Fortean Times

Whereas most of us could arrive at some consensus about the general appearance of Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster, descriptions of the Tatzelwurm (which also goes by bergstutz, stollenwurm and serpente di gatto) paint a bewilderingly diverse picture: is it a dragon, a snake or a lizard? Does it really have the head of a cat? Does it possess legs? If so, how many? Just two – sometimes at the front, sometimes at the rear – or four? Or, indeed, eight or more? And what about fins, or wings?

With the World Cup kicking off later this week, it’s the perfect time to get in the mood by picking up the latest issue of Fortean Times, in which we celebrate the stranger side of football. While not widely noted for our sporting prowess, we are fielding some of our strongest players in this soccer-mad issue. Our cover star is Paul the Psychic Octopus, the tentacled star of the 2010 World Cup whose predictive powers started a craze for animal pundits across the world.

John Blair ★★★★★ Princeton University Press 2025 · Hb, 536pp · £30 · ISBN 9780691224794 The dangerous dead are a constant theme in dark folklore, and in this comprehensive and enjoyable survey, John Blair unfolds a compelling narrative to consider their means of creation, habits and those apotropaic methods which prevent or finally destroy them. More importantly, he looks at the circumstances in which they thrive – those ways in which we are responsible for their creation and transmission.

He goes on to “dynamics” where he uses examples from less familiar places like the circumpolar world and East Asia before looking at the ancient Near-East and how its myths and beliefs fed into the classical world. We emerge with some archetypes, including the dangerous supernatural female. “From the Ancient Middle-East to the Early Mediæval North” goes into more detail of those regions, which emerges into “Europe in the High Middle Ages” where crystallising Christian orthodoxy had a role to play.

Try 3 months of Fortean Times for £3 Fortean Timesis a monthly magazine of news, reviews and research on strange phenomena and experiences, curiosities, prodigies and portents. In each issue, Fortean Times takes you on an incredible ride where you'll enjoy learning about the most fantastic phenomena on earth. You'll need a sense of adventure, curiosity, natural scepticism and a good sense of humour.

In 1974, Linda Blair became a household name for her portrayal of possessed child Regan in The Exorcist. It was a controversial role that she would never escape, but these days it gives her an opportunity to promote the work of her animal welfare foundation. She talked to FT about her most famous role, her odder experiences and her spiritual beliefs. There have been a lot of stories about things happening on the set of The Exorcist and people dying and so on.

EMMA MCNEILL asks if anxiety about paedophilia and failures in the UK’S social services have helped resurrect a bogeyman (or woman) of the 1990s In the 1980s and 1990s, families in the UK – and to a lesser extent the US – faced an unusual threat: the Bogus Social Worker (BSW).1By the late Nineties, though, these strange visitors were becoming less common.

The Fairy Investigation Society, dedicated to tracking down modern accounts of the Little People, must rank as one of the strangest British organisations ever to come into being. SIMON YOUNG tells the story of this curious enterprise through five key episodes – from a Fairy Census to a tabloid scandal – in its eccentric and largely forgotten history. 1. SLEIGH AND CRAUFURD MEET (1927) It was the kind of moment over which flies queue up for wall space.

ALAN MURDIE checks into London’s famous Langham Hotel to find some uninvited guests… They were like men who drew the bow, and with another shout, their cloud of arrows flew singing and tingling through the air towards the German host…the singing arrows darkened the air; the heathen horde melted from before them. Arthur Machen, The Bowmen, September 1914 Despite the ease with which many people claim to effortlessly find paranormal manifestations, ghosts and hauntings do not come to order.

DAVID CLARKE ponders the origins of the phantom bowmen imagined by two fantasy authors at the outbreak of the First World War They were like men who drew the bow, and with another shout, their cloud of arrows flew singing and tingling through the air towards the German host…the singing arrows darkened the air; the heathen horde melted from before them.