Retellings and Adaptations
Retellings and Adaptations are grouped here as a public-text classification across the AusFigures corpus. The category describes source framing and archive coding; it is not a claim that the underlying supernatural account is true.
- Search-ready records
- 517
- Public sources
- 8
- States / territories
- 7
- Dated span
- 1842–2024
Classification follows the public archive coding layer and may be revised when source context or terminology is reviewed.
Representative records — first 60
- Crowther's Christmas ghost in Crowther's Christmas ghost at Spencer Street#4132State Library Victoria discusses Edward Dyson's Australian Christmas ghost-story setting and says Crowther's Christmas ghost begins with Crowther throwing his luggage at a porter at Spencer Street before embarking on a…
- Hairy people in Cleverman Hairy people adaptation#4208Cleverman creator Ryan Griffen explains in the ABC Religion & Ethics transcript that the series uses the Hairy people to teach about the other, while Leah Purcell describes family yarns of the hairy mob, little hairy me…
- yuuri men in Cleverman yuuri men context#4207In the ABC Religion & Ethics Cleverman special, Stan Grant says he was told stories of yuuri men, hairy men who lived underground and marked boundaries, and links those stories to modern ghost-story adaptation.
- hairy stories in Cleverman hairy stories context#4206ABC Religion & Ethics' Cleverman special includes Leah Purcell discussing hairy stories from the South Burnett and Wide Bay region, including the yowie and mountain mob, in a conversation about how Cleverman draws on Ab…
- ghost tales in The Darkside Indigenous ghost stories#4152ABC Books and Arts described Aboriginal culture as having a rich tradition of spirit lives and discussed Warwick Thornton's The Darkside as a collection of poignant, sad, funny, and absurd true ghost tales from across A…
- ghost in His Master's Ghost at Montsalvat#4079Australian Screen Online describes More Winners - His Master's Ghost (1990) as a mystery-comedy about a group of kids on a music camp in a spooky old mansion. The page states that the setting of Montsalvat, a gothic man…
- spirits in Australian Legends#3762more waratah stems could be got before he essayed the dangerous task of lying across the fires. So they went back. Neither of them, nor the two together, could reach them. Then Camoola thought of the magic clay and he l…
- fairy in Tales of the Dandenongs First Series#2333hums about it at a later stage. The outcome was that two days afterwards the four of them came along, and on Bobby’s urgent appeal the tale was re-read! * * * * * * * The reading of the first story led to remarkable res…
- fairy in Australian Legends#1916fire coming with a mist which is called "pouraller," and burnt stones near Appin were pointed out as a place where this particular mist often covered the country. No doubt the fact that volcanoes emitted fire with steam…
- fairy in Australian Legends#1915hat a great ancestor was one day pushing his way through a jungle on the bank of a creek and a prickled smilax scraped his shoulder. He did not feel pain at first, but after a while, when the perspiration got into the t…
- supernatural in Australian Legends#1909sarcasm, and it was hoped that this piece of portrayed scorn would bring some evil to his rival. He would much have preferred to go on with the competition until one or the other had won. He was becoming anxious to secu…
- witch in Tales of the Dandenongs Third Series#1463an be y’r son’s Mother—an’ tend him—an’ do f’r him—an’ love him till ye die!” And, as two big tears of joy welled into her eyes, she added: “Oh! Father in Heav’n! ’Tis thankful I am—wid all me sowl!... Pl’ase don’t let…
- witch in Tales of the Dandenongs Third Series#1462it!” Kate firmly retorted. And she quickly turned to the counter, picked a ring from the tray and added: “There ye are me honey! Half the price, an’ just as good! Put it on me finger! an’ may the blessin’s av Heav’n fol…
- witch in Tales of the Dandenongs Third Series#1461So saying—she switched off the light; and with a murmured: “Dear God—Good-night,”—she once more pressed the ring to her lips, and so fell asleep!!!
