Ghouls in Folklore | The Faeries and Folklore Podcast

ByRonel Janse van Vuuren
A dark fantasy banner titled "FAERIES AND FOLKLORE by Ronel," set against a misty, gnarled forest under a large, glowing full moon. In the bottom left corner, the word "Ghouls" is written in a clean, white serif font. In the top right corner, there is a circular, dark metallic or wax seal stamp featuring an embossed illustration of a bramble. A scaly blue dragon rests on a rocky ridge in the foreground, surrounded by faint, glowing blue magical embers.

Episode 110: Dark Fae: Ghouls

The folklore of ghouls in a nutshell, how I reimagined it for my writing and this faery translated to Afrikaans.

Transcript

You’re listening to the Faeries and Folklore podcast by Ronel.

I’m dark fantasy author Ronel Janse van Vuuren. With over a decade of digging around in dusty folklore books, researching creatures of imagination that ignited my curiosity, I’m here to share the folklore in a nutshell and how I reimagined it for my writing in an origin of the fae.

This is the Faeries and Folklore podcast.

Hi, I’m your host Ronel Janse van Vuuren. You can just call me Ronel. In today’s episode, we’re continuing our exploration of the fae realm.

This episode is brought to you by my Dark Court Sisters book series. Available in ebook, paperback and audiobook. Three sisters. Three destinies. Three ways to destroy the world. Go to ronelthemythmaker.com/darkcourtsistersseries for more.

You can now support my time in producing the podcast (researching, writing and everything else involved) by buying me a coffee. This can be a once-off thing, or you can buy me coffee again in the future at your discretion. Go to buymeacoffee.com/ronel to support me.

We’re continuing our exploration of Dark Fae.

Today’s Faery: Ghoul

Folklore in a Nutshell by Ronel

From Persian folklore, ghouls enjoy human flesh. Sometimes they shapeshift into camels or mules to lure their prey, or even beautiful women. They frequent lonely places, such as graveyards and ruins. Though they have no qualm killing to eat, they prefer easy pickings by opening graves and devouring the flesh within. A ghoul can be destroyed by striking a single blow with a sword and severing its head.

And now for my interpretation of the fae in an Origin of the Fae: Ghoul

Demons that eat corpses. Love to eat Vampires.
Red-brown slimy creature with vague humanoid form and glowing yellow orbs for eyes – orange slit for pupil.
Fear of fire and the sun. Live underground like moles.
Hunt vampires and search for human corpses.
Mortal enemies: None known.

As a little bonus, let’s look at this faery translated to Afrikaans: Lykverslinder

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this episode of the faeries and folklore podcast and that you’ve learned something new about faeries.

Remember that you can get a transcript of this episode in the description. If you’re new to the podcast, why not go and grab your free copy of Unseen, the second book in the Faery Tales series, on my website ronelthemythmaker.com? Loads of folklore, magic and danger await! Take care!

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Explore Ghouls in Folklore

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