1 00:00:03,360 --> 00:00:10,239 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. Hi, 2 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:13,000 Speaker 1: my name is Robert Lammin. This is The Monster Fact, 3 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:15,480 Speaker 1: a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind, 4 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:20,160 Speaker 1: focusing in non mythical creatures, ideas and monsters and time. 5 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:26,840 Speaker 1: This episode of The Monster Fact previously published for UK 6 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 1: listeners only, and now, as promised, we're going to share 7 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 1: it out to everyone. I wanted to cover a nice, 8 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: thoroughly British monster in this episode, which of course hardly 9 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:43,519 Speaker 1: limits the selection process. British lore, legend, literature and gaming 10 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 1: have produced hordes of great monsters, from Grendel to Frankenstein's Monster, 11 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 1: from the Questing Beast of Authoritian legend to that werewolf 12 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 1: that Ozzy Osbourne turns into for the Bark at the 13 00:00:55,880 --> 00:01:00,400 Speaker 1: Moon video. And so this brings us first to raw 14 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 1: Head Wrex, the titular monster from English writer Clive Barker's 15 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:08,880 Speaker 1: novella of the same name, published in nineteen eighty four 16 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: and included in the third volume of his Excellent Books 17 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:18,200 Speaker 1: of Blood anthology series. Barker describes the monstrous god Beast 18 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:21,320 Speaker 1: his having a huge head, the color of the moon 19 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:25,639 Speaker 1: and raw like meat. He has two rows of needle 20 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:29,399 Speaker 1: sharp teeth on each jaw, which emerge from bloody gums 21 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:35,560 Speaker 1: quote like claws unsheathed from a cat's paw unquote. And 22 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 1: his eyes. Barker writes, they were for all the world 23 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:44,320 Speaker 1: like wounds, those eyes, as though somebody had gouged them 24 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 1: in the flesh of Rawhead's face, then set two candles 25 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 1: to flicker in the holes. Horrifying stuff. I highly recommend 26 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:56,920 Speaker 1: the Books of Blood. There's some real gems in there, 27 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 1: but many of you may know Rawhead wrecks instead for 28 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:05,440 Speaker 1: his appearance in the nineteen eighty six film adaptation of 29 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:09,120 Speaker 1: the tale. Barker wrote the script for this movie, but, 30 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:13,200 Speaker 1: like most viewers, found the film version of the monster 31 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:18,480 Speaker 1: somewhat unconvincing. While he originally envisioned a very phallic and 32 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:21,720 Speaker 1: meat faced monster at the center of the movie, what 33 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: we end up with is a heavy metal powerlifter ogre 34 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:30,040 Speaker 1: with kind of goofy eyes. There's nothing even raw about 35 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:33,960 Speaker 1: Rex's head in the film. However, I do quite like 36 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:38,280 Speaker 1: the slipcase illustration of the monster that Wes Benzcotter did 37 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:41,600 Speaker 1: for the Arrow Blu ray re release. Go check that 38 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:45,119 Speaker 1: out if you like your monstrous art by the Way. 39 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 1: While the film version of raw Head Rex takes place 40 00:02:47,919 --> 00:02:51,280 Speaker 1: in Ireland, the original short story takes place in rural 41 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:55,960 Speaker 1: Kent Now. One of the inspirations for Barker's creation here 42 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 1: would seem to be an English boogeyman or water demon, 43 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: known by several names raw Head, Tommy, raw Head, Old, 44 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 1: Bloody Bones, and even raw Head and Bloody Bones. As 45 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:15,040 Speaker 1: Carol Rose points out in Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns and Goblins, 46 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: the entity was described as a gory humanoid with blood 47 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:23,800 Speaker 1: running down its face, often seated upon a pile of bones. 48 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:28,520 Speaker 1: Like such boogeyman figures as Ginny Green Teeth, who he 49 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:31,880 Speaker 1: discussed in a past Halloween episode of Stuff to Blow 50 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 1: Your Mind. Raw Head is said to haunt potentially dangerous 51 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:40,400 Speaker 1: places like stagnant pools and pits, the very dark and 52 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:44,520 Speaker 1: lonely waters you want your children to steer clear off. 53 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,000 Speaker 1: So that's raw Head and Bloody Bones. But there's also 54 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 1: Bloody Cap or red Cap to consider. An evil spirit 55 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 1: sometimes described as a hobgoblin, originating in the folk traditions 56 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:01,400 Speaker 1: of the English Scottish border, appears as a hideous little 57 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 1: old man in iron boots with a red blood soaked 58 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:09,520 Speaker 