- witch in Tales of the Dandenongs Third Series#1460That night—after a most wonderful day—Kate lay in bed thinking of her good fortune. She had not switched off the electric light, and—looking at the ring as it shone upon her finger—she whispered to herself:
- fairy in Tales of the Dandenongs Second Series#1457h below. Strange conformations and singular markings he was able to see—and perhaps slightly emphasise— in all manner of things. In his house were sticks and stones and roots; feathers and eggs and bark—besides other bu…
- witch in Fairy Tales from Australia#1413the wicked witch walks, and when she is angry there are great streaks of fire in them, but whoever finds that stone finds bad luck too.” “I don’t like dark colours,” said the little mermaid. “I should like to make blue…
- witch in Fairy Tales from Australia#1412n kisses good morning to Mother Sea it is rosy pink, and when he kisses her ‘goodnight’ it is fiery crimson.” “Well, this is a very wicked witch,” said the bird, “and she sits on the top of a rock and makes black opals.…
- witch in Fairy Tales from Australia#1411! Why, it’s a colour. Oh! no it isn’t a colour, but it’s a sort of colour.” “I have never seen any colour called black,” said the little mermaid. “Where I live it is all blue and green and silver and gold, and when the…
- witch in Fairy Tales from Australia#1410in a most beautiful country, where everything is gold.” “Oh! I want to see it all,” she cried, “and I am only a little mermaid; I can’t walk or fly. Dear lyre bird, take me up on your back, and let me fly with you all o…
- wizard in Australian Fairy Tales#1409hrough the garden they advanced Making for the Lawn! On they came! The Emus stately, Proudly, quietly, sedately; Followed by the Herons fine! Wombats, Wallabys and Dingoes; Grey Companion-Flamingoes;— ’Keets and Lories…
- spirit in Australian Fairy Tales#1405upon all who drink of them; for though the Prince had not said a word about it, they contain certain life-giving properties which bring to those who drink them the most enchanting results. It is because of these peculia…
- spirit in Australian Fairy Tales#1404indrops, and as these are very heavy for such wee folk to carry—especially in the teeth of a hot driving wind—they were somewhat longer in coming up than they should have been. Nevertheless they were not too late, and,…
- spirit in Australian Fairy Tales#1401ed until the next day. Then, in the highest possible spirits, they set about their final march, singing with the greatest gusto as they went their famous marching chorus:— Left! Right! Left! Right! Soon will come the co…
- fairies in Australian Fairy Tales#1400though they do not vomit fire, as did the dreadful dragon of our childhood, one feels that, given a sporting chance, they would make that boastful beast curl up like a salted worm. As for the other Fairies, everybody wi…
- fairies in Australian Fairy Tales#1399very delightful beings, have had their habitat in far-off lands. Thanks to the researches of Mr. Hume Cook, we are now able to wander through the enchanted Bush with real Australian Fairy Princes and Princesses; share i…
- fairies in Australian Fairy Tales#1398outer darkness. Those fairy forms—so real to the vivid mind—are to them but the shadows of trees in the flickering light of the moon. Hitherto, the Fairies we have known, though very delightful beings, have had their ha…
- fairy in Australian Fairy Tales#1395he Grape Vine’s Story When the Stork Called The Raindrop’s Story The Door Mat’s Story Clover Perfume’s Story Music’s Story The Moon’s Garden Party Preface The Stories in this little book have been set down almost in the…
- fairy in Australian Fairy Tales#1394Australian Fairy Tales Title: Australian Fairy Tales Author: Hume Cook eBook No.: 2100331h.html Language: English Date first posted: July 2021 Most recent update: July 2021 This eBook was produced by: Walter Moore View…
- fairy in Australian Fairy Tales#1393Australian Fairy Tales Title: Australian Fairy Tales Author: Hume Cook eBook No.: 2100331h.html Language: English Date first posted: July 2021 Most recent update: July 2021 This eBook was produced by: Walter Moore View…
- fairy in Steve Brown's Bunyip#2404e of it, I seen—I seen—’ but here he paused dead for want of a vocabulary. ‘Well, thick-head, an’ wot was it ye seed—yer own hugly shadder, I s’pose?’ said Mrs Brown, as she caught up and slapped the baby playing with a…
- spirit in Australia Felix#3040this hole, the party that worked it made off for the nearest grog-shop, to wet their throats to the memory of the dead, and to discuss future plans. All but one: a lean and haggard-looking man of some five and forty, wh…
- phantom in Australia Felix#3039s. And he saw a figure that looked like his the centre of a boisterous crowd; saw himself slapped on the back by dirty hands, shouting and shouted to drinks. He turned his pillow, to drive the image away. Whatever he ha…
- phantom in Australia Felix#3038w her out, by being kind and encouraging. Instead of which he had acted towards her, he felt convinced, like an ill-mannered boor. He did not know how it was, but he couldn't detach his thoughts from Polly this evening:…
- apparition in Australia Felix#3037had adapted herself implicitly--but this came easy; for she was sure everything Richard did was right, and that his way of looking at things was the one and only way. So there was no room for discord between them. By th…
- apparition in Australia Felix#3036d curt. Having himself stowed the things inside the bar and borrowed a lantern, he drew his wife's arm through his, and hurried her away. It was pitch-dark, and the ground was wet and squelchy. Their feet sank in the mu…
- apparition in Australia Felix#3035vered the distance in a trifle over six hours. He had evidently hit on the family washing-day. The big boiler in the yard belched clouds of steam; the female inmates of the Hotel were gathered in the out-house: he saw t…
