New York, London, Bendigo (it's a place in Australia). These are the three equally famous cities visited by celebrity apparition Katie King. Apart from being the daughter of the legendary pirate/drink Captain Morgan, Ms King was a world-wide spiritualist sensation in the 19th century. This is the story of her other-worldly jaunt to Victorian-era Victoria. This is the concluding part of Spiritualism Down Under, with guest loresheila Bec Hill, so check out part 1 first. If you'd like to see James and Bec come face-to-face with genuine spirit photographs... let us Ask Jeeves that for you: Spirit Photography with Bec Hill. Check out Bec's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/BecHillComedian And her podcast A Problem Squared: https://aproblemsquared.libsyn.com And join... us... at the Cheerful Earful Podcast Festival - 31st October https://www.designmynight.com/london/pubs/balham/the-bedford/cheerful-earful-podcast-festival-day-1 LoreBoys nether say die! Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 @loremenpod youtube.com/loremenpodcast www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod

James and Alasdair are joined by the hilarious (and crafty) comedian Bec Hill. Series 5 (series 5) begins with tales of Australian apparitions, antipodean seances and the scariest monster of all... Scotsmen. With cameos from Arthur Conan Doyle, the pseudonymous Demonax and the Wizard Bombardier of Ballarat. And this is only part 1! Join us next week for the levitating Mrs Guppy, the unsettlingly buxom Katie King and (inevitably) the scores. Check out Bec's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/BecHillComedian And her podcast A Problem Squared: https://aproblemsquared.libsyn.com And join... us... at the Cheerful Earful Podcast Festival - 31st October https://www.designmynight.com/london/pubs/balham/the-bedford/cheerful-earful-podcast-festival-day-1 LoreBoys nether say die! Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 @loremenpod youtube.com/loremenpodcast www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod

While James continues his convalescence, we are busting out another bonus episode from the vaults! Enjoy some more previously Patreon-only extra stuff from episodes with the hilarious Amy Gledhill. Plus join us for live shows... At the Bill Murray - 17th September https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/event-detail/loremen-live-again-17th-sep-the-bill-murray-london-tickets-202309171830/ At Cheerful Earful Podcast Festival - 31st October https://www.designmynight.com/london/pubs/balham/the-bedford/cheerful-earful-podcast-festival-day-1 LoreBoys nether say die! Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 @loremenpod youtube.com/loremenpodcast www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod

*Now with fixed audio* We are having one of our patented (unplanned) Loremen series breaks.  So, we applied to the Lore Council and they agreed to release this juicy bonus episode from the vaults. Enjoy some previously Patreon-only extra stuff from our episode with the wonderful Robin Ince in April 2021. Plus join us for live shows... At the Bill Murray - 17th September https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/event-detail/loremen-live-again-17th-sep-the-bill-murray-london-tickets-202309171830/ At Cheerful Earful Podcast Festival - 31st October https://www.designmynight.com/london/pubs/balham/the-bedford/cheerful-earful-podcast-festival-day-1 LoreBoys nether say die! Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 @loremenpod youtube.com/loremenpodcast www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod

 James is on holiday, but before he left we recorded a little minisode. So enjoy this tale of a ghostly premonition, and join us for our upcoming London live shows: At the Bill Murray - 17th September https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/event-detail/loremen-live-again-17th-sep-the-bill-murray-london-tickets-202309171830/ At Cheerful Earful Podcast Festival - 31st October https://www.designmynight.com/london/pubs/balham/the-bedford/cheerful-earful-podcast-festival-day-1 LoreBoys nether say die! Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 @loremenpod youtube.com/loremenpodcast www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod

The Loremen return to the North East of England, for a stroll through Nicky-Nack Woods. We meet a Teeside Miller with a skeleton in his closet (literally), and solve the murder of the Lumley Mill ghost. It's a spectre-packed episode, with flaming face-holes, a green lady (plus mouse) and a floating hand holding the ghost of a dead knife. In the words of Gossack's ghost... GOODNIGHT! Content Warning: Historic references to murder and domestic violence. Join us for upcoming London live shows: At the Bill Murray - 17th September https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/event-detail/loremen-live-again-17th-sep-the-bill-murray-london-tickets-202309171830/ At Cheerful Earful Podcast Festival - 31st October https://www.designmynight.com/london/pubs/balham/the-bedford/cheerful-earful-podcast-festival-day-1 LoreBoys nether say die! Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 @loremenpod youtube.com/loremenpodcast www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod

A little Loreman met a Pie Man, going to the fair. Said little Loreman to the Pie Man, "Is Datchworth Green near Ware?" And the Pie Man said, "Yeah, but it's closer to Knebworth." James takes Alasdair to the many-spectred village of Datchworth in Hertfordshire - a hamlet terrorised by both spirits of the dead and a flesh-and-blood highwayman. From poor farmer Pennyfather, to Oakenvalley Bottom and the vigilantes of Queen Hoo Hall, this episode is replete with classic Loreboy gibberish. The boys meet the Pie Man of Datchworth fair, and learn why you can't solve all your problems with beheading. We hope you'll think twice, in future. Join us for upcoming London live shows: At the Bill Murray - 17th September https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/event-detail/loremen-live-again-17th-sep-the-bill-murray-london-tickets-202309171830/ At Cheerful Earful Podcast Festival - 31st October https://www.designmynight.com/london/pubs/balham/the-bedford/cheerful-earful-podcast-festival-day-1 LoreBoys nether say die! Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 @loremenpod youtube.com/loremenpodcast www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod

Alasdair bundles James into a red telephone box and dials S for snail. There are ghosts in the wire. There are signals from the other side. The Wichita lineman is still on the LIIIIINE. The year 1850 saw the bizarre tale of the "snail telegraph" play out in Paris: an eccentric inventor, a gullible journalist and forty-eight alphabetic-sympathetic snails. Magical molluscs? Or simply the work of a French fruitcake? You decide. Alasdair shares the story, plus what might be the creepiest post script in the history of the pod: Lancashire's own "Susie's Dying" legend. LoreBoys nether say die! Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 @loremenpod youtube.com/loremenpodcast www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod

Comedian Yuriko Kotani returns to the pod to tangle with a shapeshifting trickster. The tanuki (or racoon dog) is both a real animal and a very cheeky yōkai. (That’s a spirit in Japanese folklore, but you probably knew that.) This furry little fellow is famed for his enormous… that is to say his massive… well… he’s got a lot of chutzpah, let’s leave it at that. But who’s that by the side of the road? A crying loreman? A tricksy tanuki? Or could it be Japan’s chilling faceless ghost… the noppera-bō? Loreboys nether say die! Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 @loremenpod youtube.com/loremenpodcast www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod

This four poster bed was built for royalty, but take our word for it - it's a lot more than king-sized. This bed is big. You might ask, how many butchers (plus partners) can you fit in it? The answers will surprise you! James gives Alasdair the old 'come to bed' podcast tale. About a big bed. The biggest bed. Bigger than you're thinking of. Oh, and bad news: it's haunted. Loreboys nether say die! Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 @loremenpod www.twitch.tv/loremenpod www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod

The Loremen are joined by Tom Mayhew (from Radio 4's Tom Mayhew Is Benefit Scum) for one of our stinkiest, sexiest episodes to date. Following in the footsteps of Victorian journo Henry Mayhew (no relation), the boys meet the Battersea rat-charmer Jack Black: mole destroyer by royal appointment. We gawp at the Original Happy Family™, we follow "toshers" into the sewers of Bermondsey and we wince at young man's hairy encounter with... The Queen Rat! Deputy Loreperson Tom Mayhew can be found at the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, performing his new show This Time Next Year, We'll Be Millionaires! Content Warning: Alasdair "sings". Loreboys nether say die! Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 @loremenpod www.twitch.tv/loremenpod www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod

Man vs Cow! The epic battle continues. James tells the romantic tale of the English knight Guy of Warwick, who (rather unromantically) killed a massive cow. The cow was very, very angry and bigger than a van, so don't judge Guy too harshly. He also killed a handful of dragons, but we skip over them. It was all a witch's fault, really. Listen carefully, and you will learn about a rude flower, what sneezes mean and what NOT to do with children's teeth. Loreboys nether say die! Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen @loremenpod www.twitch.tv/loremenpod www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod

The Loreboys are still in the county of Cornwall when they encounter a remarkably haunted inn named The Dolphin. And, steel yourself listener, because Alasdair not only visited the titular pub, he actually received a message from the other side. With extracts from Haunted Inns by Marc Alexander and Ghosts of Cornwall by (his eminence) Peter Underwood, there's a fair few chills for your spine. (Not to mention tickles for your ribs.) And, needless to say, there is a fair amount of hat chat. Pop on your tricorne and enjoy! Loreboys nether say die! Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen @loremenpod www.twitch.tv/loremenpod www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod

Ghostbusters! In Cornwall! That's very much the premise. Alasdair returns from England's westernmost peninsula with a slew of tales about Cornish ghost-layers, spirit-quellers, exorcists and general demon-botherers. PLUS a bonus excerpt from James's appearance on The Quantum Mechanics https://t.co/kjWayikqVO, when the team went to look at a standing stone, to see if it moved. (It didn't.) Also available here: youtube.com/loremenpodcast

James takes Alasdair way out west; as far west as you can go in the UK without getting wet. We're talking about the wall of corn itself: Cornwall, and the tale of a peculiar vicar who managed to alienate his entire community. Basically, this episode is like Wild Wild West, but with two Kevin Klines and no Will Smiths. Guest starring: a pack of dogs; a 14th Century heretic and some lovely, lovely apples!   Plus, eagle-eared listeners will spot some classic Loremen Mispronunciations™. Loreboys nether say die! Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen @loremenpod www.twitch.tv/loremenpod www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod

James dazzles Alasdair with a selection of grifts, scams and swindles from Edo period Japan. Marvel at the adventures of the legendary Hikoichi, featuring a bucket of fish-guts, a red-faced demon (literally and figuratively) and pub-based nudity. This marks the Loremen's long-awaited return to the shed / garret livestream format. If you want to witness it all with moving images (and an hour of extra "content"), head over to https://youtube.com/live/9rVYXOTMrKQ. Loreboys nether say die! Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen @loremenpod www.twitch.tv/loremenpod www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod  

This is a biscuit-heavy minisode, in service of our upcoming LIVESTREAM. Join... Us... on the 12th June 2023 (2023) at 8:30pm BST (bst) on youtube.com/loremenpodcast for tales from James Shakeshaft's trip to Japan!  It will be fun!

The Loreboys are off galivanting! Well, Alasdair is on tour in the UK and James is on a family holiday in Japan. (Friend of the podcast: Japan.) So, think of this episode as a horror anthology. If you're afraid of talking cats and hairy trees, that is.

In April 2022, the Loremen recorded their shortest episode ever: Dame Creswyke’s Spectre. Did you think one haunted hotel was all Moreton-in-Marsh had to offer? Well, you were wrong! That sleepy Cotswold town on the Fosse Way is a veritable horn of plenty. Plenty of ghosts, that is. Expect spectres, mists, coughs, sensations and a bevy of airborne phenomena. Loreboys nether say die! Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen @loremenpod www.twitch.tv/loremenpod www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod

England's best "true" vampire story springs from the pages of the prolific hob-nobber Augustus Hare. Bleh! Alasdair tells James a blood-soaked Cumbrian legend, gleaned from Hare's (ludicrously long) autobiography. Sorry, autobiographies. The walrus-faced Hare had a gift for extracting dubious ghost stories from minor aristocrats. And tales seldom come taller than that of the Croglin Grange vampire. An isolated bungalow; a lonely young woman; and a scratch, scratch, scratch at the window... Prepare yourself for eccentric toffs, desecrated crypts, and an elderly aunt who ate someone's arm. You know, the usual. Loreboys nether say die! Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen @loremenpod www.twitch.tv/loremenpod www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod @JamesShakeshaft | @MisterABK

Could this be our most respectful episode yet? Inspired by the crowning of Charles 3: Return of the King, the Loremen recap the entire King Chuck franchise. James recounts Charles I's ghostly premonitions and the much more boring Charles II is briefly mentioned as well. In devastating news, James discovers that he was mispronouncing the word "chrism" throughout the entire coronation. Like the history of Britain's monarchy, the reality is much, much worse than you can imagine. This episode also features respectful cameos from King Cnut, a serial killer turned mayor and little Jimmy Shakes himself. Loreboys nether say die! Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen @loremenpod www.twitch.tv/loremenpod www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod @JamesShakeshaft | @MisterABK

Duchess, Poisoner, Spectre, Spy. James and Alasdair leap back to the English Civil War and meet the two-timing royalist schemer Elizabeth Murray. Her Richmond home is haunted by stories of intrigue, betrayal and ghosts. And a little dog too. The gloomy pile that is Ham House was Elizabeth's lifelong passion. Some believe that she never left. Visit Ham and maybe you will hear the old duchess rapping. (With her cane, on the floor.) This episode is part of a pair. Check out S4E42 - Strawberry Hill Gothic for some spooky business from the other bank of the River Thames. Loreboys nether say die! Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen @loremenpod www.twitch.tv/loremenpod www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod @JamesShakeshaft | @MisterABK

