halloween – New World Witchery – The Search for American Traditional Witchcraft

Special Episode – All Hallows Read 2022

Spooky stories of devils and magic gone amiss!

Summary:

We’re back just in time for the spooky season with our annual All Hallows’ Read episode! This time we’re sharing tales of magic gone wrong, with narratives about diabolical woodsmen, sorcerous battles, eerie homunculi, and more. We’ve got special guests joining us to narrate these, too, so see if you can “spot” the voices!

Please check out our Patreon page! You can help support the show for as little as a dollar a month, and get some awesome rewards at the same time. Even if you can’t give, spread the word and let others know, and maybe we can make New World Witchery even better than it is now.

Producers for this show:

Abby, Achija Branvin Sionach, AromaG’s Botanica, AthenaBeth, Andrea, Bagga Marsh, Benjamin, Breanna, Carol, Carole, Catherine, Cheryl, Christopher, Colby, ConjuredCardea, Daniel, Dave, Don, Donna, Elizabeth, Eveline, Erin, Fergus, Griffin, Heather, Jamie, Jen Rue of Rue & Hyssop, Jess, Jenna, Jennifer, Jodi, John, Jonathan at the ModernSouthernPolytheist, Kat, Kee, Kristopher, Liz, Mark, Marisa, Matthew Venus of Spiritus Arcanum, Milo, Minimiel, Montine of Book of My Shadows, , Nikki, Payton, Sara, Scarlet Pirate, Sherry, Staci, Stephanie, Ralph from the Holle’s Haven Podcast, Vee, Victoria & Keifel of 1000 Volt Press, Violet, and WisdomQueen (if we missed you this episode, we’ll make sure you’re in the next one!). Big thanks to everyone supporting us!

Play:

Play: Special Episode – All Hallows Read 2022

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We visit old Professor Henry Ostcouch busily working away in his tower, and hear stories of magic gone awry. Each story has a special guest teller as well!

“The Homunculus of Maimonides,” from Lilith’s Cave: Jewish Tales of the Supernatural, edited by Howard Schwartz (read by Ryan of The Red Text Podcast)
“The Battle of the Enchanters,” from The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, edited by Jack Zipes (read by Victoria Raschke of the WitchLit Podcast)
“The Black Woodsman,” from The Silver Bullet, and Other American Witch Stories, by Hubert J. Davis (read by Aaron Oberon of the FolkCraft Podcast)
“The Blacksmith and the Devil,” from The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, edited by Jack Zipes (read by Austin of Banexbramble and the Southern Bramble Podcast)
“Cornelius Agrippa’s Bloody Book,” from The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, edited by Jack Zipes (read by Don Martin of Head on Fire Podcast)

My immense thanks to these readers, who stepped in to help me out when my voice was not up to recording all these tales due to illness, and did a marvelous job telling them, too!

You can now buy Cory’s book, New World Witchery: A Trove of North American Folk Magic! (also available from Amazon)

Image via Pixabay (CC 2.0)

If you have feedback you’d like to share, email us at compassandkey@gmail.com or newworldwitcherypodcast@gmail.com or leave a comment at the website: www.newworldwitchery.com . We’d love to hear from you!

Don’t forget to follow us at Twitter! And check out our Facebook page! For those who are interested, we are also on TikTok now. You can follow us on Instagram (main account, or you can follow Laine as well) or check out our new YouTube channel with back episodes of the podcast and new “Everyday Magic” videos, too (as well as most of our contest announcements)! Have something you want to say? Leave us a voice mail on our official NWW hotline: (442) 999-4824 (that’s 442-99-WITCH, if it helps).

Promos and Music:

Music for this episode is licensed from Audio Socket. Additional music Kevin Macleod, from Free Music Archive and used under a CC 2.0 license.

Sound effects from Freesound.org and in the Public Domain.

Please consider supporting us by purchasing our promotional items in the New World Witchery Threadless shop or by joining our Patreon supporters.

