Dear listeners, are you folk of horror or horrible folk? This is your chance to decide, as we’re proud to present a major weekend feature with Andy Paciorek, artist extraordinaire and founder of the Folk Horror Revival. In Part One, today, we have an introduction to the whole concept, and Andy talks in depth about some of the seminal works and influences which make up this genre. In Part Two, in a couple of days, we dig deep into Andy’s own artistic work, lavishly illustrated by the man himself.

Please turn your paper over and begin…

greydog: Welcome to greydogtales, Andy, and thanks for giving us so much of your time.

We have of course been following the whole Folk Horror Revival with great interest, as it coincides with our own exploration of the weird – and occasionally the Wyrd (of which more later). So we’re going to be extremely unfair to you right from the start. For those who are not that familiar with it, what is folk-horror?

andy: There is no rigid definition of ‘folk horror’ as it is not born from a manifesto with strict guidelines but is a word that has been applied after the creation of its most early examples. Basically it is a form of fantastic fiction that blends aspects of folkloric, witchcraft or pagan elements with a horror narrative. However it is a sinuous beast. There are examples of horror that could be similarly described that are not ‘folk horror’, so aesthetic and ambience play a strong part. It is frequently something that can be felt and recognised through a growing familiarity than adequately described in words. For different people also there may be some discrepancy between what they recognise as being folk horror.

A good place to start is to watch the films that have become the unholy trinity of folk horror – namely Witchfinder General (1968), Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971) and The Wicker Man (1973) and if they take your fancy work outward to less familiar items such as Robin Redbreast, Children of the Stones and The Owl Service for instance. And from there to non-British and non-European examples and also into literature such as Picnic at Hanging Rock, Harvest Home and Kwaidan for example. Then having immersed yourself in more folk horror, you may be able to feel it more and recognise it further, but may not be able to describe it any more adequately. The more you see it in media and books, you will find you hear it in music and start to see it beyond fiction also but in life.

greydog: You are, in effect, the originator of the Folk Horror Revival – maybe you could tell us something about how that happened?

andy: I have a habit, if I look for something and it is not there then I become inclined to create it, and it sometimes becomes the case that I create a monster. I rather like monsters though. Such an instance was that I was personally looking for a folk horror page to follow on facebook. I kept looking over a period of time and there still wasn’t one so I created the Folk Horror page. The change of facebook’s practise in making posts from pages more likely to be seen if paid for was another catalyst as I was not going to pay for something that was non-profit, so as tumbleweed started to roll past the lonely Folk Horror page I looked instead to creating a facebook group.

I was aware that there was a different dynamic to facebook groups with far more member participation and as I was creating new examples of folk horror in my own work, I knew there were other filmmakers, artists, musicians and writers creating their own forms of new folk horror so I decided then that the group would not simply be a ‘remembrance’ forum (though nostalgia and discussion of the classics is still and always will be an integral part of the project) it would be a ‘revival’ – somewhere where people who created work relevant to the group’s stated interests could promote their creations and meet other like-minded souls on which to collaborate in the creation of further work.

As a butterfly that is pinned down and labelled is not as vital as a living butterfly that soars beautifully in the air, so to evolve and continue, folk horror must have the space and inspiration sources to soar. A good example of this in cinema is Ben Wheatley‘s Kill List (2011) which does not only contain elements of traditional folk horror but also adds social realism and crime drama to the mix. So added to the list of group interests were the not unrelated areas of psychogeography, hauntology, folklore, cultural rituals and costume, earth mysteries, archaic history, hauntings. southern gothic, ‘landscapism / visionary naturalism & geography’, backwoods, murder ballads, carnivalia, dark psychedelia, wyrd forteana and some speculative horror where the paths cross.

I also. even at its inception, had the intention that if possible the folk horror revival would roam beyond the boundaries of facebook and the interest shown and the wealth of talent that had found their own way to the group made it apparent that this was possible. So I gathered an excellent team of adminstrators around me, each of whom possess great and different skills and abilities. The FHR team soon became not simply moderators of a facebook group but a think tank for some exciting new ventures.

