The Three Ravens Podcast

Misty hooded figures flit through moonlit ruins, and a chorus of spectral chanting grows louder...

For the second week of our month of Haunting Season, we've chosen Ghosts of Sacred Spaces as our theme.

We start by exploring theories about why so many of Britain's current and former religious houses are said to be haunted, and talk about some of the notable sites. From a particularly monastic sort of ghost attempting to relieve Purgatorial suffering to Gothic themes of terror and wonder in lofty ruins, we trace the history of holy hauntings.

Our candlelit sanctuary is full of stories, from the Netley Abbey Phantoms to the collection of 15th century ghost tales from Byland Abbey. No discussion of sacred spaces in these isles would be complete without a mention of the single biggest trauma the religious establishment has ever suffered here - the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1530s.

Two very different sacred spaces are then brought to life in our two winning story entries, 'After Evensong' by Josh Lynbeck and 'Black August' by Lucy Wood.

So take a pew, turn to the right page of your hymn book, and enjoy a thoroughly chilling pair of tales…

About Three Ravens 🔮

Three Ravens is a completely independent English myth and folklore podcast where we share stories, celebrate folk culture, and fall backwards through the hedgerows of history.

Hosted by real-life couple Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux, and mostly recorded at our home in rural Sussex in southern England, Three Ravens is rated 4.8/5 from over 500 reviews and has grown by word of mouth care of our lovely listener community ‘The Conspiracy of Ravens.’

We release three episodes a week, on Mondays, Thursday and Saturdays, through which we explore folktales, folkways, fairy stories, folk songs, mythology, local heritage, seasonal customs and traditional beliefs.

Our research inspires our retellings of stories from across history and culture, with episodes standing alone but connected together across over 500 chatty, mostly light-hearted, swear-free installments driven by passion, kindness and curiosity.

Now ranked as an all-time Top 5 podcast across several categories by Goodpods, charting in the Spotify, Apple and Rephonic UK Fiction Top 10 across 2024, 2025 and 2026, if you’re interested in ghosts, monsters, regional beliefs, and the things that unite us all, then join us round the campfire and listen in…

Join the Conspiracy of Ravens ✨

🌐 Official Website: Visit the Three Ravens Podcast Official Site to sign up for our mailing list, explore our episode catalogue, and enjoy our blog!
🎤 Three Ravens Live: Find tickets and news about our upcoming live shows!
🛒 Shop: Buy our books and exclusive Three Ravens Merch including mugs, tote bags, tees and hoodies from our Online Shop
👑 Patreon: Support the show and unlock ad free listening, monthly Patreon exclusive episodes, the Three Ravens Film Club, our community chat and newsletters at the Three Ravens Patreon
📚 Our First Book: Buy our stunning hardback collection of 39 historic stories Three Ravens Folk Tales
👻 Our Second Book: Order our brand new hair-raising host of 20 original ghost stories Three Ravens Ghost Tales
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Our Third Book: Preorder our upcoming collection of Welsh regional legends Three Ravens Folk Tales of Wales coming to all good bookshops on St David's Day (March 1st) 2027
📱 Socials: Follow our adventures and help us grow on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
RETHINK THE WAY YOU DRINK WITH OUR PARTNER THREE SPIRIT - USE OFFER CODE THREE RAVENS FOR A 15% DISCOUNT AT CHECKOUT

Our Linktree to all things Three Ravens
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recorded on October 1st, for this Live Show we return to our favourite bookshop of all, Treadwell's in London, to discuss Halloween folklore, ghostlore, customs, and our new book Three Ravens Ghost Tales.

Hosted by Treadwell's founder, owner, and historian of Gardnerian Wicca Christina Oakley Harrington, who Martin spoke with on Local Legends episode 66 over the summer, we are joined by a lovely live audience to discuss the 'thinning of the veil' on October 31st and the roots of many superstitions associated with this time of year.

We explore why apples are so central to autumnal divination, the symbolic significance of fire at this time of year, how saints were celebrated during Hallowmas, Dumb Suppers, the ghost story tradition, and much more besides.

