery beset by a curious storm and strange forces.

This story is thought to be a preliminary chapter of Dracula that was later removed, with our main character being Jonathan Harker.

11/04/2023

Listen in for the tale of Dando and His Dogs.

In this tale, sinful priest Dando lives a life as one who worships “the sensual gods” despite his godly attire. He hunts, drinks, and does what he wishes regardless of cost. While out hunting one sabbath morning with his dogs and other men, Dando finds a strange hunter in his company who offers a drink so good, Dando would go to hell for it.

A fun aside, this Cornish tale ties into the lore of the Wild Hunt with Dando’s dogs who number among the pack.

08/01/2023

After a much extended hiatus, we are back! Headed to wherever you prefer streaming for a new episode: Snow White & Rose Red

Illustration by Josephine Pollard

01/10/2022

We aren’t back yet but if you’re looking for something appropriately atmospheric to ring in October, a reminder that we have “October in the Chair” by Neil Gaiman from last year to welcome in October

25/05/2022

Hiya folks. I do know about oldgroiwthalchemy who is pretending to be me. I unfortunately cannot do anything aside from report it so if y’all could also report I’d be much obliged.

There is also a tiktok imposter account which I’ve been trying to report. I appreciate all the heads up and keep reporting them, please!

23/03/2022

Meet Louhi, in Kalevala they were Sorceress of Pohjola, Queen of the North Farm. A powerful leader and singer of magic can be a warm host to those in need they're not someone to take for granted. In Cape Ann they've found a kinship with the tough but resource filled land carved by glaciers long ago. Come meet them at Runo in the Rock this Saturday 3/26 and find out their stories. Tickets available at www.intramersive.com

28/02/2022

28/02/2022

We have a new show!! One night only at the Cape Ann Museum! Come see Runo in the Rock, a celebration of the Finnish community of Cape Ann. Love this lino cut of Väinamäinen playing their kantele by Cape Ann Finnish artist Ilmari (Jimo) Natti.

28/02/2022

Our narrator will be performing in an upcoming production around the Finnish epic, Kalevala, and the history of the Finns on Cape Ann! Follow along at Intramersive Media, LLC and check out their site for tickets!

14/02/2022

Celebrate love this Valentine’s Day with a retelling of Apuleius’ “Cupid & Psyche” by Josephine Preston Peabody. When a princess rivals the goddess of beauty, Venus sends her son Cupid to punish her for her charms. But when Cupid’s arrow strikes himself, he falls in love and protects her from the wrath of his mother in a royal home where she is treated like a goddess herself although never seeing this prophesied “creature” who is now her husband. When her sisters visit, in their jealousy they poison her mind against Cupid and she looks upon him while he sleeps, breaking the peace they had together and leaving her alone. Heartbroken, Psyche tries to find him and is set trials by Venus to gain the goddess’ favor and her lost husband back again. How will a mortal maid fare against the goddess of love and beauty?

24/12/2021

A happy Christmas Eve to you all my dear friends! We have a new tale for you…

“A Christmas Ghost Story” by an unknown author is a tale much like the Dickens classic. A miserly old man heads to bed on Christmas Eve only to find himself face to face with a ghost who offers him all the gold he could wish for-which comes with a hard price to look back on his life’s mistakes. He cannot undo the past, but perhaps he can learn from the bitterness he sewed along the way.

Tuck into your blankets this evening for our ghost story and then perhaps queue up some more chilling tales to get your through the night. Let’s celebrate in true Victorian fashion.

01/12/2021

Hello dear friends! Our holiday season is unsurprisingly keeping us quite busy so alas our stories have been on the back burner. We will share one or two more before 2021 is out and starting in January will have more regularly scheduled releases.

We appreciate you lovely listeners so much and know that some of you may be eagerly awaiting more. Fear not! Soon we shall have many a cozy tale to help us all get through the long winter nights to come 📖

03/11/2021

We’ve been away for a while, but we’re done snoozing for now. Well, we are. Django still snoozes away during all our recording sessions.

Look forward to regular stories popping up from our podcast again to keep you cozy all winter long.

We have begun this new season with a tale from that is perfect for the cusp of fall right before the dark of winter takes over. Give it a listen and let us know what you think!

01/11/2021

A Halloween surprise for you all: a new episode!

We are so pleased to share “October in the Chair” by , the perfect tale for late All Hallow’s Eve as we cusp into the first of November. We know it’s a bit late for many of you, but we hope you enjoy the tale.

30/09/2021

October is almost upon us, and with the chilled winds and darkening days-Widdershins shall return. Stay tuned 🎃

19/08/2021

Hello dear friends

We’ve been absent as of late as both your trusty Narrator and Bard have been bustling over their separate works with Old Growth Alchemy releases (did you see the latest with Old Gods of Appalachia??) and Joe Sabourin Music gigging multiple times a week!

We absolutely will be returning this autumn and will also have some more Aural Narratives in then works for your moody dark days to come.

Stay tuned and we’ll be back soon 🍂

27/05/2021

Hello friends, important announcement!

We are going to be taking a hiatus from the podcast for the month of June and possibly into July. Both of us ( and ) need a bit of a break as we get into summer to focus on our various work responsibilities and also ensure that we are putting out the best possible stories and performances possible.

