Damnable Tales: A Folk Horror Anthology

by Richard Wells (Editor/Illustrator), Benjamin Myers (Foreword), Shirley Jackson

This richly illustrated anthology gathers together classic short stories from masters of supernatural fiction including M.R. James, Sheridan Le Fanu and Arthur Machen, alongside lesser-known voices in the field including Eleanor Scott and Margery Lawrence, and popular writers less bound to the horror genre, such as Thomas Hardy and E.F. Benson.

These are damnable tales, selected and beautifully illustrated by Richard Wells. They stalk the moors at night, the deep forests, cornered fields and dusky churchyards, the narrow lanes and old ways of these ancient places, drawing upon the haunted landscapes of folk-horror—a now widely used term first applied to a series of British films from the late 1960s and 1970s: Witchfinder General (1968), Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971), and The Wicker Man (1973).

But as this collection shows, writers of uncanny fiction were dabbling in the dark side of folklore long before. These twenty-two stories take the reader beyond the safety and familiarity of the town into the isolated and untamed wilderness. 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

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Folklore, Fantasy, Classics

479 pages, Hardcover

First published September 2, 2021

Reviews

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was half way through this handsome, but non engaging volume and was about to return it to the library, when I reconsidered. I'm glad I continued with it for the best stories were at the end. The only good stories in the first part of the collection is The Withered Arm by Thomas Hardy (I had read it previously) and Man-Size in Marble by Edith Nesbit.

If I were you I would give the whole first half a miss, until you come to The Ash Tree by M.R. James, then the next good one is A Witch Burning by Mrs. Baillie Reynolds. The rest of the stories from there are creepy or unsettling or fun with my favorites being: How Pan Came to Little Singleton by Margery Lawrence, All Hallows by Walter de la Mare, The Summer People by Shirley Jackson, and The Lady on the Grey by John Collier. The early stories are difficult to read because of the use of the village vernacular and just sort of being duds in my opinion.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this book in anticipation of a good October read and was happy to find this genre. Fantastic illustrations, which is why I bouht it tbh.

[Lynsey Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A middling three.

Over all this book was a disappointment. 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. I had never seen a Folk Horror anthology before, and especially one that was so beautifully illustrated. So therefore it had to be mine. Perfect Gothtober reading I thought.

Past Lynsey was wrong. This Lynsey knows it was not, by any means, perfect.

It started badly, with stories written in such heavily accented “old/yocal English” that I couldn’t actually understand what was being said and therefore had to skip the first two stories. However, even after vowing to only read good books from now on, I soldiered on as I thought maybe the remaining stories would pull it all back.

I wanted so desperately to believe.

And yes some of the stories where indeed good, but these where all stories I had read before so this anthology was not bringing me anything new and exciting. EXCEPT for the story where they kill a child and sow it’s ground up bones into the soil to provide a good harvest. I enjoyed that one.

Thumbs up for child sacrifice.

And the rest of the stories? Dull and mediocre at best. And not in anyway horrific. I feel that the editors idea of what Folk Horror is, is vastly different to mine.

There was none of that eerie foreboding that you get from communities just outside the modern world going balls deep into some old school religion much to the horror of the modern watchers on. There was nothing unexplained and just down right creepy. Blood on Satans Claw these stories ain’t.

Overall a disappointing collection, just because something is set in the wilderness and maybe has a wee bit of devil worship (hail Satan) does not make it Folk Horror. A fabulous opportunity wasted.

Dear reader do yourself a favour and just read the collected works of the master of Folk Horror, Arthur Machen.

[Jo Berry ☀️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with any anthology, the stories are of mixed quality. 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.

Unfortunately, I’d give about a third of these stories only about 2.5 stars. Often the problem is a weak ending after a long build up. Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Summer People’ built up some great tension, but then stopped abruptly, so it just felt like an unfinished project. Also, Walter de la Mare’s ‘All Hallows’ had a good, eerie feel, but felt like the first chapter of a novel, so it never went anywhere. However, I particularly enjoyed ‘Man-size in Marble’ and ‘The Lady On the Grey’, while Thomas Hardy’s ‘The Withered Arm’ is a well constructed piece of writing. I also enjoyed ‘Pallinghurst Barrow’, just because of its bizarre encounter in the tomb, and because the author had thought to provide us with a more mundane explanation for the events.

Overall, I think the book is a bit average and a better selection of stories could have been found. Also, the print in the paperback is quite small, with wide left hand margins, which push the writing into the crack of the page. So, if you are buying it, you might prefer the kindle version.

[Andy Weston · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strong collection, some of which I have now read several times, or as I quite like to do these days, listen to them on one of the Classic Horror podcasts, Tony Walker’s or Jasper L'Estrange‘s Encrypted.

[Timár_Krisztina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Van az a pár ezer éves gondolat, hogy az ember annál boldogabb életet él, minél közelebb élhet a természethez. Körülbelül ugyanennyi ezer éves a kritikája is, de az ritkán zavarja a vágyakozókat. Akiknek adott esetben, ha elég okosan kezelik a helyzetet, akár igazuk is lehet. Sőt, még érvényes, jól működő filozófiákat is építhetnek erre a gondolatmenetre, ezt tették a romantikusok is, Atlanti-óceánon innen és túl. 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. Vagy ha ma nem is így van már, akkor is létezett ilyen időszak hosszú-hosszú ideig.

Hogy ennek mi köze a folk horrorhoz? Az, hogy a folk horror – ha jól értelmezem – pont ennek a felfogásnak ad egy piszkos nagy pofont, de úgy, hogy a fal adja a másikat. És még csak nem is nyers erőből adja, hanem ügyesen és kiszámítottan.

Egyébként meg úgy tűnik, csináltak egy horrorműfajt direkt nekem. Illetve ha valaki az eddigi ajánlóim alapján úgy gondolja, hogy az enyémhez hasonló az ízlése, akkor neki is.

Részletes értékelés a blogon:
https://gyujtogeto-alkoto.blog.hu/202...

[Ana Moth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a beautiful book with some real gems of stories. Every story is accompanied with its own linocut by Richard Wells add something really special as well.

There were a few of stories I didn't get on with so well. 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. Conversely, there were also one or two that seemed to end very abruptly and could have gone on for a bit longer.

'Man Size in Marble' by Edith Nesbit was a beautiful, atmospheric tale that utilised the horrors of the Norman invasion well. 'How Pan Came to Little Ingleton' by Margery Lawrence wasn't exactly 'horror' but quite a funny, heart warming tale of a young man coming to understand that there is wisdom in the old ways. I was reminded how gorgeously unsettling Shirley Jackson's 'The Summer People' is and how much I adore MR James when I read his 'The Ash-Tree'. I also very much approve of the avenging ghost in John Collier's 'The Lady of the Grey' ensuring a pervy old toff chasing local farm girls gets his just desserts.

Folk horror has often been described as 'an outsider meddles' and I enjoy that description. Indeed there were a lot of good examples of that in this collection, but there were other themes too. A lot of the stories picked up the theme of Christianity coming into conflict with the pagan gods, and I enjoyed how sometimes they came to an easy truce. 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.

[Jacs Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

was every story 5 stars? absolutely not, but a lot were...and the vibes...the vibes are the important part

[Steve Fenton · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great collection of folk tales! There's a bit of everything in here from great demonic figures, to ominous brooding buildings, to strange and twisted village rituals. A delightful dark bible that spans many authors and eras.

[Jessie Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like any anthology, this book is filled with some great stories and some not so great stories. The Shirley Jackson story was the best of the lot, with a few others that stuck with me. Overall I wasn’t as in love with this book as I thought I’d be.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some fantastic classic folk horror here.

[Hayley Dunning · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to see evolution of tales.

[Lisa of LaCreeperie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Truth be told I only got half way through and lost interest.

[Vicente Ribes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro fantástico y la primera gran recopilación de horror rural que he tenido el placer de leer.
Relatos ambientados en aldeas remotas, castillos abandonados e islas perdidas donde habitan extraños personajes, cultos paganos y dioses malévolos. Historias que nos recuerdan al hombre de mimbre y es que aquí se hayan probablemente todos los cuentos que dieron lugar al subgénero del folk horror.
El libro es un largo recorrido por las raices del género y pese a empezar de manera flojita pronto encontramos relatos magníficos de la mano de autores clásicos como M.R. James, Sheridan Le Fanu, Arthur Machen, Edith Nesbit, Shirley Jackson, Robert Louis Stevenson y Robert Aickman.
Con semejante nómina era difícil que algo saliera más pero hay también otros autores menos conocidos con relatos de mucha calidad. Eso sí, es terror clásico similar al que podriamos encontrar en algún libro de Valdemar gótica y eso es sinonimo de calidad.
A destacar los maravillosos dibujos que acompañan los relatos de esta magnífica edición.

[Bill Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illustrated by the editor's great woodcut-style drawings, Damnable Tales is a first-rate anthology of stories that fall under the wide folk horror umbrella. Presented chronologically, from Le Fanu's "Laura Silver Bell" (from the Belgravia Annual for 1872) to Robert Aickman's "Bind Your Hair" (Dark Entries, 1964), the stories include a few ghost stories, a couple of familiar classics, and many -- to me, at least -- undiscovered gems. Authors include familiar names like Aickman, M.R. James, H. 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. Baillie Reynolds). The illustrations are evocative and apt. Altogether, a nicely constructed anthology that suits its theme, with top shelf design.

[Jodie Steer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this so much but nearly every story was anticlimactic to the extreme. I’m not sure what Wells’ definition of folk horror is but it’s definitely not the same as mine. After reading Adam Leslie’s Lost in the Garden, the very high bar for folk horror is has been set, and more often than not this collection under delivers. There were definitely some redeeming entires such as my personal favourite When Pan Came to Little Ingelton, but there seemed to be a preoccupation with witchcraft and churches rather than finding stories which encompass the eeriness of nature and pagan rituals when placed in polarity with the sterilisation of modern life. As much as some of the more witchy stories were good reads, they did not live up to the promise of Damnable Tales as ‘a folk horror anthology’. 3 stars unfortunately, wish I could’ve given it more.

[Tom Fordham · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main appeal of this book for me was my love of Richard Wells artwork - yes I am also a Green Lung fan. However I feel like this book should be labelled as a folk horror chronology. The stories essentially see the genres origins and development from the 1800s to the 1960s. There were some folk horror vibe stories in there and plenty of weird fiction but ultimately it was sadly a bit of a slog. I don't know if I just wasn't feeling it but parts of this book just failed to grab me. The positive is that its a good opportunity to see how the genre developed and I think it'll be a good reference point for my own writing. I'm just disappointed I didn't enjoy this book as much as I'd hoped.

[Celia · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED THIS BOOK. Who knew that stories written from the 18th century to 1940/60s could be this chilling? There were a couple that got slightly a little too dark for my liking, but all in all a fun literary read. I’m starting to understand folk stories and why they’re told the way they are.

[Kc713 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Ariel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got about 180 pages in before I gave up -- for the most part, this collection is front loaded with dense, Old English stories that aren't particularly interesting.

[Paul M Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is perhaps one of the most beautifully built books I have ever seen. The collection of stories is pulled from the classics to the modern, and gives the reader a wonderful selection of Folk Horror. Probably one of the best Folk Horror anthologies out there.

[maddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

i wish there were half stars on good reads - 3 and a half

i love the illustrations so much

[Tim Pendry · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Damnable Tales is a worthy effort at a folk horror anthology. If it falls down, it is not in its intention but on the fact that historic literary folk horror (as opposed to its later television and cinematic versions) is not, in fact, very inspiring and rarely truly horrific.

Richard Wells has delivered, in broadly chronological sequence, 23 tales that might be regarded as within the genre but, while some are important in framing it, they are often rather disappointing in purely literary terms. It might have been better to refer to Folk Unease.

Yes, we have Machen's 'The Shining Pyramid' and M. R. James' 'The Ash Tree' but these are already much anthologised and, I argue below, may be outside authentic folk horror though rural witchery might reasonably be included in the genre.

Many of the remainder are rather weak potboilers by famous writers (Stevenson, Hardy) or stories that helped create the genre but are otherwise not remarkable. Others are more interested in the idea of Pan and the old gods or in historical survivals and ghosts.

This is mostly literary source material and so useful in defining the style (so worth having in the library) but it also reminds us that folk horror was a relatively minor part of English literature, a variant of the modernised folk tale, the ghost story and the fascination with Pan and rural mystery.

What does make a difference are Wells' illustrations. These are done in a rough woodcut style, one for each story. These help tell us that the book was a labour of love which is confirmed by the over 12 pages of small print 'supporters' who helped make the book happen.

The stories range from 1872 to 1964. The vast majority were written for periodicals which helps us to understand their often ephemeral nature and the tendency to entertain more than to explore what they are addressing in depth. There is nothing bad in here, just fairly ordinary and unsurprising.

Having said that, as in all anthologies, there are some works that stretch beyond being interesting just because they shape a now-established genre or as literary expansions of folk tales into horror. Of the latter, 'The Sin Eater' (1895) and 'The Black Reaper' (1899) may be the best.

Of the later works, Margery Lawrence's 'How Pan Came to Ingleton' (1926) has a charm to it that has nothing of the horrible, Walters De La Mare's 'All Hallows' (1926) exudes menace and Rolt's 'Cwm Garon' (1948) captures a common intuition that some landscapes can be evil by their very nature.

The problem here is that all three represent tales that drift away from folk horror. Lawrence's is not horror, De La Mare's is more about evil or the cosmic and is Gothick in tone and Rolt's, though it does have a legitimate folk element, concentrates on a landscape. The last probably counts.

Two of the three last works are superior. Shirley Jackson's 'The Summer People'(1950), an American addition, offers us the essence of folk horror which is the educated urban middle class out of place in the country. The horror is the insidious truth that summer visitors do not matter to locals.

Finally the inconclusive 'Bind Your Hair' (1964) by Robert Aikman is possibly the most interesting because of its realism in depicting its characters (too many protagonists in these stories are cardboard cut-out sterotypes). It leaves us with a sense of unease yet not quite knowing why we are uneasy.

Rolt and Aikman, Scott's 'Randall's Round' (1929) and the grim 'The First Sheaf' (1940) by Wakefield certainly pass muster. Others too perhaps but I should explain why I am reluctant to allow folk horror to be defined too broadly and be too inclusive.

As a compendium of themes to be plundered in popular culture by a full-blown genre as it stands today,'Damnable Tales' is useful but there is not a lot of true horror here. The folk aspect constantly feels like urban literary types inventing memes for their own type of person who reads periodicals.

If much of this does not persuade as horror and only a few works as 'unease', it does not persuade as authentically related to folk either. If the concern is to show the unease of the urban middle class, then some of the work does that but very few cut to the chase of an essential cultural clash.

To make folk horror work it either has to be set well within the 'other' (the rural world) and be horrible (like Nevill's 'The Reddening') or the incomer needs to show some emotional engagement with being at the margin of the 'other' that creates unease if not outright horror.

Telling a story about rum doings by peasants might be included as folk horror but not re-telling their own stories in literary ways. We also need to be clear that unease or horror at nature or 'rurality' (as Pan) is not the same as unease or horror at rum doings.

'The First Sheaf' is grim because the urban type is confronted not with nature but another type of person's relationship to nature. This is also the case with the unease in the Aickman story. Nature is a source of horror only indirectly as belief system. The nature of the 'folk' is what should interest us.

Folk horror should be anthropological horror first and existential or cosmic horror second. If it is historical horror, the folk must be like us and embedded in the knowable past but not Neanderthals or degenerate cave dwellers under the moors.

Even Adam Nevill in 'The Reddening' makes sure his story is centred on the realism of a corrupt folk on the surface of things that taps into something dark rather than having the primary focus being on something dark that erupts from below that is not human (though his ambiguities here are clever).

Unease or horror at some prehistoric atavistic and supernatural force (like the fairies) is thus a different kettle of fish from unease and horror at nature or the 'volk'. 'Ballinghurst Barrow' (1892) and 'The Shining Pyramid' (1895) fall into this category.

So, folk horror (in this anthology) seems to confuse three different 'others' under the same label- our past selves (which was very much a late Victorian post-Darwinian concern), nature as 'being' (Pan) and others who live a very different life closer to nature and often interpreting it through ritual.

Yes, these can be interconnected - the 'folk' seem to have a different relationship to 'nature' than us and this relationship may seem atavistic (again, Nevill's 'The Reddening' brilliantly merges these three conceptions) - but if they are not melded folk horror should just be about the 'folk' in its relations.

The cinematic and television variants of the genre tend to get this more right because things have moved on from the era of literary concerns with Pan and Darwinism. Atavism is now a matter for science fiction and the relationship with nature has become eco-horror (Vandermeer).

