The marabou stork defies expectations - rather than being an elegant wading bird associated with life, they feast on rotting carrion and have an inflatable pink air sac that acts as a resonator for their croaking! More #weirdnature at...

Bali's Tanah Lot is a sea temple built on a rock formation just off the coast. Legend has it that a great serpent once called the outcrop home - and sacred (but deadly) krait still inhabit the caves below! For more strange #snake dens...

Yorkshire's "Mother Shipton" lived in a cave with a skull-shaped pool, concocted herbal remedies and had a brief marriage that ended in her husband's untimely death. She's also said to have predicted the Great Fire of London and the Spanish Armada! #WyrdWednesday

GOTHIC REVELRY Bats and fairies indulge in some nocturnal revelry and dancing in these gothic works by lesser-known women artists. Hilda Hechle 1902-1938 'A Moonlight Phantasy' and Florence Vernon 1871-1905 'The Fairy Haunt'. #MythologyMonday

Many European folktales warn of midnight balls where the dancers are not entirely human. Music plays, partners whirl, and something feels just slightly wrong beneath the beauty. #MythologyMonday Art: Gustave Dore

Folklore suggests stepping into a fairy ring (circle of mushrooms) is a bad idea. Those who entered could be forced to dance for years... and in some cases, crumbled to dust when rescued! #mythologymonday

Black Annis was said to haunt the wooded Dane Hills of Leicester, springing from tree branches to rend human and animal prey with iron fingernails... or even reaching through windows to snatch the unwary! #Folklore #Forest

Did you know that binding books in human skin is called anthropodermic bibliopegy? Examples of these grim tomes can be found in England's Bristol, Scotland's Edinburgh and (until 2024) America's Harvard University... #Weird #Remains

"When a west country witch wishes to draw to her spirit forces... she makes use of a wind roarer... Little wonder that the spirits come flocking in to see what all the ghastly moaning is about." (ALT: Cecil Williamson) (1 of 2) #FaustianFriday #Pellor #FolkWitch #WitchSky youtu.be/5PgGDMmBtDg?...

Did you know that the card game played by the Artemis II crew pre-launch was a superstitious spacefarer tradition? The idea is to let the mission commander "use up" any bad luck before the danger begins! #Folklore Explore more space superstitions at reallyweirdrealworld.blogspot.com/2026/04/card...

Want an alternative to the traditional lich? An inscription from the tomb of Ankhmahor in the Saqqara Necropolis warns that the occupant a) is knowledgeable in secret spells and b) that he will curse any who enter impure! #Folklore

The black dogs of English folklore were often figures of ill omen - but a church grim guarded graveyards against robbers and supernatural threats. Seeing one was still terrible luck though! #Folklore

The Scottish baobhan-sith hid their goat-like legs and used an otherwise charming appearance to trick humans... before drinking their blood. Those who kept their wits could defeat these vampiric fairies with iron or sunlight! #FairyTaleTuesday #Folklore #Vampirism

Talk birdy to me 🧡 Say hello to the Andean cock-of-the-rock, a colorful feathered friend native to the Andes' rocky cliffs and tropical forests.

Did you know that giant hooks and claws have been used as siege weapons? During the 1139 siege of Ludlow Castle in England, the defenders nearly snagged a prince with one of these devices! #siege #weapon

Haitian folklore suggests zombies were fed with sweet potato, sugar and datura. Datura poisoning can result in delirium and hallucination, useful for keeping a zombified human confused and compliant! #WyrdWednesday More at reallyweirdrealworld.blogspot.com/2025/10/zomb...

The merrow of Irish folklore were merfolk with a nasty hobby - trapping the souls of drowned sailors. The females were also said to abduct humans that took their fancy... and to conjure deadly storms if they were thwarted! #FairyTaleTuesday More at reallyweirdrealworld.blogspot.com/2026/01/fin-...

We celebrate giant pandas every day… but today we do it a little louder #NationalPandaDay 🐼

A few square inches of tree trunk. At least 4 species of lichens (Parmelia, two Physcia species and Caloplaca) plus Red Tree Brain Fungus. #lichen #fungi #fungifriends.

Have you heard of Florence's Scoppio del Carro? This fairly unique Easter tradition involves costumed handlers stuffing a cart with fireworks... to ceremonially explode outside the cathedral! #Easter #tradition

Sedlec Ossuary is an underground chapel in the Czech Republic filled with artistically arranged bones, including a chandelier said to include every bone in the human body. The signature of its creator, Frantisek Rink, can be seen a wall - executed in bones. #wyrdwednesday #gothic #weird

Early Puerto Rican reports of the blood-sucking chupacabra sound a lot like a small monkey. Coincidentally, an imported research population of rhesus macaques live on an island about a mile from the mainland! #LegendaryWednesday More at reallyweirdrealworld.blogspot.com/2025/08/el-c...

