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I think Coastaljames is right in that there are maybe a few duds in Aickman's output
Few duds for me- but that's fine, just a matter of personal taste.
Aye, fair enough. It was very early when I wrote that and since then I have thought of one or two that maybe don't quite do it for me.
There is a bog-standard vampire story which won him awards and recognition but I don't like that one, or the one with the monstrous twin brothers.
He sometimes reminds me of certain Walter de la Mare stories, the odd ones set in the countryside. The ones that you can't decide whether they are supposed to be ghost stories or not.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. :) Somehow I forgot about Arthur Machen. I recall enjoying his story The White People
years ago, although he does that wordy Victorian thing where the narrators have to go on and on about morals before they will tell you the exciting unchristian thing that happened. :p

Also had forgotten about Robert Aickman, even though I have a copy of Cold Hand In Mine. Jeez, my memory must be going!

I've seen the TV movie made of Amis' Green Man, can't recall if I'd read the book. It's been a long time ago, at any rate.

Puffball by Fay Weldon may also fit in here, too.
 
Folk horror novels haven't really been mentioned in this thread (and admittedly I can only think of a few) but there is a Ruth Rendell novella I think may count, albeit in an uncharacteristic way. Depends on exactly what constitutes folk horror as a genre.

The story High Mysterious Union is about a rustic English village full of exceedingly attractive people, told from the point of view of two outsiders. The secret of the townsfolk is simply that they
are polyamorous
and will ostracize and chase away anyone who doesn't fit, in myriad creepy ways.

On the face of it, there seems to be nothing supernatural about the plot, and Ruth Rendell (I don't think ) ever wrote about the supernatural anyway. However, the story does have this deeply eerie sense about it, and it seems as if a supernatural element might be implied.
The behavior of the townsfolk and their effect on people suggests the townsfolk aren't ordinary humans, IMO

Despite the lack of any obvious supernatural or religious themes, while re-reading it today, I kept thinking it fit quite snugly into the genre as I understand it.

The only other folk horror novels I know are Harvest Home and a few gothic romances. Does anyone here know of any others that would be worth a read?
I still feel a pang at the loss of Ruth Rendell and sadness that we'll have no moer of her books.
 
I still feel a pang at the loss of Ruth Rendell and sadness that we'll have no moer of her books.

Me, too. Between Rendell and her alter-ego Barbara Vine were spent many thrilling hours. Fortunately for us, she wrote loads of books while she was on the planet. They'll last for generations.
 
Never, ever forget about Arthur Machen ;)

For the most transcendent British pastoral mystic horror- there simply is none finer :)

The Novel of the White Powder is good as is it'as sister book The Novel of The Black Seal. If people like Machen then they should give Algernon Blackwood a go.
 
Really odd to separate them.

Those two novellas are often extracted from that very strange portmanteau volume. It is the framing-story - a tale of magical war across London and unspeakable goings-on in the wilderness of its suburban villas - which contains the nastiest shocks.

I was fortunate enough to find a First Edition of this some years ago. Its true that the design for the Keynotes Series was one of Beardsley's more subdued projects but there is always something special about reading books in their original formats! :)
 
Blackwood's short story 'The Willows' is another good one.

Incredibly good. And deeply weird and mystical.

I love Blackwood and "The Willows" is his very best. I have a soft spot for "The Man Whom the Trees Loved" by him. And also "A Touch of Pan". And the harder to find and very short "The Transfer".
 
Really odd to separate them.

It's actually makes a lot of sense. Great cover art t0o, I'm very proud of them.

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Scarred For Life
MAY 11, 2017 / FERTILITYCULT

Stephen Brotherstone and Dave Lawrence’s Scarred For Life is not simply a book, it is a profound experience for members of Britain’s Generation X. It is a Ghost Train ride down memory lane (children – please do not play on the tracks). It is a bible for those late night drinking nostalgia sessions between siblings and old schoolfriends … “Why was Top Trump’s Godzilla wearing a velvet jacket and dicky bow tie?” … “Who else was in Tucker’s class in Grange Hill?”.

https://folkhorrorrevival.com/2017/05/11/scarred-for-life/

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Purchase Link - Vol. 1
https://www.lulu.com/shop/stephen-b...rback/product-23116461.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Purchase Link - Vol. 2
https://www.lulu.com/shop/dave-lawr...perback/product-gz5kgg.html?page=1&pageSize=4
 
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“Why was Top Trump’s Godzilla wearing a velvet jacket and dicky bow tie?”

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:



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Oh yeah, Top Trumps Horror were a Daily Mail nightmare waiting to happen, hideously gory, I absolutely loved them.
 
The Levelling review – fear stalks the fields in a dark tale of country folk
Peter Bradshaw
Thursday 11 May 2017 15.30 BST

Hope Dickson Leach’s excellent debut feature The Levelling is a superbly shot and piercingly acted realist tragedy, like a really disturbing folk horror movie with the horror amputated, so that only the folk remains. Or maybe the horror is, in fact, left in place, the real horror that was there all along, more disturbing than exotic fantasies about Wicker Men, the day-to-day reality about where food comes from and in what circumstances, in an industry that has until now been widely supported by EU subsidy, in a countryside whose beauty is not charming or picturesque, but menacing, uncompromising, unforgiving.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/20...-ellie-kendrick?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Facebook
 
New Spanish movie Errementari coming to Cannes...
Fantasy horror feature marks Paul Urkijo Alijo's debut

Based on a Basque folk tale, ”Patxi herrementaria,” collected by priest, archaeologist and anthropologist José Migel de Barandiarán in 1903, the story is set in the Basque region in 1845, in a universe inhabited by mythological diabolic creatures, battling to capture the souls of the unwitting.

“It’s a Gothic horror demonic tale, with adventure and black humor. I intend to plunge the spectator into Basque folk fantastic imagery that I love so much.” Urkijo told Variety.

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http://variety.com/2017/film/festiv...17-filmax-paul-urkijo-errementari-1202428488/
 
...Based on a Basque folk tale, ”Patxi herrementaria,” collected by priest, archaeologist and anthropologist José Migel de Barandiarán in 1903, the story is set in the Basque region in 1845, in a universe inhabited by mythological diabolic creatures, battling to capture the souls of the unwitting....

I was in the Basque Country a couple of weeks ago for a few days - travelling around from Bilbao and Vitoria-Gasteiz. It struck me that the Euskadi has a more Northern European feel to it than the other parts of Spain that I’m familiar with - even in the way people behave and dress (more padded jackets and outdoor gear, because of the chill of the mountains - and Bilbao was as wet as Manchester...but prettier).

Vitoria even has a bar called Rivendell - I might be totally off the mark, but for some reason I just don't associate such overt Lord of the Rings references with Spain; but somehow the craggy mist-cowled mountains and unbelievably thick forests of the Basque region make such a connection seem appropriate. Even the bar culture itself felt somehow more 'northern'.

Anyway, I wondered whether the folklore might be different in this area of the country. Spain doesn't seem to do ghosts in the same way the Brits do - but something about this area made me wonder if it was different here. It'll be interesting to see how the film relates to northern barbarian ghost lovers.
 
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