Episode 141
Episode 141 - The Crying Boy Curse, with David Clarke
Squaring the Strange · Celestia Ward
February 5, 20211h 8m
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Show Notes
We are joined by folklorist and author David Clarke, who traces the legend of the Crying Boy curse, a curious story surrounding prints of several paintings that featured big-eyed crying children. These popular prints were blamed for fires in the UK during the 1980s, and tales sprung up of orphaned street urchins with mysterious powers to start fires. The roots of the tale involve a confluence of journalistic eagerness, firefighter observations, material science, and good old-fashioned odds.