Quick disclaimer, this is a Halloween episode, so things are a little bit darker and spookier than usual.

Please see the post on mythpodcast.com for more info.

This week, on myths and legends, it's a Halloween episode.

We'll discuss the pros and cons of putting bars on your teens' windows to keep them from having

any freedom whatsoever, and why you probably shouldn't go on that date in the graveyard.

The creature this week is a piglet that will steal your soul.

This is Myths and Legends, episode 340, the night that the skeletons came to life.

This is a podcast where we tell stories from mythology and folklore.

Some are incredibly popular stories you might think you know, but with surprising origins.

Others are stories that might be new to you, but are definitely worth a listen.

Today is the story of the Spectre Brigh Room, which is both a famous category of folktale,

as well as a short story by Washington Irving, a famous writer of stories about murderous men

with pumpkin heads and deadbeat dads who live in the cat skills. Those, of course,

being the legend of sleepy hollow, which we haven't told in this podcast or fictional,

and the story of Rip Van Winkle, which we have back in episode 159.

Like Rip Van Winkle, today's story is based on a broad type of folktale,

and we're going to tell both the folktale and Washington Irvings tale.

You'll know when each is happening, it is super obvious in the story.

We'll jump in with a family that has fallen on hard times.

But you wouldn't know it by looking at them.

Talking to them, going to their fantastic feasts, or staying in their castle's guesthouse.

Embroidery, knowledge of the saints, the ability to read without great difficulty,

...