- apparition in Australia Felix#3034vegetable-garden, where the drab and tangled growths that had outlived the summer were beaten flat by the recent rains. At the foot of the garden, behind a clump of gooseberry-bushes, stood an arbour formed of a yellow…
- ghost in Australia Felix#3033him, and a loud voice shouted: "Boh, you old beef-brains! Boh to a goose!" Displeased at such horseplay, Mahony stepped sharply back--his first thought was of Ned having unexpectedly returned from Mount Ararat. Then rec…
- ghost in Australia Felix#3032less their fee was planked down before them--old stagers these, who at one time had been badly bitten and were now grown cynically distrustful. Or tired. And indeed who could blame a man for hesitating of a pitch-dark n…
- ghost in Australia Felix#3031d said: "What's the matter, dear? Are you ill?" In replying to her he disturbed the children, the door of whose room stood ajar; and by the time quiet was restored, further sleep was out of the question. He dressed and…
- ghost in Australia Felix#3030believed him not averse from winning by unjust means. Yet, on the whole, he thought this mortified him less than to feel that he had been written down a Simple Simon, whom it was easy to impose on. Ah well! At best he h…
- spirits in Across Australia, volume 2#3095USTRALIA chap. Thus, for example, one ceremony was called Quabara Irriakura of Umbanjun — that is, a ceremony of the Irriakura (an edible bulb) totem of a place called Umbanjun; another was a ceremony of the Udniringita…
- ghosts in The Getting of Wisdom#3003"If you don't look well after Maggy and the bunnies, I don't know what I'll do. The chicks'll be all right. Sarah'll take care of them, 'cause of the eggs. But Maggy and the bunnies don't have eggs, and if they're not f…
- ghost in The Getting of Wisdom#2997ind, as she darted a look at the four predatory faces that hemmed her in. Tilly's was one of them: the lightly mocking smile sat on it that Laura had come to know so well, since her maladroit handling of Bob. She would…
- ghosts in The Getting of Wisdom#2996in them." Music was as fatal to Laura's equilibrium as wine would have been. Finding herself next Mr. Strachey, she now turned to him and said, with what she believed to be ease of manner: "Mr. Strachey, will you please…
- ghosts in The Getting of Wisdom#2995t Maggy and the bunnies don't have eggs, and if they're not fed, or if Frank treads on Maggy again, then they'll die. Now if you let them die, I don't know what I'll do to you! Yes, I do: I'll send the devil to you at n…
- devil in The Rising of the Court#2528ng pots, by candle-light. You'd think you were in a cheap place, where you shouldn't be, in the city. Harry and his passengers got down and stretched their legs, and while Old Jack was guardedly answering a hurriedly wh…
- devil in The Rising of the Court#2527always by daylight, taking care to pick up a swagman or a tramp when he had no passenger; but his “conveections” had had too much of a shaking, so he sold his turnout (privately and at a distance, for it was beginning t…
- devil in The Rising of the Court#2526ttles went. Rebel helping royalist, and royalist helping rebel. And always, here and there, down through those ages, the delicate girl standing with her back to a door and her arms outstretched across it, and facing, wi…
- spirit in The Rising of the Court#2525g told Harry that Mac was asleep inside his van. It was a windy night, with signs of rain, and the curtains were drawn close. Old Mac was there all right, and sleeping the sleep of a tired driver after a long drowsy day…
- spirit in The Rising of the Court#2524d with his men--no dummy, super, manager for a bank, or swollen cockatoo about Jack Denver. He was on the committees at agricultural shows and sports, great at picnics and dances, beloved by school children at school fe…
- spirits in The Rising of the Court#2523Cowling, and David Widger *** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RISING OF THE COURT *** Produced by Geoffrey Cowling THE RISING OF THE COURT By Henry Lawson Note: Only the prose stories are reproduced here, not t…
- apparition in The Rising of the Court#2522iefs that he is almost apathetic; and over all is the cloud of a loss that he has not yet had time to realize. He is self-hypnotized, so to speak, and his mind mercifully dulled for the moment on the Sea of Fatalism. En…
- haunted in The Rising of the Court#2521a flaming red table-cloth tied round his neck. To be done with old Mac, for the present. He made one or two more trips, but always by daylight, taking care to pick up a swagman or a tramp when he had no passenger; but h…
- haunted in The Rising of the Court#2520ub by the track side as he reached it; and left the news at Southwick's farm at the end of the blind track. At more than one farm he left the bushwoman hurriedly looking up her “black things;” and at more than one, one…
- haunted in The Rising of the Court#2519re; sprees and--the rest of it. Long dry stretches on Dead Man's Track. Cutting across the country in No Man's Land where there were no tracks into the Unknown. Chancing it and damning it. Ill luck and good luck. Laughi…
- spirit in The Rising of the Court#2518spirit.” A ghost always needs to be taken quietly--it's no use getting excited and threshing round. But Caesar's, being a new-chum ghost and bashful, was doubtless embarrassed by his cool, matter-of-fact reception, and…
- spirit in The Rising of the Court#2517hee thou shalt see me at Philippi. Brutus: Well; then I shall see thee again? Ghost: Ay, at Philippi. (Vanishes.) That was very satisfactory, so far. But Brutus, having taken heart, as he says, would hold more talk with…
- ghost in The Rising of the Court#2516and put aside. Ghost: Thy evil spirit, Brutus. That was frank enough, anyway. Brutus: Why comest thou? Ghost: To tell thee thou shalt see me at Philippi. Brutus: Well; then I shall see thee again? Ghost: Ay, at Philippi…
This collection contains 517 search-ready records. The complete record set remains discoverable through the paginated public record index.