The dead of winterAs winter comes and the hours of darkness overtake the light, we seek out warmth, good food, and good company. But beneath the jollity and bright enchantment of the festive season, there lurks a darker mood one that has found expression over the centuries in a host of strange and unsettling traditions and lore. Here, Sarah Clegg takes us on a journey through midwinter to explore the lesser known Christmas traditions, from English mummers plays and

the charismatic

So when a man is found dead with his body impossibly covered in a fungal rot

She is not the first person to strike this bargain

Even though it's tiny

so shyness in humans should be an anomaly

just as a terminal diagnosis took away their future together

to joining Middlesbrough FC's Centre of Excellence and making her professional debut at Sunderland

a number of Queen songs including Killer Queen and Bohemian Rhapsody

and tried to prevent it

environmental and social gloom can seem overpowering

A British officer and celebrated poet is shot dead

Gina Rippon unpacks the stereotypes that bombard us from our earliest moments and shows how these messages mould our ideas of ourselves and even shape our brains