The Dead of Winter: Sarah Clegg talks Demons, Witches and Ghosts

Come, discover the dark side of our festive season with a fascinating exploration of the strange folk tales and arcane traditions still haunt winter to this day.

Sarah Clegg has a PhD in ancient history from the University of Cambridge. Her first book, Woman's Lore: 4,000 Years of Sirens, Serpents and Succubi, was shortlisted for the HWA Non-Fiction Crown. She joins us for The Dead of Winter, a celebration of the darkness lurking in the corners of Christmas and the winter season.

As winter comes and the hours of darkness overtake the light, we seek out warmth, good food, and good company. But beneath the jollity and bright enchantment of the festive season, there lurks a darker mood - one that has found expression over the centuries in a host of strange and unsettling traditions and lore.

Here, Sarah takes us on a journey through midwinter to explore the lesser-known Christmas traditions, from English mummers plays and Austrian Krampus runs, to modern pagan rituals at Stonehenge and the night in Finland when a young girl is crowned with candles as St Lucy - a martyred Christian girl who also appears as a witch leading a procession of the dead.

At wassails and hoodenings and winter gatherings, attended by ghastly, grinning horses, snatching monsters and mysterious visitors, we discover how these traditions originated and how they changed through the centuries, and we ask ourselves: if we can't keep the darkness entirely at bay, might it be fun to let a little in?

"This is a lively, moving, thoughtful and erudite survey of the more disturbing aspects of the modern world's most important festival. It is probably the best, and certainly the most accessible." ~ Ronald Hutton