Freaky Folklore

Bi Mwanaidi has washed the dead for thirty-one years and has never been afraid of a body. Then she finds the same tiny puncture beneath the eyelid on three bodies that seem to have nothing in common. And then a living man comes to her gate and asks her to prepare his body before sunset. This week on Freaky Folklore, we travel to Pemba and Zanzibar to dig into the legend of the Popobawa (also spelled Popo Bawa), the shapeshifting spirit said to come for you while you sleep. Its smell is burnt matches. Its terrible rule is that you must tell everyone what happened, or it comes back. We cover the legend's origins in 1965, the 1995 panic that sent whole villages out of their beds to stay awake by the fire, the story of the sheikh who lost control of a jinn, and what skeptics and scholars say is really going on. Freaky Folklore is part of the Eeriecast Network. Find more terrifying tales at eeriecast.com. If you love the dark side of the human mind, check out Deadly Intent, where we dig into the monsters that are entirely human. If you'd rather have your monsters made up, come find Carman's Crypt, where I make new ones up to keep you awake. #Popobawa #PopoBawa #Zanzibar #Pemba #FreakyFolklore #Folklore #AfricanFolklore #BatDemon #Jinn #Shapeshifter #SleepParalysis #ScaryStories #HorrorPodcast #CreepyPodcast #Eeriecast #TrueScary #Legends #Mythology #Cryptid #SpookySeason EXPLORE MORE SPINE-CHILLING CONTENT: Freaky Folklore: https://www.eeriecast.com/podcasts/freaky-folklore Carman's Crypt (Original Horror): https://www.carman-carrion.com/ Deadly Intent (True Crime): https://www.carman-carrion.com/ Destination Terror: https://www.eeriecast.com/podcasts/destination-terror SUPPORT THE SHOW: Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/carmancarrion CONNECT WITH CARMAN: Website: https://www.carman-carrion.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CarmanCarrion YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreakyFolklore Twitter/X: https://x.com/CarmanCarrion Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carmancarrion/ SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0uiX155WEJnN7QVRfo3aQY iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/freaky-folklore/id1550361184 Your support helps bring you more terrifying tales. DISCOVER MORE HORROR: http://eeriecast.com/ https://www.carman-carrion.com/ MUSIC CREDITS: Music and sound effects provided by: ElevenLabs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Every Saturday, a woman locks her door. Her husband swore he'd never open it. This week on Freaky Folklore, we dive into the legend of Melusine, the medieval French water-fairy cursed to become a serpent from the waist down every Saturday. Melusine built castles overnight, bore ten sons marked by her supernatural blood, and became the folkloric founding mother of the House of Lusignan. Her descendants ruled as kings of Cyprus and Armenia. Luxembourg, the Plantagenets, and other royal houses claimed her too. Then her husband broke his promise. In this episode: a story of the stonecutter who came to tear down Melusine's castle, followed by the real history behind the legend. That includes Jean d'Arras's 1393 romance, Geoffrey Great-Tooth, the Château de Lusignan, the Luxembourg Melusina, and the twin-tailed mermaid that still turns up in pop culture. Freaky Folklore is part of the Eeriecast Network. Find more shows at eeriecast.com. More from Carman: Deadly Intent (true crime psychology) and Carman's Crypt (original horror fiction) on the Carman Carrion YouTube channel.   #FreakyFolklore #Melusine #Melusina #FrenchFolklore #MedievalFolklore #Folklore #MythicalCreatures #HouseOfLusignan #WaterSpirit #Mermaid #SerpentFairy #DarkFolklore #HorrorPodcast #FolklorePodcast #EuropeanFolklore #Eeriecast   EXPLORE MORE SPINE-CHILLING CONTENT: Freaky Folklore: https://www.eeriecast.com/podcasts/freaky-folklore Carman's Crypt (Original Horror): https://www.carman-carrion.com/ Deadly Intent (True Crime): https://www.carman-carrion.com/ Destination Terror: https://www.eeriecast.com/podcasts/destination-terror SUPPORT THE SHOW: Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/carmancarrion CONNECT WITH CARMAN: Website: https://www.carman-carrion.