Horace Walpole was the O.G. Goth (Original Goth Goth). He was an eccentric 18th Century writer, who transformed a modest cottage in Twickenham into a plaster and papier-mâche fantasy. Join James and Alasdair as we venture into the gloomsome, vaulted hallways of The Gothic. Sorry, Gothick. This episode features Strawberry Hill ghost stories from Patsy Sorenti and a chilling tale from the unwary prankster Davy Craig. There's a wooden cravat and a gigantic suit of armour. And, as a special treat, James tries to guess what John Dee's Speculum was. He gets it wrong. Loreboys nether say die! Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen @loremenpod youtube.com/loremenpod www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod

James takes Alasdair on a tour of the 'summer lands' - Somerset - and the wee folk that dwell there. They live inside stones, beneath mounds and under at least one castle. (It's not there anymore, don't look for it.) We are talking fairies, faeries and indeed, the fae. You've got to be careful with these temperamental critters. They'll just as soon give you a golden nugget as turn into a cloud of bees and have your eyes out. We probably shouldn't have called them 'critters'. Sorry, lads. No harm done, eh?   Loreboys nether say die! Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen @loremenpod youtube.com/loremenpod www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod

In an old Tudor house near Marlborough there is a chamber that legends call the justice room. Evil-doers beware! The spirit that lingers in that old "Oaken Place" is determined to wring the life out of any villain that spends a night there alone. That is, if we are to believe the tale of a long-dead actor, an elderly maid and a still-living podcaster who went to mime school. (The last one is James "I'm acting like it's windy" Shakeshaft.) Join the Loremen as we follow the trail of an exceptionally unpleasant ghost-hunter, haunted by spectral horses, ghostly sobbing and castanets. For some reason. Loreboys nether say die! Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen @loremenpod youtube.com/loremenpod www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod

The Denham Tracts might sound like the pamphlets of choice for James “Double Denim” Shakeshaft. In fact, they were the work of a County Durham folklorist with an ear for proverbs and an eye for the weird.   Does King Arthur sleep beneath the Castle of the Seven Shields? Do Hedgehogs engage in nocturnal milk-larceny? And if you live anywhere near Leeds, are you prepared for the Puddening? These questions - and more - will be answered, as the Lorebois leaf through the Denham Tracts, looking for words that sound a bit rude. This episode is a 'ganger', like Willy Pigg’s d*** a**. After all, “It’s a hobbly road, as the man said when he fell over a cow.” Loreboys nether say die! Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen @loremenpod www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod

Brighton and Hove: quiet, peaceful, serene... that is until Shrove Tuesday comes round! The Loreboys discover that while Brightonians are a forward-thinking and open-minded bunch, they have real issues when it comes to one particular bird. (It's chickens. You guessed that.) This is a tale of Vikings and fowl play, and it may be our most controversial episode yet. James makes enemies of The Danes, red heads, chickens and ducks. And Alasdair launches phase one of the ABK Cinematic Universe (The ABKCU). Loreboys nether say die! Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen @loremenpod www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod

Stoke your Brams and Bram your Stokers, because James and Alasdair are joined by Sacha Coward: escape room designer and author of the upcoming book Queer as Folklore. Taking us from Lilith to Lord Byron (stopping off at Tom Cruise for a layover), Sacha unearths the LGBTQ+ subtext of the Vampire. Sorry, Vampyre. Say it with a Y. We touch on some slightly more serious themes than our usual fare of decapitations and maggot-covered doors, but you'll have to check out the Patreon extras for the really slanderous stuff... Loreboys nether say die! Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen @loremenpod www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod

Did the Devil themself come to town on a cold February night in Devon and just sort of wander around? That's just one of the hypotheses put forward to explain the uncanny appearance of prints in the snow all across the county. Was it Old Nick? Or was it a gang of kangaroos? An acrobatic rodent? Or, like so many things in life, was it simply badgers?   Who knows? YOU DECIDE. We certainly don't. Loreboys nether say die! Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen @loremenpod www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod

The Loremen are joined by loveable Australian podman Nick "Maso" Mason of The Weekly Planet. Naturally, they take their new deputy straight to Northampton, home of comic book legend Alan "Alan" Moore. There, the loreboys attempt to dazzle Maso with two tales.  One is a little bit too stare-y and the other is a very naughty goose.  AND THATS JUST ALASDAIR AND JAMES hahahaha! Well, that just happened... Expect a cutting dissection of Joss Whedonic humour, and more. And check out Nick @wikipediabrown on The Weekly Planet Podcast and that YouTube. Loreboys nether say die! Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen @loremenpod www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod