Line #12 Main/FolkHorror


1	[[quoteright:350:[[Film/TheWickerMan1973 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wickerman_swords.jpg]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: CHOP! CHOP! CHOP! CHOP!]]
3	->''"It's the horror of rural England. It's certain kinds of churches, certain kinds of forest -– the shadows within dark green."''
4	-->-- '''Creator/AlexGarland''' regarding ''Film/{{Men}}''
5
6	[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Horror based on old folklore or urban legends]]. These are the stories you can easily imagine starting with something along the lines of "this is a tale of something that once happened to an old friend of mine...", "I heard this story from a strange man I met in a bar...", or "in my family, there is this one story that has been passed down from grandparent to grandchild for generations..."
7
8	This subgenre of ReligiousHorror is less concerned with organized faiths and divine beings as much as it's concerned with the old folkloric rituals in isolated rural areas. Thus, while it can still focus on a modern religion, it is more likely to focus on the pagan faiths of yore. Demons, {{cult}}s and goblins haunt the woods while regular people try to survive. Organized religion is most likely corrupt and/or useless, though [[SinisterMinister sadistic clergymen]] can be the [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters true danger]]. If you're lucky, you'll have one heroic BadassPreacher among the whole lot, but it might not do any good against beings much older than any god we know.
9
10	The phrase was popularized in 2010 by the BBC documentary ''A History of Horror''; in an interview with Creator/MarkGatiss, director Piers Haggard uses "folk horror" in describing the intent of his 1971 film ''Film/TheBloodOnSatansClaw''. Haggard's film is one of three (dubbed "the unholy trinity") widely regarded as the [[TropeCodifier Trope Codifier]]s of the genre, the other two being ''Film/WitchfinderGeneral'' and ''Film/TheWickerMan1973''.
11
12	While the genre was most common in Britain in TheSixties and TheSeventies (around the same time British folk ''music'' was having a moment of its own), folk horror can be from any region or any time, and there has been a "Folk Horror Revival" in the 2010s and '20s as these tropes come back into prominence along with the rise of UsefulNotes/NeoPaganism. In particular, it's worth singling out the horror films of Southeast Asia, where folk horror has been the default mode as long as cinema has existed in that part of the world, drawing from the many creepy monsters and evil magicians of [[Myth/PhilippineMythology Philippine]], [[Myth/MalaysianMythology Malaysian]], and [[Myth/ThaiMythology Thai]] folklore.
13
14	Regardless of when and where it's made, folk horror is always deeply rooted in the concept of the past. Therefore, when it's not an outright PeriodPiece, a lot of folk horror will feature a modern CityMouse protagonist suddenly confronted with a forgotten and violent past -- usually by traveling to a more rural, tradition-bound locale like a TownWithADarkSecret. Sometimes it's the other way around, with cozy modernity itself being invaded by some ancient danger.
15
16	Belief, fear, and culture are key themes, and often a greater threat than the thing people are scared of -- therefore, MaybeMagicMaybeMundane and HumansAreTheRealMonsters are common tropes here as well. Things are dangerous enough even ''without'' overtly supernatural happenings. In fact, [[https://www.revenantjournal.com/contents/introduction-defining-folk-horror-2/ some academic work]] points to the "monstrous tribe" (a social group bound by shared beliefs and values seen as monstrous to visitors/viewers) as an even greater identifying feature of folk horror than the rural setting.
17
18	Compare with WitchWorks, which has a lot of overlap, and HorrorHippies and HillbillyHorrors, both of which have a similar rural horror feel. Watch out for TheFairFolk, take care with the {{Sleep Paralysis Creature}}s at night and DontGoInTheWoods. Often takes place in LovecraftCountry or CampbellCountry. There may be overlap with DarkFantasy or SupernaturalFiction, although some folk horror tales heavily tone down the supernatural elements, feature only mundane threats, or leave it ambiguous as to whether there is truly anything supernatural occurring. See also GothicHorror and SouthernGothic, which have a lot of overlap with this subgenre in terms of settings, character types, themes and tone. In some ways, folk horror could even be seen as a modern take on gothic horror.
