September arrives quietly, with heavy hedgerows, gathering swallows, dew-strung spider webs and the first chill beneath the morning sun. From the Harvest Moon and autumn equinox to Michaelmas geese, blackberry folklore and the old signs said to foretell the coming winter, we wander through the history, wildlife, skies and strange seasonal traditions of September.
The Last Honest Man – Kirst D’Raven
This week’s Short Story Sunday
The photograph was fake. Perry could prove it. He had the original files, the editing layers and a confession from the man who made it. But hidden inside the hoax was something nobody had added – A face watching from an upstairs window of an abandoned children’s home…
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When Britain Loved Being Fooled
Britain has a long and glorious history of being fooled. From forged antiquities and impossible performances to mysterious princesses and women supposedly giving birth to rabbits, the greatest hoaxes succeed not because our ancestors were stupid, but because someone gave them exactly what they wanted to believe.
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The Old Magic of Walking in Circles
Clockwise or widdershins? Around wells, boats, fires and even the kitchen pot, direction once mattered. Follow the sun for luck and protection – or go the other way when you want to turn the world upside down…
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Don’t Turn the Bread Upside-Down
Bread, butter, salt, fire and even empty egg shells were once surrounded by rules designed to protect the household. Step into the kitchen, where everyday cooking still carries traces of some very Old Magic…
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Put It Back
Shoes in walls, witch bottles beneath floors, horse skulls under houses and dried cats hidden in ceilings. Our ancestors built protection into their homes – and when we find it centuries later, sometimes we still put it back.
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The Old Magic Hiding in Your Clothes
Getting dressed was once riddled with magic. From inside-out clothes and lucky socks to dangerous buttons, troublesome stiles and the unforgivable crime of putting shoes on the table, some of the old rules are still hiding in our wardrobes.
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A Penny For Luck
A penny in a new purse, silver for a baby, a coin for a gifted knife or hammered into a wishing tree. We still use money for luck in ways that have very little to do with buying anything.
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Old Magic – Simon Axford
Short Story Sunday presents Old Magic by Simon Axford – a story set in the universe of his new novel – ‘I Know How This Goes’
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Don’t Throw Yourself Away
How much old magic survives in the things we throw away? From lost teeth beneath pillows to hair and nail clippings, our discarded pieces once carried dangerous power…
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The Dead They Feared – The Strange Burials of Wharram Percy
At Wharram Percy, ten people were cut, broken and burned after death. Forensic anthropology reveals what happened to their bodies – but can it tell us what their community feared?
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The Bone Reader – Kirst D’Raven
When a storm exposes human remains in a crumbling seaside cliff, forensic anthropologist Maggie Watson is called in to read the bones. But the dead have a story to tell—and this one has been waiting a very long time to be heard.
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The Blood-Filled Corpse: England’s Twelfth-Century Vampire?
A wicked man dies unshriven, rises from his grave and brings pestilence with him. When villagers exhume his swollen, blood-filled corpse, medieval England gets disturbingly close to a vampire.
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The Screaming Skull of Bettiscombe – Who Was She?
A human skull has guarded Bettiscombe Manor for generations, but science revealed the famous legend had the wrong victim. So who was the mysterious woman behind Britain’s screaming skull? 💀
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Imogen – Belle Adcock
Imogen wants an answer and Chris knows he can’t avoid giving her one forever. But some truths are harder to confess than others – especially when guilt has had six years to make itself feel at home…
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The Vampire of Berwick – Britain’s Medieval Walking Dead
Long before Dracula gave Britain its elegant, aristocratic vampire, our dead were considerably less sophisticated. They got out of the grave, lumbered around frightening the neighbours, spread disease and occasionally required somebody to hit them with a spade.
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The Croglin Vampire – Anatomy of a Legend
Britain’s most famous Vampire has a name, a date and a terrifying history. But dig into the original sources and the Croglin Vampire becomes stranger than the legend suggests…
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The Woman Who Came Back – Simon Axford
Ellie returns home to find a stranger in her kitchen and a perfectly good cup chipped. Unfortunately for him, Ellie has survived considerably worse things than an unexpected houseguest…
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When the Dead Don’t Stay Dead
There are few things that humanity has been quite so consistently afraid of as a dead person who refuses to behave like one.
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The King Who Was Killed By… Lampreys??
The Curious Death of Henry I
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The Truths We Hide – A.D. Small
A prisoner must be delivered before 03:00. The mission is clear, the orders absolute. But deep beneath the earth, something knows the truths Seth has spent a lifetime hiding.
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The Matagot – Kirst D’Raven
“Come back if you want to know more about the Matagot… And bring milk!”
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The Killer Moustache
How one man’s facial hair turned against him.
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The Lawyer Who Shot Himself
How Clement Vallandigham became history’s unluckiest defence lawyer
