Ghoul’s News World Horror: A look into U.K. Folk horror.

A Quick Look Into Folk Horror.

How have folk tales survived?

“Let us admit that we are living in a time of barbarism between two periods of civilization, the order of the past and the order of the future” – William Morris

Folk horror, as the name suggests, is a sub-genre of horror. This subgenre combines classic horror themes with folklore to create a unique experience. What sets this genre apart is that it works with traditional beliefs, customs and stories from communities that have been passed down through generations via word of mouth. This presents an opportunity to tap into historically ingrained fears that have been carried on into modern day.

Storytelling has been a fundamental tool to preserve culture across the world; tales of death and torment or spiritual spectres have infiltrated the shores of the United Kingdom at every turn in our history. With each drastic change to society, a folktale was concocted to highlight the discomfort we feel about change, whether it be the industrial revolution or the dilution of faith within the United Kingdom overtime (I say this whilst also being an atheist, so I guess the dilution was successful). Folktales are used as a warning to us, that if we stray too far from nature and divine powers that we will be corrupted and tormented by unknown evil, masquerading as a new technological advance.

The industrial revolution signalled the end of the ‘English Romantic’ movement in literature, threatening the “golden age” of rural communities to end abruptly. It is not surprising that people within these rural communities equated the modernization of the United Kingdom with the corruption of morality, hell bent on diluting our human experience.

To push back against the scary boogeyman that is technology, medievalists revived religious beliefs that traced back centuries to work with nature to fight against, what they thought to be, the common enemy. However, from this we have gained many stories that allow us to investigate the sense of dread and terror these communities faced, with their way of life being threatened. I feel as though we can all relate to this on a basic level, technology continues to advance and there is a fear that we have become less connected on a human level.

And… Yes, this blog is completely hypocritical to everything I have just said, but I do enjoy a good folktale.

Folktales are more than stories to tell our children to keep them within arm’s reach. For many people they represent an idealistic way of life that has been tainted. The very act of keeping these folktales alive by rural communities can be viewed as an early form of social activism. With the world being in a constant state of burning shit, it is nice to imagine a time when nature was the only law maker.

All that being said, I'm going to examine and share my opinions on two folk horror tales. These are just my opinions and I welcome you to disagree, but regardless I hope you enjoy this dive into one of my favourite subgenres.

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It’s Getting Personal…

Growing up with both of my parents doing shift work, I spent the majority of my time with my Nan and Grandad. Conveniently they lived a few houses down the road, so after school I spent my time playing in their garden and messing up their living room.

Just before bed I would be summoned to the couch and placed on my Grandad’s lap, the room would be in darkness except from a single wall-lamp illuminating one corner of the room. Barely enough light to navigate around efficiently. The familiar feeling of pent-up excitement turned to nervousness as he would relay to me a story he had been told in his past. He had his favourites, with classics such as ‘The Woman in White’ and the most terrifying of all ‘Spring Heeled Jack’ that he would treat me to when the mood was right. Above anything else he was an amazing storyteller who ignited my passion for horror, and for that I will always be grateful.

Unfortunately, he is suffering a battle with dementia and his storytelling days became few and far between, now mostly over. This blog is a tribute to the man who inspired me to seek out stories that deal with our most internal fears, but who taught me to face them with unwavering confidence and to recognise the beauty in every story.

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The Monkey’s Paw...

Published in September of 1902, W.W.Jacobs 'The Monkey's Paw' was included in a collection of works titled 'The Lady of the Barge'. The story follows the White family as they are plagued by misfortune after Mr. White is presented with a mummified monkey's paw by the Sergeant-Major Morris. The paw was acquired by him on his tour of India with the army and was blessed by a Fakir (also known as a miracle worker). To be completely transparent, we don't know much about Sergeant-Major Morris other than he is shady as shit. This mystical paw is thought to grant wishes to whomever owns it. But as we will come to learn, this is a twisted lesson about the meddling with fate itself.