1: cap on its head. It haunts old ruins and sights 59 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:13,440 Speaker 1: of historic bloodshed. Venture near such places, and it might 60 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: just kill you, slice off your head and catch your 61 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:20,599 Speaker 1: flowing blood in its cap, unless you recite scripture and 62 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:23,359 Speaker 1: drive him off first. It's also said that if the 63 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:26,920 Speaker 1: blood of his cap ever dries, the creature will shrivel 64 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:30,400 Speaker 1: up and die. A perfect subject for even a modern 65 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:33,720 Speaker 1: slasher film if you ask me. Now, there are many 66 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: different variations of the red cap tail, some of which 67 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:41,080 Speaker 1: connect the entity with the fourteenth century Scottish border noble 68 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:46,440 Speaker 1: William the Second. Desouls sometimes embellished as a villain tutored 69 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:49,559 Speaker 1: in the Black Arts, with the imp robin red cap 70 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: serving as is familiar. In some accounts, the cruel lord 71 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:56,880 Speaker 1: is eventually boiled alive by the people who suffered under him, 72 00:04:56,960 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 1: and I've also read variations where the red cap creature 73 00:04:59,920 --> 00:05:03,159 Speaker 1: is encased in lead and boiled as a way to 74 00:05:03,279 --> 00:05:08,120 Speaker 1: slay the monster. Now, in reality, Souls died in prison 75 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:12,960 Speaker 1: after allegedly playing part in a conspiracy against King Robert 76 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:17,360 Speaker 1: the Bruce. Now, as long as we're talking about red caps, 77 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:21,599 Speaker 1: let's have a quick word about blue caps. Another spirit 78 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:26,320 Speaker 1: of English folklore, also known as blue bonnet. This entity, 79 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:30,440 Speaker 1: according to Rose, resided deep in the earth, only encountered 80 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: by the humans who labored in the mines. It was 81 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: often invisible, but might manifest as a light blue flame, 82 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: thus the name far from the farious. The blue cap 83 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,599 Speaker 1: would mimic human miners and put in a full day's 84 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:50,120 Speaker 1: work moving heavy tubs of coal and ore around. The 85 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:53,279 Speaker 1: miners would therefore leave out offerings for the blue caps 86 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 1: in thanks for their labor. This reminded me of details 87 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:01,039 Speaker 1: I've read before concerning American mining soup prestitions, of which 88 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:04,680 Speaker 1: are connected to English and European traditions as well. I 89 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:07,600 Speaker 1: was reading about these in a nineteen forty two edition 90 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:13,000 Speaker 1: of California Folklore Quarterly. An article titled California Miners Folklore 91 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 1: by Wayland d. Hand and It mentions tales of runaway 92 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:19,320 Speaker 1: carts said to have been pushed by the ghosts of 93 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:22,600 Speaker 1: dead miners, as well as a tradition brought over by 94 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:27,159 Speaker 1: Cornish miners, the Tommy knockers, spirits of the dead or 95 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:32,000 Speaker 1: unseen Elvin denizens of the deep. Either way, they could 96 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:36,239 Speaker 1: be appeased with offerings and hand writes. The following quote. 97 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:40,320 Speaker 1: Many California miners, though not having themselves seen these creatures 98 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:44,200 Speaker 1: in person, recall having seen small effigies of them made 99 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,440 Speaker 1: of clay and set upon portal sets to a tunnel 100 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: on the lagging or elsewhere where their patronage is desired. 101 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:56,880 Speaker 1: Hand explains that descriptions of the creatures vary greatly, with 102 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,280 Speaker 1: the Cornwall version being something like a cross between an 103 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:05,359 Speaker 1: old man in an infant. Californians describe creatures in leather jackets, 104 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:11,040 Speaker 1: peaked hats, and water soaked shoes. Meanwhile, Native American miners 105 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:16,080 Speaker 1: reported a creature called an entity that is small and squat. 106 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:20,360 Speaker 1: According to Hand, in all cases, however, the spirit or 107 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 1: creature could be called upon for protection in the deep, dark, 108 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 1: dangerous environment of the mine. Tune in for additional episodes 109 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:34,920 Speaker 1: of the Monster fact or the Artifact each week. As always, 110 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:37,840 Speaker 1: you can email us at contact at stuff to Blow 111 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:47,840 Speaker 1: your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is 112 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:51,120 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, 113 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 114 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:55,440 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.