TITLE: Beyond & Within: Folk Horror
AUTHOR: Various
PUBLISHER: Flame Tree
ISBN: 978-1804177327
PODCAST EPISODE: None
REVIEWER: Mark Norman
Folk Horror continues to be hugely popular. To some, it is a genre. To others, it is an aesthetic. To a few, perhaps, it is a way of life. This is all a bit like folklore itself. After all, the two are intrinsically linked and there are some powerful folkloric subjects and themes to be found in Beyond and Within: Folk Horror.
A new collection of short stories in this field is always going to be welcomed, and you could not wish for a better coming together of writers to provide an anthology than in this book, published by Flame Tree and edited by the safe hands of Paul Kane and Marie O’Regan who provide a useful introduction to the material before it moves into the first story – a prose poem by Neil Gaiman called ‘The White Road’.
Gaiman is joined by other popular and skilled practitioners of the genre, including Adam L.G. Nevill, Stephen Volk and Alison Littlewood amongst many more. Writers at the earlier stages of their careers sit alongside, with works equally as strong.
I, of course, was delighted to find two … count, them – two … stories with Black Dogs sitting at their heart, but with very different treatments. Alison Littlewood’s ‘Good Boy’ uses a traditional treatment of the Shuck, whilst noting why you don’t tend to find them in rehoming centres for adoption, whereas Cavan Scott’s ‘The Grim’ gives something of an Old Gods veneer to the motif of the protector of churches and churchyards.
Stephen Volk has been worrying people’s sleep patterns for a good few years now, and he doesn’t disappoint with his treatment of the Mari Lwyd in his story ‘Blessed Mary’. When revellers visit your local or house this year, you might want consider the back door as a good option.
There genuinely is not a weak story in this anthology. Some I ploughed through rapidly, desperate to find out how they were going to end. Others needed a pause for reflection part way through. But none disappointed. Whether you crave adventure, horror, psychological worriment or just a good old sacrifice, you can’t go wrong with a copy of this volume.
AUTHOR: Various
PUBLISHER: Flame Tree
ISBN: 978-1804177327
PODCAST EPISODE: None
REVIEWER: Mark Norman
Folk Horror continues to be hugely popular. To some, it is a genre. To others, it is an aesthetic. To a few, perhaps, it is a way of life. This is all a bit like folklore itself. After all, the two are intrinsically linked and there are some powerful folkloric subjects and themes to be found in Beyond and Within: Folk Horror.
A new collection of short stories in this field is always going to be welcomed, and you could not wish for a better coming together of writers to provide an anthology than in this book, published by Flame Tree and edited by the safe hands of Paul Kane and Marie O’Regan who provide a useful introduction to the material before it moves into the first story – a prose poem by Neil Gaiman called ‘The White Road’.
Gaiman is joined by other popular and skilled practitioners of the genre, including Adam L.G. Nevill, Stephen Volk and Alison Littlewood amongst many more. Writers at the earlier stages of their careers sit alongside, with works equally as strong.
I, of course, was delighted to find two … count, them – two … stories with Black Dogs sitting at their heart, but with very different treatments. Alison Littlewood’s ‘Good Boy’ uses a traditional treatment of the Shuck, whilst noting why you don’t tend to find them in rehoming centres for adoption, whereas Cavan Scott’s ‘The Grim’ gives something of an Old Gods veneer to the motif of the protector of churches and churchyards.
Stephen Volk has been worrying people’s sleep patterns for a good few years now, and he doesn’t disappoint with his treatment of the Mari Lwyd in his story ‘Blessed Mary’. When revellers visit your local or house this year, you might want consider the back door as a good option.
There genuinely is not a weak story in this anthology. Some I ploughed through rapidly, desperate to find out how they were going to end. Others needed a pause for reflection part way through. But none disappointed. Whether you crave adventure, horror, psychological worriment or just a good old sacrifice, you can’t go wrong with a copy of this volume.