If you like us AND you like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you will love our new show: Myth Taken: A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Podcast, now available through all the podcatchers! You can also check out Cory’s folklore show, Chasing Foxfire, where he explores the intersection of folklore and topics like history, medicine, science, nature, literature, pop culture, and more!

Please think about checking out our Audible Trial program. Visit Audibletrial.com/newworldwitchery to get your free trial of Audible, where you can download over 180,000 titles (including some narrated by Cory). Your purchases help support this show, and there’s no obligation to continue after the free trial

Episode 199 – Screen Time Spookiness

Summary:

We have a little spooky season fun and discuss some of our favorite recent films, shows, and even podcasts covering supernatural and folk horror!

Producer for this show:

Our Patreon supporter for this episode is UK listener Dave, who’s been with us since 2015! We bestow upon them the title of honorary “Black Shuck” for the episode, and leave out a heaping helping of our thanks (along with the requisite spectral kibble). Our immense appreciation goes out to Catherine, and to all of our listeners and supporters!

Play:

Play: Episode 199 – Screen Time Spookiness.mp3

Stream:

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We talk about a whole bevy of spooky media this time, including:

Films from A24 studios such as The Witch, Saint Maude, Midsommar, Hereditary, and The Lighthouse

Some 80s satanic panic sendup like The Babysitter and Satanic Panic (of course), as well as the Fear Street Trilogy from Netflix

The chilling slow-burn psychological and occult horror of films like It Follows, Get Out, As Above So Below, and A Dark Song

Some surprise indie scares like The Girl with All the Gifts and Sweetheart

Serialized spookiness (with a dash of silliness) from shows like The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Salem, Evil, and the family-oriented-but-VERY-witchy Disney show called The Owl House

And some horror-fan (and horror-fearing) podcasts like The Horror Virgin, Too Scary Didn’t Watch, Spook-O-Rama, and Watch if You Dare

You can now buy Cory’s book, New World Witchery: A Trove of North American Folk Magic! (also available from Amazon)

Image via Pixabay (Used under CC 2.0 License, modified by New World Witchery)

Promos and Music:

Title music is “Woman Blues,” by Paul Avgerinos. All music is licensed from Audio Socket.

Please consider supporting us by purchasing our promotional items in the New World Witchery Threadless shop or by joining our Patreon supporters.

If you like us AND you like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you will love our new show: Myth Taken: A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Podcast, now available through all the podcatchers!

Special Episode – Scairy Tales – Vasilisa the Beautiful

Summary:

We finish out our Scairy Tales for this year’s All Hallows’ Read by taking a trip (by way of flying mortar and pestle) to Russia, where we hear a tale of a girl, a witch, and a very helpful (if slightly terrifying) doll.

Producers for this show:

Abby, Achija Branvin Sionach, AromaG’s Botanica, AthenaBeth, Bagga Marsh, Benjamin, Breanna, Carol, Carole, Catherine, Christopher, ConjuredCardea, Daniel, Dave, Don, Donna, Erin, Griffin, Heather, Jen Rue of Rue & Hyssop, Jess, Jodi, John, Jonathan at the ModernSouthernPolytheist, Kristopher, Matthew Venus, Minimiel, Montine of Book of My Shadows, , Nikki, Payton, Sara, Scarlet Pirate, Staci, Stephanie, Ralph from the Holle’s Haven Podcast, Violet, and WisdomQueen (if we missed you this episode, we’ll make sure you’re in the next one!). Big thanks to everyone supporting us!

Special Episode Scairy Tales (All Hallows Read 2021)

Play:

Play: Special Episode – Scairy Tales – Vasilissa the Beautiful.mp3

Stream:

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Our theme this year is “Scairy Tales,” or the fairy tales that are a bit too dark to tell in the nursery (unless you’re trying to scare your supper like our rather wicked storyteller might). Some of the sources for these tales include:

The Complete Grimms’ Fairy Tales
Baba Yaga: The Wild Witch of the East in Russian Fairy Tales, edited by Sibelan Forrester
The Boy Who Drew Cats & Other Japanese Fairy Tales, by Lafcadio Hearn
Hans Christian Andersen’s Complete Fairy Tales

You can now buy Cory’s book, New World Witchery: A Trove of North American Folk Magic! (also available from Amazon)

Image via Canva (Used under License)

Promos and Music:

All music is licensed from Audio Socket. Artists include Delicate Noise, Mark Petrie, PHLYR/Jim Coleman, Shadowy Lines, Colin Scudder, Steve Barden, Human Factor, The Widow’s Bane, and Richard Ames.

