The article archive
Articles
Explore the stories, sources and folklore behind the documentaries.
Article
The Abhartach: Ireland’s Ancient Vampire Legend
Published
Explore Abhartach’s returning-dead legend, its later vampire features and the unproven claim that this Irish tyrant inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Article
Why Vikings Feared Their Own Dead | The Draugr
Published
Meet the restless dead of Icelandic sagas: Þórólfr, Glámr and the frightening idea that death might leave a person’s grudges intact.
Article
The Doppelgänger: Mythology’s Most Terrifying Warning Sign
Published
Why was seeing your double a warning of death? Explore doppelgänger folklore, Emilie Sagée’s story and the science of encountering another self.
Article
Herne the Hunter: Ghost, God, or Invention?
Published
Explore Windsor’s antlered hunter, his earliest appearance in Shakespeare, the later ghost story and the debated links with ancient gods.