All things holly, jolly, and odd-ly.
Episodes
Thursday Nov 25, 2021
Thursday Nov 25, 2021
Happy Thanksgiving! We dive deep into the history of Christmas murder ballads with my friend (and cohost from the ReReading Wolfe Podcast) James Wynn.
I'll get links to all the songs from the episode up here shortly. But for now, here are links for James:
- ReReading Wolfe Podcast
- RRW on Twitter
- Our Xmas episodes of RRWolfe: 2020 (we discuss 3 stories), 2019 (we read one story)
Bumper music:
- Usual opening: "O Holy Night" by Tiny Tim, "Christmas Doesn't Last" by Make Like Monkeys, "Santa Claus Boogie" by Hasil Adkins, "Space Age Santa" by Ross Christman
- Special opening: "Joy to the World" by John Fahey
- Closing: "Stagger Lee" by Grateful Dead
If you’re feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a “coffee” ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com.
Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I’ll send you a sticker!
Monday Nov 15, 2021
Monday Nov 15, 2021
La Befana, Perchta, Holda, and so many more! We chat with the always encyclopedic Benito Cereno about all the Christmas witch folklore in Christmas history.
Links:
- Benito's Christmas history videos
- Benito's writing at Gumroad
- Apocrypals podcast
- Friends 'Till the End podcast
- Progressively Horrified
Music:
- "La Befana" by Make Like Monkeys
- "Perchta" by The Champagne Drops
- "Christmas Witch" by ChatterBox
- "The Christmas Witch" by CountD
If you’re feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a "coffee" ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com.
Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I'll send you a sticker!
Wednesday Dec 23, 2020
Wednesday Dec 23, 2020
Full text of all the winners are at WeirdChristmas.com along with bios, information, and links for all the authors.
All fiction copyright 2020 by the authors.
Please visit WeirdChristmas.com for full information.
Monday Dec 21, 2020
Monday Dec 21, 2020
Sometimes when you have a podcast, you talk to people who interest you and you don’t worry so much about how it relates to the show or your topic or what your hard-won audience really cares about. So you put out a show that’s all about really, really narrow interests you have. This is half that. The other half is about an amazing book about whether or not you should believe in Santa.
Links from the show:
- Does Santa Exist: A Philosophical Investigation (buy on Amazon)
- Eric’s blog
- Eric’s Wikipedia page…because that’s cool
- Eric on Twitter (which is loads of fun)
- I’m sure I forgot something
Music from this episode:
- “Science Christmas Carols”
- “A Christmas Carol” by Tom Lehrer
>>>>>
If you’re feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a “coffee” ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com.
Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I’ll send you a sticker!
Tuesday Dec 15, 2020
Tuesday Dec 15, 2020
“…And scary ghost stories of Christmasses long, long ago!”
Ghost stories from previous years if you’re in a spooky mood: 2019, 2018, 2017
Next year, we should break open this boys’ club with a tale from this…
Links from the show:
- Full text of the story, “Between the Lights”
- A bit about Benson
- Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories, Vol. 4 by Christopher Philippo.
Our narrators this year:
- Christohper Stanley (@allthosestrings, author of The Lamppost Huggers which has a a couple Xmas ghost stories of its own)
- Kitty Pereira (@itskittypereira)
- Sean from Xmas Podcasts Podcast
- Jim Moon of Hypnogoria (loads more ghost stories here), who also helped us out last year
- Alexandra White (@alexandradw23)
- OldManFreakBoy (Check out his radio shows of Christmas music here: 1, 2, 3, 4.
- Dr. Calighoulie (Tony Dixon, IG: @tonydixon_art)
- Kristy Smith (Twitter/IG: @kristynotkirsty, FB: @kristynotkirsty74)
- fthgurdy
- Dustin Pari (@dustinpari, DustinPari.com, Ghosthunters guy.)
- Fr. Stephen Vrazel (@KeytarCatholic)
>>>>>
If you’re feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a “coffee” ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com.
Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I’ll send you a sticker!
