All things holly, jolly, and odd-ly.
Episodes
Thursday Oct 31, 2019
Thursday Oct 31, 2019
Weird Christmas Podcast #17, a discussion of Halloween History with Lisa Morton. We discuss her three books about the history of Halloween along with talk of old forgotten Halloween traditions, such as youth riots and fortune telling with cabbages and kale. I also mention a site with tons of great Halloween postcards: https://vintagehalloweencards.blogspot.com/
Wednesday Aug 28, 2019
Wednesday Aug 28, 2019
A bonus summer episode! Professor (and Sir) Colin Humphreys of Cambridge discusses the evidence putting Christmas in the spring or summer rather than December. And...I plug my new Patreon site where you can get episodes all year round. (And there's a longer version of THIS VERY EPISODE at Patreon.com/weirdchristmas with 45 more minutes of weirdness!)
Tuesday Jan 01, 2019
Tuesday Jan 01, 2019
Weird Christmas explores the Christmas offerings of Mystery Science Theater 3000, Rifftrax, and Cinematic Titanic with Rifftrax writer Connor Lastowka.
Tuesday Dec 18, 2018
Tuesday Dec 18, 2018
The results show from the 2018 Weird Christmas Flash Fiction contest. 12 very, very short stories that will make you laugh, cringe, and fear Santa.
Wednesday Dec 12, 2018
Wednesday Dec 12, 2018
I talk to author Linda Raedisch about her book The Old Magic of Christmas: Yuletide Traditions for the Darkest Days of the Year. We discuss ancient pagan rituals, legends, and stories from pagan old Europe.
Tuesday Dec 04, 2018
Tuesday Dec 04, 2018
Why did Victorian England love Christmas ghost stories? Why does Andy Williams sing about them? Why is Algernon Blackwood's "A Kit Bag" so freakin' awesome? Why did so many people volunteer to read for me? Why did an actual scholar (Tara Moore) come on this obscure podcast?
Friday Nov 30, 2018
Friday Nov 30, 2018
Weird Christmas Podcast #11. A discussion with Benito Cereno about the unlikely world of Christmas and comic books.
Thursday Nov 22, 2018
Thursday Nov 22, 2018
Weird Christmas is part of a new thing: the Christmas Podcast Network. So this is a sampler of a bunch of the things you can find there. Different shows, different voices, and all in one place
Wednesday Oct 31, 2018
Wednesday Oct 31, 2018
How many Christmas carols are actually about Halloween? Or vice versa? However many there are, they aren't very good...with a couple of exceptions.
Thursday Dec 21, 2017
Thursday Dec 21, 2017
Talking about the underground world of Christmas music collectors with Mitchell Kezin, the director of Jingle Bell Rocks!, a documentary about people who hunt for the best and strangest Christmas music all year long.