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In this episode of Let’s Talk Spooky, we explore four ships whose stories continue to drift through maritime history and folklore. These ships reveal how maritime disasters don’t always sink into history—they linger, resurface, and sometimes drift back into view.

SS Valencia (1906)

• Parks Canada — The Sinking of the SS Valencia
  Government overview of the disaster and its impact on marine safety
  https://www.canada.ca/en/parks-canada/news/2017/06/the_sinking_of_thessvalencia.html
  
  
• Maritime Museum of British Columbia — SS Valencia: A Theatre of Horror
  Artifact records and historical interpretation
  https://mmbc.bc.ca/exhibits/ss-valencia-a-theatre-of-horror/
  
  

SS Atlantic (1873)

• Library and Archives Canada — The Wreck of the Atlantic
  Archival documentation and historical context
  https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/Pages/ss-atlantic.aspx
  
  
• Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 — SS Atlantic Disaster
  Immigration history and survivor context
  https://pier21.ca/community-presents/ss-atlantic-immigrant-ship-disaster
  
  

Baychimo (Abandoned 1931)

• Manitoba Museum — Baychimo: The Adventures of the Ghost Ship of the Arctic
  Museum-based archival research and documented sightings
  https://manitobamuseum.ca/baychimo-the-adventures-of-the-ghost-ship-of-the-arctic/
  
  
• Canada’s History — S.S. Baychimo Icebound
  Historical summary grounded in documented events
  https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/transportation/s-s-baychimo-icebound
  
  

Pass of Melfort

• Heritage BC — Pass of Melfort Submerged Heritage Record
  Official wreck record and site documentation
  https://heritagebc.ca/submerged-heritage-resource/pass-of-melfort/
  
  
• Wrecksite.eu — Pass of Melfort
  Maritime registry data and loss details
  https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?167255=
  
  

🎧 Content Note

This episode blends documented maritime history with regional folklore and later retellings. Where stories move beyond archival evidence, they are presented as cultural responses to loss and danger along Canada’s coast.

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In 1863, the quiet fishing village of Sandy Cove was forever changed by a single, unsettling discovery.

Along the rocky shoreline, locals found a young man sitting alone on the beach—both of his legs freshly amputated, his clothes still fine, his expression calm but distant. When asked who he was or how he came to be there, he spoke only one word:

“Jerome.”

Over the next fifty years, Jerome would become one of Atlantic Canada’s most enduring mysteries. He lived out his life moving between homes and institutions across Nova Scotia, refusing to explain his past, lashing out violently when pressed, and guarding his silence with almost supernatural determination.

Was Jerome a sailor punished for mutiny? A political exile from Europe? A victim of organized crime—or a man deliberately erased? Sources & Further Reading- Primary & Historical Sources

• Mooney Jr., Fraser. Jerome: Solving the Mystery of Nova Scotia’s Silent Castaway. Nimbus Publishing.
• Digby County historical records and oral histories
• 19th-century Nova Scotia newspaper accounts documenting Jerome’s discovery and later life

Secondary & Folklore Sources

• Nova Scotia Archives – regional medical and institutional records
• Local histories of Digby Neck and the Annapolis Basin
• Maritime folklore collections documenting oral traditions surrounding Jerome

Online & Reference Materials

• Canadian Museum of History – regional folklore archives
• Nova Scotia Museum – coastal community history resources
• Encyclopedic entries and historical summaries on the Jerome of Sandy Cove case

Episode Links-

https://spotifycreators-web.app.link/e/NgYX0NnAXZb

https://spotifycreators-web.app.link/e/10mSdwwAXZb

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New Orleans has always belonged to the night.

In this episode of Let’s Talk Spooky, we step into the gas-lit streets of the French Quarter to uncover the vampire legends that took root in the city’s earliest days—where European superstition, colonial fear, and scandal blurred the line between myth and history.

We trace how Old World vampire folklore crossed the Atlantic and embedded itself in New Orleans, shaping burial customs, whispered convent legends, and tales of blood-drinking figures who walked openly among society. From the unsettling story of the Carter Brothers to the infamous legend of Jacques St. Germain, these vampires were not creatures of castles—but of parties, parlors, and disappearing acts.

