The Isle of the Dead by Arnold Bocklin. The painting is partly based on the English Cemetery in Florence, near where Bocklin worked & where his daughter is buried. It may have also been inspired by Pontikonisi near Corfu, an islet with a cypress grove & small chapel. #PhantomsFriday #art #folklore

William Blake's poem 'The Tyger' explores the more horrific & terrifying aspects of creation: "In what distant deeps or skies, Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand dare seize the fire?" #FairytaleTuesday #poetry #folklore #mythology #poems #poetry #poets

The Roman Smith god Vulcan had a limp, the consequence of being hurled off Mount Olympus as a child. Vulcan later had his forge under Mount Etna. Though hideously ugly, he married Aphrodite - whenever she was unfaithful, he became so angry the mountain would erupt. #MythologyMonday #folklore

Old cannon repurposed as a bollard outside St Helen's Church, Bishopsgate, London. London still has a few such cannon bollards, mainly taken from defeated French warships. Newer bollards were made in the style of cannons. #history #folklore #London #architecture #weird #psychogeography

The Northern Line ticket hall in Bank Tube Station was once the crypt of St Mary Woolnoth's Church, which was cleared of bodies & reinforced when the station was built. Passengers often feel a sense of desolation & some have smelt putrid odours wafting through the tunnels. #PhantomsFriday #folklore

Morpheus was a Greek god associated with sleep and dreams. One of the thousand sons of Sleep, his job was to appear in dreams in human form. Ovid stated, "no other is more skilled than he at representing the gait, the features & the speech of men." #wyrdwednesday #mythology #folklore #weird

Cadbury Castle, Somerset. This Bronze & Iron Age hillfort is seen by some as a possible site of King Arthur's court, Camelot. It was reused between 470 & 580, with excavations of a 'great hall' suggesting it may have been home to a powerful leader. #FairytaleTuesday #folklore #mythology #history

Davy Jones's Locker is the mythical resting place of drowned sailors. The phrase's origins are uncertain. Some think it's named after an incompetent mariner; others claim it refers to the prophet Jonah, who got cast overboard. #mythologymonday #folklore #gothic #mythology #history

Satan in His Original Glory, by William Blake. Notice the smaller spirits emanating from the larger one, a common theme in Blake's work. #gothic #art #arthistory #history #folklore #poetry #Romanticism #mythology #poetry #poets

Birthdays in China are sometimes celebrated with 'longevity noodles', long noodles that symbolise long life. Tradition says they shouldn't be broken before the birthday boy/girl eats them. The earliest written record of noodles is from a Han Dynasty book dated 25-220 AD. #FolkloreThursday #folklore

Eros has a brother, Anteros. While Eros ignites fiery desire, Anteros is about affection that is mutual. He acts as a balancing force in relationships, but can punish those guilty of rejecting the love of others. #FairytaleTuesday #folklore #mythology #history

For medieval peasants, Cockaigne was a mythical land of pleasure, idleness & gluttony. The skies rained cheese, houses were made of cakes, roads were paved with pastries, grilled geese flew directly into one's mouth, and wine freely flowed. #MythologyMonday #folklore #history #mythology

One of the models for Count Dracula is thought to be Stoker's employer, the actor Henry Irving. This charismatic actor was sometimes viewed as vampirically sucking the energy from those around him, especially his hardworking theatre manager Bram Stoker! #FairytaleTuesday #folklore #gothic #vampires

In Norse #mythology, the sun goddess Sol is pursued across the sky by the wolf, Skoll, perhaps reflecting the fleetingness of northern daylight. The wolf will catch & devour Sol at Ragnarok, but her daughter will take her place & continue to bring the world light. #MythologyMonday #folklore #gothic

One of the most gothtastic places must be Whitby. Its famous 199 steps are flanked with what appear to be benches. They are actually coffin rests, enabling those carrying caskets up to St Mary's Church to take a break. #FolkloreSunday #gothic #folklore #goth #history

