Folk Horror Book Recommendations part 2. Yes, I am back with more recommendations of great folk horror reads that you can enjoy in the spring, but also take you through to the summer just to ensure you won’t sleep ever again at any time.
This time round, my recommendations are based on a few more books that I have read, but also the most popular comments that I received on the first video. This time we have a lot of female authors and there’s a lot. So I will be as quick as I can. Double speed is up here.
Captions, you know the drill. If you need a recap, folk horror deals with very natural rule, rural settings and also an adherence to the old ways, you’ll find a lot of paganism, a lot of ritual, maybe a bit of sacrifice in there. And there are often supernatural elements. We’re looking much more primal and nature base rather than anything cosmic and overly slashery gory.
Though it does get pretty, starting off strong with a book that was repeatedly recommended to me. I went out, bought it, read it, loved it. It was by Sarah Moss.
This is a very short book. It’s a scanned 150 pages set in 1970s, tells a story of a young girl, Sylvie. Her family have joined a group of archaeology students who are living in a reenactment of Iron Age times. Sylvie’s family, her father is an expert on Iron Age times, and he is not a nice man. You have this wonderful juxtaposition of the carefree liberation of the students and the father and the family situation, which is not pleasant and is really stark and a sort of creeping dread of the old ways and rituals that used to be followed in the Iron Age. That’s all I’m gonna say on it. It is a disturbing book in many ways, but it’s also beautifully written. I really felt the story was excellently done. This is less supernatural but more horrors of man, horrors of the land.
Highly recommend one book. Only a few people have recommended, but I wish more people would talk about it. Folk by Zoe Gilbert, just look at the cover. You know what you’re in for. This is more of an anthology of stories, even though this is a novel and they all tie together. It concerns this island called Neverness. All the people on it adhere to, they’re sort of set in the past. You never know what era is setting, but this is all about fairy tales and folklore and there is darkness in there and there is strange goings on. All the stories are sort of linked together. So it’s a cross between a short story collection and a novel. Disturbing and creepy and beautiful in equal measure. Please check out folk. It is a great example. And also many people mention and an author I really love, Tea Kingfisher.
Now I have read Tea Kingfishers, what moves the dead and what feasts at night. What moves the dead was based on Edgar Allan pose, the full of the house of Usha. But many people mentioned the twisted ones, which I have not yet. Red T. Kingfisher is a great author. And yes, there are a lot of folk horror elements in their books. When you want to check out those who follow me for a while know that I adore the watches by am shine, but their follow up book, The Creeper, is much more in the folk horror genre about some students who are tasked to go and find this hidden village, these group of people who have been hidden away from society. And do they really exist? But they are stalked by a curse many people mentioned it and enjoyed it. It is creepy, as the name would suggest. Another one a few people mention and I think is a really good introduction and a slight step into folk horror, it house of hollow.
Now, this is a book, as I understand it, I read it last year and I really enjoyed it. And it does have really nice folklore elements to it. It’s sort of like a twisted modern fairy tale, but it concerns the disappearance of a bunch of sisters when they were younger. They come back. No one really knows what happened to it. Are we dealing with the supernatural? Are we dealing with changing? Are we dealing with that sort of fairy law? It’s a really enjoyable book. And if you want something that’s not too frightening and just to get into the genre, I’d recommend this one. A couple of people mention this one and I am so glad because now I get to include it.
Welding hole by Elizabeth. This is Daisy Jones and the six with ghosts. That’s all you need to do. Daisy Jones and the six with ghost. This is a 1970s folk rock band who go and write their new album in a big old creepy mansion. And there are ghosts there and there is creepiness, but it’s all summary and it’s all, everyone is dancing through the kind of the countryside. It is such a good book and it is written in the same style of kind of interviews with people. I love Wilding Hall so much. And yeah, I’m sticking it in with folk horror because there’s folk rock in there. And just listen, read it. It’s on my shelf. Slew fit by Brom. So many people recommend this book highly if you were looking for something witchy. I’m not sure why I’m putting off reading it because I know I’ll enjoy it, but it’s it will be red soon. It will be consumed soon.
There was a lot of love for the 1970s book The Harvest Home, not Reddit. I haven’t seen the mini series that I believe was based on it with Betty Davis in it. That’s in credible. But Harvest Time, lots of love in there, and people feel that is really an archetypal folk horror book.
Another strong recommendation was The Only Good Indians by the wonderful Steven Graham Jones. I haven’t read this book yet. It comes highly recommended as Native American folklore. I’ve also just started reading loot by Jennifer Thorne, which is described as Midsummer meets final destination. This is more of a folk thriller, I believe. But Jennifer Thorns follow up books, one of her subsequent books, Diablo, I loved it was absolute 5 star for me. So I’m interested to get into loot. Okay, everyone mentions this book and I am not gonna be able to say its title, even though it seems very simple, lavender. I have a really weird stutter. I have a weird stutter that I cannot explain and a slight dyslexia where I just can’t understand why there’s not a vowel between the P and the v. My breath. There’s no reason for it. There’s no reason that there should be one anyway. Never mind about my various problems.
Medieval foky horror. Is there supernatural in this? I don’t know, but this was highly recommended many times. It’s not a pleasant read, as far as I understand it. Oh, that was a journey book. Horror is definitely the vibe we are going for this spring. So get on it. Enjoy those books. If you have more recommendations, keep me informed and let me know if any of the ones I’ve recommended have tickled your tree. Picture plums, pulled on your maple, what? Okay, these puns could go on for a while. Just enjoy the reading.