This episode explores how fear of the undead reflected real historical anxieties about death, disease, and identity in one of America’s most haunted cities—and why New Orleans remains inseparable from vampire lore to this day.

Pour yourself a drink, lock the doors, and walk with us into the dark.

📚 Sources & Further Reading

Historical & Folklore Sources

• Davis, Wade. Passage of Darkness: The Ethnobiology of the Haitian Zombie. University of North Carolina Press.
• Barber, Paul. Vampires, Burial, and Death: Folklore and Reality. Yale University Press.
• Summers, Montague. The Vampire: His Kith and Kin. 1928.
• Lecouteux, Claude. The Return of the Dead: Ghosts, Ancestors, and the Transparent Veil of the Pagan Mind.

New Orleans–Specific Sources

• Kendall, John S. History of New Orleans. Lewis Publishing Company.
• Campanella, Richard. The West Bank of Greater New Orleans: A Historical Geography.
• New Orleans Historic Collection (archival essays and folklore references)
• French Quarter historical walking-tour records and preserved oral histories

Jacques St. Germain & Vampire Lore

• Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters.
• Ellis, Bill. Lucifer Ascending: The Occult in Folklore and Popular Culture.
• Contemporary newspaper accounts referenced in late-19th-century New Orleans archives

Cultural & Pop Culture Context

• Skal, David J. V Is for Vampire: An A to Z Guide to Everything Undead.
• Nina Auerbach. Our Vampires, Ourselves. University of Chicago Press.

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Until next time…

🖤 Stay Spooky

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Long before Dracula, Ireland was already telling stories of the dead who refused to stay buried.

In this episode of Let’s Talk Spooky, we explore ancient Irish vampire lore—legends of revenants, blood-drinking dead, and cursed burials rooted in fear, famine, and unresolved death. From the tragic tale of the Dearg-Due to the violent legend of Abhartach, these stories reveal a darker understanding of the undead, where vampires were not romantic outsiders, but neighbors, rulers, and lovers.

These early Irish legends would go on to shape many of the vampire-slaying traditions found across Europe, leaving behind a legacy of fear, ritual, and ancient hunger.

Sources & Further Reading

• Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí. Myth, Legend and Romance: An Encyclopaedia of the Irish Folk Tradition.
• Barber, Paul. Vampires, Burial, and Death: Folklore and Reality.
• Ellis, Peter Berresford. The Mammoth Book of Celtic Myths and Legends.
• National Folklore Collection (Dúchas.ie), University College Dublin
• Geoffrey Keating. Foras Feasa ar Éirinn (17th century)

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Long before Christmas became a season of comfort and light, midwinter was a time of hunger, fear, and moral reckoning. Across Europe, stories emerged of creatures who roamed during the longest nights—watching households, judging behavior, and punishing those who failed to prepare for the harshness of winter.

In this episode of Let’s Talk Spooky, we explore the folklore of three of the most unsettling Christmas figures: Grýla, her monstrous companion Yule Cat, and the Alpine enforcer Krampus. We also examine the darker legends surrounding Saint Nicholas, including the infamous tale of the pickled children—revealing how fear, morality, and survival shaped early holiday storytelling.

These were not stories meant to entertain. They were warnings. And in the depths of winter, they mattered.

📚 Sources & Further Reading

• Árni Björnsson, Icelandic Folklore and Legends
• National Museum of Iceland – Grýla and Yule Cat folklore resources
• Encyclopedia Britannica – Entries on Grýla, Yule Cat, and Alpine winter traditions
• History.com – The History of Krampus, the Christmas Demon
• Jacob Grimm, Teutonic Mythology
• Ronald Hutton, Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain
• Catholic Encyclopedia – St. Nicholas traditions and hagiography
• The British Library – Medieval saints’ legends and moral folklore
• Valancourt Books – The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories (contextual winter folklore parallels)

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Long before the Twelve Days of Christmas became a cheerful song, they were feared.

In this episode of Let’s Talk Spooky, we explore the ancient folklore surrounding the Twelve Days — a liminal stretch of time between Christmas and Epiphany when the boundaries between the living and the dead were believed to weaken. Across Europe, people feared that spirits roamed freely, animals spoke, omens appeared, and the Wild Hunt rode through winter storms.

