A new anthology of Folk Horror stories, covering a wide range of mythologies and dark corners from around the world, revealing tales from the shadows of isolation, creepy forests and horrors rising from the land itself. Award-winning anthologists Paul Kane and Marie O’Regan have commissioned and chosen an outstanding selection of stories with contributions from authors including John Connolly, Adam L.G. Nevill, Alison Littlewood and Jen Williams. Five brand new stories have also been selected from open submissions.
The Flame Tree Beyond and Within short story collections bring together tales of myth and imagination by modern and contemporary writers, carefully selected by anthologists, and sometimes featuring short stories from a single author. Overall, the series presents a wide range of diverse and inclusive voices with myth, folkloric-inflected short fiction, and an emphasis on the supernatural, science fiction, the mysterious and the speculative. The books themselves are gorgeous, with foiled covers, printed edges and published only in hardcover editions, offering a lifetime of reading pleasure.
Dark bleatings, my tribe folk! If there are two things I love, they’re folk horror and a good anthology, so I’m happy to be discussing this beautiful book today.
Quick FYI: There’s a story by Neil Gaiman in this book, which I have completely ignored because, for obvious reasons, I’m not talking about his work. It’s worth knowing, for those who feel the same way as I do, that this anthology came out the same year as the allegations were released, which is just unfortunate timing for the press. For those who don’t want to financially contribute to that guy’s work, anthologies tend to work by paying the authors a flat fee upfront, so to my knowledge, he won’t receive royalties if you purchase this.
Let’s dive right on in to the stories!
THE WELL by John Connolly
Some men go to an old site and as the title suggests, they find a well there. We get an odd, unsettling history, plus an apparent murder in the present. Written in the first person, this one is creepy and takes us on a journey.
RABBITHEART by Jen Williams
A story about the cycle of life or, perhaps more specifically, the cycle of sacrifice and a sort of rebirth. Very creepy!
THE ORIGINAL OCCUPANT by Adam L. G. Nevill
This one has a Swedish location and contains details that made me wonder if this is connected to Nevill’s novel, The Ritual. It’s the creepy tale of a man that finds something that doesn’t seem to want to let him go…
A classic Nevill slowburn with great atmosphere that leads to a very frightening finale.
SUMMER BONUS by Lee Murray
I’m obsessed with this story, it’s so good. Two young women get temporary jobs in a remote location, and some of the rules are a bit…let’s say, odd and restrictive. The less said about this one the better because I fear spoiling the excellent conclusion, but it’s as fascinating in lore as it is chilling.
BLESSED MARY by Stephen Volk
We’re treated to a Welsh (and extremely weird and creepy) tradition and legend in this one – the Mari Llwyd. I hardly ever come across stories that use this idea, and this was a good one. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go into the story blind so you can be horrified in surprising ways, and then look it up later!
THE GREAT WHITE by Benjamin Spads
Two old…let’s call them ‘colleagues’ reunite because one of them is sure there’s something monstrous in the woods. The other doesn’t believe that the monstrous thing is real. People have been going missing, which isn’t unusual for people who hike, camp, etc, but there seems to be a pattern to this particular place. Very unsettling.
THE MARSH-WIDOW’S BARGAIN by H.R. Laurence
This story feels magical, not just because it features a male witch but because there are things even more unusual than him afoot. A world full of dark possibility that feels much bigger than this mystical short gives us a view of. I really liked this one.
GOOD BOY by Alison Littlewood
Ooh, a black dog story! A man finds a huge puppy next door after the neighbour runs its mother off, and is compelled to adopt it. His wife is not happy about this decision, and perhaps she has good reason…
Loved it.
THE FINEST CREATION OF AN ARTFUL GOD by B. Zelkovich
This is really witchy and atmospheric. A woman who lives alone by the wood knows there’s someone living out there, but there shouldn’t be, She offers an olive branch and comes to regret it.
THE THIRD CURSE by Helen Grant
A very unusual approach to folk horror because to me, it had a science fiction feel to it (though this is not necessarily sci-fi!). A man is thrust through time because of reasons I can’t tell you, and this brings with it a hideous problem.
THE LIGHTS UNDER RACHEL by Kathryn Healy
A woman visits her foster sister on a private island but there’s something…er…not right about the place and the people living there. It should be a happy occassion because she’s visiting for a wedding, but…
Loved this one too!
PILGRIMAGE OF THE HUMMING BIRD by V. Castro
This is a story of people, a very real god, and preservation. I really enjoyed this one because the world felt weirdly familiar but also unique at the same time, and it was quite different to everything else in the book (all the stories are very unique from each other, but somehow this one had a little extra something to it that made it stand out to me).
THE GRIM by Cavan Scott
A divorced dad, at the suggestion of his sister, tries to reconnect with his kids by taking them camping, but there’s something very bad in the woods. Great, scary atmosphere and very tense, especially when they comes across what seems to be an abandoned church…you know…just casually out in the middle of nowhere.
PONTIANAK: AN ORIGIN STORY by Christina Sng
A young woman/girl is sold to a horrible man who wants her to bear him a son. This is an excellent but very difficult read about womanhood, a sort of sisterhood, and justice. Very dark though, be warned!
GHOST LAND OF GIANTS by Linda D. Addison
The anthology rounds off with a great poem here that closes the book with a delicious threat to humanity. Mwahahah!
Overall, though I loved some stories more than others, I rated this 5/5 because there’s so much variety in the theme the authors used. Cults, urban legends, local folklore, rumours, land, sea, under the earth – there are so many little specific corners covered, more than I realised could exist in folk horror.
If you’d like to check out the book or the press, I’ve popped some links below for you:
BEYOND AND WITHIN: FOLK HORROR
Bleeeeeat!
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