Shows / Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
"It must be admitted that the particular class of stories which turns on the marvellous possesses a stronger influence when told than when committed to print" - Walter Scott, The Tapestried Chamber. Storyteller & audio dramatist Marty Ross (Audible, BBC, Wireless Theatre, Big Finish, Kisses In The Dark) performs magical, mysterious and creepy tales as a spinoff from Ross's regular storytelling shows for ArranSound radio on the Scottish Isle of Arran, where Ross lives. Ross' work has been…
Episodes
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
ALL THE ADDERS ON ARRAN part 2 (of 2)
Here's the conclusion of the story I started last week. A romantic happy ending seemed in store for our young lovers Anabella and Adam. But then she enquired a…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
ALL THE ADDERS ON ARRAN part 1 (of 2)
Here's the first part of a new two part story, unscripted, improvised and actually based on an Indian folk tale but with the setting shifted decisively right…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE GORBALS VAMPIRE part 10 (FINAL EPISODE): Taste The Blood Of The Gorbals Vampire
And so we come to the final episode of this dramatic tale inspired by the urban landscape and macabre folklore of my native southside of Glasgow, a story I've…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE GORBALS VAMPIRE part 9: The Unquenchable Thirst of the Gorbals Vampire
Now that the Gorbals Vampire has told his story to our narrating protagonist, this strange pair perhaps better understand one another now. Yet the fact remains…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE GORBALS VAMPIRE part 8: Scars of the Gorbals Vampire
So the time has come for The Gorbals Vampire himself to tell the story of how he came to be a vampire in the first place, a story which links his biography…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE GORBALS VAMPIRE part 7: The Hunger of the Gorbals Vampire
So an innocent young Glasgow boy has been conscripted into serving as "bait" to lure victims to the clutches of The Gorbals Vampire. But as we learned in the…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE GORBALS VAMPIRE part 6: "Son" of the Gorbals Vampire
So in the last episode, we saw how our very Glaswegian Nosferatu was able to use our innocent protagonist as "bait" in his quest for human blood. Now we see…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE GORBALS VAMPIRE part 5: The Gorbals Vampire (at the) Circus
So our narrator has been abducted down into The Gorbals Vampire's underground lair, beneath Glasgow's Southern Necropolis graveyard, being told he is to remain…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE GORBALS VAMPIRE part 4: Children Shouldn't Play With The Gorbals Vampire
So our narrator has fallen into the clutches of The Gorbals Vampire haunting Glasgow's Southern Necropolis. But his strange and disturbing adventures in the…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE GORBALS VAMPIRE part 3: The Gorbals Vampire Has Risen From The Grave
So our hapless young narrator has been trapped and abandoned by the bigger, rougher boys who accompanied him into the great rambling old graveyard of Glasgow's…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE GORBALS VAMPIRE Part 2: Blood For The Gorbals Vampire
Here's the second part of this dark tale inspired by the genuine Glaswegian urban legend of an iron-toothed vampire haunting the great graveyard of Glasgow's…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE GORBALS VAMPIRE part 1: Legend Of The Gorbals Vampire
And so, as they say in the creepiest horror movies, it begins... with the first episode of my epic tale inspired by an urban legend of my native southside of…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE GORBALS VAMPIRE part 1: Legend Of The Vampire
And so, as they say in the creepiest horror movies, it begins... with the first episode of my epic tale inspired by an urban legend of my native southside of…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE GORBALS VAMPIRE: an introduction
Here's something a wee bit different: me on video (if you're on Spotify, sound only elsewhere) introducing an epic piece of storytelling which I'll shortly be…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE PASSION OF TAM SHANTER Act 5 (Finale)
Here's the concluding episode of my dramatic contemporary version of Robert Burns's classic tale of Ayrshire witchcraft, essentially a recording of my most…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE PASSION OF TAM SHANTER Act 4
After the mysterious disappearance of Tam's wife, Kate, the scene is set for a charged confrontation between Tam and Morag Soutar, after which things may never…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE PASSION OF TAM SHANTER Act 3
So... Tam's passion has got the better of him and he is now involved in a potentially dangerous relationship with Morag Soutar, meeting her night after night…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE PASSION OF TAM SHANTER Act Two
