Spine-Tingling Folk Horror to Read This For Autumn
By Mary Kay McBrayer
In the middle of autumn, I start to crave folk horror. If you’re not familiar with the term, it’s a subgenre of horror that focuses on the natural world and ancient traditions, and typically, the drama happens when outsiders come up against the folkloric set. Usually, the setting is rural and isolated, a place where folk religion still thrives despite the Renaissance movement to shut it down. Until recently, I thought folk horror almost had to be British or Irish, or at least European, and although it often is, that’s not a requirement. (Where would we be without The Blair Witch Project? Or Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery?)
If you’re looking for a vibe check, think of the film, The Wicker Man, which is widely regarded as the folk horror archetype. It’s certainly not the first example of it, but it is an early, popular example.And folk horror is all about vibes. A weird fairy circle marked with stones, like in Rabbit Trap. A ritual sacrifice to the ancient gods of summer, like in Midsommar. Mischievous witches that may or may not exist on the hillock, like in Macbeth.
If you are looking for spooky books for Halloween, or even just books to read this month, you are in the right place. Here are a few of my favorites that I’ve read, and a few potential-favorites that are at the top of my TBR list.
If you didn’t know already, this collection of short stories is the basis for what we know as fairy tales in America… but they’re very different than what Disney showed us. I honestly can’t believe they were meant for children—but I guess it makes sense to tell your kids so many boogeyman stories that they will not venture off into The Woods. Or trust their step-parents. Or eat too much? It really gives new meaning to the concept of a “fairy tale ending,” if you catch my drift. And this is a beautiful edition to add to your shelf, as well. By the way, if you’re looking for a blackly funny spooky book for adults, but in film format, I recommend watching Emilie Blichfeldt’s The Ugly Stepsister. It retells “Cinderella” from the antagonist’s perspective. Even though it’s a retelling, it’s surprisingly the closest version to the original that I’ve ever seen (with the exception of the ending).
Price
$14.99
Price
$19.99 CAD
Format
Trade Paperback
This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around September 12, 2023. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.
Speaking of remote Scottish islands, that’s where we are in C.A. Fletcher’s Deadwater. People there are either locals through-and-through, or they’re imports, permanent vacationers, so to speak, who seek a slower, quieter life. Everyone has their own personal misery, though, and when a waterborne blight starts to infect all of them in a manner that seems supernatural, disaster spreads. The ferry service fails, and then the phone service, and when they’re really, truly isolated, secrets start to out.
This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around June 13, 2023. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.
There’s no time period more fascinating to me than the Scottish Witch Trials, and John Buchan’s Witch Wood is among the top British folk horror books, hands down. Young David Sempill has just finished his seminary studies and been elected to serve the parish of Woodilee, close to where he grew up. He quickly realizes that not only are political factions present among the local ministers, but they all have an aversion to Woodilee… and when he finds himself terrified in the Wood, he sees first-hand the pagan rituals practices by masked citizens, some of them elected as Elders to his own Kirk Session. He’s resolved to rid the parish of the evil practices, even as his loyalty to the king conflicts with his Covenanter values, which is a lot to work through when it seems like the local witches also have their sights on him. (I recommend listening to the audiobook narrated by Angus King for this one—and not only for the character of Isobel Veitch, whose Scots accent truly comes to life—because the story is so vibrant when read aloud.)
Format
UK-B Format Paperback
This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around May 22, 2018. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.
Sarah Moss is the queen of folk horror, imho, and Night Waking is the apex. When Anne Bennet agrees to go to the tiny island of Colsay in the Hebrides with her husband so he can count puffins, she does not consider all the variables. She herself is a historian, and she thinks she’ll work on her own book during their stay… but she doesn’t count on her husband just disappearing and leaving her to do all the caring for her insomniac toddler and her natural-disaster-obsessed 7-year-old. It leaves her exhausted. And when she finds an infant skeleton in their garden, it haunts her dreams and her waking life. Because of her own sleep-deprivation, she is now barely able to distinguish between the two states. The book itself is also punctuated with 200-year-old letters written from an English nurse to her home, and how she tries to bring modern medicine to the traditional, remote island. How the two narratives relate to one another drives the suspense in this awesome folk horror novel.
Sarah Moss also just released a new novel, Ripeness, that I can’t wait to get into!
Format
Trade Paperback
This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around August 3, 2021. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.
Part murder-mystery, part faerie folk horror, for those of us who love spooky book recommendations. It’s the mid-1800s in England when Albie (the Victorian gentleman) attends his cousin’s funeral at her home Halfoak. While he’s there, he learns that the locals do not believe it was the “real” Lizzie who was killed, but rather a changeling. Even her husband thinks so. It’s a strong stance when a woman has been burned to death on her own hearth. But when Albie’s own wife shows up and behaves in a completely out-of-character way, he starts to secondguess his doubt in the supernatural, folkloric explanation. (If you are interested in this concept in fiction, you will probably also be interested in the true crime story of Bridget Cleary called The Cooper’s Wife is Missing. It is the account of Bridget Cleary’s murder at the hands of her husband and family… in the name of exorcising a fairy changeling.)
Format
Hardcover
This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around November 1, 2016. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.
It’s Colonial New England in a small, pious village in Connecticut. Abitha is recently widowed, and she’s been outcast from the village all alone. An ancient spirit awakens in the forest. The wildfolk call him father, slayer, and protector. The colonists call him Slewfoot, the devil. The spirit is the only one Abitha can turn to for help. When she starts a battle between pagan and Puritan, among them they will likely destroy the whole village. (Bonus: this book features visual artwork by the artist, too!) If you’re interested in the Colonial folk lore, you might also check out Robert Eggers’ film, The Witch, which is probably the scariest movie I’ve ever seen… and I’ve seen a lot of them.
Format
Hardcover
This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around September 14, 2021. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.