Ending with questions from the audience which cover our inspirations, working methods, and our connections with the "supernomal," we also chat about some favourite classic ghost stories, make a few jokes, and have fun!

If you are ever in London, Treadwell's is an independent bookshop and cultural hub in Bloomsbury that specializes in occultism, magic, witchcraft, folklore, and mysticism. For those interested in the history and practices of Western esotericism, magic, and ritual arts, regional folk traditions, comparative religion, the anthropology of the sacred, and ancient spiritual paths, there is nowhere like it – not least in terms of the shop’s stock of collectible vintage editions, hard-to-find texts, herbals, and specialised monographs!

Visit the Treadwell's Books website here.

Photo credit: Leo at Treadwell's Books.

About Three Ravens 🔮

Three Ravens is a completely independent English myth and folklore podcast where we share stories, celebrate folk culture, and fall backwards through the hedgerows of history.

Hosted by real-life couple Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux, and mostly recorded at our home in rural Sussex in southern England, Three Ravens is rated 4.8/5 from over 500 reviews and has grown by word of mouth care of our lovely listener community ‘The Conspiracy of Ravens.’

We release three episodes a week, on Mondays, Thursday and Saturdays, through which we explore folktales, folkways, fairy stories, folk songs, mythology, local heritage, seasonal customs and traditional beliefs.

Our research inspires our retellings of stories from across history and culture, with episodes standing alone but connected together across over 500 chatty, mostly light-hearted, swear-free installments driven by passion, kindness and curiosity.

Now ranked as an all-time Top 5 podcast across several categories by Goodpods, charting in the Spotify, Apple and Rephonic UK Fiction Top 10 across 2024, 2025 and 2026, if you’re interested in ghosts, monsters, regional beliefs, and the things that unite us all, then join us round the campfire and listen in…

Join the Conspiracy of Ravens ✨

🌐 Official Website: Visit the Three Ravens Podcast Official Site to sign up for our mailing list, explore our episode catalogue, and enjoy our blog!
🎤 Three Ravens Live: Find tickets and news about our upcoming live shows!
🛒 Shop: Buy our books and exclusive Three Ravens Merch including mugs, tote bags, tees and hoodies from our Online Shop
👑 Patreon: Support the show and unlock ad free listening, monthly Patreon exclusive episodes, the Three Ravens Film Club, our community chat and newsletters at the Three Ravens Patreon
📚 Our First Book: Buy our stunning hardback collection of 39 historic stories Three Ravens Folk Tales
👻 Our Second Book: Order our brand new hair-raising host of 20 original ghost stories Three Ravens Ghost Tales
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Our Third Book: Preorder our upcoming collection of Welsh regional legends Three Ravens Folk Tales of Wales coming to all good bookshops on St David's Day (March 1st) 2027
📱 Socials: Follow our adventures and help us grow on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
RETHINK THE WAY YOU DRINK WITH OUR PARTNER THREE SPIRIT - USE OFFER CODE THREE RAVENS FOR A 15% DISCOUNT AT CHECKOUT

Our Linktree to all things Three Ravens
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of our Local Legends series Eleanor talks with the Queen of African horror, Nuzo Onoh.

In 2022 Nuzo was the recipient of the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement, acknowledging her powerful contributions to the horror genre, which she has made through a terrifying catalogue of books like Where The Dead Brides Gather, The Sleepless, The Reluctant Dead, Futility and many more.

Our conversation ranges from Nuzo's early exposure to traditional Igbo culture and beliefs and her experiences in the Biafran War to hauntings in her home and her inspirations and influences. We talk about her writing process, including some of the scary things she puts herself through in order to capture the energy of fear, and Nuzo reveals her favourite ghost story.

It's a fascinating chat about crafting atmospheric settings, ancestor belief, and the ways ghosts can permeate our senses, so gather in close around the Three Ravens campfire for a conversation with a true Local Legend.

About Three Ravens 🔮

Three Ravens is a completely independent English myth and folklore podcast where we share stories, celebrate folk culture, and fall backwards through the hedgerows of history.

Hosted by real-life couple Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux, and mostly recorded at our home in rural Sussex in southern England, Three Ravens is rated 4.8/5 from over 500 reviews and has grown by word of mouth care of our lovely listener community ‘The Conspiracy of Ravens.’

