Mythology is full of gods, monsters and stories that are stranger than most of us realise. From Greek and Norse myths to Japanese spirits, Slavic folklore and ancient Egyptian legends, Mysteries of Mythology explores where these stories came from and how they've changed.
Join Mr E, a British mythology enthusiast, for carefully researched storytelling, original sources and surprising details that modern retellings often leave out.
Why Baba Yaga Helps Some People... and Eats Others
Baba Yaga is one of the most feared witches in Slavic folklore. But why does she help some travellers and try to eat others?Deep in the Russian forest, her mysterious house stands on chicken legs, surrounded by human bones. And the truth about her origins may be stranger than the stories themselves.Baba Yaga has haunted Russian fairy tales for centuries, but she's far more complicated than the wicked witch we recognise today. In some stories, she threatens to cook and eat children. In others, she gives heroes the magical objects, knowledge or help they need to survive. Through traditional tales including Vasilisa the Fair, Marya Morevna and The Frog Queen, we explore the contradictions behind this mysterious figure. Why does Baba Yaga travel in a mortar and pestle? What inspired her extraordinary house on chicken legs? And could she have originated as something other than a witch? Drawing on the Russian folktales collected by Alexander Afanasyev and the research of Vladimir Propp, Marija Gimbutas and Andreas Johns, we investigate the history, folklore and possible origins of Baba Yaga.
9 Oct 2026
There's More to The 8 Foot Monster Woman
Hachishakusama is famous as Japan’s eight-foot-tall woman: a pale, towering figure who stalks young people and calls out with a strange “po… po… po…”But the supposed ancient legend appears to begin in 2008 — even though Japanese folklore already contained some remarkably similar giant women.Hachishakusama, or the “Eight-Shaku Woman”, is often treated as a traditional Japanese yōkai, yet her recorded history leads back to a single anonymous 2channel post from 26 August 2008. That makes her a modern internet legend — but perhaps not one created from nothing. Long before Hachishakusama appeared online, folklorist Kunio Yanagita recorded enormous women in Japanese mountain traditions, including figures around seven or eight shaku tall. Yamauba, or yamamba, could also be gigantic, dangerous and connected with remote places and children, while the Edo-period Taka-onna offers another striking image of an impossibly tall woman. Then, only months after Hachishakusama appeared, Slender Man emerged from another internet forum. The similarities raise a bigger question: when does an invented horror story become genuine folklore?
25 Sept 2026
The Redcap Goblin of the Scottish Borderlands
On the English-Scottish border, the Redcap was said to haunt ruined castles, outrun travellers and kill anyone unlucky enough to enter its home.But the blood-soaked hat, iron boots and strange link to Hermitage Castle may hide a more complicated history than the familiar monster story suggests.The Redcap, also called Redcomb or Bloody Cap, is one of the darker creatures of British and Scottish Border folklore. William Henderson described a small, powerful old man with eagle-like claws, enormous teeth, a pike and heavy iron boots, lurking in castles already associated with cruelty and bloodshed. But earlier traditions suggest “Redcap” may once have meant something broader: a class of spirits haunting ruined Scottish strongholds. From the violent world of the Border reivers and the lonely ruins of Hermitage Castle to William de Soulis and his supernatural servant Old Redcap Sly, the legend blurs history, folklore and later storytelling. And perhaps its strangest detail is not how the creature killed its victims, but what people believed could stop it.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
4,660,006,589
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.6 / 5
5 ratings
Spotify
4.4 / 5
38 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 54 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
