Bone and Sickle

BONE AND SICKLE explores historical topics related to folklore and horror. With acerbic wit and a scholarly penchant for the grotesque, rogue folklorist Al Ridenour delves into a wide but carefully curated range of topics illustrated by stories from histo

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Recent Episodes

Malignant Vapor

Posted May 30, 2023 • 00:27:00

A malignant vapor, weird plagues and punishments, a Polish dwarf, and a perilous journey into the lightless depths of a pyramid — all included in...

Animal Ghosts

Posted May 16, 2023 • 00:28:27

Tales of animal ghosts are usually relegated to the periphery of ghost story collections, but in this episode, we showcase this class of apparition....

The Colony of Cats

Posted April 29, 2023 • 00:28:22

Fairy tales featuring cats are generally pleasant. After our last show about malformed births, we thought, Andrew Lang’s story, “The Colony of Cats”...

Strange Births and Monsters

Posted April 14, 2023 • 00:23:39

For centuries, strange births, often sounding like mythological monsters, were regarded as portents of ill omen. We hear a number of these fantastical...

The Man Who Crucified himself

Posted March 29, 2023 • 00:29:40

A self-crucifixion that occurred in 1806 on the island of San Servolo in the Venetian lagoon is the topic of our story this time around. The perpetrator...