Weird Christmas Podcast

Benito and I discuss the traditions surrounding the Mari Lwyd, getting into similarities with other European wassailing and hobby horse traditions. A recording of the Mari Lwyd rhyme in action by the BBC. Benito's Links: Benito's Christmas history videos Benito's writing at Gumroad Apocrypals podcast Friends ‘Till the End podcast Progressively Horrified Music: "Here Comes the Mari Lwyd" by The Eugenes "Mari Lwyd" by Colorama If you're feeling generous, you can leave a donation at Ko-Fi.com. It's probably Christmas-time (ish) when you're reading this, so remember the spirit of the season is giving. And I'm trying not to turn on the guilt machine, but I would like to pay my hosting fees. heh heh Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I'll send you a sticker!

SURPRISE CHRISTMAS IN JULY PODCAST! I never quite got this show finished during the season, so my humble apologies. All is now well. Thank you to Meghan Arcuri for talking to me about Charlotte Riddell! Her collection of Riddell's stories will be out very soon. And here are some links to her work, which I encourage everyone to check out: A Little Purple Book of Sharp Wit by Charlotte Riddel, ed. Meghan Arcuri Arcuri's stories: “Because You're Mine” “Green with Hunger” “Am I Missing the Sunlight” in Borderlands 7 Her bio: Meghan Arcuri is a Bram Stoker Award®-nominated author. Her work can be found in various anthologies, including Borderlands 7 (Borderlands Press), Madhouse (Dark Regions Press), Chiral Mad, and Chiral Mad 3 (Written Backwards). She is currently the Vice President of the Horror Writers Association. Prior to writing, she taught high school math, having earned her B.A. from Colgate University—with a double major in mathematics and English—and her masters from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She lives with her family in New York's Hudson Valley. Please visit her at meghanarcuri.com, facebook.com/meg.arcuri, or on Twitter (@MeghanArcuri). Readers who were so gracious and generous with their time this year, as well as being totally patient and not complaining at all when I ghosted them: Tessa Dustin Pari Ileana Reyes Charles Gillingham Jenny Rowe Tony Dixon Seb Tim Hulsizer Amy Jessamy Thomison Bumper music for this episode: Usual opening: “O Holy Night” by Tiny Tim, “Christmas Doesn't Last” by Make Like Monkeys, “Santa Claus Boogie” by Hasil Adkins, “Space Age Santa” by Ross Christman Featured opening/bumper: “Bad Boy Naturally” by Make Like Monkeys Bumper/closing: “Christmas in July” by the Brutalligators Spooky piano Christmas music (as always) by Myuu. If you're feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a “coffee” ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com. Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I'll send you a sticker!

I chat with Thomas Ruys Smith, editor of Christmas Past: An Anthology of Seasonal Stories from Nineteenth Century America and Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of East Anglia. Links from the show: Christmas Past: An Anthology of Seasonal Stories from Nineteenth Century America [publisher] [Amazon] Thomas Ruys Smith's author website Bumper music: Usual opening: “O Holy Night” by Tiny Tim, “Christmas Doesn't Last” by Make Like Monkeys, “Santa Claus Boogie” by Hasil Adkins, “Space Age Santa” by Ross Christman Featured opening/bumper: "Christmas Past" by Holodelic Bumper/closing: "American Christmas" by Chris Dudley If you're feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a “coffee” ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com. Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I'll send you a sticker!

