David Castleton (Author)

My book 'Church Curiosities: Strange Objects & Bizarre Legends' (Shire/Bloomsbury). Full of pyramid tombs, reindeer-horned dancers, vampire graves, holy wells, weird #folklore, standing stones, execution bells, legendary skulls. #history #gothic #churches amazon.co.uk/Church-Curiosi…

In August 1979, Northampton band Bauhaus released their debut single, the 9-minute-long 'Bela Lugosi's Dead'. This tune - about the Hungarian actor famous for playing Dracula - is a foundational track in early goth rock. #WyrdWednesday #WorldGothDay #gothic #weird #folklore

In Greek #mythology, Prometheus stole fire from the gods to give to humans, carrying it from heaven in a fennel stalk. Some records state the fire enabled Prometheus to bestow other gifts of civilisation, such as agriculture, medicine & science. #fairytaletuesday #folklore

@Pseud0Methodius @MorganScorpion There was also a coachman at a house he stayed at named Baskerville.

@david_castleton @MorganScorpion Understand it was a visit to Wistman's Woods and stories of the wild hunt and the wisht hounds that inspired The Hound of the Basketvilles.

Wistman's Woods, Devon, is a temperate rainforest allegedly haunted by hellhounds. 'Wistman' is a dialect word for the Devil, with 'wist' meaning 'eerie' or 'uncanny'. #FairytaleTuesday #folklore #gothic

Cain and Lucifer, 1883 by Henri Martin

Saturn was a Roman god of farming, time, generation, dissolution & the planet of the same name, who'd presided over a golden age of abundance. However, as a god of time, he had a darker aspect - a 'devourer his own children' linked to human sacrifice. #mythologymonday #folklore

Though Walpurgis Night has not been as widely celebrated in England as on the Continent, there are a few examples. In Lincolnshire, people hung up cowslips to deflect evil. In Herefordshire, people put trays of moss out for fairies to dance on #FolkloreThursday #Folklore #history

Bram Stoker's short story 'Dracula's Guest' sees Harker stopping in Munich on Walpurgis Night on his way to the Count. An excursion to a country graveyard leads to an encounter with a vampire as "all the graves around me sent out ... their sheeted dead" #WyrdWednesday #folklore

As St Walpurga was said to defend people against evil spirits & witchcraft, it was believed such forces were strong on the eve of her day. In Germany, witches were said to meet on the Brocken, the Harz Mountains' highest peak, which features in Goethe's Faust. #FairytaleTuesday

@NewsForrest I fear they might be disappointed.

@david_castleton Some billionaires: nytimes.com/2026/04/24/mag…

The Danse Macabre was an important artistic tradition in the Late Middle Ages. Dancing skeletons led various people to the grave, including priests, nobles, labourers & even kings & popes, emphasising that death comes to all. #MythologyMonday #folklore #gothic #art

St George is sometimes associated with the colour green, vegetation and fertility. This links to the dragon, as these beasts were blamed for making land barren by obstructing or poisoning water sources. #MythologyMonday #folklore #mythology #history

@catriona_b But during this resurgence it would probably have had a different meaning for medieval Christians as the society was very different by then.

@david_castleton But as for its reappearance in churches starting around 1100 CE, perhaps the image was simply undergoing a resurgence in popularity, as it did in the 19th century Gothic revival and Arts and Crafts era, and again post 1939, when the actual name “Green Man” was coined.

The Green Man, a common carving in medieval churches, is seen by some as a forest guardian figure. The carving does seem more common in heavily wooded English counties. Others feel the image may represent Christ, may be a warning against sin or just a decoration #FolkloreThursday

The Demon Titivillus. He collected mispronounced or forgotten words during prayer; he also encouraged the copiers to make mistakes when copying a text. Anonymous. c. 1600

@richmondie Lady Raglan, who first coined the term 'Green Man' in an article in 'The Folklore Journal' in 1939 thought he'd come from the East.

@david_castleton He might be a Roman grotesque! But I like the nature spirit version best.

@catriona_b The thing is that there were several centuries between the conversion and the heyday of the Green Man so we need to ask why this gap.

@david_castleton True... but many aspects of Anglo-Saxon paganism were retained and continued to be practiced, and may even have served as the basis of Anglo-Saxon Christianity.

@richmondie There are lots of interpretations. It's worth noting his heyday was the High Middle Ages - so there might well be a Christian significance. Or he might just be decoration.

@david_castleton It's a Nature Spirit, a Spirit of the Wild.

@catriona_b It's debatable - his heyday was the High Middle Ages. Long after conversion.

@david_castleton He's usually seen as a symbol of fertility, rebirth, the Eternal Return... the cycle of nature and life. A thoroughly pagan figure Christianised to make him more acceptable and less ... rowdy. lol

Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky may be based on the County Durham legend of the Sockburn Worm - a dragon who lived on a peninsula in the River Tees who was beheaded by a local noble. Carroll's father was the rector of the nearby village of Croft. #WyrdWednesday #folklore #literature