Throwing all his common sense out of the window, Mr. White makes his first wish ....

Wish 1: £200 is to be awarded to the family so that their mortgage payments will be fulfilled

Consequences: This money is provided to them due to their son being in a fatal accident.

As mentioned previously Mr. White had already expelled his common sense out of the window to the other end of the earth so it is only natural that he would make a second wish...

Wish 2: To bring his son back from the dead

Consequences: A knock comes from the front door; his son has reluctantly been summoned from his grave to now live as a corpse amongst his family. Not so great.

Thankfully, Mr. White is overcome with fear and decides to leave his ghoulish zombie son outside. Leading to his final wish...

Wish 3: Send his son back to his final resting place once again.

Consequences: Personally, I think his son would be rightfully pissed on that walk back to the grave and I hope he scared a few kids on the way as to not have a completely wasted journey.

Although this tale is very simple in its structure, it was written at a time of immense change in England which can be seen throughout. During the late 1800's to the early 1900's Britain was still in a state of disbelief at the fact India and South Asia even thought to rebel against the British Empire... Not to mention that they were successful in 1857. My eyes are all the way rolled back in my head if this wasn't already evident. Racist attitudes towards the South Asian and Indian communities became heightened (I know hard to imagine), and the idea that British Imperialism was the moral high ground spread like wild fire.

What does all this have to do with 'The Monkey's Paw'? Well... This tale is a perfect example of othering nature so prevalent at the time. Devastation plagues the family when this paw is used, echoing the view that any culture we don't understand is inherently demonic in nature.

This folktale is meant to contain a warning about manipulating your own fate, but I think W.W.Jacobs is telling on himself.

This isn't to say that 'The Monkey's Paw' is a terrible read, it's actually an interesting short story and is well written. The atmosphere of dread is impeccable and the characters throughout fit into their role just right. This was one of my Grandad's favourites to tell, with his own little spin on it of course. Mainly leaving out the blatant racism. I remember being terrified at the image of a corpse knocking at the door and screaming with fear when my Grandad would gently knock on my bedroom door just before I fell asleep. I have many fond memories attached to this story and although W.W.Jacobs intentions were highly questionable, this story is a reflection of the attitudes shared at the time. So if nothing else, give it a read and form your own opinion on what Jacob's was trying to convey.

I believe that ironically Jacobs missed the point of his own creation, that actions fuelled by greed will not be rewarded kindly and will result in horrid consequences. If only he took a look at the condition of Britain and viewed colonisation as an act of greed instead of alienating the victims of this horrific act.

Moral of the story: Keep your paws to yourself... And if you don't, your dead son might stink up your porch.

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The Sin-Eater

'The Sin-Eater, and Other Tales' by Fiona Macleod from 1895 has made a resurgence within 'Damnable Tales, A Folk Horror Anthology' curated and illustrated by Richard Wells. This story sucked me in as soon as I began, and I couldn't put it down. The tone is that of classic folk horror and I couldn't be more excited to share my analysis and opinions with you.

First things first, what on earth is sin-eating?

It can be defined as a stranger who is employed to 'consume' the sins of a recently deceased individual. This is done to allow the deceased to ascend to Heaven due to their sins being exchanged to the sin-eater. After the sin-eater is paid they can be rest assured that by God's grace the deceased persons' sins will be washed away from them. But like most things, there is a catch. If the sin-eater is not in fact a stranger to the deceased, then the sin-eater will retain these sins and suffer greatly for it. This was practiced mainly in Wales and cities that bordered Wales during the 17th century.