We release three episodes a week, on Mondays, Thursday and Saturdays, through which we explore folktales, folkways, fairy stories, folk songs, mythology, local heritage, seasonal customs and traditional beliefs.

Our research inspires our retellings of stories from across history and culture, with episodes standing alone but connected together across over 500 chatty, mostly light-hearted, swear-free installments driven by passion, kindness and curiosity.

Now ranked as an all-time Top 5 podcast across several categories by Goodpods, charting in the Spotify, Apple and Rephonic UK Fiction Top 10 across 2024, 2025 and 2026, if you’re interested in ghosts, monsters, regional beliefs, and the things that unite us all, then join us round the campfire and listen in…

Join the Conspiracy of Ravens ✨

🌐 Official Website: Visit the Three Ravens Podcast Official Site to sign up for our mailing list, explore our episode catalogue, and enjoy our blog!
🎤 Three Ravens Live: Find tickets and news about our upcoming live shows!
🛒 Shop: Buy our books and exclusive Three Ravens Merch including mugs, tote bags, tees and hoodies from our Online Shop
👑 Patreon: Support the show and unlock ad free listening, monthly Patreon exclusive episodes, the Three Ravens Film Club, our community chat and newsletters at the Three Ravens Patreon
📚 Our First Book: Buy our stunning hardback collection of 39 historic stories Three Ravens Folk Tales
👻 Our Second Book: Order our brand new hair-raising host of 20 original ghost stories Three Ravens Ghost Tales
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Our Third Book: Preorder our upcoming collection of Welsh regional legends Three Ravens Folk Tales of Wales coming to all good bookshops on St David's Day (March 1st) 2027
📱 Socials: Follow our adventures and help us grow on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
RETHINK THE WAY YOU DRINK WITH OUR PARTNER THREE SPIRIT - USE OFFER CODE THREE RAVENS FOR A 15% DISCOUNT AT CHECKOUT

Our Linktree to all things Three Ravens
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In our first original tale for Haunting Season 2026 Martin tells us "The Grand Circle" as inspired by this week's Ghosts of the Theatre theme.

Rooted in the folklore of one haunted London playhouse in particular, though tying together lots of strange personal anecdotes and dark reflections on the theatre business, it's a contemporary tale threaded through with chilling moments and plenty of other horrors - and hopefully ones you've not encountered in a story before.

It may also feature one or two Easter Eggs for longtime listeners, and is intended to leave you feeling quite unnerved.

Sleep well tonight, and do book to go and see something at your local playhouse soon, if you can. Many aspects of this nightmare are very much rooted in truth.

About Three Ravens 🔮

Three Ravens is a completely independent English myth and folklore podcast where we share stories, celebrate folk culture, and fall backwards through the hedgerows of history.

Hosted by real-life couple Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux, and mostly recorded at our home in rural Sussex in southern England, Three Ravens is rated 4.8/5 from over 500 reviews and has grown by word of mouth care of our lovely listener community ‘The Conspiracy of Ravens.’

We release three episodes a week, on Mondays, Thursday and Saturdays, through which we explore folktales, folkways, fairy stories, folk songs, mythology, local heritage, seasonal customs and traditional beliefs.

Our research inspires our retellings of stories from across history and culture, with episodes standing alone but connected together across over 500 chatty, mostly light-hearted, swear-free installments driven by passion, kindness and curiosity.

Now ranked as an all-time Top 5 podcast across several categories by Goodpods, charting in the Spotify, Apple and Rephonic UK Fiction Top 10 across 2024, 2025 and 2026, if you’re interested in ghosts, monsters, regional beliefs, and the things that unite us all, then join us round the campfire and listen in…

