That is not dead which can eternal lie…
The term folk horror dates from 1970, and it originally applied to British films that explored the idea that potent ancient forces and deep-rooted evils survive in the landscape, scarcely acknowledged by the modern world. Commonly, these dark forces are mobilized by active witches or pagan groups, deploying secret rituals dating from pre-Christian times. The plots involve innocent outsiders entrapped in these fearsome proceedings, and likely facing the prospect of a grisly sacrificial death. The genre relies on confrontations with an unsuspected ancient reality, which is inconceivably perilous. The best-known contribution is the 1973 production The Wicker Man, which regularly appears in critics’ lists of the three or four greatest British films ever made.
The basic mythology of British folk horror is totally fictitious, in that such clandestine pagan networks never existed, or at least were in no sense survivals from ancient times: that belief derives from a modern academic mythology. Even so, over the past twenty years, folk horror has become the subject of countless scholarly books and academic conferences (see below). The label is also applied to a steady stream of new films and novels. Recently, I vastly enjoyed Kier-La Janisse’s documentary Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched (2021). In its 3 ¼ hours running time, the film offers a sweeping survey of the genre on some two hundred films from around the world.
As I explain in the attached document, this is a topic I have followed closely from its inception – and years before I ever heard the name “folk horror.” I believe I have some innovative things to say on the topic, including some references that really, nobody else has ever picked up. Judge for yourself. I am uploading the document both in pdf and document form, so that at least one version will allow you to follow the links.
The quest for the origins of the folk horror idea has inspired a lot of literary archaeology, and there is an excellent anthology of early writings in Richard Wells, ed., Damnable Tales (2021). But I think I know a lot of other books, stories and films that contributed to building up the genre. In the Chronology attached here, I list these, pointing to some key dates, and particular eras when the idea was gaining real strength and popularity. This is in a sense a skeleton history of the genre (no pun intended). Finding such things is of course an ongoing process, and I update this document quite frequently as I find new items.
I also offer a current working bibliography.
I am delighted to announce a recent publication of mine on these matters, namely The Wicker Woman – A Missing Folk Horror Link, at Horror Homeroom, December 2023.