The atavistic branch of horror dragged on into the work of Nigel Kneale and Dr Who. Given 'Quatermass and the Pit' and 'Quatermass IV', Kneal was in the world of science fiction and not that of anthro-horror. A true folk horror film like 'The Wicker Man' is still about a (albeit fake) 'folk' cult.

Even 'The Children of the Stones' is set more in a science fiction environment though it scrapes in as folk horror because of the village atmosphere. We have to go to 'Blood on Satan's claw' or even 'Witchfinder General' to find again this concern with the horror that arises from the 'folk' out there.

Those stories that have an urban middle class type entering into the nearby unknown or which describe the behaviours of the unknowns in their own country must be regarded as authentic. Ghost stories, literary folk tales, 'Pan tales' or tales of degenerated or atavistic primitives need not apply.

[alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Laura Silver Bell" by Sheridan Le Fanu
written in annoying Northumbrian dialect but still pretty good. i found that either reading it out loud or consciously in my head helped
rating: 4/5

"Man-Size in Marble" by Edith Nesbit
rating: 3.5/5

"Thrawn Janet" by Robert Louis Stevenson
remember how the first story was written in an almost-unreadable dialect? well this one is 10 times worse
rating: 1/5

"The Withered Arm" by Thomas Hardy
rating: 4/5

"Pallinghurst Barrow" by Grant Allen
rating: 5/5

"Devil of the Marsh" by H. B. Marriott-Watson
i never thought a piece of literature could be too weird but with this i was proven wrong
rating: 2.5/5

"The Sin-Eater" by Fiona Macleod
rating: 1.5/5

"The Shining Pyramid" by Arthur Machen
rating: 4.5/5

"The Black Reaper" by Bernard Capes
rating: 2/5

"The Ash-Tree" by M. R. James
rating: 5/5

"Out of the Sea" by A. C. Benson
rating: 4/5

"Gavon's Eve" by E. F. Benson
rating: 3/5

"A Witch-Burning" by Mrs Baillie Reynolds
rating: 3.5/5

"The Music on the Hill" by Saki
the deer scene in this walked so the goat scene in the witch could run
rating: 5/5

"The Tarn of Sacrifice" by Algernon Blackwood
rating: 4.5/5

"How Pan Came to Little Ingleton" by Margery Lawrence
rating: 3.5/5

"All Hallows" by Walter de la Mare
rating: 3.5/5

"Randalls Round" by Eleanor Scott
rating: 4/5

"The First Sheaf" by H. R. Wakefield
rating: 3.5/5

"Cwm Garon" by L. T. C. Rolt
rating: 4/5

"The Summer People" by Shirley Jackson
previously rated here
rating: 3.5/5

"The Lady on the Grey" by John Collier
misogynist men getting their just deserts is always great
rating: 4.5/5

"Bind Your Hair" by Robert Aickman
rating: 5/5

[Ken Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here are a few favorites from this great anthology:
"Man-Size in Marble" - Edith Nesbit. A young couple new to the country learns why they can't "keep good help"! This is a great story, and one of the oldest in the collection- Nesbit was writing at the same time as Arthur Conan Doyle! While her contemporaries were cranking out Victoriana Nesbit delivers her tale in a strikingly modern style that reminded me of Bernard Taylor's best.

"The Ash-Tree" - M. R. James. Misfortunes plague residents of a country estate. The conclusion of this story was creepy and fun in the best way.

"Out of the Sea" - A. C. Benson. Skeptic catches a glimpse of a real horror haunting a seaside family. This story's smashing concept was a real kick and gave me actual chills.

"The Music on the Hill" - Saki. "She looked on the country as something excellent and wholesome in its way, which was apt to become troublesome if you encouraged it overmuch." Ha!

"All Hallows" - Walter de la Mare. Wandering traveller learns of strange influences at work on a rural church. The author uses powerfully suggestive phrases to create an atmosphere of oppressive dread.

"The Lady on the Grey" - John Collier. Playboy proud of his list of conquests tries to catch up with his main competition. This was probably the most fun story in the collection.

"Bind Your Hair" - Robert Aickman. A newlywed wandering around her in-laws' strange village trespasses and meets some mysterious children. I liked the imagery and the surreal tone.