Friday Dec 04, 2020
Friday Dec 04, 2020
Time to destroy your appetite! I talk to Glen Warren from the Season's Eatings Podcast about weird Christmas food throughout history.
Links:
- Season's Eatings Podcast
- List of Christmas Podcasts (from Brian Earl's Christmas Past)
- Holly Jolly Xmasu (Japanese Christmas music podcast)
- Totally Rad Christmas ("Rudolph's Shiny New Year" episode with me)
- The Lamppost Huggers by Christopher Stanley (some Christmas horror stories)
- Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories, vol 4 edited by Christopher Philippo
Music in this episode:
- "Christmas Food" by Idito the Chicken and Moonpie Nobot
>>>>>
If you’re feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a “coffee” ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com.
Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I’ll send you a sticker!
Thursday Nov 26, 2020
Thursday Nov 26, 2020
As a Thanksgiving treat, enjoy a deep dive down the rabbit hole of Santa history with Tom Jerman, author of Santa Claus Worldwide: A History of St. Nicholas and Other Holiday Gift-Bringers. This is my favorite book of Santa history, and Tom and I covered a lot of ground.
Links mentioned in the show:
- Buy the book!
- From Amazon
- From McFarland Publishers
- Tom's new website A Collection of Santas with new blog posts summarizing topics in Santa history and other treats.
- Books mentioned:
- The Children's Friend (1821)
- Irving's Knickerbocker's History of New York (later version)
- Glen Warren's Season's Eatings Podcast
Music from the episode:
- "Sankt Niklas war ein Seemann" - Freddy Quinn
- "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" - Wilf Carter
- "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" - Chadron Polka Band
If you’re feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a “coffee” ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com.
Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I’ll send you a sticker!
Tuesday Nov 17, 2020
Tuesday Nov 17, 2020
I'm not usually your go-to source for new movies. But this one is worth your time. The Christmas Ride is a mumblecore (improvised dialogue) film about a ride share driver getting an emotional gut punch on Christmas day. I talked to the producer/director Stefanie Davis, and I hope you'll check it out.
Here's the trailer for a taste:
You can stream it from Amazon (free with Prime) and Vimeo:
- Stream from Amazon Prime
- Watch on Vimeo ($4.99 right now...help an indie movie out!)
Cool people!
- Starring Daryen Ratté
- Writer/Producer/Director Stefanie Davis
- Bouncy Boxer Media
- The film's twitter
- Slacker (Craig's favorite old "mumblecore" movie)
Music:
And the promo was for Holly Jolly Xmasu -- a podcast all about Japanese Christmas music. You'll be hearing more from Scott soon. :)
If you’re feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a "coffee" ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com.
Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I'll send you a sticker!
Saturday Oct 31, 2020
Saturday Oct 31, 2020
Krampus. Seems like I should have done a show on Krampus years ago, but I was waiting for the right person. And that person is Al Ridenour, author of The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas: Roots and Rebirth of the Folkloric Devil. This is the definitive book on Krampus, and Al fills us in on all the history and celebrations we could want.
Links mentioned in the show:
- The book: The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas
- Bone & Sickle (Al's podcast)
Music:
If you’re feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year.
Thursday Oct 15, 2020
Thursday Oct 15, 2020
Christmas werewolves are a thing. I mean, I don't know if they're REAL real. But people really used to believe they were a thing. So Christmas expert Benito Cereno fills us in on their history
Benito's been on the show before, talking about Christmas comics and the Yule Lads.
Links mentioned in the show:
- Benito's werewolf Christmas story, "Two Gifts"
- Benito's YouTube channel
- Apocrypals podcast
- Benito's site
- Bone & Sickle Podcast (episode 30: Loup-Garou, Werewolves in France)
Music this episode:
- "Werewolf Christmas" by Timur and the Dime Museum
- "Werewolf in Christmas Past" by Max Dimartino, Lee Lacey
- "Meido Krampus Noche" by The Courtesan and the Cabin Boy
And check out the Merry Britsmas podcast for all your British Christmas needs!
If you’re feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year.