Neil Ross is trekking back to his hometown in Contullich from Iona when he runs into Sheen Macarthur who instantly recognises him. He however, does not recognise her but entertains the conversation. They do have common ground... Both of their families are dead (now known as trauma bonding), so they can at least have a chin wag about this. We learn that Ross is a bastard (as in the fatherless kind) and he has some unresolved negative emotions surrounding this fact. His father, Murtagh Ross, decided not to marry Niels's mother but began a relationship with another woman instead; after already learning that she was pregnant(bit of a dick move). But the gossip doesn't end there, with the common theme of men not taking responsibility for their actions since the dawn of time, it was Murtagh’s brother who got the blame for leading his brother astray. Classic if he put his hand in a fire would you do the same.

But Neil was in luck...

It had come to his attention that Murtagh's brother had a grandson who had recently died and the family of the deceased were in desperate need of a sin-eater. Apparently, this family were just on another realm of fuckery and this grandson had earned himself a lengthy rap sheet of sins. Sheen suggested that Neil should take up the job to earn some money on his travels and seeing the opportunity for revenge, did not want to pass up the occasion.

The ceremony goes as planned with bread being placed on top of the deceased and consumed by Neil. But the plot thickens as Neil pulls an uno reverse and curses the whole family, bit dramatic for my taste but each to their own. The only problem is now Neil is truly a silly bastard because he has cursed himself. A series of unfortunate events happen to Neil after this, but that is for you to uncover on your own. I'm trying to keep the details to a minimum because I highly suggest giving this story a read.

But I can let you in on a fun secret about the author of this tale...

Fiona was actually a pseudonym used by William Sharp after they were thought to engage in an asexual romance. Sharp believed that a neo-paganism society that abolished gender inequality would heal a lot of societies misfortunes. Their sexuality was called into question as well as their own gender identity; but despite all this speculation one thing is for certain, their storytelling ability was an absolute dream.

There are many layers to this tale to unpack so here is my opinion. Similarly, to 'The Monkey's Paw', this story is also a tale of caution, that places emphasis on not altering the balance of things. Moreover, I believe the tale sheds some light on the mistreatment of the poor by the wealthy as we learn that sin-eaters were usually vagrants travelling from town to town. If you were known to be a sin-eater you would also be shunned by a community if you decided to settle there, even though you probably did their dead family member a solid by enabling them entrance to Heaven. The wealthy were the main users of sin-eaters due to them having the money to pay one, whilst also due to their family members being a piece of shit. Old money is blood money after all.

However, even if you are an old money sympathizer (gross...), the act of sin-eating is such a fun topic to research by itself! It's an extra bonus that such a well written story was inspired by it.

Although the role of sin-eaters has been abolished, with the current cost-of-living crisis I wouldn't be surprised if an ad popped up advertising their services.

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Final Thoughts

This subgenre of horror creates such a unique atmosphere by using folklore to instil fear in its audience. Common themes within folk horror are almost too relatable such as isolation, religious crisis, and the human relationship with nature. Therefore, I believe it has been preserved for so long because we may not be able to relate to the fear of the British Empire taking a big L, but we can relate to the fear of the unknown.

We as humans are always having to become accustomed to change, and maybe by telling these stories it’s a way to self-soothe. After all I would much rather deal with the fear of moving to a new place or my social anxiety compared to having a literal corpse at my door or being cursed forever.

These tales have inspired amazing cinema such as 'The Wicker Man', ' The Witchfinder General' and 'Blood on Satan’s Claw', so sometimes it's nice to trace back what inspired these modern works.

I believe we will see a surge in folk horror in these uncertain times and to be honest I'm not mad about it.

For many horror fans there is a sense of comfort that comes along with this subgenre, and I for one think we all need a little bit of comfort right now.

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Useful Links:

Damnable Tales, A Folk Horror Anthology-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Damnable-Tales-Folk-Horror-Anthology/dp/1800181825/ref=asc_df_1800181825/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=570317844403&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6333781304039453918&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046550&hvtargid=pla-1636102862398&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

The Monkey's Paw-

Spring Heeled Jack

The Woman in White

Sin-Eating

Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A Topographical Guide to Folk Horror