The Phantom Lovers of Lake Drummond | A Virginia Tale

For this week’s story we have a ghostly legend inundated by real histories, “The Phantom Lovers of Lake Drummond.”

Written by Martin, it’s a dark crater of surging eco-fiction engaging with one of Virginia's most famous folk tales, the early life of George Washington, Harriet Beecher Stowe's much maligned follow-up to Uncle Tom's Cabin, the poetry of Irish folk poet and bard Thomas Moore, the teenaged adventures of Edgar Allan Poe, and more.

We very much hope its atmospheric gloom and unusual voice proves to be suitably unsettling, and that you enjoy our chat which follows about some of Virginia's most famous ghost stories and recent correspondence we have received from the lovely members of the Conspiracy of Ravens.

Like you!

Details in the story were inspired by the poems A Ballad: The Lake of the Dismal Swamp by Thomas Moore and The Lake by Edgar Allan Poe, and the chapter "Canoeing in the Dismal Swamp" from the book Athletics and Manly Sport by John Boyle O'Reilly, published in 1890.

About Three Ravens 🔮

Three Ravens is a completely independent English myth and folklore podcast where we share stories, celebrate folk culture, and fall backwards through the hedgerows of history.

Hosted by real-life couple Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux, and mostly recorded at our home in rural Sussex in southern England, Three Ravens is rated 4.8/5 from over 500 reviews and has grown by word of mouth care of our lovely listener community ‘The Conspiracy of Ravens.’

We release three episodes a week, on Mondays, Thursday and Saturdays, through which we explore folktales, folkways, fairy stories, folk songs, mythology, local heritage, seasonal customs and traditional beliefs.

Our research inspires our retellings of stories from across history and culture, with episodes standing alone but connected together across over 500 chatty, mostly light-hearted, swear-free installments driven by passion, kindness and curiosity.

Now ranked as an all-time Top 5 podcast across several categories by Goodpods, charting in the Spotify, Apple and Rephonic UK Fiction Top 10 across 2024, 2025 and 2026, if you’re interested in ghosts, monsters, regional beliefs, and the things that unite us all, then join us round the campfire and listen in…

Join the Conspiracy of Ravens ✨