Home › downthetubes News › Fortean Times Folklore charts Britain’s weird customs

Fortean Times Folklore charts Britain’s weird customs

By John Freeman on May 3, 2026 • ( 0 )

There are only a few days left to pre-order the Fortean Times Folklore special, out next Thursday, 7th May.

Featuring material the archives of Fortean Times, the world’s foremost journal of strange phenomena, this new collection explores the world of British folklore and legend.

With a widespread revival of interest in folklore and the popularity of folk horror in the cinema, what better time to take a sometimes terrifying tour through our haunted land and its strange beliefs and customs? From the phantom hellhounds and hairy woodwoses of East Anglia to the shapeshifting Boggarts of Lancashire and the corpse candles of Wales, Britain is rich in strange traditions.

There’s no shortage of weird customs, either, from the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance to Christmas Mumming plays and the rise of ‘Dark Morris’ in Herefordshire – in which local communities prove that folklore is alive and well in the 21st century.

• You can order the Fortean Times Folklore right here on the magazine’s official site, or pick up a copy in TG Jones or select newsagents and supermarkets

About the Author
Latest Posts

John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.