Old European folklore sometimes warned that pointing at a grave was disrespectful or unlucky. In later versions, the offending finger might supposedly rot unless bitten or treated in some ritual way. Graveyard etiquette could become extremely specific. #FairyTaleTuesday

Image: Tiny Pine Art

VAMPIRE FAIRY TALE Marusia is courted by a young man who she later sees feeding on a corpse laid out in the church. Falling victim to the #vampire she's buried at a crossroad & blooms again as a flower. Afanasev, Tales 1855-67 #31DaysOfHalloween #FairyTaleTuesday

#FairyTaleTuesday
"Bedd i Farch, bedd i Wythur,
bedd i Wgon Gleddyfrudd.
Anoeth byd, bedd i Arthur."

"A grave for March, a grave for Gwythur,
a grave for Gwgon Red-sword.
Hard to find in the world - a grave for Arthur."

Emily comes from old stock, an aristocratic Southern family that fell on hard times after the Civil War. Life was not what she expected but she remained as defiant as her father. Faulkner's classic tale "A Rose for Emily" is the definition of Southern gothic. #FairytaleTuesday

Ghuls are djinni or djinn-adjacent monsters of Arabia and the Muslim world, evil spirits that dwell in cemeteries and eat the flesh of the dead: they often disguise themselves as the living and engineer mass feats of death for feasts of their own. #FairytaleTuesday

2/2 To make your bed and your domain
Of my humiliated mind
– Infamous bitch to whom I’m bound
Like the convict to his chain
"Le Vampire"-Charles Baudelaire
🎨Franz von Stuck redbubble.com/shop/ap/3540... #art #bookchatweekly #gothic #wallart #poem #gothtober #FairytaleTuesday #decor

1/2 You who, like the stab of a knife,
Entered my plaintive heart;
You who, strong as a herd
Of demons, came, ardent and adorned,
🎨Franz von Stuck redbubble.com/shop/ap/3540... #Bookchatweekly #FairytaleTuesday #art #poetry #gothic #wallart #spooktober #literature #gifts #fineart

The first person buried in a churchyard was sometimes believed to become its supernatural guardian, responsible for watching over everyone buried afterward. Some folklore substituted an animal burial so an unfortunate human soul wouldn't get stuck with the job. #FairyTaleTuesday

Art: Ocean's Bridge

2/2 With his rival out of the way, the demon courts her. She's afraid, but doesn't see him as a demon but as a tortured soul. She eventually yields to him but his kiss is fatal & the demon is alone once again. redbubble.com/shop/ap/3526... #FairytaleTuesday #art #goth #gifts #folklore

1/2 In this Russian #poem, a lonely demon spies Princess Tamara dancing at her wedding & falls in love. The demon sends robbers to interrupt the wedding & kill her husband.
🎨Konstantin Makovsky redbubble.com/shop/ap/3635... #FairytaleTuesday #art #homedecor #literature #fairytale

5/5 Chloral and laudanum were popular drugs and Fitzgerald's work pictures the threatening creatures he saw.
🎨The Artist's Dream - John Anster Fitzgerald redbubble.com/shop/ap/3319... #FairytaleTuesday #art #Victorian #gifts #fairies #homedecor #folklore #gothic #wallart

4/5 Some of his work hinted at the artist's familiarity with the Victorian drug scene of opium dens.
🎨John Anster Fitzgerald redbubble.com/shop/ap/3319... #FairytaleTuesday #art #wallart #fairies #homedecor #interiordesign #giftideas #goth #folklore #mythology #fairytale #Spooktober

3/5 He became known as "Fairy Fitzgerald" among his peers. Fitzgerald depicted an entire world in miniature, often with an overtone of sinister otherness. redbubble.com/shop/ap/3465... #FairytaleTuesday #folklore #gothic #art #homedecor #Halloween2026 #gifts #fairytale #fineartprints

2/5 This gave rise to the genre of Victorian Fairy Painting. John Anster Fitzgerald was one of the best known Victorian Fairy Painters. redbubble.com/shop/ap/3316... #FairytaleTuesday #folklore #art #Victorian #fineart #gothic #mythology #wallart #fairies #31daysofHalloween #fairytale

1/5 Victorians became fascinated with the ephemeral world for a variety of reasons, including the popularity of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream.
🎨John Anster Fitzgerald redbubble.com/shop/ap/3397... #FairytaleTuesday #art #wallart #folklore #homedecor #giftideas #fineartprints

#FairyTaleTuesday Bat costumes for men: Right & Wrong. 1869 chap in Santa's little helper pixie boots is sadly a stylistic fail in comparison to the whirling glitter bats featured in a rarely seen Edward Gorey Halloween TV special, 1978.

An old graveyard superstition warned against stepping directly over a grave. Depending on the tradition, doing so might disturb the dead, bring bad luck, or invite the spirit to follow you. Apparently even after death, personal space remained important. #FairyTaleTuesday

In British folklore, the Church Grim was a supernatural guardian of the churchyard, often appearing as a large black dog. Some tales claimed an animal was buried beneath a new church so its spirit would remain behind to protect the sacred ground. #FairyTaleTuesday

The oldest living being in Wales is a 3,000-year-old yew tree in the churchyard of Llangernyw village. Nearby are two equally ancient standing stones. On Halloween and July 31st, the Angelystor (a dark spirit) appears by the tree to announce which villagers will die soon.
#FairyTaleTuesday