Here's the second part of this recording of the live show which I performed a couple of weeks ago here on Arran,a show which reinvents the classic ballad of…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE PASSION OF TAM SHANTER Act One
Just a week or so ago, I performed my show THE PASSION OF TAM SHANTER here at Whiting Bay on the Isle of Arran. Like most of my live shows, this was not…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE WITCH, THE WOLVES & THE WILD, WILD WOOD Part 4 (finale)
Final part of this very Scottish version of a Slavic folktale. Our heroine Ellie has contended with Grampa Guzzler, wild wolves, midges, dead men's clothes, a…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE WITCH, THE WOLVES & THE WILD, WILD WOOD Part 3
Well, those who've been listening to the first two parts of this story might be wondering... "Ok, we've had the wolves and the woods, but what about the witch…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE WITCH, THE WOLVES & THE WILD, WILD WOOD Part 2
Here's the second part of this tale, in which I relocate a Slavic "skazka" right here to the Isle of Arran, a tale I performed last year in the lovely Easmor…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE WITCH, THE WOLVES & THE WILD, WILD WOOD Part 1
Here's the start of a four part story, actually inspired by Slavic folk tale, but relocated by me to the Isle of Arran (where I performed it last year in the…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE GHOSTLY BRIDAL
Was on the mainland (or "the big island" as we say here on Arran) last week and picked up yet another book of Scottish folk tales. This one featured a really…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE MERMAID'S VENGEANCE
Here's a little blast from the past. A while back, I posted my version of a traditional folktale which I gave the title A Kiss Of Salt. This was well received…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
WILD KATY & THE LIVING DEAD Act 4 (conclusion)
Well, here it is - after 4 (not the previously mentioned 3) episodes: the dramatic, fantastical conclusion to this wild, improvised reworking of an old…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
WILD KATY & THE LIVING DEAD Act 3
I think I said, in my intro to the first part of this story, that this was going to be a three-parter. Such is the nature of improvised, unscripted performance…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
WILD KATY & THE LIVING DEAD Act 2
Here's the latest part of this freely improvised story based on an old European folk tale. Our heroine Wild Katy has come upon a skeletal undead with…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
WILD KATY & THE LIVING DEAD Act 1
Here's the first part of another of my wild, weyward and very Scottish reinventions of a classic European folk tale, featuring an unapolgetically bold and…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE CAVE OF EYES
Sorry it's been a muckle long time since I last posted an episode, but I've had a lot on in both work and life this year. My audio drama for Audible, THE DEAD…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
DANCES SACRED & PROFANE Chapter 1
I've written a lot of things over the years, many dramas for the BBC and Wireless Theatre Company, a smattering for Big Finish, and now a whole decades' worth…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
WOLFSKIN Part Ten (of 10)
And so at last we come to the conclusion of this dramatic, darkly romantic lycanthropic tale inspired by a Swedish follk tale from Upsala, but relocated here…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
WOLFSKIN Part Nine (of 10)
And so we come to the penultimate episode of this dark, dramatic tale inspired by Swedish folklore but relocated here to the Isle of Arran. A ferocious…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
WOLFSKIN Part Eight (of 10)
So Fiona has found that her jealous stepmother Moira means her no good - and Moira has likewise worked a terrible and magical transformation upon Tod for…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
WOLFSKIN Part Seven (of 10)
Well, the beast has been unleashed in poor cursed Tod and is now about to wreak bloody havoc - while Fiona follows her stepmother Moira out into the night to…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
WOLFSKIN Part Six (of 10)
So Moira, tormented by jealous thoughts of all that might have been going on between her lover Tod and her step-daughter Fiona, has passed on a curse with the…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
WOLFSKIN Part Five (of 10)
Moira, believing Tod has been unfaithful to her with Fiona, her own step-daughter has performed a pagan rite to give her a little help in getting her own back…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
WOLFSKIN part Four (of 10)
Things are getting intense in this story inspired by a Swedish folk tale but relocated here to the Isle of Arran. A drama of secret jealousy between stepmother…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
WOLFSKIN Part Three (of 10)
Continuing this darkly romantic fairy tale. At the end of the previous episode Moira spotted her stepdaughter Fiona having an intimate moment with Moira's…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
