Welcome to my website
David Clarke is Associate Professor in the Department of Media Arts and Communication at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. He teaches media law and his research specialism is contemporary legend. Previously he worked as a journalist for The Sheffield Star and Yorkshire Post and spent four years working as a Press Officer in local government. His PhD in Folklore and was completed at the National Centre for English Cultural Tradition, University of Sheffield, in 1999. From 2008-13 he acted as consultant and curator of the MoD UFO files project with The National Archives. His books include The Angel of Mons (2004) and How UFOs Conquered the World: the history of a modern myth (2015). In 2018 he co-founded the Centre for Contemporary Legend at Sheffield Hallam University. This blog covers his twin research interests in journalism and folklore. The views expressed in the contents are entirely his own.
Snopes.com – Rumour has it…- An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.
- Magonia Blog
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- Mark Pilkington & John Lundberg – Folklore & Deception in the UFO Age
- Bob Sheaffer’s Bad UFOs
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- The Skeptic magazine
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- October Spookiness!
- Empirical Sex Talk on Dacryphilia, tonight
- Little Atoms 393 – Timothy Snyder & Black Earth
- Ash Pryce on "How to talk to the dead" @ Greenwich SitP, 7:30 pm, 7/10/15
- Weird Science at Exeter Hub: tonight, 6 pm
- Professor David Hand on The Improbability Principle @ Goldsmiths, 6:10 pm, 29/9/15 (tomorrow)
- Peter Popoff
- Me and Jean La Fontaine on Satanic Ritual Abuse Claims and False Memories at London Fortean Society, 7:45 pm, tonight, 24/9/15
- Little Atoms 392 – Royal Society Winton Prize 2015 Three
- Charles Fort Institute Blog
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- Curt Collins on saucers in pop culture
- The Cash-Landrum UFO Encounter of 1980
- Analyzing a 2007 UFO Sighting in Mississippi
- The Cash-Jamaica UFO Incident
- Ben Rich, Area 51, & Taking ET Home
- An Impressive New Book on UFO Witness Testimony
- UFOs, Fame and Anonymity
- The NSA Cash-Landrum UFO Document
- The Cash-Landrum UFO: 1980s Recording of Witnesses Interviews
- UFO Advocate: Betty Cash
- Cash-Landrum UFO Disinformation: Rick Doty & Bill Moore
- Andrew May’s Forteana blog
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- Paul Kimball’s The Other Side of Truth: Don’t believe, don’t disbelieve. Think
- Nick Pope - Useful Idiot of the Far Right
- Who Are They? What Do They Want?
- An Empty Suit
- Synchronicity, Irish Style
- Project Blue Book - A Review
- Stan Friedman Retires
- Halifax gets Haunted!
- Haunted Extra, Vol. 1.01 - Queen's County Museum Revisited
- 2017 East Coast Paraconference - Remote Viewing Panel
- 2017 East Coast Paraconference - August 11, 12, 13
Tag Archives: curse of the crying boy
Tears for Fears – the Curse of the Crying Boy
The ‘curse of the Crying Boy‘ legend, created by the British tabloid The Sun, is alive and well online. I discuss my research into this fake news phenomenon on the first episode in Season 3 of the Folklore Podcast, (1 January … Continue reading →
Happy birthday, Crying Boy!
Thirty years ago this month the British tabloids were full of stories about mysterious fires breaking out in houses across the north of England – and the only survivor was a mawkish print of a crying boy. The legend began … Continue reading →
The Curse of the Crying Boy
It came from the same tabloid headline factory that produced ‘Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster‘ – and the Curse of the Crying boy continues to live online. I will presenting a paper on this quintessential urban legend at the Folklore … Continue reading →
Tabloid Tales
The red-top tabloids are a rich source of modern folklore and urban legends – and today’s front page splash in The Sun is a case in point. “Girl Eats 4,000 washing-up sponges” tells the bizarre story of dental nurse Kerry … Continue reading →
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