Puppet Film: 'Vasilisa' - Complete with Spooky Doll & Lots of Bones

Frequent readers know we're happy to chat Baba Yaga stories any day of the year, but we don't think we've yet shared this spooky little amateur puppet film, by Justine Hanchar, which tells the story of Vasilisa the Fair, almost in entirety, and it's perfect for the 'Halloween' season.

It's a little dark on the lighting side of things, and an older film so expect it to be a little murky in places and somewhat grainy but it adds to the spookiness if you're watching it as a story.

Puppet films tend to be endearing but, to give you a heads-up, we got Little Otik vibes from Vasilisa's doll, which, interestingly, made that little magical creature a perfect match to foil the cannibalistic tendencies of Baba Yaga.


While it's still a family-friendly little film, it's definitely spooky and you may wish to preview it specifically for when Vasilisa gives her mother's doll food; the doll feeding is... unforgettable.

We especially like that the end of the tale includes the vengeance of the flaming skull on the step-family and Vasilisa burying the skull before it can cause more damage!

Note: The horsemen, who are three of the many servants of Baba Yaga, appear in this film in the wrong order. After walking all night the first horseman Vailisa sees in the story is the white, not the red. The white horseman signifies the liminal pre-dawn ("My Bright Dawn"), the red represents day or sunrise or midday* ("My Red Sun") and the black, the descent of night ("My Dark Midnight"). The fact that there are two horsemen that ride so closely together is interesting. The grey between night and daybreak (the twilight before daytime) is important enough a time to have its own servant/horseman.

Enjoy! (And Happy Halloweek!)

One word of caution: we did attempt to find out more about the creator and animator but she appears to have only made this one film, and there are suspicious links and weird dead-ends in searching for further information. It's a pity. A lot of thought and effort went into making this film and we'd love to see more work using fairy and folktales by her (and her family, who appeared to have jumped in to help her in many aspects, according to the credits).

* Depending on which source you use.

The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic Wins AFS Dorothy Howard Prize! + Sign-Ups Open for 'Folklore of Halloween' Mini-Course

Huge congratulations to Brittany Warman and Sara Cleto for winning the 2019 Dorothy Howard prize for The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic!

The prize recognizes excellence, relevance, and innovation in folklore education; essentially saying that Sara and Brittany are doing awesome and important work in their area of passion, which is, making excellent folklore education available to everyone. What wonderful confirmation that all their hard work and effort is worth it. To be recognized by your professional peers for a unique initiative is truly fantastic!

"The committee called Caterhaugh School “a folklore school for the digital age” that brings the scholarly study of folklore to a “global audience” online ." (from @BriarSpell's Twitter account)

Congratulations ladies!

We look forward to seeing what Carterhaugh is busy teaching folks for many years to come.

As for our readers, if you'e been sitting on the fence, wondering whether taking one of Carterhaigh's courses is worth it, hopefully, this helps convince you it is. Not only are the courses intriguing, beautifully presented, accessible to anyone with an interest, and taught with humor and magic, but they are also excellent in their content too.

Here's a quick overview of what they've offered to date:

“An Eerie Tale to Tell…”: Folklore for All Hallows’ Eve
[OCT 2016 – Complete]

The Fairy Tale
[WINTER 2017 – Complete]

The Legend
[SUMMER 2017 – Complete]

Witches in Folklore and Literature
[FALL 2017 – Complete]

Myth and Mythic Adaptation
[SUMMER 2018 – Complete]

Find Your Fairy Tale
[FALL 2018 – Complete]

Seeking the Witch: Traditional Tales and Everyday Magic
[FALL 2018 – Complete]

Live Lectures and Workshops:

[Click here to see live lectures and workshops]

And they're busy finishing up preparing a new big course which will be released very soon. In the meantime, they have something special for the season...

They put together a special new mini-course on Halloween Folklore (a very popularly requested topic) which will go live on OCTOBER 28.  It's being offered at a SUPER LOW PRICE of $25, (a one-time offer!) with a whole lot of benefits and a great way to sample the sorts of things Brittany and Sara put together.

Let us assure you, Sara and Brittany, are here for the fun on all aspects of Halloween as well as ready to impart sme serious lore, tales and hints for dealing with everything from lost spirits and Halloween fairies to useful rituals (and where those rituals came from). They've been posting some very fun content on the Carterhaugh blog, such as:

• Witchy Playlists (music to get you in the mood)
• Vampire Stories (to help you get the shivers, despite the unseasonal heat!)
• Gothic fashion (it's the season for trying new looks and costumes after all)

Our favorite, though, is Sara's article on the witch Watho, from George MacDonald's fairy tale The Day Boy and the Night Girl. See the author's description:

“THERE was once a witch who desired to know everything. But the wiser a witch is, the harder she knocks her head against the wall when she comes to it. Her name was Watho, and she had a wolf in her mind. She cared for nothing in itself — only for knowing it. She was not naturally cruel, but the wolf had made her cruel. She was tall and graceful, with a white skin, red hair, and black eyes, which had a red fire in them. She was straight and strong, but now and then would fall bent together, shudder, and sit for a moment with her head turned over her shoulder, as if the wolf had got out of her mind onto her back.” – George MacDonald (images from a 1988 edition)

Yep - she's a shape-changing witch, a werewolf witch, really, but not just that. She's not only mystically but had a (mad)scientific mind. In fact, the fairy tale begins with her deciding to do an experiment... She's not your average antagonist!

(And now we'd like to see all the suggestions for a Watho Halloween costume please!)

You can read all about the course HERE, including what will be taught and all the exclusive downloads, access and opportunities.

But be quick.

Places close at Midnight on October 27th!

Creepy Crypts Halloween Tour With Hansel & Gretel (UK)

Louis Rhead

We couldn't resist - we had to share. The Irish sure know how to tell stories!

CREEPY CRYPTS HALLOWEEN TOUR WITH HANSEL & GRETEL

Saturday 29th - Sunday 30th October @ 6pm, 6.30pm, 7pm & 7.30pm
St. John’s Church, Knockainey, Co. Limerick IRELAND
 
Categories: Family Fun, Tours, Halloween


Creepy Crypts Halloween Tour with Hansel & Gretel - Knockainey Style.

Hansel & Gretel Halloween mini-panto show followed by Halloween Scares.

Suitable for all ages young and old. Parental discretion advised.

Ticket: €5 - Booking Essential

Isn't it a unique idea? Not sure what the blood on the poster is supposed to be saying about H&G though... (shudder).

Here's a little peek at the location 'with the lights on'.

The Little Mermaid's Halloween

All the little mermaid wanted was to be a human for Halloween by Kiri Østergaard Leonard

What would the Little Mermaid wear for Halloween? Why legs of course!

I love this painting and it's different perspective on the tale (tail?). Although The Little Mermaid is incredibly popular, it's not often we imagine the Little Mermaid in her pre-story, longing state to become human/get legs/find a soul. Did she ever pretend she had legs? Did she paint her tail? Make a fake pair to wear just so she could see what she might look like with legs?

In many ways Danish artist, Kiri Østergaard Leonard's re-visioning of the story here, does the exact opposite of what many people do on Halloween (especially those in mermaid costumes!) - in dressing up we seek to escape our humanity and enter the fantastic while here, the Little Mermaid, seeks to enter humanity and join the human race (though in this case, she'd need a size adjustment as well).

"Happy Halloween! The Little Mermaid was always one of my favourite H. C. Andersen tales, it’s a tragic story but also beautiful story. The Little mermaid plays into feelings most women can relate to, wanting your body to be something else than it is and not being able to appreciate what you already are. With this illustration I took the idea of the ‘Little’ mermaid quite literally. It’s playing a little of the fairy tale with the mermaid wanting legs, but it quickly grew into its own story. I do have plans to make some illustrations that are truthful to the original story in the future." by Kiri Østergaard Leonard*

Although dressing up at Halloween originated in attempting to trick soul stealers and devils through disguise, today's traditions embrace both the wishing aspect and in embracing our own dark sides. I wonder if the Little Mermaid knew, in wishing to be human, that she was doing both?

This Halloween night, may you feel close to those you love who have passed on and have the strength and courage to face your own dark sides.

Happy Samhain everyone! 

* Kiri Østergaard Leonard is an illustrator and artist from Denmark, now living and working in New York. Her website can be found HERE, where you can see her other lovely fairy tale and fantasy work. 

"Take Back Halloween" Baba Yaga (& A Request for Some Love for Baba's Oracle Please!)

This new-ish site, Take Back Halloween, was put together for all the girls and women who are tired of dressing up their daughters (and themselves) as sexy-somethings for Halloween and would like a range of non-traditional suggestions (along with tips on how to put together each look).

My favorite of the excellent lot, which includes a lot of historical women and mythic females (along with Persephone, Medusa and the Morrigan) is Baba Yaga (surprise, surprise). You can see the main idea in the image at the head of the post but there is an excellent list of suggestions on how to pull off a Baba Yaga witch-look as opposed to a traditional witch look on the website HERE. (This has me wishing I'd bought that skull necklace I saw in Michael's Craft Supplies a few weeks ago!)

