October is my favorite month of the year.

Chances are good. It's yours as well.

Most listeners tune in each and every week, enjoying these dark tales from history as part of their regular everyday entertainment and education, but there has always been a subgroup

that saves it all for the month of October, and it's easy to understand why. Well, this year,

the team and I wanted to do something extra special in honor of the spooky season, regular

weekly special edition episodes for every Friday in October, and we call them Trick or Treat. These bonus episodes

will be the same length as a typical lore or lore legends episode with three main acts and an

epilogue after the ad break. But for these trick-or-treats, we're pulling together some themed

sets of stories from our library of members-only mini episodes called Lore Bites.

And this week, well, we're kicking the Halloween season off in style with a focus on haunted

castles. We've gathered up four of our favorite tales about the dark and spooky experiences

people have had within these ancient fortress walls. So join me as we walk through damp flagstone corridors,

deadly armories, and the deepest of dungeons.

Turn off the lights.

Close your eyes and get ready to storm the castle.

I'm Aaron Mankey, and this is lore.

Music I'm Aaron Manky, and this is Lore. From haunted houses to witches huts, all stories need a place to call home.

And there's no architecture more steeped in myth and mystery than the castle.

As anyone who's driven through the European countryside knows, it's impossible to gaze on

crumbling turrets and parapets without imagining

the grand histories the walls once held. Go ahead. Knock on the drawbridge door. Who knows?

It might just open to reveal a chilling tale, nearly forgotten. Such is the case for Cowwood Castle.

...