Folk Horror
New Global Pathways
ed. Dawn Keetley & Ruth Heholt
University of Wales Press 2023
Pb, 280pp, £50, ISBN 9781786839794
Perhaps of all the literary, cinematic and stylistic manifestations of the “dark arts”, only Film/Roman Noir rivals folk horror in the quantity of deliberation, discussion, debate and disagreement. Indeed in discussion of the latter subject on social media, the question “But is it Folk Horror?” is frequently asked in regards to a particular movie, book or image. Sometimes this elicits the response of the “Folk Horror Police” – fans who over-rigorously express their opinion.
“Opinion” is the key word however for there is no manifesto for folk horror – it is a mode named after the initial event. Adam Scovell’s “Folk Horror Chain” acts as an excellent reference point for recognising commonly recurring elements (Landscape. Isolation. Skewed Belief System. Summoning or Happening) but it’s a guide, not a mandatory tick box – there is still scope for deviation and room for differing opinions. Therefore multi-contributor books such as Folk Horror: New Global Pathways are extremely useful in this sometimes hazy field as they present a variety of opinions stemming from various different viewpoints, specific subject-matter and importantly from different cultures.
While the 1960s/70s British cinematic triumvirate of Witch finder General, Blood On Satan’s Claw and The Wicker Man have been written about extensively previously as they are important fixtures in the subject, folk horror is a form of narrative and æsthetic apparent in probably all cultures, so it is good that this book does veer off the old beaten track.
It wanders into diverse terrain ranging from Scooby Doo cartoons, typography, the short stories of EF Benson, occulture, video games and dark tourism in Lancashire to the representations and relationships of folk horror in the cinema and culture of Mexico, Italy, Ukraine, Thailand and Appalachia.
Inevitably, politics do arise in the discussion. Horror fiction analysis can often be examined under a sociopolitical lens as a lot can be told about a people by looking at what scares them – be it post-war trauma in the early 20th-century Europe, atomic/alien fears of 1950s America, generational counterculture/mainstream conflicts in the 1960s and 1970s to the uncertain polarised times we currently live in. Folk horror is particularly laden with such considerations and this book does explore issues such as colonialism, sexuality and agrarian/industrial conflict.
Actually, regarding traditional vs technological conflict, I was disappointed to see that AI-generated