Song “Shamisen,” by HexQ, used with permission of artist.

Please consider supporting us by purchasing our promotional items in the New World Witchery Threadless shop or by joining our Patreon supporters.

Special Episode – Scairy Tales – The Boy Who Drew Cats

Summary:

More spooky stories from the sinister Scairy Godparent this week! We tell the next All Hallows’ Read goodie, one from Japan about a boy who just can’t seem to stop drawing cats…and it may just save his life!

Producers for this show:

Play:

Play: Special Episode – Scairy Tales – The Boy Who Drew Cats

Stream:

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The Complete Grimms’ Fairy Tales
Baba Yaga: The Wild Witch of the East in Russian Fairy Tales, edited by Sibelan Forrester
The Boy Who Drew Cats & Other Japanese Fairy Tales, by Lafcadio Hearn
Hans Christian Andersen’s Complete Fairy Tales

You can now buy Cory’s book, New World Witchery: A Trove of North American Folk Magic! (also available from Amazon)

Image via Canva (Used under License)

Promos and Music:

Song “Shamisen,” by HexQ, used with permission of artist.

Please consider supporting us by purchasing our promotional items in the New World Witchery Threadless shop or by joining our Patreon supporters.

Special Episode – Scairy Tales – The Story of a Mother

Summary:

Your Scary Godparent brings you more wicked and woeful delights with the next tale in our All Hallows’ Read series. This time, we pull from the morbid pages of Hans Christian Andersen to share “The Story of a Mother”

Producers for this show:

Play:

Play: Special Episode – Scairy Tales – The Story of a Mother

Stream:

-Sources-

The Complete Grimms’ Fairy Tales
Baba Yaga: The Wild Witch of the East in Russian Fairy Tales, edited by Sibelan Forrester
The Boy Who Drew Cats & Other Japanese Fairy Tales, by Lafcadio Hearn
Hans Christian Andersen’s Complete Fairy Tales

You can now buy Cory’s book, New World Witchery: A Trove of North American Folk Magic! (also available from Amazon)

Image via Canva (Used under License)

Promos and Music:

Song “Shamisen,” by HexQ, used with permission of artist.

Please consider supporting us by purchasing our promotional items in the New World Witchery Threadless shop or by joining our Patreon supporters.

Special Episode – Scairy Tales – Three Army Surgeons

Summary:

We begin our descent into darkness for this year’s All Hallows’ Read with a tale from the Brothers Grimm: “The Three Army Surgeons.” Bwahahahaha!

Producers for this show:

Play:

Play: Special Episode – Scairy Tales – Three Army Surgeons

Stream:

-Sources-

The Complete Grimms’ Fairy Tales
Baba Yaga: The Wild Witch of the East in Russian Fairy Tales, edited by Sibelan Forrester
The Boy Who Drew Cats & Other Japanese Fairy Tales, by Lafcadio Hearn
Hans Christian Andersen’s Complete Fairy Tales

You can now buy Cory’s book, New World Witchery: A Trove of North American Folk Magic! (also available from Amazon)

Image via Canva (Used under License)

Promos and Music:

Song “Shamisen,” by HexQ, used with permission of artist.

Please consider supporting us by purchasing our promotional items in the New World Witchery Threadless shop or by joining our Patreon supporters.

Episode 154 – Halloween

Summary:

As the spooky season is upon us, Laine and Cory decide it’s time to put on our masks, grab our pillow cases, and head out to do some trick-or-treating. It’s Halloween on New World Witchery, where we discuss the origins of the holiday both historical and folklorical, the value of spookiness for kids, favorite Halloween movies and traditions, and why Laine gives out full bars on her doorstep.