WOLFSKIN Part Two (of 10)
Continuing here an intense tale derived from a Swedish folk tale but relocated here to the Isle of Arran (which of course has its own Scandinavian Viking…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
WOLFSKIN Part One (of 10)
Here's the first part of what's going to be quite a developed, complex story. It's inspired by a Swedish folktale but, as is my wont, I've relocated the…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE BLOODY SISTERS: Act 4 - The Sisters, Bloody
And so we come to the final act of this macabre Scots folk tale. It is macabre indeed, so if you have a low tolerance for the creepy, grotesque or the gory…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE BLOODY SISTERS Act 3: Morna
OK, I know I said at the start this was going to be a three parter, but as you'll hear there's so much macabre incident & atmosphere in this episode that I'm…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE BLOODY SISTERS Act 2: Rona
Here's the second part of my version of a rather macabre folk tale gleaned from the pages of JF Campbell's classic 19th century collection Popular Tales Of The…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE BLOODY SISTERS Act 1: Clodagh
Here's the first part of a story derived from that classic collection of Scottish folk tales, JF Campbell's Popular Tales Of The West Highlands - a splendidly…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST Act 4: The Dead In The Depths
Here's the 4th & final episode of this repeat performance for my seasonal chiller first aired on Arran Sound radio Xmas 2021 - 22 (ignore the Twelfth Night…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST Act 3: The Woman In The Picture
Here's the penultimate chapter of this four act tale of Victorian ghostliness, set on a very snowy Isle of Arran, just the thing for seasonal shivers!
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST Act Two - The Snowman & The Man In The Snow
Second part (of 4) of this old school seasonal chiller. The action has moved from Victorian Glasgow to the wilds of the snowy Isle of Arran - just the place…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST Act 1: The Lost Soul & The Samaritan's Scalpel
Christmas just days away so time for another outing for that perennial favourite at this time of year from my storytelling repertoire - a 4 part Victorian…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE SELKIE BRIDE - The Movie
As a Christmas bonus, in contrast to my usual audio performances, here's a video performance of me performing, here on the shores of Arran, that traditional…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE LADY OF THE SNOWS: A Ghost Story For Christmas
Okay, we're getting into the season for some serious creepy storytelling by the winter fireside, so here's my very Scottish, very Arran, reimagining of the…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
NO WOLVES ON ARRAN: Act 3 (of 3)
Final episode of this classic tale of lycathropic terror as an isolated family on the high moorlands here on the Isle of Arran are beset by a fearsome…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
NO WOLVES ON ARRAN Act 2 (of 3)
Here's the second part of this tale just perfect for spooky season. Gruff Angus has softened his heart sufficiently to find a new bride in Christina, who came…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
NO WOLVES ON ARRAN Act 1 (of 3)
Here's a tale just right for Halloween time, or winter nights generally - my Scottish version of a traditional lycanthropic tale of horror, which I've…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
A HUNTER'S HEART part 3 (of 3): The Wild Hunter
The final part of this occasionally rather scary folk tale. Peter has run out of magic bullets - just ahead of the hunting test which might win him the hand of…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
A HUNTER'S HEART part 2 (of 3): The Sinister Tale
So Peter seems set for a happy ending - with the discreet help of magic bullets gained from a strange old man in the forest, he now seems set to replace old…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
A HUNTER'S HEART part 1 (of 3): The Magic Bullets
Here's the first part of a story I performed several times last year in the woodlands of Arran as part of Scotland's Year Of Stories and also in the grounds of…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE CHANGELING CHILD (From The Waters & The Wild)
I was recently off Arran, visiting old haunts in the Scottish Highlands - particularly the wild Rogie Falls & Blackwater River north of Inverness, one of the…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE MURDERER'S HAND Episode 2 (of 2): Beastliness At Brodick Castle
Second, and concluding, part of this improvised telling of a classic, and occasionally rather macabre, folk tale. Heroine Katy has supposedly escaped her…
- Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.
THE MURDERER'S HAND Episode 1 (of 2): Mayhem on the Mainland
Here's my version - in an unscripted, improvised performance - of an enjoyably gruesome, Grand Guignol-ish traditional folk tale, set in this episode on the…