Baba Yaga, Vasilisa & Chicken Legged Hut by Forest Rogers
(the hut features in top image as well)

You could also have a mortar & pestle bottom half, hold a glowing skull lamp... so many variations are possible here. And if you could make your hair (or a wig) like the sculpture's at right... wow!)

And speaking of Baba Yaga, more than a few of you have come to appreciate her even more since she's been generously bestowing advice here regularly (check the "Ask Baba Yaga" tag to see if you've missed any).

The Baba's oracle, Taisia Kitaiskaia, is currently on a well-deserved break so I wanted to ask a special favor of all of you who have appreciated/enjoyed/are-in-awe-of her posts:

With the Baba's reputation being what it is, I'm not surprised that the comments and questions have been on the fewer side (who wants to annoy Baba Yaga?!) but in order to make sure Taisia feels both appreciated for her efforts and remains keen to continue acting as oracle for us, would you please send her a note of appreciation and/or gratitude?

You can post a supportive comment below, add to those at The Hairpin HERE or mail her privately at the following address:
AskBabaYaga AT gmail DOT com
Also, you've had any niggling questions you'd like to ask the Baba, please send those too! The more the merrier. You never know what will inspire Baba Yaga to utter her uncanny wisdom.

Fairy Tale Music for Halloween

Hall of the Mountain King Sign found on Flickr

I found this great little article today title "Spooktakular Sonic Surprises" by the Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and, not only did it have a number of pieces I thought extremely appropriate for fairy tale enthusiasts, readers, listeners and writers, but it made me think of a few of my own.

Rather than repeat telling you about the pieces he lists I'll just list them, add a clip courtesy of YouTube and link you to his fun and very readable article. You'll be able to see the others on the list too - all of which will give you an excellent audio selection, Halloween-style, for your ears. :)

The pieces on his list I thought most appropriate for fairy tale people and stories are:

The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack by Danny Elfman (I couldn't find the music without the vocals but it's fabulous, even without the voices)


Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saens


Baba Yaga - The Hut on Fowls' Legs (from "Pictures at an Exhibition") by Modest Mussorkgsky


Funeral March of a Marionette by Charles Gounod (you probably know this piece, even if you don't know the title. I love this one!) I found a darling little stop-motion animation for Funeral March of a Marionette which I thought I'd share:


You can read the short explanations about each, and the rest of the article, HERE.

And here are my additions (off the top of my head - I planned on researching more for you but Halloween duties called sorry!):

In the Hall of the Mountain King (from Peer Gynt) by Edvard Grieg
I love Ibsen's Peer Gynt tale (which was actually a play)! It's another suite of music I was exposed to as a young child and I didn't need to be told the story to imagine it. You can hear what's happening just by listening. I wasn't surprised to see Wikipedia mention it being used for Halloween concerts - it was the first piece that came to mind. (I apologize the first notes are cut off - it's the best [straight] played I could find where you could actually hear everything happening. It also goes into the next processional piece which I can't remember the name of sorry.)


L'apprenti sorcier (The Sorcerer's Apprentice) by Paul Dukas
I loved this piece and the Goethe story it was based on well before I saw it used in Fantasia. Magical brooms ahead!


The Corpse Bride Theme (combining some pieces from the soundtrack) by Danny Elfman and John August
It feels like an air of death or mourning haunts a few of these pieces yet still has a fantastical and hopeful air- especially that lovely piano solo


Midnight from Cinderella (Music for Ballet) by Sergei Prokofiev
Ok - I admit I'm a huge Prokofiev fan (His Romeo & Juliet is my favorite) but all those (what I think of as) malevolent notes through the suites and the (what I like too call) "musical resistance" to Cinderella making it away from the ball on time? Delicious for suspense!


Aaaand I have to add another Russian piece: from Stravinsky's Firebird, The Infernal Dance of Kashchei. There are quite a few darker pieces from The Firebird suite but this one definitely fits the fairy-tale-Halloween bill on a number of levels. I found this piece conducted by Stravinsky himself and couldn't resist adding it for you.


That's about all I can think of without pulling out my CDs or doing some research but know I've probably forgotten some obvious ones. If you have fairy tale music favorites that you think would be a great addition to the Halloween playlist here, feel free to chime in!