Please check out our Patreon page! You can help support the show for as little as a dollar a month, and get some awesome rewards at the same time. Even if you can’t give, spread the word and let others know, and maybe we can make New World Witchery even better than it is now.

Producers for this show: Heather, WisdomQueen, Regina, Jen Rue of Rue & Hyssop, Little Wren, Khristopher, Tanner, Fergus from Queer as Folk Magic, Achija of Spellbound Bookbinding, Johnathan at the ModernSouthernPolytheist, Catherine, Patrick, Carole, Payton, Staci, Debra, Montine, Cynara at The Auburn Skye, WickedScense, Moma Sarah at ConjuredCardea, Jody, Josette, Clarissa, Leslie, Hazel, Amy, Victoria, Sherry, Tarsha, Jennifer, Clever Kim’s Curios, Donald, Bo, Drew, Jenni Love of Broom Book & Candle, & AthenaBeth. (if we missed you this episode, we’ll make sure you’re in the next one!). Big thanks to everyone supporting us!

Play:

Download: Episode 154 – Halloween

Play:

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Some excellent sources on the origins of our contemporary Halloween practices include Halloween, All Around the Year and New Old-Fashioned Ways, by Jack Santino, and Consumer Rites, by Leigh Eric Schmidt. Cory also turned to his Holidays, Festivals, & Celebrations of the World Dictionary, edited by Helene Henderson for some of the information he shared.

We also mention Jake Richards’s book Backwoods Witchcraft, which has information on apple-head dolls.

In the realm of video, Cory mentions the documentary Halloween in a Box about the making and marketing of plastic masks. He also espouses his love for the Garfield Halloween Adventure and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! They both discuss the Halloween-themed episodes of Bob’s Burgers and Gravity Falls as well.

Check out Cory’s town and the light kerfuffle over an IT-related prank, and learn more about the Teal Pumpkin Project.

Promotional image modified from image via Pixabay, public domain.

If you have feedback you’d like to share, email us or leave a comment. We’d love to hear from you!

Don’t forget to follow us at Twitter! And check out our Facebook page! For those who are interested, we also now have a page on Pinterest you might like, called “The Olde Broom.” You can follow us on Instagram or check out our new YouTube channel with back episodes of the podcast and new “Everyday Magic” videos, too (as well as most of our contest announcements)! Have something you want to say? Leave us a voice mail on our official NWW hotline: (442) 999-4824 (that’s 442-99-WITCH, if it helps).

Promos & Music

Title and closing music is “Homebound,” by Bluesboy Jag, and is used under license from Magnatune. Incidental Music is (Magnatune).

If you like us AND you like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you will love our new show: Myth Taken: A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Podcast, now available through all the podcatchers!

Special Episode – Weird Tales – The Night Wire

weird_tales_september_1926

Summary:

We begin our annual #AllHallowsRead episode series with “The Night Wire,” by H.F. Arnold. Our theme this year will be stories from the American horror/sci-fi magazine, Weird Tales, which published from the 1920s to the 1950s. This story features a very creepy fog and a very creeped-out telegraph operator.

Play:

Download: Special Episode – Weird Tales – The Night Wire

-Sources-

You can read the full text of “The Night Wire,” by H.F. Arnold. The story is listed as in the public domain.

Promos & Music

Intro music is “Grifos Muertos” by Jeffery Luck Lucas, from his album What We Whisper, used under license from Magnatune.com

Incidental music by DR (“Sedativa II”), Lucidique (“L’Horrible Passion”), and Canton (“Ambient Gourd”), which are used through Creative Commons license on SoundCloud.

Podcast Special – Pushed

SHOWNOTES FOR PODCAST SPECIAL – PUSHED

Summary
We begin our 2014 All Hallows Read scary story fest with this tale of bullying and revenge. Our focus this month is on urban legends, and be warned, things might get pretty scary.

Sources

I found versions of this urban legend here and here. The actual version I tell on the show is my own rendition of this story.

Play
Special Episode – Pushed