FANTASTIC REALMS
The fields remain dark
As folk horror undergoes a surge in popularity, Alex Davis looks at the distinctive elements of modern folk horror
Iwrite this having just run a five-day folk horror festival, so to say this concept if fresh in my mind would be an understatement. The genre may for many be associated with the classics, the so-called unholy trinity of The Wicker Man, Blood on Satan’s Claw and Witchfinder General. All of them remain great movies in their own right, but it’s fair to say the genre has come a long way in the last fifty years, and it’s one that’s enjoying quite the revival in the 2020s.
But after so long in the wilderness (if you’ll forgive the pun) why is Folk Horror suddenly re-emerging into our consciousness, and what does it mean for authors approaching it today? In this piece we’ll explore some of the key areas that have contributed to this new movement and how they may affect our writing in the subgenre.
Eco concerns
There has been a great deal of talk about environmental issues of late, and rightly so – global trends are not looking positive, and even a fairly cursory glance will reveal the many warnings of scientists and ecologists. This subject feels like it is in much starker focus right now – which brings folk horror into the centre of the discussion too.
Ecohorror and climate fiction are in many ways close relations of folk horror, though the distinctive tone and storytelling style of folk horror does set it apart. But one of the subjects that preoccupies the genre is the land and the landscape – and you could see many key works as being about the earth itself rebelling against its human ‘invaders’. It is the genre of wild and feral places, of old forces and old wisdoms, of simpler ways of life before the inexorable advance of technology. As such, folk horror is perfectly placed to creep into fiction exploring ecological issues – and this is something you might want to bring more knowingly into your writing in the field in 2024. Recent films that examine this theme well would be Enys Men and In The Earth, with many more besides.