Simon has just published a book on European fairies, trolls, and other supernatural creatures, who like humans live in societies: going to war, dancing, seducing, holding weddings and funerals, burying the elderly alive....

Looking at beliefs from Ireland to Ukraine and from Iceland to the Balkans, Simon and Chris debate the merits of trying to classify supernatural beings, find chilling parallels for the ‘fairy blast’ in Croatia and Greece, and shudder at the vengeful Nixen of Germany’s rivers. They also clash about vampires and werewolves in Ohio, but that is another story...

Sometimes these social folklore beings look human, but are given away by their hollow back or a wet hem dragging in the road. They may be helpful to humans, or they may be vampiric, luring young men and women to their doom.

Chris and Simon take a quantum leap as they ponder the mysteries of vanishing houses and time slips. Did two English ladies walk back in time at Versailles? Is there a street in Liverpool where visitors are transported to the 1950s? Did three Royal Navy cadets find themselves in a 14th century plague village? Vanishing hotels and diners, mysterious visions of medieval Paris, and inexplicable forests in Newfoundland: are faulty memories—or fairies—responsible?

Chris and Simon, don their snorkels and flippers to explore the world of mermaids. Join them as they sail past shaved monkeys, triton hot-spots and a prized vintage tuna doll. Dive in, with our daring duo, to search out mermaid fakes in Belfast, the only living Fish woman, and a singing mer-vicar in Cornwall. Then we navigate around mermaid graves in Scotland, murdered sirens in Germany, and inexplicably, a turnip in a bag on Tyneside. Whether you're a folklore buff, a Weeki Wachee groupie, a wet-suit-wearing cryptozoologist or just like the occasional splash this, dear listener, is the episode for you.