Nibble Nibble Little Mouse - Hansel & Gretel and Halloween

Hansel & Gretel
by Scott Gustafson

Halloween is approaching and this year I have a whole different perspective on it. It's always been one of my favorite holidays for many reasons. From the serious remembrance of our ancestors and consideration of the supernatural through to whimsical decorating and dressing up by adults and children alike, there's lots to celebrate for many different people. This year, as I try to figure out what costume my 2 year old is going to wear, the thought of gingerbread houses and strangers with candy is giving me nightmares!Hansel and Gretel in the Woods
(Artist Unknown)

There's no doubt Hansel and Gretel is one of the scariest popular fairy tales out there - parents that go beyond neglectful and purposely leave their children to die in the wood, a cannibalistic witch... it's the stuff of nightmares. And at Halloween candy and nightmare houses suddenly abound, turning our suburban streets into very different places. I fully understand the paranoia of parents only accepting wrapped candy and chocolate and the sensibility of those who will accompany their children door too door (I will be one of them). While there's no question of doing both of these while my child is so young I know I will have to come to terms with sending my son out into the wilds of suburbia and using his judgment on whether or not to accept the treats offered to him (and this extends beyond Halloween too, of course).

Gingerbread house at the Festival in Qormi, Malta

In the meantime, here's a house made of sweet breads and candy, inspired by Hansel and Gretel that I wish we COULD have visited. On Saturday (October 17, 2009), in Qormi, Malta a local cultural and folkloric festival was held called Ljel f'Casal Fornaro. Qormi is known as 'la casa del fornaio' - 'the house of the baker' - and baking of all sorts is a huge part of this event. One local pastry chef was inspired by Hansel and Gretel and made/created/constructed a complete gingerbread house.

From a TIMES OF MALTA on the festival:

Man does not live on bread alone... A staggering 250kg of chocolate, 1,200 lollipops, 40kg of assorted sweets, 50 bags of marshmallows and 250 pieces of chocolate make up this Hansel and Gretel-inspired house of sweets. The brainchild of pastry chef Ronnie Caruana, this suite of sweets is more than one month in the making. It will go on display during Lejl f'Casal Fornaro in Qormi on Saturday (October 17th, 2009).

Staggering indeed.

I was always curious as a child how such a thing could possibly be constructed in the middle of the wood, surviving the elements, without very strong magic. And why, if that were the case, could the witch not conjure up something she herself would find palatable. But perhaps that's the point.

Image from Project Gutenberg - Artist unknown

At least Hansel and Gretel survive the experience (or so the story says anyway). Did you ever wonder how such an experience would affect the siblings? Well, we're apparently we're about to find out.

From geektyrant.com:

Norwegian co-writer and director of the horror comedy ‘Dead Snow’ Tommy Wirkola is putting a little twist on the whole dark children’s tale of Hansel and Gretel. This new idea explores what happened to Hansel and Gretel 15 years after the gingerbread house incident. They have become bounty hunters that specialize in tracking down and killing witches.

Hansel and Gretel

by Cattish (deviantART)

Adam McKay (one of the Producers) said this about the movie:

“The idea is, they’ve grown up and they hunt witches. It’s a hybrid sort of “old-timey” feeling, yet there’s pump-action shotguns. Modern technology but in an old style...

Sounds promising. Unfortunately this next comment has me cringing and thinking the producers (McKay and Will Ferrell) are thinking marketability, not story:

"We heard it and we were just like, ‘That’s a freakin’ franchise! You could make three of those!’ “

Yikes. Unless by that they mean making Red Riding Hood a werewolf hunter...

Hansel and Gretel

by Laura Palmer (lpspalmer on deviantART)

Then Tommy Wirkola added these comments about the film a couple of months later:

“It’s an action-adventure horror movie that finds Hansel and Gretel fifteen years [after their first witch incident] and they’ve grown up to become merciless witch hunters. Blood and gore and action, all the stuff that I love. I’m working on the first draft now so it’s a little ways off, but it’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s definitely an R-rated movie, the first draft has a lot of blood and guts. First and foremost, it’s an action movie, I think, with horror elements. And of course some dark humor as well. But the action and horror are the most import feelings I want.”

From the twenty or so announcements about the film I've read, people (generally) really like the idea. Reviews on the Director's previous movie "Dead Snow" are very positive with people finding a good balance of comedy against the horror.

Hansel & Gretel
(Artist Unknown)

The film will be live-action and heavy on the effects. No casting has been announced yet but Will Ferrell is confirmed as staying off-camera and sticking to his Producer's chair on this one. The budget is reportedly on the tiny side for any kind of film so I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing considering the effects load. Let's hope the film has some substance and doesn't end up as a B-Grade slasher instead.

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters is currently due for release in 2011.

Hänsel und Gretel by Cory Godbey
(You can see more of Cory's work in this previous post HERE)

*Sources for quotes about the film are HERE and HERE.