Fiction Reviews
Folk Horror
(2024) edited by Paul Kane & Marie O’Regan, Flame Tree Press,
£16.99 / Can$34.99 / US$26.99, hrdbk, 415pp, ISBN 978-1-80417-732-7
Flame Tree Publishing certainly known how to put a book together and this - a horror anthology called Folk Horrorfrom their 'Beyond and Within' imprint - is a beautiful looking book. Consisting of a vivid green and gold foil cover, which is slightly 'far out', almost evoking some sort of cosmic horror. The circle motif of the cover bleeds into the printed edges of the pages - is that called splotched or something like it? We also have two ribbons to keep more than one place in the book. I shouldn’t also forget a small, colour illustration by Oliver Hurst, which is blown up to full-page size within, in black and white and has an old Weird Tales vibe to it.
But what of the contents? First, we start with an introduction on Folk Horror by editors Kane and O’Regan looking at the origin of the term. Interestingly they bring up three films which crystalised the idea of folk horror that were released in the late 1960s and early 1970s, namely Witchfinder General, The Wicker Man and Blood on Satan’s Claw, collectively known as 'The Unholy Trinity'. Anyone familiar with reviews of horror fiction will know I often mention that sub-trope which I call 'you don’t want to go there', a label which certainly could be applied to The Wicker Man. Witchfinder General might be labelled 'you don’t want to go anywhere near this man', while Blood on Satan’s Claw is perhaps more difficult to categorise. Since those heady days of UK horror movies, folk horror has seen a resurgence in recent times on the big screen and also in novel form, so is it any surprise that this anthology has arrived? Following the introduction we get 17 contributions, which include three reprints, one of which is a prose poem, and a poem by Linda D. Addison called 'Ghost Land of Giants' to end proceedings, which as a poet and poetry editor is nice to see.
The cover mentions several big hitters whose work appears within, and it is interesting to note that the first three authors mentioned: Neil Gaiman, John Connelly, and Adam L.G. Nevill all provide reprints rather than new contributions. The anthology starts with 'The White Road', a prose poem by Neil Gaiman which riffs of the Brothers Grimm’s 'The Robber Bridegroom' to present dreams, nightmares, trickster foxes and wife killers in a story of tales within tales, where it is wise to keep your wits about you, listen carefully and edge closer to the door.
Gaiman’s contributions is followed by John Connolly’s 'The Well' which falls into the category of 'you don’t want to go there' as some ruins are being investigated, but there is a well there that is older than the ruins, and perhaps something else which Connolly reveals in an atmospheric tale full of gathering dread.
Jen Williams’ 'Rabbitheart' follows, but first a mention of the last of the reprints, which is Adam Nevill’s 'The Original Occupant', a tale which exists in the same world as his novel The Ritual, so is it not very surprising that the tale concerns a creature encountered by an academic who has moved to a remote area of Sweden? But back to Williams 'Rabbitheart' concerning a young woman who rescues a boy caught in a rabbit trap and soon wishes she hasn’t.
There is much creepy fun to be had in this anthology so I won’t go through every story in detail, but as you would expect those contributing stories often draw on their surroundings or local knowledge so it is with Lee Murray who sets her story 'Summer Bonus' in a farm in New Zealand where there are jobs to be done by two newcomers. Like many of the stories here, the story is clever, subtle and has a cracker of an ending. Likewise, horror-master, Stephen Volk, has his story 'Blessed Mary' taking place in Wales in time for some Christmas celebrations which soon worm their way into the minds of those who have returned home. Scottish writer Helen Grant’s 'The Third Curse' tells of a bargain between humans and the Sithichean who live in the fairy pools, but who will get the best out of the bargain?
Other stories concern the forces of nature; deals with the devil, or perhaps something worse than the devil; creatures from myth, and creatures that look familiar, but aren’t; wedding ceremonies with sinister undertones; and even tale set in a post-apocalyptic world where the old ways are re-embraced.
As with any anthology, the reader might find this to be a mixed bag with some stories preferred more than others, but Kane and O’Regan should be congratulated for the high standard throughout their curated anthology and Folk Horror manages to be just as good inside those 'trippy' covers as the covers themselves.
Ian Hunter
See also Arthur's take on Folk Horror
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