Witch Country Ghost Stories

Witch Country Ghost Stories: The Changeling by Dorothy K Haynes

Something new for you, my Witch Country Wayfarers! After all, Ghost Stories needn’t just be for Christmas! (In truth, I fell down a rabbit hole after recording my Christmas Witch Country Ghost Story and found so many wonderful spooky tales that I wanted to share more throughout the year!)

Welcome to Witch Country Ghost Stories, the first of a little series I am creating. Showcasing Ghost Stories written over the last few centuries.

We are starting with a relatively modern one: The Changeling by Dorothy K. Haynes, published in 1949. It is, maybe, not quite a ghost story, but it is filled with witches, fae folk, and the eerie and uncanny. And as Haynes was a master of horror writing, this tale will haunt you for some time…

I would love to know what you think!

Sarah XXX

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Episode 14: March - The Lost Songs of Avebury

Episode 14: March - The Lost Songs of Avebury

For 2025, Our podcast journey starts with a wander to Avebury. My friend and I took a walk amongst these stones last year, about this time, as the equinox sun shone.

Links Mentioned:

Thank you for joining me this month for Magic and Myth! See you next month for more Witch Country Wanders!

XXX

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A Ghost Story for Christmas: The Wise Wife and The Witch King

A Ghost Story for Christmas: The Wise Wife and The Witch King

I am thrilled to present, in what I plan to be a festive tradition for Witch Country: A Ghost Story for Christmas!

Since the days of Charles Dickens and a Christmas Carol (1843), and, I'm sure, long before, we have huddled around fires to tell tales of spirits and ghosts during the cold yuletide nights.

So here is a tale where witches raise storms and become ghosts themselves, seeking a little retribution, perhaps.

Merry Christmas One and All! Xx

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Episode 13: Winter Special - The Dark Heart of Dartmoor

Episode 13: Winter Special - The Dark Heart of Dartmoor

My frosted trip to Dartmoor was a beautiful adventure! With eerie misty tales and tricksy standing stones! (I’m still not quite sure I understand how many stones the ‘Nine Maidens’ is supposed to be!)

Wishing you all a bright November and a very Merry Midwinter; I look forward to sharing new adventures with you in 2025! & If you’d like to keep up to date with my adventures, keep an eye on my ⁠patreon page!⁠ Where I’ll continue to post snippets over the winter break.

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Episode 10: August - Cumbria/Penrith - Meeting Long Meg

Episode 10: August - Cumbria/Penrith - Meeting Long Meg

A wonderful wander with stones, witches and wizards!

The Monument or The monument commonly called Long Meg and her daughters, near the River Eden by William Wordsworth, 1822

A weight of Awe not easy to be borne

Fell suddenly upon my spirit, cast

From the dread bosom of the unknown past,

When first I saw that family forlorn;

Speak Thou, whose massy strength and stature scorn

The power of years – pre-eminent, and placed

Apart, to overlook the circle vast.

Speak Giant-mother! tell it to the Morn,

While she dispels the cumbrous shades of night;

Let the Moon hear, emerging from a cloud,

At whose behest uprose on British ground

That Sisterhood in hieroglyphic round

Forth-shadowing, some have deemed the infinite

The inviolable God that tames the proud.

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Episode 9: July - Fife - A Scottish Witch Trail

Episode 9: July - Fife - A Scottish Witch Trail

In June, I journeyed along the Fife Witches Trail to stand at the stone we call Lilias Adies’ grave and to pay my respects to the accused witches of Scotland at Dunfermline Abbey.

I’ve shared a few snaps on my Patreon page if you would like to consider supporting the podcast. There are both free and paid options that I hope will suit everyone!

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Episode 8: June - Wildwood & Midsummer Magic

Episode 8: June - Wildwood & Midsummer Magic

Happy Solstice Season to All!

Notes & News from today’s episode

THE MID-DAY WITCH. by Václav Jaromír Picek

Bohemian Poems, Ancient and Modern (1849) translated by Albert Henry Wratislaw

On the oak the sunbeams play’d,
’Neath the oak there stood a maid,
Strawberries she gather’d there
For a feast till mid-day fair.

To her comes a lady white,
With a golden girdle dight,
But her loose dishevell’d hair
All conceals her count’nance fair.

She doth to the maiden say,
Wait, O wait awhile, I pray!
If the hair thou plait’st for me,
Thou shalt sometime blooming be.

Sit the maid and lady white,
With the golden girdle dight,
And the maiden plaits the hair,
Which conceals her count’nance fair.

After, when the maid arose,
Gifts the Vila fair bestows,
Little leaves of hawthorn free,
Large leaves from the old oak-tree.

Fleets the Vila, homeward now
Doth the maid returning go;
Tossing scornfully her head,
O’er the path the leaves she spread.

Then at home the tale she told,
As her apron she doth fold,
Ah! but how astonish’d she,
Gold and silver sheen to see!

Then she knows the Vila white
Would the service small requite,
Silver leaves of hawthorn free
Golden from the old oak-tree.

Quiet can she not attain,
Till the leaves she seeks again,
But the leaves alas! are gone,
And the maiden weeps alone.

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Episode 7: May - Wander to Witches Castle, Wales

Episode 7: May - Wander to Witches Castle, Wales

This is a bit of a wandering journey! Where did the name Witches Castle come from? And what role do the fairies play? Listen and learn more!

  • Thoughts on this episode? ideas? new witchy places I should explore? Say hi on Instagram! @thisiswitchcountry

  • Find me on the Insight Timer App link here - which offers oodles of free meditations and talks

  • Thank you to all who have supported me on Patreon this month - do check it out. There are free resources and bonus goodies each month!

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Episode 6: April - Gathered Tales - Fairies, Elves and Witches of the West

Episode 6: April - Gathered Tales - Fairies, Elves and Witches of the West

Our three Gathered Tales were:

  1. Goblin Combe: You’ll find many versions of this story, including the one in Folktales of England, by Katharine Briggs and Ruth Tongue, 1965

  2. The Brecon Elves & the Wise Housewife: A Variation of a story that can be found in Folk Tales of Wales by Eirwen Jones, 1978

  3. The Fairy of the Dell: A short and sweet version of a tale told in Welsh fairy-tales and Other Stories by P.H Emerson, 1894


Thank you to all who have supported me on Patreon this month - do check it out. There are free resources and bonus goodies each month!

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Episode 5: March - Sussex - Wildwood, Wassail & Witch Hares

Episode 5: March - Sussex - Wildwood, Wassail & Witch Hares

Today, I have a collection of tales! I start the podcast with some snippets from my upcoming book, The Witch and the Wildwood. Then, I head out on a journey to Arundel, Sussex, to indulge in Wassail and a walk around in muddy fields looking for Witch Hares!

Episode Notes


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Episode 4: February - Somerset - West Country Magic & Wookey Hole

Links Mentioned:

My Books (which can be bought directly from the publisher, all the usual online places and you can get your local indie to order in!)

Find me on the Insight Timer App link here - which offers oodles of free meditations and talks

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