It's out later than I would have preferred, but like the inevitability of New Year's following Christmas, it is here. To read the stories, get bio information and links on the authors, and for all other show notes, please check out WeirdChristmas.com. Results: Overall Winner: “The Fight” by Elizabeth Guilt “Weird Cards” Category Winner: “If the Suit Fits” by Michelle Christophorou “There Was a Man Dwelt by a Churchyard” Category Winner: “A Churchyard Carol” by Dan Fields “Stocking Stuffer” Category Winner: “The Power of Presents and Spidersilk” by Daniel Ausema Honorable Mention (in no particular order): “The Second Coming” — Michelle Christophorou “Married to Christmas” — Dustin Pari “The Christmas Room” — J.D. Wilson “Saving Cinterland” — JJ Mokrezewski “The Messenger” — Jens Hieber “A Christmas Burial” — Gary Ballard “Spirits of Christmas” — D.P. Blanchard “A lock of hair, a baby tooth, a toenail” — Eleanor Luke “Red Nose” — Thomas Lawrance “The Last Holiday” — John Wolf “It's the Most Dreadful Time of the Year” — Paul Lewthwaite “How Santa Got Schooled” — Kate Sherrod “O Holey Night” — John Possidente “The Yew's Embrace” — Jen Rowe “War's End” — Adam Gottfried “Carton Holiday” — Ibiteye Overcomer “Christmas Spirits” — Laurie Peterson “Piss Pistol” — Brandon Case “Grandpa?” — Jonathan Saint Please help support the contest, the podcast, and Weird Christmas website by buying a “coffee” (a gift in increments of $3) at Ko-Fi.com (click here). For even more support, please consider joining my Patreon page (click here) where for $2 or $5/month, you'll have access to extra content and bonuses like physical postcards mailed throughout the year. With more support, I can offer more and bigger prizes for the contest next year. A big thank you to my volunteer readers this season: my work buddy Lisa and LW Salinas (@sithwitch), both of whom stepped in at the very last second. Otherwise, almost all the authors wanted to read their own work this year, which was fun! Bumper music: Usual opening: “O Holy Night” by Tiny Tim, “Christmas Doesn't Last” by Make Like Monkeys, “Santa Claus Boogie” by Hasil Adkins, “Space Age Santa” by Ross Christman Special opening: “A Little Too Late for Christmas” by The Crux Outro: "White Christmas" by the Ventures Bumpers: here, here, here, here, here, lots of dark piano Christmas music and Theramin stuff. Contest results from previous years: 2020, 2019, 2018.

Talking with Christopher Philippo, editor of Volumes 4 and 5 of the Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories. Chris' Goodreads site Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories, Volume 4 (the American stories) [Amazon] Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories, Volume 5 [Amazon] Links to the poems and other goodies from the show are at WeirdChristmas.com. If you're feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a “coffee” ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com. Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I'll send you a sticker!

Al Ridenour is back after talking to us last year about Krampus, but this time to help unpack the lore and traditions around the Perchten, Krampus-esque goblin-ish creatures tied to both Krampus and Frau Perchta. Links mentioned on the episode: Bone and Sickle Podcast Ep. 80 "America and the Old, Dark Christmas" Ep. 58 "The Hellish Harlequin: Phantom Hordes to Father Christmas" Ep. 38 "Frau Perchta the Belly-Slitter" Ep. 17 "Christmas Ghosts" Ep. 15 "Saint, Devil, Sugar-Bread, & Whip: Krampus and Nicholas" Al Ridenour's page Book The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas by Al Ridenour (link from the publisher) Bumper music: Usual opening: “O Holy Night” by Tiny Tim, “Christmas Doesn't Last” by Make Like Monkeys, “Santa Claus Boogie” by Hasil Adkins, “Space Age Santa” by Ross Christman Special opening: "Kramperl, Kramperl, Besenstiel" by Die Pagger Buam Bumper/Closing: "Frau Perchta" by Waldtraene If you're feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a “coffee” ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com. Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I'll send you a sticker!

Happy Thanksgiving! We dive deep into the history of Christmas murder ballads with my friend (and cohost from the ReReading Wolfe Podcast) James Wynn. I'll get links to all the songs from the episode up here shortly. But for now, here are links for James: ReReading Wolfe Podcast RRW on Twitter Our Xmas episodes of RRWolfe: 2020 (we discuss 3 stories), 2019 (we read one story) Bumper music: Usual opening: "O Holy Night" by Tiny Tim, "Christmas Doesn't Last" by Make Like Monkeys, "Santa Claus Boogie" by Hasil Adkins, "Space Age Santa" by Ross Christman Special opening: "Joy to the World" by John Fahey Closing: "Stagger Lee" by Grateful Dead If you're feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a “coffee” ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com. Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I'll send you a sticker!

La Befana, Perchta, Holda, and so many more! We chat with the always encyclopedic Benito Cereno about all the Christmas witch folklore in Christmas history.   Links:   Benito's Christmas history videos Benito's writing at Gumroad Apocrypals podcast Friends 'Till the End podcast Progressively Horrified   Music:   "La Befana" by Make Like Monkeys "Perchta" by The Champagne Drops "Christmas Witch" by ChatterBox "The Christmas Witch" by CountD If you're feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a "coffee" ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com. Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I'll send you a sticker!  

Full text of all the winners are at WeirdChristmas.com along with bios, information, and links for all the authors. All fiction copyright 2020 by the authors. Please visit WeirdChristmas.com for full information.

Sometimes when you have a podcast, you talk to people who interest you and you don't worry so much about how it relates to the show or your topic or what your hard-won audience really cares about. So you put out a show that's all about really, really narrow interests you have. This is half that. The other half is about an amazing book about whether or not you should believe in Santa. Links from the show: Does Santa Exist: A Philosophical Investigation (buy on Amazon) Eric's blog Eric's Wikipedia page…because that's cool Eric on Twitter (which is loads of fun) I'm sure I forgot something Music from this episode: “Science Christmas Carols” “A Christmas Carol” by Tom Lehrer >>>>> If you're feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a “coffee” ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com. Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I'll send you a sticker!

“…And scary ghost stories of Christmasses long, long ago!” Ghost stories from previous years if you're in a spooky mood: 2019, 2018, 2017 Next year, we should break open this boys' club with a tale from this… Links from the show: Full text of the story, “Between the Lights” A bit about Benson Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories, Vol. 4 by Christopher Philippo. Our narrators this year: Christohper Stanley (@allthosestrings, author of The Lamppost Huggers which has a a couple Xmas ghost stories of its own) Kitty Pereira (@itskittypereira) Sean from Xmas Podcasts Podcast Jim Moon of Hypnogoria (loads more ghost stories here), who also helped us out last year Alexandra White (@alexandradw23) OldManFreakBoy (Check out his radio shows of Christmas music here: 1, 2, 3, 4. Dr. Calighoulie (Tony Dixon, IG: @tonydixon_art) Kristy Smith (Twitter/IG: @kristynotkirsty, FB: @kristynotkirsty74) fthgurdy Dustin Pari (@dustinpari, DustinPari.com, Ghosthunters guy.) Fr. Stephen Vrazel (@KeytarCatholic) >>>>> If you're feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a “coffee” ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com. Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I'll send you a sticker!

Time to destroy your appetite! I talk to Glen Warren from the Season's Eatings Podcast about weird Christmas food throughout history. Links: Season's Eatings Podcast List of Christmas Podcasts (from Brian Earl's Christmas Past) Holly Jolly Xmasu (Japanese Christmas music podcast) Totally Rad Christmas ("Rudolph's Shiny New Year" episode with me) The Lamppost Huggers by Christopher Stanley (some Christmas horror stories) Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories, vol 4 edited by Christopher Philippo Music in this episode: "Christmas Food" by Idito the Chicken and Moonpie Nobot >>>>> If you're feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a “coffee” ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com. Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I'll send you a sticker!

As a Thanksgiving treat, enjoy a deep dive down the rabbit hole of Santa history with Tom Jerman, author of Santa Claus Worldwide: A History of St. Nicholas and Other Holiday Gift-Bringers. This is my favorite book of Santa history, and Tom and I covered a lot of ground. Links mentioned in the show: Buy the book! From Amazon From McFarland Publishers Tom's new website A Collection of Santas with new blog posts summarizing topics in Santa history and other treats. Books mentioned: The Children's Friend (1821) Irving's Knickerbocker's History of New York (later version) Glen Warren's Season's Eatings Podcast Music from the episode: "Sankt Niklas war ein Seemann" - Freddy Quinn "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" - Wilf Carter "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" - Chadron Polka Band If you're feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a “coffee” ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com. Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I'll send you a sticker!

I'm not usually your go-to source for new movies. But this one is worth your time. The Christmas Ride is a mumblecore (improvised dialogue) film about a ride share driver getting an emotional gut punch on Christmas day. I talked to the producer/director Stefanie Davis, and I hope you'll check it out. Here's the trailer for a taste: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y45euwomp9g&t You can stream it from Amazon (free with Prime) and Vimeo: Stream from Amazon Prime Watch on Vimeo ($4.99 right now...help an indie movie out!) Cool people! Starring Daryen Ratté Writer/Producer/Director Stefanie Davis Bouncy Boxer Media The film's twitter Slacker (Craig's favorite old "mumblecore" movie) Music: "This Christmas Life" by Shane Dawson "Christmas Around the World" by Be Still This Earth And the promo was for Holly Jolly Xmasu -- a podcast all about Japanese Christmas music. You'll be hearing more from Scott soon. :) If you're feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a "coffee" ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com. Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I'll send you a sticker!

Krampus. Seems like I should have done a show on Krampus years ago, but I was waiting for the right person. And that person is Al Ridenour, author of The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas: Roots and Rebirth of the Folkloric Devil. This is the definitive book on Krampus, and Al fills us in on all the history and celebrations we could want. Links mentioned in the show: The book: The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas Bone & Sickle (Al's podcast) The Krampus episode (Saint, Devil, Sugar-Bread & Whip) Music: Carol of the Krampus by The Courtesan and the Cabin Boy If you're feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year.

Christmas werewolves are a thing. I mean, I don't know if they're REAL real. But people really used to believe they were a thing. So Christmas expert Benito Cereno fills us in on their history Benito's been on the show before, talking about Christmas comics and the Yule Lads. Links mentioned in the show: Benito's werewolf Christmas story, "Two Gifts" Benito's YouTube channel Lives of St. Barbara and St. Nicholas Celebrating St. Nicholas Around the World and more... Apocrypals podcast Benito's site Bone & Sickle Podcast (episode 30: Loup-Garou, Werewolves in France) Music this episode: "Werewolf Christmas" by Timur and the Dime Museum "Werewolf in Christmas Past" by Max Dimartino, Lee Lacey "Meido Krampus Noche" by The Courtesan and the Cabin Boy And check out the Merry Britsmas podcast for all your British Christmas needs! If you're feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year.  

The first podcast episode of the 2020 {shiver} season. We do a bit of deep diving into the world of Halloween postcard collecting which, if you follow me on social media, you know is a small obsession of mine. Eric Hinton runs Halloween Postcards and has collected all, yes, ALL of the Halloween postcards printed before World War 2. We wander around some of the stranger examples and figure out what goes on in the musty corners of our collector-type-brains. This episode has a video version as well so you can see the cards we're talking about. Head over to my youtube channel here. Bumper music: "Happy Christmahanavaloween" by Melanie "Horror Flick" by Make Like Monkeys If you're feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year.

A talk with Brad Warner, author of the new book Letters to a Dead Friend About Zen. How Buddhism can help calm holiday stress, and just stuff about Brad and Zen in general.

What do we know about Christmas during the Middle Ages? Turns out it's kinda hard to find very much information. I talk to two medievalists, Misty Schieberle and Scott Smith, who help me trace what few mentions of Christmas there are in the English tradition.

The 2019 Weird Christmas ghost story is "The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance" by M. R. James. I also get some help with background on James and Punch and Judy puppet shows (which show up in the story) from Jim Moon of the Hypnogoria Podcast.

Weird Christmas talks to the indie music blog Christmas Underground about the world of Christmas mixes and how he finds great, unknown Christmas music all year long.

The annual Weird Christmas Flash Fiction show with the results of the 2019 contest. Fourteen odd stories of Christmas uncanniness to get you out of that holiday spirit. Find the full text of all the stories along with author bios and their contact info at WeirdChristmas.com.

Who are the Yule Lads, and why does Iceland have a bunch of trolls instead of Santa Claus? I talk to author Heidi Herman and Christmas expert Benito Cereno about where the legends of the Yule Lads came from and how they're celebrated today. (Next show is the contest results show...almost there!)

Bonus episode with Brian Earl of Christmas Past, Tim Babb of Can't Wait for Christmas, and Richard Parks III of Richard's Famous Food Podcast. This one's brought to you by the Christmas Podcast Network. We talk about Christmas pickles. Are they a "thing"? Well, that's what the show is about.

