276°
Posted 20 hours ago

Damnable Tales: A Folk Horror Anthology

£6.495£12.99Clearance
ZTS2023's avatar
Shared by
ZTS2023
Joined in 2023
82
63

About this deal

Wonderful read for horror enthusiasts who enjoy reading tales from the beginning of the genre, and like old English. If we accept that it often means isolated, often rural communities with their own rites, rituals and folklore, and often a malign relationship with nature, then that gives you some idea of the kinds of stories collected here. I also enjoyed ‘Pallinghurst Barrow’, just because of its bizarre encounter in the tomb, and because the author had thought to provide us with a more mundane explanation for the events. These twenty-two stories take the reader beyond the safety and familiarity of the town into the isolated and untamed wilderness. This may not be too unexpected; folk horror is a prevalent feature within British and Irish weird fiction as it fits so well with the landscape, lore, and history of these isles.

R. James, Shirley Jackson and Algernon Blackwood, alongside eerie tales by those less associated with the horror genre, like John Buchan, E. I loved how set in the natural world and British countryside these were; this feels like genuine British folklore and storytelling culture which reminds me of discourse of how this has been lost over the years where a simply 'dominant' (i. This is a book that demands to be read aloud--perhaps on a darkening winter evening before a roaring fire.A newlywed wandering around her in-laws' strange village trespasses and meets some mysterious children.

For example the idea that someone who is unbaptised is in danger from supernatural forces, the fear of the ancient inhabitants of Britain.However, I particularly enjoyed ‘Man-size in Marble’ and ‘The Lady On the Grey’, while Thomas Hardy’s ‘The Withered Arm’ is a well constructed piece of writing. One star off for the misleading title, and for the structure of the book: very thick and square, making it difficult to open wide enough to read the stories without breaking the binding. I had never seen a Folk Horror anthology before, and especially one that was so beautifully illustrated.

Van az a pár ezer éves gondolat, hogy az ember annál boldogabb életet él, minél közelebb élhet a természethez. R. James, Sheridan Le Fanu and Arthur Machen; lesser-known voices including Eleanor Scott and Margery Lawrence; and mainstream authors such as Thomas Hardy and E. A lot of the stories picked up the theme of Christianity coming into conflict with the pagan gods, and I enjoyed how sometimes they came to an easy truce. Overall a disappointing collection, just because something is set in the wilderness and maybe has a wee bit of devil worship (hail Satan) does not make it Folk Horror. There is a quirkiness and humour to some which suits folk horror tales really well, yet – even so – the image for Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Thrawn Janet’ is rather disturbing (and also my favourite illustration in the book).Most are very English in style and setting (and for this reason, the very American Jackson feels a bit of an outlier, though her inclusion is an obvious ‘big name’ draw). The subtitle says ‘A Folk Horror Analogy’, and that description is kind of loose, since some of the tales are more folky than others, and a few are dubiously horrific at all. Also, Walter de la Mare’s ‘All Hallows’ had a good, eerie feel, but felt like the first chapter of a novel, so it never went anywhere. There's a bit of everything in here from great demonic figures, to ominous brooding buildings, to strange and twisted village rituals.

A couple were written in such thick dialect they were difficult to read and a couple just seemed to meander off and not go anywhere. Others seemed to recognise the inherent uneasyness of some landscapes and that feeling, creeping up on you through the autumn mist, and that's what I'm really chasing when I turn to folk horror. The fear of the land that rises up around us once the sun has set and the orchestra of night plays its dreary lament.

Folk horror' has become a very popular term in recent years particularly, with a lot written about the term.

Asda Great Deal

Free UK shipping. 15 day free returns.
Community Updates
*So you can easily identify outgoing links on our site, we've marked them with an "*" symbol. Links on our site are monetised, but this never affects which deals get posted. Find more info in our FAQs and About Us page.
New Comment