In August 1979, Northampton band Bauhaus released their debut single, the 9-minute-long 'Bela Lugosi's Dead'. This tune - about the Hungarian-American actor famous for playing Dracula - is seen as a foundational track in early goth rock. #WyrdWednesday #WorldGothDay #gothic #weird #folklore #rock

In Greek #mythology, Prometheus stole fire from the gods to give to humans, carrying it from heaven in a fennel stalk. Some versions of the myth state the fire enabled Prometheus to bestow other gifts of civilisation, such as agriculture, medicine & science. #fairytaletuesday #folklore

Wistman's Woods, on Dartmoor, Devon, is a temperate rainforest allegedly haunted by hellhounds. 'Wistman' is a dialect word for the Devil, with 'wist' meaning 'eerie' or 'uncanny'. #FairytaleTuesday #folklore #gothic #weird

Saturn was a Roman god of farming, time, generation, dissolution & the planet of the same name. He was seen as having presiding over a lost golden age of abundance. However, as a god of time, he had a darker aspect - a 'devourer his own children' linked to human sacrifice. #mythologymonday #folklore

Though Walpurgis Night has not been as widely celebrated in England as on the Continent, there are a few examples. In Lincolnshire, people hung up cowslips to ward off evil. In Herefordshire, people put trays of moss out for fairies to dance on. #FolkloreThursday #Folklore #history #weird

Bram Stoker's short story 'Dracula's Guest' sees Jonathon Harker stopping in Munich on Walpurgis Night on his way to the Count. An ill-advised excursion to a country graveyard leads to an encounter with a vampire as "all the graves around me sent out ... their sheeted dead." #WyrdWednesday #folklore

As St Walpurga was said to defend people against evil spirits & witchcraft, it was believed such forces were strong on the eve of her day. In Germany, witches were said to meet on the Brocken, the Harz Mountains' highest peak, which features in Goethe's Faust. #FairytaleTuesday #folklore #gothic

The Danse Macabre was an important artistic tradition in the Late Middle Ages. Dancing skeletons led various people to the grave, including priests, nobles, labourers & even kings & popes, emphasising that death comes to all. #MythologyMonday #folklore #gothic #art #history #mythology #weird

St George is sometimes associated with the colour green, vegetation and fertility. This links to the dragon, as these beasts were blamed for making land barren by obstructing or poisoning water sources. #MythologyMonday #folklore #mythology #history

The Green Man, a common carving in medieval churches, is seen by some as a forest guardian figure. The carving does seem more common in heavily wooded English counties. Others feel the image may represent Christ, may be a warning against sin or just a decoration. #FolkloreThursday #folklore #weird

Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky may be based on the County Durham legend of the Sockburn Worm - a poisonous dragon who lived on a peninsula in the River Tees who was beheaded by a local noble. Carroll's father was the rector of the nearby village of Croft. #WyrdWednesday #folklore #literature #weird

St Mary's Churchyard, Whitby, which appears in Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'. The Count's 1st victim on English soil was a Mr Swales. Stoker took the name from a gravestone in the churchyard - the stone is still there & the name, though faint, can still be made out #FolkloreSunday #folklore #gothic #books

A famous young dog was Greyfriars Bobby - when his master died, he's said to have guarded his grave in Edinburgh's Greyfriars Kirkyard for 14 years, becoming a local and national celebrity. A memorial still stands just outside the churchyard. #MythologyMonday #folklore #dogs #gothic #mythology

The theatrical harlequin character - an astute servant & nimble trickster - originated from a devil figure in medieval mystery plays. This role, in turn, was based on a folkloric demon that scoured the countryside, searching for damned souls to send to hell #FairytaleTuesday #folklore #gothic

Route 666 (now renumbered) was an American highway long rumoured to be cursed. The road was allegedly haunted by a phantom 1930s car that forced drivers off the road, a demonic smoke-and-fire-belching truck, and skin walkers, dangerous creatures from Navajo myth. #mythologymonday #folklore #gothic