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CarmanCarrion YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreakyFolklore Twitter/X: https://x.com/CarmanCarrion Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carmancarrion/ SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0uiX155WEJnN7QVRfo3aQY iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/freaky-folklore/id1550361184 Your support helps bring you more terrifying tales. DISCOVER MORE HORROR: http://eeriecast.com/ https://www.carman-carrion.com/ MUSIC CREDITS: Music and sound effects provided by: ElevenLabs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On Christmas Eve, 1945, the Sodder family's home in Fayetteville, West Virginia, burned to the ground. Five of the ten children were never found. No remains were recovered, and the case was closed almost as quickly as it was opened. For decades, their parents refused to believe their children had died that night. This is a preview from Deadly Intent, Carman's true crime psychology podcast. Every episode goes beyond what happened to ask why: what was going on in someone's mind that let them do the unthinkable, and what the evidence still leaves unanswered. New episodes of Deadly Intent drop every Wednesday. Search "Deadly Intent" wherever you listen, hit follow, and start with the full episode on the Sodder Children. Because intent doesn't lie. People do. FOLLOW DEADLY INTENT: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2LklHsNIa8p0ZFOwKE1SLD EXPLORE MORE SPINE-CHILLING CONTENT: Freaky Folklore: https://www.eeriecast.com/podcasts/freaky-folklore Destination Terror: https://www.eeriecast.com/podcasts/destination-terror Carman's Crypt (Original Horror): https://www.carman-carrion.com/ Eeriecast Network: http://eeriecast.com/ SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW FREAKY FOLKLORE: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0uiX155WEJnN7QVRfo3aQY Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/freaky-folklore/id1550361184 SUPPORT THE SHOW: Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/carmancarrion Your support helps bring you more terrifying tales. CONNECT WITH CARMAN: Website: https://www.carman-carrion.com/ YouTube (Carman Carrion): https://www.youtube.com/@CarmanCarrion YouTube (Freaky Folklore): https://www.youtube.com/@FreakyFolklore Twitter/X: https://x.com/CarmanCarrion Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carmancarrion/ MUSIC CREDITS: Music and sound effects provided by ElevenLabs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Deep in the cedar mountains north of Kyoto lives a creature that has spent over a thousand years being both worshipped and feared — sometimes in the same breath. The Tengu can be the greatest swordmaster you'll ever train under, or the reason you vanish off a mountain trail and turn up days later on a rooftop with no memory of how you got there. There's only one rule that decides which one you get: respect the mountain, or don't whistle in the dark. Tonight on Freaky Folklore, we trace the Tengu from its origins as a corrupted Chinese meteor-omen to one of Japan's most iconic yokai — the red-faced, long-nosed mountain demon blamed for centuries of real disappearances known as tengu-kakushi. Along the way, we follow a search-and-rescue volunteer whose eleven years of training and standard-issue whistle mean absolutely nothing to a mountain that's been enforcing its own rules a lot longer than he's been alive. We cover the Tengu's origins, its two forms, its supernatural powers, the traditional defenses against it, and exactly what you're supposed to do the moment you feel something pacing you in the treeline. If tonight's episode hit that "humans are the real monsters" nerve, check out my other show, Deadly Intent, where I dig into the psychology of real killers. And if you want brand-new horror built from scratch instead of pulled from history, Carman's Crypt has a new original story every week. Both are part of the Eeriecast Network — find everything at eeriecast.com. Until next time, stay safe out there, because this world is a strange one. #FreakyFolklore #Tengu #JapaneseFolklore #Yokai #JapaneseMythology #FolkloreExplained #CreepypastaAndFolklore #MountainLegend #SearchAndRescue #HorrorPodcast #TrueFolklore #EeriecastNetwork #JapaneseDemon #MythsAndLegends #CrytpidsAndCreatures EXPLORE MORE SPINE-CHILLING CONTENT: Freaky Folklore: https://www.eeriecast.com/podcasts/freaky-folklore Carman's Crypt (Original Horror): https://www.carman-carrion.com/ Deadly Intent (True Crime): https://www.carman-carrion.com/ Destination Terror: https://www.eeriecast.com/podcasts/destination-terror ________________________________________ SUPPORT THE SHOW: Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/carmancarrion ________________________________________ CONNECT WITH CARMAN: Website: https://www.carman-carrion.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CarmanCarrion YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreakyFolklore Twitter/X: https://x.com/CarmanCarrion Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carmancarrion/ ________________________________________ SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0uiX155WEJnN7QVRfo3aQY iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/freaky-folklore/id1550361184 Your support helps bring you more terrifying tales. ________________________________________ DISCOVER MORE HORROR: http://eeriecast.com/ https://www.carman-carrion.com/ ________________________________________ MUSIC CREDITS: Music and sound effects provided by: ElevenLabs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices