DreamSwarm Podcast: Recent Episodes
Andy Mark Simpson
Supernatural Film, Stories, Art: Interviews and discussion covering dreams, fairytales, fantasy, folklore, folk horror, magic realism, mythology, psychogeography, supernatural, urban fantasy
We are re-joined by returning heroine Alexandra Beaumont, auther of new fantasy novel 'Dissonance of Birdsong'. We chat about how her new novel has been influenced by folklore and by her experiences of Cornwall.
- New novel 'Dissonance of Birdsong'
- Influence of folklore
- Landscape and environment of Cornwall
- Tropes and trends in fantasy
- Tips for generating creative ideas
You can buy 'Dissonance of Birdsong' and her other fantasy novel 'Testament of the Stars' here
Follow Alexandra Beaumont on X here @ABeaumontWriter
RIP Terence Davies, one of our favourite filmmakers, who died this week. No guests on this episode, just Andy talking about what he loves about Terence Davies' films. Davies' was one of the best ever at using film to explore themes of memory and the passage of time. His magic-realist style has been a big influence and one of the reasons we set up the DreamSwarm platform to begin with. This is a 15-minute chat about his autobiographical films.
Introduction to Terence Davies and his magic-realist films
Non-linear associational structures
Breaking the link between sound and images
Memories altered by the act of filmmaking narration
Where to get started with Terence Davies' films
'In comes I, Old Father Christmas...'
We love the pageantry of the Christmas period. For our festive Christmas special we are joined by Sem from the Wantage Mummers group.
We learn all about the traditions of English mummers plays which take place over the Christmas period.
- History of Mummers plays
- The Old Father Christmas character
- Links with other folk art forms
You can learn more about the Wantage Mummers group and other societies here
https://www.wantagemummers.org.uk/
Director George Popov returns to the podcast to dicuss his folklore and folk horror documentary 'Sideworld: Terrors of the Sea'. He explains how they created this mix of documentary and narrative and why there is such faascination with the folklore of the sea.
- Ghost ships
- Sea monsters
- Why the sea is so fascinating
You can watch 'Sideworld: Terrors of the Sea' here https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0B5PVMRM7/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r
You can follow Sideworld on twitter here https://twitter.com/Sideworld_UK
We are joined by Maria Galizia and Caitlin Bramwell who are the hosts of the new Newcastle Witches Podcast. We delve into the history of my home city to investigate the Newcastle Witch trials and the nature of witch hunting in the 17th century.
- Magic and superstition in 17th century
- Plague and war
- Similarities between trials in England and Scotland
- Campaign to pardon convicted witches
You can learn more and listen to the Newcastle Witches Podcast here
You can learn more about campaigns to pardon convicted witches with Witches of Scotland here
Our Midsummer Special episode celebrating William Shakespeare's play 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. We're joined by expert Shakespeare practitioner Ben Spiller from the 1623 Theatre company to discuss the play and how Ben eplores Shakespeare with marginalised groups of people. A great episode to celebrate the magic of Midsummer.
Themes in Midsummer Night's Dream
Puck and fairy characters
Surreal imagery
The supernatural in other Shakespeare plays.
You can follow Ben and 1623 Theatre Company online here 1623 website
and on Twitter 1623 Twitter
This episode focuses on the character of Robin Hood. We interview Thadeus Papke, the host of Into the Greenwood podcast which is all about Robin Hood. Thadeus has amazing knowledge and love for this folklore character so we took a deep dive into the origins and depictions of the character.
- What is Into the Greenwood podcast
- Origins of Robin Hood
- Robin's links to the supernatural and fairies
- Maid Marian and other figures
- Our favourite Robin Hood films and games
We highly recoomend listening to the Into the Greenwood podcast here
For further dives into the Robin Hood legend we also recommend The Bold Outlaw website
You can follow Into the Greenwood on Twitter, Instagram and facebook @IntoGreenwood
We are joined by Keith Leech, the organiser of Hastings Jack in the Green Festival. Keith explains the history of the Jack in the Green tradition and how this pageantry is performed all over the South of England to celebrate the coming of spring and summer.
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- Introduction to Jack in the Green tradition
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- Links to Green Man and other May Day festivals
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- How the festival is celebrated in the South of England
Hastings Jack in the Green festival takes place 29th April to 2nd May
Find out mre at www.hastingstraditionaljackinthegreen.co.uk
For other events and more historyof Jack in the Green and the Green Man traditions and more events around the UK look at The COmpany of the Green Man www.thecompanyofthegreenman.wordpress.com
We're joined by director George Popov of Rubicon Films to discuss his recent folk horror indie films 'Hex' and 'The Droving' and we learn all about 'Sideworld', his new series of folklore and folk horror documentaries.
- 'Hex' folk horror indie film
- 'The Droving' folk horror thriller set in the Lake District
- 'Sideworld' new folk horror documentary series
- Exploring haunted forests of England
- Why the switch to the documentary format?
Watch 'Sideworld: Haunted Forests of England' here: Watch Sideworld online
Watch 'Hex' here: Hex film
Watch 'The Droving' here The Droving film
Or watch on Youtube The Droving on Youtube
Follow Rubicon films on twitter https://twitter.com/RubiconFilmsUK
Or their website https://www.rubiconfilms.co.uk/
We are joined by the brilliant Sian Esther Powell, host of the Celtic Myths & Legends podcast for a great discussion on folklore, language and culture from Cornwall and Wales.