The idea of making artificial life predates Pinocchio - Renaissance era alchemists believed they could brew a miniature humanoid companion called a homunculus! #pinocchioday #folklore

Fun fact: philosopher Jeremy Bentham left a detail will instructing that his body be preserved, displayed, and occasionally included in meetings. You know, for inspiration. #WyrdWednesday

Established in 1854, the London Necropolis Railway relieved pressure on city churchyards by whisking the dead out to Brookwood Cemetery, Surrey. Its station, near Waterloo, featured a steam-powered coffin lift & a glass roof so no shadow would be cast on the hearse carriage. #WyrdWednesday #history

In 1892, newspapers began circulating a story about a dying spiritualist who planned to have himself enclosed in a large glass cylinder, connected to telegraph equipment, so his entrapped ghost could communicate definitive proof of life after death. braegrosz.com/2025/09/12/g... #WyrdWednesday

The dead of medieval Britain could be hard to keep down. One unruly corpse in Wales menaced a village until its head was cleaved to the neck - Wharram Percy in Yorkshire seems to have dismembered some of its dead to avoid the issue! #WyrdWednesday

The British Isles have (unsurprisingly) quite a few legends about merfolk. The Blue Men of the Minch are a dangerous Scottish example... but a fast-talking captain could ward them off with banter! #folklore #merfolk #mermaid More merfolk at reallyweirdrealworld.blogspot.com/2026/01/fin-...

Tupilaq were deadly constructs of assorted flesh and bone created by Inuit shamans... but if they couldn't kill their target, these custom assassins would turn on their creator! #folklore #legendarywednesday More constructs at reallyweirdrealworld.blogspot.com/2025/12/gole...

Wouldn't be a #WyrdWednesday without Necropants! Need money? Icelandic tradition would advise (though I would not) you dig up a dead man and make from his skin Nábrók, Death Underpants. They're not stylish, but when you've got money, you set the style, right?

Did you know that Renaissance-era alchemists believed that they could create a homunculus (a small artificial human) by brewing bodily fluids? They even had a recipe for the process! #Construct #Folklore #Golem

Jack o Lantern mushroom I saw on our weekend hike at Quail Hollow Ranch.

Moss and willow leaves. The moss in the foreground is shaped like ferns. #moss #forest

Did you know that the body of St. Bernadette of Lourdes was deemed incorrupt (i.e. not decaying) and put on display... or that philosopher Jeremy Bentham asked to be made into a mobile "auto-icon" after his death? #death #dead #mummy

Ursula Southeil or "Mother Shipton" lived in a Yorkshire cave between 1488 and 1561. She supposedly predicted the Great Fire of London and the Spanish Armada - her cave even featured a skull-shaped pool! #Folklore #History #Witch Read more at...

#WyrdWednesday From The Reader’s Digest Folklore, Myths & Legends of Britain. The lanes around Longridge in Lancashire were haunted by the Headless Woman. A malicious, boggart, from behind she looked like an old lady, but she would turn around & pursue travellers carrying her head in a basket.

Did you know that in 1725, fake fossils (later known as "lying stones") were planted on Mount Eibelstadt as a prank aimed at Dr Johann Beringer? Beringer published a book on the subject before the hoax was revealed! #Folklore #Fossil #Hoax

When Ewan of Mull encountered a fairy, he asked her about an upcoming battle. She prophesied victory if his pre-battle porridge came with butter… which it didn’t. Ewan took a claymore to the head - and supposedly haunts Mull! #WyrdWednesday More at reallyweirdrealworld.blogspot.com/2025/09/20-w...

Scotland’s Dechmont Woods hosted an encounter that left physical evidence. Robert Taylor claimed to have seen (and been abducted by) a saucer - police found strange tracks at the site… and drag marks on Taylor’s clothing! #LegendaryWednesday More at reallyweirdrealworld.blogspot.com/2025/11/expl...

Some familiars were quite chatty – for example, the white cat Sathan supposedly gave Elizabeth Francis romantic advice (and murdered the object of her affections when he spurned her!) #WyrdWednesday More familiars at reallyweirdrealworld.blogspot.com/2026/01/a-wi...

Blackthorn trees (used for shillelaghs and wands) were said to be the home of fairies… that would plague anyone cutting the wood. Researchers found that the thorns can fragment under the skin and cause lingering problems! #LegendaryWednesday

Wistman's Wood in Dartmoor, Devon, is said to be the kennel of the Yeth or Wisht Hounds, a pack of demonic dogs with either glowing yellow or red eyes, who would hunt for lost souls or lone travellers. "Wist" or"Wisht" in Devonshire dialect means eerie, uncanny or pixie-led. #LegendaryWednesday

The familiars of witches were sometimes described as imps. The 1589 confession of Joan Upney featured “pinching toads” as familiars - these otherworldly creatures could be sent to suck the life from her enemies! #FairyTaleTuesday More familiars at reallyweirdrealworld.blogspot.com/2026/01/a-wi...

Thuja bonsai forest. 🌱🇳🇿

The Iele of Romania appear as female spirits – and their dance leaves otherworldly circles in the grass. Spying on these ladies of the wood is dangerous and folklore speaks of the curious being left mute or mutilated! #FairyTaleTuesday More at reallyweirdrealworld.blogspot.com/2025/09/20-w...

Legend has it that the head of Bran the Blessed (both a giant and a king of Britain) was buried where the Tower of London now stands – protecting the island in death as he did in life! #MythologyMonday More giants at reallyweirdrealworld.blogspot.com/2026/01/crue...

The Half Light. The Teign Gorge, Dartmoor. Trudging up the trail through the woods to the lip of the Gorge. Early morning, ever so quiet. #Landscape #Photography #dartmoor

Lichen, Rhizoplaca chrysoleuca. NWT, Canada. The lichen is approximately 4cm long. #lichen #fungi #fungifriends

Folklore has it that a phantom haunts England’s Silent Pool. The story goes that a woodcutter’s daughter was chased into the eerie blue waters by King John – and that her drowned ghost emerges each midnight… #PhantomsFriday More at

Birch brackets