We’re very excited because in this episode we get to talk to another podcast! Not just any podcast but the folklore world’s hottest up and coming show, WyrdFolk Pod! This show doesn’t just talk folklore and share folktales, it describes itself as a duelling podcast which invites its audience to listen to two stories written […]

For many fantasy writers, one of the great joys of writing a book is the opportunity it gives you to build a brand-new world. It can be based on the one we live in but with key differences. What if animals could talk? What if fairies were real? The possibilities are endless. However, no matter […]

The beauty of myth is that it grows with us, that every generation brings its own perspective and interpretation to ancient stories to create something fresh, new and relevant to the concerns of a contemporary audience. Honeysuckle by Bar Fridman Tell was inspired by the Welsh myth of Blodeuwedd, in which a magician creates a […]

Dark academia is a genre that has proven pretty popular. We’ve all been to school and plenty of us have been to university, so is it the pull of nostalgia that attracts readers? Or were our school days so dull that we crave reimagining them with a healthy dose of magic? Perhaps the boiling pot […]

In this month’s episode, we are taking you to the ballet, where stories are told through the medium of body and music. Just as this art can bring things to magical life, so too can it foster obsession in those who strive to achieve the perfect form. The Apple and the Pearl by Rym Kechacha […]

The beauty of science fiction is that it can be pretty much anything. It can be people on spaceships exploring the stars. It can be settlers being stalked and killed by an alien monster. It can be about an alien trying to blend in with humans. It can be bold, scary, amusing, or heartbreaking. What […]

Something a little bit different this month! Anyone who follows us on social media will be aware that we were completely thrilled and surprised to win the 2025 British Fantasy Award for Best Audio last month. In our somewhat unprepared acceptance speech, we said that sometimes it feels like no one out there is listening, […]

So, this is a bit of an unusual episode. Normally, we get an author on to discuss their new book. But today we have three authors talking about a brand new non-fiction book they’re part of, and two of them are your hosts! The book in question is Writing the Magic, the fourth in an […]

For many writers, history can be both an inspiration and a source of plot. No one is going to call a fantasy writer out for “making it up”. With historical fiction, however, you have to be more careful – there are always a bunch of readers out there ready to spot anachronisms. But some writers […]

Zombies first shambled onto our cinema screens in the 1932 film White Zombie staring Bela Lugosi. Early incarnations involved voodoo reanimation and lacked the whole brain-eating aspect. (There’s a really interesting article by Carnegie Mellon University that charts the early history of the zombie). But let us jump to what modern audiences consider a zombie. For that, […]

Part of a murder mystery’s charm is the narrative movement from chaos to order. The natural balance of justice is overturned and it’s up to ordinary people – rather than the law – to fix it. The uncovering of clues, red herrings, the many suspicious characters – all of these are essential to a good […]