I chat with film critic Alonso Duralde about his book Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas, especially the chapter about the worst Christmas movies ever made. We discuss the Mexican film _Santa Claus_ (1959), the 70's gay bar flick _Some of My Best Friends Are..._, and the inexplicable _Magic Christmas Tree_. Lots of other good suggestions along the way.

Craig Kringle talks with Linda Raedisch about Christmas elves, winter and solstice folklore surrounding fairies and elves, and even a bit of Halloween talk. Check the full show notes at WeirdChristmas.com as well as Linda's book _The Lore of Old Elfland."

Weird Christmas Podcast #17, a discussion of Halloween History with Lisa Morton. We discuss her three books about the history of Halloween along with talk of old forgotten Halloween traditions, such as youth riots and fortune telling with cabbages and kale. I also mention a site with tons of great Halloween postcards: https://vintagehalloweencards.blogspot.com/

A bonus summer episode! Professor (and Sir) Colin Humphreys of Cambridge discusses the evidence putting Christmas in the spring or summer rather than December. And...I plug my new Patreon site where you can get episodes all year round. (And there's a longer version of THIS VERY EPISODE at Patreon.com/weirdchristmas with 45 more minutes of weirdness!)

Weird Christmas explores the Christmas offerings of Mystery Science Theater 3000, Rifftrax, and Cinematic Titanic with Rifftrax writer Connor Lastowka.

The results show from the 2018 Weird Christmas Flash Fiction contest. 12 very, very short stories that will make you laugh, cringe, and fear Santa.

I talk to author Linda Raedisch about her book The Old Magic of Christmas: Yuletide Traditions for the Darkest Days of the Year. We discuss ancient pagan rituals, legends, and stories from pagan old Europe.

Why did Victorian England love Christmas ghost stories? Why does Andy Williams sing about them? Why is Algernon Blackwood's "A Kit Bag" so freakin' awesome? Why did so many people volunteer to read for me? Why did an actual scholar (Tara Moore) come on this obscure podcast?

Weird Christmas Podcast #11. A discussion with Benito Cereno about the unlikely world of Christmas and comic books.

Weird Christmas is part of a new thing: the Christmas Podcast Network. So this is a sampler of a bunch of the things you can find there. Different shows, different voices, and all in one place

How many Christmas carols are actually about Halloween? Or vice versa? However many there are, they aren't very good...with a couple of exceptions.

Talking about the underground world of Christmas music collectors with Mitchell Kezin, the director of Jingle Bell Rocks!, a documentary about people who hunt for the best and strangest Christmas music all year long.

All of HP Lovecraft's Christmas Poetry, with only minor bits of mind-bending terror. And his one "Christmas" story read by WC listeners, who are all awesome!

In this episode, I delive into the world of shamanism, magic mushrooms, and Santa Claus. Travel with me on a trip to strange holiday destinations!

Christmas songs full of the best tradition of the season: drinking! Country misery, drunk singing, and, believe it or not, some actually good stuff this time. But still weird.

Episode #5 of the Weird Christmas Podcast! Kicking off the 2017 Christmas season talking to Joanna Wilson, author of numerous books about Christmas tv. She gives some excellent recommendations to keep your holiday viewing weird.

SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE! Join the Weird Christmas Podcast and six other podcasts for a multi-part holiday special retelling of the story "The House of Seven Santas." If you want to start from the beginning, check out the Christmas Past Podcast at http://christmaspastpodcast.com/.

It's the first episode of 2017 for Weird Christmas! I'm confused about Thanksgiving! I don't know what the hell it means!

Weird Christmas' science fiction extravaganza! Santa on the moon, Mars, rockets, your bachelor pad, and a bit of theramin for fun. Noel!

The Weird Christmas Annoying Music Show. A variety of some of the strangest, most annoying Christmas music available. Check out WeirdChristmas.com for all the details.

The first episode of the Weird Christmas podcast where we find all the strangest vintage, musical, and historical things about your favorite holidays. All the stuff I talk about there like WeirdChristmas.com, an email, etc....yeah, that's all been going on for a couple of years now. Heh heh...