The Max Headroom Incident
This week’s tale is set in the Windy City – Chicago, Illinois. The time, a very specific 9.14pm on 22nd November 1987. The city’s sports fans are tuned into WGN TV’s Nine O’clock News as Dan Roen discuses the latest round in the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions rivalry – (I’m told the two American Football […]
Edit: On the Trail of La Bete du Gevaudan
Today’s scene, dear readers, the Southern French province of Gevaudan. The time, between 1764 and 1767, just after the bloody, costly Seven Years War. An unidentified maneater stalks the people of Gevaudan, killing with a ruthless efficiency. Just what was la bete, the Beast of Gevaudan?
Frau Troffea’s dance with the devil.
Today’s tale is set in the city of Strasbourg – then part of the Holy Roman Empire – the date, mid July 1518. Frau Troffea, a local woman for whom there is little description of in the public domain – so I choose to picture her as a medieval Toni Basil – comes waltzing out […]
What goes up…. The Ballad of Franz Reichelt.
Warning! This week’s tale deals with death by misadventure, which some readers may find disturbing. Today’s tale is set on a freezing cold morning, 57 metres above the ground, in Paris, France. The date February 4th 1912. Our subject, one unfortunate soul we’ll come to in a few minutes. Before I even begin this tale, […]
Simone’s Christmas Carol 2020.
John Elwes – The Miser of Marcham Park. Hi all, welcome to the official 2020 Christmas Tale of History and Imagination. Merry Christmas all, I hope this post finds you all well. Today’s post begins in Canongate churchyard, Edinburgh, Scotland. The date is 1841. A young writer meanders through the graveyard, perusing the tales to […]
Twas a Couple of Days’ Before Christmas…
Hey everyone, this was – almost – this year’s Christmas post. I just wasn’t feeling it this year. On first draft though inspiration struck. I present this as I think it still has some value right? – An actual Xmas post will drop on the 25th. Hi all, Merry Christmas to you all. After reading […]
The Campden Wonder – The strange ‘murder’ of William Harrison
Today’s Tale begins on the night of 16th August 1660 in the town of Campden, Gloustershire. William Harrison – the 70 year old steward of Viscountess Campden – has left on a two mile walk to the town of Charringworth, but never returned. Sent to collect the rents for his ladyship, a job Harrison had […]
The Georgia Guidestones.
Hi all, I’m writing week to week again and will likely do so till I take a break at Christmas – when I can build up a stockpile of Tales again. I am hoping to get back on the weekly blog cycle again now the podcast is back up, and can be listened to on […]
A Few Transgender Tales: on Transgender Awareness Week 2020.
Hi all, first up, a quick update on the podcast reboot. Four of the first six episode scripts mixed well, two need re-doing. I’ve recorded some background music. With a few long nights coming up I think we’ll be on track for weekly blogs Tuesdays, podcast episodes Wednesdays, come early December. I was thinking of […]
Admin Note: A Quick Update…. And Random Ephemera
Hi all, just dropping a quick note here today. Work on a rebooted podcast is going a little slowly – I think, like a lot of people, the US election has been the only show in town over the week just past. When your country, Americans, is the hegemon – the most powerful nation on […]
Repost: Altamont: The Ballad of Meredith Hunter.
The following was originally released in four parts, on the Facebook page, in June 2019. I’ve heavily edited, & collated the piece into one blog post. One: That Dick Cavett Interview… Hi folks, I should say up front I thought I understood Altamont. In researching this Tale, I found out much of what I thought […]
Buried Alive!
Content warning! This tale contains macabre, ghoulish subject matter – as one may expect on a Halloween Tale. Proceed with caution. Taphophobia is the name given to the irrational fear of being buried alive; the word deriving from the Greek taphos (meaning grave or tomb) and phobos (fear). In 2020 it is accepted by most […]
Repost: “God is over all” The mystery of Eilean Mor
The Flannan Isles, sometimes referred to as the 7 Hunters, are a tiny group of islands on the outside of the Outer Hebrides – a string of islands in the North of Scotland. The group are named after the 7th century bishop of Kallaloe, and later saint, St Flannan – whose feast day was eerily […]
Repost: The macabre death of Antoine Lavoisier
Hi folks this week I am sharing a rather macabre tale. I should state up front, while this tale features a real, historical figure and his death, it could very well be a tall tale. Please proceed with caution dear reader. Take this with a grain of salt. Today’s tale revolves around the final moments […]
Robert the Bruce and the Spider
Hi all just a quick note today. I normally do mini tales like this on the social media accounts – sometimes weekly, and try to keep the blog for blog posts, but I’m mindful the page is getting a lot of traffic from other places at the moment. This man is Robert the Bruce, (1274 […]
Samuel Parnell and the fight for the 8 hour workday.
Hi all I feel like telling a local tale for once this week. Please be prepared, dear reader, for one this will feature more New Zealanders than normal on this channel… for another it won’t be the usual quirky, obscure or horrible fare I peddle most weeks. The man in the featured photo today may […]
Three Short Tales…
Hey folks the internet tells me you all like lists, so I thought I’d fill a gap in the schedule with a short list, of short tales. This week’s tale is a triptych – a little like the Francis Bacon piece I borrowed for the featured image today… One – Pirates! Our first tale takes […]
The Strange Death of Dorothy Kilgallen (Part Three)
Content warning! This episode mentions sudden death, multiple suicides… and may have turned out to be one great big shaggy dog tale in itself. Reader discretion advised. Hi all welcome back, let’s do part three of the Dorothy Kilgallen Tale. Parts one and two can be found on the links. To state categorically John F […]
The New Colossus
Hi there folks, I’m doing something different this week. The tale of Dorothy Kilgallen goes on a short pause till I get a chance to review what I still had to cover about John F Kennedy, in the light of day. I still need to speak a little on why some people wanted a sitting […]
The Strange Death of Dorothy Kilgallen (Part Two)
Warning! This tale contains more shaggy dog tales. It also contains a description of the JFK assassination which might upset some people. Reader discretion is advised. Today, dear readers, we pick up our Tale on Dorothy Kilgallen, on the morning of Friday 22nd November 1963. The location, the Hilton, Fort Worth Texas. President John Fitzgerald […]
The Strange Death of Dorothy Kilgallen (Part One)
If she was just trying to get to sleep, and took the overdose of pills accidentally, why was the light on? Usually people sleep better in the dark. – Dorothy Kilgallen on Marilyn Monroe. Warning! This Tale begins with a shaggy dog tale involving YouTube and my recurring insomnia. I’ve no idea why YouTube algorithms […]
Reader Challenge: On J.F.C Fuller
Hi everyone, this week I’m doing things a little differently. I think this will be a one off, but the process was fun. A few weeks before this will publish I got a message via the portal from WordPress follower Tom Doberman – Hi Tom. His question, have I thought of picking a date then […]
Tipu’s Tiger
Local legend in the Kingdom of Mysore tells the following tale. One day, a young prince named Tipu went out hunting in the jungle with a friend – sometimes portrayed as a French mercenary in the service of the prince’s father – the fearsome Hyder Ali. While tracking a local deer or antelope the two […]
Charles Lightoller’s worst night ever
Today’s tale is set in the North Atlantic ocean, around 400 miles off the coast of the then Dominion of Newfoundland. The date 15th April 1912. The time, around 2.30am. Picture our subject, a 38 year old former Navy officer named Charles Lightoller. Tonight may well be his worst day on the job. Sitting in […]
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