19	-----
20	!!Folk horror works:
21
22	[[foldercontrol]]
23	[[index]]
24	[[folder:ComicBooks]]
25	* ''ComicBook/HarrowCounty''
26	* ''ComicBook/{{Hillbilly}}'' is set in a DarkFantasy world based on rural Appalachia, haunted by hags and trolls
27	* ''ComicBook/WendigoWood''
28	[[/folder]]
29
30	[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
31	* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland'' is a kid-friendly take on this genre, though still considerably DarkerAndEdgier than most entries in the franchise. The film is set in a Louisiana bayou haunted by ghosts and zombies [[spoiler:and werecats (oh my!)]]. It turns out the island was once home to a pagan cult [[spoiler:who worshipped a cat deity and granted the villains their powers]]; [[HollywoodVoodoo voodoo magic]] also plays a role. Mystery Inc show up intending to capture footage of ghosts (or more likely disprove them, as they expect) and get more than they bargained for.
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]
35	* ''Film/{{Anazapta}}'' (US title ''Black Plague''). A tale of supernatural RapeAndRevenge set in a village beset by the Black Death.
36	* ''Film/AngelHeart''
37	* ''Film/{{Apostle}}'' - sinister, violent happenings at a nature-worshipping CultColony off the Welsh coast.
38	* ''Film/TheBarrens'' straddles the line between this trope and [[OurCryptidsAreMoreMysterious cryptozoology]], with a family of campers having a [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane possible]] run-in with TheJerseyDevil
39	* ''Film/BlackDeath'' - a young monk is given the task of learning the truth about reports of people being brought back to life in a small village.
40	* ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject'' - fictional witchcraft legends in rural Maryland
41	** ''Film/BlairWitch''
42	* ''Film/TheBloodOnSatansClaw'' - follows the residents of a rural village whose youth fall under the influence of a demonic presence after a local farmer unearths a mysterious deformed skull buried in a field.
43	* ''Film/{{Bloodlands}}'' - a struggling family in mountainous northern Albania wrestling with tradition, must unite against a mysterious clan aggression.
44	* ''Film/Bewitched1981'' - based on South-East Asian witchcraft.
45	* ''Film/TheBoxersOmen'' - While in Thailand to avenge his brother who was crippled in a fight with a corrupt Thai boxer, a man gets caught up in a web of fate, Buddhism and black magic.
46	* ''Film/{{Candyman}}'' - A ghost story dealing with modern {{Urban Legend}}s and contemporary folklore
47	* ''Film/CaptainKronosVampireHunter''
48	* ''Film/{{Celia}}''
49	* ''Film/ChildrenOfTheCorn''
50	* ''Film/CityOfTheDead'' - the ''[[Film/TheWickerMan1973 other]]'' movie about occult happenings in a secluded TownWithADarkSecret to star Creator/ChristopherLee
51	* ''Film/CryOfTheBanshee'' - a cruel witch-hunting magistrate, who often tortures innocent villagers for his entertainment, runs afoul of a witch who conjures a banshee to kill the magistrate and his family.
52	* ''Film/TheCurseOfLaLlorona'' - loosely based on the Latin American folktale of the "The Weeping Woman".
53	* ''Film/CurseOfTheCrimsonAltar''
54	* ''Film/TheDark2005''
55	* ''Film/TheDevilRidesOut''
56	* ''[[Film/Draug2018 Draug]]''
57	* ''Film/TheDybbuk'' - based on Ashkenazi Jewish folklore, a woman is possessed by the spirit of her dead beloved.
58	* ''Film/{{Errementari}}'' - A Basque-language adaptation of an old legend about a [[TheBlacksmith blacksmith]] who keeps [[SealedEvilInACan a caged demon]] in his home. This movie's unabashed use of some of the sillier folklore tropes - its {{Big Red Devil}}s look straight out of old illuminated manuscript, and have {{Weaksauce Weakness}}es like a compulsion to count spilled chickpeas - also gives it a deadpan HorrorComedy sensibility.
59	* ''Film/EyeOfTheDevil''
60	* ''Film/FearStreet - 1666'' - or at least the first half of it, which is actually set in 1666, and deals with a witchcraft and [[WitchHunt the attendant paranoia]] in a puritan colony
61	* ''Film/TheFieldGuideToEvil'' - comprises treatises on forbidden love, Greek underworld goblins, medieval Hungarian cobblers and US hillbilly folklore.
62	* ''Film/AFieldInEngland''
63	* ''Film/TheGhostOfYotsuya''
64	* ''Film/TheGolem'' - Based on old European Jewish folklore, a {{golem}} protects the ghetto of Prague, but at a terrible price
65	* ''Film/TheHallow'' - A conservationist and his wife run afoul of TheFairFolk
66	* ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}''
67	** ''Film/HalloweenIIISeasonOfTheWitch'' - A peculiar fusion of CassetteFuturism and ancient Druidic HumanSacrifice rituals
68	** ''Film/HalloweenTheCurseOfMichaelMyers''
69	* ''Film/{{Haxan}}'' - a silent exploitation film inspired by old northern European witch-hunting manuscripts and occult folklore
70	* ''Film/{{Hex}}'' -- from Kwei Chi-hung, the same guy behind ''Film/TheBoxersOmen''
71	* ''Film/HomeSweetHome2005'' - a horror-drama revolving around an UrbanLegend of a child-abducting monster stalking a family
72	* ''Film/InTheEarth''
73	%% * ''Film/IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer'' - a '90s slasher taking its cues from campfire ghost stories and urban legends
74	%% I removed IKWYDLS. The connection between ancient folklore and campfire ghost stories is too tenuous. If you disagree, please bring it up in Discussion.
75	* ''Film/IWalkedWithAZombie'' - a Gothic melodrama with roots in Caribbean folklore, HollywoodVoodoo, and naturally, {{Voodoo Zombie}}s
76	* ''Series/{{Jordskott}}''
77	* ''Film/JugFace''
78	* ''Film/LordOfMisrule'' - A horror movie about a woman moving into a small village, where her daughter goes missing, something possibly related to ancient rites, cults, and legends of the village.
79	* ''Film/KillList''
80	* ''Film/{{Krampus}}'' - [[TheKrampus A Bavarian yuletide demon]] terrorizes a modern-day family
81	* ''Film/{{Kwaidan}}''
82	* ''Film/TheLairOfTheWhiteWorm'' - Creator/HughGrant and Creator/PeterCapaldi get mixed up in a horror story involving the Roman occupation of Britain and the legend of the Lambton Worm
83	* ''Film/MarkOfTheDevil''
84	* ''Film/{{Men}}'' - A woman goes on vacation in the [[CampbellCountry English countryside]] and is stalked by a malevolent entity. Director/writer Creator/AlexGarland explicitly referred to this film as being folk horror, stating one of the big focuses is ''"the horror of rural England. It's certain kinds of churches, certain kinds of forest — the shadows within dark green."'' It also uses the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Man Green Man]] as a recurring visual motif.
85	* ''Film/{{Midsommar}}'' - Occult practices in a rural Swedish communities where the Old Ways are still observed
86	* ''Film/MysticsInBali''
87	* ''Film/TheNakedWitch''
88	* ''Film/NightOfTheDemon'' - [[CircleOfStandingStones Stonehenge]], [[GeometricMagic cursed runes]], and occult traditions
89	* ''Film/OilyManiac'' - based on a Malaysian urban legend of the ''orang minyak'', a supernatural entity made of crude oil
90	* ''Film/{{Onibaba}}''
91	* ''Film/PetSematary2019'' - An adaptation of the novel of the same name
92	* ''Film/Population436''
93	* ''Film/{{Pumpkinhead}}'' - A supernatural SlasherMovie powered by Appalachian folk magic
94	** ''Film/PumpkinheadIIBloodWings''
95	** ''Film/PumpkinheadAshesToAshes''
96	** ''Film/PumpkinheadBloodFeud''
97	* ''Film/TheQueenOfBlackMagic''
98	* ''Film/Ravenous1999'' - {{Wendigo}} mythology and [[NoPartyLikeADonnerParty frontier cannibalism]] in [[DawnOfTheWildWest 1840s California]]
99	* ''Film/RawheadRex''
100	* ''Film/RedRidingHood'' - a supernatural murder mystery combined with ParanormalRomance inspired by the fairytale "Literature/LittleRedRidingHood"; a medieval village is terrorized by a werewolf, with a zealous monster-hunting preacher leading a witch hunt for the culprit.
101	* ''Film/TheRitual'' - Ancient occultism in the backwoods of Sweden.
102	* ''Film/SatansSlave''
103	* ''Film/SeedingOfAGhost''
104	* ''Film/TheSerpentAndTheRainbow''
105	* ''Film/TheShrine''
106	* ''Film/TheSkeletonKey'': Heavily based around hoodoo beliefs and practices.
107	* ''TheSudburyDevil'': Portrays a Satanist witch coven in 17th-century Massachusetts and includes things like pagan witching stones.
108	* ''Film/TrickRTreat'' - A HorrorComedy anthology about the traditions and superstitions of UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve
109	* ''Film/Troll2'' - A TownWithADarkSecret populated by HorrorHippies. The dark secret is that they are actually Stonehenge-worshiping [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent goblins]] in disguise.
110	* ''Film/ValerieAndHerWeekOfWonders''
111	* ''Film/{{Unwelcome}}''
112	* ''Film/TheWailing''
113	* ''Film/WakeWood''
114	* ''Film/{{Wendigo}}''
115	* ''Film/TheWickerMan1973'' - A TownWithADarkSecret steeped in Scottish paganism
116	* ''Film/TheWickerMan2006'' - The above, but moved to the United States and with [[StrawFeminist weird gender politics]]
117	* ''Film/TheWildHunt'' - A Viking-inspired {{LARP}} goes wrong
118	* ''Film/{{Winterbeast}}'' is about a ski lodge being hit by the lingering effects of a Native American curse.
119	* ''Film/TheWitch'' - A family in [[SalemIsWitchCountry Puritan New England]] are terrorized by a WickedWitch who [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane might be imaginary]]
120	* ''Film/TheWitches1966''
121	* ''Film/WitchfinderGeneral'' - A corrupt witch hunter terrorizes the Cromwell-era English countryside
122	* ''Film/TheWolfMan1941'' - Together with the earlier ''Film/WerewolfOfLondon'' (which is actually more of a pulpy SciFiHorror), this movie bridged the gap between werewolf folklore and the modern movie werewolf. Most of the [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent "rules"]] of lycanthropy it codified were pure inventions on the part of the screenwriter, but they ''feel'' like actual old folklore.
123	[[/folder]]
124
125	[[folder:Literature]]
126	* ''Literature/TheDevilAllTheTime'' (and the 2020 film adaptation)
127	* ''Literature/HarvestHome''
128	* "Literature/TheLottery": There's no supernatural threats or explicit references to pagan religions, but the short story still captures the same rural small-town horror this genre is known for and highlights the dark side of blind adherence to old traditions.
129	* Creator/HPLovecraft would often mix a bit of folklore and history into the [[CosmicHorrorStory cosmic horror stories]] for which he is best known. ''Literature/PickmansModel'' and ''Literature/TheDreamsInTheWitchHouse'' both tie into the [[SalemIsWitchCountry Salem witch trials]], and ''Literature/TheShadowOverInnsmouth'' draws on New English nautical traditions, mermaid folklore, and - to a lesser extent - ancient Mesopotamian mythology.
130	* In Creator/JamesHerbert's ''Literature/{{Once}}'', some of the ''faerefolkis'', elemental beings race memories of whom inspired [[OurFairiesAreDifferent human folklore]], enjoy tormenting humans. Its demon-worshipping villain manipulates nature to insidious end, and conjures [[IKnowWhatYouFear horrific phantasms]].
131	* ''Literature/PetSematary'': The crux of the plot is an ancient Native American burial ground (the Miꞌkmaq Tribe, specifically) where those who are buried come back to life...[[CameBackWrong more or less]]. Naturally, things go horribly wrong with this.
132	* Alvin Schwartz' celebrated anthology ''Literature/ScaryStoriesToTellInTheDark'' is mostly old urban legends and campfire ghost stories, very few of them with any original author. All three books end with a bibliography, where Schwartz talks a little about the folkloric roots of each story, different versions that he's found, and things like that.
133	* The Literature/SilverJohn stories - DarkFantasy [[FantasyAmericana Americana]] series inspired by rural Appalachian folklore, about a [[WalkTheEarth travelling]] guitar player encountering magic and monsters.
134	* Lovecraft's friend and contemporary Creator/AugustDerleth's short story "The Thing That Walked On The Wind" inadvertently shows the colonialist UnfortunateImplications that can underpin this genre, with the [[UsefulNotes/TheMounties Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] protagonist investigating disappearances and worship in a [[TownWithADarkSecret tight-lipped Native community]]. Eventually it turns out that [[TheSavageIndian all the Native people]] worship a monstrous {{wendigo}}-like god, and this is used to justify breaking up their community and putting all their children into residential schools.
135	[[/folder]]
136
137	[[folder:Live-Action Television]]
138	* ''Series/ChildrenOfTheStones'' (1976) - a MiniSeries about a strange town surrounded by stones that move
139	* ''Series/DoctorWho'' - 'The Stones of Blood' and 'The Awakening', among others.
140	* ''Series/PlayForToday'' - the episodes "Robin Redbreast" and "Penda's Fen"
141	* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' dabbles in this sometimes, especially in its first few seasons, which featured such [[MonsterOfTheWeek monsters]] as Bloody Mary, La Llorona, and the [[AtTheCrossroads crossroads demon]].
142	* ''Series/TheTerror'': A fictional retelling of the lost Franklin expedition as a horror story, with inspiration from Inuit mythology.