This collection is carefully presented with remarkable hand-carved illustrations to accompany each story. My only complaint was the lack of variety as there were too many variations on similar stories. For example many, many wanderers relate the mysterious occurrences they have witnessed out in the woods. But even if some are repetetive, it's usually easy to see why they were included, and this is a perfect gift for anyone who enjoys horror or dark fantasy.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cracking selection of folk horror tales which blends the familiar (and witches' familiars) with hidden gems. I especially liked the proto-Wicker Man tale by H.R. Wakefield, which ticks ever folk horror box yet still manages to surprise (the finale lingers in the mind), but every story has its moments. A couple are a bit of a struggle because of their use of dialect, but if you hear a Scot read 'Thrawn Janet' aloud, I guarantee you'll get goosebumps. Sheridan Le Fanu's dark fairy tale, 'Laura Silver-Bell' is also hard going on a first read (even the narrator apologises for the Northumbrian dialect) but stick with it. It has the feel of a genuine folk narrative, and shows that Le Fanu wasn't finished after 'In a Glass Darkly'. A.C. Benson can be a pious bore, but though his tale has a strong Christian flavour, it still manages a couple of disturbing moments. E. Nesbit's 'Man-Size in Marble' seems to be in every anthology I read, but no wonder - it's a classic piece, and I find the ending even more alarming now than when I was first scared by it aged nine.
One of the joys of anthologies is squabbling with the editor's choices, but I can't quibble with these. If you want an intro to the world of folk horror, this is probably it. The illustrations are great, too, and really add to the atmosphere of the book.
Five stars but two minor criticisms...the introduction is summat and nowt, and the paperback isn't that well produced. It looks great, but it is easy to break the spine. Handle with care...we don't want these horrors getting out, do we?

[Alex Pearl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology of Folk Horror Tales curated and illustrated by Richard Wells, has the most hauntingly beautiful imagery to accompany diverse and Damnable Tales about the horrors of the ages.

The stories date from 1872 right up to 1964. They cover witch persecution, hauntings, the pagan gods of old, and the true horror of what humans can inflict on each other as a result of fear. It is a sensational read for dark nights. The tale of ‘Thrawn Janet’ by Robert Louis Stevenson is genuinely terrifying!

And while the hustle and bustle of modern life means we often think ourselves far removed from a world haunted by pixies and ghouls… Are we really that far from horror? Trolls have come out from under their bridges and now hide behind keyboards, a merciless plague darkens all of our doorways, and there is senseless division, terror and cruelty occurring all over the world in the name of belief… perhaps sadly, we are the same monsters we have always been.

I leave you with a quote from ‘A Witch - Burning’ by Mrs Baillie Reynolds: ‘He could not sit by and see what horror men could work in the name of righteousness’

[milo in the woods · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.9 stars

laura silver bell: four stars
man-size in marble: five stars
thrawn janet: five stars
the withered arm: four stars
pallinghurst barrow: two stars
devil of the marsh: three stars
the sin-eater: four stars
the shining pyramid: three stars
the black reaper: three stars
the ash-tree: four stars
out of the sea: five stars
gavon's eve: four stars
a witch-burning: five stars
the music on the hill: five stars
the tarn of sacrifice: four stars
how pan came to little ingleton: three stars
all hallows: two stars
randalls round: four stars
the first sheaf: four stars
cwm garon: five stars
the summer people: five stars
the lady on the grey: five stars
bind your hair: three stars

[Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful read for horror enthusiasts who enjoy reading tales from the beginning of the genre, and like old English. While the volume can be challenging at times due to time periods in which the authors wrote, it is well worth the effort. These story so subtly hint at the atrocities within the pages, you almost miss it, until you realize what you've just read. These stories are great for horror beginners, as they tend toward the restrained and distanced horror, instead of the gore and shock of more modern horror.

[Ander · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series of stories was a hard challenge for me to complete despite my enjoyment of the latter half of this anthology. The vague horror of Folk Horror is an interesting thing to watch as the world develops.

Here are some short reviews of each of the 23 stories.


