David Castleton (Author)

I don't know - I guess they noticed the moon resembled a man's face and thought he must have been put there for some reason.

The name F. Rint written in bones mortared into the wall of Sedlec Ossuary, along with the date 1870.

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

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Print from Georges Méliès's 1902 film Le voyage dans la lune. The moon is depicted with a human face and a spacecraft having landed in his eye.

#Folklore depicts the Man in the Moon as having been imprisoned there for various crimes. Roman legend claims he was a sheep thief; Christian tradition states he is Cain or a woodcutter punished for working on the Sabbath. #FairyTaleTuesday

Aerial view of the ruined keep and walls of Richmond Castle. Some of the town's stone houses can be seen as well as a verdant landscape of fields and trees.

#Folklore claims soldiers discovered a mysterious tunnel in Richmond Castle, Yorkshire. They sent a drummer boy to explore it while they followed from above, but after half-a-mile his beats stopped. He was never seen again but his drumming can still be heard on dark quiet nights. #BookologyThursday

Two ravens perching on a rail in front of the Tower of London. The birds appear to be conversing with each other.

Though ravens are strongly linked to the Tower of London, the association may not go back further than Victorian times, when some beefeaters started keeping the birds as pets. Ravens became popular pets thanks to Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem. #FairytaleTuesday #folklore #gothic #poetry #mythology

Human skull photographed against a black background

England boasts several 'screaming skull' legends. One girl tormented Burton Agnes Hall, Yorkshire, with groans & poltergeist activity until her skull was exhumed from the churchyard & returned to the mansion. The skull remains in the Hall today. #mythologymonday #folklore #gothic #skull

A Chinese tradition states eggs can be balanced on their ends during Lunar New Year. Eggs symbolise good fortune & new beginnings. It's also claimed eggs can be balanced on the heads of nails on the equator due to gravitational forces. #FolkloreSunday #Folklore #mythology #weird #eggs

Skylit main reading room of the Lit and Phil, with a red metal balcony and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves

Newcastle's historic Lit & Phil library has 16 ghosts, including phantom librarians, a Roman soldier, and a little girl. One of its most notorious spooks is a 17th-century witch hunter, who seems drawn to a Victorian book on witchcraft. #phantomsfriday #gothic #folklore #ghosts #weird

Very nice, thanks. :)

A wooden church bench, whose end is carved with a worn image of a mermaid. She had long flowing hair and is clutching a round mirror and a comb.

In Zennor, #Cornwall, a mermaid sometimes attended church services & is said to have one day lured a handsome chorister to her home beneath the waves. This bench end was carved with her image, to warn other men about these dangerous creatures. #FolkloreThursday #folklore #mythology

Station of the London Necropolis Railway, near Waterloo - a four-storey Victorian building blending Baroque and Neo-classical styles.

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

Wandered out along The Ridgeway to see this fine old nag today!

1919 illustration to 'The Masque of the Red Death', showing a death-like figure holding a mask, with a dagger dropped on a carpet in front of a grandfather clock.

In Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Masque of the Red Death', wealthy nobles hide from a plague in a 7-room mansion, enjoying masquerades & balls. One day, a figure 'disguised' as Red Death appears. The guests sicken & die & the costume is found to have nothing inside it. #FairytaleTuesday #folklore #gothic

Mardi Gras exists on a threshold between seasons. Winter fades, spring approaches, and celebration marks the turning. #FairyTaleTuesday

Art: Heather Calderon

A short metal key with a heart-shaped head propped up on the edge of a wooden board.

In Italy, St Valentine's keys are exchanged between lovers to symbolise unlocking the heart. In Padua, they are also given to children to ward off epilepsy, known as 'St Valentine's malady'. #folklore #ValentinesDay #Valentines #history #mythology #weird

Zwei Personen in dunkler Gothic-Kleidung posieren vor einer weißen Wand.

On Wednesdays We Wear Black 🖤

ST VALENTINE is the holy guardian of lovers but not many people know that after death his skull became a decorated floral relic, one of the most gothic items to be found in a Roman reliquary. Shown here in the Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin #ValentinesDay

A book cover showing a photo of a door knocker on Durham Cathedral in the form of a demon's face. This was a 'sanctuary knocker' that fugitives could use in the Middle Ages to get sanctuary in the cathedral.

My book 'Church Curiosities: Strange Objects & Bizarre Legends' (Shire/Bloomsbury). Full of pyramid tombs, reindeer-horned dancers, vampire graves, holy wells, weird #folklore, standing stones, execution bells, legendary skulls. #history #gothic #churches #mythology www.amazon.co.uk/Church-Curio...

Ancient Greek currency featured the goddess Athena and her patron animal, the owl. These coins, made up of 99 percent pure silver, financed the Greek navy that won against the invading Persians in 480 BCE. If an owl flew over soldiers in battle, it meant Athena watched over them. #MythologyMonday

Fog in Manchester turns day into night, 1.30pm in Oxford Street, November 17, 1953. (Mirrorpix/@manchestereveningnews.co.uk)

Though Mary does mention "the working of some powerful engine"

Semi-ruined castle with an imposing, intact tower.

Frankenstein Castle, Hesse, Germany, was the birthplace of an alchemist who allegedly invented an elixir of life & conducted experiments on dead bodies. Some claim he tried to animate the bodies with lightning & that he may have inspired Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. #WyrdWednesday #folklore #gothic

Mount Vesuvius viewed across the bay from Naples. A church tower with bells is in the foreground.

Mount Vesuvius, near Naples, was - according to Roman myth - once inhabited by a race of giant bandits. These 'sons of the earth' were subdued by Heracles, who seems to have been worshipped in the surrounding area. #FairytaleTuesday #folklore #mythology #history

'You know what' began in 1963,
Between the end of the Chatterley ban,
And the Beatles' first LP

1932 'authorised' edition of Lady Chatterley's Lover. The book has a plain grey cover with red lettering.

Lady Chatterley's Lover was 1st published privately in Florence. An attempt by Penguin in 1960 to publish an uncensored version in the UK resulted in an obscenity trial at the Old Bailey, which Penguin won. Helped by this publicity, 3 million copies were soon sold #LegendaryWednesday #booksky #books

Grey stone carving of Helios as a long-haired youngish man. He has a sun-like halo around his head and is driving a chariot with four horses.

The Greek sun god Helios driving his chariot across the sky. A fairly minor deity, Helios was maybe best known for having his cattle killed & eaten by Odysseus's men. In later antiquity, he grew in importance due to being identified with powerful solar gods like Apollo & Sol. #FolkyFriday #folklore

Large model of a red-coloured elephant with a turret on its back in South London's Elephant and Castle district. A large office block is in the background and the sky is blue.

The elephant & castle is a traditional symbol of strength. It was used on coinage in the 1st century BC. The Romans used war elephants, including in the invasion of Britain. The South London area of Elephant & Castle likely derives its name from a pub. #FairytaleTuesday #history #folklore #London

A bowl and a shaker of salt with some spilt on a black surface

Superstition states that if you spill salt during a meal, you should throw some over your shoulder to avoid bad luck or to keep evil at bay. This possibly links back to a time when salt was very expensive so it was considered bad luck to waste it. #FolkyFriday #folklore #history #food

#LegendaryWednesday
In return for using his sorcery to enable Uther Pendragon to seduce Igraine, Merlin took the baby conceived through their liaison - Arthur - and oversaw his upbringing and education.