143	** ''Series/TheTerrorInfamy'': An in-direct sequel series, this time based around Japanese ghost folklore.
144	* ''Series/TheThirdDay'' (2020) - across two separate time periods, two different people are spirited to a very secluded English island
145	* ''Series/TheXFiles'' - some episodes are based around folktales and urban legends.
146	[[/folder]]
147
148	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
149	* ''TabletopGame/DontWalkInWinterWood'' is a tabletop RPG designed to evoke the gloomy and atmospheric presence of old ghost stories and tall tales told around the campfire in the days of old. Players take on the role of villagers haunted by a mysterious woods that is bringing supernatural phenomena into their isolated little town. Major themes include pagan traditions and rituals, witchcraft, folklore, isolation and a focus on escaping terrifying otherworldly threats without dying or going mad in the process.
150	* ''The Crooked Moon'', a fan-made ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' supplement, set in a forest where it's always between midnight and the witching hour, where players face cults, witches, TheFairFolk, and ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight.
151	* ''TabletopGame/VaesenNordicHorrorRoleplaying'': The titular Vaesen are all beings from legends and folklore, and said folklore often gives important clues as to their natures, motivations, strengths and weaknesses.
152	[[/folder]]
153
154	[[folder:Theatre]]
155	* ''Theatre/TheRiteOfSpring'' is folk horror in dance form. The ballet is intended to be set in the distant past (specifically prehistoric Russia) and focuses upon a tribe performing a pagan rite to usher in spring, that ends with a young girl being forced to dance herself to death as a sacrifice to the earth. In addition to the disturbing story, the music and choreography are highly unsettling and give off a sense of primal fear and foreboding throughout, even before we get to the sacrifice scene.
156	[[/folder]]
157
158	[[folder:Video Games]]
159	* ''VideoGame/BarrowHill'': Menaces from pre-Celtic times arise after being disturbed by archaeologists (first game) and teenagers (second game), and must be placated via folklore-inspired ritual offerings.
160	* ''VideoGame/TheExcavationOfHobsBarrow'': A woman AdventurerArchaeologist journeys to a small town way out on the English moors to investigate a mysterious barrow, and has to content with the local population being both a bit sceptical towards the strange woman scholar from the city poking around in their village, as well as the stories about the strange goings-on the last time someone tried to disturb the barrow.
161	* ''VideoGame/FishingVacation'' is set in a remote lakeside cabin in the mountains and features a book telling the story of Sedna, the Inuit ocean goddess [[spoiler:which turns out to be highly relevant to the strange goings-on at the lake]].
162	* ''VideoGame/MermaidSwamp'': The story is inspired by Japanese mermaid folklore and set in a remote mountain village surrounded by woods and an allegedly cursed swamp.
163	* The early portion of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' plays up the tropes and imagery of an ominously insular, rural village with its own customs and religion that ''really'' hates outsiders, but you quickly discover that the villagers' violent behavior and single-minded devotion to the local religious figurehead are caused by a PuppeteerParasite controlled by said figurehead, not any adherence to creepy old ways.
164	* ''VideoGame/ScarletHollow'': Dealing with hauntings in the rural South.
165	* The ''VideoGame/SirenGames'' runs on a uniquely Japanese flavor of Folk Horror, drawing its scares from small, isolated rural communities with strange and obscure religious customs based on syncratic practises and old half-forgotten myths.
166	* ''VideoGame/UnforgivingANorthernHymn'': Set in the Swedish wilderness and based upon Scandinavian folklore and mythology.
167	* ''VideoGame/UntilDawn'': It's revealed the true threat of the game are [[spoiler: {{wendigo}}s]] which roam the mountain the characters are stuck on, with several references to traditional folklore about the subject.
168	[[/folder]]
169
170	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
171	* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'': Combines ReligiousHorror, PsychologicalHorror, and murder mysteries in a rural Japanese village setting.
172	* ''VisualNovel/SpiritHunterNG''
173	[[/folder]]
174
175	[[folder:Web Original]]
176	* ''Podcast/OldGodsOfAppalachia'': The story depicts an alternate version of the real-life 19th and early 20th century Appalachia, but where the work of the mining companies and the industrial business unleashed {{Eldritch Abomination}}s that had been trapped below the land. It follows the daily life of everyday Appalachians, and of folk-witches of the Appalachian countryside, who have to deal with the various monsters and supernatural threats this entails. The podcast relies heavily on the Appalachian folklore, taking inspiration from various urban legends, historical figures and ghosts stories.
177	[[/folder]]
178	[[/index]]
179

Context Main / FolkHorror