Through the skills and hard selfless work of the team, the revival has extended into a Good Reads Group, Youtube channel, Spotify playlist, Tumblr and a great new website at folkhorrorrevival.com.

Beyond the internet there has been a great Folk Horror Revival Melmoth music mix that features the sonic talents of many members of the group. We established Wyrd Harvest Press to produce books and have been busy trying to organise live events and academic talks. The first fruits of which will burst from the bud in near future with, touch wood, much more to come. By exploring other avenues it helps make connection with others who are active in or appreciative of folk horror related material.

For all of which credit must go to the cabal of FHR administrators, – Jim Peters, Darren Charles, Dan Hunt, Grey Malkin, Kat Beem, John Pilgrim, Adam Scovell, Stephen Canner, Cobweb Mehers, Rich Blackett, Andrew McGuigan, Simon Magus and Andy Sharp who have contributed to the ongoing project in many ways and have also bore well my occasional outbursts of passion and melancholia. Also the input of the Revivalists – the growing active membership of Folk Horror Revival, has been vital. I don’t mean this interview to sound like an Oscar winner’s speech but I do strongly believe in giving credit where credit is due.

greydog: We’ve featured the first book, Folk Horror Revival: Field Studies, on here before. It’s a fascinating collection of essays and observations, well worth dipping into again and again. We understand that you’re hoping to follow Field Studies with further collections, is that right?

andy: We’ve been very pleased with the reception of Field Studies both for the work itself and as a charity fundraiser for the Wildlife Trusts. There are some fascinating essays in there and interviews with some great talents working in the area, but there is a lot of scope for further investigation, so a second volume of Field Studies is in production, which again promises to be another very interesting tome.

In addition we’ve decided to take the literary side in different yet still related directions, so in 2016 we have plans to release Harvest Hymns – a study of the influence of folk horror themes in different musical works and Corpse Roads– a collection of old and new poetry accompanied by some atmospheric photography. The work already received for these projects again continues to impress.

In 2017 we intend to follow with Ancient Rituals which will be a gathering of old weird and folk horror short fiction and Modern Rites which will be entirely new fiction works in the field. Both Ancient Rituals and Modern Rites will be illustrated with new images by some of the pool of considerable artistic talent within the Folk Horror Revival membership. Ideas for further possible books beyond these continue to bubble within our minds also.

Following the model of the fantastic Cumbrian Cthulhu charity book project, as with Field Studies, all of the Folk Horror Revival / Wyrd Harvest Press books will continue to donate 100% of the profits to the charity.

greydog: We’ll look forward to those. Our own den of thieves here has a fondness for what we might call American folk-horror, dating from early exposure to Manly Wade Wellman, Appalachian folk songs and strange stories from the isolated groups in the hills – we might even add H P Lovecraft‘s inward-looking, inbred communities. Do you see any fundamental differences between the American and European versions?

andy: I personally don’t actually see any fundamental differences in the versions beyond cultural nuances and the nature of the individual landscape and environment. At the core there are still shared elements. These can relate to the themes that Adam Scovell suggests in his essays about a folk horror chain which can be found here – http://celluloidwickerman.com/2014/09/25/the-folk-horror-chain/

I think there are some very intriguing strains of American folk horror. I really like Alan Lomax‘s musical explorations and the Appalachian stuff is very interesting. I love the murder ballad aspect. There are different flavours I think of American folk horror, in addition to those you’ve mentioned I would also suggest the Salem legacy which has resulted in works such as The Crucible and Crowhaven Farm. Thomas Tryon‘s great novels Harvest Home and The Other. Southern Gothic including the film version of Angel Heart. Some American backwoods dramas such as Deliverance and Southern Comfort may not have the folkloric or paganistic aspect, but do otherwise have something of a folk-horror feel. Also there is what I have referred to as Weird Americana in an essay in Field Studies, whereby elements of an American identity form the body of weird tales as delivered by such luminaries as Ray Bradbury, David Lynch with Twin Peaks and Daniel Knauf‘s Carnivàle.

greydog: We loved Carnivàle, and might have mentioned it if you hadn’t! Now, growing up in rural Yorkshire as we did, the landscape was a huge part of that ‘different’ feel, the sense that there was always more past, with its events and myths, beneath the surface. Did you feel this during your own upbringing, or did it come to you later?

andy: I’m from Durham so that is just a spit and a stone throw from Yorkshire and yes, there is something about the landscape. Something in the air, the water. I was amused and intrigued by the fact that in the very early days of Folk Horror Revival so many of the people who found themselves at the group seemed to have come from the north of Britain.