- Introduction to the Celtic Nations
- Celtic Myths & Legends podcast
- The Cornish language
- Similarities between Wlesh and Cornish folkore and culture
You can listen to the Celtic Myths & Legends podcast here
https:/celticmythspodcast.com/
You can follow Sian on twitter here https://twitter.com/SianEsther
Interview with Stephen Rae 'Bard of Cumberland' about his creative endevours in painting, poetry and especially in fuilmmaking. We discuss his surrealist folkore films and how being a druid and a folklore storyteller have influenced his work.
- Making folklore short films
- Why the surrealist style?
- Influence of his druid practice
- Background in Ayrshire and Cumbrian folklore
To see Stephen's folklore films, paintings and storytelling you can follow on
Rae Film & Media ww.raefm.com
@BardCumberland
@StephenGeoRae
@LandofLoreFilms
@BardeaGrnFilms
Krampus special! Interview Part 2 with Al Ridenhour, author of 'Krampus and the Old Dark Christmas'. We discuss his book ann the nature of the folklore and customs surrounding 'The Christmas devil'.
- Who or what is Krampus?
- Krampus customs in the alps.
- Exporting Krampus around the clobe
- The future of Krampus
You can get this fantastic book here:
https://feralhouse.com/the-krampus/
You can also listen to Al's podcast Bone and Sickle for dark folklore, history and horror.
https://www.boneandsickle.com/
You can listen to Part 1 of the DreamSwarm interview with Al in our previous episode here:
https://dreamswarm-podcast.castos.com/episodes/folklore-history-horror-bone-and-sickle
Interview with Al Ridenhour, host of the Bone and Sickle podcast and author of 'Krampus and the Old Dark Christmas'. It is an incredible podcast, full of spooky atmospheres and high production values to deliver rich research in an entertaining way.
- Confluence of folklore, history and horror
- Themes for episodes
- Creating the distinctive soundtracks
You can listen to the Bone and Sickle podcast here www.boneandsickle.com
You can also support their Patreon page.
You can follow on twitter @BoneandSickle
Take a look at Al's book 'Krampus and the Old Dark Christmas', a deep exploration of spooky yuletide folklore from the Alps.
Interview podcast with Fraser Coull and James Harding, creators of emerging TV show 'Origins of the Laoich' which is inspired by Scottish history and mythology.
- Creating a new fantasy TV show
- Influences of mythology
- The cultural history of Scotland
- Using Scots Gaelic language
You can follow 'Origins of the Laoich' on twitter and watch the trailer here
Writer-Director Lucy Rose discusses the influence of folklore and the gothic in her work and tells us about her new gothic horror short film 'Taste' and her previous gothic horror 'She Lives Alone'.
Interview with Darren Charles of the Folk Horror Revival group which has 23,000 members. We discuss this Folk Horror genre and why it is so popular.
- Defining folk horror?
- Folk horror examples
- What is the appeal of folk horror?
- How does it differ from other horror genres?
- Links to Urban Wyrd and related genres
You can follow Folk Horror Revival and find out more about the genre on their website www.folkhorrorrevival.com
Join the discussions on the FHR facebook group
Follow on Twitter here @Folk_horror
Interview with Derek Jones, one half of the team at The Midnight Myth Podcast which explores films and popular culture through a lens of mythology, history and philosophy. Derek and Laurel run such a great podcast for all cinema lovers and it was a pleasure to chat.
- Introducing the Midnight Myth Podcast
- Links between mythology and popular cinema
- Films and their historical context
- How they choose which films to explore
You can follow The Midnight Myth on their website here https://www.midnightmyth.com/
On Twitter here https://twitter.com/TheMidnightMyth
Listen on all podcast platforms
Interview with authors Angeline B Adams and Remco Van Straten about their new collection of sword and sorcery short stories 'The Red Man and Others'
- Re-thinking the sword and sorcery genre
- Representing disability and diversity in fantasy fiction
- Writing in a partnership
- How they created 'The Red Man and Others'
This is such a wonderful book with fantastic characters and diversity which just comes naturally. Angeline is also a disability campaigner.
You can buy The Red Man and Others here
You can follow them on their blog TurnipLanterns
You can follow on Twitter @RemcoStraten @AngelineBAdams
Filmmaker Andy Berriman joins DreamSwarm director Andy Mark Simpson to discuss magic realism and how it has influenced their work.
- Defining Magic Realism
- Examples of magic realist style
- Difficulties of making magic realist films
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Is all cinema inherently magic realist?
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You can follow Andy Berriman on Twitter @AndyBerriman
Interview with fantasy author Alexandra Beaumont to discuss beliefs of astrologers in the Elizabethan era and how it influenced her upcoming fantasy novel 'Testament of the Stars'.
- Influence of Elizabethan astrology
- Influence of folklore
- World-building in fantasy
- New fantasy novel 'Testament of the Stars'.
Follow Alex on twitter @ABeaumontWriter
Find out more about 'Testament of the Stars' with Gurt Dog Press https://gurtdogpress.com/alexandra-beaumont/
Interview with writer-director Aurora Fearnley about her sci-fi and folk horror films and what genre filmmaking can teach us about life's big questions:
Sci- Fi and folk horror films
Folk Horror, Human Nature and Othering
The appeal of genre filmmaking
You can see Aurora's short film 'Pulsar' here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eueQHsthSdU
Follow Aurora @AuroraFearnley