Drawing from Germanic, Norse, Alpine, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh traditions, this episode examines why silence, restraint, and ritual protection were believed to be essential for survival during midwinter. From ancestral spirits returning home, to dangerous thresholds and supernatural processions, the Twelve Days were not meant to be celebrated — they were meant to be endured.

Because when the year was dying, and the new one had not yet begun, people believed the world was listening.

📚 Sources & Further Reading

Primary & Scholarly Sources

• Ronald Hutton, The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain
• Jacob Grimm, Teutonic Mythology
• Katharine Briggs, An Encyclopedia of Fairies
• Alexander Carmichael, Carmina Gadelica
• Claude Lecouteux, Phantoms of the Night: Spirits, Ghosts, and the Devil in Medieval Thought
• Claude Lecouteux, The Return of the Dead: Ghosts, Ancestors, and the Transparent Veil of the Pagan Mind

Regional Folklore & Traditions

• Germanic Rauhnächte traditions
• Norse Yule and winter spirit beliefs
• Irish and Scottish Twelve Days superstitions
• Welsh midwinter customs and spirit lore
• Alpine Wild Hunt and winter processions

Additional References

• British Library folklore archives
• National Folklore Collection of Ireland
• Scandinavian folk belief records (18th–19th c.)
• Church prohibitions against midwinter folk practices

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They came singing.

They came smiling.

And sometimes… they came to kill.

In this episode of Let’s Talk Spooky, we step into the dark side of a tradition meant to spread cheer. From ancient winter rituals and threatening songs to Victorian-era fear tactics and modern urban legends, we explore the unsettling history of Christmas caroling—and the moments when those voices at the door were anything but welcome.

Caroling wasn’t always harmless. In some places, it was loud, aggressive, and dangerous. In others, it became a mask for violence, home invasion, and terror hidden behind song.

So if you hear singing outside your door tonight…

You may want to think twice before answering.

Source Material & Further Reading

This episode draws on historical folklore research, social history, and cultural analysis, including:

Ronald Hutton, The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain

Jacqueline Simpson & Steve Roud, A Dictionary of English Folklore

BBC Culture, “The Dark Origins of Christmas Carols”

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20141219-the-dark-origins-of-carols

The British Library, “Christmas in Victorian Britain”

https://www.bl.uk/victorian-britain/articles/christmas-in-victorian-britain

Old Bailey Online, historical records of public disorder and group violence

https://www.oldbaileyonline.org

Jan Harold Brunvand, The Vanishing Hitchhiker

Atlas Obscura, articles on dark holiday traditions

https://www.atlasobscura.com

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Victorian England may be remembered for its carols, holly, and festive cheer—but beneath the flickering glow of candlelight, Christmas was once the season for ghosts. In this chilling holiday episode, we delve into the forgotten tradition of telling supernatural tales on Christmas Eve, long before Halloween claimed the spotlight.

We delve into the Dickens-era fascination with spirits and the supernatural, unraveling why Victorians believed the veil thinned during midwinter. We also travel through some of the era’s eeriest Christmas hauntings, including the classic tale of The Phantom Coach and a final, haunting encounter with The Lady in Black.

Blending historical commentary, folklore, and immersive narrative storytelling, this episode reveals the darker side of Christmas that Victorian families once gathered around the fire to hear. So grab your mulled wine, settle into the lamplight, and journey with us into a winter world where the shadows are long, and the spirits still wander.

Stay curious, stay spooky—and happy haunted holidays.

Condensed Source Breakdown — Haunted Victorian ChristmasHistory.com – “The Forgotten Tradition of Christmas Ghost Stories”

Used for background on why Victorians told ghost stories at Christmas, the connection to older midwinter beliefs, and the decline of the tradition in the 20th century.

Used for context on Dickens’ influence on Christmas ghost storytelling and the popularity of serialized supernatural tales during the Victorian era.

Primary source for the mid-episode narrative retelling and an example of a classic Victorian Christmas ghost story.

Used to support atmospheric details, cultural customs, and inspiration for the final “Lady in Black” narrative.

Used to frame Victorian interest in the supernatural and explain the popularity of ghost stories during the holiday season.

Charles Dickens & Victorian Ghost Fiction J. Sheridan Le Fanu – “The Phantom Coach” (1864) General Victorian Folklore & Winter Hauntings Background on the 19th-Century Spiritualist Movement