Specifically, we want to try and do more modern authors which takes a bit more research, permission gathering, and more to ensure that we are offering you some great tales to listen to and enjoy.

We also want to do more Aural Narratives which requires a good deal of time to collect all the sounds we wish to use so we will also be working on that during this time. A story or two may pop out here on this account or to the streaming service but, until then, we look forward to a touch of a break to rejuvenate our storytelling! Keep an eye on our other accounts for what we are up to in the meantime, friends!

21/05/2021

Our latest episode is out and a bit of a turn from the latest tales for us.

“Madam Lucifer” by Richard Garnett is a bit of a divergence in our tales of fairy and nature, offering a peek into the whimsical fantasy realm from his classic, The Twilight of the Gods, written in 1903. Lucifer sits with Man, playing chess for his soul when, hearing his lament for his beloved, decides to keep her company. Smitten upon sight with Adeliza, he gets it into his head to marry, but to do so would have to leave Madam Lucifer and lose his dominion over Pandemonium...what’s a devil to do?

Painting is “Madame Satan” by Achille Valérie

14/05/2021

Phew this week has been a doozy, so much so that we forgot to post. This week both your friendly neighborhood Bard and Narrator have been/are getting vaccinated so we’ve been a little fuzzy on deadlines. We apologize as we wanted to get an episode out for today but alas, we were unable to.

Next week we will be back strong with a really great classic fairy tale to start us off refreshed, so thanks for your patience!

30/04/2021

Happy Walpurgisnacht and also one year anniversary of Widdershins!

A year ago today we released our first episode, “The Juniper Tree”. We are so grateful we’ve had all you amazing folks join us on the way and have had some absolutely fantastic authors let us read their works so far. We are very excited for another great year, and appreciate all your comments and reviews you’ve left and donations to help keep the lights on for our podcast.

For more magic to come!

Art by Gustavo Doré

25/04/2021

We hope you enjoyed the live premiere of “She” by Allison Carr Waechter for Daughters Of Darkness Festival!

We would greatly appreciate a review if you happened to have a moment to spare or a comment and a like on the video!

Also if you’ve been enjoying the podcast, we do have a Ko-Fi linked in our bio! We do this for the love of telling stories so any little extra helps to keep the lights on so to speak. ✨

25/04/2021

“She” is now live!

On this special episode for Salem Daughters of Darkness Festival, we have created a virtual wander through the woods to go along with our tale. To celebrate ...

24/04/2021

Tonight! Be sure you’re subscribed to our YouTube for the video release of “She”

“She takes a deep breath in. The kitchen smells like coffee and through the open window, comes the overwhelming scent of lilacs again. The smell both repels and attracts her, as anything floral is wont to do now.

Part of her wants to shove bloom after bloom into her mouth, ravenously both consuming and destroying the flower. There’s a kind of visceral satisfaction she gets from both thoughts and she is aware of the saliva pooling in her mouth.”

Join us at 8pm ET for the release of “She” by on the .stories YouTube! The above quote was just a short snippet, but hopefully you’re enticed and intrigued now. I’ll also be sharing a short reel on Widdershins for a quick teaser. You can also listen along on your streaming platforms but there’s a lovely video accompaniment with the story for tonight.

I managed to get a few photos of lilacs today, but it was in a public setting so sadly I couldn’t shove them in my mouth for a photo op. 😿

And be sure to check out the rest of by following along and stop in the shop for a few if you’d like-I’ve got lots of goodies.

23/04/2021

We have a very exciting episode today!

Episode 31 is Wild & Sacred with two amazing poems by Tom Hirons - writer and storyteller

The first is “Sometimes a Wild God” followed by “The Worship of Place”. They felt like fitting tribute since yesterday was Earth Day. This episode is also special as it is a mix of our Aural Narratives and a normal episode. Join us as we crunch into the woods and sit by a stream to read these beautiful reveries of the natural world.

And be sure to follow Tom and grab your own copy of Sometimes A Wild God (seen here) with artwork by Rima Staines - Artist from Hedgespoken Press along with his other works. We hope you enjoy!

22/04/2021

Tomorrow we have a bit of a special episode. It will be a diptych of poetry by an author and storyteller we admire very much! It also fits as a tribute to Earth Day today. We hope you all have a chance to go out and touch the grass and smell some spring blossoms today.

16/04/2021

Join our narrator with regular author on our podcast for their chat on Wednesday April 21 at 7:30pm on IG Live! They will be on OGA’s page chatting q***r fairy tales, both the writing and telling of them.

And in case you missed it, we will be releasing a special episode next week for ! On Saturday a video will accompany the bonus episode: “She” by Allison.

When Ondine wakes from a coma she returns home unable to return to the life she left behind or move forward. Can Morgana accept her for who she is now? Or will the sting of iron return Ondine to the world below?

“She” is a q***r love story inspired by tales of changelings, selkies, alien abductions, and the dysmorphia associated with living between worlds.

13/04/2021

12/04/2021

Daughters of Darkness is happening virtually again this year on the last weekend in April, bringing three days of dark market explorations...