Story 1 : Laura Silver Bell
A quick story that reminds me of tales from the brothers Grimm of warnings ignored, and punishments wicked in their own right. The dialog needs to be spoken to be better understood, but aside from that Laura serves as your classic fuck around and find out characature.
3 / 5 stars

Story 2 : Man-Size in Marble
A fairly predictable fairy tale style story. I do enjoy the creature of the story, but I feel like the reflection angle kills most of the suspense in this short story.
2 / 5 stars

Story 3 : Thrawn Janet
A classic ghost story that reads as if it should be told orally from a stranger you've never met before. I love the imagery that floods the mind as this alleged simpleton tells you the horrors of a bewitched corpse, and the devil that was seen while these horrors persisted.
3 / 5 stars

Story 4 : The Withered Arm
Longer formatted than the first three stories, we follow the lives of Gertrude and Rhoda as they intersect upon nightmares and curses. With some of the most magical instances of prophecy and magic, this keeps you guessing at several different moments that Stevenson sets up early in this story and neatly ties up about the relationships between Rhoda and Gertrude.
2/5

Story 5: Pallinghurst Barrow
Perhaps my favorite story on this collection mixing the best of ghost stories and fairy tales in a story that I can only imagine inspired the book Troll Fell in it's climatic moments. "Open door, open door, let me come in" will be a line from this story that will live with me, that and the powerful narcotic Cannabis Indica.
4/5

Story 6: Devil of the Marsh
A quick story of lust, and deception. In all reality the protagonist, be it woman or devil, wanted her and her alone.
4/5

Story 7: The Sin-Eater
A tale of being cursed through dishonesty to the dead. A collection of whispers about the man who once was Neil Ross, and is now The Sin-Eater, and an honest account of why you should heed superstitions.
3/5

Story 8: The Shining Pyramid
A story of thieves cant, a fae or deamon like creature, and a Holmes-esque deduction sequence of the events surrounding a paranoid protagonist. By far not my favorite in the anthology, but it kept me guessing throughout the story to its conclusion.
1/5

Story 9: The Black Reaper
This story feels like a long ramble about a vaguely remembered nightmare.
1/5

Story 10: The Ash-Tree
A fun and short story of the paranoia around curses and the animals associated with witches, particularly hares.
3/5

Story 11: Out of the Sea
My favorite story of corrupting evil, omens, and punishments awaiting those who committed crimes against forces that they don't understand.
5/5

Story 12: Gavon's Eye
A story of I'll fated witchcraft serving as a monkey's paw of misfortune to those who would wish to use magic to serve them. Vikings, witches and drowning- what more do you need?
3/5

Story 13: A Witch Burning
Another great addition to the collection featuring innocence and paranoia of the titular witch and her date with her Gallows (the burning). I loved the jail break story of a man with a good conscious saving possibly an innocent soul.
5 / 5

Story 14: The Music on the Hill
Don't piss off Pan, and listen to Mortimer in this one. This is the first direct God vs man (or woman in this case) story in the anthology.
4 / 5

Story 15: The Tarn of Sacrifice
A story of multiple lives lived, or a story of madness brought upon by over exposure to tarn and it's Mists. A little more hard to keep track of as far as story / timeline but makes up for the abstract nature by giving a satisfying end to the conflict.
4 / 5

Story 16: How Pan Came to Little Ingleton
An unexpected breaking of Christian faith in a Wickerman / The Ritual sequence fashion making me wonder if this had any influence on those films. The town vs priest and real old gods defying modern age beliefs of Christian dogmatic debates of "the one and only" vs. "The many".
4 / 5

Story 17 : All Hallows
A hard to follow conversation between two people on All Hallows and the history and superstitions of a location are told to a new comer in town. This story just didn't work for me.
1 / 5

Story 18: Randalls Round
A story of the secret rituals of the town of Randall and what horrors they may hide. Well told, and satisfying to complete. Despite some language barriers (vernacular not foreign language).
4 / 5

Story 19: The First Sheaf
A hidden gem of a oral recitation of horrors passed. With myth mixed into mystery we learn how the narrator lost his arm so many years ago.
5 / 5

Story 20: CWM Garon
An interesting story of a land and it's people rejecting strangers, and more strange the monsters that may or may not be a force of the land itself.
3 / 5

Story 21: The Summer People
Simply put Summer People overstaying their welcome in a small town. The horrors lies in the paranoia.
5 / 5

Story 22: The Lady on the Grey
A fun Brother's Grimm style story like "The Old Hag".
5 / 5

Story 23: Bind Your Hair
A interesting finish to the anthology in giving a horror i didn't expect -reptiles in place of vampires as an antagonist.
5 / 5