There are 23 short stories in this volume, and each is accompanied by its own newly commissioned woodcut style lino print at the beginning of each tale. R James (‘ The Ash Tree’), Saki (‘The Music on the Hill’), Walter de la Mare (‘All Hallows’), and Thomas Hardy (whose ‘The Withered Arm’ is possibly a contender for my favourite story in the book) – tales previously unfamiliar to me, such as ‘The Sin-Eater’ by Fiona Macleod and ‘Cwm Garon’ by L. Sometimes (more often in the older stories) these lead to a denouement in which the protagonist either witnesses or is drawn into a specific bizarre happening, but in others the point seems to be more to leave the reader with a general sense of foreboding or unease without any specific event at the conclusion.

Unholy rites, witches’ curses, sinister village traditions and ancient horrors that lurk within the landscape all combine to remind us that the shiny modern, urban world might not have all the answers… Wicked witches, bad fairies, and the restless dead be damned, for those who are looking to fill up their folk horror fiction shelves, Damnable Tales is a must-have. Saki, Walter de la Mare) through the obligatory for this subject matter (MR James, Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, Shirley Jackson) to names unfamiliar (at least, to me). Ez azonban nem változtat azon, hogy a legtöbben annyit fognak fel ebből a gondolatmenetből, hogy vidéken tisztább, szebb és derűsebb az élet, az emberek mind szeretik egymást, a családtagok összetartanak, a halált és a születést egy körforgás részeként, harmóniában élik meg, az egyénieskedő elhajlásokat jótékonyan megfékezi a hagyományokon őrködő közösség, az agressziót pedig kiélik kapálás közben.Sőt, még érvényes, jól működő filozófiákat is építhetnek erre a gondolatmenetre, ezt tették a romantikusok is, Atlanti-óceánon innen és túl. Primarily working in the television industry, he has provided graphic props for the likes of Poldark, Sherlock, Doctor Who, and the BBC adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Others seemed to recognise the inherent uneasyness of some landscapes and that feeling, creeping up on you through the autumn mist, and that's what I'm really chasing when I turn to folk horror. This shows how the sub-genre or mode of folk horror developed over nearly a century: a development that is more stylistic than subject-wise, for the most part.

This is a cracking selection of folk horror tales which blends the familiar (and witches' familiars) with hidden gems. A couple were written in such thick dialect they were difficult to read and a couple just seemed to meander off and not go anywhere.Richard’s previous anthology, Damnable Tales, has been acknowledged as a classic both in the UK and the US. She looked on the country as something excellent and wholesome in its way, which was apt to become troublesome if you encouraged it overmuch.

Folk horror' has become a very popular term in recent years particularly, with a lot written about the term. I went in with such high expectations; I saw it on the shelf in Waterstones (yes brought new which makes it even more disappointing) and did a wee happy jiggy dance.R. Wakefield, and Shirley Jackson ("The Summer People," which I had somehow never managed to read before); classic authors like Thomas Hardy ("The Withered Arm," good enough to make me want to read more Hardy); and obscurities ("A Witch-Burning," by Mrs. R. James, Sheridan Le Fanu, Arthur Machen, Edith Nesbit, Shirley Jackson, Robert Louis Stevenson y Robert Aickman. It is little wonder then that so many of us retreat into those fears we at least partially recognise, and willingly submit to.