I think that it is something that takes root at an early age. I don’t know whether as many children feel that now, with seemingly more time and attention taken up by technology. But landscape and involvement with it does have a resonance that carries over into both tastes and work. You can feel that in Rob Reiner‘s Stand By Me, the film adaptation of Stephen King‘s story, The Body. This film I feel flows to the brim with childhood nostalgia and of kid’s relationship to the environment. I also had a similar feeling in reading the chapter about dens in Paul Farley‘s book Edgelands. It’s also palpable in books as diverse as J.A. Baker‘s The Peregrine and Alan Garner‘s works.

This quality extends to other areas of Britain such as the Dartmoor of Alan Lee and Brian Froud, the League of Gentlemen‘s Peak District village of Royston Vasey, Richard Littler‘s Scarfolk and Emily Bronte‘s misty moors. In the TV movie, See No Evil about the true life Moors Murders there is a short scene of Saddleworth Moor and that is all it needed for me to install in my head the thought, that not just only in this film but in the actual atrocity the moor was as major a character as Brady and Hindley. This barren place, though not devoid of a raw elemental beauty, casts a dark ominous shadow.

I am currently reading and very much enjoying Andrew Michael Hurley‘s novel, The Loney. The titular Loney is a place on the coast, but Hurley did not need to say it was in Lancashire because in reading his description of the place my mind instantly returned to Morecambe Bay, a place that beguiles me both in its dangerous nature but also by its desolate beauty.

From the highlands of Scotland, down the spine of the Pennines to the Norfolk Broads to Snowdonia and Cornwall, there is a brooding quality to parts of the British landscapes, that suggest secrets hidden but also stories waiting to be shared, waiting for writers and artists to venture into those parts and when they do, they do not entirely create the work themselves but are the conduits for the spirits of these place who wish to tell their tales through them.

greydog: We mentioned the Wyrd (fate) earlier because of our love of old North European stuff (our technical term). As in the poem The Wanderer (9th/10th C). This is probably because the wanderer in Anglo-Saxon is eardstapa, ‘earth-stepper’. It was our first introduction to kennings – where a compound is used, like ‘whale-road’ for sea. In our teens this sounded awesome, like something out of a fantasy novel, and so we followed it up. Are you interested in the myths and beliefs of those cultures?

andy: I do have an interest in the different beliefs of different cultures. It is fascinating stuff. The word ‘Wyrd’ just has an amazing feel to it, it looks so much more enchanting than its ‘weird’ derivative, though I do like that word also and ‘weirdo’. There is a beauty and magic in words, and like places they can be the catalyst to creation. I remember reading a piece by Ray Bradbury on creative writing and he said a method of his would be just to write in a notebook titles that came into his head, ‘The Jar‘, ‘The Skeleton‘ etc and that when the time was right referring to the notebook and seeing these scribbled titles, the stories then would begin to write themselves within his head.

greydog: We do the same thing, but then forget why we wrote the words, which is less productive.  And Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes is another example of a tale (and film) with folk lore elements. Right, we’ll pause there, give you an interrim “Thanks”, and pick up again later in the weekend.

We take a break for a day or so to prepare the second part of our feature, where Andy talks about his artwork, inspirations and techniques.  With lots of illustrations.

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The interview above has raised many examples of works in this area, so do get digging. For a feel of what folk horror might mean to you, greydogtales suggests two films and two books which reflect some of the dread and closed-in community unease we love about the whole scene.

Unapologetic British folk horror film: The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971)

Unsettling US folk horror film: Winter’s Bone (2010)

British classic book: The Owl Service by Alan Garner (1967)

US classic book: John the Balladeer by Manly Wade Wellman (1988 and a bugger to get hold of in the UK)

Next time: Part Two of the Weirdfinder General, and news about the first film book from The Ginger Nuts of Horror.