Join the Conspiracy of Ravens ✨

🌐 Official Website: Visit the Three Ravens Podcast Official Site to sign up for our mailing list, explore our episode catalogue, and enjoy our blog!
🎤 Three Ravens Live: Find tickets and news about our upcoming live shows!
🛒 Shop: Buy our books and exclusive Three Ravens Merch including mugs, tote bags, tees and hoodies from our Online Shop
👑 Patreon: Support the show and unlock ad free listening, monthly Patreon exclusive episodes, the Three Ravens Film Club, our community chat and newsletters at the Three Ravens Patreon
📚 Our First Book: Buy our stunning hardback collection of 39 historic stories Three Ravens Folk Tales
👻 Our Second Book: Order our brand new hair-raising host of 20 original ghost stories Three Ravens Ghost Tales
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Our Third Book: Preorder our upcoming collection of Welsh regional legends Three Ravens Folk Tales of Wales coming to all good bookshops on St David's Day (March 1st) 2027
📱 Socials: Follow our adventures and help us grow on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
RETHINK THE WAY YOU DRINK WITH OUR PARTNER THREE SPIRIT - USE OFFER CODE THREE RAVENS FOR A 15% DISCOUNT AT CHECKOUT

Our Linktree to all things Three Ravens
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The lights dim, the sounds of ghostly strings tuning up shriek from the orchestra pit, and in the wings the props just seem to keep mysteriously vanishing...

Happy Haunting Season! This episode marks the beginning of our four themed weeks, and today we're talking all about Ghosts of the Theatre. We begin by talking about some famous theatre ghosts, along with a brief history of theatrical hauntings. Of course, our show wouldn't be complete without a sprinkle of superstitions.

With an interval ice cream courtesy of a floating head and a programme packed with the dramatic dead, we're ready for our showstoppers - the two winning entries in this category to our Ghost Story Writing competition.

Congratulations to TJ Rankin, with 'A Universe of Our Own Terrors', and Helena Langford with 'The Playhouse' - very different stories we had great fun reading.

So settle in for this evening's entertainment, try not to cough in the serious bits - and don't, whatever you do, mention the name of the Scottish play...

About Three Ravens 🔮

Three Ravens is a completely independent English myth and folklore podcast where we share stories, celebrate folk culture, and fall backwards through the hedgerows of history.

Hosted by real-life couple Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux, and mostly recorded at our home in rural Sussex in southern England, Three Ravens is rated 4.8/5 from over 500 reviews and has grown by word of mouth care of our lovely listener community ‘The Conspiracy of Ravens.’

We release three episodes a week, on Mondays, Thursday and Saturdays, through which we explore folktales, folkways, fairy stories, folk songs, mythology, local heritage, seasonal customs and traditional beliefs.

Our research inspires our retellings of stories from across history and culture, with episodes standing alone but connected together across over 500 chatty, mostly light-hearted, swear-free installments driven by passion, kindness and curiosity.

Now ranked as an all-time Top 5 podcast across several categories by Goodpods, charting in the Spotify, Apple and Rephonic UK Fiction Top 10 across 2024, 2025 and 2026, if you’re interested in ghosts, monsters, regional beliefs, and the things that unite us all, then join us round the campfire and listen in…

Join the Conspiracy of Ravens ✨

🌐 Official Website: Visit the Three Ravens Podcast Official Site to sign up for our mailing list, explore our episode catalogue, and enjoy our blog!
🎤 Three Ravens Live: Find tickets and news about our upcoming live shows!
🛒 Shop: Buy our books and exclusive Three Ravens Merch including mugs, tote bags, tees and hoodies from our Online Shop
👑 Patreon: Support the show and unlock ad free listening, monthly Patreon exclusive episodes, the Three Ravens Film Club, our community chat and newsletters at the Three Ravens Patreon
📚 Our First Book: Buy our stunning hardback collection of 39 historic stories Three Ravens Folk Tales
👻 Our Second Book: Order our brand new hair-raising host of 20 original ghost stories Three Ravens Ghost Tales
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Our Third Book: Preorder our upcoming collection of Welsh regional legends Three Ravens Folk Tales of Wales coming to all good bookshops on St David's Day (March 1st) 2027
📱 Socials: Follow our adventures and help us grow on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
RETHINK THE WAY YOU DRINK WITH OUR PARTNER THREE SPIRIT - USE OFFER CODE THREE RAVENS FOR A 15% DISCOUNT AT CHECKOUT

Our Linktree to all things Three Ravens
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.