Icy Sedgwick's Blog

Menorca is one of the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. Well-known for a huge collection of megaliths, Menorca has seen human activity since the prehistoric era. This period was the Talayotic period, which lasted until 123 BCE. The island fell under Roman occupation, Vandal conquest, the Byzantine Empire, and, centuries later, British occupation. It […]

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Perhaps most famous as the home of the druids, Ynys Môn, also known as Anglesey, occupies 275 square miles just off the north Wales coast. It is an ancient place. Archaeologists found Neolithic settlements at Llanfaethlu, making these some of the oldest villages in Wales. The Neolithic Castell Bryn Gwyn site remained in use until […]

The post Anglesey Folklore: Witches, Ghosts, and Ancient Druids appeared first on Icy Sedgwick.

Drake’s Island sits in Plymouth Sound, around 500 m from the mainland. The island is just 6.5 acres, and around 250 yards wide at its broadest point. You can reach the island by boat in 10 minutes. Its name refers to Sir Francis Drake, a problematic figure often lauded for his circumnavigation efforts. Much of […]

The post Legends of Drake’s Island: Tunnels, Ghosts, and a White Lady appeared first on Icy Sedgwick.

Today marks All Saints’ Day, also known as All Hallows’ Day or the Feast of All Hallows. That’s why Hallowe’en is called that – it’s All Hallow’s Eve. The day celebrates saints, but the far more interesting day for folklore is tomorrow – All Souls’ Day. All Souls’ Day marks remembrance of the dead, whether […]

The post Listener Supernatural Experiences Part 4 appeared first on Icy Sedgwick.

If I ask you to think of a famous haunted house, will your mind wander to a white Dutch Colonial house, with quarter-round windows lit from within to look like red eyes? Yes? Then the reputation of 112 Ocean Avenue has done its work, aided and abetted by The Amityville Horror. Even if that wasn’t […]

The post How do we understand the reputation of the Amityville Horror House? appeared first on Icy Sedgwick.

The Palazzo Ducale dominates the view as your vaporetto approaches the San Marco stop. The huge building is an example of Venetian Gothic architecture, all pointed arches and quatrefoils. It’s hard to believe that two prisons lie within its bulk, with a third inside the pristine white building alongside it. Tourists might be the only […]

The post Just How Bad were the Prisons of the Doge’s Palace? appeared first on Icy Sedgwick.

If you’ve ever read any Charles Dickens novels, especially Great Expectations, then you’ll have run into Newgate Prison. The hulking, notorious jail loomed large in London’s history before its demolition in 1902. While accurate execution statistics are difficult to find, there’s a suggestion that over 1000 people faced capital punishment at the prison between 1790 […]

The post Newgate Prison: Novels, Escapees, and Dreadful Conditions appeared first on Icy Sedgwick.

Bedlam, or Bethlem Royal Hospital to give it its full name, is actually the world’s oldest psychiatric institution. It began life in 1247 in the Priory of St Mary of Bethlehem, which stood where we now find Liverpool Street Station. Yet the hospital has inspired a range of books, films, and TV series. Its infamous […]

The post How did popular culture add to Bedlam’s fearsome reputation? appeared first on Icy Sedgwick.

Foxes appear in literature and legend across the world. Look at Brer Fox in the American South. In Rebel Folklore, I discussed the Jiuwei Hu of China, or nine-tailed fox, who drains men of their life force. Korea’s kumiho is a similar spirit, while Japan has the supernatural fox spirit, the kitsune. Scholar Al-Biruni, magician […]

The post Foxes in Folk Tales: From Aesop to Reynard appeared first on Icy Sedgwick.

A young man sits opposite Poppy on the train, a large folder open on his lap. Poppy tries hard not to stare at him, but his old-fashioned grey three-piece suit keeps catching her eye. A poppy rests in his buttonhole, even though it is far from Remembrance Day, and a grey bowler hat sits on […]

The post Flash Fiction – Life Song appeared first on Icy Sedgwick.